National Geographic

Websites
National
Geographic Channel
National
Geographic Society
The
National Geographic Society, headquartered in
Washington, D.C. in the United States, calls itself
"the largest non-profit scientific and educational
institution in the world". Its interests
include geography, archaeology and natural science,
the promotion of environmental and historical
conservation, and the study of world culture and
history.
Its
historical mission is "to increase and diffuse
geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation
of the world's cultural, historical, and natural
resources." Its President and CEO since March
1998, John M. Fahey, Jr., says National Geographic's
purpose is to inspire people to care about their
planet. The Society is governed by a twenty-three
member Board of Trustees composed of a group of
distinguished educators, businesspeople, scientists,
former governmental officials, and conservationists.
The organization sponsors and funds scientific
research and exploration. The Society publishes
an official journal, National Geographic Magazine,
and other magazines, books, school products, maps,
other publications, web and film products in numerous
languages and countries around the world. It also
has an educational foundation that gives grants
to education organizations and individuals to
enhance geography education. Its Committee for
Research and Exploration has given grants for
scientific research for most of the Society's
history and has recently awarded its 9,000th grant
for scientific research, conducted worldwide and
often reported on by its media properties. Its
various media properties reach about 360 million
people around the world monthly. National Geographic
maintains a museum free for the public in its
Washington, D.C. headquarters, and has helped
to sponsor such popular traveling exhibits such
as the "King Tut" exhibit featuring
magnificent artifacts from the tomb of the young
Egyptian Pharaoh, which toured in several American
cities, ending its U.S. showing at the Franklin
Institute in Philadelphia.
History
The
National Geographic Society was founded in Washington,
D.C. on January 27, 1888, by 33 explorers and
scientists who were interested in "organizing
a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical
knowledge." They had begun discussing forming
the Society two weeks earlier on January 13, 1888,
before gathering at the Cosmos Club, a private
club then located on Lafayette Square near the
White House. Gardiner Greene Hubbard became its
first president and his son-in-law, Alexander
Graham Bell, eventually succeeded him in 1897
following his death. Bell's son-in-law Gilbert
Hovey Grosvenor was named the first full-time
editor of National Geographic Magazine and served
the organization for fifty-five years, and members
of the Grosvenor family have played important
roles in the organization since. Bell and his
son-in-law, Grosvenor, devised the successful
marketing notion of Society membership and the
first major use of photographs to tell stories
in magazines. The current Chairman of the Board
of Trustees of National Geographic is Gilbert
Melville Grosvenor, who received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 2005 for the Society's leadership
for Geography education. In 2004, the National
Geographic Headquarters in Washington, D.C. was
one of the first buildings to receive a "Green"
certification from Global Green USA. The National
Geographic received the prestigious Prince of
Asturias Award for Communications and Humanity
in October 2006 in Oviedo, Spain.
Publications
National Geographic Magazine
The
National Geographic Magazine, later shortened
to National Geographic, published its first issue
nine months after the Society was founded as the
Society's official journal, a benefit for joining
the tax exempt National Geographic Society. The
magazine has had for many years a trademarked
yellow border around the edge of its cover.
There
are 12 monthly issues of National Geographic per
year, plus at least four additional map supplements.
On rare occasions, special issues of the magazine
are also created. The magazine contains articles
about geography, popular science, world history,
culture, current events and photography of places
and things all over the world and universe. The
National Geographic magazine is currently published
in 31 language editions in many countries around
the world. Combined English and other language
circulation is nearly nine million monthly with
more than fifty million readers monthly.
Other publications
In
addition to its flagship magazine, the Society
publishes five other periodicals in the United
States:
* National Geographic Kids: launched in 1975 as
National Geographic World, name changed in 2001.
There are currently 15 local language editions
of NG Kids. An Arabic edition of the children's
magazine was launched in Egypt in early 2007.
* National Geographic Little Kids: for children
aged 3-6.
* National Geographic Traveler: launched in 1984.
There are seven language editions of NG Traveler.
* National Geographic Adventure: launched in 1999
* National Geographic Explorer: classroom magazine
launched in 2001 as National Geographic for Kids,
which has grown to about 2 1/2 million circulation.
The
Society also runs an online news outlet, National
Geographic News.
The
Society previously published:
* The National Geographic School Bulletin, magazine
similar to the National Geographic but aimed at
grade school children, was published weekly during
the school year from 1919 to 1975, when it was
replaced by National Geographic World.
* During the 1980s and 1990s, it published a research
journal which later closed.
The
Society has also published maps, atlases, and
numerous books.
