Click on image to learn more.

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Every football season, players across the country are treated for concussions. Although helmet technology has improved in recent years, traditional helmets sometime fail to protect a players brain from hits.

Xenith — a company that makes innovative sports technologies — has developed a new football helmet that uses shock absorbers that adjusts to the magnitude of hits. It is designed to reduce the sudden movement of the head, which reduces the risk of brain injury. There are some high schools and colleges that are using the technology now, and the NFL could join the parade sometime in the future.

Make sure you read this Sunday's News Illustrated page which talks about Xenith's new technology and also gives some incite on Riddell's concussion fighting helmet, the Revolution IQ.

Here is a video about Xenith helmet technology:

Here is a look at Riddell's helmet technology:

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The United States and other countries are fighting over who can claim the Arctic Circle, including oil and fishing rights. Billions may be at stake.

Researchers at Durham University in the UK developed a map last year that shows the major claims and disputes.

You can see a simplified version in Sunday's Sun-Sentinel, as well as a map of potential oil fields.

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will meet August 10, 2009 to decide who owns the those chilly northern reaches, including the North Pole.

And Santa Clause may need a Russian passport.

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She is the oldest primate fossil ever found. When Ida died she weighed a bit more than a pound and was only 9 months old. This little primate has a lot of scientists jumping. They have already made a documentary and book written on her. The images of the fossil are breathtaking. Take a look at graphics and video.

IDA'S PLACE IN EVOLUTION
See how Ida relates to other primates and human evolution.

IDA IN 3-D
View a model of Ida's skeleton spin in space.

FULL-PAGE GRAPHIC
Download this in-depth graphic I did on Ida, packed with info. Enjoy.

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Have you ever gazed into the sky and wondered if there were actually other planets like ours in this huge galaxy? It is a fun question to ponder, a mystery beyond our imagination.

Well that mystery might become reality a couple of years from now. NASA's Kepler satellite is out in space right this moment staring down 100,000 stars for the next 3.5 years in search of Earth-like planets.

Kepler will look for tiny changes in a stars brightness when a planet crosses in front of the star. The changes will be measured by scientist to see if the planet is Earth-like.

If everything goes well, scientist expect to find at least 50 Earth-like planets within the search area and the mystery question of whether there are other planets like ours in space may have an answer!

Make sure you read this Sunday's News Illustrated page to learn more about Kepler.

Here is a video about the Kepler mission:

Here is a animation of how it works:

Photos of Kepler can be found at http://www.ballaerospace.com/gallery/kepler/gallery14.htm

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Extremely dry conditions have contributed to the fires that closed Alligator Alley and could lead to more throughout the state. One of the main indicators of these conditions is the drought index map below. It is updated daily and can be found at can be found at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

HOW TO READ THE MAPS
601-800 Associated with severe drought. Live fuels burn actively, creating intense, deep burning fires.
401-600 Plant leaves, twigs, etc. (whole or decomposing) burn intensely.
201-400 Plant leaves, twigs, etc. (whole or decomposing) are drying and beginning to contribute to fire intensity.
0-200 Moisture levels are high and do not contribute significantly to fire intensity.

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Lions, tigers and bears oh my! Well, actually, just bears. You heard right, there are bears in Florida. Black bears that is. Check out the map to view the areas where Black bears hang out.

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Who doesn't love Easter eggs? There's the plastic, multicolored eggs. Candy eggs. Dyed eggs. The ones filled with candy, or money or both. Great times!

So one year, I thought I'd do a different take on colorful eggs for a page. The original idea was to do a page on how a female's brightly colored eggs signaled she was quite a catch to male birds. And it was for timed to run on Easter. Seriously ...

But research proved there wasn't much more to that statement for me to illustrate, so I had to find a Plan B. I opted for a page on the variety of colors and patterns of bird eggs — all thanks to a book I found about bird eggs.

I loved the idea of having Nature's own green, red, blue and spotted eggs. I also learned there's a variety of egg shapes too. And that the largest egg doesn't always belong to the biggest bird.

So why don't you check it out and read on to find out more ...

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New Year's is around the corner, so get ready to start popping the bubbly, because it is going to be a whale of a new year! But wait! Don't drink to much because the inevitable hangover will be waiting for you the next morning. It is said that a hangover is mother nature's way of payback for a night of guzzling booze. Seventy-five percent of alcohol consumers have experienced a hangover at least once.

