Geographical

In Dandara, Upper Egypt, the Mermah horse festival is a living heritage of horsemanship, music and community — and a tradition now wrestling with horse welfare. Words and photographs by Claire Thomas. The post Riders of Dandara: inside Upper Egypt’s Mermah horse festival appeared first on Geographical.

The last detected small asteroid was spotted a week ago, monitored by the new tool five hours before entering the atmosphere above the Indian Ocean A new tool developed by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) NEO Coordination Centre is able to forecast where fragments of an incoming imminent asteroid will fall. Enjoying this article? Check out our related reads… Also known as imminent impactors, these small asteroids are often discovered a few hours before impact and are constantly monitored by the ESA’s Meerkat system. The last recorded imminent impactor – the 2.6-foot-long ‘2026 RW1’ – was discovered on 6 September around five hours before entering the atmosphere above the Indian Ocean, marking the 13th time scientists have ever discovered an asteroid before impact. The new tool allows scientists to see where these asteroids will land, without direct observations of fireballs or over areas not covered by all-sky cameras. Many asteroids can […] The post New tool can help discover small asteroids before impact appeared first on Geographical.

Most of the world's active volcanoes go unmonitored. A Sheffield volcanologist is turning £20 phone cameras into UV gas sensors to change that. The post The £20 phone camera that could predict volcanic eruptions appeared first on Geographical.

Scientists hope that new website will make global numbers such as glacier melt or area lost less abstract Scientists have launched a new interactive website – available to use here – that lets users explore the projected future of individual glaciers around the world. By zooming in on different regions of the world map, users can see whether and approximately when a glacier is projected to disappear under different levels of global warming. Enjoying this article? Check out our related reads… ‘Global numbers such as glacier mass or area loss can feel very abstract. With this website, people can zoom into their own valley or mountain region and see what different levels of global warming could mean for the glaciers they know,’ said Lander Van Tricht, who developed the website. ‘We hope it can also help local communities prepare for a future with fewer glaciers.’ Under a scenario of 1.5°C […] The post The website that can map the future of every glacier on Earth appeared first on Geographical.

If a ban goes ahead, it will leave just Norway and Japan as the sole countries in the world to continue commercial whaling Iceland’s government will submit a bill to permanently ban whaling in February next year – a decision that would leave just two countries, Norway and Japan, as nations permitting commercial whaling. Related reads… ‘There is considerable political and public support for this bill to ban commercial whaling, ​and compelling ethical, veterinary, legal and conservation reasons to hope it succeeds,’ ​said Humane World for Animals spokeswoman Wendy Higgins. ‘Every whale killed by an exploding harpoon in Icelandic waters is a tragic loss of life needlessly taken for an industry that has no purpose. A law to stop the killing can’t come soon enough.’ Already in this year’s hunting season in Iceland, 80 fin whales – the second-largest animal living on Earth – have been caught (as of 9 […] The post Iceland to vote on bill to stop whaling appeared first on Geographical.