Current Facts 20

Online College
the number of students taking at least one course online rose 40 percent in 2005. More than 3.1 million students took at least one online class in fall 2005. -Readers Digest Feb, 2007, Pg. 23.

Super Bowl Toilets
At least 90 million toilets will be flushed during the Super Bowl - enough water to flow over Niagara Falls for 3 minutes.-Readers Digest Feb, 2007, Pg. 222.

Negative National Savings Rate
The nation's average personal savings rate fell to negative 1 percent in 2006, meaning that Americans spent more than they earned. The last time the rate dipped into the negative territory was in 1933, during the Great Depression.-Associated Press-The Week Magazine, Feb 16, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 297, Pg. 16.

Poor Struggling Oil Company
Exxon Mobile reported an annual profit of $39.5billion last year-setting a record for the largest corporate profit in history for the second consecutive year. The new record translates to earnings of $4.5 million an hour.
The Week Magazine, Feb 16, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 297, Pg. 36.

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
If every American swapped just one regular bulb in their homes (for CFL), we'd save enough electricity to power all of Delaware, Rhode Island, and cut 1.3 million cars worth of greenhouse gases. You would save $30 over the lifetime of each CFL installed, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. A CFL runs cool, uses 70 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts 10 times longer. A typical bulb can shine continuously for 14 months (or 14 years if used 2 hours a day) according to Brent Hodgson, merchandise manager at Home Depot.
Men's Health Magazine, March 2007, Vol. 22, No. 2, Pg. 31.

White Bread Danger
When Italian scientistsstudied the diet records of 2,300 people, they concluded that eating more than four slices of white bread a day doubles your risk of developing kidney cancer. The reason: "...like other refined grains, (white bread) has a high glycemic index," says study author Francesca Bravi, ScD. "That means it raises blood sugar and insulin levels, which may spur the growth of cancer cells." Consider 100 percent whole grains.
Men's Health Magazine, March 2007, Vol. 22, No. 2, Pg. 44.

Healthiest Nuts
The USDA examined 10 popular nuts for total antioxidants (micromoles per gram), here in best rank order:
1. Pecans 5,095, 2. Walnuts 3,846, 3. Hazelnuts 2,739, 4. Pistachios 2,267, 5. Almonds 1,265, 6. Peanuts 899, 7. Cashews 567, 8. Macadamias 481, 9. Brazil Nuts 403, 10. Pine Nuts 204.
Men's Health Magazine, March 2007, Vol. 22, No. 2, Pg. 45.

Police Officer Suicide
Suicide rates among police officers are far higher than among the general population. About 450 police officers killed themselves nationwide last year, three times the number killed in the line of duty.-USA Today.
The Week Magazine, Feb 23, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 298, Pg. 18.

Party Nomination
This is the first election since 1928 in which neither the sitting president (W Bush) nor the vice president (Chenney) is seeking his party's nomination.-Washington Post.
The Week Magazine, Feb 23, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 298, Pg. 18.

Biotech Companies
Since Genentech (the world's first biotech company) opened in 1976, the industry as a whole has lost nearly $100 billion. Only 54 of 342 publicly traded American biotech companies were profitable in 2006.-The New York Times.
The Week Magazine, Feb 23, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 298, Pg. 41.

Gambling Market
With $7 billion in annual revenue, the Chinese islandbof Macau recently passed Las Vegas as the world's largest gambling market.-Financial Times.
The Week Magazine, Feb 23, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 298, Pg. 41.

Bionic Arm Moves by Thought
After a motorcycle accident left 26-year-old Claudia Mitchell without a left arm, surgeons managed to reroute nerves from the mangled limb to a section of her chest. The chest and back muscles that normally control arm movement were fitted with sensors to a prosthetic arm, moving when her brain sends motor signals. She's been able to cut food, pick up objects and other simple tasks-and at four times the speed of a person with a conventional prosthesis.-New Scientist.
The Week Magazine, Feb 23, 2007, Vol. 7, Iss. 298, Pg. 22.