Here is a video that gives a glimpse of why you get a hangover after drinking too much:

Here is also a good article and video that shows a hangover remedy recipe.

Download this week's News Illustrated to read what causes a hangover and its symptoms. The page also gives you some remedies that might help you before, during and after you drink.

So if you drink this New Years' make sure you drink responsibly, and if you drink to much, be ready for a tough morning.

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One business that may not be affected by recession could be plastic surgery. The chart below shows that the number of surgeries and procedures have doubled since 2000:

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After five months of digging, scooping, baking, sniffing and tasting. Phoenix has gone silent and is almost certainly dead, NASA says. Phoenix's main goals were to search for environments suitable for microbial life and research history of water on the planet.

Phoenix had a remarkable mission

It discovered two types of ice deposits, observed snow descending from Martian clouds, provided a record of weather during the length of the mission along with all types of data like temperatures, pressure, humidity and wind.

These images taken on the 21st and 25th day of the mission show ice formation and evaporation. On the left you can see ice clumps in the lower lefthand corner of the image, by the 25th day they had disappeared. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

Read more about the mission.

See animations and videos on the Phoenix.

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Lionfish are the first exotic saltwater fish to establish themselves in Florida and U.S. eastern coast waters. They have venomous spikes and will sting in defense. They don't pose much threat to humans other than their sting, which can be very painful, but they do pose a threat to other fish in their new environment.

Scientists are still working to figure out how much of an impact lionfish will have, but one recent study suggests that lionfish could drastically reduce other small prey fish populations in some areas by as much as 80%. One lionfish was even seen eating 20 small fish in 30 minutes.

On top of their large appetite, other fish are not familiar with this new fish and so far, it has few known predators. It is near the top of the food chain in its native waters, the Indian and Pacific oceans, and now in their new environments. Below are some videos showing just how dominating this fish can be.

This is video of a lionfish eating a small fish. They are known for using their fanned out fins to corner their prey. Watch as it blocks the fish from escaping.

This video is pretty cool. You can see in slow motion how its jaw expands to eat its prey.

Watch this potential lionfish predator check out the lionfish. You can tell he's checkin' the fish out and may think he's going to have a tasty meal, but the lionfish wins this battle without even breaking a sweat.

To learn more about lionfish and how they have spread, check out my News Illustrated page on the back of the Outlook section on Sunday.

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The fight against cancer just found a new group of soldiers: magnetic nanoparticles. In a recent study at Georgia Tech, scientists proved they could attach the nanoparticles to cancer cells then isolate them with a magnet. The procedure still has some bugs to work out (like whether the nanoparticles are poisonous) but early results are promising.

The new procedure combined with already proven, cancer-fighting procedures such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery could significantly help stop cancer from spreading to other areas in the body.

I found a video showing how the procedure works in the bloodstream. I also have a News Illustrated page running this Sunday explaining how the process works. You can also try own hand at the procedure with the interactive graphic below.

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Can you imagine riding a train that goes more than 350 miles per hour? That's faster than current high-speed trains, and a cheaper ride than in an airplane (think about the money you save if you don't have to check in a bag or pay for peanuts).

What's so great about these, you ask? Well for starters ... they FLOAT (yes, float!) on tracks and use magnets to guide them along, creating less friction which makes for a faster ride. How can you not get excited about that?

There are three magnetically levitating trains (or maglevs) in existence, but only China has the first working system. The other two are either a test track or still in planning phase (as evidenced in the photo above).

As for the United States, there are several proposed routes in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and even Atlanta. There was even a proposed route in Florida back in the late 1990s, linking Port Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center and eventually to Orlando, but the project is stalled due to a lack of fundraising.

And finally, there's even a site dedicated to putting a maglev in the country.

But the problem is they cost so much to build — try billions of dollars — because of new tracks. But we may be closer to getting our first maglev, since a proposed Los Angeles-Las Vegas route got a huge federal grant this summer.

Take a look at this Sunday's News Illustrated to find out more about how maglevs work and where these routes could take place.

Meanwhile, to wet your appetite, check out this wire graphic that compares maglevs to other existing high-speed trains.

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Scientists are waiting in anticipation - one more day.

Plans are set for the Large Hadron Collider, a multibillion-dollar particle accelerator, to produce its first beam. It will be seven times more energetic than any previous machine. The collider will be used to search for signs of invisible "dark matter" and "dark energy" and undiscovered particles thought to give matter mass. Some people fear that the collider may destoy the world but the scientific community has assured us that it would never happen.

