The Solar System

The sun is a small star

It looks like the Earth is not so large compared with Jupiter and Saturn. But this picture shows Earth at 5 times its normal size. Isn’t Earth tiny?

London Olympics logo

London 2012 logo

In 2012 the Olympics will be held in my hometown, London. It will be the first time that a city hosts the Olympics for the third time (London also hosted the Olympics in 1908 and 1948), and this is the logo that has been designed. What do you think of it?

Congo map

About 4 million people live in the Congo

Some of my students will study a little about the Republic of the Congo in class tomorrow. If you want a nice, colorful map then download and print this one.

Golden sunset

From Key Largo in Florida

Great sunset. The sun is still quite high in the sky and the sea looks like a golden silk sheet.

Beautiful, dangerous frog

Recently discovered in Central America

Frogs are some of the most colourful animals, and this dendrobates frog is certainly full of colour.

But it also contains a dnagerous poison. Why are beauty and danger so often close friends?

Mexico map

In one of my classes today we looked at a map of Mexico. As usual the copy was not so clear so here is a much clearer version in colour.

111 million people live in Mexico

Translucent glass frog

No X-rays needed here

A new discovery in the forests of Central America is this see-thru (or see-into) animal which has been nicknamed the glass frog.

If our bodies were like this it would save a fortune on medical bills.

Bora Bora, view from above

Can it really be paradise on earth?

Bora Bora island in French Polynesia in the South Pacific must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world.

I was lucky enough to go there once, and I asked an American guy who had lived there for more than 20 years if he ever thought the views looked boring. He said, “No”.

Baby Pangolin

Many animals have a special name for their baby or young, for example a baby dog is a puppy.

But I know of no such name for this animal so I guess I should just say baby pangolin.

Nicely held

A pangolin mainly eats ants, and is often to be found in trees. It is in an animal group of its own, and it’s nearest ‘relatives’ are anteaters and armadillos.

Israel map

In one of my classes today we looked at some of the issues in Israel and particularly in Gaza. The map which I gave each student wasn’t very clear, so here is the digital version, and if you put your cursor over the map and click you can get an even bigger map.

Israel and its neighbouring countries

Jellyfish plant

We all know that a jellyfish is not really a fish, it belongs to a group called Cnidaria, which also contains such animals as coral and sea anemones.

But now I find that a jellyfish is also a plant!

Made by aliens?

Asia or Europe?

Yesterday the Japan football team qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010. Japan became the first country to qualify, when they beat Uzbekistan 1-0 in Tashkent, in an Asian qualifying game. I do not want to say anything about the referee, except that he was disgraceful, congratulations to Japan.

At the same time England were also playing a European World Cup qualifying game. This game was against Kazakhstan (the ninth largest country in the world) in the city of Almaty, and England won 4-0.

Can you see the cities of Almaty and Tashkent on this map?

Tashkent is west of Almaty!

So where is Asia, and where is Europe? What is happening at Fifa?

And soon Japan will play their last Asian qualifying game in Australia!

Galapagos and Ecuador maps

These islands are about 1,000km from the mainland

In one of my classes we looked at the damage being done by tourism to the Galapagos Islands. These islands are part of the country of Ecuador.

The capital city is Quito

The Galapagos tourists bring a great deal of money to Ecuador, which is not a very rich country, but the unique animals and plants in the Galapagos are in danger.

Asperatus clouds

Have you ever seen clouds like this?

There are many different kind of cloud, but there are only three main groups, cirrus, stratus and cumulus.

This representation is not to scale

This picture shows you the three types with one extra, a kind of cumulus cloud known as cumulo-nimbus.

Recently some scientists have said that the cloud in the top picture cannot be described by the three types, and it should have its own name.

They have called it asperatus, which is from Latin, meaning ‘to make rough’. And it sure looks rough! I wouldn’t like to be walking around without an umbrella under these clouds.

And if you want to see another picture of asperatus cloud here you are:

It looks beautiful in a photo.