Group items tagged

Large-scale study that demonstrates that indigenous Amazonian villagers can record professional level scientific data: "After all the data verification was done, the researchers found that on average, the indigenous technicians were every bit as able to systematically record accurate data as trained scientists.  They were also probably better than scientists at detecting animals and their signs." It's amazing what possibilities exist when you change your framework of "how things are" and explore alternatives....what if professionals and the laity had been working together for the last 100 years on recording environmental data? [info on link from hsci grad student James Burnes]

This article in regards to Google's new data center in Chili highlights the paradox facing Latin American IT. Latin American use of the internet has increased rapidly in recent history (the online population jumped 16 percent in 2011), but Latin American users have yet to view the Internet as simply more than an entertainment source. Online banking and business continues to struggle to catch on, despite attempts by the Chilean government to spur growth in this sector. Many believe the implementation of this data center will help Latin Americans make this transition.

Rosling is a global public health expert, and is passionate about how statistical data should inform our understanding of global regions, individual nations in comparison with each other, and he challenges the possibly erroneous conventional wisdom about differences between "first world" and "third world" nations in terms of social markers that exist. This item is also useful background for understanding the foundational aspects of any area of the globe, and it also points you to relevant data sources.

This animated data software is available at http://www.gapminder.org/ It could make a great format for your final project in lieu of a more conventional paper -- something to think about?