davepretty.com

My stream of unconsciousness:

Oceanographer John Delaney is leading the team that is building an underwater network of high-def cameras and sensors that will turn our ocean into a global interactive lab -- sparking an explosion of rich data about the world below.

In this age of impending climate change, encouraging the thermal insulation of buildings has become an important factor in reducing energy costs and minimizing carbon emissions. Out of most existing buildings, a significant amount of heat escapes unnecessarily, and at least 30% is typically emitted through the roof construction. Many governments throughout the world attempt to tackle this problem by supporting the insulation of roofs through rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives.

But how can individual citizens determine whether such a costly renovation is worthwhile for their own house? The online project "Zoom into Your Roof" [antwerpen.be] tries to help solve this question through a relatively simple visualization. During the winter of 2009, a small airplane with an infrared scanner made a wide sweeping thermal scan of a large part of Belgium, which resulted in the largest thermographic map currently available online. Inhabitants living within this area are able to select their home address and answer a few questions (such as the angle of the roof). in order to determine for themselves how their own roofs actually perform.