Missing Airplanes
Total number of passenger planes that have gone missing without a trace since 2000: 10
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Elephant slaughter
After decimating the Tanzanian elephant population, poachers have now killed half of the elephants in neighboring Mozambique in just five years. A survey by Mozambique’s government and the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society found that the herd has shrunk from 20,000 in 2010 to just over 10,000 animals today. “This decline is due to rampant elephant poaching in the country’s most important […]
Read moreRatio of Shootings In Our Own Communities
Ratio of shooters in the U.S. who attack their own communities: 2 in 3
Read moreThe stuff of life on Mercury
Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, has blistering 800-degree temperatures at its equator—but its poles are full of ice. New data from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft, which began orbiting Mercury last year, has revealed that as much as a trillion tons of ice exists in shadowy polar craters, where temperatures can drop to minus 370 degrees. Much of the ice […]
Read moreSecret Santa
An anonymous “Secret Santa” traveled to New Jersey and New York last week to hand out $100 bills to people who’d lost their homes and possessions in Hurricane Sandy. The Kansas City, Mo., businessman spent a day in Elizabeth, N.J., and Staten Island, N.Y., giving C-notes to the poor and homeless; he plans to give away $100,000 this holiday season. He was […]
Read moreOwned Stock
Percentage of U.S. stock owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans: 89
Read moreSeeing The Light In China
Bad drivers in Shenzhen, China, who blast oncoming motorists with high beam headlights will now face in-kind punishment from police. Police officials in the Chinese city said drivers who abuse the use of high beams will be stopped by police, ticketed for roughly $50, pulled from their car, and forced to stare into police cruiser headlights for five minutes. According […]
Read moreChernobyl Still Taking Its Toll
A quarter-century has passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant unleashed a radioactive cloud across the northern hemisphere. A new study estimates that 27,000 people have died worldwide as a result of the worst nuclear accident in history, in large part from cancers stemming from the release.
Read moreGreat Wall of Graffiti
A dedicated graffiti zone was set up at the Great Wall of China, in the hope it would stop visitors from scratching their names on the historic barrier. Most of the graffiti on the wall, said the Chinese media, is in English.
Read moreOccupy Wall Street Poster Price
Price of an Occupy Wall Street poster being sold by Walmart: $52.25
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