As the United States continues to recuperate from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, Karla Starr looked at what this will mean for people’s relationships:

• After natural disasters the rate of marriage increases. This is likely because during times of stress we see what is dear to us and draw closer to it.
• However divorces also increase. This is possibly because natural disasters cause widespread damage that can add stresses to family life.
• Stress also means that women who were 2-3 months pregnant during Sandy are at risk of giving birth to underweight babies.
• Research suggests that despite popular myths, the birthrate nine months from Sandy will decrease – mostly because people had plenty of warning that the hurricane was coming.

Read more about why manmade disasters are different from natural ones, and the mitigating factors that explain why we so often hear of birth booms nine months after hurricanes over here.

Source: Slate

Pui Shen Yoong compared her home country to Brazil and in the process cleared up some misconceptions about the South American country:

• Brazil is more than just the Amazon. While the river might be quite large, the country is even larger. Individual states are as big as entire countries.
• Brazil is an oddity in Latin America in that Spanish is not the main language. Portuguese is.
• Brazil has the largest population of black people after Nigeria. However black people still only make up about half the population. Brazil itself is a multi-ethnic country where you’ll find people of all races.

Click here to read more about Brazil’s income level, its notable cities, and the relative hotness of males versus females in the country.

Source: De Olhos Puxados Para O Brasil

Conventional wisdom says that China, with about four times America’s population, will overtake it to become the world’s largest economy. It won’t happen writes Clyde Prestowitz:

• China’s economy isn’t currently as big as the numbers suggest. A lot of the growth has come from building things that were over-valued. If you take into account their true value then China’s GDP is not half the size of America’s, but a third.
• Moreover China’s growth has come at great cost to the environment. This will mean that soon rivers and farms will produce less, and health problems will increase, sucking up resources. This will put a brake on growth.
• China might have four times America’s population, but what matters more is working age population. Due to the one-child policy there are more old people for each young person in China than there is in the United States. This too will make it difficult for China to become the largest economy.

It is a fascinating argument that shall either be proven right or wrong in the next three decades. Read all of it here.

Source: Foreign Policy

Oakley has just released the ski goggles of the future writes Ben Spencer:

• Using technology used for fighter jet pilots, the goggles have a heads up display in the corner that displays information.
• This information includes the skier’s speed, location, and distance travelled. You can also use it to track a buddy.
• The goggles can connect to a phone to show you text messages and email.
• An embedded ear piece lets you take phone calls or listen to music.
• All this can be bought for £500. (~$800).

Read more about its capabilities and see more photos of it over here.

Source: The Daily Mail

Via: Marginal Revolution

Some of the most popular games are free to play thanks to a small group of players writes Ryan Rigney:

• Some of the most popular games have adopted a “freemium” model where the game itself is free to play, but players willing to spend real money are allowed to purchase in-game items. These purchases pay for the games’ development costs.
• The developers rely on players called whales – individuals willing to invest significant amounts of cash into the game.
• Each game generally has only a few whales that drive the revenues for the game. The top 10 percent of spenders can make up 50% of revenue.
• Opponents of the practice say that these people are simply buying their way to victory.
• Defenders point out that fans of rock bands aren’t faulted for obsessively spending money on buying every bit of the band’s memorabilia.

Read more about the people who subsidize your games so that you can play them for free over here.

Source: Wired

Everybody can agree that the true cost of Hurricane Sandy is the scores that have died, not only in the United States, but across the world. Everybody that is, except for economists. Matthew Zeitlin reported on their best estimate for the dollar cost of Hurricane Sandy:

• Insurance companies will likely have to shell out $10 billion to individuals who saw their property damaged.
  • This high cost is in part because New York is an extremely rich area.
• New York City also has to pay to pump the water out of flooded areas such as the subway stations.
• While the city’s infrastructure is down, workers won’t be able to go to work, and customers won’t be able to go to shop. This will impose high indirect costs to the economy.
• Tourists will also have a difficult time spending money in the city.
• This might just be the beginning. Climate change could mean more frequent disasters of the same magnitude as Sandy.

Read more about the costs involved and why the United States is the country that is likely to be the most affected by Sandy over here.

Source: The Daily Beast

In the United States judges can either be appointed by an elected official, or directly elected by the voters themselves. Brian Palmer looked at how the different types of judges compare:

• Appointed judges make fewer rulings. This might be because they don’t have to justify their tenure to voters by pointing to the number of rulings they have made.
  • America’s Supreme Court – which is entirely appointed – is indicative of the trend. In the past 30 years the number of cases they’ve made rulings on has shrunk by 50%.
• While the number of rulings might be lower, appointed judges produce higher quality rulings. Their rulings are more likely to be cited by others.
• Some studies suggest that elected judges are more partisan – although other studies disagree. Even if they are though, this is not necessarily a bad thing since the judiciary shouldn’t be entirely independent of its constituency.

Read more of Palmer’s fascinating musings about the merits of elected versus appointed justices over here.

Source: Slate