One of the students in my online science fiction class ("Who We Are & What We Dream: Comparative Science Fiction") shared this amazingly cool site that tracks cyberattacks in real-time: map.norsecorp.com/#/

This interactive map gauges the economic and political risks of doing business in various countries around the world. www.marsh.com/content/marsh/political-risk-map-d3/prm-2018.html

This 50-question online quiz challenges users to identify countries by their shapes and then provides interesting factoids about each one. learn.howstuffworks.com/quiz/97-people-cant-identify-individual-countries-just-a-map-outline-can-you

Two years ago, China reportedly lost control of its prototype space station, Tiangong-1. Tiangong-1, which is about the size of a school bus, is expected to crash to Earth imminently, perhaps this weekend. You can track the position of Tiangong-1 on SatView: www.satview.org/?sat_id=37820U

This interesting interactive map considers student debt and allows users to compare average loan balances and delinquency rates, by race or in aggregate, across the U.S.
www.mappingstudentdebt.org/#/map-1-an-introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey has made it easy to see some of the stunning vistas of the national park system from your living room. If you have 3-D glasses, you can opt to take your virtual tour in 3-D too! From caves to seashores to mountains to deserts, this site samples dozens of national parks: 3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/

This caught my eye because my online high school lit class ("Who We Are & What We Dream: Comparative Science Fiction") recently finished its discussion of Frankenstein: Arizona State has teamed up with the National Science Foundation to create Frankenstein200, an online game to teach middle schoolers (and the general public) about bioengineering, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, scientific ethics, and robotics, among other topics. frankenstein200.org/

The Economist (UK) produces an annual Democracy Index, which has documented, in part, the retreat of global democracy since 2008. This map is the result of the newest Democracy Index. Click on the link to see country-specific information. www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2018/01/daily-chart-21

Obesity is a serious public health problem in the U.S. and around the world. This 45-second video maps obesity rates from 1975 to 2014. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMqxTuoWqsQ

This interactive mapping site seeks to document pollution problems globally. www.pollution.org/

In advance of today's home school geography bee, I have spent some time this week playing with free geography apps. The two I like best? Geography Quiz by Peaksel (Android/iOS) and Geo Bee Now by Vishaal Ganesh (Android). The Peaksel app has, in addition to quiz questions, a photo and a brief explanation to support each answer. (The downside: there's an ad every few questions.) The Geo Bee Now app offers three levels of play, and the questions reflect a broad range of geographic subjects, similar to the National Geographic Society's geography bee. If you have a favorite geography app, please add it in the comments.

The 2017 hurricane season is over, but this NASA video shows how this year's storm systems delivered not just wind and rain but also airborne particles, including sea salt and dust from the Sahara. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1eRp0EGOmE

These GIFs show the steady progression in median ages in the Western Hemisphere and Europe from 1960 to 2060.  www.visualcapitalist.com/animation-rapidly-aging-western-world/

This cool site from the BBC allows users to compare any two years to get a sense for how the world has changed: population, inventions, life spans, CO2 levels, then-untreatable diseases, species extinctions, etc. the-global-change-calculator.pilots.bbcconnectedstudio.co.uk/

This 1-minute YouTube clip from The Economist (UK) maps out the rise of the megacity -- cities with more than 10 million inhabitants -- from just New York City and Tokyo in 1950 to 32 megacities (mostly clustered in Asia) today and a projected 41 megacities, housing 9% of the world's population, by 2030. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDS_BqDeZ4k

This interactive map provides information on active conflicts around the world. The size of each dot reflects the duration of the conflict it represents. At the site, click on the dot to find out more about the conflict: its history, opposing goals, deaths, and current status. emmeline.carto.com/viz/b69015da-136a-11e5-a64a-0e43f3deba5a/embed_map

Biomes sit at the nexus of physical geography and biogeography. HHMI's BiomeViewer allows users to see biomes at a glance around the world and zoom in on any location to learn about the precipitation and temperature patterns, vegetation,  and animal species in that location. www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/biomeviewer

This interactive site maps out data collected on happiness in the latest Gallup World Poll and allows users to see how national happiness correlates to other variables, including economic production, freedom, social support, lack of corruption, and life expectancy. (As it turns out, many of these are variables students control in my "Mission Possible: Global Issues, Leadership Choices" simulation.)  www.alexanderbastidasfry.com/happy/

This interactive mapping tool from the Economic Innovation Group allows users to identify distressed communities, as defined by housing vacancies, poverty rates, number of prime-age adults not working, and lack of high school completion, among other factors. The good news: 62% more Americans live in prosperous communities than distressed communities. The bad news: distressed communities are falling further behind the rest of the country. eig.org/2017-dci-map-national-zip-code-map

If you've ever thought about how cool it would be to overlay a timeline on a map, this is the site for you.  TimeGlobe allows you to designate a year or range of years and then shows various world events during that time, mapped to their relevant location. At the site, mouse over each dot for a brief summary or click on the summary to go straight to the Wikipedia article on the event. Especially useful for understanding the geography driving regional issues.  timeglo.be/

Northern California is experiencing some of the worst wildfires in the state's history. But "Northern California" is a big and geographically varied place. Where, exactly, is this happening? As this map shows, the fires are mostly in the area north of San Francisco, home to California's wine industry. For those tracking this natural disaster, this site has been updating the fire map continuously: www.pressdemocrat.com/multimedia/7516058-181/pd-default-story-headline-xy

Based on Google search data, this (kind of addictive!) interactive mapping site shows which topics are trending where around the world, shedding light on regional interests in current events and pop culture. neomam.com/interactive/trendmap/

This interactive mapping site looks at child care availability in the U.S. by comparing the number of children under age 5 in any Census tract to the number of spots available with licensed child care providers. Mouse over the map at the site for state-level information and click on any state for county-level detail.  childcaredeserts.org/

Over last month's eclipse? Want to do it again? This interactive mapping tool charts the paths of the next 15 solar eclipses, from now until 2040. www.sciencenews.org/article/future-total-solar-eclipses

I have written about Ventusky before, but it's worth repeating because the site is such a useful tool to see the characteristics of a hurricane in real time. This particular view shows wind speeds: www.ventusky.com/?p=23.9;-68.4;3&l=wind