Statistics

Seven hundred seventeen Scottish open-water swimmers said mental wellbeing outranked physical gains in every surveyed age group except over 65 and a national study found that lake swimmers were also more likely than sea or river swimmers to worry about environmental damage

Open water swimming has gained a reputation as a tough outdoor habit, yet a national Scottish survey suggests many swimmers value it most for how it affects the mind. In a 2023 study in PLOS ONE, researchers analyzed answers from 717 swimmers and found that mental wellbeing was the most important self-reported benefit in every…

Astronaut in spacesuit climbing ladder inside a dark setting

Space Statistics

Astronauts slept less than six hours before 41 of 80 spacewalks, while about three quarters of reporting crews used sleep medication in orbit and researchers found the short nights were already common months before launch on shuttle and ISS missions

Two dockworkers securing a container on a ship, emphasizing teamwork and safety

Humans Statistics

Across 18 container-ship voyages, 198 seafarers slept too little whether they worked days or rotating watches and 22 percent of 396 eye-based alertness tests rated crew members unfit for duty

Close-up view of cargo ship with crew at the helm, navigating open blue waters

Humans Statistics

Across 51 tanker vessels, 575 merchant seafarers filled out stress and work surveys that showed personal resilience did the most to reduce strain, while practical onboard help explained most of the gap in job satisfaction across a global fleet

Black and white photo of a boat crew onboard a fishing vessel titled 'El Principe Azul.'

Humans Statistics

One hundred fifty-seven Faroese fishers wore sleep trackers at sea and on land and life offshore split sleep into shorter fragments, pushed end-of-trip sleepiness higher and left more major reaction-time lapses before the voyage was over

A cargo ship carrying goods between ports

Humans Statistics

More than 13,000 seafarers from 154 nationalities reported high wellbeing and happiness at sea, yet the same global survey found about one in five felt lonely and two-thirds did not get enough sleep, revealing where shipboard life still wears people down

Aerial view of a large lake surrounded by forest

Water Statistics

What is the largest lake in Texas?

Badlands National Park landscape and mixed-grass prairie in South Dakota

Earth Statistics

The US state farthest from the ocean

South Dakota is the usual answer, with an important geographic footnote. Southwest of the state lies North America’s continental pole of inaccessibility, the land point calculated as farthest from a chosen ocean coastline. It sits on the Pine Ridge Reservation region, near the communities of Kyle and Allen. Under this coastline definition, South Dakota contains…

Whale back taken in Iceland in the ocean - Whale whatching

Oceans Statistics

10 largest animals in the ocean

Which living ocean animal has the greatest maximum adult mass? The blue whale leads easily, but the rest of a defensible heavyweight list is dominated by other whales. Several species that are shorter than the longest whales have stockier bodies and higher published maximum weights. This ranking uses the highest reported adult body mass for…

Close-up of hands holding salt crystals from a shallow saline lake at sunset

Water Statistics

5 bodies of water saltier than the ocean

A 2017 chemical analysis reported 43.3 percent total dissolved solids in water from Gaet’ale Pond in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression. That figure sits far above the roughly 3.5 percent salt content commonly used for the open ocean. It also points to a powerful rule of dry landscapes: when water arrives in a closed basin and evaporation…

Statistics

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