Information itself may be what ends the human race
"We are literally changing the planet bit by bit, and it is an invisible crisis."
17 September, 2020
Credit: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
- IBM estimates that humans produce 2.5 quintillion digital data bytes daily.
- We'll one day reach a point where the number of bits we store outnumber the entirety of atoms on Earth.
- In the most severe scenario, it takes just 130 years for all the power generated on Earth to be sucked up by digital data creation and storage.
<p>Although many places in the world are currently preoccupied by the COVID‐19 pandemic, most infectious disease experts believe that a pandemic is<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/infectious-diseases-extinction/487514/" target="_blank"> unlikely to end the human race</a>. The Black Death of the 14th century was probably the worst case in history. It eliminated <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2002527/" target="_blank">one‐third</a> of Europe's population, which ironically, lead to higher wages—due to a lack of workers, a distrust of authorities who could not protect the people against the disease, and a reinvestment in humanity, all of which lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-isnt-the-first-global-pandemic-and-it-wont-be-the-last-heres-what-weve-learned-from-4-others-throughout-history-136231" target="_blank">the Renaissance</a>.</p><p>If anything is to end the human race, it'll be <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm" target="_blank">climate change</a>. The iconic <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/press-release-it-is-now-100-seconds-to-midnight/" target="_blank">Doomsday Clock</a> was moved ahead from two minutes to 100 seconds to midnight, in January of this year. The clock has been moved ahead each year for the last four years. What's more, this is the closest it's ever been to midnight since its inception in 1947. <br><br>We've got about a decade to turn things around before the damage becomes <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm" target="_blank">irreversible</a>. The situation is so disheartening, that at least one group of <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2017.1671" target="_blank">scientists</a> speculates the reason we don't see a universe replete with alien civilizations is that it's hard for species to survive the climate change advances in technology inevitably cause.</p>
Will data do us in?
<p><br></p><p>If we do get lucky enough to survive and steer clear of any other likely, apocalyptic scenario, say a thermonuclear war, the eruption of a <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/supervolcano-wipe-out-united-states-kill-billions?rebelltitem=1" target="_blank">supervolcano </a>or an enormous <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/here-s-how-world-could-end-and-what-we-can-do-about-it" target="_blank">asteroid </a>slamming into the Earth, we'll have about<a href="https://www.universetoday.com/18847/life-of-the-sun/" target="_blank"> five billion years</a> until the sun runs out of fuel. But between now and the death of our sun, there's another issue scientists weren't even aware of, until now. Information itself could thwart humankind. It isn't data per se but storing it. As societies increasingly rely on digital information and there's more and more of it, we'll one day reach a point where the number of bits being stored will <a href="https://publishing.aip.org/publications/latest-content/digital-content-on-track-to-equal-half-earths-mass-by-2245/" target="_blank">outnumber the atoms that make up our planet</a>. That's according to theoretical physicist and Senior Lecturer <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/melvin-vopson" target="_blank">Melvin Vopson</a> at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. A peer‐reviewed paper on his theory, called "The Information Catastrophe," was recently published in the journal <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0019941" target="_blank">AIP Advances</a>.</p><p>"Currently, we produce ∼1021 digital bits of information annually on Earth," Vopson begins. This is based on an IBM estimate that humans produce 2.5 quintillion digital data bytes daily. With an assumed 20 percent growth rate, the number of bits we produce will outnumber the entirety of atoms on the planet in around 350 years. In a <a href="https://publishing.aip.org/publications/latest-content/digital-content-on-track-to-equal-half-earths-mass-by-2245/" target="_blank">press release</a>, Vopson said, "We are literally changing the planet bit by bit, and it is an invisible crisis."</p><p>There are a lot of variables to consider. For instance, the number of bits produced each year, data storage capacity, energy production and the size of the bit compared to the atom (mass distribution). There are human‐centered factors too, such as population growth and the rate of access to information technology in developing countries. "If we assume a more realistic growth rates of 5%, 20%, and 50%," the paper states, "the total number of bits created will equal the total number of atoms on Earth after ∼1,200 years, ∼340 years, and ∼150 years, respectively."</p>It could be worse than predicted
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="951cfbbb0298c36758141a8fe63d162f"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C2Ag1iQKWeM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In the most severe case, the 150‐year scenario, it would take approximately 130 years until all the power generated on Earth is sucked up by digital data creation and storage. In this version, by 2245, digital information's mass would equal half that of the Earth's. IBM states that 90 percent of the digital information we have today was only produced in the last ten years. "The growth of digital information seems truly unstoppable," Vopson said.</p><p>What's more, he believes his rates are conservative. He told me via email: "If we look only at the magnetic data storage density, it doubled every year for over 50 years." Not only might the generation of data increase at a faster clip, the estimate uses the thermodynamic energy limit for bit creation. This is the ideal case, the maximum possible efficiency, which we are miles away from, meaning the issue may arrive far sooner.</p><p>Dr. Vopson did offer one solution, using "non‐material media" to store information. He does not hold out hope for this, however. "I am more optimistic about the energy aspects as we will most likely master better ways of extracting energy from fusion (and) solar PVs to close to 100% efficiency." Quantum computing wouldn't be the answer, as quantum bits or q‐bits (bits in quantum superposition states) don't store data. Instead, storage happens using digital bits and classical computing.</p><p>Besides this theory, Vopson is the progenitor of the mass‐energy‐information equivalence, which states that information is an essential building block of the universe and it has mass. In this theory mass, energy, and information are all interconnected. Dark matter doesn't exist. Instead, the "missing" matter in the universe is the mass information itself contains.</p>
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Can your smartphone detect how drunk you are?
