Photograph by Spencer Millsap
Photograph by Spencer Millsap
  • November 26, 2013

Video: Full Circle Around the Earth

by Dan Stone
N 21° 16' 46", W 157° 49' 40"

The Earth is vast—nearly 25,000 miles at its fattest. We’ve gone even further than that as we zigzagged between continents. And now, after a few days producing a story in Hawaii, we’re headed back to the U.S. mainland.

For those of you who joined the ride, thanks for coming along. We hope you enjoyed yourself, and learned a little about the Earth and some people who are shaping its future. To review, here are our stories from Iceland, Italy, Tanzania, India, Indonesia, and Guam. We’ll have a bonus feature next week on the world’s rarest plants on Hawaii and the rock-star botanist trying ...

International Date Line
Flying over the International Date Line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
  • November 25, 2013

The Only Way to Time Travel

by Dan Stone
N 12° 14' 54", E 0° 0' 0"

Crossing the International Date Line is one of the rare thrills of travel. Pass over the Pacific Ocean in the right direction (eastward) and you can relive the same day twice. We left Guam on Thursday and arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday, the night before.

The date line actually used to be in Europe. About 150 years ago, days were measured from noon to noon, starting and ending at the Prime Meridian. When an international conference of leaders changed it to midnight, the date line moved to the middle of the Pacific.

The result creates some fascinating time realities. Even though they’re just 40 miles apart, American Samoa and the ...

Photographs by Spencer Millsap
Photographs by Spencer Millsap
FIeld biologist Chris Jones uses radio telemetry to track several of Guam's native birds, including Guam rails, that were moved to nearby Cocos Island as protection against brown tree snakes.
  • November 24, 2013

Guam: Can Invasive Species Be Stopped?

by Dan Stone
N 13° 29' 24", E 144° 49' 21"

It’s hard to find somewhere more remote than Guam, the U.S. territory east of the Philippines that’s part of the Mariana Islands. Its remoteness has been a benefit, especially to the U.S. military, which uses nearly one-third of the island for training and operations. Back in World War Two, ...

Photograph by Daniel Stone
Photograph by Daniel Stone
Cocos Island, a small 80-acre landmass off the south coast of Guam, is now being used in the island's fight against invasive species.
  • November 21, 2013

Stop # 7: Guam, USA—Why We Came

by Dan Stone
N13° 29' 16", E 144° 48' 31"

No tour of the world is complete without a stop in the Pacific islands—specifically Guam, an island at an intersection of cultures. Guam was initially inhabited by people from Indonesia, then later colonized by Spanish settlers, then finally declared a territory of the United States in 1950.

Guam has been invaded by a species of snake that wasn't meant to live here, brought to the island by trade boats and cargo ships as long ago as the mid 1940s. Since then, nearly all of Guam’s endemic birds have been driven close to extinction. How have conservationists tried to stop the problem from spreading? The answer is quirky: a combination ...

Photograph by Daniel Stone
Photograph by Daniel Stone
  • November 19, 2013

Drones Overhead: Protecting the Rain Forest From Above

by Dan Stone
N 3° 55' 25", E 97° 57' 9"

In 2011, two scientists, one American and one Dutch, met in Switzerland over coffee with a gripe familiar within the field of wildlife conservation. Animals in big countries get roped off in national parks and zoos. But monitoring species in the developing world, especially countries along the ecologically-rich equator, ...

Photograph by Spencer Millsap
Photograph by Spencer Millsap
  • November 18, 2013

Stop #6: Medan, Indonesia–Why We Came

by Dan Stone
N 3° 35' 6", E98° 38' 49"

About two months ago, while planning our itinerary around the world, we learned about two biologists who also liked flying model airplanes. They were trying to combine both fields of expertise with a nonprofit called Conservation Drones. Unmanned aircraft have a bad reputation, say scientists Serge Wich and Lian Pin Koh. But aside from military applications, drones could also be used in environmental conservation to help scientists survey and protect the habitat of threatened species.

It seemed like a great story, a unique mix of conservation, technology, and the promise of great aerial photography. The only question was, “Where can we meet you?”

Conservation Drones does work all over ...

Photograph by Spencer Millsap
Photograph by Spencer Millsap
  • November 17, 2013

Video: How Do You Get Around Jakarta?

by Spencer Millsap
S 6° 12' 21", E 106° 49' 21"

I only had one night in Jakarta. How could I make the most of it, I wondered? In most cities, a cab can take you anywhere your hotel concierge recommends. But not in Jakarta. Twenty-eight million people live in the city, many of whom spend hours commuting short distances. The Indonesian capital has some of the worst traffic in the world.

I wandered from my hotel near the famed Sudirman Street, then took a turn onto a side street lined with food carts. I’d start with some local cuisine. Smiles filled the rustic, tarp-covered picnic table of one small food vendor. The chef and I exchanged nods and ...

ShiloShivSuleman
Sketches by aritst Shiloh Shiv Suleman.
  • November 17, 2013

Getting to Know Some of India’s Future Leaders

by Dan Stone
N 13° 0' 10", E 77° 35' 49"

Before I arrived in Bangalore, people told me: Bangalore is different. It’s techy, it’s new, and it has a spirit of entrepreneurialism. Bangalore is full of people too impatient for their economy to fully develop. They’d rather work on start-ups and business ideas now and be the drivers of the new India.

I had planned to visit the city to spend some time with Raghava KK, an emerging explorer for National Geographic, and an all-around innovative thinker. But while in town, I also got to see that creative spirit in action.

Alok Shetty is an example. His idea was to repurpose old shipping containers into stadiums. The ...

Photograph by Daniel Stone
Photograph by Daniel Stone
Welcome to the new India, with artist and activist Raghava KK as your guide.
  • November 16, 2013

Meet Raghava KK: Welcome to the New India

by Dan Stone
N 13° 0' 0", E 77° 35' 45"

India is a country of contrasts. Farmers walk their cows along the same roads that people drive fancy sports cars. While some people continue to observe 5,000-year-old traditions, a few blocks away scientists plot how to put a rover on Mars. Young people who are the products of arranged ...

Photograph by Daniel Stone
Photograph by Daniel Stone
  • November 15, 2013

Stop #5: Bangalore, India—Why We Came

by Dan Stone
N 12° 59' 57", E 77° 35' 46"

The size and the smells were one reason. The pace of the population was another. But really, there’s no place in the world like India. It’s a country that’s also a subcontinent that also sometimes feels like a planet of its own. More than a billion people live in India, and yet, with 22 official languages, more than half a dozen dominant religions, there’s little that unites them all.

One other truth about India: It’s not slowing down. The subcontinent is moving faster fueled by a growing number of young people. There are 300 million people who will be under 35 over the next few decades and they’re interested ...