50 things we know now that we didn’t know a year ago
Posted on December 29th, 2006 in Historic Technology, Science!, Tech News | 2 Comments »
Well, each years has special events that make it, well, special. Each year, we also learn new things. These are some of the scientific/technological things we’ve learned in the past year.
1. U.S. life expectancy in 2005 inched up to a record high of 77.9 years.
3. Blue light fends off drowsiness in the middle of the night, which could be useful to people who work at night.
7. At 68.1 percent, the United States ranks eighth among countries that have access to and use the Internet. The largest percentage of online use was in Malta, where 78.1 percent access the Web.
15. Americans spent almost $32 billion on toys during 2005. About a third of that was spent on video games.
24. At least once a week, 28 percent of high school students fall asleep in school, 22 percent fall sleep while doing homework and 14 percent get to school late or miss school because they overslept.
39. The common pigeon can memorize 1,200 pictures.
50. Researchers from the University of Manchester managed to induce teeth growth in normal chickens – activating genes that have lain dormant for 80 million years.
Yes, they’re random. Yes, it’s worth reading (although not all are worth reading in depth, all are worth a glance.) Read the rest of the list here
2 Responses
something important to think about when trying to pick a winning team, just my two cents.
I do like the way you have presented this challenge and it really does offer me a lot of fodder for consideration. Nonetheless, coming from what I have witnessed, I basically trust as the actual responses pile on that people today continue to be on issue and not start on a tirade involving the news of the day. Yet, thank you for this fantastic point and even though I do not concur with this in totality, I value the perspective.