Where is my love ?

A recent survey reveals 25% Americans think that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time, and 11% say they would be willing to safely implant a device that enabled them to use their mind to access the Internet. This survey was conducted online, so I think these numbers, although disturbing, are true and say a lot about US Internet users.

Also according to this survey, more than 25% Americans has a social networking profile on sites such as MySpace or Facebook, and 78% of 18-24 year-olds report having a social networking profile.

Numbers of the day

1. Veterans are only 11% of the adult population in US, but they make up 25% homeless people, according to a report. The sad thing is that "young veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job".

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2. do you agree on this? most people feel comfortable lying about their sex life. 70% of married people "hide sexual fantasies they secretly want fulfilled", and 53% admit they "fake orgasm, pretending to like a partner’s sexual skills".

World's primates are threatened with extinction

The Conservation International, is releasing a report documenting the world's 25 most endangered apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates, which are under unprecedented threat from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bushmeat hunting.

Today, 29% of all species in danger of going extinct, and we may soon witness the first primate extinctions in more than a century. Overall, 114 of the world’s 394 primate species are classified as threatened with extinction. On the left is the images of the possibly doomed Horton Plains slender loris.

Funny video - Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live

Voting candidates based on how they makes us feel

Earlier research had shown that people make judgments about someone’s trustworthiness, competence, aggressiveness and other traits in a mere 1/10 of a second, by just looking at that person's face, or in another word, how that person makes people feel.

Now, in a study published recently, reseacher goes one depressing step further: these lightning-quick facial judgments can predict real-world election results, with 70% accuracy.

Marriage is a strong deterrent to poverty

What do you think distinguishes the high and low poverty populations? There are some evidence that "the only statistical distinction between both the black and white populations is marriage. There is far less poverty in married-couple families, where presumably at least one of the spouses is employed. Fully 85% of black children living in poverty reside in a female-headed household".

According to earlier Census data, only 4.0% of married couples without children are in poverty. In contrast, the poverty rate for singles without children is 8.6%. One study found that married men earn 22% more than their unmarried counterpart.

Pay Gap between men and women

Sicilian asked me what are the stats on women's salaries in the Fortune 500 companies (and she bet they are much lower than the men's salaries). See below for the pay gap between men and women; the good news is that the gap is shrinking.