Tag: science

  • My/Your Dialect

    Joshua Katz from North Carolina State University has created an interactive version of the dialect survey maps first perhaps popularised several years ago. Katz has also created an interactive map that looks at a city’s dialect and maps its areas of similarity and difference. An interesting extension of the original survey data, however, is the…

  • Rebuilding Chicago’s Red Line

    For those of you who read this blog in Chicago know very well that the Red Line, Chicago’s busiest subway line, is undergoing major construction as the transit authority rebuilds much of the line. But what exactly does that entail? Earlier this year the Chicago Tribune looked at that and with a series of illustrations,…

  • Mars or Bust…Wait a Minute…

    We already got to Mars. At the end of a week of maps and map-related things. Here’s a map of Mars. Well, sort of. It’s more of a map of Mars as explored by Curiosity. (Remember that guy?) It’s an interactive piece from the New York Times that charts out just where the rover has…

  • Is it Getting Warmer in Here?

    Yes, yes it is. This map from the Washington Post looks at global temperature change since 1901. The article it supports is about how scientists are now all but certain mankind is responsible for global warming. Personally I prefer the term climate change because global warming sounds as if everything warms and as this map shows,…

  • Space Weather

    A few weeks ago the Washington Post published a graphic that explained how space weather can have significant impacts on Earth. This is more of an illustrated diagram and less of a data visualisation piece, but it still worth a read. Why? Because, if scientists are correct, the sun’s magnetic poles should soon finish a…

  • Secret Life of the Cat

    It’s Friday. So what else could you want but cat videos?! On the internet?! But seriously, that’s what I have for you today. But with a twist. The BBC and the Royal Veterinary College collaborated to document a day in the life of cats by attaching collars with micro-cameras and GPS trackers to several felines…

  • Alcohol-related Traffic Fatalities

    Earlier this year the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended changes in the current blood alcohol limits to reduce youth drunk driving. The NTSB wants the limit dropped/increased from 0.08 to 0.05. Fun side note, technically, the NTSB needs to have the states enact this on their own accord because such limits are not federal…

  • Canadian Fur

    The National Post published this fascinating infographic on the Canadian fur industry. Historically speaking, that industry is one of the most important to Canada being one of the primary reasons for Canada’s colonisation by France and later the United Kingdom (to a lesser extent). The graphic provides illustrations of the pelts to scale along with…

  • The Periodic Table of Elements

    The periodic table of elements is perhaps one of the most important tables to have been created in science. But most of us are probably familiar with the rows and columns of boxes. But via my colleague Jonathan comes today’s post where we look at a 1940s version of the table. Unfortunately the original source…

  • Testing the Atom Bomb

    The Washington Post looked at the testing of the first atomic bomb at White Sands. Nuclear weapons are a topic on which I have done some work in the past. But this piece looks more at the historic test called Trinity. Credit for the piece goes to Alberto Cuadra and Laris Karklis.