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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’re probably aware that we’re in the middle of a cryptocurrency explosion. In one year, the value of all currencies increased a staggering 1,466% – and newer coins like Ethereum have even joined Bitcoin in gaining some mainstream acceptance. And while people like Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan and famed value investor Howard Marks have been extremely critical of cryptocurrencies as of late, many other investors are continuing to ride the wave....

Whether it’s from the perspective of environmental impact, cruelty to animals, or health benefits, meatless diets are quickly becoming a new normal for people around the world—but where did it all begin? Today’s infographic unearths the origins of vegetarianism and explores how the industry erupted into a lucrative web of sub-categories that are whetting the appetite of investors the world over. The Origins of the Meat-Free Diet Taking a holistic view of vegetarianism, there are several different diets that people typically adhere to....

Metropolises like New York City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London have unprecedented size, opportunities, economic might, and cultural significance, that it’s easy to imagine them as permanent and unparalleled fixtures on the world stage. However, any glance at world history shows us immediately that these places are not as exceptional or as timeless as we would like to think. Over time, it seems that even the most important cities eventually fall or slip in status....

But it’s not just mobile phones that have become increasingly intertwined with our everyday lives. A plethora of accessories and devices, known as smartphone multipliers, have surged in popularity—this market is set to generate $459 billion in revenue by the end of 2020. Which brands are capitalizing on this lucrative market? Today’s graphic provides a snapshot of the leading tech brands currently dominating the personal tech space, based on the most recent global market share data on shipments and installs....

In 2021, shipping and fulfillment costs added up to $151.8 billion. Shipping, which includes sortation, delivery centers, and transportation costs amounted to $76.7 billion. Fulfillment costs, which include cost of operating and staff fulfillment centers, were $75.1 billion. As you can see, costs are escalating, and today’s figure is almost twice that of the 18% figure seen in 2011. Rising Costs to Scale The $151.8 billion in expenditures towards shipping and fulfillment is absolutely massive....

Visualizing Apple’s Record Setting Market Capitalization Setting records for Apple’s stock is not new. In 2012, it passed Microsoft’s old record of $616.3 billion market capitalization set in 1999. Last month, it was the first stock to ever trade above $700 billion market cap, and the above visualization drives home the stark contrast between AAPL and all other S&P 500 mainstays. The horizontal axis shows the YTD performance of S&P 500 stocks coloured by sector, and the vertical axis shows market cap....

They tend to be heavy, durable, ductile, and malleable – all desirable traits for monetary metals. They also tend to be quite rare, which is part of the reason that investors have put trust in these assets as stores of value for hundreds of years. Despite all these commonalities, the story of each individual metal is actually quite unique. Each metal is driven by its own set of supply and demand characteristics that are unique from the group....

Things took a drastic turn on April 19, 2022, when Netflix announced its Q1 results. Rather than gaining subscribers as forecasted, the company lost 200,000. This was the first decline in over a decade, and investors rushed to pull their money out. So, is there a buying opportunity now that Netflix shares are trading at multi-year lows? To help you decide, we’ve provided further context around this historic crash....

From 2010-2019, an average of 13 million guns were sold legally in the U.S. each year. In 2020 and 2021, annual gun sales sharply increased to 20 million. While the U.S. does import millions of weapons each year, a large amount of firearms sold in the country were produced domestically. Let’s dig into the data behind the multi-billion dollar gun manufacturing industry in America. Gun Manufacturing in the United States According to a recent report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U....

In 2018, ex-Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, made headlines after predicting the internet would eventually split into two halves – one dominated by China and the other by the United States. While that vision of the future may come to pass, the internet already has a noteworthy division (coincidentally related to Google): indexed and non-indexed. The indexed internet is what we’re all familiar with, everything from gif-laden Geocities websites to the webpage you’re reading this on....

For starters, not only is Pluto smaller than any other planet in the solar system, but it’s also smaller than Earth’s moon. It also has an extremely low gravitational pull at only 0.07 times the mass of the objects in its orbit, which is just a fraction of the Moon’s own strength. At the same time, Pluto’s surface resembles that of terrestrial planets such as Mars, Venus or the Earth, yet its nearest neighbors are the gaseous Jovian planets such as Uranus or Neptune....

From its most basic applications of tracking our fitness levels, to its wide-reaching potential across industries and urban planning, the growing partnership between AI and the IoT means that a smarter future could occur sooner than we think. This infographic by TSMC highlights the breakthrough technologies and trends making that shift possible, and how we’re continuing to push the boundaries. AI + IoT = Superpowers of Innovation IoT devices use the internet to communicate, collect, and exchange information about our online activities....

But humans can have a hard time comprehending numbers this big, so it can be difficult to really appreciate the breadth of this incredible diversity of life on Earth. In order to fully grasp this scale, we draw from research by Bar-On et al. to break down the total composition of the living world, in terms of its biomass, and where we fit into this picture. Why Carbon? A “carbon-based life form” might sound like something out of science fiction, but that’s what we and all other living things are....

Since then, solar has come a long way. Not only has the cost of producing solar panels dropped like a rock, manufacturers are now routinely pumping out new innovations such as flexible solar cells, ultra-thin cells, and transparent photovoltaic windows. These could be game-changers for the industry, adding to the already incredible 39% annual growth occurring in U.S. solar capacity between 2013-2017. Animated Infographic: How Solar Panels Work Today’s infographic comes from SaveOnEnergy, and it covers the science behind how solar panels work....

Nowhere is this phenomenon as pronounced as in Manhattan, which swells to an incredible four million people during work hours. Today’s animation, created by Justin Fung, is a dramatic, eye-opening look at the “pulse” of America’s largest city. Also, check out the fancy interactive version of this visualization. This dramatic shift in population on a daily basis is made possible by Manhattan’s unparalleled carrying capacity, or its ability to facilitate an inflow of millions of people who come for all sorts of reasons....

Bitcoin: The Past, Present, and Future Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are topics that we have covered to a good extent here, including our history of the first five years of Bitcoin. Today’s infographic covers some of the same essentials, but then goes on to also cover regulation of the cryptocurrency, recent events such as the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, as well as some interesting commentary. One interesting point brought up for the future is related to quantum computing, which was explained also in a recent infographic....

In the “old days”, personal finance seemed so much more straightforward. Wages were good enough so that almost anyone could save, and the power of compound interest did the rest. At the same time, it was cheap to get into the housing market, people were more conscious about debt, and the stock market was a no-brainer. In today’s world, it’s not always so easy. Ultra-low interest rates have fueled a boom in debt and asset prices, making everything from houses to stocks very expensive....

Can Uranium be Great Again? Uranium miners up 59% since election on pro-nuclear hopes The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Uranium’s spot price had a rough ride throughout the course of 2016, but for many investors there is suddenly a new aura of optimism around the troubled metal. It all starts with Donald Trump’s “America First” strategy, which is being perceived by many as a potential boon to the uranium sector....

Millennials on Investing, Debt, and Banking [Chart] Surveys reveal Millennials to have conflicting views on financial matters. The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Millennials are the most confident generation regarding their financial future. In fact, recent survey results show that 65% of Millennials feel confident about their future finances, compared to 52% of Gen X, 50% of Baby Boomers, and 59% of the Silent Generation....

Oil is Dirt Cheap… Literally [Chart] A barrel of oil is the same price as a barrel of “Scott’s Turf Builder” The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. In theory, a barrel of crude oil seems quite valuable. It’s well-known, for example, that from one barrel of oil, a refinery can make 19 gallons of gasoline, 12 gallons of diesel, and four gallons of jet fuel....