We have Tiger Woods to thank for suggesting an off-label use of the prescription sleep aid Ambien®. Although there are plenty of people who would love their sex life to be more exciting (the odds a man would like his partner to be more adventurous in the bedroom are 1 in 2.08, and for a woman they’re 1 in … Read more
Every evening we change out of our clothes, kiss each other good night…and head off to sleep in our separate quarters. That’s rarely the expectation most couples have when they say “I do,” or even “Let’s move in together!” Yet being estranged bedfellows is common to 23% of the population: According to the National Sleep … Read more
It is everyone’s dream to some day win a large sum of money in a jackpot, but the big question is, what are the odds of winning a jackpot. Millionaires have been known to emerge from lottery game across the world, be it from gambling or from a show. Lotteries are a way of giving … Read more
On the morning of June 2, 2003, Stephenie Meyer awoke from a vivid dream involving a sparkly vampire and an average teenage girl. The couple’s intense conversation, involving lust and blood but not bloodlust, lingered in Meyer’s mind as she fed and dressed her kids for their first day of swimming lessons. With her chores … Read more
Women may outnumber men in the workforce and on US campuses, but gender discrimination hangs on stubbornly in the workplace. The oft-quoted statistic that women earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man can be debated, as various complicating factors do enter the picture (such as education, experience, and choice of profession). But taking all … Read more
The odds a collision on the roads of Michigan will involve a deer are 1 in 5.39. The odds such a collision will result in human fatality are 1 in 5,512. It is 5 times more likely that an accidental death was caused by a fall from a tree (1 in 1,101) than it is that a … Read more
2010 has turned out to be a pretty good year for women and Pulitzer Prizes. Of the named winners in the Journalism categories, half are women. In addition, Rae Armantrout received the Pulitzer in Poetry, and Jennifer Higdon was a rare female winner in the Music category. However, the other five “Letters, Drama and Music” … Read more
In the 1990s, the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life was a major cultural preoccupation. From X-Files to Independence Day, aliens were in the air. They may have been replaced by vampires on the screen, but belief in alien encounters hasn’t gone away. Recently the famous Google logo mysteriously morphed into a crop circle, a circular spacecraft … Read more
The election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat captivated the nation not only because much in the Obama Administration’s agenda was at stake, but because the polls seemed inconclusive and inconsistent. A week before the election, some polls were still showing Democrat Martha Coakley well ahead, but a surge in support for Republican … Read more
In Vernon, California the odds a person will be the victim of a reported violent crime in a year are 1 in 1.67 (60%). Those are exactly the same odds that a person 40 – 59 years old will drink any type of coffee in a day. Given the popularity of Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts these days, … Read more