Science on a Sphere

By Bill Korbel

I mentioned in my last blog that I recently spent some time at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.  A place with more PhDs per square foot then almost any spot on the planet.  Besides doing critical research in facets of meteorology and climatology, they have some really cool toys. 

My favorite is something called "Science on a Sphere" or SOS for short.  Basically, Science On a Sphere uses computers and three projectors to display various images on a 6' diameter sphere, creating the illusion of the earth, or any astronomical body, floating in the middle of a dark room.  It can show the earth in stunning detail.  It's  like looking down on it from thousands of miles in space.  Want to see the weather?  Sure.  Just tell the computer to project the latest satellite imagery.

But that's just one use.  Historical weather can be added.  Projections of future climate conditions can show how the earth might look in 100 years.  Ocean currents can be displayed, as can hurricane tracks and even the shifting of continents over millions of years.  All of this is stunningly realistic because it is on a 3 dimensional globe and gives scientists a different way to look at data.  Realizing that this was too good a thing to keep all to themselves, Science of a Sphere is now being placed in science museums around the country.  Here's a link to locations.    Here's the home page:  http://sos.noaa.gov/index.html    Check out the  download section to see more images and animations.  Here's one of my favorites.  It's an animation showing hurricanes since 1950

Now if only they would just make one small enough (and cheap enough) to set up at home.