A small proof-of-concept study shows smartphones could help detect drunkenness based on the way you walk.
25 August, 2020
Photo by wavebreakmedia on Shutterstock
- The legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving in the U.S is 0.08 percent. You can measure your BAC 15 minutes after your first drink and your levels will remain safe if you consume no more than one standard drink per hour.
- Portable breathalyzers can be used to measure BAC, but not many people own these devices.
- A small proof-of-concept study suggests that your smartphone could detect your drunkenness based on the way you walk.
<p>The legal limit for driving within the United States is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent. <a href="https://www.bactrack.com/blogs/expert-center/35040901-how-many-drinks-does-it-take-to-reach-0-08-bac" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">According to BAC Track</a>, you can measure your BAC (blood alcohol content) as soon as 15 minutes after your first drink. BAC Track suggests your BAC level will remain within safe limits if you consume one standard drink per hour. </p><p><strong>According to BAC Track, one standard drink is half an ounce of alcohol, which can be: </strong></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>One 12 ounce beer </li><li>One 5 ounce glass of wine </li><li>One 1.5 ounce shot of distilled alcohol </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.lifeloc.com/factors" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow" target="_blank">There are many things</a> that influence a person's BAC, including how quickly you drink, your body weight, altitude, how much food you've eaten, whether you're male or female, and what kind of medications you're currently on. </p><p>A new study has found that your smartphone could actually tell you if your blood alcohol concentration exceeds the limit of 0.08 percent.</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
The small study that could mean big things for alcohol testing
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU3OTEzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTY0MDk0OH0.wFIh9fQoCEd7fGgw59Mn5nyp9c5yjQbCoVXQrx3AnNk/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C1307%2C0%2C880&height=700" id="df0bb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c1e9a4575df74b89d0078c69a3dbd3d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="alcohol impairment by BAC level chart" />Image by gritsalak karalak on Shutterstock
<p> While devices such as portable breath analyzers are available, not many people own them due to how expensive they are and the social stigma surrounding them. <a href="https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.2020.81.505" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">This 2020 study</a> suggests smartphones could be an alternative. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/" target="_blank">According to PEW Research</a>, up to 81 percent of people own a smartphone.<span></span> </p><p> <strong>The study</strong> </p><p> For this small-scale study, there were 22 participants who visited the lab to consume a vodka-based drink that would raise their breath alcohol concentration to 0.02 percent. </p><p> Dr. Brian Suffoletto of the Stanford Medical School's Department of Emergency Medicine (and corresponding author of the study) explains to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/smartphones-measuring-walk-could-detect-drunkenness#Straight-line-walking" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>: "I lost a close friend to a drinking and driving crash in college," Dr. Suffoletto says. "And as an emergency physician, I have taken care of scores of adults with injuries related to acute alcohol intoxication. Because of this, I have dedicated the past 10 years to testing digital interventions to prevent deaths and injury related to excessive alcohol consumption." </p><p> <strong>How it works:</strong></p><p> Before having the drink, each participant had a smartphone strapped to their back and was asked to walk 10 steps in a straight line and then back again. Every hour for the next 7 hours, the participants repeated this walk. </p><p> The sensors on the smartphone measured each person's acceleration and their movements (both from side to side and up and down). </p><p> <strong>This is not the first study of it's kind.</strong></p><p> Previous research (such as <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7764559" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">this 2016 study</a>) has used machine learning to determine whether a person was intoxicated. That data, gathered from 34 'intoxicated' participants, generated time and frequency domain features such as sway area and cadence, which were classified using supervised machine learning. </p><p> This 2020 study showed promising results of the smartphone analysis: over 90 percent accuracy. </p><p> Researchers found through analyzing the data that 92.5 percent of the time they were able to determine if a participant had exceeded the legal BAC limit. </p><p> <strong>Of course, the study had some limitations.