This Google Earth Tour was produced by Atlantic Public Media in cooperation with the Encyclopedia of Life. Producers: Eduardo Garcia-Milagros & Ari Daniel Shapiro

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Learn more about Monarch Butterflies on the Encyclopedia of Life

Humans have probably been naming things and making lists since our earliest ancestors began to separate “Stuff That Tastes Good” from “Stuff That Killed That Other Guy That One Time”.Trouble is, a lot of information about living things is hidden behind paywalls or scattered across random sources where the general public can’t easily get to it. That’s where you come in!

The Encyclopedia of Life is hosting a challenge. The goal: bring information about animals, plants, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria to the world. Contestants are asked to research and write short descriptions of some of nature’s most fascinating species. Those descriptions will be reviewed by curators for inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Life. And here’s the kicker: the best descriptions will earn their writers a place in history — a private behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History is up for grabs.

Check out the contest details at BoingBoing, and visit the contest entry form to get started.

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To learn more about how to use EOL’s One Species at a Time podcasts in the classroom and in broadcast media, please see our Podcast Guide for Educators or contact the EOL Learning & Education group.

Cynomys ludovicianus

Over the past century the grasslands of northern Mexico have been taken over by shrubby mesquite and turned to desert. Ecologist Gerardo Cellabos is on a mission to turn them back. Can he restore an entire prairie ecosystem? Cellabos hopes he can, with the help of an unlikely ally. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports from Chihuahua.

Image Credit:  Arthur Chapman, Flickr: EOL Images. CC BY-NC-SA

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EOL Podcasts are hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro. Brought to you by the Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media.

Vipera ursinii rakosiensis

There’s a snake in the grass—but the viper in this Hungarian meadow is more threatened than a threat, at least to people. As new ways of farming replace the old, these vipers have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Can conservationists change the hearts and minds of local farmers in time to preserve this critically endangered species? Ari Daniel Shapiro reports from Kiskunság National Park.

Image Credit:  Bálint Halpern, Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society. CC BY-NC

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EOL Podcasts are hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro. Brought to you by the Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media.

Likes moths to a flame, some people are irresistibly drawn to the woods at night. Carrying bedsheets and armed with special lights and lures, they come seeking moths. In July 2012, in 49 states and numerous countries across the world, scientists and ordinary folk alike fanned out to get a closer look at these insects. They may be less gaudy than their butterfly cousins, yet they’re anything but ordinary.

Image Credit: Automeris io, Jim Vargo, Moth Photographers Group. CC BY-NC-SA

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EOL Podcasts are hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro. Brought to you by the Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media.

While computers have gotten better at image analysis, the majority of this type af analysis is still being done by real people and is quite time intensive.  By harnessing the collective power of hundreds of thousands of people, Zooniverse hopes to speed up this process to discover new methods of treatment and detection.

So, next time you reach for your phone to play angry birds think about spending that time curing cancer instead.

What can species as different as a hedgehog, a swift, and a glow-worm possibly have in common? To find out, we journey to southwest England. We’ll join two naturalists on a walk through the heart of Exeter, a city known more for its football club and cathedral than for its wildlife. You may be surprised at what we find.

Image Credit: Piotr Halas, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA

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EOL Podcasts are hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro. Brought to you by the Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media.

Ari Daniel Shapiro speaks with archivist Connie Rinaldo of the Biodiversity Heritage Library and Harvard University and curator of mammals Bruce Patterson of Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History to learn about the diversity of lions in the distant past and the challenges they face in the present.

Image Credit: H. Vannoy Davis, CalPhotos, California Academy of Sciences. CC BY-NC-SA

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The test was an over all succes with the LES igniting properly taking the capsule to about 3000 ft  where the two seperated and the two parachuted safely to the water. However, there were some stabilization issues causing the capsule to tumble and strike the water faster than expected and sustain some damage. The capsule remained intact with no water breaches but Copenhagen Suborbitals still needs to analyze the accelerometer data to see if a human could have survived the launch.

Update: As you can see from the live capture above the balloon uprighting system also failed to deploy and they had to re-right the capsule manually.

Livestream Footage and clips from the Launch

Update2: Helicopter video footage of the launch clearly shows the tumble and the parachutes not fully deploying.

Update3: more footage