If you would like to follow the news on the event, or read about the final testing at CERN, the Europ0ean Organization for Nuclear Research.

We live in a fascinating time.

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The Navy along with the Coast Guard finished their surveillance test of the Florida Straits using a blimp. You might be wondering "what good is a slow moving blimp." Well, this was not just any blimp advertising your favorite energy drink. This was a custom fitted "Skyship 600," equipped with a special infrared camera, a powerful radar, two Porsche engines and a large gondola with enough room to fit special equipment.

The main advantage of the blimp is that it can remain airborne for extended periods of time which helps to save on fuel dollars. During its 6-week test the blimp produce great results and actually helped officials spot migrants on two different occasions.

The blimp could possibly be used to patrol the Straits and help protect the U.S. borders in the future.

You can download the News Illustrated page here.

Learn more about the blimp at Airship Management Services, Inc or check out airshipoperations.com.

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Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center study a wide array of data and use experience and intuition to predict a hurricane’s future path. Computer-generated weather models and measurements gathered by Hurricane Hunter aircraft play a major role. Here’s how some of the models work:

CLIPER CLImatology and PERsistence; National Hurricane Center
Type: Statistical model
How it works: Compares a storm to historically similar storms.

NHC981998 National Hurricane Center model, National Hurricane Center
Type: Combined model
How it works: Combines the CLIPER and GFS models. 

GFS Global Forecast System, National Centers for Environmental Prediction
Type: Dynamic model
How it works: Creates worldwide forecasts by plotting the storm on a large grid that covers the globe. Readings from the grid points nearest the storm are combined with known values consistent with hurricanes, such as convection.

BAM Beta and Advection Model, National Hurricane Center
Type: Dynamic model
How it works: Follows a vortex placed in the storm’s current position and corrects errors caused by the earth’s spin not accounted for in the GFS trajectory. Three types of BAM models:
BAMS (Shallow): For winds 5,000 to 10,000 feet
BAMM (Medium): For winds 10,000 to 24,500 feet
BAMD (Deep): For winds 24,500 to 47,000 feet

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Type: Dynamic baroclinic model
How it works: This model, developed specifically for hurricane prediction, uses a grid similar to GFS. It adds smaller grids over the storm to compute additional data. Meteorologists give this model significant weight.

NOGAPS Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System, Naval Research Laboratory
Type: Dynamic global model
How it works: This model uses parameters of physical processes and a bogussing, or faking, scheme for a tropical cyclone.

UKMET United Kingdom Meteorological Office
Type: Dynamic Global model
How it works: Like the NOGAPS and GFS models, the UKMET includes extensive readings and a bogussing system.

GUNS Ensemble Naval Research Laboratory
Type: Combined model
How it works: This model averages the GFDL, UKMET and NOGAPS tracks. It is more accurate at 24, 48 and 72 hours than the best of individual models.

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So you want a pet snake, huh? Well, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission expects you to know what you're getting yourself into. Below is the first page of the official questionnaire that you'll have to fill out to get a permit to own a python. Do you know the answers?

Find out why they are a problem in South Florida in our Snakes Gone Wild News Illustrated.

Download PDF here.

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UPDATE: The GFDL model has shifted west. You can see a newer animation here.

The GFDL forecast model is predicting Fay will make landfall over the Everglades and the eye will pass over South Florida. This is only one of several models used to predict the storm's path so Fay could still miss South Florida. But the images do provide insight to how the storm could look if it did hit us. Click the image to view an animation. When the page opens, hit the "FWD" button to start the animation.

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High-powered lasers are dangerous and can cause severe eye injury. This image from the FAA shows eye damage from lasers. Even Class IIIa, laser pointers can cause temporary visual effects causing short-term blinding and disorientation.

The high-powered pointer below was listed for sale online. The Class IIIb laser has 50 milliwatts of output power, 45 milliwatts above the legal limit of 5 milliwatts, for a laser pointer.

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A DEVICE
Contact the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health at (240) 276-0326. Some laser pointers purchased online do not meet federal safety guidelines. They may have lasers too powerful. The FDA has more information.

CLASSIFICATION OF LASERS
Green lasers are used in:
Class I: CD players
Class II: Bar code scanners
Class IIIa, less than 5 milliwatts: Laser pointers and some gun targets
Class IIIb and IV, more than 5 milliwatts to 500 milliwatts: laser light shows, industrial lasers, research lasers.

