GEO. Virtual Reality

Many of the links on these pages require helper (plugin) programmes which may not be installed within your browser. You can get help and download what is necessary here.

Introduction
These links are a way of participating in real situations by linking directly via your computer to museums and many other institutions. Examples include photographic accounts of exhibitions and geographical areas, as well as simulations of real situations such as the movement of the planets.

The links have been arranged according to the Dewey Classification System but in addition have been marked with one of the following symbols:

virtual exhibition	simulated situation
virtual field trip	radio/TV broadcast

Dewey Decimal Classification numbers (Edition 21, copyright 1996 by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., Forest Press) displayed on the World Wide Web by permission.

Dewey classified Virtual Reality Links

Click on any class:
guidance

500Natural sciences|520Astronomy and allied sciences|
530Physics|540Chemistry and allied sciences|
550Earth sciences|560Paleontology|
570Life sciences|580Plants|590Animals|
600Technology|620Engineering and allied sciences|660Chemical engineering|900Geography. History.

dead link?

500 Natural sciences and mathematics

• Science Museum London- virtual exhibitions including Flight and Arthur J Clarke exhibition.
  ExploraNet- exploratorium museum in San Fransisco, Ca. USA. Many online ehibitions and interactive activities in the sciences.

• 503 Dictionaries and encyclopedias
  

520 Astronomy and allied sciences

• An Inquirer´s Guide to the Universe. (Franklin Institute) - this is one of their online exhibits. Designed to stimulate unbiased original thought on topics like the origin of the universe (!), possible life in the universe etc. Includes "Imaginary planet gallery" where, building on facts about space (supplied), you look at 10 different imaginary planets and speculate on conditions that might prevail there. The emphasis is on the new extrasolar planets which have been discovered since Oct. 1995.
  Interactive Universe (iUniverse) (Jason Mathews, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) - 3D models representing the Earth-Moon system, Solar System, Nearby Stars, Local Galaxies, and the known Universe are being created using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). New models, tutorials, and documentation will be added as time permits. The models already available require either VRML 1,0 or VRML 2,0 browser. (see helpers and plugins above)

  New extrasolar planets (SF Exploratorium): Realaudio interview on the discovery of a planet orbiting Pegasus 51 star.

   

• 521 Celestial mechanics
  REYKJAVÍK - this is the realtime view directly above for Reykjavík.
  Your Sky (John Walker) - an interactive planetarium . Produces sky maps for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location.
  • 521.3 Orbits
    J-Pass 2,0 (NASA) - this is a programme which runs within your browser and plots a sky map showing the path of any satellite(man-made) directly overhead.  After setting up the programme (automatic) all you have to do is put in values for latitude and longitude, the time of day and then choose a satellite.  It will also show the positions of the International Space Station, MIR and the (US) shuttle when applicable.  Very useful for a realistic overview of all the satellites in orbit, as well as to know what you are actually seeing when you look up at night.
    Solar System Live- interactive orrery of the solar system. Date, viewpoint, objects and many other items can be entered. (see also links by function-software- downloadable orrery.)
    The Position of the Planets for the week. (J L Romano-Colorado Sch. Mines) - clear perspective diagram of the planets´positions, updated weekly.
• 522 Techniques, equipment, materials

• 523 Specific celestial bodies & phenomena
  Cyber Astronomy (SGI) - Simulated views of the solar system (includes music). Using the VRML 2,1 (Cosmo). Rather low resolution, "somewhat "angular" planets! However, extremely good and especially in giving a real feel for distances, planet size and especially, orbital rates of planets and their moons.
• Terranova: Planet of the Day - randomly generated computer image of "imaginary" planet, produced once a day. The purpose (I think!?) is to emphasise the statistical possibility of finding such planets and life in our galaxy of about 200 billion stars. It will get you thinking!
  Earth and Moon Viewer (John Walker) - simulated views of the earth/moon from desired "satellite" positions at chosen times. Easy to use and very useful for getting some basic things staright. Same author offers ftp software. (see applications software)
  The Virtual Sun (Michiel Berger, University of Amsterdam) - virtual tour of the sun.  Quick to use with the option of some movie clips and animations.  Clear and concise overall account of the main features of our sun.

