This post introduces you to the Core Data, presents a couple of examples and shows you how you can access and use core data easily from your own tools and systems including R, Python, Pandas and more.
http://datahub.io/blog/core-data-essential-datasets-for-data-wranglers-and-data-scientists
Sharing this insightful blog post here by way of announcement that for the next months I am working closely with the team working on the Frictionless Data specifications that these datasets are published with. Let me know if you have any questions!