Daily Archives: September 30, 2009

Augmented Google Earth Gets Real-Time People, Cars, Clouds | Popular Science

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Researchers from Georgia Tech have devised methods to take real-time, real-world information and layer it onto Google Earth

They use live video feeds (sometimes from many angles) to find the position and motion of various objects, which they then combine with behavioral simulations to produce real-time animations for Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth.

They use motion capture data to help their animated humans move realistically, and were able to extrapolate cars’ motion throughout an entire stretch of road from just a few spotty camera angles

Now where would you happen to have loads of CCTVs you could use to spy on everybody realtime? I wonder…

via Augmented Google Earth Gets Real-Time People, Cars, Clouds | Popular Science.

UK wants your DNA

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Lovely. If you’re an asylum seeker, the UK border patrols will want to take you DNA through your hair and nails to determine your nationality. Not only is this an insane breach of your person, there is also no scientific methodology being given out to show how exactly anything will be accomplished by the investigating company (whoever that is).

Slashdot Science Story | Scientists Decry “Horrifying” UK Border Test Plan.

Treemometers: A new scientific scandal

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Turns out that much of the global warming science is based on data from Yamai in Siberia. The Yamai data has never been released, but it turns out that by looking at tree rings, people have been making assumptions about the temperature 2000 years ago. Apparently using tree rings is fraught with danger, as they aren’t very reliable. However, if you use enough trees you should be OK. It turns out that these people have been only using 12 hand picked trees that support the theses they wanted to prove!

Treemometers: A new scientific scandal • The Register.