Avatar in the Amazon

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If there were ever a place that came close to the magical world of Pandora in James Cameron’s new film Avatar, it would probably be the Amazon. There may not be butterflies that look like flying squid, but in the Amazon can you eat giant worms and lemon flavored ants for dinner in a forest that is home to both the jaguar and the pink dolphin. Reporter Melaina Spitzer joined a group of indigenous leaders from the Amazon in Ecuador’s capital Quito, to see Avatar on the big screen in 3D. Download MP3

• Watch a video of the indigenous leaders going to see Avatar
• Official Avatar website

Pandora

Our eyes are on Pandora for today’s Geo Quiz. Pandora is the setting for the science-fiction movie “Avatar.” The film broke through the “one billion dollars in ticket sales” barrier this past weekend. That’s thanks in part to big international audiences. “Avatar” is already the most successful movie EVER in the country we want you to name today.

Searching for big surf

Surf’s up for our Geo Quiz today, as we’re headed to an island in French Polynesia. It’s a island where some world class surfers have come to shoot a a new surfing flick about the world’s wildest, most perfect wave.

Recreating pre-war Nagasaki in 3D, Ars Electronica 2009, and A Brief History of GPS Drawing

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On this week’s podcast, we’re off to Linz, Austria to hear about some of the exhibits at annual Ars Electronica Festival. One you can see here at left: that’s right, turn your own urine into fertilizer. If you like that one, wait until you hear the other story from Linz…Also, we hear about the 3D re-creation of pre-war Nagasaki, Japan. And we end with a brief history of GPS drawing, brought to you by listener Brett Stalbaum.

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Recreating Nagasaki in 3D

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Students at the University of Nagasaki are attempting to recreate a community that a nuclear weapon destroyed. The Urakami neighborhood in Nagasaki was ground zero for the second atomic bomb the U-S dropped on Japan in World War Two. That attack killed 39-thousand people. And it destroyed most pictures of life in Urakami before the war. The students are recreating pre-war Urakami, with the help of memories and 3D technology. Akiko Fujita has our radio story.

• View a video about the 3D reconstruction

Recreating Nagasaki

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Akiko Fujita reports that students at the University of Nagasaki are attempting to create a 3D digital image of the Japanese city BEFORE a US atomic bomb destroyed it during World War II. Very few photos remain of the pre-bomb neighborhoods, so the students are also relying on survivor memories. Read more and watch a video