PRESS FREEDOM
Reporters Without Borders ranked 180 countries on the basis of conditions for press freedom. A sampling:
Read moreCategory: Facts & Trends
Fertility Drugs, Devices and Success Rate
Estimated amount spent globally on fertility drugs and devices this year: $4,054,984,000 Percentage of first-time fertility treatments that fail: 75
Read moreLive Eel In His Rectum
A New Zealand man showed up at a hospital emergency room with a live eel in his rectum. The man gave no explanation as to how the wriggling creature ended up where it was, but doctors were apparently able to remove it without complication. “The eel was about the size of a decent sprig of asparagus,” said a hospital employee, […]
Read moreHigh School Dropouts
Portion of high-school dropouts who say they left school to work: 1/4 Portion of those dropouts who earn less than $10,000 per year: 3/5
Read moreRISING OCEAN TEMPERATURES
The oceans, like the rest of the planet, set a temperature record in 2014, at 60.9°F (16°C), or 1.03°F above the 20th century average. Acidity is up as well—a bad combination for sea life.
Read moreRenaming Pork
The pork industry is renaming various cuts of meat to give them “consumer-friendly” names. The National Pork Board has been given approval from the USDA to rename pork chops “porterhouse chops,” “ribeye chops,” and “New York chops,” depending on the cut, while pork butt—which is from the shoulder—will be labeled “Boston roast”.
Read moreADHD Facts
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which used to be known “being a kid”, is the most commonly diagnosed psychological “disorder”. • Nearly 10% of American children have, at one time or another,been diagnosed with ADHD. • The state with the highest incidence of ADHD is North Carolina, where some 15% of children have been diagnosed with the disorder. • ADHD […]
Read moreA NATIONAL TREND
SINCE 2006 THE INCOME GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR HAS GROWN \H THE 15 LARGEST U.S. CITIES
Read moreThings Are Getting Heavy
Mississippi has overtaken West Virginia as the fattest state in the union, with an obesity rate of 35.4 percent. Montana had the lowest obesity rate—19.6 percent.
Read moreSEABED MINING
Fifteen years ago, there was little resource exploitation on the ocean floor. Now 460,000 sq. mi. (1.2 million sq km) of sea bottom is under contract to mining operations.
Read more