I'm debuting a new feature on kottke.org. On (some? most? all?) Fridays, I'll wrap up the week with a list of interesting facts I've found that don't really warrant their own posts for whatever reason. I hope you find it useful. Suggestions for next week's list are welcome via email.
Life expectancy for women in some parts of the US declined significantly from 1983 to 1999. [NY Times]
The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population but has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. One out of every 100 American adults is presently incarcerated. [NY Times]
Nearly 1 million women in Iraq are widows or divorcees, or their husbands are missing. [Washington Post]
A quarter of all the petroleum ever consumed in the history of the world was consumed in the last 10 years. Humans collectively consume 6,000 gallons of fuel every second. [PBS]
About a third of all American high school students drop out. That's about one every 26 seconds. [NY Times]
China now has the world's largest population of internet users. [Reuters]
Humans may have almost gone extinct almost 70,000 years ago. The total population may have dipped to 2,000 individuals, possibly because of drought. [CNN]
Standard Operating Procedure is the first movie Errol Morris has shot with a Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.35:1. [Errol Morris at the Apple Store]
Nearly 80 percent of roommates got so drunk last night. [The Onion]