Television
Main article: National Geographic Channel
Stories
by the National Geographic Society are shown on
television. National Geographic specials as well
as television series have been shown on PBS and
other networks in the United States and globally
for many years. The Geographic series in the U.S.
started on CBS in 1964, moved to ABC in 1973 and
shifted to PBS (produced by WQED, Pittsburgh)
in 1975. It has featured stories on numerous scientific
figures such as Louis Leakey, Jacques Cousteau,
or Jane Goodall that not only featured their work
but helped make them world-famous and accessible
to millions. The specials' theme music, by Elmer
Bernstein, was also adopted by the National Geographic
Channel. The National Geographic Channel has begun
to launch a number of subbranded channels in international
markets, such as Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure,
Nat Geo Junior, and Nat Geo Music.
In
1997, internationally, and in 2001 in the United
States, the Society launched, in part ownership
with other entities like News Corporation, the
National Geographic Channel, a television channel
with global distribution for cable and satellite
viewers.
National
Geographic Films, a wholly-owned taxable subsidiary
of the National Geographic Society, has also produced
a feature film based on the diary of a Russian
submarine commander starring Harrison Ford in
K-19: The Widowmaker, and most recently retooling
a French-made documentary for U.S. distribution
with a new score and script narrated by Morgan
Freeman called March of the Penguins, which received
an Academy Award for the Best Documentary in 2006.
After a record $77 million theatrical gross in
the United States, over four million DVD copies
of March of the Penguins have been sold. National
Geographic Films will be launching a new feature
film in July called Arctic Tale, featuring the
story of two families of walrus and polar bears.
Queen Latifah is the narrator of this film. Inspired
by a National Geographic Magazine article, National
Geographic opened in October 2007 a 3-D large
format and Reality 3-D film called Sea Monsters,"
with a musical score by Peter Gabriel. National
Geographic Films is co-producing with Edward Norton
and Brad Pitt the 10-hour mini series of Steven
Ambrose's award-winning "Undaunted Courage:
Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening
of the American West" for HBO. The National
Geographic website (nationalgeographic.com) provides
a wealth of content in multimedia formats, including
a recently launched site highlighting world music.
Support for research & projects
The
Society has helped sponsor many expeditions and
research projects over the years, including:
* Codex Tchacos - (conservation and translation
of the only known surviving copy of the Gospel
of Judas)
* Ian Baker (Discovers hidden waterfall of the
Tsangpo Gorge, Tibet)
* Robert Ballard - (RMS Titanic and John F. Kennedy's
PT-109 discovery)
* Robert Bartlett - (Arctic Exploration)
* George Bass - (Undersea archaeology - Bronze
Age trade)
* Lee Berger - (Oldest footprints of modern humans
ever found)
* Hiram Bingham - (Machu Picchu Excavation)
* Richard E. Byrd - (First flight over South Pole)
* Jacques-Yves Cousteau - (Undersea exploration)
* Mike Fay - (MegaTransect and MegaFlyover in
Africa)
* Dian Fossey - (Mountain gorillas)
* Birute Galdikas - (Orangutans)
* Jane Goodall - (Chimpanzees)
* Robert F. Griggs - (Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes)
* Heather Halstead - World Circumnavigations of
Reach the World
* Louis and Mary Leakey - (Discovery of manlike
Zinjanthropus, more than 1.75 million years old)
* Gustavus McLeod - (First flight to the North
Pole in an open-air cockpit aircraft)
* Robert Peary and Matthew Henson - (North Pole
Expedition)
* Paul Sereno - (Dinosaurs)
* Will Steger - (Polar Exploration & First
Explorer-in-Residence 1996)
* Spencer Wells - (The Genographic Project)
* Xu Xing - (Discovery of fossil dinosaurs in
China that have distinct feathers)
The
Society supports many socially-based projects
including AINA, a Kabul-based organization dedicated
to developing an independent Afghan media, which
was founded by one of the Society's most famous
photographers, Reza.
The
Society also sponsors the National Geographic
Bee, an annual geographic contest for American
middle-school students. More than four million
students a year begin the geography competition
locally, which culminates in a national competition
of the winners of each state each May in Washington,
D.C. Alex Trebek has moderated the final competition
since the competition began some seventeen years
ago. Every two years, the Society conducts an
international geography competition of competing
teams from all over the world. The most recent
was held at Marineworld in San Diego, California
during the summer of 2007, and had representatives
from 18 country teams. The team from Mexico emerged
as the winner.
Hubbard
Medal
The
Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic
Society for distinction in exploration, discovery,
and research. The medal is named for Gardiner
Greene Hubbard, the first National Geographic
Society president. The Hubbard Medal has been
presented 34 times as of 2000, the most recent
award going posthumously to Matthew Henson, Robert
Peary's fellow Arctic explorer.
References
1. ^ About the National Geographic Society. National
Geographic Channel Canada.
2. ^ National Geographic Online. National Geographic
Society.
3. ^ National Geographic Education Foundation.
National Geographic Society.
4. ^ National Geographic Society. U.S. Department
of State.
5. ^
6. ^
7. ^ http://news.nationalgeographic.com
8. ^ Explorer-in-Residence
9. ^
Further reading
* Poole, Robert M. Explorers House: National Geographic
and the World it Made. New York: Penguin, 2004.