</strong></p><p> In real life, a person is very unlikely to keep their smartphone strapped to their back. Placing the phone in your pocket (or carrying it) could impact the accuracy. </p><p> This study also measured breath alcohol concentrations, which are on average <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24747668/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">15 percent lower</a> than blood alcohol concentrations. </p><p> <strong>The implications of this small-scale study are exciting.</strong> </p><p> While this was a relatively small study, it is being used as a "proof of concept" marker for further research. Researchers on this project explain that future research would ideally be done in real-world settings with more volunteers. </p><p> Dr. Brian Suffoletto explains to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/smartphones-measuring-walk-could-detect-drunkenness#Over-90%-accurate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Medical News Today</a>: </p><p> "In 5 years, I would like to imagine a world in which, if people go out with friends and drink at risky levels, they get an alert at the first sign of impairment and are sent strategies to help them stop drinking and protect them from high-risk events, like driving, interpersonal violence, and unprotected sexual encounters." </p>
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All the storage you'll ever need to back up your data for under $100
Degoo's secure backups are available at a great price.
01 August, 2020
- 140,000 hard drives crash in America every week.
- 93 percent of businesses that suffer data loss for over 10 days file for bankruptcy within 12 months.
- Four million data records are stolen or lost every single day.
<script async="true" src="https://widgets.stackcommerce.com/js-deal-feed/0.1/widget.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Data loss is an expensive problem. The enormous amount of data that is lost due to hard drive crashes creates financial headaches as well as emotional pain. There's nothing worse than losing years of photos, videos, or music because you forgot to back up your data. But sadly, it happens more often than you think, with 140,000 hard drives crashing in America weekly and four million data records stolen or lost daily.<br></p><p>Degoo offers a world-class cloud storage service to ensure your precious data is always backed up and secure. Founded in Sweden in 2012, Degoo is built with Swedish engineering and entrepreneurship with a global team. Right now, a <strong><a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/degoo-premium-lifetime-backup-plans-10tb?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=degoo-premium-lifetime-backup-plans-10tb&utm_term=scsf-414966&utm_content=a0x1P000004slpLQAQ&scsonar=1" target="_blank">lifetime 10TB backup plan</a></strong> is on sale for only $99.99.</p><p>Degoo allows for high-speed transfers from a database that offers more backup space than Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive combined. Plus, all your data is protected with ultra-secure 256-bit AES encryption. </p><p>Degoo's automatic file change detection AI means you don't have to worry about updating your connection every time you change a word in a document. And unlike many data storage plans, Degoo backs up all of your devices.</p><p>You can also share uploaded photos in real-time with friends and family. Even better, Degoo's u<span style="font-size: calc(0.875rem + 0.0625 * ((100vw - 30rem) / 45));">nlimited file size guarantees no quality reduction. The average user uploads their first file within three minutes of signing up.</span></p><p>Degoo averages a 4.5 out of 5-star rating based on over 100 reviews. As one fan writes, "Degoo Cloud gives me the freedom to access my data anywhere, which is essential to me. I use it mainly for storing data that I need occasionally. I believe it is more useful than external hard drives, especially when traveling."</p><p><a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/degoo-premium-lifetime-backup-plans-10tb?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=degoo-premium-lifetime-backup-plans-10tb&utm_term=scsf-414966&utm_content=a0x1P000004slpLQAQ&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Degoo Premium: Lifetime 10TB Backup Plan</strong></a> is on sale now for just $99.99, a 97% discount from the original price. 1 TB ($49.99), 2 TB ($59.99), and 3 TB ($69.99) plans are also available.</p><p><em>Price subject to change.</em></p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
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These are the 10 most discussed tech topics during COVID-19
Here's how the world's technology conversations are changing.
