Robots on the battlefield
The U.S. military has deployed about 3,500 robots to search for bombs or enemy soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and 750 have been badly damaged or destroyed by bombs, rockets, or bullets—a rough estimate of how many soldiers’ lives would have been lost without them.
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The cost of re-election campaigns
The average member of the House of Representatives has to raise $367 for every hour they’re supposedly serving their constituents to pay for their re-election campaigns. The average senator needs to wrangle $819 per hour.
Mother Jones
Foreign students favor American colleges
American colleges and universities had 56,976 undergraduates from China enrolled in the 2010–11 academic year, up from 9,955 just three years earlier. For all the criticism of U.S. colleges, they remain the most popular foreign destination for high-achieving students from around the world.
CNN.com
A dearth of abortion providers
Nearly nine in 10 U.S. counties now have no abortion providers.
TheAtlantic.com
Who is the fattest of them all?
Taken cumulatively, the world population is 16.5 million tons overweight, with Americans easily topping the scales. If everyone on the planet had the same average weight as Americans, it would be equivalent to having 935 million additional people on Earth.
BBC.com
A record low for the New York Archdiocese
The New York Archdiocese ordained only one new Catholic priest this year—the lowest number since the archdiocese opened its seminary more than 110 years ago.
The New York Times