Tag: Washington Post

  • We All Have to Die…But How?

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    Brendan Barry
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    As the title says, we are all going to die one of these days. But what are the odds that Ebola will kill you? Turns out it is fairly small. Smaller than your pyjamas catching on fire and killing you. Or even your regular clothes catching fire. How did I know that? Well, the Washington…

  • Drawing Down America’s Presence in Afghanistan

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    Brendan Barry
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    The United States and its allies are slowly beginning to pull out of Afghanistan. While several thousand troops will remain, the total will be nowhere near the peak figure a few years ago. This graphic from the Washington Post details just how this transition has been occurring. Credit for the piece goes to Richard Johnson.

  • Philae on 67P

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    Brendan Barry
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    In a few hours—not long after this blog post is published—we should know whether or not the washing-maching sized probe Philae has successfully landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The operation is very complicated, this is a moving and spinning comet with a boulder-strewn surface dotted with ice spires. And as of a few hours the lander…

  • University Graduation

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    Brendan Barry
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    Today’s piece from the Washington Post examines the graduation rates of 100 people who enrolled at university in 2002. The data set tracked them over the following six years. Credit for the piece goes to Darla Cameron.

  • An Ebola Treatment Centre

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    Brendan Barry
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    Last week we looked at the BBC and its rendition of an Ebola treatment centre. This week we are looking at the Washington Post and how they treated the same material. As you can imagine, with the same source material, the treatment is fairly similar. I do appreciate the colour applied to the various elements…

  • How Ebola Works/Kills

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    To continue with this week’s theme of Ebola, we are looking at another Washington Post article. Online the Post presents it as an interactive, guided explanation of how Ebola basically kills people. Spoiler, it is not pretty. But what I do really like about this online presentation is how the Post has a downloadable .pdf…

  • Ebola vs Other Infectious Diseases

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Yesterday we looked at the New York Times’s reporting of some basic facts about Ebola. Today to continue along the refutation of scaremongering path, we have an article from the Washington Post. I understand that people are afraid of Ebola, because if you catch it, you have a good chance you are going to die.…

  • Drinking by Decile

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Happy Friday, everybody. I’m looking forward to a pint. But thanks to some research, as an American, I might actually be looking forward to 10 pints if I fall within the highest decile of American drinkers. They imbibe on average over 73 alcoholic drinks per week. Yep, that means over 10 per day. Bottoms up,…

  • Where the Youth Are Going

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Places need young people to support old people. A gross oversimplification, I admit, but a good basic principle. This piece in the Washington Post looks at that shifting balance across the United States. This map and the others supporting it show which areas of the country may have problems in the years to come, especially…

  • Autonomous Cars

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Some days I do not enjoy the thought of driving to the office. For those days, I take mass transit. However, in the future, I may be able to sit back and allow my car to drive me. This illustration from the Washington Post examines just how one example of such vehicles functions. Credit for…