#mapping — Public Fediverse posts

How #ArcGISPro multiscale surface tools reveal the hidden #seafloor structures that affect #ocean circulation https://tinyurl.com/msxnmvzn

#water #marine #oceanography #imagery #RemoteSensing #GIS #esri #arcgis #mapping @esri @gisandscience @esritraining @urisa

How #ArcGISPro multiscale surface tools reveal the hidden #seafloor structures that affect #ocean circulation https://tinyurl.com/msxnmvzn

#water #marine #oceanography #imagery #RemoteSensing #GIS #esri #arcgis #mapping @esri @gisandscience @esritraining @urisa

Ah yes, the riveting tale of someone discovering Google Maps' ability to *gasp* recalculate routes in 2007 😲. Spoiler: It's not magic, just #algorithms that anyone with half a brain cell would expect from a company that maps the world. But please, continue pretending like you're unraveling the mysteries of the universe 🧠✨.
https://www.redblobgames.com/blog/2026-08-08-differential-heuristics/ #GoogleMaps #Recalculating #Discovery #Technology #Humor #Mapping #HackerNews #ngated

Ah yes, the riveting tale of someone discovering Google Maps' ability to *gasp* recalculate routes in 2007 😲. Spoiler: It's not magic, just #algorithms that anyone with half a brain cell would expect from a company that maps the world. But please, continue pretending like you're unraveling the mysteries of the universe 🧠✨.
https://www.redblobgames.com/blog/2026-08-08-differential-heuristics/ #GoogleMaps #Recalculating #Discovery #Technology #Humor #Mapping #HackerNews #ngated

Geoscience Australia: New global database advances critical minerals research. “The Critical Minerals in Ores – Mineral Chemistry database, known as CMiO-MIN, has been developed through the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI), an international partnership between Geoscience Australia, the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada. The release adds […]

Geoscience Australia: New global database advances critical minerals research. “The Critical Minerals in Ores – Mineral Chemistry database, known as CMiO-MIN, has been developed through the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI), an international partnership between Geoscience Australia, the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada. The release adds […]

Jewish Heritage Europe: Czech Republic: A new database and map that document Holocaust monuments and memorials throughout the Czech Republic has been launched. “A new database and specialized map that systematically document Holocaust monuments and memorials located throughout the Czech Republic has been launched… It currently contains 616 detailed records and more than 5,550 photographs, […]

Jewish Heritage Europe: Czech Republic: A new database and map that document Holocaust monuments and memorials throughout the Czech Republic has been launched. “A new database and specialized map that systematically document Holocaust monuments and memorials located throughout the Czech Republic has been launched… It currently contains 616 detailed records and more than 5,550 photographs, […]

Impact Of Urbanization Driven Land Use And Land Cover Change On Ecological Environmental Quality In Rupandehi Nepal Assessed Using The Remote Sensing Ecological Index
--
https://doi.org/10.1007/s44288-026-00650-y <-- shared paper
--
https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/02/18/rupandehi-s-continued-urban-sprawl-comes-at-a-cost-for-agriculture-in-the-periphery <-- shared media article
--
H/T@ Gaurav Parajulim
“[The authors] studied how the ecological quality of Nepal's Rupandehi District has changed over three decades (1993–2023), using satellite imagery and the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) to track the health of the landscape year by year and to understand how urbanization-driven land use change has reshaped it.
What [they] found tells a nuanced story: as Butwal and Bhairahawa grew and built-up land expanded, ecological quality shifted in ways that a single number can't capture, some areas recovered, others declined, and the patterns rarely moved in a straight line…”
--
“Rapid urbanization and population growth are major drivers of land use and land cover (LULC) change and can substantially alter ecological environmental quality (EEQ). This study assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of LULC and their effect on EEQ in Rupandehi District, Nepal, over a 30-year period (1993–2023). Four ecological indicators representing greenness, wetness, dryness, and heat were derived from Landsat imagery in Google Earth Engine (GEE), and LULC was classified using a Support Vector Machine (SVM). The Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) was then constructed from these indicators using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in ArcGIS Pro, and its spatial structure was examined using global and local spatial autocorrelation. The mean RSEI followed a non-linear trajectory, rising from 0.59 in 1993 to 0.635 in 2004, declining to 0.55 in 2013, and recovering to 0.67 in 2023, indicating an overall improvement in EEQ with a temporary mid-period decline. Over the same period, built-up areas expanded substantially and agricultural land declined, whereas forest cover fluctuated but showed a slight net increase by 2023, and barren land decreased markedly. Higher EEQ was concentrated in the forested northern hills, while lower values occurred in the urban centers of Butwal and Bhairahawa, closely matching the spatial pattern of LULC change. The results indicate that ecological quality reflects the combined influence of all land cover classes rather than any single class. This study provides a transferable and reproducible workflow for long-term ecological assessment based on openly available Landsat data, with the analysis code shared in a public repository, offering practical guidance for sustainable land management and environmentally responsible urban development...”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #RemoteSensing #GIS #RSEI #EnvironmentalMonitoring #Nepal #Research #GoogleEarthEngine #ArcGIS #EcologicalQuality #spatialautocorrelation #ecology #environment #earthobservation #RemoteSensingEcologicalIndex #landscape #urbanisation #urban #development #landuse #change #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal

