Stories by Jen Christiansen

Are the James Webb Space Telescope’s Pictures ‘Real’?

How the JWST’s cosmic images are made

How the Ocean Sustains Complex Life

Detailed data about a host of physical and chemical forces are shaping a new view of the sea

Wildfires Followed by Severe Rain Will Become More Common

Graphics show how the two weather extremes will more often pair up

COVID’s Uneven Toll Captured in Data

Visualizing ongoing stories of loss, adaptation and inequality

Mammoth Tusk Reveals Ancient Mammal’s Travels

Chemical analyses showed an individual mammoth made an epic journey across Alaska

The Terrible Toll of 76 Autoimmune Diseases

About 80 conditions can be described as autoimmune disorders, although definitions are still changing

Bird Species Abundances, from Biggest to Smallest

A new study found large species are rare, but those with fewer individuals are abundant

Our Bodies Replace Billions of Cells Every Day

Blood and the gut dominate cell turnover

Sunlight Changes Unequally All Year Long

Some days we gain one minute; some days we gain three

Cholesterol Drops in the West and Rises in the East

Blood levels change as people alter diets and the use of statin medications

Coronavirus Vaccine Is 90 Percent Effective in Large Trial, Pfizer Says

Genetic engineering could allow for speedy production as well

The Pulsar Chart That Became a Pop Icon Turns 50: Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures

A classic data visualization brought an astronomical curiosity to music lovers

The Language of Science

How the words we use have evolved over the past 175 years

A Visual Guide to the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus

What scientists know about the inner workings of the pathogen that has infected the world 

Scientific American’s Colorful Covers Reveal 175 Years of Change

The magazine’s hues provide a record of publishing technology and trends

Visualizing Science: Illustration and Beyond

Where does the illustrator end and the infographer begin? How does data visualization fit in? And what does science have to say about the design decisions we make? 

Only 150 of Your Facebook Contacts Are Real Friends

Even with social media, we max out at 150 real relationships

Aerial Fireworks, Illustrated

Graphics from the Scientific American archive provide a glimpse of the history and science of pyrotechnics

Global Infections by the Numbers

Pi City

Data visualizers Martin Krzywinski and Jake Lever map city centers for an annual Pi Day art exploration