This map is the result of years of research by NASA, the National Geological Survey, and the U.S. Forest Service. It shows, in staggering detail, the total of woody biomass (read trees) across these United States. Presenting the entire nation at a 30 meter resolution, with 4 pixels representing an acre land, it’s one amazing map. While impressive in its own right, this tree map aims to help keep a record of the amount of carbon being held in Earth’s plant matter. With concerns over carbon’s role in climate change, surveys like this are invaluable tools. See the full map, after the break.

As any student of bus or subway maps can tell you, the two-dimensional representation of a transit system is usually far from accurate. Bus routes and tunnels are made with geographical and geological issues in mind and would just be confusing if laid bare. With that in mind, designer Cameron Booth took a similarly minimalist approach to mapping the U.S. highway system. Styled after subway maps, the result is an eye-opening look at the country, and how people get around it.

See more images, and a subway-style map of the entire US, after the break.

NASA has announced the release of the GLD 100, also known as the most accurate, highest resolution map of the Moon ever created. The map was made using instruments aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The image above is a piece of the map, showing the far side of the moon at one pixel per 100 meter (328 foot) scale.

Justin Shaw wanted a clock that displayed the time across the world in light patterns instead of boring numbers. I can only imagine that upon finding that they exist but cost thousands of dollars and look pretty lame, he was appalled, or maybe just strapped for cash. Whatever the case, using a Wise Clock, a world map overlay, and technological wizardry, he whipped up his own version that does its job quite competently. As the clock shows the passage of night across the globe, it even accounts for seasonal changes and illustrates the strange day-night cycles of the poles. Wouldn’t mind having one of these for myself.

Even though you may feel like everywhere you look, someone has their iPhone in a thick protective case sitting out on the table in front of them, mobile ad network Jumptap is here to tell that you that Android is winning the overall mobile market share in the U.S. The above map depicts iOS activity versus Android activity across Jumptap’s network, which happens to reach 83 million mobile users.

Oddly, Android and iOS seem to be split by region, as southern and western states seem to opt for Android, whereas New England and mid-western states prefer Apple’s operating system. Overall, Android has a 5 percent lead in market share over iOS, with 38 percent compared to Apple’s 33 percent (as of June). Even though Android has more market share than iOS, Jumptap points out that iOS devices perform better for advertisers, with a 0.78 percent click-through rate compared to Android device’s 0.47 percent. Head on past the break for some charts. You love charts, right?

Don Homuth has announced that he will donate the last known complete Square and Stationary Earth map to the Library of Congress, ensuring that it will be preserved for the ages. The only other copy of the map currently resides in South Dakota, but is damaged and incomplete.

The map, which draws from several Biblical sources, was originally printed in 1893 by Orlando Ferguson of Hot Springs, S.D., and outrightly refutes the idea of a round Earth moving through the cosmos. Ferguson was quite confident that his map, while odd, was entirely correct, but not so much that it could be used on its own.

Here’s a fun fact for you: 66% of Twitter users don’t list an actual location on their profile. Most users, it seems, opt for something more imaginative either because they want to protect their privacy or just for fun. Interestingly, some of these users still publish location data with each Tweet. This infographic uses that location data and matches the places to the user-assigned nicknames. The results are surprising, and revealing. “Gotham,” makes sense and “Hotlanta” is quite apt, but “The Miami of Canada?” I guess that makes sense.

Read on below for the full map.

Public transit is great, but it can be nervewracking not knowing when your bus or train is going to arrive. To help alleviate that sinking feeling you get at the bus stop in a strange neighborhood at 2 AM when it seems like your bus will never come, Google is now bringing live transit updates and delay notifications to Google Maps and their mobile Android App.

So far, the service is only available in six cities that have partnered with Google: Boston, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Madrid, and Turin. On maps of these areas, users can click or top on the icons for public transit stations. A window will pop up listing the lines, estimated arrival times, and any service alerts that might affect the station. Google plans on adding the transit information of more cities in the future, but hasn’t given any word on how quickly other cities will rollout nor what cities will be involved.

While certainly useful in its desktop form, the app seems even more valuable on a mobile platform. Coupled with their recent addition of traffic jam avoidance technology, Google is bringing a huge amount of transit data it has access to bear on its Android platform. While Android’s open architecture has always been a major selling point, it’s useful apps like this that take advantage of Google’s efforts to organize the world’s information that could give it an even greater competitive edge.

(Google via Techmeme)

Trulia, the company behind the maps that visualize apartment listings and residential rent: buy index, has tackled the task of visualizing another key issue for people looking to relocate: crime. Trulia has launched Crime Maps, a service that pulls statistics from local police departments around the country to create a heat map that shows which neighborhoods have the highest crime rates.

The maps, which currently include cities from San Diego, CA to Kalamazoo, MI and dozens in between, show street intersections or specific neighborhoods where crimes took place. Searchers can evaluate the crime statistics based on what type of crime occurred or which days are the most crime heavy. Locations are clickable, giving Facebook users a chance to chime in with comments about certain locations or neighborhoods. Crime trend analysis can be as accurate as up-to-the minute, but some refer to the last week, or at least data from the last month.

So, before you sign a lease or contract on your next place, checking Crime Maps could help you make sure your dream home isn’t right in the middle of a burgeoning criminal hot spot.

(via Lifehacker)

Many navigation systems can tell you how long it will take to reach your destination, and some can even help you get there. But Mapnificent goes one step further. Instead of telling you how long it take to reach your destination, it shows you destinations that you can reach in a pre-set time limit by foot and public transportation. For anyone that has ever stepped out of the office to grab a quick bite and been missing for days as a result, this tool is for you.

Built on the familiar Google Maps, developer Stefan Wehrmeyer’s dead simple interface allows users to find their location and then illuminating the areas they can reach. Mapnificent does much more, though, allowing you to search for destinations within the areas you can get to — say, finding a bar within 20 minutes of your office. And if you’re the sociable type, you can select multiple locations and find locations that can be reached by both parties in the selected time frame.

The service is only available in certain U.S. cities, and fewer foreign locales. But an idea this good is sure to grow, and could be coming to a public transportation system near you.

To see a video of the service in action, read on after the jump.