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The latest stories
The Precarious “Right” to Privacy: Technology, Terror, and Thin Walls
Loud sex is now as good as a warrant. Believe it or not, the Superior Court of New Jersey recently ruled that high-volume sex is cause enough for police to search a…
Read the story →Lie to Me
People are liars—lying liars, as Al Franken might say. From white lies to whoppers, people lie and mislead and obfuscate about everything: sex and relationships, work and money, feelings, opinions,…
Read the story →How Many Americans Die From Falling Objects?
CDC records 819 US deaths in 2024 from being struck by a thrown, projected or falling object, about 1 in 415,000 US residents that year.
Read the story →The Grim Odds of a Spectacular Suicide
When a 21-year-old Yale student jumped to his death from the Empire State Building on March 30, 2010, he joined a rather small, sad club: the iconic skyscraper has seen only about…
Read the story →Illness and Death on Vacation
Of all the travelers’ tales, stories about being sick can be the most frightening. From stomach ailments like Delhi Belly, to burrowing Brazilian worms, to respiratory illnesses like SARS, no experience…
Read the story →Texting While Driving: The US Numbers
NHTSA reports that 3,208 people were killed in US motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2024, and 315,167 people were injured.
Read the story →DRUNK DRIVING DEATHS HIT HOME AT NEW YEAR’S
What’s New Year’s Eve without a glass of bubbly? This is the season to celebrate, but the holidays mean more than an upswing in good cheer and liquor sales—they also…
Read the story →Is Walking While Texting Dangerous for Americans?
An estimated 37,344 injuries to people walking with a cell phone were treated in US emergency rooms in 2000 to 2023, a 2024 study of NEISS data found.
Read the story →A License to Kill? Are Older Drivers Dangerous?
“Older driver”—the mere phrase conjures images of Mr. Magoo obliviously driving over fire hydrants and scattering terrified barnyard animals. In real life, frequent news accounts of elderly drivers plowing into pedestrians—such as…
Read the story →Flunking the Driving Test
For many people, the written driving test is the last multiple-choice test of consequence they will ever take in their lives. Too bad that 1 in 4.98 licensed drivers fail it.…
Read the story →Prom Night: Take Away the Car Keys
There are times when parents lie in bed at night and calculate the odds. Prom night is one of those times. There is that pesky worry about teenage sex—and parental…
Read the story →How Often Do Major Earthquakes Strike?
By records since about 1900, USGS expects about 16 major earthquakes worldwide in any given year: 15 in the magnitude 7 range and one of 8.0 or greater.
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