Data Is Plural

The grid. The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes near-real-time data on the Lower 48’s electrical grid. The datasets include net electricity generation, flows in and out of the country’s various “balancing authorities,” regional demand, and forecasts of demand. You can explore the data online, access it through the EIA’s API, or download it in bulk. Helpful: The EIA’s guide to the data and “known issues”.

Pan-African surveys. Afrobarometer “is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues in more than 35 countries in Africa.” You can download data from the first six rounds of surveys, conducted between 1999 and 2015. You can also read the detailed questionnaires and explore the results online. Note: To download the data, you’ll need to create a (free) account on the website. [h/t Jeffrey Arnold]

More brain scans. Last year, the Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience launched OpenNeuro, “a free and open platform for analyzing and sharing neuroimaging data.” (It’s the successor to the center’s earlier initiative, OpenfMRI.) You can, for instance, download scans of brains that were watching a particular episode of The Twilight Zone. Related: The Brain Imaging Data Structure, “a simple and intuitive way to organize and describe your neuroimaging and behavioral data.” Previously: The Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (DIP 2017.08.16). [h/t Laura Noren and Brad Stenger]

The Gray Lady of 19th century Havana. The University of Miami Libraries has digitized 53,000+ pages of La Gaceta de La Habana, “the paper of record during the Spanish colonial occupation of Cuba in the nineteenth century.” The digitized editions span 33 of the years between 1849 and 1897. Previously: Historical U.S. newspapers (DIP 2017.08.16). [h/t Mike Stucka + Heather Froehlich]

Powerlifting. OpenPowerlifting.org “aims to create a permanent, accurate, convenient, accessible, open archive of the world’s powerlifting data. In support of this mission, all of the OpenPowerlifting data and code is available for download in useful formats.” So far, that includes 400,000+ performances at 9,000+ competitions in dozens of countries. [h/t u/cavedave]