Sharper’s Index
Gazette columnist B. Bea Sharper Ferrets Out the Facts that Harper’s Misses
B. Bee’s Second Series of Random Number Wisdom
Average time it takes blood to complete a complete circulatory cycle among vertebrates: 10 to 30 seconds.
Average time for a complete circulatory cycle among many insects: 30 minutes.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
The longest recorded flight of a chicken : 13 seconds.
Distance that the cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II moves for each gallon of diesel that it burns: 6 inches.
Number of persons in two billion who will live to be 116 or older: 1.
Number of cows required to make enough leather for a year’s supply of NFL footballs: 3,000.
Percentage of people who use personals ads for dating that are already married: 35.
Percentage of total weight of the world’s humans as compared with the total weight of the world’s termites: 10%
Average speed of catsup leaving the bottle: 25 miles per year.
Percentage of Russian government income that comes from vodka sales: 10.
Number of muscles in a cat’s ear: 32.
Average number of people who choke to death each year on ballpoint pens: 100.
Gallons of water required to produce a pound of wheat: 25.
Gallons of water required to produce a pound of meat: 2,500.
Percentage of typing done by the average person’s left hand: 56%
Percentage of harmful organic waste water pollution attributable to humans: 10.
Percentage of harmful organic waste water pollution attributable to livestock: 90.
Average pounds of paper consumed per person each year in the United States: 560.
Average pounds of paper consumed per person each year in Nigeria: 7.
Number of possible ways to make change for a dollar: 293.
Estimated percentage of the generic diversity of the world’s 20 key food crops that has been lost in just the past 50 years: 75%.
Gallons of water required to produce a ton of paper from virgin wood pulp: 24,000.
Number of dimples on a regulation golf ball: 336.
Amount contributed to members of Congress in the period 1987-96 by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association: $1,422,434.
Amount received during the same period from meat industry lobbyists by Senator Phil Gramm of Texas: $611, 484.
Percentage of American grain that is fed to livestock: 70%.
Number of people in the U.S. killed each year by assault rifles: 250.
Number of people in the U.S. who die each year from cancer related to pesticides: 10,400.
Percentage of all pesticides used in the world that are used on cotton: 25%.
Average number of American soldiers who died per year during the 12 years of the Viet Nam War: 4,800.
Number of medical schools in the United States: 127.
Number of these schools that don’t offer even one course in basic nutrition: 102.
According to a Life magazine report, percentage of babies born to Gulf War veterans who have been born deformed: 67%.
Number of Americans who die prematurely each year because of alcohol abuse: 125,000.
Percentage of Britons opposed to Monsanto’s efforts to introduce genetically altered foods before the company staged an advertising blitz in 1998 to gain public support: 44%.
Percentage of Britons opposed to Monsanto’s efforts to introduce genetically altered foods after the 1998 advertising campaign: 51%.
Percentage of the American population that is made up by three out of four Americans: 75%.
Number of Americans who miss work each day because of digestive health problems: 200,000.
Approximate number of people on earth who have the same birthday as you: 9,000,000.
Number of bombs the United States has dropped on Iraq since 1990: Thousands.
Approximate cost of a single “smart bomb” dropped on Iraq: $1,100,000.
Number of year-long jobs paying $10 per hour that could be paid for by the price of a single bomb dropped on Iraq: 60.
Number of $10 meals that could have been purchased for the price of a single bomb dropped on Iraq: 1,000,000.
Number of four-year scholarships to a top private American university that could have been paid for by the cost of a single bomb dropped on Iraq: 10.
Number of computers that could have been bought for American schools for the cost of a single bomb dropped on Iraq: 1,000.
According to an audit commissioned by the EPA, percentage of violations to federal safe drinking water rules that are not reported: 88.
Percentage of Americans who believe that the sun revolves around the earth: 18%.
Percentage increase in American children aged two to four taking psychiatric drugs like Prozac and Ritalin between 1991 and 1995: 50%.
Percentage of these children who were 2-year-olds: 10%.
Read BB Sharper regularly in the Pure Water Occasional.
