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If it feels like GPS has been around forever, that's because it has. Well, at least the human brain-powered version. People have been making their way around the world—with and without maps—for ages. It is a true survival instinct. It has been just a few decades since humans outsourced their wayfinding to global navigation satellite systems. The United States only completed its global positioning system in 1993. Perhaps because superpowers don't want to rely on something outside their con... Full story
Fewer Americans moved in 2022, according to the latest census data, but of those who did, 1 in 5 moved to a different state. Population growth has returned to pre-pandemic norms; Southern states continued to record influxes in population, while the Northeast saw the biggest drops, particularly in New York and Pennsylvania. These trends largely continued into last year, according to United Van Lines' annual movers study. States with the most inbound moves in 2023 were Vermont, Washington D.C.,...
The next time you're in a security line at the airport, you may find that instead of a Transportation Security Administration officer checking your ID, a camera and screen will use biometric facial recognition to confirm your face and photo ID match and ensure your ID isn't fake. The TSA has installed the system in over 200 U.S. airports to improve identity verification accuracy and keep its lines moving. Spokeo used information from Customs and Border Protection to see how many airports in each...
The Small Business Administration backed loans worth $27.5 billion through its primary lending program in 2023—rising well above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as government officials aim to stabilize the economy. Many small businesses get their start and scale up with SBA loans, which increased lending to Black, Latino, and women entrepreneurs in the past few years in step with efforts to become more equitable. Flippa found the county in Montana where applicants were approved for the most SBA l...
When Purdue Pharma first began sales of OxyContin in the late 1990s, it was advertised as relief for cancer patients and people with chronic pain. Aggressive marketing fueled the drug's popularity, along with that of other opioid pain management drugs on the market. But as the company touted OxyContin to physicians, it downplayed the drug's addictiveness, according to confidential Justice Department reports obtained by news organizations, leading to widespread use that has fueled an opioid...
Record rainfall pelted parts of Iowa for 12 hours straight in July 2010, sending 10 inches of rainwater draining toward Lake Delhi, Iowa, a popular recreation destination for decades since its construction in the 1920s. Holding back 9 miles of lake water with more precipitation flowing in by the minute was the 80-year-old Lake Delhi Dam, constructed of hundreds of feet of earth, concrete, and steel. The water punched a 30-foot-wide hole in the dam wall, spewing floodwater into the surrounding...
An estimated 21,000 people in Montana over age 65 have Alzheimer's, according to estimates released by the Alzheimer's Association in 2023. Alzheimer's disease afflicts an estimated 6.7 million Americans, and that number is only growing. Medical professionals believe the volume of diagnoses could double by 2060 if there isn't a breakthrough in prevention—or a cure. For the first time, the Alzheimer's Association released estimates on Alzheimer's prevalence in each state and county. Researchers h...
The 20th century was a period of unprecedented innovation, ushering in technology that transformed the ways humans can connect to one another, including the internet, radio, and mobile phones. Humans could speak with, see, and send messages to people thousands of miles away from them in real time. Over those 100 years, the newly connected world became more globalized, changing our politics, economics, and cultures. In recent years, the world has continued to get smaller. Using news sources,...
In 2021, the IRS received a whopping 5.4 million business applications—an all-time high since the U.S. government began tracking this data in 2004. The year with the second-highest number of new business applications? 2020. Today, small businesses employ nearly half of the nation's workers, according to a Chamber of Commerce report. It's fair to say that the past few years have been banner years for small businesses, but what about regional differences? The business climate in a small town in T...
Scrubs could become an essential part of the wardrobe for millions more Americans as health care jobs grow across the country. The aging U.S. population is rapidly increasing demand for many jobs in the health sector, which has become the fastest-growing part of the national economy. Although many medical jobs require advanced degrees—physicians, nurses, surgeons, etc.—the role growing fastest across most states is generally accessible to anyone with a high school diploma. The job? Home hea...
Overdose deaths tragically rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking renewed calls for awareness of substance use disorders and access to treatment. The once-in-a-century global health crisis had widespread impacts on physical and mental health and coincided with America's worsening fentanyl epidemic. And though calls have been made to expand access to treatment, people with substance use disorders often face barriers to getting the help they need to survive addiction to deadly substances...
There were an estimated 42,795 fatalities due to motor vehicle crashes in 2022, down by 0.3% from the year prior, according to early estimates released in April 2023 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While a reduction in crash-related deaths, even one as slight as this, is generally positive, the facts remain deeply concerning: Crash-related deaths rose more than 10% in 2021 and more than 7% the year before that, marking a disturbing trend leading into and persisting...
Most of America's public school teachers have advanced degrees, but studies show that highly educated teachers are seeing sharper declines in pay. TeacherCertification.com explored how salaries aren't keeping up even as more teachers earn post-baccalaureate degrees, citing National Center for Education Statistics data. Low teacher pay results in fewer young people entering the profession, fueling a nationwide teacher shortage. "We are not taking our country's economy and wellness seriously as...
Any puppy parent knows the struggle of preparing for a furry new addition. Most of the choices to make are pretty straightforward. Collars, leashes, tags, and toys are usually a matter of size, design, and color preference. But food? That's another story. What you feed your dog from a young age can significantly affect their health down the line. You may have spent a substantial amount of time considering different puppy foods, but what happens when your dog ages out of that stage? Determining... Full story
We've come a long way from what are thought to be the first constructed roads on earth, streets paved with mud bricks and bitumen built in Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C. Today, there are more than 4 million miles of finished roads across the U.S.—enough to circle the Earth 160 times. In between, society has seen considerable developments: from asphalt to concrete, private projects to federally funded efforts, and beyond. And these leaps aren't just in the field of construction, either. Improved r...
While today's unemployment rates are significantly lower than the COVID-19 pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, the fear of job losses remains as workers stare down an uncertain economic future. Experts are mixed in their views of a potential recession. The return of student loan payments, continually high gas prices, persistent inflation, and insurance price escalations are just a few of the factors that could limit consumer spending and potentially prompt another recession. The...
The United States boasts an impressive interstate network of 4.2 million miles of roads—but underlying that reputation is a backlog of $786 billion in needed repairs, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. On average, the society estimates, American motorists spend a collective $130 billion on extra vehicle repairs and fuel costs as a result of driving on poor-quality roads and bridges. In 2000, 82.6% of U.S. roads were considered acceptable to drive on, according to federal s...