Impact Of Urbanization Driven Land Use And Land Cover Change On Ecological Environmental Quality In Rupandehi Nepal Assessed Using The Remote Sensing Ecological Index
--
https://doi.org/10.1007/s44288-026-00650-y <-- shared paper
--
https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/02/18/rupandehi-s-continued-urban-sprawl-comes-at-a-cost-for-agriculture-in-the-periphery <-- shared media article
--
H/T@ Gaurav Parajulim
“[The authors] studied how the ecological quality of Nepal's Rupandehi District has changed over three decades (1993–2023), using satellite imagery and the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) to track the health of the landscape year by year and to understand how urbanization-driven land use change has reshaped it.
What [they] found tells a nuanced story: as Butwal and Bhairahawa grew and built-up land expanded, ecological quality shifted in ways that a single number can't capture, some areas recovered, others declined, and the patterns rarely moved in a straight line…”
--
“Rapid urbanization and population growth are major drivers of land use and land cover (LULC) change and can substantially alter ecological environmental quality (EEQ). This study assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of LULC and their effect on EEQ in Rupandehi District, Nepal, over a 30-year period (1993–2023). Four ecological indicators representing greenness, wetness, dryness, and heat were derived from Landsat imagery in Google Earth Engine (GEE), and LULC was classified using a Support Vector Machine (SVM). The Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) was then constructed from these indicators using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in ArcGIS Pro, and its spatial structure was examined using global and local spatial autocorrelation. The mean RSEI followed a non-linear trajectory, rising from 0.59 in 1993 to 0.635 in 2004, declining to 0.55 in 2013, and recovering to 0.67 in 2023, indicating an overall improvement in EEQ with a temporary mid-period decline. Over the same period, built-up areas expanded substantially and agricultural land declined, whereas forest cover fluctuated but showed a slight net increase by 2023, and barren land decreased markedly. Higher EEQ was concentrated in the forested northern hills, while lower values occurred in the urban centers of Butwal and Bhairahawa, closely matching the spatial pattern of LULC change. The results indicate that ecological quality reflects the combined influence of all land cover classes rather than any single class. This study provides a transferable and reproducible workflow for long-term ecological assessment based on openly available Landsat data, with the analysis code shared in a public repository, offering practical guidance for sustainable land management and environmentally responsible urban development...”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #RemoteSensing #GIS #RSEI #EnvironmentalMonitoring #Nepal #Research #GoogleEarthEngine #ArcGIS #EcologicalQuality #spatialautocorrelation #ecology #environment #earthobservation #RemoteSensingEcologicalIndex #landscape #urbanisation #urban #development #landuse #change #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal

Geospatial Analysis of Carbon Offset Projects - A Broader Scientific Outlook
--
https://www.eldhollow.com/blogs/geospatial-analysis-of-carbon-offset-projects <-- shared technical blog
--
[this post should not be considered an endorsement of a particular organisation, rather scrutinising the spatial use case & technical approach]
H/T @kyle Arvisais | Forest Carbon Scientist
“Geospatial analysis is at the core of [the H/T’s company’s] project quality assessments, and [the author is] constantly finding ways to make the pipeline better and ways to use it. [They are] obviously not the only one who uses these types of tools, but to be perfectly honest, the quality of models [they have] seen over the years has been all over the place.
This blog makes a casual introduction to [their] pipeline while talking about the field at large…”
--
“The world has committed to protecting and restoring nature at an unprecedented scale. Whether that commitment delivers what it promises comes down project execution on the ground. Local socioeconomics and forest ecology intertwine to create complex challenges for projects to overcome during implementation, and at the end of the day, projects boil all of these complexities down to one single unit: the carbon credit. So the question becomes: can we actually measure what is happening to a forest, accurately and honestly, and everywhere at once?
For a long time, the honest answer has been no. Historically, many forest carbon projects overstated their impact. Usually it was because the baseline was too generous, or because the measurements underneath were flawed. For anyone with a stake in nature markets, that uncertainty is one of the core risks.
Robust geospatial analysis can help mitigate that risk. If you treat a carbon credit as what it really is, a scientific claim, then we can hold it to that standard and assess it objectively. [Their] geospatial pipeline turns satellite data and ground truth data into models about how much forest is standing, how it is changing, and what might put it at risk in the future. The pipeline does this anywhere on Earth…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #usecase #carbonoffset #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #qualityassessment #objectivity #projectpipeline #model #modeling #application #nature #environment #ecosystems #ecology #local #regional #factors #socioeconomics #forestecology #vegetation #forest #tree #carboncredit #climatechange #climatecrisis #forestcarbonprojects #global

