Koshland Science Museum’s online interactive sheds new light on world trends

The Marian Koshland Science Museum has launched an online, interactive exhibit that reveals fascinating stories about the world by allowing people to view changes in energy use around the world. The display, “Lights at Night,” provides a navigable, astronaut’s-eye view of the Earth at night using satellite data that spans a decade. Comparing the differences in energy use over time can starkly illustrate trends about people’s economic, political, and living situations in many different regions of the world.
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Created with satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “Lights at Night” allows users to zoom in on one particular region of the world or view the entire Earth to see energy use in each of three different years; 1993, 1997, and 2003. Several features allow for comparisons between specific years. For example, viewers who hone in on Northern India can see how energy use has increased as the area’s population and economic fortune has grown. Viewing the stark differences between light use in North Korea and South Korea tells a different story about poverty and economic prosperity in the two countries. In addition, users can even spot such details as the lights from fishing vessels off the coast of Asia.

Source: Marian Koshland Science Museum (via The National Academies)

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 and is filed under New Websites and Resources, Science, Source File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.