When are American girls hitting puberty ?

12.3 years old -- this is the average age of onset for American girls hitting puberty in 2000s. American girls are hitting puberty earlier than ever. According to December 2005 issue of Journal of Pediatrics, there is a gradual decline in the average age at which U.S. girls have their first menstrual period - from the age of 12.75 in the 1960s to about 12.5 in the early 1990s. One reason: girls are getting fatter, which triggers menstruation.

person who's born happy doesn't have to try hard

50 to 70 percent of the variation in people as to their level of happiness over time is genetically determined - according to James Maddux, professor and director of the clinical psychologist training program at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va.

The above number, I believe, applies to most of human behavior -- 50-70% of human behavior are determined by DNA, the rest are determined by how much effort they to put into it.

Scientist, engineers and GDP

50% of United States' GDP are created by scientist and engineers, but scientist and engineers make up less than 5% of US population.

Source: Reader's Digest (Dec, 2005)

Where would people rather work in US ?

65% of people like to work in a big city with lots of talents to mingle with;
20% of people prefer to work in a growing city with huge potential;
13% of people think it is best to work in a small town with peace and simplicity.
No surprise here. I believe above numbers similar to the number of people currently live in the big, medium and small places.

Source: FastCompany, Jan. 2006

How much can a newborn baby weigh?

14-pound (and 3 oz.) - is the weight of biggest baby ever born. Adrienne and Anthony Ross of Poloca, Okla. gave birth to the whopper on Dec. 21, 2005, according to MSN. The baby is their 2nd daughter, she is almost 2-feet tall at birth.

Studies have shown a linear correlation between baby birth weight and adult size.

Men are gaining on women in life expectancy

82.6 years is the current women's life expectancy, shown by a study released from Credit Suisse First Boston this week. For men, it is 78.1 years, 4 years short. However, over the last two decades, men have increased their life expectancy at twice the rate of women. Reasons: 1) women are working and getting more stress from it. 2) women took up smoking about 25 years ago and are now dying from it. I guess this is the price of equality between men and women. But experts say men will never catch up, because risky behavior is in their nature.

How much do CEO get paid ?

431-to-1 this is working pay ratio of US CEOs to average workers. It is an anomaly among industrialized nations, where a more typical ratio is 25-to-1. While CEOs continue to receive double-digit percentage raises year after year, workers barely keep pace with inflation.

90% of institutional investors think that corporate executives are overpaid, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey. And the 85 percent who think that these excessive payments are hurting corporate America’s image (according to the same survey). And the 10 pension funds from the U.S., Canada and Europe (which represent a combined $1 trillion in assets) recently sent a confidential letter to the SEC, urging the agency to look more closely at how executive pay is being set at big companies.

Source: TomPaine.com

How many graduates like to work for the government ?

72% of recent college graduates surveyed who said they had at most limited interest in working for the federal government.

44% of federal employees, at the same time, eligible to retire within five years.

Source: Office of Personnel Management ; Partnership for Public Service

Doctor's orders

2 or more cups of tea a day by women can lower their risk of ovarian cancer by 46%.
Source: Archives Of Internal Medicine

1 fish dish a week slowed older (65-years and older) people's rate of cognitive decline by 10%, that is the equivalent to being 3 years younger and sharper, say Rush University (Chicago) researchers.
Source: Time (Dec. 26, 2005)

Big buckets, bigger bellies

77% of moviegoers said they would have eaten all of the popcorn inside of a container - no matter how big it is, according to a recent Cornell University study. Moviegoers served large tubs of 2-week-old popcorn ate 34% more than did people served the same stale popcorn in medium-size containers.
Source: Time (Nov. 21, 2005 issue)

Holiday precaution

92% of bosses said they remembered their employees' verbal faux pas at holiday parties.
Source : Office Angels

33% more heart-related deaths in L.A. during the holidays than during the summer.

Source: American Heart Association

Are sexual standards vary between sexes ?

46% of women say that they can't enjoy sex with someone who isn't their intellectual equal or better. 27% of men feel the same way.

Men are about 1.5 times more likely to report that sex on the first date is okay.

Source: www.tickle.com

Do the rich get richer while the poor get poorer ?

3/4 of Americans believe the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, according to a Harris Interactive poll released in early December. This number is up from 68 percent in 2004. Unfortunately, these perceptions are largely correct. Earlier this year, the Census Bureau released some statistics that attest to huge income disparities between the rich and the poor.

Dangers of 16-year-old drivers

1 teen in the car with a teen driver, the fatal crash risk doubles, with two or more teens in the car, the risk can be five times high.
Source: Insurance Institute for Highway

1.5% of Illinois state driver's licenses (2003) were held by 16-year-olds, but they accounted for 2.7 % of fatal crashes. Their rate of fatal crashes was second to that of 18-year-olds and three times the rate of 50- to 54-year-old drivers.
Source: Illinois Department of Transportation

How many people sleep with their pets ?

67% of US dog and cat owners regularly sleep with their pets, according to Sealy (2005, May)