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Laser correction surgery could be your ticket to perfect vision.

Click here to check out a video of how the procedure is done, provided by Millennium Laser Eye Centers.
UPDATE: You can download the News Illustrated graphic to learn more.

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Technology can come from anywhere.

The bombardier beetle‘s backside is being studied by scientist to advance spray technology and preserve the environment.

This tiny beetle can shoot super hot spray at up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit which will ward off any opposing enemy.

Learn more about the way this beetle defends itself at the National Academy of Sciences.

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On Sunday, the Sun-Sentinel will feature a package on Brendan O'Toole, a young man who suffered from severe traumatic brain injury from a horrific car accident in September 2005. Staff reporter Tim Collie and photographer Susan Stocker spent time with Brendan's family to give you this heartfelt story about their hopes and struggles.

Above is the multimedia package with the story that features a powerful video of friends and family; copies of emails Brendan's mother wrote to friends chronicling Brendan's journey for the first few years after the accident; and an interactive graphic explaining the causes of traumatic brain injury.

If you'd like to include your story, feel free to comment at the Sun-Sentinel forum we set up for Brendan's story. Please note that all comments will be approved before they are posted.

If you want more information on traumatic brain injury, visit the Brain Injury Association of Florida or call their family helpline (800-992-3442).

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If you missed my News Illustrated page on Dakota, the dinosaur mummy, in the paper Sunday, check it out here.

Also, the video below talks more about the discovery process and shows some great footage of the dinosaur mummy being uncovered. It is pretty cool because you can actually see the head of the dinosaur being uncovered and see footage of them digging it up in North Dakota.

Here are 6 different parts of a documentary by the National Geographic Channel on Dakota's discovery. You can see how the scientists used CT scans and other information to create a computer generated model of how hadrosaurs walked and ran. It aired on tv back in December.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Also, if you are planning to visit North Dakota anytime soon, the dinosaur's arm, tail and foot will be put on display this summer at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismark. A large life-size photo of the rest of the body will be put on floor tiles, with the body parts in place where they would attach. A camera will also be set up for visitors to see the rest of the body being prepared.

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A 3D dinosaur mummy nicknamed Dakota was found in North Dakota in 1999. Scientists are still uncovering it and learning new things about dinosaurs as they go. It is an amazing fossil because it is one of only five naturally preserved dinosaur mummies ever found, but instead of only having skin impressions on bones, Dakota's entire skin envelope remains. It has maintained it’s 3D shape for 67 million years.

The fossil is also the largest object ever scanned at high resolution. It is so large that it had to be scanned a CT scanner normally used to for space shuttle parts for NASA.

To learn more about how Dakota fossilized and what the scientists have been learning about dinosaurs through their discovery, check out my News Illustrated page in the Outlook section on Sunday.

National Geographic is also airing another segment of their special "Dino Autopsy" on Sunday, June 8 at 2p.m on the National Geographic Channel.

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If you didn't see Sunday's New Illustrated page on hurricane buoys, you can download it here. The page explains how the buoys help forecasters predict storms by measuring air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and wave data.

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Hurricane season starts Sunday. So with that in mind, this week's News Illustrated page in the Sun-Sentinel takes a look at weather buoys, which give us information to predict the weather. Sensors placed on the buoy help scientist measure air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and wave data. These measurements help forecasters predict storms and, in turn, helps us prepare for them.

But weather buoys can also be use for lounging:

Also this Sunday, the Sun-Sentinel is chock-full of hurricane coverage, including our annual hurricane guide. Don't forget to pick it up.

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After spending 10 months traveling to Mars, the Phoenix lander will touch down on Mars this Sunday. NASA scientists will be biting their nails between the seven minutes it will take to land once it enters Mars' atmosphere.

So what is NASA doing this time? This wire graphic explains the mission and how the spacecraft will make its landing. The Phoenix's goal is to find evidence that life existed on the planet by studying soil and ice samples.

Need more? NASA has some great images and a blog, while the University of Arizona (the brains behind the ship) has a more in-depth site on the spacecraft and its mission.

But please, try to keep the theme music to "2001: A space odyssey" on low as you do the research.

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NOAA cane out with their hurricane forecast today and said a weak La Nina and warmer than normal sea surface temperatures could contribute to a storm season with as many as 9 hurricanes.

