Places and Things

'Demon' asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower to zoom past Earth Friday An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower will zip past Earth Friday (March 5) and be out of our planetary neighborhood until 2029. Continue Reading . . . https://www.livescience.com/apophis-demon-asteroid-last-flyby-until-2029.html

Scientists try to fix flat maps with new double-sided projections A trio of scientists have devised a new way to try to represent our spherical planet as a flat picture with a new class of projection that involves printing the map as a double-sided circle, Phys.org reports. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/18/22289120/globe-2d-map-double-sided-gott-equidistant-azimuthal-projection

Earth Day Summit Will Mark U.S. Return to Global Climate Talks President Biden plans to host a high-level Earth Day summit, delivering on a campaign pledge and challenging his climate policy team to ready ambitious and credible commitments that can stand up to global scrutiny. Continue Reading . . . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-day-summit-will-mark-u-s-return-to-global-climate-talks/

Going to the theater now feels like going to a comic book shop. You can usually pick between Marvel or DC at the box office every summer. This extends to TV and streaming — it’s possible to have an entertainment diet made entirely of superhero media and still not get to it all. from https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/11/21011100/crisis-on-infinite-earths-cw-superhero-universe-comic-books-tv-show-arrow https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65877734/supergirl.0.jpg

Think recent climate disasters have been bad? Just wait, researchers at the University of Hawaii predicted Monday. from https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/climate-change-going-make-life-earth-whole-lot-worse-report-n938101 https://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2018_47/2651861/181119-hurricane-florence-north-carolina-floding-cs-234p_1c05fafaa04553c2e1d0977b8a1fa568.fit-760w.jpg

Microsoft launches AI for Earth to give $2M in services to environmental projects http://buff.ly/2tHEINC " After helping to launch the  Partnership on AI  with Google, Facebook and others; and  doubling down on AI research , today Microsoft unveiled a new initiative that points to how it plans to target specific verticals in what can potentially be a very nebulous field — while also raising the public image of AI as some grow concerned about the implications of its encroaching influence.... " via Buffer