Tag archives for infographics
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When I was younger, I watched a lot of the Disney Channel. My favorite content was the old-school cartoons, featuring the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and gang, although the Goofy spots were my favorite. One time I caught a program about Disney’s propaganda films from World War II. Those animated shorts are rarely…
Note: In response to reader feedback on this post, the makers of the infographic below updated it and resent us a copy, so we reposted it at 2:52 PM on May 7, 2013. The infographic was not created by National Geographic. You’ve probably heard by now that how you get around has a big impact…
National Geographic Channel has been running a number of programs on drugs and addictions, including the show Drugged (see 10 tips for recovering from addictions). Addiction is a strange beast that has devastated millions of people and families around the world. It’s also in the news a lot, from allegations of sex addict stars to the…
We’ve written about artificial intelligence (AI) a fair amount in the past, from IBM’s Watson supercomputer, to AI-controlled space probes, and swarm theory. As futurist Ray Kurzweil pointed out in his book The Singularity Is Near, the public has a number of misconceptions about AI. Kurzweil argues that AI is proceeding much faster than people…
I recently posted about Brain Games, the new National Geographic TV show with mind-bending interactivity, and shared an infographic about intelligence. I follow that with an infographic my friend just made for Veracode on hacking the mind–perhaps a dark side of brain science. Earlier today I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The…
Yesterday, National Geographic staffers were treated to special previews of upcoming programs on National Geographic Channel. One of the most exciting was upcoming episodes of Brain Games. The audience was thrilled by a series of new interactive puzzles from the show. I won’t give away the surprises, but it’s amazing how optical illusions can work…
I’ve written some about roadkill over the years. (Yes, I know someone who collects fresh roadkill and prepares it for her family, but that’s not what I mean.) Unfortunately, for many people, the only interaction they have with wildlife is seeing it belly up on the side of the pavement. Roadkill is a tragic loss…
Just in time for the return to the big screen of Bilbo Baggins, perhaps the most unlikely of burglars in literature, comes this infographic on home theft. In the book I co-wrote a couple of years ago on lighting (Green Lighting), we took a brief look at the question of whether outside security lights or street lights…
During Hurricane Ike in 2008, the eye of the storm passed over my grandma’s and aunt and uncle’s houses, according to data from my uncle’s home weather station. My family’s homes sit just 16 feet above sea level, steps away from an alligator-filled bayou in southern Houston. Storm surge estimates had predicted that the bayou…
My friend’s grandma never drank water. “That’s for horses,” she would say. Instead, she drank cafe au lait or orange juice. My own grandma rarely drinks water, usually preferring coffee or juices. A lot of people in the developed world are this way, even those who are told by their doctors that they are dehydrated. There…
My cousin Kelly Davis worked hard on the recent campaign to convince the government of Washington, D.C. to pass a “bag tax” on single-use plastic shopping bags within the district. Now, if D.C. shoppers want a bag with their purchase they have to pay a nickel. Kelly told me opponents to the tax argued that…
National Geographic has long been known for photography, and National Geographic magazine has published its fair share of iconic images over its long, storied history. Of course, photography itself has a long, storied history. Did you know the first color photograph appeared in 1861? That 70% of activity on Facebook revolves around photos? Or that…
We recently learned that the teenage brain may develop through a unique pathway, which gives some parents reassurance that there may be some method to the seeming madness. But we also hear a lot of chatter about Internet addiction. If you or a loved one thinks there may be a problem, there is even an…
In more than a decade of writing about green living, one of the most common complaints I hear about it is that it costs more up front. I have learned that this is a deceptive and surprisingly complicated query, with no one answer. Sure, shopping at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) can cost more than…
As a book author, I’m very interested in what makes a title successful. The other day I was listening to a podcast of the NPR show On the Media, and they had a publishing expert on talking about how new digital tools like the Kindle are providing new data sets on reader behavior. Publishers can…
One of the most interesting parts of Malcolm Gladwell’s fantastic book Outliers is his discussion of the “10,000-hour rule,” which posits that it takes about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to truly master a skill, be it playing the violin, computer programming, or skateboarding. Gladwell covers several tantalizing examples, from the Beatles to Bill Gates,…
Last September, I attended a live production of the NPR show Talk of the Nation, which featured National Geographic magazine writer David Dobbs and several experts on the developing teenage brain. Dobbs’ article “Beautiful Brains” featured recent science that probes deep into young minds and shattered some of the pervading myths about them in our…
We’ve been writing a lot recently about how cities can transform themselves by going greener, from rooftop gardens, to buildings made of shipping containers, or even making entire floating cities. (Learn more at our new innovation hub.) At the recent Aspen Environment Forum, Rohit Aggarwala said most major world cities have plans to address climate change…
Gambling is perhaps as old as humankind, and it has a long and storied history in the U.S. Although legal gambling is becoming increasingly popular, it is not without controversies, including addiction and association with crime and other social problems. As this infographic by Nowsourcing shows, more and more states have been legalizing some forms…
The economy has been at the top of mind for some time across much of the world. We have learned that the global economy is increasingly inter-related, and although the Great Recession may have officially ended a few years ago, its effects are very much still being felt. A lot of people have drawn parallels…
By Kevin Fletcher So many things have changed in medicine over the past few centuries. Procedures that used to take hours of grueling, grotesque labor can now be done in just a matter of minutes and are dramatically less painful or almost completely pain free. In simpler times, when bullets had to be extracted and…
If Ray Kurzweil is right, we may all soon be living forever in our new digital bodies. If you want to make it to see the Singularity, you’re going to want to live as long as possible. Perhaps these hacks can give you a leg up. Source: BestHealthDegrees.com
Planning the heist of the century? Before you get your grappling hooks and black turtlenecks out, you may want to take a look at this infographic. There have been some massive robberies in the past, and anything you may have planned now will likely pale in comparison. Having in mind to make off with millions…
(View infographic larger.) By Priyeshu Garg In a world where most energy production comes from non-renewable resources, people are trying to find efficient and price-effective ways to use renewable energy. One of the great leaps in renewable technology has been the solar panel, which is composed of several solar cells that convert light into electricity.…
Ever seen that Simpsons intro when the “camera” zooms out from Springfield, all the way past the Earth, the Solar System, Milky Way, and beyond, only to depict the Universe as a tiny marble in yet another dimension? This beautifully produced infographic from Number Sleuth lets you have that experience from the comfort of your…
