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The latest stories
January Usually Has the Most Deaths
January: CDC final counts for 2010 to 2019 average 250,463 deaths in January, against 240,029 in December and 213,170 in July.
Read the story →The Recession’s Domestic Toll
The situation looks bad from the outside: Record foreclosure rates, a national unemployment rate hovering around 10%, and the average length of joblessness at its highest level since 1948. But…
Read the story →Organ Donation: The Ultimate Gift from the 1960s
The ’60s gave us sex, drugs, rock & roll, and one giant leap for mankind, but the decade left us another legacy that may prove more important—organ donation. Throughout the…
Read the story →How Often Cattle Kill US Farm Workers
About 22 a year: CDC reported 108 US farm work deaths involving cattle in 2003 to 2007 (108 / 5 = 21.6).
Read the story →Strange ways to die
Will your death make the headlines? Only if you were highly successful in life—or if you’re singled out for the oddity of your demise. Your odds of dying from a…
Read the story →Interview with Lie-Detection Expert and Former Secret Service Agent Paul Kelly
Someone’s lying to you. What are the odds you can tell? If you’re like the average person, not as good as you probably think. In fact, they’re only about 1 in…
Read the story →Where the Boys Aren’t: Women Outnumber Men on US Campuses
It’s become a familiar scene on campuses around the country: a crowd of college women loitering on the green, with hardly a man in sight. But these aren’t women’s colleges—they’re…
Read the story →Do Most Cultures Kiss Romantically?
A 2015 study of 168 cultures found the romantic, sexual kiss in 46% of them, a minority, so kissing is common but not a human universal.
Read the story →The Increasing Risk of Unintentional Poisoning
Unintentional poisoning is a cause of death with a quiet prevalence. The suspected role of unintentional poisoning in celebrity deaths has garnered headlines that span several decades, from Elvis Presley…
Read the story →How Likely Is Murder in the US?
The FBI estimates a 2025 US murder rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people, about 1 in 24,000, yet 22% of adults told Gallup they worry about getting murdered.
Read the story →Chasing Tornadoes With Joshua Wurman
Tornadoes killed 67 people in the US in 2025 in 23 killer tornadoes, final NOAA Storm Prediction Center data show.
Read the story →Insomnia Statistics Enough to Keep You Awake at Night
“How did you sleep?” If you’ve had a rough night of tossing and turning, this seemingly innocuous question—often the first words you hear each day—can ring in the air like…
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