BBC Earth: Life Is – The British Broadcast Company is famous for its nature documentary series and films, and we have all come to know Sir David Attenborough, the avid naturalist, acting as the engaging narrator of many of BBC’s nature productions. Now BBC Earth, with a huge repertoire of footage and content related to the natural environment and planet Earth, invites us all to explore our world like never before.

Explore nature in a totally new mesmerizing way, through images and videos of nature, filmed human stories, and see it all from the filmmakers’ point of view. To browse the vast world of content available on Life Is, click ‘search for more stuff’ which will bring you to this page (see below), where you can search by climate conditions, color, media type and more. Come and meet your planet right here on BBC Earth. You will be amazed!

Google Crisis Response – Google.org initiated this blessed project back in 2005 (following Hurricane Katrina) to help hard-hit locations worldwide cope with the aftermath of natural disasters by making relevant information readily available for everyone, everywhere.

The recent earthquake and consequent tsunami in Japan forced the island country to come to terms with its worst natural disaster on record. The Google Crisis Response project gives you all you could possibly need in one easy page; comprehensive coverage along with real-time updates and latest news on the sitatuion in Japan; direct donations to the Japanese Red Cross using Google Checkout; detailed maps of the affected area; emergency phone numbers; people finder; current status (transportation, government warnings, blackout info) and much more.

Google’s Crisis Response project makes helping out fast and easy. Just imagine how helpful this could have been back in 2005 when New Orleans was in dire need of fast assistance. Please visit this project and help where you can. You would appreciate the same, God forbid you should find yourself under the circumstances Northern Japan communities are currently dealing with.

Brisbane Floods Before and After – The recent floods in Australia have hit the Brisbane area the hardest, leaving entire residential and commercial neighborhoods in a wet mess.  See the before and after photos for yourself, courtesy of ABC News, Australia. Simply hover your mouse courser over each photo to see the difference. Any additional commentary would be superfluous. Here’s an example of before and after the flood at Rocklea, Brisbane.

Thrill of the Catch – This amazing game by Discovery Education and TakeMeFishing.Org lets you play on both sides of the fishing game; you can feed your fish of choice, choose its colurs, pick out a name for it, and feed it with its favorite food. Or, you could practice your fishing skills by trying to catch as many fish as possible. This is a lot of fun, and I’ve included two pics to lure you to sea. Don’t forget though: once you catch a fish, pat yourself on the back and throw it back to the water.

Earth 350 Art – A climate-focused art exhibition that can be seen from space – that’s the underlining concept of the amazing large scale art of Earth 350, initiated by 350.org. It is “the first-ever global scale group show on the front line of climate change—our polluted cities, endangered forests, melting glaciers, and sinking coastlines.”

Taken via satellite, each of the photos showcased here are awe-inspiring and poignant, and the entire exhibition’s timing intentionally overlapped the UN’s climate meetings in Cancun as a means of voicing the need for a tougher strategy to tackle climate change. I have never seen anything quite like it. See one of my favorite works below, the “Climate Elephant” by Daniel Dancer, New Delhi, India. There are many others right here. Enjoy.

Explore Your Memory – BBC always does it right, and their Science & Nature website is no exception. Learn more on and test your brain’s memory functions, both short and long term, and see how well you perform compared to other users who have taken this test.

Don’t worry: this ‘test’ is a great deal of fun and interest. I had the best time exploring subjects such as color identification, short term memory of number sequences, spatial memory and more. I also suggest taking this test a second time, several days after you’ve taken it for the first time. You will still be surprised at how difficult it is to remember certain things (it’ll be different for each of you).

Insects.org – I’m not a big fan of insects myself. In fact, until I brought a cat home, whenever I spotted a cockroach on the floor I would climb up to the highest possible point and scream like a 3 year old. No matter how you see insects, they are as beautiful and essential to the circle of life as any other organism group on Earth is. Insects.org is here to shed some light on the amazing world of insects, offering intriguing facts and information on major insect types, and providing remarkable photos of each.

Dive into the world of the Order Insecta, the most diverse Order of all organisms on Earth, and meet some local friends (meaning cool butterflies, cicadas, crickets and other winged buddies you can find in your neck of the woods). I remember this little fella in the picture below. It’s famous for the clicking sound it makes when it lands on its back.