From "Designed Viruses" To "Digital Telepathy" – AI Panic Kicks Into Overdrive

LGBTQ+ Identity Dips In 2025 (But Doubled Over Last Decade) Authored by Jeffrey Jones via Gallup, Gallup estimates that 9% of U.S. adults personally identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual. This percentage is essentially unchanged from last year but remains more than double the 3.5% from 2012, the first year Gallup measured LGBTQ+ incidence. The current figure is also higher than readings of roughly 7% between 2021 and 2023. The latest results are based on combined data from 2025 Gallup telephone interviews with over 13,000 U.S. adults. In...

Switzerland Has The Highest 'Minimum Wage' In The World Minimum wages vary widely around the world, but comparing headline wage rates alone can obscure how much workers can actually buy with them. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, compares monthly minimum wages using 2024 data from the International Labour Organization. Figures are expressed in purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted U.S. dollars, making wages more comparable based on what they can buy locally. Where no single national minimum exists, ILOSTAT uses other applicable wage floors to make comparisons across countries. The Countries With the Highest...

Here's What Happened Inside Gas Stations When Gas Hit $4 In Goldman's first-quarter "Nicotine Nuggets" survey of retailers and wholesalers covering roughly 44,000 U.S. stores, or about 28% of all tobacco outlets nationwide, analysts observed that once the national average for regular 87-octane gasoline hit the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level, the squeeze on consumers began to emerge. One of the clearest signs of stress was a downshift in purchases as budget-conscious consumers started pulling back on tobacco purchases or, in some cases, trading down.  "The outlook remains cautious but retailers &...