Visual journalism often reveals what can’t be seen with the naked eye: the microscopic, gigantic, hidden or historical. This year, we examined virus particles, deep ocean currents and partisan segregation. Here are some standout visual stories from 2021.
nyti.ms/3FHjVfH
We investigated what unfolded at the Capitol riot from many angles.

"As we sifted through footage and began to assemble a timeline of the day’s events, we were shocked by the events that happened simultaneously," @LaurenLeatherby said. nyti.ms/3pC29VD
We went behind the scenes at Pfizer to see how a vaccine is made.

"We combined short videos of human-scale processes with delicate illustrations of the molecular-scale changes that are required to create an mRNA vaccine," @13pt said. nyti.ms/3eBLN99
We used maps to see how the racial makeup of the U.S. shifted over the last decade. nyti.ms/32Paa0l
We simulated how much risk the pandemic still posed to air travel. nyti.ms/3zkDNDe
We spent four days with the gymnast Sunisa Lee to capture her uneven bars routine in 3-D.

"Our challenge was to help our audience gain a deeper appreciation for Lee’s talents under [Simone] Biles’s shadow," @BedelSaget said. nyti.ms/3eB5OfY
We created an interactive wildfire tracker.

"We wanted the map to be as clear and easy to use as possible, so a lot of time was spent comparing different colors and symbols for displaying fires, plumes of smoke and air pollution," @grammata said. nyti.ms/3EL1CFc
We reconstructed a neighborhood destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. nyti.ms/3FJpnyT
We explored the future of the Empire State Building.

"We turned to public records, vacancy listings and interviews with more than 75 of the building’s occupants to create the dataset we used in this piece," @collinskeith said. nyti.ms/32AcDw5
We investigated what could have contributed to a South Florida building collapse.

"We reviewed more than 1,000 pages of documents and drawings and worked with structural engineers to confirm our findings," @singhvianjali said. nyti.ms/3FIXwPk
We explained how global warming could shift the Antarctic current.

Turning "data into an interactive map to show readers how Antarctica’s ice shelves are melting from below required me to run over a million calculations simultaneously," @blueshirt said. nyti.ms/3FD9Yjs
See more of the year's best graphics, design and visual investigations from The New York Times. nyti.ms/31aXyAj

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More from @nytimes

1 Jan
South Korea is reckoning with a new type of political correctness enforced by angry young men who bristle at any forces they see as undermining opportunity — and feminists, in their minds, are enemy No. 1. nyti.ms/3EOSak6
Inequality is one of the most delicate issues in South Korea, where deepening economic uncertainty is fed by runaway housing prices, a lack of jobs and a widening income gap. nyti.ms/3EOSak6
"We don't hate women, and we don't oppose elevating their rights," said Bae In-kyu, 31, the head of one of the country’s most active anti-feminist groups. "But feminists are a social evil." nyti.ms/3EOSak6
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1 Jan
"How is this happening to me?" A 32-year-old pregnant woman received a call from her doctor's office saying that a prenatal blood test indicated that her fetus might be missing part of a chromosome. nyti.ms/3zeAMnX
The next day, doctors tested a small piece of her placenta and it showed that the initial result was wrong. Today, her 6-month-old shows no signs of the condition he initially screened positive for. nyti.ms/3zeAMnX
On product brochures and test result sheets, prenatal testing companies advertise their findings as "reliable" and "highly accurate" to pregnant women and their doctors, offering "total confidence" and "peace of mind." nyti.ms/3zeAMnX
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30 Dec 21
More than one million people a day on average are being infected with the coronavirus, according to a global tally by The New York Times.

Hospitalization and death rates haven't come close to previous peaks, though some places are struggling. nyti.ms/3mH0RqI
The global tally of new coronavirus cases has for the first time passed one million per day on average.

The previous peak in global case numbers was set last April. It's already been broken three times this week. nyti.ms/3mH0RqI Image
The U.S., Canada and much of Western Europe are leading the surge, with both regions seeing record-breaking levels of new coronavirus cases.

New cases in at least 11 European countries passed their previous all-time peaks on Tuesday or Wednesday. nyti.ms/3mH0RqI Image
Read 5 tweets
30 Dec 21
A Pennsylvania state trooper has fatally shot four people in separate incidents since 2007, an extraordinary tally for an officer responsible for patrolling largely rural areas with low rates of violent crime. Trooper Jay Splain remains on duty. nyti.ms/3FD1zfU
All four people killed by Trooper Splain were troubled, struggling with drugs, mental illness or both. In two cases, family members had called the police for help because their relatives had threatened to kill themselves. nyti.ms/3FD1zfU Image
Trooper Splain’s first three lethal shootings were ruled as justified and an inquiry into the most recent one is ongoing. The investigations into the killings were led by officers from his unit, raising questions about the rigor of the inquiries. nyti.ms/3FD1zfU Image
Read 4 tweets
30 Dec 21
From supply chain issues to "The Great Resignation" and the demise of hard pants and skinny jeans, the trends of 2021 can tell us a lot about the economy.

Here's a look at what we learned this year — and what to expect in 2022. nyti.ms/3Hpt8JZ
Many things came up short in 2021 — and society came around to the reality that we’ve all been buying so much stuff that we have collectively broken the supply chain.

As a result, prices increased. Whether they'll continue to rise is an open question. nyti.ms/3Hpt8JZ
Americans quit their jobs at record rates this year, in what was labeled “The Great Resignation” or the “Big Quit.” Some suggested a collective life-or-death experience caused people to reassess their options. Others see a new anti-work era emerging. nyti.ms/3Hpt8JZ
Read 6 tweets
28 Dec 21
The coronavirus is now responsible for a higher share of deaths from all causes for younger Americans and white Americans than it was before all adults were eligible for vaccines. Here’s why death rates are rising for some groups. nyti.ms/3mGzHjz
The overall rate of Covid-19 deaths has declined since vaccines became widely available in April. Yet nearly a quarter million people in the U.S. have died from the virus in the past eight months. nyti.ms/3mGzHjz
Nearly 90% of people 65 and older are fully vaccinated, and Covid-19 is now responsible for a smaller share of all deaths among them. But for those younger than 65, who have been vaccinated at lower rates, Covid has risen as a cause of death. nyti.ms/3mGzHjz
Read 7 tweets

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