{"slug":"terratales","name":"TerraTales","hackathon":"nasa-space-apps-2024","tagline":"Mother Earth meets her children North, South and Neutral every five years to compare climate notes — then you play, and see the forecast if nothing changes.","placement":{"status":"track-winner","awards":["Best Storytelling"],"track":"tell-us-a-climate-story"},"team":{"size":5,"members":[],"countries":["EG"]},"problem":"Climate data is freely available but hard for most people to understand or connect to their own choices.","solution":"A website built on NASA's U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center data: illustrated stories for Brazil, Egypt and Germany with charts and native-language narration, an interactive game where eco-friendly choices change the story, and a forecast section driven by a CNN-LSTM model on air-sea CO₂ flux maps and a regression on population density.","demo_moment":null,"build_style":"software-only","tech":{"stack":["html","css","javascript","python","keras","tensorflow","netlify","ghg-center-data"],"ai_patterns":["ml-model","generative-media"]},"domains":["climate-sustainability","creative-media"],"analysis":{"why_it_stood_out":[{"claim":"Won the award for most creatively communicating the potential of open data through storytelling.","basis":"organizer-stated","source":1},{"claim":"Shared stories of how climate change affects Egypt, Brazil and Germany, with an AI climate forecasting model and an interactive game for eco-friendly choices.","basis":"organizer-stated","source":0},{"claim":"Three layers by design: story to engage, game to show individual impact, forecast to warn — because 'storytelling alone isn't enough'.","basis":"team-stated","source":2},{"claim":"Each country is narrated in its own language (Egyptian Arabic for Egypt), tying the global story to the local event's audience.","basis":"team-stated","source":2}],"mechanisms":["expert-data-for-everyone","place-based-specificity","theme-native-twist"],"judging_lens":["storytelling-pitch","challenge-relevance","design-ux"],"lessons":["Give data a cast of characters; a family meeting frame makes three countries comparable at a glance.","Pair the story with one thing the audience does and one consequence they see."],"confidence":"high"},"links":{"project_page":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/nasa-space-apps-2024/find-a-team/terratales/?tab=project","demo":"https://terratalesjourney.netlify.app/","video":"https://drive.google.com/file/d/18fZCTpWv1b-nGf7o6hufBO35blM6vzQx/view"},"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/stem-engagement-at-nasa/nasa-international-space-apps-challenge-announces-2024-global-winners/","kind":"official-results","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14"},{"url":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/nasa-space-apps-2024/awards/","kind":"official-event-page","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14","note":"Award definition."},{"url":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/nasa-space-apps-2024/find-a-team/terratales/?tab=project","kind":"project-page","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14","note":"Team-written story concept, components, models, AI-use disclosure (ChatGPT, Leonardo AI, Canva)."}]}