Herbivores At Risk Of Extinction
60% – Share of the planet’s largest herbivores, including elephants, gorillas and rhinos, at risk of extinction, according to a new study.
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Student With Down Syndrome Voted Homecoming Queen
Students at a Bolivar,Tenn., high school last week elected a classmate with Down syndrome to be homecoming queen. Kara Marcum, 19, easily beat three other candidates in a victory one teacher chalked up to her considerable personal charm. Kara also has a life-threatening heart defect, but both her family and classmates say she doesn’t let her disabilities get in the […]
Read moreSuicide rate in South Korea soars
The suicide rate in South Korea has more than doubled in the past decade, the government said this week. South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world; for citizens in their 20s and 30s, suicide is the leading cause of death. Some analysts say the act has become normalized by a spate of high-profile suicides, including […]
Read moreTreated Sewage Water Used To Make Beer
A home-brew club in Oregon will soon start making beer from treated sewage water. Clean Water Services, which runs four wastewater treatment plants in the Portland area, will let the Oregon Brew Crew use recycled sewage to make batches of beer. “I’m excited,” said Lee Hedgmon, president of the club. “I’m trying to think of a really cool recipe.” Hedgmon […]
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 moreRising Demand for Meat
Appetite for meat is growing as the developing world becomes more prosperous. But meat—especially beef-can be polarizing, on health, environmental, and ethical grounds. Chicken outpaced beef in the U.S. in 2010. Total U.S. meat consumption peaked in the mid-2000’s and has declined ever since. Argentina’s famous appetite for beef has fallen because of cholesterol consciousness and economic downturns. In countries […]
Read moreHow We Police
Number of U.S. States that allow the death penalty: 31 Proportion of U.S. police departments that are using body cameras: 1 in 3
Read moreA 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
Read moreIslamic State and Social Media
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and its supporters produce as many as 90,000 tweets and other social media posts every day. The U.S. State Department is now assigning 80 people to counter ISIS’s propaganda on Twitter and Facebook.
Read moreAir Pollution in India
According to the U.N., India has 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. Low vehicle-emission standards, booming industrialization, crowded cities and the burning of trash means that the vast majority of Indians breathe unsafe air.
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