Why Not Be An Idea Expert?

The Population Circle

Global Birth / Death Map

This interactive simulation, posted recently by Atlantic Magazine, gives an eerily omniscient vantage of real-time birth and deaths on the world as it fills.

Just think, in 1950, there were 2.5 billion humans. Today there are just over 7 billion. In another 30 years, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections, there will be more than 9 billion.  

Brad Lyon, who developed the map, has a doctoral degree in mathematics and does software development. He wanted to make those numbers visual. Last year he and designer Bill Snebold made a hugely popular interactive simulation map of births and deaths in the U.S. alone—the population of which is on pace to increase 44 percent by 2050. 

With this version, Lyon now takes on the world.  Below is just a snapshot - click this link to go to the interactive map.

"The visualizations here, while pulling together some numbers," Lyon said, "are still qualitative because we of course don't know what the pattern is really like. However, we do know where the numbers end up, so they must get there somehow."

The True Size of Africa

This interesting graphic of Africa compared to the rest of the world hardly needs any commentary.   It is larger than USA, China, India, and all of Europe combined.  The link is here and is in the public domain.

October in the Railroad Earth --Kerouac

From the album "Poetry for the Beat Generation" from "The Jack Kerouac Collection" on a rainy day start to Autumn...

 

Jobs of the Future??

Balloon Race in Reno

A fantastic time-lapse video (link) of the dawn take-off of the 2013 Great Reno Balloon Race...

Thinking About Stress

Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal in a recent TED talk urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others. 

How Do People Die

What kills people around the world - and how does it vary from place to place? As part of the international research into the global burden of disease, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation have created these visualisations which allow you to explore the data. Click this link from the Guardian and explore how our world is shaped by mortality.