India’s Air Quality Index
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India’s first air-quality index in April, but pollution will keep growing unless India stems coal production, which Modi has pledged to double by 2020.
Read moreTag: facts
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 history, in large part from cancers stemming from the release.
Read moreNo Electricity
About 25 percent of the world’s population, or 1.6 billion people, do not have electricity in their homes.
Read moreGood week for . . .
Smarty pants, after Google developers announced that they were teaming up with Levi’s to make jeans with conductive fibers that could be used as touch screens, allowing users to answer the phone or send a text just by swiping their thighs.
Read moreCalorie Information
Chance that an American fast-food customer uses posted calorie information to make food buying decisions: 1 in 6
Read moreCost of Tobacco
$15.6 BILLION – The amount of money Quebec Justice Brian Riordan ruled three tobacco companies must pay to more than 1 million smokers in Quebec who have become ill from tobacco use or say they can’t quit smoking. The companies said they would appeal the ruling.
Read moreWeight Gain In America
The average American woman now weighs 166.2 pounds, about the same as the average American man weighed in the early 1960’s. Over the same time period, U.S. men have gained nearly 30 pounds, from 166.3 in the ’60’s to 195.5 today.
Read moreDriving Days
The riskiest hour of the week for fatal traffic accidents is 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday. The safest day for driving: Tuesday.
Read moreObese Americans
American men are weighing in at an average of 196 pounds—16 pounds more than in 1990, a new Gallup survey has found.The average weight for women jumped 14 pounds—to 156 pounds— over the same period. Gallup estimates 62 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese.
Read moreU.S. Shark Attacks
52: Number of unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S. last year (compared with 20 elsewhere in the world). None were fatal. 28: Number of attacks in Florida, the most of any state. Runners-up were Hawaii (seven), South Carolina (five), California (four) and North Carolina (four). 65%: Percentage of attacks involving surfers (or people doing other board sports); 32% involved swimmers. The rest involved […]
Read more