Geospatial Analysis of Carbon Offset Projects - A Broader Scientific Outlook
--
https://www.eldhollow.com/blogs/geospatial-analysis-of-carbon-offset-projects <-- shared technical blog
--
[this post should not be considered an endorsement of a particular organisation, rather scrutinising the spatial use case & technical approach]
H/T @kyle Arvisais | Forest Carbon Scientist
“Geospatial analysis is at the core of [the H/T’s company’s] project quality assessments, and [the author is] constantly finding ways to make the pipeline better and ways to use it. [They are] obviously not the only one who uses these types of tools, but to be perfectly honest, the quality of models [they have] seen over the years has been all over the place.
This blog makes a casual introduction to [their] pipeline while talking about the field at large…”
--
“The world has committed to protecting and restoring nature at an unprecedented scale. Whether that commitment delivers what it promises comes down project execution on the ground. Local socioeconomics and forest ecology intertwine to create complex challenges for projects to overcome during implementation, and at the end of the day, projects boil all of these complexities down to one single unit: the carbon credit. So the question becomes: can we actually measure what is happening to a forest, accurately and honestly, and everywhere at once?
For a long time, the honest answer has been no. Historically, many forest carbon projects overstated their impact. Usually it was because the baseline was too generous, or because the measurements underneath were flawed. For anyone with a stake in nature markets, that uncertainty is one of the core risks.
Robust geospatial analysis can help mitigate that risk. If you treat a carbon credit as what it really is, a scientific claim, then we can hold it to that standard and assess it objectively. [Their] geospatial pipeline turns satellite data and ground truth data into models about how much forest is standing, how it is changing, and what might put it at risk in the future. The pipeline does this anywhere on Earth…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #usecase #carbonoffset #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #qualityassessment #objectivity #projectpipeline #model #modeling #application #nature #environment #ecosystems #ecology #local #regional #factors #socioeconomics #forestecology #vegetation #forest #tree #carboncredit #climatechange #climatecrisis #forestcarbonprojects #global

Introducing the #AI #Assistant (Beta) on https://Esri.com https://tinyurl.com/yx4ae5he

#spatial #location #intelligence #analysis #search #GIS #esri #arcgis #mapping #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esritraining @arcgispro @arcgisonline @urisa

Introducing the #AI #Assistant (Beta) on https://Esri.com https://tinyurl.com/yx4ae5he

#spatial #location #intelligence #analysis #search #GIS #esri #arcgis #mapping #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esritraining @arcgispro @arcgisonline @urisa

Better late than never... @[email protected]'s weeklyOSM 837 for the week's geospatial highlights: Victor Rotariu's Cool routing mode (thermal-aware cycling!), a South Korean shade-finding navigation app, CoMaps 2026.07.16 with improved routing, and HeiGIT's ohsome API 2.0 roadmap.

#OpenStreetMap #Geospatial #Mapping
https://weeklyosm.eu/archives/18779

Better late than never... @[email protected]'s weeklyOSM 837 for the week's geospatial highlights: Victor Rotariu's Cool routing mode (thermal-aware cycling!), a South Korean shade-finding navigation app, CoMaps 2026.07.16 with improved routing, and HeiGIT's ohsome API 2.0 roadmap.

#OpenStreetMap #Geospatial #Mapping
https://weeklyosm.eu/archives/18779

Reposted from @mapeoabierto_la:

🚨 Activación de Mapeo | Lanzamos una respuesta coordinada de mapeo comunitario para mejorar el mapa base de las áreas más afectadas y apoyar a los equipos en terreno.

🗺️ ¿Cómo puedes ayudar?
1️⃣ Sumándote a mapear edificios en San José del Palmar, Chocó, a través del Tasking Manager 👉 https://tasks.hotosm.org/explore?campaign=2026+Colombia+Earthquake&omitMapResults=1

#ColombiaEarthquake #OpenStreetMap #opendata #mapping

Reposted from @mapeoabierto_la:

🚨 Activación de Mapeo | Lanzamos una respuesta coordinada de mapeo comunitario para mejorar el mapa base de las áreas más afectadas y apoyar a los equipos en terreno.

🗺️ ¿Cómo puedes ayudar?
1️⃣ Sumándote a mapear edificios en San José del Palmar, Chocó, a través del Tasking Manager 👉 https://tasks.hotosm.org/explore?campaign=2026+Colombia+Earthquake&omitMapResults=1

#ColombiaEarthquake #OpenStreetMap #opendata #mapping

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Following the Fire Enhanced Data Strengthens Digital Conservation Decision-Making. “The SE FireMap Viewer 2.0is a geospatial platform tool that helps land managers, fire practitioners, and conservation partners better understand where wildfires and prescribed fires are happening across the Southeast. The latest version significantly expands on its […]

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Following the Fire Enhanced Data Strengthens Digital Conservation Decision-Making. “The SE FireMap Viewer 2.0is a geospatial platform tool that helps land managers, fire practitioners, and conservation partners better understand where wildfires and prescribed fires are happening across the Southeast. The latest version significantly expands on its […]

Neat wildfire mapping resource for the Southeast US

h/t @researchbuzz

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/our-agency/news/following-the-fire-enhanced-data-strengthens-digital-conservation-decision-making

#wildfires #gis #mapping

Neat wildfire mapping resource for the Southeast US

h/t @researchbuzz

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/our-agency/news/following-the-fire-enhanced-data-strengthens-digital-conservation-decision-making

