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Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, Mark Newman/University of Michigan
As a Reality Check
During the nail-biter that was the 2004 presidential race, while newscasts reported a too-close-to-call vote, they also regularly flashed versions of the map above, which, as an electoral college map, seemed to show a Republican win. See the next slide for a different view.
During the nail-biter that was the 2004 presidential race, while newscasts reported a too-close-to-call vote, they also regularly flashed versions of the map above, which, as an electoral college map, seemed to show a Republican win. See the next slide for a different view.
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Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, Mark Newman/University of Michigan
"The contrast between what we were hearing and the way the map looked was striking to us," says physicist Mark Newman, who, with his colleagues at the University of Michigan, created the cartogram above. It reflects population (bulges around California and New York show the size of their cities), the distribution of electoral college votes, and the slimness of some majorities (purple areas were a near draw). The result? A more nuanced view of a country where Republicans and Democrats are the closest of neighbors.
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Claude and Kenneth Roy
As a Military Facebook
Any soldier knows that maps are as essential as firepower to the art of war. They're also a riveting presence on Internet tributes to those who have fought or fallen. While embedded bloggers cover Iraq, Vietnam vets and their families have mastered the medium to scan everything from hand-drawn battle plans to military outposts, thus offering armchair historians original sources, and others the chance to forge powerful connections. Kenneth Roy of Plano, Texas, created pop-ups of soldiers' names and service dates on a 1968 map, shown here on this page from his site (royandboucher.com). His two brothers are listed, as are men he's never met. "Vets stumble on the map online and e-mail to thank me for putting it up," Roy says.
Check out some other military maps
Any soldier knows that maps are as essential as firepower to the art of war. They're also a riveting presence on Internet tributes to those who have fought or fallen. While embedded bloggers cover Iraq, Vietnam vets and their families have mastered the medium to scan everything from hand-drawn battle plans to military outposts, thus offering armchair historians original sources, and others the chance to forge powerful connections. Kenneth Roy of Plano, Texas, created pop-ups of soldiers' names and service dates on a 1968 map, shown here on this page from his site (royandboucher.com). His two brothers are listed, as are men he's never met. "Vets stumble on the map online and e-mail to thank me for putting it up," Roy says.
Check out some other military maps
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J. Craig Venter Institute
As a Biological Crystal Ball
Last fall, when Craig Venter, PhD, announced he had mapped his own genome (see a karyotype of some of his chromosomes, above) and uploaded it to the Internet, he took information sharing to a whole new level. Among other things, his map revealed that he carries a gene that predisposes him to blindness-and a mutation that allows him to metabolize caffeine extra fast. His comprehensive analysis also helped shift research away from a sole focus on single genes toward a brave new world of personal genomics. With other projects now under way to map thousands of regular Joes' DNA, expect your own map in about a decade.
Last fall, when Craig Venter, PhD, announced he had mapped his own genome (see a karyotype of some of his chromosomes, above) and uploaded it to the Internet, he took information sharing to a whole new level. Among other things, his map revealed that he carries a gene that predisposes him to blindness-and a mutation that allows him to metabolize caffeine extra fast. His comprehensive analysis also helped shift research away from a sole focus on single genes toward a brave new world of personal genomics. With other projects now under way to map thousands of regular Joes' DNA, expect your own map in about a decade.
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NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio
As a Warning
This night-goggles view of Earth shows the massive amounts of electricity being used worldwide after dark. Beautiful, but startling, too, when you consider how energy resources are dwindling while the worldwide population is becoming ever more urban. But for scientists like Marc Imhoff of NASA, the visual is as much a tool as it is a harbinger: Such "light maps" provide an unprecedented way to measure urban sprawl's effects on things like global food production and the planet's atmosphere. "For the first time in history, we can understand the earth as a complete system," Imhoff says. And that kind of knowledge may literally be power.
This night-goggles view of Earth shows the massive amounts of electricity being used worldwide after dark. Beautiful, but startling, too, when you consider how energy resources are dwindling while the worldwide population is becoming ever more urban. But for scientists like Marc Imhoff of NASA, the visual is as much a tool as it is a harbinger: Such "light maps" provide an unprecedented way to measure urban sprawl's effects on things like global food production and the planet's atmosphere. "For the first time in history, we can understand the earth as a complete system," Imhoff says. And that kind of knowledge may literally be power.
Look's like the "bird" is sitting on a branch, to me. Can't see any Reps or Dems!