population

IQ of over half of the US population may have been lowered by leaded petrol

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Exposure to leaded petrol as a child has been linked to an average IQ drop of 2.6 points among US adults, increasing to 5.9 points among those born in the mid-to-late 1960s Health 7 March 2022 By Clare Wilson Fumes from cars using leaded petrol may affect IQ PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy More than half of … Read more

US on Track For ‘Staggering’ Flood Damage by 2050, Scientists Predict

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Climate change is on track to ramp up the annual cost of US flood damage more than 25 percent by 2050, according to new research Monday that warns disadvantaged communities will likely bear the brunt of the financial burden.   The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change used new flood models to map … Read more

Study Confirms Suspicions That Cat Brains Are Smaller Than They Used to Be

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As cats have become domesticated over the last 10,000 years or so, their brains have shrunk significantly in size, a new study confirms – a finding that could lead to important new insights into how animals adapt when they start being regularly kept by human beings.   Researchers compared the size of craniums (an indicator … Read more

China’s population may start to shrink this year, new birth data suggest | Science

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After many decades of growth, China’s population could begin to shrink this year, suggest data released yesterday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The numbers show that in 2021, China’s birth rate fell for the fifth year in a row, to a record low of 7.52 per 1000 people. Based on that number, demographers estimate … Read more

US Life Expectancy Has Taken Its Sharpest Drop in More Than 75 Years

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US life expectancy dropped by 1.8 years in 2020, final official figures showed Wednesday, the steepest drop in more than 75 years driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic.   Life expectancy at birth was 77.0 years for the total US population last year, down from 78.8 years in 2019, according to the Centers … Read more

India defuses its population bomb: Fertility falls to two children per woman | Science

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Back in the 1960s, India faced an exploding population, with a fertility rate of nearly six children per woman. When famine struck, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson initially refused to deliver food aid, citing the country’s high birth rate. In response, India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dramatically expanded the first national family planning program in … Read more