World’s oldest domesticated dog breed has lived with humans for 1,000 years, new study shows — but their population is plummeting

World’s oldest domesticated dog breed has lived with humans for 1,000 years, new study shows — but their population is plummeting

It gives new meaning to dog years. Various types of sled dogs have been used by humans across the Arctic for almost 10,000 years, but new research reveals one particular type to be the oldest continuously domesticated breed. According to a new study published in Science, Qimmit have been kept by Inuit populations in Greenland … Read more

Experts fear Americans aren’t having enough babies to meet the ‘replacement rate’ — but these women are bucking the trend

Experts fear Americans aren’t having enough babies to meet the ‘replacement rate’ — but these women are bucking the trend

America’s fertility rate is collapsing. But some young women are ready to do their part to avoid a baby bust. The average American woman currently in her peak fertility years (ages 15–49) will have 1.7 children in her lifetime, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. And more Zoomers and Millennials are choosing to forgo … Read more

Etiquette expert shows the ‘correct’ way to eat a banana — and people are appalled by it: ‘You offended the entire world’s population’

Etiquette expert shows the ‘correct’ way to eat a banana — and people are appalled by it: ‘You offended the entire world’s population’

An etiquette expert is rocking people’s worlds by claiming that there is a right and wrong way to eat a banana. While most people don’t think twice about eating the fruit — according to William Hanson, known as Britain’s leading etiquette coach, people need to whip out cutlery to eat a banana properly. In a … Read more

Travel warning issued as popular tourist spot battles deadly virus: ‘Half the world’s population now at risk’

Travel warning issued as popular tourist spot battles deadly virus: ‘Half the world’s population now at risk’

Travelers headed to Fiji this summer better pack more than just their swimsuits — they might want to add some serious bug spray.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just issued a warning for the tropical hotspot as dengue fever cases spike across the Western Pacific. Dengue, a potentially deadly virus spread by … Read more

Humanity is killing itself, but the solution may be found on Mars

Humanity is killing itself, but the solution may be found on Mars

Pick up a book titled “The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire — Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction” (St. Martin’s Press), and it’s safe to assume its pages won’t be full of sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. But while the author, British paleontologist Henry Gee, delivers an occasionally apocalyptic vision of … Read more

Japanese village struggling with low population creates life-sized dolls to mimic feeling of bustling society

Japanese village struggling with low population creates life-sized dolls to mimic feeling of bustling society

A Japanese village struggling with a low population created life-sized dolls to mimic the feeling of a bustling society. The hamlet of Ichinono, which has less than 60 residents and only one child, is trying to fill the void with stuffed mannequins, which they dress up and place around the community — and even pose … Read more

NYC rat population ‘stressed’ by heat waves — leading to lower rates of reproduction

NYC rat population ‘stressed’ by heat waves — leading to lower rates of reproduction

Turns out, rats don’t like getting hot and heavy. In a wafer-thin silver lining to the unbearably humid, miserable, no good, very bad heat waves that have body-slammed the Baked Apple so far this summer, comes news that these scorching temperatures are wreaking sudden havoc on the reproductive rate of the city’s rat population. Simply … Read more

This city is creating a dating app to promote marriage and childbirth amid population drop

This city is creating a dating app to promote marriage and childbirth amid population drop

Dating for marriage. Tokyo City Hall is developing a unique dating app, Tokyo Futari Story, to encourage residents to consider marriage and parenthood and tackle the country’s initiative of increasing population after decades of decline. The app’s name derives from “Futari,” which means “two people” in Japanese, a nod to the hope that pairings can … Read more

Japan grappling with invasive raccoon population nearly 40 years after bringing them to the country

Japan grappling with invasive raccoon population nearly 40 years after bringing them to the country

Japan’s raccoon infestation has gotten considerably worse over the last decade, multiple Japanese news sources are reporting. Nearly 1,300 raccoons were captured during the 2022 fiscal year, said Tokyo’s government. This is about five times the number that were captured 10 years ago, reported Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency. In 2013, the Japanese government … Read more

Palm Beach’s old guard annoyed by ‘invading Barbies’ snatching up nannies, cosmetic surgery appointments

Palm Beach’s old guard annoyed by ‘invading Barbies’ snatching up nannies, cosmetic surgery appointments

Barbie’s getting snubbed in Palm Beach, too. “Old Palm Beachers snicker as they watch women new to the scene arrive in pink, yes, pink, Rolls-Royces, like a battalion of invading Barbies—a shocking display in a town accustomed to understated wealth,” journalist Daisy Prince wrote last month in a Vanity Fair piece exploring Palm Beach’s “identity … Read more

Pittsburgh will draft 30 archers to hunt overbearing deer population

Pittsburgh will draft 30 archers to hunt overbearing deer population

The City of Pittsburgh will be randomly selecting 30 archers to go bow hunting in two city parks in an effort to control the deer population.  “In cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the City of Pittsburgh is preparing for a pilot program with archery-controlled hunts in Frick and Riverview Parks during the 2023-2024 … Read more

US mimics Japan’s fertility crisis — and you can blame virginal men

US mimics Japan’s fertility crisis — and you can blame virginal men

Experts warn that the United States may be following Japan’s worrying population decline after the Asian nation-state released new shocking data. Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) recently revealed that a third of 18-year-old women may never have children. The island country recorded a population of 126.15 million in 2020 but … Read more

Diabetes cases to double to 1.3B adults by 2050: experts

Diabetes cases to double to 1.3B adults by 2050: experts

A new study finds that the number of people living with diabetes — especially Type 2 diabetes — will more than double in 27 years. Health experts call the rapid rise in Type 2 diabetes cases “alarming,” referring to the chronic condition as “a defining disease of this century.” About 529 million people worldwide were … Read more

Steven Spielberg apologizes to shark population for ‘feeding frenzy’ after ‘Jaws’

Steven Spielberg apologizes to shark population for ‘feeding frenzy’ after ‘Jaws’

He’s gonna need a bigger apology note. Steven Spielberg admitted he regrets the bloody impact his 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” had — on the shark population, that is. “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that,” Spielberg, 75, said … Read more

How Many Steps You Really Need to Take Each Day, According to Science

How Many Steps You Really Need to Take Each Day, According to Science

Photo: Ljupco Smokovski (Shutterstock) The more you walk, the lower your risk of all-cause and cancer mortality, according to a new study, with the benefits leveling out once you reach 10,000 steps per day. So clearly, that is the number of steps to aim for—or is it? Studies that compare health outcomes to step counts … Read more