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In its heyday, Bitcoin had surpassed $10,000 in early December 2017, before briefly crossing the $20,000 mark for a single day on December 17th. A year later, the digital currency had fallen back to Earth, dropping below $3,200. Now that the dust of that wild speculative frenzy has settled, Bitcoin is back on the upswing. What could be causing this most recent surge in growth? We look at four possible explanations for the Bitcoin bull run, as originally outlined by Aaron Hankin at MarketWatch:...

The explosive power of hydrogen fueled a chain reaction that led to the world we have today. Now this power is being deployed on Earth to supply the energy needs of tomorrow. Visualizing the Power of Hydrogen Today’s infographic comes to us from the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, and it outlines how hydrogen and fuel cell technology is harnessing the power of the universe to potentially fuel an energy revolution....

Where does all this plastic go, and how much of it is being recycled? Here’s a look at the end-of-life fate of the world’s plastic. A Breakdown of Disposal Methods If current trends in plastic production and waste management continue as they are, here’s where 33 billion metric tons of plastic waste will end up by 2050. To clarify, this is a rough cumulative estimate of all the plastic that’s been discarded since 1950....

This is because it offers several benefits like diversification (due to less correlation with stocks), monthly income, and protection from inflation. The latter is known as “inflation hedging”, and stems from real estate’s tendency to appreciate during periods of rising prices. Affordability, of course, is a major barrier to investing in most real estate. Property markets around the world have reached bubble territory, making it incredibly difficult for people to get their foot in the door....

The Pros and Cons of Self-Driving Cars The next time you honk at another car on the freeway, there is a small chance that it is actually a self-driving robot. Coupled with the emergence of the electric vehicle, self-driving cars are one of the hottest topics in the automotive industry. Just as any other time where there is the potential to disrupt the current marketplace, there are investment consequences worth noting....

With over 200 vessels halted on either side of the canal, authorities are scrambling to dislodge the container ship and resume normal operations. This has proven to be a difficult task so far, and experts are warning that the process could take weeks. What is the Suez Canal? Constructed in 1869, the Suez Canal is an Egyptian sea-level waterway that provides a vital shipping route between Europe and Asia. Without this route, ships would need to sail around Africa, adding an entire week to their trips....

Since 1985, college tuition has risen by roughly 500%, vastly outpacing almost all other increases in the cost of living. Today, there are more than 4,000 colleges in the country, ranging from high-flying Ivy League institutions to more modest, practical schools. This infographic from TitleMax shows the top 100 colleges in America based on the U.S. News Best National Universities list, ranked by tuition from highest to lowest. College Tuition: The Top 20 Most Expensive From $5,000 to over $60,000, the price of college tuition for top U....

In this visual, we showcase select items and how inflation has impacted the price year-over-year. Additionally, we’ve charted the overall price increases across the overarching goods categories, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Note: These numbers are assessed using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U), using the U. S. city average by detailed expenditure category. How Much has the Cost of Goods Gone Up?...

on Did you know that nearly one-fifth of all the gold ever mined is held by central banks? Besides investors and jewelry consumers, central banks are a major source of gold demand. In fact, in 2022, central banks snapped up gold at the fastest pace since 1967. However, the record gold purchases of 2022 are in stark contrast to the 1990s and early 2000s, when central banks were net sellers of gold....

A Diverse Revenue Model A significant day for online sales is Prime Day, which has grown into a major shopping event comparable to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2020, Prime Day is projected to generate almost $10 billion in global revenue. Other tech giants generate revenue through a range of products, services, and applications—for instance, while a healthy portion of Apple’s revenue comes from iPhone sales, the company captures 17% of revenue from a mix of services, ranging from Apple Pay to Apple Music....

But which schools are actually the best ones in America? This ranking uses data from U.S. News & World Report to rank America’s 50 best universities from the Ivy League to public institutions. Additionally, this visual shows the average tuition and acceptance rate of each school. The Methodology Here’s a look at how different categories are scored in the ranking. It is worth noting that U.S. News relies on each university’s independent reporting of data and information and does not standardize or corroborate the reported information themselves....