Animation of La Niña off the coast of South America Flashing will stop once loaded.

The blue areas off the coast of South America extending through the middle of the image are sea surface temperatures that indicate a La Niña. They are stronger in February and there appears to be a slight warming trend closer to the coast.

Sea surface temperatures
The images below compare temperatures for May 21 in 2008 and 2005, a record-setting hurricane season. While 2008 appears to have warm waters covering more area, 2005 had hotter temperatures in the Caribbean Sea. The images are produced daily by NOAA, so you can check on them at any time.

Also, check out Ken Kaye's Storm Center for regular updates on hurricane coverage.

For more information, click on the image above to see more animations or checkout NOAA's La Niña Web site.

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Sea level is rising as ice at the poles melts, but will it cover part of South Florida? Who knows? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released maps that project the areas that could be affected. They show the elevations of lands close to sea level. The areas of land in red are the areas that would be covered with a 70 cm (about 2.3 feet) rise in sea level. According to the EPA, this is likely to happen in the next 120 years and has a 1% chance of happening in the next 60 years.

For additional information on sea level rise, check out these reports.

And to learn more about the melting ice in the Arctic, check out this News Illustrated page that ran a few Sundays ago. It talks about the conditions that led to the record breaking melting season last year.

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A massive 7.8 earthquake struck China on Monday, possibly killing as many as 5,000 people. The quake hit at 2:28 EDT.

The U.S. Geological Survey monitors earthquakes around the world and offers detailed information. The maps are updated daily.

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If you didn't see Sunday's New Illustrated page on the Air Force's "Airborne Laser," you can download it here. The page explains how the plane shoots down ballistic missiles and gives an in-depth view on how its nose turret and chemical laser works.

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Ok so you may have been wondering when was the guy with the “flat head” ever going to do a post? Well here it is...

This video shows how the "nose turret" on an Air Force's Airborne Laser works, The ABL fires its powerful chemical laser through this turret to shoot down ballistic missiles in their boost phase.

Looks Sci-fi huh? Well guess what, it may become reality in a couple of years.

The ABL will be part of a missile defense system intended to protect U.S. territory from missile attacks. Contractors are currently working on this weapon which has so far totaled $4.3 billion. You can learn more about it in this Sundays News Illustrated page.

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This pair of images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite use a combination of visible and infrared light to make floodwaters obvious. Water is blue or nearly black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, and clouds are white or light blue.

AP Photo/NASA

On the left: On April 15 (before the storm), rivers and lakes are sharply defined against a backdrop of vegetation and fallow agricultural land. The Irrawaddy River flows south through the left-hand side of the image. The wetlands near the shore are a deep blue green.

On the right: Cyclone Nargis came ashore across the Mouths of the Irrawaddy and followed the coastline northeast. The entire coastal plain is flooded in the May 5 image.

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After more than 10 years, the Air & Sea Show has come to an end. It's a shame, if you ask me. It was fun and was always good fodder for graphics.

For example, a few years ago, our competitors to the south were sponsoring the event so we decided to try and steal their thunder. We created a special section with a cut-out paper airplane, built an interactive graphic so readers could build and print planes online and produced a News Illustrated page explaining the aerodynamics.

The research and development was particularly fun. At one point, our Managing Editor walked by the department and was nearly struck by a test plane that sailed through the door. Talk about not safe for work.

So if you really miss the Air & Sea Show, hold an event at home. Build some planes and throw them in the air. We thought it a fitting farewell.

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This is a cool animation of the sea ice from January through December 2007 from NASA. The first part of video doesn't show much, because it's the winter months, but the last half shows the ice melting which is neat to see. There are also other animations of sea ice from past years.

If you are interested in tracking the changes in the sea ice, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has set up a website for Arctic sea ice news and analysis. They give monthly updates on the ice and the conditions in the Arctic, graphics showing changes and other updates. Their website also has other information about sea ice in general and the processes, natural and otherwise, that are affecting it.

On a lighter note, have you ever wondered what it's like to live under blocks of ice? I know I have. Here is a link to an acoustic live stream from underneath the Antarctic ice to give you an idea, not of what sights you'd see, but of what sounds you'd hear. I think I hear Mumble from Happy Feet tap dancing away down there...

And if you didn't catch my News Illustrated page yesterday, you can download it here.

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Say what you will about global warming, but it is hard to deny the steady and fast loss of sea ice in the Arctic. These two images show sea ice extent at the end of the melting season in September. The top image is from 1979, the bottom image is from 2007.

