With the abundance of fake news, any statistics need to be checked these days. In any case, you can find extremely amusing facts, which sometimes make you look at the world in a different way.
1. The 9/11 terror attack and road accidents
After the infamous 9/11 terrorist attack, a record number of fatalities was recorded on the US roads (1,600 more than statistically expected). Researchers believe that this was due to the fact that people abandoned their habits and began to avoid planes, preferring to drive by car. Ironically, in the end, it turned out to be more dangerous.
2. Solar PV modules and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
The amount of money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be enough to establish solar photovoltaic modules on the roof of each house in the US – $1.467 trillion divided by 132 million households is $11,000 per household. 2.5 kW solar panels cost about $10,000.
3. The Third World in the United States
It turns out that life in the US is not that smooth. The Indian reservation of Pine Ridge in South Dakota is, in fact, a third world country. The average life expectancy there is 47 years for men (the lowest in the western hemisphere), and unemployment has exceeded 80%.
Most of the population lives without water, sanitation, and electricity. In addition, the infant mortality rate is 5 times higher than in the US on average.
4. Population of Russia and Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, there are more people (156 million) than in Russia (143 million). At the same time, the area of Russia is 119 times larger than that of Bangladesh.
5. Bats and other animals
Of all the mammal species on Earth, 20% are bats. In total, there are more than 5,000 species of mammals and about 1,000 species of bats.
6. The flow of generated information
Each 2 days, people generate as much information as they used to create from the start of the mankind and until 2010.
7. 50% over 40 years
In recent years, the topic of ecology has become extremely popular. In fact, environmentalists are sounding the alarm for good reason: over the past 40 years, the Earth has lost 50% of its wildlife.
8. 3.5 million homeless people for 18.5 million homes
In the United States, there are 3.5 million homeless people, and 18.5 million homes are vacant as their former owners failed to pay off their mortgage. Although some people note that it is much better to be homeless in California than to live in an abandoned house in Detroit.
9. Dynamics of Google search
Over the past 15 years, almost 20% of Google’s daily search requests have been new. In other words, 20% of all every day’s requests in the search engine have never been searched before (this is about 500 million per day).
10. The paradoxes of ecology
Some people boast about how they lead an eco-friendly lifestyle because they do not drive cars with gasoline engines, do not travel by airplanes and eat only “natural” foods. In fact, agriculture produces significantly more greenhouse gases than transportation.
11. 5,000 days off over 90 years
A curious fact: if a person lives up to 90 years, he will have only 5,000 days off (weekends). Life is really short, and you should not devote it all to work.
15. Growth of the world’s population
The Earth’s population has increased by one billion (from one to two billion) over 123 years – from 1804 to 1927, but it took only 12 years (from 1987 to 1999) to increase the population from five to six billion people.
16. There are more trees than stars in the galaxy
There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way. In fact, about 30 times more (there are 3 trillion trees on Earth, and 100 billion stars in our galaxy).
17. When are more children born?
It turns out that Tuesday is a popular birthday for children. Scientists have investigated the dynamics of children’s birth and found that the most children are born on Tuesday. The fewest children are born on Saturdays or Sundays.
18. Greater Tokyo Area and Canada
In Greater Tokyo Area, there are 38 million people, which is more than in the whole of Canada (35 million).
