More B. Bea Sharper from the Archives of the Pure Water Gazette

Gazette Numerical Wizard B. B. Sharper Ferrets Out the Facts that Harper’s Misses

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.