HARPER’S FINDINGS

harper’s

FINDINGS

Riding Disney World’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad helps people pass kidney stones, and approximately 100 million opioid pills prescribed each year for wisdom tooth extraction in the United States are not used by the intended patients. Opioid addicts consider baby faces cute only after being given opioid antagonists. The sight of infant tears is more stimulating to childless women than the sight of adult tears.Twenty-one percent of straight American men view gay porn, and 55 percent of gay American men view straight porn. Engineers tested a new pornography detector that employs Bags of Visual Words. The Ugly Friend Effect was verified. The illusion of possessing a fat body triggers dissatisfaction activity in the insula. Psychological analysis revealed that typical themes in writing about vaginal steam treatments include “the naturally deteriorating, dirty female body” and “vaginal steaming for life optimization.” Great apes understand that others can have false beliefs. On a scale of 0 to 8, humans rate the minds of dogs 7.04, the minds of chickens 4.23, and the minds of shrimps 1.41. Mammals with longer yawns have bigger brains. The sensation of boredom is mild in negative valence and low in arousal. Studies of the effect of soothing or stressful stimuli on the eye wrinkles of horses remained inconclusive. g

Cocaine accumulates in the eyes of zebrafish, low consumption of fish oil may con-tribute to depression among returning U.S. soldiers, and a Taiwanese soldier on sentry duty was described as suffering from sleep-masturbation. China’s State Food and Drug Administration announced that 80 percent of drug-trial data it receives is fraudulent.Machiavellian Dutch scientists admit to higher levels of research misbehavior, but narcis-sistic and psychopathic ones do not. Dutch criminals tend to intermarry. Californians liv-ing in proximity to murders commit fewer suicides. Rapes occur more often in U.S. counties with fewer men. Lionesses in Botswana have grown manes and started roaring and mounting other females. Social media was fueling the Gulf States’ desire for pet cheetahs.Scientists found a new species of neotropical ant by inducing a little devil frog to vomit.Cinnamon cools the stomachs of pigs by up to 3.6º F. An Australian woman’s gastric hairball failed to dissolve after doctors prescribed a three-day course of Coca-Cola. Warming,acidifying oceans will increase the claw size of male Cymadusa pemptos, making them more attractive to females and contributing to a twenty-fold population increase. Living on the tails of sea turtles turns Columbus crabs monogamous. Male dark fishing spiders are not killed by females during copulation but instead die spontaneously. A virus wasfound to have stolen the gene for black widow venom. g

Sleep paralysis in southeast Brazil manifests as a long-nailed crone who tramples sleepers with full bellies. The robot security force at a Palo Alto mall remained suspended while one of its officers was under investigation for trampling a toddler outside an Armani Exchange. A study of California and U.K. police found that body cameras led to a 93 per-cent reduction in civilian complaints, possibly because of a contagion of accountability.Black children in Alabama and Mississippi and disabled children across the Southeast are50 percent likelier to receive corporal punishment in school. After imagining losing a fight, men prefer allies who look dominant and masculine, while women prefer allies who look comforting. A survey of sixty-three countries found Ecuador to be the most empathetic and Lithuania to be the least. Americans’ greatest fear is political corruption. Pigeon flocks replace leaders who have lost their sense of direction. Analysis of popular music revealed 2011 as the year of peak YOLO.

