U.S. spending
By 2021, the White House forecasts, the U.S. will be spending more on interest for the national debt than on the entire defense budget.
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Something Fishy Going On
A Chinese fishmonger found a 3-pound live bomb inside a squid he was cutting up. Police took the squid away and blew it up in a controlled explosion.
Read morePrisoners Exonerated
Number of U.S. prisoners exonerated last year: 125 Percentage of those exonerations in which no crime had occurred: 44
Read morePhones vs. Toilets
Of the world’s 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones, but only 4.5 billion have access to a working toilet.
Read morethings we were told to avoid
Facebook can make you unhappy. Researchers texted study participants five times a day with questions about their social-networking activity and how they felt, and found that Facebook visits directly correlated with negative emotions, such as depression and loneliness. While Facebook seems to fulfill “the basic human need for social connection,” says University of Michigan social psychologist Ethan Kross, it can […]
Read moreDrinking in Modern America
Americans drink far less today than our predecessors did. In 1830, the average American drank the equivalent of 7.1 gallons of pure alcohol per year. In 2013, by comparison, the average American drank the equivalent of 2.34 gallons of pure alcohol.
Read moreCamels In Tights
A Middle Eastern company has unveiled a fetching new line of Lycra leotards for racing camels to improve their performance on the track. Camel racing is popular across the Arab world, and Abu Dhabi based firm Al-Shibla says its compression suits can give an animal an edge by boosting blood flow to muscles. But the company is also pitching its […]
Read moreTHE COST OF LIVING
The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked more than 130 cities from most to least expensive, according to a survey of prices across 160 goods and services. Here’s a sampling: 1 – Singapore 2 – Paris 9 – Seoul 22 – New York City
Read morePutting that degree to use
Jamie Fox, a 22-year-old from Great Britain with a degree in music, was given a job as a human scarecrow on a farm. Fox will make $400 a week scaring off partridges by playing an accordion, ukulele, and cowbell.
Read moreLove and Hunger
Number of reported cases in the past decade of an Antarctic fur seal having sex with a king penguin: 4 Then eating it: 1
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