Learning curves: What does it mean for a technology to follow Wright’s Law?
Technologies that follow Wright’s Law get cheaper at a consistent rate, as the cumulative production of that technology increases.
April 18, 2023
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April 11, 2023
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Mortality in the past: every second child died
The chances that a newborn survives childhood have increased from 50% to 96% globally. How do we know about the mortality of children in the past? And what can we learn from it for our future?
April 4, 2023
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How does age standardization make health metrics comparable?
Age standardization is a statistical method used to compare disease rates, or other health indicators, between populations while accounting for differences in their age structure.
March 29, 2023
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Artificial intelligence has advanced despite having few resources dedicated to its development — now investments have increased substantially
The available resources have increased substantially. We should expect that the field continues to advance rapidly.
March 28, 2023
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What is Moore's Law?
Exponential growth is at the heart of the rapid increase of computing capabilities.
March 18, 2023
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Two centuries of rapid global population growth will come to an end
Global population grew rapidly over the past century, but this period of fast growth is coming to an end.
March 13, 2023
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What is the ozone layer, and why is it important?
Over the last 50 years, holes in the ozone layer have opened up. Why does that matter for life on Earth?
February 28, 2023
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Our World in Data will rely on data from the WHO to track confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths
Johns Hopkins University will stop publishing data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths. Our team will replace our entire time series with WHO's data on 8 March 2023.
February 27, 2023
Article
How we choose which topics to work on, and which metrics to provide
On Our World in Data, we present thousands of metrics on hundreds of topics. How do we choose them?
February 22, 2023
Article
Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime
It is easy to underestimate the magnitude of this change. Understanding this can help us see how different the world could be in the future.
February 20, 2023
Article
What does it mean for a species to be at risk of extinction?
We need to focus on the most threatened species to protect them from extinction. But what does it mean for a species to be at risk, and how is it measured?
February 7, 2023
Article
AI timelines: What do experts in artificial intelligence expect for the future?
Many believe there is a real chance that human-level AI will be developed within the next decades, and some believe that it will exist much sooner.
January 19, 2023
Article
Engel's Law: Richer people spend more money on food, but it makes up a smaller share of their income
How does spending on food change as incomes rise?
January 5, 2023
Article
How many people die and how many are born each year?
Changes in the world population are determined by two metrics: the number of babies born and the number of people dying.
December 15, 2022
Article
Artificial intelligence is transforming our world — it is on all of us to make sure that it goes well
How AI gets built is currently decided by a small group of technologists. It should be in all of our interest to become informed and engaged.
December 6, 2022
Article
The brief history of artificial intelligence: the world has changed fast — what might be next?
Little is as important for the world’s future and our own lives as how this history continues.
November 30, 2022
Article
There have been five mass extinctions in Earth's history
When did the "Big Five" mass extinctions happen, and what were their causes?
November 30, 2022
Article
How many species are there?
How many species do we share our planet with? How many of these species have we found and identified?
November 30, 2022
Article
Did humans cause the Quaternary megafauna extinction?
10,000 to 50,000 years ago, hundreds of the largest mammals went extinct. It's likely that humans were the key driver of this.
November 30, 2022
Article
Global whaling peaked in the 1960s
Intense whaling drove many of the world’s whale species close to extinction. But a dramatic decline in whale hunting since then has given them hopes of recovery.
November 30, 2022
Article
The state of the world's rhino populations
How have rhino populations changed over time? What species are at risk of extinction today?