Asteroid discoveries over past 30 years visualized

This animation by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center shows a beautiful view of the past 30 years of asteroid discoveries, using data culled by Ted Bowell et al.

View of the solar system showing the locations of all the asteroids starting in 1980, as asteroids are discovered they are added to the map and highlighted white so you can pick out the new ones.

The final colour of an asteroids indicates how closely it comes to the inner solar system. Earth Crossers are Red. Earth Approachers (Perihelion less than 1.3AU) are Yellow. All Others are Green

Notice now the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun. You'll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons. Similar clusters of discoveries can be tied to the other outer planets, but those are not visible in this video.


via flowingdata.com

Big Dreams, Slim Odds: The Lottery Economy

Who doesn’t dream of winning the lottery one day? Even people who don’t play probably fantacize every now and then about becoming a millionaire overnight: something few things but the lottery can help you achieve.

There is, of course, an entity that profits from the lottery no matter what: the state in which it is administered. Though the majority of the money collected from the sale of lottery tickets does go back into the jackpot, states collect their share. To find out which states collect the most, how much the winners get to keep and other interesting lottery facts, see our latest infographic.

via www.mint.com

A Brief History of Cinematic Exorcisms

The religious method of cleansing the possessed is as much a myth as it is a mystery, but it has always been a great subject for movies. In honor of the spooky new film, which hits theaters this Friday, hollywood.com've exercised their own knowledge of film history to bring you a Brief Timeline of Cinematic Exorcisms. Check out the history of this horror sub-genre below!

via www.hollywood.com

Facebook Privacy: 6 Years of Controversy

This isn’t the first time Facebook has received criticism for its privacy practices. In fact, Facebook’s problems stretch back to before its founding when then Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg hacked into the school’s network to steal pictures of students for a site that ranked their attractiveness. Below is an infographic tracing the history of privacy snafus that have dogged the platform since its creation.

via mashable.com