This is a TED video presented by Will Marshall. A quick web search reveals that Will Marshall is:
Co-founder & CEO of Planet Labs.
Planet Labs is helping share near-real-time images of our planet, from a constellation of earth-observing satellites.
In his Twitter bio, William Marshall calls himself a “quantum physicist cum space scientist in search of world peace and harmony.” And when you hear about his job, it falls into place: he and his cofounders at Planet Labs want to show the earth what it looks like, almost real time, via a new network of compact, capable satellites. They hope that up-to-date images will inform future humanitarian and commercial projects all over our planet; it will enable people to make decisions that enable us to take care of our dearest spaceship, spaceship earth.
Before co-founding Planet Labs, Marshall was a scientist at NASA/USRA, where he helped to formulate the Small Spacecraft Office at NASA Ames Research Center. He worked on lunar orbiter mission LADEE, lunar impactor mission LCROSS and the groundbreaking PhoneSat project, building satellites out of consumer parts.
It was only a couple of mouse clicks to find the website for Planet Labs.
All of which is my way of introducing the TED video but not before thanking next door neighbour Larry Little who emailed me the link to the video.
Published on Nov 18, 2014
Satellite imaging has revolutionized our knowledge of the Earth, with detailed images of nearly every street corner readily available online. But Planet Labs’ Will Marshall says we can do better and go faster — by getting smaller. He introduces his tiny satellites — no bigger than 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters — that, when launched in a cluster, provide high-res images of the entire planet, updated daily.
The theme for the next three Picture Parades: The Perfect Puppy
Suzann sent me some wonderful pictures with the following background story:
A family in New York began visiting shelters to look for the perfect pup. After a few weeks of searching local shelters, they found a puppy that they fell in love with – Theo. He craved human friendship and attention. Three days after coming home with them, he joined their son Beau for his daily nap. Beau’s mother began taking “nap” pictures and now they are warming hearts around the world.
So here is the first set of seven pictures.
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Another wonderful set of pictures in a week’s time.
This is what happens when an animal trainer finds a bear cub.
(Today’s post has a number of very beautiful photographs. However, it is much better presented to you, dear reader, as a standalone post rather than under the umbrella of a Picture Parade.)
Thanks to Suzann for sending this on to me.
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A Man Found Two Bear Cubs Beside Their Dead Mother.
A naturalist named Casey Anderson stumbled across two grizzly bear cubs nestled beside their dead mother in the wild mountains of Alaska . Casey couldn’t just leave these little guys to die in the wilderness, so he made the brave decision to take them with him. He trains animals for a living, so he knew he would be able to give these cubs a real shot. That simple decision, borne out of grief, turned into one of the most unique and adorable rehabilitation stories we have ever laid eyes on.
This is Casey and the little cubs. Unfortunately, only one survived and Casey decided to adopt him.
He named him Brutus.
Brutus grew up as part of the family, albeit a very fuzzy part.
It was Casey’s job to train animals, so raising and training Brutus was normal for him.
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Over the years, they became close friends and brothers.
And Brutus got the run of the pool.
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Brutus grew to be so close to Casey, he was even his best man (bear) at the wedding.
It may have made the bride a little nervous.
But she was probably glad Brutus wasn’t capable of taking him out to dinner (no thumbs).
Brutus also gets a place of honor at the Thanksgiving table.
Life is good for this not-so-average bear.
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You’ll be hard pressed to find a situation cooler than being best friends with a killer grizzly bear. If Casey and Brutus made you smile, then you should probably spread the joy and share this.
This is a lovely story. Shame all humans aren’t this kind and understanding. Though many are and this is a lovely example of such a person.
Igor the bulldog had never spent a day without his family. From day one, he has been loved, doted on, and the center of the family’s attention. So when the family planned a vacation to a place where Igor couldn’t go, there was a lot of guilt and worry over how he would do on his own.
That’s when Igor’s dad came up with an amazing plan. While Igor would have to go into a kennel, it wasn’t going to be just any kennel. The plan was kept as a surprise for both Igor and the rest of the family, until it was time to leave. And what a surprise it was!
Friends, treats, bones and a home away from home is everything a dog could want! It also probably helped the family feel a bit better about leaving him behind. It’s not often people go to such amazing lengths to make sure their dog is comfortable!
Igor’s family came back from vacation and brought him back to the real version of home, but we’re pretty sure Igor won’t mind the next time they decide to head off without him!
The photographs were sent to me by Dan Gomez, underlining the wonderful way that so much is shared in this funny old world of blogging. Thank you, Dan!
Regular readers will know that I subscribe to the blog Naked Capitalism masterminded by Yves Smith. Some time ago, there was a link on NK to a story about how a tiny Chihuahua dog rescued some missing girls. It seemed like a good opportunity to take a closer look at this most magical aspect of a dog’s qualities.
First to that story.
I saw it on the Care2 website, from which I quote the following:
A 3-year-old chihuahua named Bell is an unexpected hero after finding three young girls who became lost for hours in the woods in Newnan, Georgia, on Monday.
CBS Atlanta reports that, on Monday, 8-year-old Carlie and 5-year-old Lacey Parga went for a walk with their dog Lucy down a cul-de-sac on trails near their neighborhood.
What started as a casual stroll became an unintended, and at times frightening, experience. As Carlie tells CBS, ‘”We tried to find our way out of the woods. We kept following paths and stuff and we got lost.” Indeed, they became scared that they were only to get more and more lost.
Carlie’s father, David Parga, noted that it wasn’t characteristic of them to wander off and, after searching for them but not hearing them respond, he contacted police and firefighters. Neighbors joined them including Carvin Young who thought to take Bell, who plays with the girls every day and knew their scent. Bell was able to lead searchers to the girls.
The full story on the Care2 website is here and on the CBS website here.
So what is it about the nose of the dog? A dog has more than 220 million olfactory receptors in its nose, while humans have only five million, making dogs’ sense of smell a thousand times greater. Frankly, trying to get one’s intellect around precisely what having a sense of smell one thousand times greater than a human means is tough! So on to another story.
17 Dogs, 3 Generations, 70 Years. There’s one constant… …the family dog.
After moving to Wellesley, Massachusetts for an anchor job with a major television sports network, Kevin began taking his German Shepherd, Beverly, for walks in the surrounding neighborhoods. They developed a route that included historic Atwood Street. Beverly kept veering toward one house in particular that had also caught Kevin’s eye previously, thinking it looked familiar but not knowing the reason.
After talking to a close family relative who had also once lived in Wellesley, Kevin was shocked to discover that the memorable house had once been a childhood home to his father, Bob Walsh, before WWII. After digging through old family photos that had been tucked away for years, Kevin uncovered a picture of his father as a toddler with his family on the house’s front porch, complete with their first family dog, Dee Dee.
Kevin’s father had been writing short stories about all of their family dogs through the years, but never knew about the photo. Its discovery was the pivotal moment that offered proof that the Walsh family’s journey with dogs had come back to the exact place where it started.
They’ve turned this story, along with other dog tales, into a book called Follow the Dog Home: How a Simple Walk Unleashed an Incredible Family Journey.
Dog’s nose leads family to back long lost old home, site unseen. German Shepherd, Beverly, is chronicled on WCVB TV’s news magazine show Chronicle. 70 years later, the family goes back “home” for stunning reunion and photograph.
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Learning from Dogs 