#wildfires #gis #mapping

Taxi Drivers Rarely Die Of Alzheimer’s – How Complex Mental Maps And Spatial Reasoning Protect Your Brain [why knowing your way around might help you stay sharp]
--
https://theconversation.com/taxi-drivers-rarely-die-of-alzheimers-how-complex-mental-maps-and-spatial-reasoning-protect-your-brain-286650 <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-082194 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-018-0031-x <-- shared paper
--
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london <-- details of @Transport for London’s ‘The Knowledge’ details
--
https://youtu.be/u7gp8KBP7ak?si=X1xXcysZF2LayFkx <-- shared video, ‘The People Who Have To Remember 25,000 Streets | The [London] Knowledge - The World's Toughest Taxi Test’
--
H/T @ Jennifer Psillas, GISP | GIS Project Manager at City of Tucson Parks and Recreation
“Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer’s disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S…
Of the 9 million death certificates from January 2020 to December 2022 that researchers examined, taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease out of 443 occupations. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity and education, roughly 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers died of Alzheimer’s, compared with 1 in 60 people overall.
This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs. The researchers concluded that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn’t seem to experience a similar advantage.
Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.
In one landmark 2000 study [link above], neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. To earn a license, London cabbies must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as “The Knowledge” that takes three to four years…”
#spatialnavigation #orientation #mental #acuity #taxi #ambulance #paramedic #TheKnowledge #London #UK #Alzheimer #mapping #mentalmaps #spatialmapping #navigation #spatialreasoning #brain #hippocampus #brainhealth #death #mortality #disease #publichealth #scans #occupation #job

Taxi Drivers Rarely Die Of Alzheimer’s – How Complex Mental Maps And Spatial Reasoning Protect Your Brain [why knowing your way around might help you stay sharp]
--
https://theconversation.com/taxi-drivers-rarely-die-of-alzheimers-how-complex-mental-maps-and-spatial-reasoning-protect-your-brain-286650 <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-082194 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-018-0031-x <-- shared paper
--
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london <-- details of @Transport for London’s ‘The Knowledge’ details
--
https://youtu.be/u7gp8KBP7ak?si=X1xXcysZF2LayFkx <-- shared video, ‘The People Who Have To Remember 25,000 Streets | The [London] Knowledge - The World's Toughest Taxi Test’
--
H/T @ Jennifer Psillas, GISP | GIS Project Manager at City of Tucson Parks and Recreation
“Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer’s disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S…
Of the 9 million death certificates from January 2020 to December 2022 that researchers examined, taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease out of 443 occupations. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity and education, roughly 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers died of Alzheimer’s, compared with 1 in 60 people overall.
This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs. The researchers concluded that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn’t seem to experience a similar advantage.
Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.
In one landmark 2000 study [link above], neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. To earn a license, London cabbies must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as “The Knowledge” that takes three to four years…”
#spatialnavigation #orientation #mental #acuity #taxi #ambulance #paramedic #TheKnowledge #London #UK #Alzheimer #mapping #mentalmaps #spatialmapping #navigation #spatialreasoning #brain #hippocampus #brainhealth #death #mortality #disease #publichealth #scans #occupation #job

WHEN YOU ‘JUST’ WANT TO COLLECT SOME SPATIAL DATA! 😊
--
Australian Researchers Fitted Five Magpies With GPS Trackers To Map Their Movements, But The Birds Began Removing One Another’s Harnesses Within Minutes, Turning A Failed Trial Into An Unexpected Observation Of Cooperation
(When researchers tried to track Australian magpies, the birds turned the tables—systematically removing each other's harnesses and revealing something far more interesting than GPS coordinates.)
--
https://youtu.be/mM0j_GybEKw?si=GE3sFw00iXSDMlI0 <-- shared video
--
https://spacedaily.com/t-australian-researchers-fitted-five-magpies-with-gps-trackers-to-map-their-movements-but-the-birds-began-removing-one-anothers-harnesses-within-minutes-turning-a-failed-trial-into-an-unexpected-obser/ <-- shared technical article
--
http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo39007011 <-- shared paper
--
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-22/magpies-show-cooperative-behaviour-by-removing-tracking-device/100851458 <-- shared media article
--
[the Aussie magpies need SWAG on their GPS harness!]
“Researchers in Queensland fitted five Australian magpies with tiny GPS trackers, hoping to map their movements and social relationships. The [mischief] had other plans.
Within about ten minutes, an untagged adult female was using her bill to work at the harness on a juvenile. The tracker came off. Nearby, another magpie was helping a second tagged bird on a powerline. Devices that had been designed to stay attached for weeks disappeared within minutes to days.
[The author] like[s] this story partly because it resists the tidy distinction between a successful experiment and a failed one. The researchers lost the movement data they went looking for, but the birds produced an observation nobody had planned…”
--
“Recent advances in tracking technology have enabled devices such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers to be used on a wide variety of birds. Although there are established ethical considerations to these processes, different species may react differently to particular devices and attachments. Thus, pilot studies are still of utmost importance in this field. Here, [the authors] describe one such study trialling a novel harness design for GPS tracking devices on Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen. Despite previous testing demonstrating the strength and durability of the harness, devices were removed within minutes to hours of initial fitting. Notably, removal was observed to involve one bird snapping another bird’s harness at the only weak point, such that the tracker was released. This behaviour demonstrates both cooperation and a moderate level of problem solving, providing potential further evidence of the cognitive abilities of this species. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the conspecific removal of GPS trackers, and should be considered when planning future tracking studies especially on highly social species…”
#rescuebehaviour #altruism #WhereTheAnimalsAre #wildlife #tracking #spatialanalysis #bird #magpie #Australia #Queensland #research #GPS #tracker #harness #removal #ecosystems #GIS #logging #monitoring #spatial #mapping #social #species #behaviour #cooperation #problemsolving #cognitiveabilities #conspecific #biology

