There is no denying it. We are one bloodthirsty species. With this app from Nodegoat you can discover all of mankind's battles in one interactive map. The data has been scraped off Wikipedia for all articles relating to a battle that has both a location and a date. Using the app you can focus on a particular country or historical period, or change the slider and watch the carnage unfold. If you like this app then you might also like the video at the end of this post. Visions of the Ring
Frodo and Strider, on their way for a pint at Bree.
Ever read Lord of the Rings and felt the need to track both Frodo's journey and the location of the Ringwraiths simultaneously? Well, probably not, but now you can anyway, with Visions of the Ring thanks to Hayoo. With this app you can plot the timeline of the classic book and the location of the main protagonists and antagonists, thanks to some careful research using the Appendix and other sources. Definitely plus one geek experience point awarded to Hayoo. Solar Beat
Solar beat, like a big cosmic record player, far out, maaaan!
What is the sound of the solar system? Whitevinyl design present Solar beat, a musical orrery. Watch the orbits of the planets around the sun, each one making a different tone as it passes a line from the sun in to interstellar space (which presumably represents the first of January). The result is a haunting and beautiful melody. Do check it out now. You can alter the speed at which time passes in this solar system, and the number of years that have elapsed is displayed on the dashboard at the bottom.
Some are easy to spot, but I did struggle to find Andorra.
This web app from Sheppard Software tests your knowledge of European geography. The name of a country is displayed or spoken and it is up to you to find it on the map, scoring points for correct matches. Sheppard Software have countless other fun educational quizzes on their site.
Ventusky is a brilliant animated weather map app with plenty to play around with from rain, snow cover wind speed etc.
Hurricane Hermine battering the coast of America right now
Video time
The world population has grown by 0.8 billion people over the past decade. This number is equivalent to more than the population of the United Kingdom each year, or four Americas each decade. Watch the World's population grow from 1CE to the present day and beyond in under 6 minutes.
Isao Hashimoto's map shows a time lapse of every atomic explosion from 1945-1998 with the size of the dot proportional to the atomic yield of the explosion.
Watch a timelapse of every significant battle from 1000AD to the present. The size of each explosion is related to the severity of the fighting.