{ISBN|1594200327}
See also
* National Geographic Magazine
* Royal Geographical Society
* Royal Canadian Geographical Society
* Maps of the United States
* National Geographic Bee (Credit:
Wikipedia).
News
Press
Release
3rd
December 2007
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL UNEARTHS PARTIALLY INTACT DINOSAUR
MUMMY
One-Hour
Special Dino Autopsy Opens New Window to Dinosaur
Evolution
“It
is quite fair to say that our dinosaur mummy [Dakota]
makes many other dinosaurs look like road kill.”
-
Dr. Phillip Manning, palaeontologist, University
of Manchester
(Monday
December 3) – National Geographic Channel
uncovers the Holy Grail of palaeontology on Sunday
December 16 at 10:30pmNZ: a partially intact mummified
dinosaur. Named Dakota, this 67-million-year-old
dinosaur is one of the most important dinosaur
discoveries in recent times – calling into
question our conception of dinosaurs’ body
shape, skin preservation and movement.
In
Dino Autopsy, a National Geographic exclusive,
top palaeontologists in the United States uncover
the rocky tomb of one of the most complete dino
mummies ever found. Whereas most understanding
of dinosaurs is based on fossilised skeletal remains,
this specimen includes an uncollapsed skin envelope
on many parts of the body and limbs, offering
a degree of insight impossible from bone structure
alone.
With
the use of a giant CT scanner provided by the
Boeing Company, scientists attempt to peer inside
this preserved body and tail in one of the largest
CT scans ever attempted. They also look for clues
as to how this dinosaur was astonishingly preserved.
“It
is quite fair to say that our dinosaur mummy [Dakota]
makes many other dinosaurs look like road kill.
Simply because the evidence we’re getting
from our creature is so complete compared to the
disjointed sort of skeletons that we usually have
to draw conclusions from”, said Dr. Phillip
Manning, palaeontologist, the University of Manchester.
Nearly
everything we know of dinosaurs comes from bones
and teeth, usually the only tissue durable enough
to fossilise. Unlike most previous fossil finds,
Dakota has survived millions of years almost entirely
intact, with fossilised skin and tendons allowing
the reconstruction of major muscles. Many of these
body parts now allow a tantalising glimpse of
a 3-D dinosaur.
Unearthed
by then-teenager Tyler Lyson on his family’s
land in North Dakota in 1999, Dr Manning and his
team of scientists from the University of Manchester
were then brought in to work alongside Tyler and
his team of volunteers in the struggle to uncover
the tomb.
As
the documentary reveals, Dakota is wrapped in
plaster and first transported to the Black Hills
Institute in the United States, where it is revealed
to be a Hadrosaur, more commonly known as a duck-billed
dinosaur. A team of scientists in the United Kingdom
then test skin samples, examining the fossilised
skin to determine how Dakota might have looked
and measuring muscle mass to determine how it
might have moved.
With
the aid of a giant Boeing CT scanner, they then
peer inside Dakota’s preserved body and
tail. A technology usually reserved for testing
aircraft and spacecraft parts for NASA, a scan
of the 3,600-kilogram body will be one of the
largest ever attempted.
Dakota
may contribute some significant findings to the
field of palaeontology, altering our comprehension
of how dinosaurs looked and moved. The Hadrosaur’s
backside appears to be approximately 25 percent
larger than previously thought; a surprising conclusion
that could change the image commonly held of the
dinosaur for the last 150 years. With a larger
backside, the Hadrosaur would have been able to
reach top speeds of 45 kilometres an hour –
16 kilometres faster than the T. Rex. The skin
envelope also shows evidence the Hadrosaur may
have been striped and not block coloured, producing
an almost camouflage pattern on some parts of
the body.
With
its body so well preserved, researchers are able
to more accurately estimate the spacing between
vertebrae. While most museums have dinosaur spinal
bones stacked tightly against each other, Dr.
Manning’s research suggests the vertebrae
should be stacked approximately one centimetre
apart. This could mean that some dinosaur species
are at least one metre longer than previously
thought.
The
National Geographic Society partly funded analysis
of the mummified dinosaur, including the CT scanning
of the fossil. Scientific papers based on study
of the dinosaur are in progress.
Dino
Autopsy is produced by National Geographic Television
(NGT) for National Geographic Channels International.
Attached
Image 25: Scientist examines the Hadrosaur’s
skin under magnification.
For
image requests please contact:
Katie
Fisher | Publicist | SKY Television
T:
+64 9 979 5793 | M: +64 21 344 048 |
E: kfisher@skytv.co.nz
For
further details please contact:
Marcus
Cammack | Publicist | National Geographic Channel
T:
+61 2 9813 6875 | M: +61 417 684 585 |
E: marcus.cammack@nationalgeographic.com.au
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