PUBLIC SCHOOL

Eric Fischer’s Racial Division Maps

Most racial maps lump groups of people in to blobs that make it difficult to see what the real meshing of ethnic groups is like, so inspired by Bill Rankin’s Chicago Map, Eric Fischer created maps of many US cities using a similar methodology. Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian and Orange is Hispanic. Gray is other and each dot represents 25 people.

The above map details Austin’s makeup as of the 2000 census, but after the jump we’ve got a few of the bigger cities around the US for your perusal. It’s important to note something something that Andrew Price of GOOD wrote about these maps:

What do we, as a society, want to see in maps like this? I think it’s safe to say that the clear separation of races in Detroit is a symptom (or cause) of serious social problems. At the same time, it seems unrealistic to expect perfect integration and it’s unclear if we should want that anyway. It’s great that our cities have vibrant ethnic neighborhoods.

Space Shuttle Parking Lot

I grew up in Houston close to Johnson Space center, so being around NASA was pretty common in my childhood and with the end of the Space Shuttle’s lifespan nearing, its gotten we thinking about the perceived simplicity of space flight. Has the repetition and ease with which we’ve traveled to space weakened our overall interest in its existence? Has NASA made it look so easy to pull off that people just don’t care?

The short documentary above covers this concept and shows a group of intensely excited people experiencing the Space Shuttle’s last night launch ever. They’ve interviewed people involved with the Shuttle and curious onlookers who have traveled to witness one of the last liftoffs of Mankind’s most complicated machine.

It’s a great watch considering its brevity and includes some pretty funny interviews. My favorite happens around 19:25 when the guy says “all we’re sayin is….the shuttle launch is wassup man”. It’s a classic phrase for a classic piece of science.

Via Motherboard