An interactive online map allows you to type in your home address and see where it falls during any given time period.The map tracks how the earth has changed over 750 million years.

The love-labor of software engineer Ian Webster, the map tool is attached to the world’s largest digital dinosaur database, also created by Webster, who drew on geographical data from another resource called Ancient Earth.Ancient Earth was culmination (顶点) of work called the Paleomap project.

The project allows users to enter most towns, cities and countries into the search bar.A 3D globe will show you approximately where they were on a 750-million-year timeline.Ancient Earth comes with a variety of tools that allow you to learn interesting information, or select a time period based on the emergence of specific features, such as the first flower to ever bloom on Earth.

Given that Webster is an expert in dinosaurs, any location you enter in the search function will also provide you with a list of dinosaurs that would have been your neighbors — all with inline links to that particular dinosaur’s profile on Webster’s database.This represents an incredible educational resource for children and adults interested in geography.

Even with modern GPS technology and programs like Google Maps, globes and 2D paper maps continue to shape our understanding of Earth.Ancient Each is a very good educational tool especially for kids, as they get to see their very own homes move around in the tectonic (构造的) dance that’s been going on billions of years.

“I'm amazed that experts collected enough data to actually build my home 750 million years ago, so I thought you all would enjoy it too, ”Webster wrote in a comment.“I chose this particular model because it covers the greatest length of time.”

Check your junk drawer at home, and you’re likely to find a mess of electronic device chargers—many of them probably old-fashioned. Late last week the European Union proposed a new regulation that would solve this problem by requiring all small electronics (including phones, tablets, portable speakers and cameras) to have the same type of charging port. All such electronics sold in the EU would need to switch to the USB-C standard within two years.

European officials declare this universal standard not only increases convenience for consumers but also cuts down on electronic waste. Critics of such measures, including Apple which uses a special charging port on its phones, claim the move will slow down innovation. And when USB-C certainly gives way to the next improved charging method, people will still need to invest in new chargers. The true impact of this law, however, may not be as simple as either side suggests.

“Based on what we know about what’s in the electronic waste stream, the relative reduction in the amount of e-waste is probably going to be relatively small due to chargers alone,” says Callie Babbitt, a professor of sustainability at Researcher Institute of Technology, where she studies electronic waste. “But I think the bigger potential is that this is a good test case for requiring manufacturers to think about standardization and design that is user-friendly for the consumer-and then actually see whether there is an increase in discarding (丢弃) as technology changes or if we actually see a reduction because consumers aren’t replacing products and chargers as frequently,” Babbitt spoke with Scientific American about the scale of the e-waste problem, how researchers want to solve it and whether this new rule is a step in the right direction.

Households across the US discard about just under two million metric tons of electronics a year. And that’s just households. If you start to include businesses, companies and industry, then the number is estimated to perhaps double.

At 13, Hawa Abdulai Yorke left her family’s home, in Ghana, Africa, to live with an aunt who promised to send her to school. Instead, the aunt put Yorke to work as her maid(佣人). Determined to go to school, Yorke returned home and began selling water in a nearby city to raise money for her education. However, her father spent the money she had earned on a motorcycle.

Yorkers story is familiar to girls growing up in Ghana. There, a girl’s place is in the home. Educating girls is considered a waste of money.

“It happens more than it should, where parents have money to send their girls to school but choose not to,” says Ryan Roach, a volunteer in Ghana, where nearly 55% of girls are not allowed to attend secondary school. Cultural beliefs say education is not a wise investment (投资).

The White House’s Let Girls Learn is working to change this view of girls’ education, in Ghana and in countries worldwide. Former First Lady Michelle Obama says parents have to be persuaded that girls’ education is a better investment than household labor. A study shows that for every year of secondary-school education, a girl’s earning power increases by 18%. Today, Let Girls Learn works in 13 countries, and there are plans to expand the program. Recently, Let Girls Learn hosted a 24-hour event to come up with creative solutions for the barriers (障碍) to girls’ education.

Yorke, now 22, is about to finish high school. Thanks to Let Girls Learn, she plans to attend college and study computer science. She says working alongside college students at the Let Girls Learn event strengthened her determination. “I’m focused on my books,” says Yorke. “I know if I study hard, I, too, can go to university and live a happy life.”