Want to learn about the history of economics, how to code with Ruby on Rails, or the essentials of string theory? It’s all out there for free on the internet, and anyone who has the time or energy can learn it directly from the experts. The Information Age grants us an unprecedented amount of access to the world’s knowledge – and some thinkers like James Altucher or Peter Thiel see this leading to a path where the role of colleges and universities will continue to diminish....

A couple of weeks ago, we published an infographic showing how the list of the most valuable companies in the U.S. has changed drastically over the last 100 years. Near the top of that list in 1917 is The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, which is just one of the 34 forced spin-offs from the original Standard Oil juggernaut that was split up in 1911. In today’s chart, we look at the “fragments” of Standard Oil, and who owns these assets today....

Over the last 50 years, the world has seen a colossal increase in energy consumption—and with the ongoing transition to renewable energy, it’s interesting to look at how these sources of energy have been evolving over time. While some countries continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas, others have integrated alternative energy sources into their mix. This visualization comes to us from Brian Moore and it charts the evolution of energy consumption in the 64 countries that have data available for all of the last 50 years....

While these economic shifts are positive, it’s the other end of the global wealth spectrum that attracts the most attention. A high degree of wealth creation is amassed by those at the top of the economic pyramid. The Top-Heavy Wealth Spectrum Today, slightly less than 1% of the world’s adult population occupies the $1M+ wealth range. Despite their small numbers, this elite group collectively controls 46% of the world’s wealth, valued at approximately $129 trillion....

Company Snapshot: Gold Canyon Resources Gold Canyon Resources (TSX-V: GCU) is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral and precious metals properties. The Company controls a 100% interest in the Springpole Gold. At a 5% discount rate and a US$1,300/oz gold price, the project, has an estimated pre-tax net present value (NPV) of US$579 million, a pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 25.4%, and a non-discounted payback of just 1....

Starting in the mid-20th century, humanity has explored space faster than ever before. We’ve launched satellites, telescopes, space stations, and spacecrafts, all strapped to rocket-propelled launch vehicles that helped them breach our atmosphere. This infographic from designer Tyler Skarbek stacks up the many different rockets of the world side-by-side, showing which country designed them, what years they were used, and what they (could) accomplish. How Do The World’s Rockets Stack Up?...

With millions of people taking part in this work-from-home experiment, it’s worth asking the question – how do people and companies actually feel about working from home? The Flex Life It’s no secret that people value freedom of choice. A whopping 98% of people would like to have the option to work remotely for the rest of their careers. Aside from working in sweatpants, what are the things people like about working from home?...

Junior mining stocks, which are small publicly-traded companies that are aiming to make big discoveries, are well-known for being extremely high in both risk and reward. But with a universe of thousands of available companies out there, how does an investor even begin to evaluate opportunities in this sector? An Investor Checklist We’ve partnered with Eclipse Gold Mining on an infographic series to show you how to avoid common mistakes when evaluating and investing in mining exploration stocks....

And with e-commerce sales boasting a 15.6% growth rate in 2016, it’s clear that if you’re not already doing business online, now may be the time to start. Today’s infographic from Distributel details five online business archetypes that are worth knowing for anyone looking to launch side hustle in 2017. Five Businesses, Five Personalities As the infographic shows, there is a business type for every online entrepreneur. Some would prefer to make online business their full-time job, while others may want a side hustle that helps monetize their impressive social media presence or creative abilities....

But what if that information is about you? The Price of Personal Data The following infographic from MBA@UNC looks at the business of data brokers, how they get their data, and what they sell it for. It also puts a price tag on what users are willing to “pay” to not have their data collected. It’s often said that if you are not paying for something, it should be known that you are the product....

