io9: charts

Top 50 Vampires: The Ultimate Score Sheet

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:02:25 PDT

Which vampires sparkle in the sunlight, and which ones burn? Which ones fear stakes, or crosses? With vampires ruling the world of entertainment, it's important to know all the facts. Here's our roundup of 50 vampires' superpowers and weaknesses.

Click the chart to enlarge. Vampire Graph By Julia Carusillo.

A Dust Cloud That Lowered Temperatures Around The World

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:20:00 PDT

Using satellite data, scientists tracked dust clouds created by a massive Chinese dust storm in 2007, and discovered that they circled the globe in 13 days. And the clouds may have affected weather half-way around the world.

According to a release from Nature Geoscience, where the study was published yesterday:

Itsushi Uno and colleagues used satellite and model data to show that a storm in China's Taklimakan Desert in May 2007 generated dust clouds that were lifted 8-10 km above the Earth's surface, and transported more than one full circle around the Earth. When the dust reached the north-western Pacific Ocean for a second time, the subsidence of a high-pressure system caused the dust-laden clouds to descend into the lower atmosphere and some of the dust was then deposited in the ocean.
The analysis also suggests that the dust particles may have triggered ice formation in the high-altitude clouds.

The researchers suggest that this ice could have affected temperature as well.

Coupled with the amazing infographic, above, this news makes it clear that particles in the atmosphere affect the entire Earth - not just the regions where they formed. This obviously tells us something about how pollution could affect regions far removed from it. But more generally, it gives scientists more information about the formation of weather patterns.

via Nature Geoscience

Handy Chart Explains What Happened To TNG After Spock Traveled Through Time

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:00:00 PDT

How can the Star Trek MMO, Star Trek Online, be planning on creating a whole universe based on the TNG/DS9/Voyager version of Trek, when Nero erased that timeline by traveling backwards? The MMO has released a handy chart to explain.

You probably already knew that Spock and Nero created an alternate universe, where Vulcan got vulcanized and James Kirk's dad died when he was born. So the TNG continuity still exists, just as an alternate reality. But just in case you got confused, here's a chart to explain it all for you. Also, is this the first time we've seen official dates for the events of J.J. Abrams' recent Trek movie?

[Star Trek Online]

Statstical Likelihood That John Hodgman Will Ever Send Me a Naked Picture of Himself

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:00:00 PDT

Some questions are so speculative that they cannot even be asked in science fiction. They can only be asked of experts like John Hodgman, author and comedian. Luckily, BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin recently asked if I had any such questions to ask of Hodgman. And, well, like all healthy nerds with a taste for the boys, my question was this: "What is the statistical likelihood that John Hodgman will ever do nude self-portraits (please include a related analytical chart)?" At last Hodgman has answered, with both a chart (pictured) and on BBTV, below.

One question remains. What caused the precipitous drop in his "good evening" right at the end of last year?

So we can be expecting naked Hodgman any day now. I, for one, welcome our naked Hodgman overlord. Also, I'm looking forward to his new book, More Information Than You Require.

John Hodgman, More Information than You Need [via BoingBoing]