A Plastic World
A new study has calculated that there are 5.25 trillion small and large pieces of plastic, weighing a total of 269,000 tons, floating in the world’s oceans
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Smoking ban in Russia
Russia, the world’s second biggest cigarette consumer after China, has banned smoking in most public places as well as all tobacco advertising. Even popular Soviet-era cartoons featuring pipe smokers are to be censored. It’s unclear, though, how the ban will be enforced. Moscow police chief Anatoly Yakunin said his force has no plan to arrest violators. “We hope that they will […]
Read moreDeaths In Jail
About a dozen inmates die behind bars each day, or about 4,400 jail and prison inmates each year. In jails, suicide is the leading cause of death.
Read moreHog Slaughter
Portion of hogs slaughtered in the United States that are raised by a single Chinese company: 1/6
Read moreMILITARY ANIMALS
2,500 – Number of U.S. military dogs on duty worldwide $2,000,000 – Amount the U.S. spent on developing a robotic mule
Read moreRepublican Debt
Percentage of the current U.S. debt that was accumulated during Republican presidential terms: 71
Read moreHealth catastrophe
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the worst place in the world to give birth, according to Save the Children. One in 30 Congolese women dies from complications of childbirth, and tens of thousands of them have been impregnated through rape by militants or soldiers. Save the Children ranked countries based on the rates of maternal death and infant […]
Read moreU.S. Black Children Living In Poverty
Percentage of black U.S. children under the age of five who live in poverty: 43
Read moreOh, That Smell
A specimen of the world’s largest flower, the titan arum, is about to bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. To attract carrion insects, the flower emits a stench botanists likened to “a very dead elephant.”
Read moreBaby Boomer Drug Use
Baby Boomers who frequently used recreational drugs like marijuana and cocaine in their youth are now turning back to drugs like Oxycontin for relief of age-related pain and illness. As a result, the fatal-overdose rate for people ages 45 to 64 has become higher than that for 25 to 44-year-olds for the first time. More than 12,000 Boomers died of […]
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