High net worth individuals (HNWIs) – persons with wealth over US$1 million – may decide to pick up and move for a number of reasons. In some cases they are attracted by jurisdictions with more favorable tax laws, or less pollution and crime. Sometimes, they’re simply looking for a change of scenery. Today’s graphic, using data from the annual Global Wealth Migration Review, maps the migration of the world’s millionaires, and clearly shows which countries are magnets for the world’s rich, and which countries are seeing a wealth exodus....

While oil has traditionally been the most interesting commodity to investors in the past, the green energy sector is reliant on the unique electrical and physical properties of many different metals to work optimally. To build more renewable capacity and to store that energy efficiently, we will need to increase the available supply for these specific raw materials, or face higher costs for each material. Metal Bull Cases Ahead of Cambridge House’s annual Vancouver Resource Investment Conference on January 20-21, 2019, we thought it would be prudent to highlight the “bull case” for relevant metals as we start the year....

Despite the bond market being bigger than the equities market, bonds mostly trade over-the-counter (OTC) and not on any centralized exchange. In fact, traders mostly swapped bonds over the phone, negotiating prices and making deals. However, this “old school” approach came with several disadvantages, including high transaction costs, illiquidity, and a lack of true transparency in the market. A New Way to Play Today’s infographic comes to us from iShares, and it shows that over the last two decades, the bond market has been dramatically transformed and democratized from the “old school” approach that relied on phones, traders, and giant bond calculators....

That’s because at the beginning of such a phenomenon, the quantities involved can seem insignificant. One becomes two, two becomes four, and so on. But if the environment is right, and the growth continues on, it can all of a sudden take over. This growth can lead to a paradigm shift and a new status quo, as well as massive opportunities along the way. The Water Droplet Analogy One famous example of exponential growth is the water droplet and stadium analogy....

Yes, the rate of generation may slow down at night as people send fewer emails and watch fewer videos. But for every person hitting the hay, there is another person on the opposite side of the world that is turning their smartphone on for the day. As a result, the scale of data being generated—even when we look at it through a limited lens of one minute at a time—is quite mind-boggling to behold....

While many of those robots will be used in the automotive and electronics sectors, there are many other roles that robots will be filling in the future. Surprisingly, according to global consultant McKinsey & Co, not all of these jobs are low-skill, low-wage jobs, either. Mckinsey ran a comprehensive study of nearly 800 different jobs in the United States, ranging from CEOs to fast food workers. Between these roles, they found 2,000 individual work activities, and assessed them against 18 different capabilities that could potentially be automated....

Today’s interactive map comes to us from Overflow Solutions, and it visualizes the percentage of people living in poverty across the United States over the time period of 2008-2017. U.S. Poverty Rates Today To start, we’ll look at the situation using the most recent data, which was pulled from the American Community Survey (2017) done by the U.S. Census Bureau. For additional context, it is worth noting that the national poverty level is estimated to sit at 13....

For most people, there are no time constraints on becoming fluent in another language, but for the Foreign Service Institute – the U.S. government’s main provider of foreign affairs training – quantifying the “learn time” of various languages is vital. American diplomats, for example, need to become proficient in the official language of their posting country, and it helps immensely to know how long that might take. The FSI organizes languages into five broad categories based on how different each language and culture is to the United States:...

However, it’s worth noting the sheer magnitude of the situation—according to IATA, COVID-19 was the most drastic hit to the industry since World War II. Low Air Travel, Steep Losses To measure air traffic, IATA uses the industry-wide metric revenue passenger kilometers (RPK). RPK is calculated by taking the number of revenue-paying passengers, and multiplying that by the total distance traveled. In 2020 as a whole, RPK dropped by 66%—the steepest yearly decline in aviation history....

This infographic details one of the most significant innovations in the oil and gas industry in recent times, pad drilling. Essentially, pad drilling is the practice of drilling multiple entry points into wells from a single surface location. Prior to the discovery of pad drilling, an operator would drill a single well, disassemble the drilling rig, move it to a new location, and then repeat the process. Pad drilling allows up to twenty or more wells to be drilled from a single drilling location....