Minimalist economics posters, by economists of course! via NPR. Brilliant.

planetmoney: First, we published a few minimalist economics posters that we cooked up ourselves. Then, we published posters that readers sent in. Now, we bring you minimalist econ posters by actual economists.

via viewfromthebalcony

theadventureproject: The cost of charcoal to cook with accounts for 40% of the income of a typical family in Haiti. Learn how women and families are saving money by using charcoal efficient stoves at www.theadventureproject.org.

futurejournalismproject: A new study demonstrates that Twitter updates and online news sites give researchers faster access to — and reliable indicators of — disease outbreaks.

Via New Scientist:

In a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, researchers studied the progression of a cholera epidemic in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

The study’s lead author Rumi Chunara, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, used a piece of software called HealthMap to monitor how many times the epidemic was mentioned online during the first 100 days of the outbreak - from October 20, 2010 to January 28, 2011. Her research team also looked at the number of posts on Twitter that mentioned the word cholera.

They discovered 4697 online reports via HealthMap in eight different languages, and 188,819 tweets. Using this data they were able to monitor how the outbreak was progressing. They found that information gleaned from online sources in this way closely matched the official reports, gathered by surveying hospitals and health clinics. The only difference - and huge advantage - was that the online data was available in almost real time, nearly two weeks before the official reports from the government health ministry were available.

This is reminiscent of Google Flu Trends which maps the outbreak of flu around the world based on global search queries. The elegant idea behind it is that as people get sick they search online for information about their symptoms.

Map those results and you have an early detection system for seasonal influenza outbreaks that kill 250,000 to 500,000 people annually.

Study: Social and News Media Enable Estimation of Epidemiological Patterns Early in the 2010 Haitian Cholera Outbreak.

Interested in a career in public service? Thinking about working in nonprofits, international development, policy analysis, health, urban planning or social entrepreneurship? Here are some of the undergraduate classes that still have space for Spring 2012 at NYU Wagner:

• Race, Class & Gender in America with Professor Jewel Jackson McCabe
• The Meaning of Leadership with Professor Frances Kunreuther
• Criminal Justice Reform: New Frontiers and Strategies with Professor Harry K. Wexler
• The Politics of Development with Professor John Gershman
• Gender and Development with Professor John Gershman
• Labor Rights and Job Creation with Professor Lisette M. Garcia

 Many of our undergraduate courses at NYU Wagner contribute to policy minors and/or cross register for other department majors.

npr:

The United Nations says today symbolically marks the moment when the world’s population reaches 7 billion. A little more than two centuries ago, the global population was 1 billion. How did it grow so big so fast? With the help of a sound montage and video, it gets a little easier to see how the Earth can produce that kind of a crowd.

Watch our video: 7 Billion: How Did We Get So Big So Fast

Photo: Adam Cole, Maggie Starbard / NPR

timelightbox:

Brent Stirton—Reportage by Getty Images for TIME

Nathan Wolfe runs Global Viral Forecasting, a group that monitors the porous microbiological boundaries between animals and humans, with the aim of identifying emerging viruses before they start causing problems. See more here. 

(via goodneighborsusa)