WHEN YOU ‘JUST’ WANT TO COLLECT SOME SPATIAL DATA! 😊
--
Australian Researchers Fitted Five Magpies With GPS Trackers To Map Their Movements, But The Birds Began Removing One Another’s Harnesses Within Minutes, Turning A Failed Trial Into An Unexpected Observation Of Cooperation
(When researchers tried to track Australian magpies, the birds turned the tables—systematically removing each other's harnesses and revealing something far more interesting than GPS coordinates.)
--
https://youtu.be/mM0j_GybEKw?si=GE3sFw00iXSDMlI0 <-- shared video
--
https://spacedaily.com/t-australian-researchers-fitted-five-magpies-with-gps-trackers-to-map-their-movements-but-the-birds-began-removing-one-anothers-harnesses-within-minutes-turning-a-failed-trial-into-an-unexpected-obser/ <-- shared technical article
--
http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo39007011 <-- shared paper
--
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-22/magpies-show-cooperative-behaviour-by-removing-tracking-device/100851458 <-- shared media article
--
[the Aussie magpies need SWAG on their GPS harness!]
“Researchers in Queensland fitted five Australian magpies with tiny GPS trackers, hoping to map their movements and social relationships. The [mischief] had other plans.
Within about ten minutes, an untagged adult female was using her bill to work at the harness on a juvenile. The tracker came off. Nearby, another magpie was helping a second tagged bird on a powerline. Devices that had been designed to stay attached for weeks disappeared within minutes to days.
[The author] like[s] this story partly because it resists the tidy distinction between a successful experiment and a failed one. The researchers lost the movement data they went looking for, but the birds produced an observation nobody had planned…”
--
“Recent advances in tracking technology have enabled devices such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers to be used on a wide variety of birds. Although there are established ethical considerations to these processes, different species may react differently to particular devices and attachments. Thus, pilot studies are still of utmost importance in this field. Here, [the authors] describe one such study trialling a novel harness design for GPS tracking devices on Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen. Despite previous testing demonstrating the strength and durability of the harness, devices were removed within minutes to hours of initial fitting. Notably, removal was observed to involve one bird snapping another bird’s harness at the only weak point, such that the tracker was released. This behaviour demonstrates both cooperation and a moderate level of problem solving, providing potential further evidence of the cognitive abilities of this species. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the conspecific removal of GPS trackers, and should be considered when planning future tracking studies especially on highly social species…”
#rescuebehaviour #altruism #WhereTheAnimalsAre #wildlife #tracking #spatialanalysis #bird #magpie #Australia #Queensland #research #GPS #tracker #harness #removal #ecosystems #GIS #logging #monitoring #spatial #mapping #social #species #behaviour #cooperation #problemsolving #cognitiveabilities #conspecific #biology

📅 12th August
🕕 6:00 PM onwards
📍 Birkbeck, London

🔗 Speaker profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teffen
🔗 RSVP & details: https://lgm.jsonsingh.com

Join us for an evening of geospatial talks, practical ideas, and community discussion. Please spread the word! 🌍

#LondonGeoMeetup #LGM5 #Geospatial #GIS #GeoAI #Geocoding #MachineLearning #WebDevelopment #OpenSource #LondonTech #Mapping

RE: https://mstdn.science/@MarcAbrahams/117068392054257205

Can mental mapping work reduce the chance of Alzheimers?

The especially low rates Alzheimers in taxi drivers suggest it might.

#mapping #gischat

RE: https://mstdn.science/@MarcAbrahams/117068392054257205

Can mental mapping work reduce the chance of Alzheimers?

The especially low rates Alzheimers in taxi drivers suggest it might.

#mapping #gischat

#ArcGIS: Enterprise-Grade #GIS Built to Scale https://tinyurl.com/b2ve7xyc

#location #business #spatial #intelligence #enterpriseGIS #esri #mapping #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esriblog @esritraining @urisa

#ArcGIS: Enterprise-Grade #GIS Built to Scale https://tinyurl.com/b2ve7xyc

#location #business #spatial #intelligence #enterpriseGIS #esri #mapping #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esriblog @esritraining @urisa

MapLibre GL JS 6.0 is out: ESM-only, WebGL2-required, and fully freed from Mapbox heritage. Sixteen breaking changes mark the library's evolution into its own identity. If you build location features on MapLibre, this one requires attention.

