A baby born some time this October will be the 300-millionth American, but he or she shouldn’t expect a house full of siblings. The average number of people living in U.S. households has dropped almost one whole body each time the country adds 100 million citizens, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. When the 300-million milestone is reached, that number will be at a new low of 2.6 people per home-parents, offspring and extended squatters included. A combination of cultural factors is behind the shrinking American household, experts say. ‘It’s the three Fs-family, freedom, and finance,’ said Gil Troy, professor of American history at McGill University in Montreal. Goodbye Ozzie and Harriet When the U.S. population reached 100 million in 1915, the average number of people sharing a home was 4.5. Larger, patchwork families were just more common back then, say historians. ‘In 1915, you might have had Granny and Gramps living [at home] as well as more little’uns scampering about,’ Troy told LiveScience in a recent email interview. With the advent of better transportation and looser social restrictions in the years that followed, people were able to leave the nest, Troy […]
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and four other automakers were sued by California for making vehicles that contribute to global warming, causing pollution and erosion that costs the state millions of dollars. The lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Oakland said General Motors, Ford, Toyota Motor Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., the six largest automakers in the U.S., have created a “public nuisance” by making millions of vehicles that emit huge quantities of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. The suit, which seeks damages related to pollution, beach erosion and reduced water supplies, is the latest action by California to push businesses and the federal government to address global warming. The legislature approved a measure last month to force utilities to cut emissions, and the state has sued the U.S. for failing to address the effects of global warming. ‘Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and the automakers have refused to act,” said California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in a statement. California has already targeted carmakers with rules that […]
As the sun slipped behind Saturn last week, I caught a glimpse of something familiar behind the planet’s rings — a pale blue dot that I recognized as Earth. You can see it between the rings near the upper right. The enlarged view on the left shows Earth with a faint hint of the moon. Only one other space traveler has seen Earth from the outer solar system — Voyager 1 in 1990. Smile for the cameras! Wish you were here. Cassini
Each September a months-long ritual starts up again in the Japanese villages of Taiji and Futo. Fishermen herd hundreds of dolphins into shallow bays by banging on partially submerged rods. Researchers say the dolphins are corralled into nets and then speared, hooked, hoisted by their tails [image], and finally eviscerated alive. A new consortium of scientists and wildlife officials today called on the Japanese goverment to end the practice. The ‘Act for Dolphins’ campaign includes members from the New York Aquarium, Emory University, and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The group called the annual hunt ‘inhumane by any ethical standard’ and said it ‘should be discontinued immediately.’ ‘The Japanese dolphin drive hunts are an abominable violation of any standard of animal welfare, and these hunts inflict measurable pain and suffering on animals that are intelligent, sentient, and socially complex,’ said Diana Reiss, Senior Research Scientist and Director of the New York Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Research Program. According to the researchers, the Japanese government claims that the dolphins compete with local fishermen for limited supplies of fish and that the drives are a type of pest control. Act for Dolphins officials say the Japanese […]
The Vatican launched a diplomatic offensive in Muslim countries to clarify Pope Benedict XVI’s position on Islam following outrage over his remarks linking the religion with violence. As the Holy See’s move to appease Muslim anger got underway, the pope consulted his top diplomatic adviser, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an audience at his summer palace outside Rome. The 79-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church also held talks with bishops from predominantly Muslim Chad, his first meeting with clergy from a largely Muslim country since a row erupted last week over his remarks linking Islam with violence. The Vatican said the long-scheduled meeting with the six African bishops was part of their customary five-yearly visit to Rome. Bertone earlier told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview that envoys from the Holy See had been asked to explain the full meaning of Benedict’s speech to political and religious authorities in Muslim countries. He said Vatican ambassadors, or papal nuncios, would highlight passages of the lengthy speech which would help to clarify its true meaning but which had been ignored in the furore. In another move aimed at calming tensions, […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