   

  • 523.3 The Moon
    The Phases of the Moon (J L Romano-Colorado Sch. Mines) - shows the phases for the current month. Includes another phase-finder by Lorenzo Pasqualis- Moon Page (http://saatel.it/users/lore/moon.html)

• 523.4 Planets
  
  • 523.43Mars

    Anaglyph 3-D Stereo Archive (Pathfinder images) - 3-D images using red/blue technique (you need red/blue glasses). Good images of landscape and boulders.

    Live from MarsVideo Components - (Internet services) - as part of these Live from Mars web site´s live TV programmes, there will be realaudio broadcasts on Internet.

    Mars Pathfinder -Virtual Reality Models and Animations of the Pathfinder Mission (JPL/Silicon Graphics) - VRML views enable you to pan scenery on Mars, giving a very realistic impression as well as helping you to get your bearings on the planet.. You will need a browser that supports VRML or a plugin. See Platinum for help on this.

• 524
  
• 525 Earth (Astronomical geography)
  
• 526 Mathematical geography
  
• 527 Celestial navigation
  
• 528 Ephemerides
  
• 529 Chronology

530 Physics

Life the Universe and the electron (Science Museum, London with Institute of Physics) - on-line exhibition dealing with the electron from many viewpoints. history of discovery, atomic structure, practical uses and more. Mainly physics orientated.

540 Chemistry and allied sciences

Making Matter - The atomic structure of materials (Hewatt-Institut Laue Langevin, Grenoble, Sviss) - account of structural crystallography building to large extent on VRML images.  Stunning and effective 3-D realism.   You will need Cosmo Player for this.  Nothing will increase your understanding of crystal structure as well as this.

550 Earth sciences

• Earth and Sky- realtime radio broadcasts (and past recordings) on earth science topics. Sponsored by NSF and NOAA. Needs Realaudio plugin (download from here) and 28,800 bps modem. Text versions of past interviews are provided, as well as listeners´s comments and further references. (goes back to 1995 with online stuff)

• 551 Geology, hydrology, meteorology
  
  • 551.1 Gross structure and properties of the earth
    Plate Motion Calculator ( Kensaku Tamaki / Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo) - relative and absolute plate motion calculator. Plates chosen from pop-up menues.

 

• 551.2 Volcanoes, earthquakes, thermal waters and gases

  551.21 Volcanoes

  Asama Volcano Japan (HAYAKAWA, SHIRAO and HAYAKAWA) virtual field trip - good example of strato volcano from Japan.
  JASON VI- Island Earth. Island Earth. Visits to volcanoes and observatory on Hawaii. More at primary than secondary level
  Stromboli - Virtually climb Stromboli! ( Jürg Alean and Roberto Carniel (Stromboli on line) - short and longer versions of a climb to the top, with geological features (+ more if you want). Map included
  Take a Tour of Loihi (Hawaiin Center for Volcanology) - interactive virtual tour shows maps, rocks and wildlife of Hawaii's newest volcano - which is under sea level

• 551.22 Earthquakes
  ANIMATIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKES M 4.5 and greater, from January 1932 through December 1997. Gives a very visual idea of the frequency of earthquakes.
  Loma Prieta earthquake Ca.(J Marshall, D Orange, and A Hochstaedter; UCSC) - concise virtual field trip showing damage following the 1989 earthquake. Also gives info. on tectonic background.
  Hokkaido earthquake-generated tsunami (Takeyuki Takahashi of the Disaster Control Research Center, Tohoku University, Japan) - (2 MB) - hows the initial water-surface profile over the source area and the subsequent wave propagation away from the source.
  Quake View (Univ. of Michigan) - interactive seismological center to view earthquakes through seismogram displays, tutorials and tools for data analysis
  The Tech museum (Ca) - earthquakes. A very simple but useful account of earthquake causes, measuring and wave types. Uses a "next" button approach, but the entire "lesson" is not too long. A useful overview of the entire subject at school level.
  Virtual Earthquake (Electronic desk top project, Ca. State Univ.) - a simulation requires you to calculate the epicentre of an earthquake from P and S wave measurements.