#maplibre #mapping #webdev

https://latlong.blog/2026/07/maplibre-gl-js-60-esm-only-webgl2-required-and-finally-mapbox-free.html

MapLibre GL JS 6.0 is out: ESM-only, WebGL2-required, and fully freed from Mapbox heritage. Sixteen breaking changes mark the library's evolution into its own identity. If you build location features on MapLibre, this one requires attention.

#maplibre #mapping #webdev

https://latlong.blog/2026/07/maplibre-gl-js-60-esm-only-webgl2-required-and-finally-mapbox-free.html

As finding and modifying Minoan assets for an isometric map for a gamejam was exhausting I'm doing it again to find things for a spacecraft, and I'm entertained by using business clip art. Some of these would give a deckplan a really bizarre retro 50s vibe

#isometric #mapping #deckplans

As finding and modifying Minoan assets for an isometric map for a gamejam was exhausting I'm doing it again to find things for a spacecraft, and I'm entertained by using business clip art. Some of these would give a deckplan a really bizarre retro 50s vibe

#isometric #mapping #deckplans

Spotted on Maproom Blog: Reading Maps. From the About page: “Reading Maps came out of a nagging thought that every story has happened somewhere. Odysseus crossed a real sea. The Pequod sailed real water. Phileas Fogg’s eighty days ran on real railways and real steamer lines and that you could follow him in a way. However when you read a book, all that geography stays locked in your head. Once […]

Spotted on Maproom Blog: Reading Maps. From the About page: “Reading Maps came out of a nagging thought that every story has happened somewhere. Odysseus crossed a real sea. The Pequod sailed real water. Phileas Fogg’s eighty days ran on real railways and real steamer lines and that you could follow him in a way. However when you read a book, all that geography stays locked in your head. Once […]

Ars Technica: Europe’s free satellite service just made it easier to track wildfires. “The three satellites of the Sentinel-2 mission have proven especially useful for wildfire monitoring by providing multi-spectral imaging at resolutions as granular as 10 meters in visible light and near-infrared bands—and the Copernicus Browser previously offered 10 default visualization layers using […]

Ars Technica: Europe’s free satellite service just made it easier to track wildfires. “The three satellites of the Sentinel-2 mission have proven especially useful for wildfire monitoring by providing multi-spectral imaging at resolutions as granular as 10 meters in visible light and near-infrared bands—and the Copernicus Browser previously offered 10 default visualization layers using […]

Eight British And Irish Accent Maps | Map Of British English Dialects
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https://starkeycomics.com/2024/05/10/eight-british-and-irish-accent-maps/ <-- shared technical article
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https://starkeycomics.com/2023/11/07/map-of-british-english-dialects/ <-- shared technical article
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https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-11642588 <-- shared media article
--
H/T @Milan Janosov
[as a kiwi, and after seeing the ‘scone’ pronunciation in particular, I do wonder how this might translate down to the antipodes; as a barman working in London in my (much) younger days – because we all do! 😉 – hearing the huge variety of accents from a relatively small country – but with a rich history of course – was glorious, still is to me! I am also curious how people trying to ‘not to be common’ & hence trying pretentiously to emulate the Received Pronunciation (RP) / BBC English – and failing - plays into this… Now say the letter “H” out loud, if you said “aitch" then that is you 😉 :* 😊 )
“Eight maps to show how the differences in how vowels are pronounced in Britain and Ireland… These are just some of the many, many regional differences in the complex and varied accents and dialects of these [British Isles]…”
--
“… The diversity of English dialects in the United Kingdom is enormous.
It’s common for people from either side of a river, mountain, or even town to speak noticeably different ways, with particular features that immediately mark someone out as being from a specific area, to those who have an ear for it.
This is pretty normal in any large region that has been speaking a language continually for 1600 years. You will find the same thing in Germany, Norway, France, and countless other countries. Languages evolve over time, and physical distance between regions means that new features often spread slowly, leading to dialectal differences. Sometimes these differences are small, and only easily recognised by people from the relevant region. Other times there are very clear distinctions, with neighbouring dialects sounding almost like different languages to those unaccustomed to them...”
#map #mapping #spatial #Rhoticity #poorpour #horsehoarse #bathtrap #footstrut #goosefoot #fullfool #greatscone #UK #Britain #Ireland #pronunciation #linguistics #regional #variations #differences #vowels #language #English #England #accents #Northern #dialects
@ryan Starkey

