Refugee Data Tells Visual Stories of a Changing World
Two interactive infographics help users visualize today's global refugee crisis and compare it with similar crises in the past
SA Visual
Illustrating science since 1845
STAFF BLOG
The Evolution of a Scientific American Infographic: Secret Life in Household Dust
Designers Martin Krzywinski and Barbara Jeannie Hunnicutt provide a peek behind the scenes, and explain how they developed a data visualization based on bacterial genome information derived from dust.
Art Can Highlight Climate Change, But Where is the Data?
The other day, while waiting at the registration desk for an event entitled “Visualizing Climate Change,” I met a data visualization developer from Bloomberg News.
The Science of Visualization
What is visualization? When asked of data and information visualization professionals, answers will generally swirl around one of two punch lines…a visual tool that aids in (1) analysis or (2) communication of information.
Pop Culture Pulsar: The Science Behind Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures Album Cover
Earlier this year, I reported the punchline of my quest to uncover the story behind the story of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album cover.
On Scientific American's 170th Anniversary, a Nod to Founder Rufus Porter
Earlier this year, I learned that the founding editor of Scientific American Magazine, Rufus Porter, was an artist—an influential muralist and prolific portrait painter at that.
Inadequate Data Visualization Leaves Patients Undereducated
Although data visualization is often viewed as a fairly straightforward, dispassionate way of presenting facts, anyone who has studied the field knows that data-driven graphics can be hard to decipher, and are often far from impartial.
Ramón y Cajal and the Case for Drawing in Science
As someone who works at the intersection of art and science, I have always found it easy to make the case that all artists are scientists. From the moment we pick up a crayon and make our first mark, we are experimenting.
A Climate Change Data Visualization Gains National Landmark Status
A graph that plots rising CO2 over the decades has always been a lesser known icon in demonstrating the reality of global warming.
![An Ode to MESSENGER and Mariner 10: Graphics from the Archive [Video]](/public/resources/icon__SA-logo-placeholder--rect-3166a74694258e68c9c9fd6e14c45ff6.jpg){kind=icon}
An Ode to MESSENGER and Mariner 10: Graphics from the Archive [Video]
In honor of the spacecraft MESSENGER, which ends its mission today with a planned collision with Mercury, here’s a look back at the craft and its travels, as illustrated by Don Foley for the March 2011 issue of Scientific American.
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
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Anecdotes from the Archive
STAFF
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and fulfillment
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
STAFF
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Expeditions
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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MIND Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American Mind
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Not bad science
New discoveries in animal behavior and cognition
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Plugged In
More than wires - exploring the connections between energy, environment, and our lives
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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Tetrapod Zoology
Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals - living and extinct
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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