 

• 551.3 Surface and exogenous processes and their agents
  
• 551.4 Geomorphology and hydrosphere

• 551.46 Hydrosphere Oceanography
  Ocean Planet- Virtual exhibition.
  JASON VII- Adapting to a Changing Sea. JASON project about climatic change and effects on coral reefs in the Florida area. More primary than secondary level.
  Mid ocean ridge virtual field trip (Prof. W. Prothero Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) part of Oceanography pages at Dept of Geological Sciences- simulated views of Mid ocean ridge at various locations. Includes smokers.(hot spring emission). Uses Quicktime.

   

   

• 551.5 Meteorology
  551.7 Historical geology
  Extinction and the K-T boundary (Royal Tyrrell Museum, Can.) - virtual exhibit of the end of the dinosaurs and other life 65 million years ago.
  Virtual dating (Electronic desk top project, Ca. State Univ.) - Here you'll learn how geologists and archeologists date rocks and ancient artifacts. This activity includes a section about radiocarbon (Carbon-14) dating.

   

• 552 Petrology
  
• 553 Economic geology
  
• 554 Earth sciences of Europe
  Virtual field trips - Iceland (G R Douglas) - a collection of virtual field trips intended for students at Hamrahlíð College, Reykjavík, Iceland.. Arranged geographically by choosing from an interactive client-side geological map.
• 555 Earth sciences of Asia
  
• 556 Earth sciences of Africa

• 557 Earth sciences of North America
  
• 558 Earth sciences of South America
  
• 559 Earth sciences of other areas
  Live from Antarctica (NASA/NSF)- joint student/teacher activities to experience the environment of the Antarctic.

560 Paleontology and paleozoology

Dinosaur Hall (Royal Tyrrell Museum, Can.) - good views of the main representative types of dinosaur.

Inside the Russian Paleontological Institute Joint project promoting exchange between Moscow's Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academyof Sciences (PIN) and the University of California Museum of Paleontology(UCMP) . Many exciting images of exhibits, including Pleistocene mammoths (frozen fossils)
Palentology without walls (UC., Berkeley ) series of virtual exhibits which are: Phylogeny -- the "family tree" of life. Geological Time -- the temporal existence of groups of organisms. Evolutionary Thought -- evolutionary topics and scientists in their historical context

570 Life sciences and Biology

Royal Tyrrell Museum -VIRTUAL TOUR (Alberta Can.) - this is an excellent way of going through geological time and seeing the evolution of life as revealed by fossils. Also useful accounts of fossil study methods in general and necessary related topics such as continental drift. Possibly the quickest way is to use the "sequential list".

580 Plants

590 Animals

600 Technology (Applied sciences)

The Tech Museum (Ca) - satellites - a virtual museum dealing with all aspects of satellites -Communications,Earth Remote Sensing,Weather, Global Positioning, Scientific Research. The level is simple but very useful

620 Engineering and allied operations

 

• 629.4 Astronautics
  NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM - arranged by floor, there is plenty of space flight and exploration stuff on both the floors.
  • 629.44 Auxilliary spacecraft

• 629.441 Space shuttles
  Space Center- Houston Chronicle Interactive space Center news and audio/video files on NASA space topics. Examples include mission descriptions, interviews with astronauts and live communications recordings from NASA missions. (these are also in Realtime links)

660 Chemical engineering

900 Geography, History.

These pages maintained by Dr Georg R Douglas, Hamrahlíð College, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland.
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