In 2009, a new search engine launched, and it wanted to answer one question: Could all of the objective data in the world be collected and computed via a single search?
Or to put it in English: Could a search engine find specific pieces of data better than Google?
The answer is yes.
The site is called Wolfram Alpha, and for searching hard data, it’s a wonderful resource.
Let’s say you’re working on a story, and you want to know some basic socioeconomic data about a zip code. You’d go to Wolfram Alpha and type in “ZIP 10009” (or whatever zip code you want), and you’d get back this.
But then you can break it down further. “ZIP 10009 education” would give you specific data about how many people in that zip code have various degrees. If you were trying to find some color for a story about a certain day in history, you could search “ZIP 10009 weather Dec. 7, 2012,” and it’d give you the exact weather on that day.
So you can see how this could be useful. Google searches the web for everything; Wolfram Alpha just breaks down tiny bits of data.
You could use it to compare the price of gasoline in Dallas, Detroit, and Denver. You’d search “price of gasoline in Dallas, Detroit, Denver” using commas is Wolfram’s way of comparing things and it’ll spit out this.
You could use it to compare the paths and strengths of two hurricanes.
Or to compare the financials behind two of the biggest companies in the world.
If you’re just trying to find a simple piece of data, Wolfram is usually more accurate than Google.
It’s free to search on wolframalpha.com, but there’s also an iPhone app and an Android app both cost $2.99.
Now get out there and tell some great stories today!