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One of the more interesting ways to learn about physical geography is via unusual landforms (where are they? how'd they end up looking like that?). This BBC Earth photo essay is a good starting point: www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150205-the-15-most-amazing-landforms
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According to a study of U.S. Census data by the University of New Hampshire released last week, white deaths now exceed white births in one-third of U.S. states (noted in red on this map), including most of New England, California, and the Southwest. www.wsj.com/articles/more-whites-die-than-are-born-in-one-third-of-states-1480433481
A contemporary incarnation of philosophers' age-old "brain in the vat" conundrum is virtual reality, which has individual recreational uses as well as possible social applications, for good and for ill as my philosophy students quickly recognize. One promising use for VR is bringing the world to elderly, handicapped, or house bound people. A doctor in San Francisco is finding that her work with VR headsets in nursing homes not only alleviates patients' loneliness and depression, it is also helping patients with dementia re-engage with the world. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/11/17/this-physician-is-using-virtual-reality-to-treat-patients-with-dementia/?utm_term=.64bff7fd0e46
This map provides an interesting look at the topography of the continental U.S. by mapping the shadows cast by hills and mountains just before sunset on the summer solstice. http://imgur.com/a/klLBZ
This topical learning portal for kids and adults tries to answer questions like, "Why does squinting help you see better?" or how did the tradition of military dog tags get started or "Who is the 'fat lady' and why it's over when she sings." http://www.todayifoundout.com/ Users can choose articles, videos, or podcasts. To feed your brain regularly, you can also subscribe for free.  This series of maps shows changes in minimum annual sea ice at the poles between 1980 and 2016. (The darker blue is sea ice; the lighter blue is where sea ice used to be.) The presence or absence of sea ice has a significant impact on biogeography as well as on local and global physical geography: sea ice reflects 80% of the sunlight that hits it, whereas open water reflects only 10% of the sunlight that hits it, absorbing (and being heated by) the other 90%. www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/11/daily-chart-14
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Blog sharing news about geography, philosophy, world affairs, and outside-the-box learning
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