After browsing through several not-so-interesting geography websites, I stumbled upon the Discovery News site. Associated with The Discovery Channel, this site immediately caught my eye with its incredible pictures and interesting headlines. The site is conveniently divided into seven categories ranging between physical geography topics (Earth, Space, and Animals), more cultural geography (Human and History), and just random super cool stories (Tech & Gadgets, Adventure, and Autos). The website is truly engaging because of its numerous videos, photo galleries, and vast array of exciting science articles. Below are some of my favorite stories so far:
1) This incredible series of photographs explores the phenomenon of visual color warnings in plants and animals. The story explains that certain colors, patterns, and visual characteristics can communicate danger.
2) This video talks about a recent eruption of an underwater volcano. It relates to the discussions we had about the lithosphere in class and the difficulty of predicting when volcanoes will erupt. Scientists were however, successfully able to give an 8-year time frame in which the volcano would erupt. Scientists said this site was easier to predict because the crust was thinner and there was a huge supply of magma. The video also gives a cool look at the underwater site.
3) In relation to Matthew Sturm’s article about the changes in tree distribution as a result of climate change, this article discusses the movement of seaweed as a result of global warming. Scientists believe that a profound amount of Australian seaweed is actually moving south in order to find cooler environments.
Seaweed provides an important habitat and food source for many underwater animals. Image by © Jeffrey L. Rotman/CORBIS
4) Last but not least, you can even take a look at the “Be as Manly as Bear Grylles Guide” because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love Bear Grylles?
Share which stories catch your eye!
I was amazed by the variety of information on this site! I love the 8 general topics to choose from across the top of the page and the huge array of interesting articles found under each one. I was drawn to several articles that were all really different. One was about how farmers in Africa are using bees to keep elephants away from their crops. It turns out elephants are actually as afraid of bee stings as humans! I also saw an article describing how the new Twilight movie causes seizures (completely unrelated to geography, but entertaining). Since we just got back from Thanksgiving break, one of my favorites was called “Thanksgiving 2050: Feast or Famine?” which proposed two different food futures for 2050 depending on how well people use cropland. Will definitely return to this site in the future!
Ruby Shumaker
I really like this website! I thought it was interesting that some of the scientists in the study about the southern movement of seaweed as a result of global warming also gave a counter-example, of the “Caulocystis uvifera” seaweek which actually moved north instead of south with warming oceans. They theorized that this was because of a more favorable environment to the north due to less competition.
It’s sites like these that show that science, physical geography, etc, can really be fun. The examples and frequently updated posts show how dynamic our world really is.