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06|01|13 ISSUE

Contents
- Sweet Confusion: Does high fructose corn syrup deserve such a bad rap?
- Closed Thinking: Without scientific competition and open debate, much psychology research goes nowhere
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Contents
- A mind for math: A part of the brain associated with making memories may also predict success in learning math
- Teens take home science gold: A low-cost, self-driving vehicle; battery alternatives and analyses of galaxy clusters claim top prizes at a global high school science competition
- Flagging loose bolts: “Smart alert washer” automatically flags when a nut is coming loose, warning of potential danger

Enlarge Image

In a typical election map (top), states are red or blue to indicate whether a majority of their voters voted for the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, or the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Election cartograms by population numbers (middle) or electoral votes (bottom) give a more accurate visual representation of the election results. Credit: M. Newman, Univ. of Michigan

Comments (3)

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Except for the first one, these maps are nonsensical. Texas is the second most populous state in the union. It is made to look smaller than New York, Ohio, or Florida, among others, and not much larger than many a far less populous state. A bit of the well-known leftist science writer bias has crept in here.

James Bryan

Nov. 12, 2012 at 12:27pm
Texas is porportional according to its population.. can you really not see that? Cali has 37 million people while Texas has 25.

EbNv

Nov. 13, 2012 at 9:55am
Using voter turnout rather than census population would be better methodology in constructing the cartograms. Using a lighter shade of blue would make it easier to see the boundaries of blue states in viewing the cartograms. Visual comparison of areas is tricky, as those of us who dislike pie charts have remarked many times. Such comparisons are especially tricky for Jame Bryan, whose comment on "well-known leftist science writer bias" says more about his own bias than anybody else's.

BARRY ROSEN

Nov. 13, 2012 at 1:26pm

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