Facts & Trends

Odds Of Being Killed At School

Yearly odds of a U.S. student being killed at school: 1 in 3 million ...

Deficit Of Female Births In India

Size of India’s annual deficit in female births, based on 2011 census data: 600,000 ...

Driving and Cell Phones

Chance that a U.S. automobile accident occurs when at least one of the drivers is texting or talking on a cell phone: 1 in 4 ...

Waste management

British scientists invented a cellphone battery powered by urine. This “is about as eco as it gets,” said one researcher, noting that urine is a renewable resource ...

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 ...

Chernobyl Still Taking Its Toll

A quarter-century has passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant unleashed a radioactive cloud across the northern hemisphere.  A new study estimates that 27,000 people have died worldwide as a result of the worst nuclear accident in ...

Sorry, Wrong Number

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, thought he was announcing the phone number of a meningitis hotline, but provided the number of a phone sex line.  Callers heard a woman say, “Hello, boys....” ...

Paralympic Medal Winner Regains Use of Her Legs

A Paralympic medal winner who spent half her life in a wheelchair has made a miraculous recovery, and now hopes to represent her country in the Olympics.  Monique van der Vorst had been paralyzed from the waist down since the ...

Politics – Men vs. Women

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man.  If you want anything done, ask a woman." - Margaret Thatcher ...

A BIG MARKET

Americans spend $100 billion annually on cocaine, heroin, pot and meth. Many users spend small amounts at a time—$10 may buy a day’s supply of heroin, for instance. But over time users may build a tolerance to a drug and ...