Eight British And Irish Accent Maps | Map Of British English Dialects
--
https://starkeycomics.com/2024/05/10/eight-british-and-irish-accent-maps/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://starkeycomics.com/2023/11/07/map-of-british-english-dialects/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-11642588 <-- shared media article
--
H/T @Milan Janosov
[as a kiwi, and after seeing the ‘scone’ pronunciation in particular, I do wonder how this might translate down to the antipodes; as a barman working in London in my (much) younger days – because we all do! 😉 – hearing the huge variety of accents from a relatively small country – but with a rich history of course – was glorious, still is to me! I am also curious how people trying to ‘not to be common’ & hence trying pretentiously to emulate the Received Pronunciation (RP) / BBC English – and failing - plays into this… Now say the letter “H” out loud, if you said “aitch" then that is you 😉 :* 😊 )
“Eight maps to show how the differences in how vowels are pronounced in Britain and Ireland… These are just some of the many, many regional differences in the complex and varied accents and dialects of these [British Isles]…”
--
“… The diversity of English dialects in the United Kingdom is enormous.
It’s common for people from either side of a river, mountain, or even town to speak noticeably different ways, with particular features that immediately mark someone out as being from a specific area, to those who have an ear for it.
This is pretty normal in any large region that has been speaking a language continually for 1600 years. You will find the same thing in Germany, Norway, France, and countless other countries. Languages evolve over time, and physical distance between regions means that new features often spread slowly, leading to dialectal differences. Sometimes these differences are small, and only easily recognised by people from the relevant region. Other times there are very clear distinctions, with neighbouring dialects sounding almost like different languages to those unaccustomed to them...”
#map #mapping #spatial #Rhoticity #poorpour #horsehoarse #bathtrap #footstrut #goosefoot #fullfool #greatscone #UK #Britain #Ireland #pronunciation #linguistics #regional #variations #differences #vowels #language #English #England #accents #Northern #dialects
@ryan Starkey

SOME SHARED SPATIAL/GIS ROLES & OPPORTUNITIES
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w/e August 7th, 2026 | GLOBAL but North America focused (as currently based there)
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https://earthstuff.substack.com/p/some-shared-spatialgis-roles-and-854
--
• I am NOT associated with HR/recruiting in ANY way
• Therefore, these are NOT endorsements, and there are no ‘referrals’ or the like for me
• I am simply sharing SOME roles I have seen – in the hope that they are of use to someone
• As such, I am not (and indeed can not) in any way ‘vet’ these roles (i.e., you are advised to conduct your own due diligence due to hideous, potential risks like fraudulent postings, ‘ghost jobs’, résumé/ATS ‘improvement’ scammers, etc)
• Further, roles listed are in no specific order (i.e., simply as I ‘encountered’ them during the week)
• There is ZERO cost to access this list of spatial / GIS roles
• I am not (really) ‘mining’ US Federal government roles - with the ‘hiring freeze’, uncertainty, etc
• You can subscribe to the (free) weekly LinkedIn newsletter www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7397678824928366594 or also for free at earthstuff.Substack.com - if so inclined

#fridayjobs #gischat #jobsonfriday #GIS #spatial #mapping #cartography #geography #job #jobopenings #hiring #newjob #employment #roles #GISJobs #NotARecruiter #fridayspatialjobs #scholarship #PhD #PostDoc #CareersInSpatial #career #openroles #Geomatics #GIS #Innovation #Growth #caveatNONemptor #LetsGetYouHired #GISCareer #GISStudents #PhD #postdoc #hiringalert #GISjobs #careeropportunity #NowHiring #spatialanalysis #GIS #Geospatial #GISSpecialist #Geomatics #OpenToWork

SOME SHARED SPATIAL/GIS ROLES & OPPORTUNITIES
--
w/e August 7th, 2026 | GLOBAL but North America focused (as currently based there)
--
https://earthstuff.substack.com/p/some-shared-spatialgis-roles-and-854
--
• I am NOT associated with HR/recruiting in ANY way
• Therefore, these are NOT endorsements, and there are no ‘referrals’ or the like for me
• I am simply sharing SOME roles I have seen – in the hope that they are of use to someone
• As such, I am not (and indeed can not) in any way ‘vet’ these roles (i.e., you are advised to conduct your own due diligence due to hideous, potential risks like fraudulent postings, ‘ghost jobs’, résumé/ATS ‘improvement’ scammers, etc)
• Further, roles listed are in no specific order (i.e., simply as I ‘encountered’ them during the week)
• There is ZERO cost to access this list of spatial / GIS roles
• I am not (really) ‘mining’ US Federal government roles - with the ‘hiring freeze’, uncertainty, etc
• You can subscribe to the (free) weekly LinkedIn newsletter www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7397678824928366594 or also for free at earthstuff.Substack.com - if so inclined

#fridayjobs #gischat #jobsonfriday #GIS #spatial #mapping #cartography #geography #job #jobopenings #hiring #newjob #employment #roles #GISJobs #NotARecruiter #fridayspatialjobs #scholarship #PhD #PostDoc #CareersInSpatial #career #openroles #Geomatics #GIS #Innovation #Growth #caveatNONemptor #LetsGetYouHired #GISCareer #GISStudents #PhD #postdoc #hiringalert #GISjobs #careeropportunity #NowHiring #spatialanalysis #GIS #Geospatial #GISSpecialist #Geomatics #OpenToWork

Stony Brook University: Mapping Eight Decades of Long Island Land-Use Change with AI. “The students… explored how large language models with computer-vision capabilities could help identify urban areas, roads, and non-urban land in the historical imagery. Using AI-generated classifications, they documented substantial development in the study areas including an increase in urban area from 8.5 […]

Stony Brook University: Mapping Eight Decades of Long Island Land-Use Change with AI. “The students… explored how large language models with computer-vision capabilities could help identify urban areas, roads, and non-urban land in the historical imagery. Using AI-generated classifications, they documented substantial development in the study areas including an increase in urban area from 8.5 […]

Build Your Own Solution with the #ArcGIS Solutions Assistant https://tinyurl.com/m5fcben

#AI #apps #GIS #esri #mapping #analysis #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esriblog @esritraining @urisa

Build Your Own Solution with the #ArcGIS Solutions Assistant https://tinyurl.com/m5fcben

#AI #apps #GIS #esri #mapping #analysis #GISchat #geospatial @esri @esrifederalgovt @esrislgov @esriblog @esritraining @urisa

Our full 2026 control map report for #Somalia is still a ways out, but subscribers can now see an April 15 version of the map:

https://www.polgeonow.com/2026/07/somalia-civil-war-map-2026.html

What do you want to know about territorial control in Somalia?

