The IndieWeb Atlas
Nature
We are a small part of a beautifully complex world. The best way to appreciate it is to get out in it, but if you're belted to a desk job like I am right now, you might want alternatives.
This section is divided into various subsections for human convenience. Hopefully nature won't be too insulted, as she tends to avoid such stark categories. There's really no difference between nature and artifice; nothing is "unnatural." Artifice is simply the creative reuse of principles and materials that already exist; scientific inquiry is research into the rules as they already are, or as they could be within the constraints that nature sets for us. Anyway, that's why you'll find both electrical engineering and animal noises on this page.
Contents: (Human) Anatomy & Physiology, Astroscience, Flora & Fauna, Tools & Technology, Weather
(Human) Anatomy & Physiology
Not EXACTLY the indie web, since it is a government website, but it hosts a collection of 3d medical scans that you can download for visualization or 3d printing.
Astroscience
Experience the Apollo missions, as they happened, in real time. Honestly, I'm getting emotional just knowing this exists.
The night sky based on your location. Explore stars, planets, nebula, and track satellites passing overhead.
A map of the stars, as though you were looking up from a telescope. Lets you zoom in on all sorts of celestial objects and phenomena.
Designed mainly for science fiction writers to get their math right, this website is a goldmine of knowledge for the aspiring rocket scientist.
Flora & Fauna
Ecosia is a search engine that uses its revenue to plant trees and fight climate change. It's also a lovely shade of green. Ecosia has a browser as well, though I can't speak much to its utility or security.
OneZoom is a searchable tree of life. All you need to do to explore it is zoom in and out!
Watch animal and nature cams from around the world.
Trying to develop a solution to a problem? Ask this website to see the ways nature solved that same issue.
A live feed from a canal in the Netherlands where fish sometimes get trapped on one side of a gate. If you see fish lining up to get through, ring the doorbell to let staff know to open the door for them!
Listen to what different forests sounds like around the world.
A map of free places to camp, including reviews and applicable links. Mainly focused on the USA.
In addition to being a great resource for paleo art, this site hosts a map that you can take back in time by millions of years to see where a place had moved and whether or not it was underwater.
Tools & Technology
A cute, and rather sobering, interactive exploration of the earth's biomass and "technomass".
An evolutionary tree of human technology, mapped out the way you might see in a Civilization game.
A beginner's guide to electrical engineering.
Weather
Type in your zip code, and this will show you a weather report in th style of the '90s Weather Channel Local on the 8s. Includes classic Weather Channel jazz, too!
Real-time locations of lightning strikes.
An interactive global weather map.
A different interactive global weather map.