Consumer behaviors are changing—moving towards contactless and cashless transactions. Meanwhile, as the magnitude of COVID-19 grows, these trends have only accelerated. Today’s infographic navigates the digital payments ecosystem, exploring its history and innovative technologies, and how it continues to grow as a solution of choice for trillions of dollars of transactions each year. Digital Payments Timeline The origins of digital payments began over 25 years ago with then 21 year-old entrepreneur Dan Kohn in Nashua, New Hampshire, who sold a CD over the internet via credit card payment....

In our inaugural Generational Power Index (GPI) 2021, we examine the power and influence each generation currently holds on American society, and its potential to evolve in the future. Political power by generation was one of three key categories we used to quantify the current landscape. Before we dive into the results, here’s how the Political Power category was calculated. Measuring Generational Power To begin with, here’s how we categorized each generation: Using these age groups as a framework, we then calculated the Political Power category using these distinct equally-weighted variables:...

This led to a massive demand shock, prompting factories to begin producing disposable masks at full capacity. The majority of these masks were produced in China, and in April 2020, the country reported a staggering daily production figure of 450 million masks. Plastic Pollution: A Lesser Known Side Effect In Ocean Asia’s 2020 report, Masks on the Beach, researchers developed a formula to provide reasonable estimates for the number of disposable masks entering the environment....

According to a recent survey, only 5% of people have never felt guilty about buying something. That means the majority of us, at some point in our lives, have regretted a purchase. But consumers aren’t necessarily only to blame for impulse buys. After all, we’re constantly bombarded with advertisements and marketing tactics specifically tailored to try and get us to spend more money. Today’s graphic by TitleMax explains 29 different psychological tactics that marketers try to get consumers to buy more....

The Bitcoin blockchain—not to be confused with the bitcoin cryptocurrency—involves a vast global network of computers operating on the same distributed database to process massive volumes of data every second. These transactions tell the network how to alter this distributed database in real-time, which makes it crucial for everyone to agree on how these changes should be applied. When the community can’t come to a mutual agreement on what changes, or when such rule changes should take effect, it results in a blockchain fork....

The U.S. budget deficit this year, for example, is projected to hit $3.8 trillion, which would be more than double the previous record set during the financial crisis ($1.41 trillion in FY2009). Meanwhile, the Fed has announced “open-ended” asset-buying programs to support the economy, which will add even more to its current $7 trillion balance sheet. Given the scale of these new numbers—how can we relate them back to the more conventional numbers and figures that we may be more familiar with?...

Languages provide a window into culture and history. They’re also a unique way to map the world – not through landmasses or geopolitical borders, but through mother tongues. The Tower of Babel Today’s infographic from Alberto Lucas Lopez condenses the 7,102 known living languages today into a stunning visualization, with individual colors representing each world region. Only 23 languages are spoken by at least 50 million native speakers. What’s more, over half the planet speaks at least one of these 23 languages....

The Athabasca Basin currently accounts for 15.5% of annual uranium production. Even more interesting, is the grade of these deposits. 10 of the 15 highest grade uranium deposits in the world are found in the region. Further, Athabasca deposits such as Phoenix, McArthur River, and Cigar Lake range from 15 to 20% uranium – several times the grade of their nearest competition outside of the Basin. on #1: High Reliability Nuclear power plants run 24/7 and are the most reliable source of sustainable energy....

Bitcoin: A Modern Gold Rush? Although it may seem strange, there are quite a few parallels between the California Gold Rush and race for hash rate to mine bitcoins. However, as the infographic suggests, it is too early to tell if bitcoins will be as good as gold in terms of storing value. The price has been unstable and fluctuates rapidly. The chart below details the past three months of the price (May 2014-July 2014)....