Pretty big difference, huh? The 2007 melting season set a new record for melting, which isn't good, because sea ice plays an important role in regulating climate and providing a habitat for some pretty cool animals, like the narwhal. Even if you have no particular feelings towards blocks of ice, you've got to admit the narwhal is worth saving. I'm mean, come on - it's got a tooth that's longer than you are tall. Check out my News Illustrated page in the Outlook section on Sunday to find out why the ice is melting so fast and how it's affecting the people and animals living in the Arctic.

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Scientists at the Vulcan Project, have collected data to create a series of maps to illustrate CO2 emissions in the US.

The Project is funded by NASA and the Department of Energy under the North American Carbon Program (NACP). The Vulcan CO2 inventory is intended to add detail and scope to policy discussions and aid demographers and social scientists.

Detail map of carbon emissions for Florida taken from map below.

Map of carbon emissions for the United States.

Are we making progress? The news is mixed. The image below illustrates the change in emissions from 1998 to 2002. The West, North East and parts of Florida have decreased their CO2 levels while levels in the middle of the country have increased. Methodology.

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A 5.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southeast Illinois, and the tremors could be felt as far north as Chicago. Weird, you say? Well, check out the U.S. Geological Survey's map that shows where all the earthquakes in the country occurred in the past week. You'll see the Illinois quake was the biggest in the continental United States.

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Animation of La Niña off the coast of South America Flashing will stop once loaded.

William Gray came out with his annual prediction today and said a weak La Nina could contribute to a storm season with as many as 15 named storms.

The blue areas off the coast of South America extending through the middle of the image are sea surface temperatures that indicate a La Niña. They are stronger in January, but there appears to be a slight warming trend closer to the coast.

For more information, click on the image above to see more animations or checkout NOAA's La Niña Web site.

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Noel's actual path superimposed on a 5-day forecast.

With the National Hurricane Center's push to extend their forecast to seven days, we decided to take a quick look at Noel, a tropical storm that threatened Florida last year. The track veers wildly at times, but it mostly stays within the forecast cone. Noel became a hurricane after passing over the Bahamas.

You can view the NHC's animation of Noel forecast maps or the report for the entire 2007 hurricane season.

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Forecasters are warning of an intense hurricane season this year. So we thought we would offer you a look at sea surface temperatures, a contributor to hurricane formation and intensity.

The images below compare three years of records for March 31. While 2008 doesn't look bad yet, there is still plenty of time for oceans to heat up. The images are produced daily by NOAA, so you can check on them at any time.

Also, check out Ken Kaye's Storm Center for regular updates on hurricane coverage.

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Light pollution is most prevalent in urban areas across the U.S. Many parts of Florida are not good for people looking to catch a nice view of stars. Here's some information about where you'll find the most and least polluted areas in case you want to do some star gazing.

Here is another map that has details about where to check out the night sky, including detailed light pollution maps for areas all over Florida.

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Hello and welcome to one of the Sun-Sentinel's newest blogs. Rather than bore you with who we are and why we're here (check About This Blog if you really want to know), here's some examples of what we do and what you can expect.

You may have seen the Florida property tax calculator before. We struggled to explain how portability would affect individuals (including us — we have homes, too). So Karsten Ivey built a calculator to figure it out. It made his brain bleed a little, but the end result is simple to use and informative.

Some graphics just work better when you can play with the information. This Lake Okeechobee water level graphic lets you scroll on a timeline and watch lake levels change.

A Broward County and Palm Beach County home foreclosures graphic lets you investigate detailed information in your neighborhood. Go ahead, we'll wait.

You're back? Excellent! Did watch you the lunar eclipse in February? Well, we produced a total lunar eclipse graphic to help you plan your viewing.

Political junkie? We have you covered. We built a Florida primary election results map for the January primary. It updated every two minutes on election night. Look for more of these in November.

But we're not afraid to have fun.

Are you a snowbird? Did you come down and forget to leave? Well, we know there are somethings you can't help but miss. So check out our South Florida snowman builder. It's good for what ails you.

Or check out our Paper Airplane Garage. That's right, we actually got paid to play with paper airplanes so that you could too. Choose from several different models, customize their appearance then print them out and build 'em.

Well, now you've got an idea of the things we do.

Be sure to let us know what you think. And give us your ideas and requests. We'll try to so something with the best of them.

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