28 July, 2020
Photo by Pawel Nolbert on Unsplash
COVID is changing the world and our technology conversations are changing with it.
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/critical-frontier-leveraging-technology-to-combat-covid-19" target="_blank">work identifying promising technology use cases to combat COVID</a>, The Boston Consulting Group recently used contextual AI to analyze more than 150 million English language media articles from 30 countries published between December 2019 to May 2020. While the research reflects media coverage and not technology development, the analysis still reveals a range of shifting interests. These shifts can give a sense for how the world has refocused itself to tackle the crisis in the short term. The findings also show the crisis could be leaving some key risks or solutions under-discussed or under-explored, potentially creating new vulnerabilities.</p><h3>Tech talk after COVID</h3><p>As can be seen in the below figure, only half of the top tech/telco topics pre-COVID remain in the top ten during COVID. This speaks to a fundamental change in core interests and principal concerns.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTY5OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTQ1NzE2Mn0.nLyLtkgnzTxiVifj2-x6M4ZSXYEPHtU6VgceuacDUY8/img.png?width=980" id="fb501" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d7fc8cafc8a353569b3781c89a4211e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="The 10 most discussed tech topics after COVID-19" />
Image: World Economic Forum, Boston Consulting Group
<p>The first priority during this pandemic has been the protection of individuals, and rightly so. As a result, topics such as biotech/medtech have gained prominence as researchers seek out new treatments and a potential vaccine. This shift has fueled a new interest in telemedicine as well. This technology was slow in adoption for outpatient care pre-COVID, but has seen enormous growth in the past 6 months, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/coronavirus-how-covid-19-accelerated-the-rise-of-telemedicine.html" target="_blank">as lockdowns and the virus forced patients and doctors to seek new solutions for care.</a></p><p>The coronavirus has also brought new uncertainties. With this, data analytics has risen 35% from pre-COVID levels, as individuals and companies use emerging data from medical research and emerging habits to forecast everything from the path of the pandemic to potential supply chain disruptions.</p><p>Talk regarding delivery drones has increased by 57% in topic share, thanks in part to new uses of drones to deliver much-needed supplies such as groceries and PPE in areas hard to reach after COVID-19 lockdowns.<br></p><p>COVID-19 boosted the number of articles written about 5G, though the context for these conversations has shifted. Articles pre-COVID focused on potential capabilities from a 5G rollout. As the virus spread, however, fear sparked by conspiracy theorists linked 5G technology to misinformation campaigns.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTcwMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzk3OTI0Mn0.KLABPkt_uDAU0svcl0st6oQRJ8zXbDNA8BFUi_CCgeA/img.png?width=980" id="aa51b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7814261de2e31f053ec33fe154b20e63" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Top COVID tech conversations in India, China, the European Union and the US" />
Image: World Economic Forum, Boston Consulting Group
<p>As part of this research, analysis dug into top discussion topics in 4 of the world's key regions: India, China, the European Union and the US. Here contextual AI studied more than 2,500 publications between January and May 2020. To be sure, a number of factors determine the types of media coverage that emerges in different regions. Still, this exercise is another window into how technology conversations differed across contexts as countries faced the virus in different ways, leveraging different tools and resources.</p><h3>Left unsaid or under-discussed</h3><p>As the pandemic spread, "business as usual" gave way to crisis management. As it did, traditionally-popular tech topics such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, internet of things, blockchain, robotics, and cybersecurity have been discussed less often than usual during the pandemic. In some cases they have fallen off the map entirely.</p><p>This trend reflects the need tackle the immediate health needs of the crisis while ignoring the key role that other technologies or risks will play in more long-term solutions.</p><p>Blockchain, for instance, will be key for more resilient supply chains and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/blockchain-role-in-distributing-covid-19-vaccine-could-make-history/" target="_blank">integral to the equitable deployment</a> of the vaccine once it is available.</p><p>AI and machine learning have fallen in rank but have shown to be integral to a range of efforts, including helping researchers <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid-19-study-6-strains-severity-kings-college-london/" target="_blank">sort through massive amounts of data</a> quickly to process the real-time information being processed about the disease.</p><p>Cybersecurity has fallen off the list of top ten tech topics entirely and that fact belies the growing risk that cyber security poses to a range of sectors, including the newly remote workforce. Additionally, the medical field is particularly vulnerable to cyber threats and the past months have seen a <a href="https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/92575-increase-in-reports-of-ransomware-attacks-on-health-care-entities" target="_blank">75% increase in ransomware</a> attacks against health professionals (Some attacks have even targeted researchers <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53214783" target="_blank">seeking a cure for COVID.</a>) The World Health Organization reported a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/23-04-2020-who-reports-fivefold-increase-in-cyber-attacks-urges-vigilance#:~:text=Since%20the%20start%20of%20the,targeting%20the%20public%20at%20large.&text=The%20number%20of%20cyber%20attacks%20is%20now%20more%20than%20five,the%20same%20period%20last%20year." target="_blank">five-fold increase</a> in cyberattacks between this year and last.</p><h3>Looking ahead</h3><p>The global pandemic is forcing us to re-think the way we work and how we do business. As our attentions focus on the most immediate threats, we must remember to consider the longer term. Looking past just the crisis before us can give us a fuller picture of the risks we face - as well as the opportunities we might not be exploring and the solutions we can put into place.</p><p>Reprinted with permission of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/10-top-tech-topics-during-covid-19-india-china-us-eu/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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3 questions to ask yourself next time you see a graph, chart, or map
Start by reading the title, looking at the labels and checking the caption. If these are not available – be very wary.
