1. Al
Gore Offers Bold Energy Challenge to Congress
Yesterday,
Nobel
laureate and former Vice President Al Gore gave a
speech to Washingtonians titled: “A Generational Challenge to Repower
America.” The “challenge:” for the U.S. to produce every kilowatt of
electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10
years. Pretty ambitious! Read a transcript of the speech here, and check out this
article for an example of press coverage of the event.

2. New Documentary
Compares Teens from the  U.S., China, and India
Okay, you’ve heard this statement before and you’ll most
likely hear it again; “American students are falling behind the rest of the
world.” If you have an opinion either way on the matter, you’ll probably be
interested to watch the new documentary called Two Million Minutes. You can see the trailer here, or read an about
it here.

3. Man Proves It’s Never
Too Late to Study Geography
Michael Cobb, a 91 year old World War II veteran, has become
one of the oldest people to receive a Ph.D. Cobb’s doctoral work consists of an
atlas that charts railroads constructed in Britain between 1807 and 1994. He
began work on the project at age 62, and has been carrying on ever since. Find
out more in this article.

4. Geography
and…Snake Venom?
According to a soon-to-be-published scientific report,
geography can help us better understand the serpent world. Scientists have
discovered that snake venom from different areas of the planet have distinct
chemical structures. Intrigued? Get a preview of the report here.

5. Botanic Garden
Exhibit
If you get the chance to visit our nation’s capital
this summer, “One
Planet-Ours” is an exhibit that I highly recommend checking out. It
showcases a number of huge, three-dimensional “Cool Globes” that have been made
unique by a variety of hands (everyone from artists to students to organizations
around the world). You can even get a glimpse of the creative initiative to
promote sustainability online by checking out the Garden’s homepage.