During 2009's World Population Day (an annual event, observed on July 11, that seeks to raise awareness of global population issues), Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad promoted an unusual idea for dealing with overpopulation in India. He suggested a new policy that would allow most of the poor in rural India to have access to television. According to his vision, "amorous couples would watch ...

In 2009, the Ketchum Global Research Network asked 1,000 U.S. adults (ages 25–54) what they think about the most while they shower. Here were the top four responses:

1. To-do lists
2. Problems, worries
3. Daydreams
4. Work

What an interesting glimpse into what we obsess over as we wake up in the morning or wind down in the evening—the two times most of us take a shower. While we clean ourselves to start the ...

In our lives in the world, the temptation is always to go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running strongest. When good things happen, we rise to heaven; when bad things happen, we descend to hell. … I know this to be true of no one as well as I know it to be true of myself. I know how just the weather can affect my whole state of mind for good or ill, ...

In many ways the Pixar's animated film Wall•E is a story about coming home. It tells the story of a lonely robot who for 700 years has been cleaning up the trash left behind by humans on an abandoned planet. Wall•E stands for "Waste Allocation Load Lifter–Earth class." While we are never told so, it is likely that Wall•E is the last operating robot on the planet. All of the human ...

According to a 2009 survey by Qwest Communications, 47 percent of Americans say they can last an hour at most before feeling "antsy" about checking email, instant messaging, or other social networking sites. Of those surveyed, 46 percent said they could only make it one day. The remaining 7 percent said they could probably go a week without checking in.

Spam—a term used for unsolicited e-mails—accounts for billions of distractions for the average worker:

• Number of spam e-mails sent each day in 2006: 183 billion
  
  
• Number of work hours U.S. employees spent deleting spam in 2006: 22.9 million
  
  

Before Shane Hipps became a Mennonite pastor, he was a former strategic planner in advertising. In both vocations, he has learned a great deal about how technology quietly shapes people. His latest book, Flickering Pixels, helps Christians understand some of the spiritual dimensions of that shaping. In an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Hipps discussed the damage being done by the internet. ...

Not long ago, I read that a person my age should drink 16 glasses of water a day. The next morning I brought to my office a large pitcher filled with water. Throughout the day that pitcher on my desk frequently reminded me of my need, and I'd pour another glass and drink. Overall, it was a positive experience—other than having to go to the bathroom 27 times in a period of eight hours. Remaining ...

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This impulse can be hard to quantify, mainly because thinking about it makes us uncomfortable. But it's pictured well in a disturbing practice currently employed by the Nigerian judicial system in western Africa.

The country of Niger has an established police and criminal justice system—one of the remnants of its days as a French colony. There are Nigerian police officers and judges, as well ...

Reasons drivers ages 18 or older get lost while driving:

• Bad directions: 47 percent
• Unclear, missing highway signs: 45 percent
• Detours: 38 percent
• Confusing maps: 21 percent
• Auto distractions: 13 percent