Significance February 2021 issue

The February 2021 issue of Significance magazine is out now, with features and articles exploring the toll and impact of Covid-19, one year on.

Articles by Ron Fricker and Dmitry Kobak take a close look at excess deaths in the United States, Russia and elsewhere, while Katherine Hoffman’s pandemic diary offers a flavour of what it was like to be a biostatistician supporting a team of hospital clinicians during New York City’s deadly first wave.

Meanwhile, Timandra Harkness interviews Trevor Phillips, the former head of the UK's Commission for Racial Equality and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, about Covid‐19 disparities, ethnic identities and origins, and the often fraught relationship between science and politics.

Plus:

• Against the background of explosive growth in data volume, velocity, and variety, Francis X. Diebold investigates the origins of the term 'Big Data'.
• Walter W. Piegorsch, Rachel R. McCaster and Susan L. Cutter show how the tools of data science can help quantify the risks and vulnerabilities to hazards in the places where we live and work.
• Yanyan Zheng, Marco Cavaglià, Ryan Quitzow‐James, and Kentaro Mogushi explain how statistics helps scientists spot ripples in the fabric of space and time.

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