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Approximately 75 percent of electricity used in the United States is produced by coal-burning power plants that spew carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. To reduce this effect, many researchers are searching for porous materials to filter out the CO2 generated by these plants before it reaches the atmosphere, a process commonly known as carbon capture. But identifying these materials is easier said than done

In this month's Physics World, Jason Reese, Weir Professor of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at the University of Strathclyde, describes the role that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could play in the desalination of water, providing a possible solution to the problem of the world's ever-growing population demanding more and more fresh drinking water.

The website titled "Visualizing Our Future Selves"[news21.com] attempts to answer the question how the dramatically aging demographics in the US will change over the next 40 years. It is an example of a 'personalized' visualization of sorts, in that users are asked to submit their personal demographic data, such as birth year, race, state, living situation and gender. The resulting diagrams then reveals country-wide statistical information in the context of one's own situation, divided into 4 different groups: Population, State, Health and Finances. Accordingly, the application shows an animated population pyramid, a population age density map of the US, a disease (e.g. cancer, heart disease, diabetes) prevalence forecast, and an income versus expenditure comparison filtered by several demographic variables.

In November 2010 the World Economic Forum gathered in Dubai to discuss issues on the global agenda. Before the forum, the 700 members of each of the 72 Global Agenda Councils were asked which other councils they would benefit from interacting with. This data was then released to the public as part of a visualization challenge organized by visualizing.org. Shown here is one of the honorable mentions, an interactive visualization created by Daniel McLaren that shows a map of the strongest collective responses between the councils. It uses the analogy of energy, as described by McLaren: "Starting at the selected node, energy travels outward and is divided among each connection and dissipates when crossing weak connections." Not all responses are displayed because the data has been filtered to show only the strongest relationships.