27 July, 2020
Photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash
Since the days of painting on cave walls, people have been representing information through figures and images.
<p>
Nowadays, data visualization experts know that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/evamurray/2019/01/28/how-data-visualization-supports-communication" target="_blank">presenting information visually</a> <a href="https://ed.ted.com/lessons/david-mccandless-the-beauty-of-data-visualization">helps people better understand</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2010.12.006">complicated data</a>. The problem is that data visualizations can also leave you with the wrong idea – whether the images are sloppily made or intentionally misleading.
</p><p>
Take for example the bar graph presented at an <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?470990-1/president-trump-coronavirus-task-force-briefing" target="_blank">April 6 press briefing</a> by members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. It's titled “COVID-19 testing in the U.S." and illustrates almost 2 million coronavirus tests completed up to that point. President Trump used the graph to support his assertion that testing was “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-21/" target="_blank">going up at a rapid rate</a>." Based on this graphic many viewers likely took away the same conclusion – but it is incorrect.
</p><p>
The graph shows the total cumulative number of tests performed over months, not the number of new tests each day.
</p><p>
<iframe class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" frameborder="0" height="400px" id="pG025" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/pG025/2/" style="border: none" width="100%">
</iframe>
</p><p>
When you graph the number of new tests by date, you can see the number of COVID-19 tests performed between March and April did increase through time, but not rapidly. This instance is one of many when important information was not properly understood or well communicated.
</p><p>
As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=T7vRKkQAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">researcher of hazard and risk communication</a>, I think a lot about how people interpret the charts, graphs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101487" target="_blank">and maps</a> they encounter daily.
</p><p>
Whether they show COVID-19 cases, global warming trends, high-risk tsunami zones, or utility usage, being able to correctly assess and interpret figures allows you to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, not all figures are created equal.
</p><p>
If you can spot a figure's pitfalls you can avoid the bad ones. Consider the following three key questions the next time you see a graph, map or other data visual so you can confidently decide what to do with that new nugget of information.
</p>
<h2>What is this figure trying to tell me?</h2><p>
Start by reading the title, looking at the labels and checking the caption. If these are not available – be very wary. Labels will be on the horizontal and vertical axes on graphs or in a legend on maps. People often overlook them, but this information is crucial for putting everything you see in the visualization into context.
</p><p>
Look at the units of measure – are they in days or years, Celsius or Fahrenheit, counts, age, or what? Are they evenly spaced along the axis? Many of the recent COVID-19 cumulative case graphs use a logarithmic scale, where the the intervals along the vertical axis are not equally spaced.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-3Mlj3MQ_Q" target="_blank">This creates confusion for people</a> unfamiliar with this format.
</p><iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/embedded-video/mmvo80534597724" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="">
</iframe><p>
A March 12 broadcast of 'The Rachel Maddow Show' included a graph with unlabeled numbers and a tricky horizontal axis.
</p><p>
For instance, a graph from “
<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/u-s-unprepared-for-expected-explosion-in-coronavirus-cases-80534597724?cid=sm_fb_maddow">The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC</a>, showed coronavirus cases in the United States between Jan. 21 and March 11. The x-axis units on the horizontal are time (in a month-day format) and the y-axis units on the vertical are presumably cumulative case counts, though it does not specify.
</p><p>
The main issue with this graph is that the time periods between consecutive dates are uneven.
