Facts & Trends

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 ...

The oldest person in the world, JeraleanTalley of Michigan, turned 116 last week.  The two oldest persons ever known to science, Sarah Knauss of Pennsylvania and Jeanne Calment of France, reached 119 and 122, respectively ...

Gerald and Lily Chow of Hong Kong sued Mark Zimny, a college admissions consultant and former Harvard professor, when their two sons didn’t get into an Ivy League university.  The Chows say they gave Zimny more than $2 million to ...

25%:  Share of the world’s population that the U.S. is legally bound to defend thanks to pacts and treaties signed with over 60 countries, according to a report from the Harvard Belfer Center ...

FIGHT BACK! But forget that old saw about punching them in the nose. The International Shark Attack File recommends that you borrow a page from a pro-wrestling villain and gouge its eyes or claw at its gills, which are more ...

A study in JAMA Psychiatry found that women using hormonal birth control had an increased risk of receiving treatment for depression. Those on progestin-only pills or IUD's were 34% more likely, respectively, to begin using antidepressants than women not on ...

"The worlds largest oil rig exploded and sank off Brazil. The company said the environmental impact would be minimal, partly because of the isolated location, and partly because they re lying through their teeth." - Jon Stewart ...

In the United States, a theft occurs every 4 seconds, a burglary every 10 seconds, an assault every 29 seconds, a rape every 5 minutes and a murder every 21 minutes ...

Children and young adults who are bullied are more than twice as likely to consider suicide and two and a half times as likely to try to kill themselves, a new study has concluded—and those taunted online are even more ...

A Pennsylvania girl's Sweet 16 party was ruined after her celebration was showered with poop, apparently dumped from a passing airplane.  Jacinda Cambray and 40 guests were partying in her family's backyard when the brown liquid began raining down.  "We'd ...