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Aurora-chasers in Canada spotted an unexplained purple streak in the sky and named it… Steve.

Occasionally, people living in the upper latitudes get a celestial treat: the aurora (also known as the northern or southern lights, depending on your hemisphere). The dazzling displays of green, pink, and blue arise from complicated interactions among charged particles from the sun, the Earth’s magnetic field, and gas molecules in the upper atmosphere. Liz MacDonald, a space plasma physicist at NASA, says that auroral research is hampered by being “data poor.” She founded the Aurorasaurus project to connect citizen science observations of the aurora with people in the space weather research community. Recently, amateur observers tagged a previously undescribed type of auroral effect that appeared as a purplish streak. For now, they’re calling the streak “Steve.”

Listen here to learn more.

[Photo by Niccolò Ubalducci/flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

npr

An aurora named Steve! -Emily

rowiezee

Proof that citizen science produces noteworthy work. #Steve

theskylinesblog

Aberdeen Typhoon Shelters View At Yuk Kwai Shan (mount Johnston)

Photo by Suphachai Lonuchit.

losetheboyfriend

Untitled, Subway, New York; captured by Bruce Davidson (1980)

lostscientist

Sydney: emerald city

theskylinesblog

Aerial View Of Omis Old Town And Cetina River Gorge, Dalmatia, Croatia

Photo by Andrey Omelyanchuk (on Facebook, Instagram).

anniekoh

Justice and fairness in the city: A multi-disciplinary approach to ‘ordinary’ cities Edited by Simin Davoudi and Derek Bell

Fairness and justice are buzzwords in contemporary political debates across the world. In the United Kingdom, especially, Prime Minister David Cameron has made a serious effort to claim fairness as a key Conservative concept, while the Labour Party has attempted to redefine and claim social justice. Local governments have taken up this discourse of fairness, with fairness commissions intended to develop principles and practical proposals to promote fairer cities appearing in Islington, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, York, Blackpool, and Tower Hamlets, among others. Contributors to this volume draw on planning, politics, geography, ethics, education, law, and urban design to examine this phenomenon in theory and practice across four broad categories: well being and local environmental justice; education, young people, and fair opportunities; mobility, spatial justice, and the right to the city; and participation, procedural fairness, and social justice. Throughout, they reflect on the key role of the city in the twenty-first-century global political economy and the stark juxtaposition of radically unequal lives within contemporary urban spaces.

Exploring the production of urban space: Differential space in three post-industrial cities By Michael Edema Leary-Owhin

The ideas of Henri Lefebvre on the production of urban space have become increasingly useful for understanding worldwide postindustrial city transformation. This important book uses new international comparative research to engage critically with Lefebvre’s spatial theories and challenge recent thinking about the nature of urban space. Meticulous research in Vancouver, Lowell, MA, and Manchester, England, explains how urban public spaces, including differential space, are contested and socially produced. Spatial coalitions, counter-representations, and counter-projects are seen as vital elements in such processes. The book contributes critically to the postindustrial city comparative analysis literature. It provides an accessible guide for those who care about cities, public space, city planning, and urban policy.

sprawlnation

Photo by Nat Rogers / InDaily: on the border of urban growth in Adelaide in South Australia

SN: Australian cities continue to be a great source of information about the front lines of urban sprawl control. The linked article discusses recent legislation that may protect Adelaide from the plight of other Cities such as Melbourne and its underserved and uncontrolled suburban sprawl.

Michael Buxton, a Planning Professor at Victoria’s RMIT University, says the state has an opportunity to learn from the disastrous policy failures on Melbourne’s urban fringe with an “innovative and very important” model that emphasises the eco-tourism value of limiting urban sprawl.

“But if that’s built over, forget it,” he said, warning poor planning decisions now could lead to the expansion of “urban deserts” on the metropolitan fringe.

cameronmichael8

theskylinesblog

HipstaPrint

Photo by Dimakk.

This picture was taken in Ofen, a neighborhood of Budapest, Hungary (Google Maps).

Follow The Skylines Blog to see stunning sityscapes in your Tumblr feed.

sunst0ne

rorschachx

Pico do Arieiro, Madeira, Portugal | image by claustral

planninginseattle

With urban populations rising, how can permaculturists take an active part in re-designing our cities? Sven Eberlein talks to Richard Register, founder of the Ecocity Builders

Ever since I learned about permaculture, it seemed obvious that the principles should be applied to urban planning.

todaysdocument

Happy holidays from the National Archives at Denver!

This photograph comes from our National Park Service (NPS) holdings and was taken on a 1955 NPS press tour in Arizona, representing newspapers and television network affiliates across the county. The men and women who were part of the tour also attended lectures from NPS rangers, rode horses, had a picnic, and apparently met Santa Claus!

If you find yourself out west this holiday season, however, do not attempt to recreate this photograph. The saguaro cacti of the American West and northern Mexico, an indelible icon of the frontier, is highly protected by laws so look but don’t touch!

(Image source; RG 79 Records of the National Park Service, “Subject Correspondence Files, 1953-1961,” Box 18, NAID 656412)

Via the National Archives at Denver on Facebook