GARRETSON, S.D. (AP) - It's the Earth as Art. Millions of satellite images collected at a federal repository in South Dakota help document forest fires, droughts, hurricanes, tsunamis and other calamities. But they're also admired for their beauty. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center north of Sioux Falls have selected 40 standouts for its latest "Earth As Art" exhibit. Prints of the images are in Washington for a one-year stint at the Library of Congress. One piece called "Ice Waves," is a 2001 image snapped by the Landsat 7 satellite showing Greenland's intricate network of fjords funneling glacial ice to the Atlantic Ocean. Another piece named "Rocky Mountain Trench" was snapped by the Landsat 5 satellite in 2004. It shows what appears to be a stroke of thick red paint, but it's actually interplay of light and clouds in the Canadian Rockies.
SOLAR-POWERED HOME
FAIRVIEW, Tenn. (AP) - Lots of Internet users rely on Google to instantly find
information about almost anyone and anything. A Tennessee couple went a step
further. They used Google to design their solar-powered home. They used Google
Sketchup, a 3D modeling program usually used by architects, engineers and other
design professionals. The couple drew the plans for their home and all of its
high-tech, low-environmental-impact features on a computer screen. Philippe
Jeanty says when they ran into problems, they posted their questions on bulletin
boards frequented by Google Sketchup user groups.
KU FAN'S LAMENT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - An avid Kansas basketball fan in Missouri didn't plan on his prized threads from the Jayhawks 2008 championship season ending up in a police evidence locker. But that's where the shorts and T-shirt he wore for every game that year ended up after a naked man broke into his house and put them on. Jason Chambers was moving out of his home and had left the clothing there to move later so it didn't get wrinkled or damaged by being packed too quickly. But they're a little tattered now after a 45-year-old man had a run in with a police dog while hiding in Chambers' attic. The Kansas athletics department says it has sent Chambers a package after hearing of his loss.
MISSING GATOR FOUND
PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) - Why did the alligator try cross the road? Maybe to get a new girlfriend. An alligator that disappeared from a Nature Center in Arkansas was found as he waited to cross a road near the center's entrance. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the gator may have tried to leave to find a mate. The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at the University of Georgia says alligator courtship starts in April and breeding season extends into May. A center employee says the alligator did the same thing last year.
PLAYBOY MANSION-HEALTH PROBE
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Health officials say the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's disease was found in the grotto of the Playboy Mansion, a whirlpool hot tub famed for steamy escapades. Scores of people at a fundraiser there in February reported getting sick afterwards. The Los Angeles Times reports that health officials contacted 439 attendees, and found that 123 had experienced fevers and one other symptom, with 69 falling ill on the same day. Legionnaires' disease can cause pneumonia, with symptoms that include headache, cough and shortness of breath. Playboy has said it cooperated with the investigation.
ALASKA RESTAURANT
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska restaurant is serving food you won't find just anywhere. The Loose Moose Cafe in Fairbanks offers a menu based on meat raised in the North. The restaurant features bison from near Delta Junction and reindeer from Nunivak Island. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports customers can get caribou that's imported from Canada. The owner says a signature dish is a burger made of ground beef, pork and buffalo.