</p><p>
<iframe id="yzUp1" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yzUp1/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0">
</iframe>
</p><p>
In a revised graph, with dates properly spaced through time, and coronavirus diagnoses plotted as a line graph, you can see more clearly what
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-cases-are-growing-exponentially-heres-what-that-means-135181" target="_blank">exponential growth</a> in the rate of infection really looks like. It took the first 30 days to add 33 cases, but only the last four to add 584 cases.
</p><p>
What may seem like a slight difference could help people understand how quickly exponential growth can go sky high and maybe change how they perceive the importance of curbing it.
</p><h2>How are color, shape, size and perspective used?</h2><p>
<a href="https://eos.org/features/visualizing-science-how-color-determines-what-we-see" target="_blank">Color plays an important role</a> in how people interpret information. Color choices can make you notice particular patterns or draw your eye to certain aspects of a graphic.
</p><p>
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349252/original/file-20200723-23-wgpj48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
</p><p>
Oregon landslide susceptibility. (Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries)</p><p>
Consider two maps depicting landslide susceptibility, which are exactly the same except for reversed color schemes. Your eye may be be drawn to darker shades, intuitively seeing those areas as at higher risk. After looking at the legend, which color order do you think best represents the information? By paying attention to
<a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/hass-storytelling/storytelling-pixar-in-a-box/ah-piab-visual-language/v/color-visual" target="_blank">how color is used</a>, you can better understand how it influences what stands out to you and what you perceive.
</p><p>
Shape, size and orientation of features can also influence
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-8765.2011.01150.x" target="_blank">how you interpret a figure</a>.
</p><p>
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="confusing pie chart of employment data" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348978/original/file-20200722-32-o99maq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
</p><p>
What industries employ Coloradans? (<a class="source" href="https://dossier.ink-live.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=5f3a495a-fdef-463f-b826-6b92609f04c5" target="_blank">Hemispheres</a>)</p><p>
Pie charts, like this one showing employment breakdown for a region, are notoriously difficult to parse. Notice how hard it is to pull out which employment category is highest or how they rank. The pie chart's wedges are not organized by size, there are too many categories (11!), the 3D perspective distorts the wedge sizes, and some wedges are separate from others making size comparisons almost impossible.
</p><p>
<iframe id="yCDTo" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yCDTo/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0">
</iframe>
</p><p>
A bar chart is a better option for an informative display and helps show which industries people are employed in.
</p>
<h2>Where do the data come from?</h2><p>
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="screen shot of Twitter poll about Trump's performance" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345601/original/file-20200703-33935-elrvg1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
</p><p>
Survey posted on 'Lou Dobbs Tonight,' requesting viewers vote on Twitter about Trump's performance. (<a class="source" href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/lou-dobbs-invites-viewers-to-vote-on-trumps-coronavirus-leadership-superb-great-or-very-good/" target="_blank">Fox Business Network</a>)</p><p>
The source of data matters in terms of quality and reliability. This is especially true for partisan or politicized data. If the data are collected from a group that isn't a good approximation of the population as a whole, then it may be biased.
</p><p>
For example, on March 18, Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs polled his audience with the question “How would you grade President Trump's leadership in the nation's fight against the Wuhan Virus?"
</p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1240421216692961284"}">
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Imagine if only Republicans were asked this question and how the results would compare if only Democrats were asked. In this case, respondents were part of a self-selecting group who already chose to watch Dobbs' show. The poll can only tell you about that group's opinions, not people in the U.S. generally, for instance.</p><p>
Then consider that Dobbs provided only positive responses in his multiple choice options – “superb, great or very good" – and it is clear that this data has a bias.
</p><p>
Spotting bias and improper data collection methods allows you to decide which information is trustworthy.
</p><h2>Think through what you see</h2><p>
During this pandemic, information is emerging hour by hour. Media consumers are inundated with facts, charts, graphs and maps every day. If you can take a moment to ask yourself a few questions about what you see in these data visualizations, you may walk away with a completely different conclusion than you might have had at first glance.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141348/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
</p><p>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carson-macpherson-krutsky-1092926" target="_blank">Carson MacPherson-Krutsky</a>, PhD Candidate in Geosciences, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/boise-state-university-1983" target="_blank">Boise State University</a></em>
</p><p>
This article is republished from
<a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-questions-to-ask-yourself-next-time-you-see-a-graph-chart-or-map-141348" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</p>
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