This year’s solar eclipse is a hot topic. News channels are covering it, everyone is talking about it, and local governments are even warning us about increased traffic in areas near the path of totality. Astronomy geeks and curious tourists alike are flocking to the path of totality to make sure they have the greatest possible viewing experience. While solar eclipses occur between 2 and 5 times per year, it takes nearly 400 years for an eclipse’s path of totality to occur at the same location. In fact, the next time a solar eclipse will be visible from the contiguous United States will be in 2044! So it’s no surprise that this is a big deal to people who live in the area.

Dedicated solar tourists are traveling from all around the country (and even the world) and, as a result, hotels and other accommodations in the area are completely sold out for the days leading up to the April 8th eclipse. AirDNA, a company that provides data analyses and insights on the vacation rental industry, has visualized fully booked Airbnb rentals across the nation for the days leading up to the eclipse and the result is remarkable. Fully booked cities, represented by an orange coloration, perfectly frame the path of totality across the United States. Check out the animated visualization below that was shared by AirDNA’s Chief Economist, Jamie Lane, on Twitter.

With the eclipse approaching in less than a week, over half of U.S. cities along the eclipse’s path are fully booked for the night of April 7th according to data from @airdna pic.twitter.com/SLVpyKu2Oe

— Jamie Lane (@Jamie_Lane) April 2, 2024

Why is it so important for people to be directly within the path of 100% totality? Even if you are just barely outside of the path of totality, at 99%, the ambient sunlight is 10,000 times brighter than the eclipse corona, making it impossible to see with the naked eye.

A nuclear warhead is a highly advanced and meticulously engineered device designed to release an immense amount of energy through nuclear fission or fusion reactions. Comprising fissile materials, triggering mechanisms, and containment structures, it operates by initiating a chain reaction within the atomic nucleus, leading to a catastrophic explosion that far surpasses the destructive power of conventional explosives. The controlled release of nuclear energy in warheads underscores their devastating potential, shaping global security dynamics and emphasizing the critical importance of preventing their use.

[OC] Nuclear Warheads by Country
by u/PieChartPirate in dataisbeautiful

This visualization, as posted by Reddit user PieChartPirate, shows off the nuclear warheads by country, specifically from 1950 through 2022. The visualization was created with SJVisualizer, and the source for the data came from Wikipedia. This is a fascinating look at this information, which by 2022, shows that the worldwide leader in terms of nuclear warheads is Russia with 5,889. Following Russia are the United States (5,244), China (410), France (290), United Kingdom (225), Pakistan (170), India (164), Israel (90), and North Korea (50).

According to the data, if you were to go all the way back to 1951, which is where this visualization starts, only two countries are represented – those being the United States (with 320 at the time) and the Soviet Union (with 7 at the time). Within ten years, more countries were topping the rankings, as by 1961, the United States had 19,381 nuclear warheads, the Soviet Union saw a dramatic jump from 7 to 1,874, the United Kingdom had 65, and France possessed just two.

The iconic Big Mac is a two-beef patty, three bun delicacy topped with iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, chopped onions and the super secret Mac Sauce. In 1968, it was so popular with its limited release in Pennsylvania that it was rolled out to every McDonald’s restaurant across the United States. That popularity never waned and there is now an entire economic phenomenon known as ‘burgernomics’ modeled from the Big Mac. Economists will use the price of the big mac as a way to gauge inflation rates and economics across globe. Today the Big Mac is up 40% from 2010. We can see in this video visualization by /u/jcceagle that follows the price of a Big Mac over the last 20 years, just how different cost can be across the globe and over time.
In the year 2000 Norway had the most expensive Big Mac for $4.09, while in the Philippines it cost $1.17. Eight years later, Norway still tops the charts with the most expensive Big Mac but instead of just over four dollars, it increased to $7.88. At that time in the US a Big Mac cost $3.57 while the cheapest was found in Malaysia for $1.70 and the Philippines increased to $1.96. In July 2017 the most expensive Big Mac was down across the board from 2008 to $6.74 in Switzerland. That same year a Big Mac in the US would have cost you $5.30 and $1.70 in the Ukraine. The video also shows an index of currency valued relative to the US dollar where you can see the values changes across the different currency around the world.