Crossing Boundaries

Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet.

As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere -- and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world's knowledge about life.

Life on Earth faces a crisis of historical and planetary proportions. Unsustainable consumption in many northern countries and crushing poverty in the tropics are destroying wild nature. Biodiversity is besieged.

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico has begun to make landfall in Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands. Nancy Rabalais, director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, says the spill's effects on the larger Gulf ecosystem could last for years.

Up next, 30,000 species under the sea. A few years ago, marine biologists working off the coast of Oregon collected samples of seawater from the very deepest parts of the ocean there at two sites near an active ocean floor volcano. And once the samples are brought to the surface, biologists on the other side of the country, in Massachusetts, analyzed the samples to find out what kinds of microbes were living at the bottom of the ocean. And what they found was astonishing. An amazing array of microbes, more than 30,000 species many, which were never - have never been seen before. They are new to science. The results of that analysis were published earlier this month in the journal Science.

Around the world, once-giant ecosystems have been cut up into tiny fragments. Islands of habitat have been left on the land that can be wiped by a single storm.

We live in the Global Location Age. "Where am I?" is being replaced by, "Where am I in relation to everything else?" The Geospatial Revolution Project is an integrated public service media and outreach initiative about the world of digital mapping and how it is changing the way we think, behave, and interact. Mission The mission of the Geospatial Revolution Project is to expand public knowledge about the history, applications, related privacy and legal issues, and the potential future of location-based technologies. Geospatial information influences nearly everything. Seamless layers of satellites, surveillance, and location-based technologies create a worldwide geographic knowledge base vital to solving myriad social and environmental problems in the interconnected global community. We count on these technologies to: * fight climate change * map populations across continents, countries, and communities * track disease * strengthen bonds between cultures * assist first responders in protecting safety * enable democracy * navigate our personal lives

"OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth. "

"The power of geographic and spatial information design is often an untapped resource. Much work done by advocacy organisations has some "spatial" element to it and includes data that can, when approached creatively, be easier to explore and understand when mapped or displayed visually. However, until recently, using computer mapping technologies proved to be incredibly challenging, expensive and time consuming and therefore often inappropriate for small and medium-sized organisations."

"We often think of rivers as following a given path for the course of its life, but really, the path changes over time as the flow cuts into the earth. The water flows through old and new and back again. In 1944, cartographer Harold Fisk mapped the current Mississippi River. It's the white trail. Then Fisk used old geological maps to display old paths. They're the old colored paths. And what you get is this long run of windy, snake-like things."

"Wikis are an exceptionally useful tool for getting students more involved in curriculum. They're often appealing and fun for students to use, while at the same time ideal for encouraging participation, collaboration, and interaction. Read on to see how you can put wikis to work in your classroom."

"Distracted by a mysterious rash of dying bees, researchers may be overlooking a more insidious pollinator crisis. It has little to do with bees and everything to do with booming markets from pears, raspberries, and chocolate."

NatureServe and its network of member programs are a leading source for reliable scientific information about species and ecosystems of the Western Hemisphere. This site serves as a portal for accessing several types of publicly available biodiversity data.