Tag: science

  • A (Time and) Space Race

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    Brendan Barry
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    First of all, I grew up a fan of Star Trek and not Star Wars. Star Trek is, after all, more science-y. Now, for today’s post, I could make references to the battlestar Galactica, the good ship Tardis, Planet Express deliveries, or avoiding the Alliance throughout the Verse. Instead I’ll just submit this interactive graphic…

  • Bryce Harper

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    Brendan Barry
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    Bryce Harper is undoubtedly one of the best baseball players in the game today. To put it simply, he hits. And he hits well. And he hits well often. So the Washington Post put together an interactive, long form piece about Harper’s swing and hitting. The piece begins with a narrated video outlining the science…

  • More Cicadian Rhythms

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    Brendan Barry
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    On Tuesday I shared with you some work by Jonathan Corum at the New York Times on the 17-year cicadas now starting to emerge back east. (And as I recall from my childhood, I assure you that they are quite loud.) Today we look at an illustration of the cicada life cycle via the Washington…

  • Cicadian Rhythm

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    Brendan Barry
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    Cicadas are loud. And while some are around every year, there is at least one species that lives for up to seventeen years. They mate every seventeen years. In 2013 we are witnessing the emergence of Brood II, one of the numerous clusters that are synchronised to each other. But when and where have other…

  • Mobile Phones

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    Brendan Barry
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    Earlier this year, the mobile phone (or cell phone for many Americans) turned 40. Today’s infographic comes from the National Post and looks at the history and the near future of the mobile phone market, mobile phones, and related technologies. A nice touch is a actual-scale drawing (best seen in print) comparing a modern iPhone…

  • The Universe Keeps Getting Bigger

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    The Kepler observatory is responsible for finding Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. It was launched only in 2009, but has been incredibly successful. Earlier this week scientists announced the discovery of Kepler 62, a star system that has five planets. Two of those planets exist within the Goldilocks zone, where conditions are just right…

  • How Dragonflies Hunt

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today’s post is certainly smaller, but it’s always interesting to see how infographics and information design can help us better understand science and nature. This is a piece from the New York Times that illustrates how a dragonfly hunts its prey, fruit flies. Instead of flying straight at the fruit fly, the dragonfly plots a…

  • Choropleth Maps

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    Brendan Barry
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    Keeping with maps, they can be useful, but all too often people fall back upon them because it is a quick and easy way of displaying data for geographic entities. This graphic from the New York Times on ADHD is not terribly complex, but it uses a map effectively. The article discusses how ADHD rates…

  • Waste Water Disposal Wells

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today’s map comes from the Texas Tribune out of Austin, Texas. The map displays the location of disposal wells, i.e. the sites where the waste water from fracking and related drilling operations are dumped. Firstly, the map hints that the fracking industry is not spread equally across the state. But secondly, the map does this…

  • All Fracked Up

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    Brendan Barry
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    Last week a new study revealed that the injection of wastewater from oil drilling and fracking may contribute to earthquakes. Put simply, the theory is that the wastewater injected into the ground lubricates fault lines. And when sufficiently lubricated, the resistance between sides of the fault vanishes and an earthquake is triggered to release the…