#HornOfAfrica #conflicttracking #conflictmapping #map #mapping #cartography #Somaliland #Khaatumo #Puntland #AlShabaab #AlQaeda #geopolitics #maps #Africa #geography #ISIS #ISIL #security #refugees #humanitarian #GulfOfAden @geography @geopolitics @cartography

Our full 2026 control map report for #Somalia is still a ways out, but subscribers can now see an April 15 version of the map:

https://www.polgeonow.com/2026/07/somalia-civil-war-map-2026.html

What do you want to know about territorial control in Somalia?

#HornOfAfrica #conflicttracking #conflictmapping #map #mapping #cartography #Somaliland #Khaatumo #Puntland #AlShabaab #AlQaeda #geopolitics #maps #Africa #geography #ISIS #ISIL #security #refugees #humanitarian #GulfOfAden @geography @geopolitics @cartography

FREE Virtual Webinar - Map Intelligence – Map Reading and Interpretation for Informed Citizens
Monday, August 10 • 12 PM - 1:15 PM MDT US
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https://www.eventbrite.com/e/map-intelligence-map-reading-and-interpretation-for-informed-citizens-tickets-1993479415595 <-- shared event details
--

H/T @GregoryBabinski
“Whether you're a curious beginner or just want to sharpen your spatial smarts, this session is perfect for becoming a more informed citizen. Dive into the world of maps and learn tips and tricks to navigate and understand any map like a pro. Don't miss out on this fun, interactive online experience!
Maps are a form of language that needs to be learned to be understood.
Everyone says ‘oh, I have GPS in my car or on my phone…’ But GPS is really just a mathematical monkey trick to send your approximate location from satellites to display on a map of the world. Without the map, GPS has limited value.
Maps, as much as any form of media, contain a wealth of data, information, and knowledge about the world that we inhabit. But to decode that information, we need map intelligence.
Map intelligence is the ability of a map user to decode the information about the world that the map maker (cartographer) is trying to convey to us.
Why is this important? We encounter maps almost every day. From the ubiquitous daily weather map of our region, to maps we find in our history or current affairs books, maps that tell us where to vote and who we can vote for, maps presented by developers, or policy advocates to our elected officials, maps are important for our lives. Studies show that 50% of all local government employees use maps in some form for their work.
This free, 75-minute online workshop introduces the basic knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to interpret the maps that you encounter in your life.’’
#spatial #mapping #FREE #webinar #mapintelligence #mapreading #navigation #education #learning #broadfocus #onlinelearning #map #spatialdata

The Latest Data Confirms - Forest Fires Are Getting Worse
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https://www.wri.org/insights/global-trends-forest-fires <-- shared technical article
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http://alturl.com/efp6m <-- shared (focused) #GlobalNatureWatch web map
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https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/wildfires-and-climate-change/ <-- shared NASA technical article, ‘Wildfires and Climate Change’
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https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.825190 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505418122 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add606 <-- shared paper
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https://globalnaturewatch.org/dashboards/global/ <-- shared Global Nature Watch dashboard
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https://youtu.be/-0-pv1Bqm-U?si=IHcZJNiVphosbeVt <-- shared overview video
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https://grist.org/wildfires/the-us-has-lost-a-quarter-of-its-forest-cover-to-fire-since-2001/ <-- shared technical article, ‘Fire is responsible for a quarter of US forest loss since 2021’
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/climate/wri-report-forest-loss.html <-- shared media article
--
H/T @ World Resources Institute
[‘topical’ - Europe, North America, indeed globally, more & more…]
“New data shows that forest fires are getting worse, burning more than twice as much tree cover today as they did 20 years ago, largely due to climate change…
The latest data [2nd link above] confirms [that] forest fires are becoming more widespread and destructive around the globe. Updated data from researchers [3rd link above] shows that between 2001 and 2025 forest fires now burn over twice as much tree cover each year as they did two decades ago, and more than three times as much in the tropics.
This increased fire activity has been starkly visible in recent years. Record-setting blazes are becoming the norm, with four of the five worst years for global forest fires occurring since 2021. As fires worsen - including in historically low-risk areas, like rainforests - they are becoming an increasingly prevalent driver of global forest loss…”
#GlobalForestWatch #GlobalNatureWatch #deforestation #fire #wildfire #forest #vegetation #climatechange #risk #hazard #loss #ecosystems #GIS #spatial #mapping #remotesensing #earthobservation #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #global #worldwide #forestfire #damage #destruction #fireactivity #forestLOSS
@WRI | @Global Nature Watch