A Data Visualization Newsletter

A small lake outside Toronto might hold the key to a major scientific decision. That’s because Crawford Lake is so deep that, for over a thousand years, things like debris, pollen, and dead microbes have floated to the bottom and been perfectly preserved in the mud. Now scientists are determining whether the lake bed provides enough evidence to declare that we’re living in a new epoch of geologic time: the Anthropocene.

The United Nations formulated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back in 2015, as a way of defining what global progress and prosperity might look like. This resource from World Bank Group provides 17 interactive data stories about the SDGs — like zero hunger, gender equality, and climate action — and shows how we’re tracking against each one.

In the last two weeks, Ukrainian forces appear to have started a counteroffensive aimed at driving Russian forces out of the country. While the Ukranians have reported some initial victories and liberated a handful of occupied towns, Russian lines still appear to be ahead of them. These maps from Reuters track the counteroffensive’s progress.

As we transition to a remote world, more and more tech companies are seeking top engineering talent in Europe. But without some guidance, it can be difficult to know where to start recruiting. This resource from Sequoia, a leading venture capital firm, offers an interactive guide to 24 cities with talent across key engineering specialties.

As the world transitions to electric vehicles, the demand for car batteries is exploding. And when it comes to mining and refining minerals, training engineers, and building battery factories, China has a huge head start on the rest of the world. Even as the Biden administration enacts policies aimed at fostering battery development in the U.S., it’s almost impossible to imagine creating electric car batteries without China’s help.