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This map was part of an article The Economist recirculated this week (originally published in 2010) explaining that most people underestimate the size of Africa because we are accustomed to looking at maps based on the Mercator projection, a map-making technique developed in the 16th century. http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/…/cartography 
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Why is it sometimes important to understand not just total population but population density? Look at this map of Europe carefully: the black areas and the blue areas have exactly the same number of people living in them. http://brilliantmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/European-population-density.gif  The maps below show the number of days above 100 degrees that U.S. cities and regions experienced, on average, from 1991-2010 and how those patterns of 100+ degree weather may change over our children's lifetimes. (Red=50+ days per year with temperatures over 100◦F) http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/20/sunday-review/climate-change-hot-future.html
Can computers think? What is consciousness? Is the mind different than the brain? Philosophy of mind joins with neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields to consider these questions, among others. This week it was announced that a team of scientists at UCLA improved conscious function in a man who had "minimal" consciousness.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_re…/2016-08/uoc--usu082316.php Medical science recognizes levels of human consciousness. What does that mean for our understanding of consciousness in ourselves and others? This weekend, the U.S. National Park Service is celebrating its birthday by offering free admission to *all* national parks: https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm
Can't make it this weekend? The national parks will open their doors for free one more time this year on Veterans Day (Friday, Nov. 11). Want to see how far $100 goes? This graphic takes into account differences in purchasing power across the U.S. The pinker the state, the more your money buys. http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/%24100%20Map-state-01.png  Today's earthquake in central Italy was caused by the ongoing movement of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates towards each other. This map shows central Italy is not Europe's only seismic hot spot. http://horizon-magazine.eu/sites/default/files/SHARE-map.png  |
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