A Date with Data — Issue 15
It’s Tuesday, and this is your weekly date with data! Here are the stories that grabbed our attention from the past week, Nov. 5 — Nov. 11.
Which countries are most likely to fight wars?
Nov. 8, 2018
Does democracy and affluence help countries avoid deadly conflicts? The Economist analyzed all international and civil wars between 1900 and today and represented how, gradually, the bloodiest battles moved from Europe to Asia, to the Middle East and Africa. Their findings also showed that neither autocratic nor fully democratic countries are most prone to wars, but those in between. However, their analysis doesn’t include deaths from genocide and starvation — atrocities that empires and dictators are more inclined to practice. THE ECONOMIST
The World Skyline
Nov. 8, 2018
Which structure held the record as the world’s tallest for almost four thousand years? What was the first tallest structure for non-religious use? Who will attempt to build a 1 km (3,281 ft) tall building? Designer Christian Spreafico created an interactive illustration that allows us to explore the towering buildings in the world since 2648 BC — when the Egyptians constructed the 62m tall Pyramid of Djoser in the Saqqara necropolis. Simply scroll and explore the evolution of skyscraper construction in the world. [Brought to our attention via Benjamin Cooley’s newsletter]
The Winningest Cities in North American Sports
Nov. 2018
How confident should fans be in their city’s teams? Is it the number of championships played or the city’s population that impacts performance most significantly? The Pudding threw themselves into the data to determine which parameters make towns in North America overperform or underperform. Representing the data on a series of interactive graphs, readers are invited to define the time frame, the city and the sport they believe makes the biggest difference and explore the “winningness” through different lenses. When it comes to measuring performance, it’s not the first time sports have taught us valuable lessons. But can they also help us determine which expectations to have from our teams under different circumstances? THE PUDDING
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