INDEX

Portion of TSA funding that is spent on surface transportation: 1/50 Percentage by which U.S. railway fatalities outnumbered aviation fatalities in 2016: 78 % change since 2014 in the number of railway workers who tested positive for drug use: +43 Number of states in which it is legal to text while driving: 4 In which a texting ban has been shown to decrease accidents: 0 Portion of global traffic deaths that occur in low- or middle-income countries: 9/10 Number of U.S. states in which the poverty rate increased last year: 0 Factor by which a teacher in a low-minority school is more likely to be certified than one in a“high-minority school : 4 No. of San Francisco homes for sale that were affordable on the average teacher’s salary: 1 Rank of Colin Kaepernick who protested the national anthem, among black Americans’ favorite NFL players: 5 Among white Americans’ least liked players: 1 Length, in miles, of a pipeline built in Bruges, Belgium, to funnel beer from a brewery to a bottling center: 2 Factor by which the extent of marine protected areas has increased since 2003: 8.25 Percentage of the world’s oceans that remains unprotected: 96 Number of species that scientists have named after Barack Obama: 7 After the four previous U.S. presidents combined: 2 Estimated number of official local government mascots in Japan: 4,000 Est. number of N. Koreans who are forced to work abroad in order to earn hard currency: 50,000 Average portion of their earnings they are allowed to keep: 1/3 Portion of Americans wh worked as independent contractors who would not do so again: 2/3 Portion of U.S. workers who believe strongly in their company’s values: 1/4 Percentage of Americans who turn first to Amazon.com when online shopping: 55 Employees Wells Fargo has fired since 2011 for signing up customers for accounts without their consent: 5,300 Number of successive years in which average out-of-network ATM fees in the United States have increased: 10 SEC awarded an ex-Monsanto employee for whistle-blowing about accounting practices: $22,437,800 Weeks in solitary confinement Chelsea Manning was sentenced after attempting suicide: 2 Number of. states in which it is legal to sentence a minor to life in prison without parole: 31 Percentage of Americans who support the death penalty for convicted murderers: 49 Last year in which U.S. support for the death penalty was less than 50 percent: 1971 No. of countries that the United States bombed over a three-day period in September 2017: 6 Percentage of direct U.S. military aid that will go to Israel in 2018: 54 Amount the State Department has distributed since July 2017 in Holocaust reparations to U.S. citizens: $9,688,500 Estimated total value of religious institutions in the United States: $1,200,000,000,000 Portion of Americans who believe that people can be supernaturally healed: 2/3 Who claim to have experienced such healing personally: 1/4 Percentage of users on Polygamy.com, a website that facilitates polygamous marriage, who are women: 55 Percentage change in Playboy’s newsstand sales since it excluded nudity: +28 In subscriptions: –23

SOURCES: 1 transportation security Administration (Arlington, va.); 2 national transportation safety board; 3 fed-eral railroad Administration; 4,5 insurance institute for highway safety (Arlington, va.); 6 World health organiza-tion (geneva); 7 U.s. census bureau (suitland, md.); 8 learning policy institute (palo Alto, calif.); 9 redfin (seattle);10,11 e-poll market research (ventura, calif.); 12 halve maan (bruges, belgium); 13,14 international Union forconservation of nature (gland, switzerland); 15,16 harper’s research; 17 mitsubishi UfJ research and consulting(tokyo); 18,19 database center for north korean human rights (seoul, south korea); 20 deloitte (chicago); 21gallup (omaha, neb.); 22 bloomreach (mountain view, calif.); 23 Wells fargo (charlotte, n.c.); 24 s&p dowJones indices (n.y.c.); 25 bankrate (n.y.c.); 26 meissner Associates (n.y.c.); 27 American civil liberties Union(n.y.c.); 28 the sentencing project (Washington); 29 pew research center (Washington); 30 gallup (Washing-ton); 31 U.s. department of defense; 32,33 U.s. department of state; 34 brian J. grim, georgetown University(Washington); 35,36 barna group (n.y.c.); 37 polygamy.com (dubai, United Arab emirates); 38,39 playboy enter-prises, inc. (beverly hills, calif.).

BREAK OF DAY by EVAN BIRNHOLZ

SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1 Lodging on a road trip 6 Neither good nor bad 10 School-supporting orgs. 14 One of two gaps in “mind the gap,” e.g. 19 Wowed, just wowed 20 Huge dolphin 21 “Each of the two will do” 22 Contact gently, as someone’s shoulder 23 Mocks 25 Wrinkle removers in laundry rooms 27 Boosting feet? 28 Fortuneteller’s deck 29 Mathematical Leonhard 30 “Rugrats” dad 31 Fill until full 33 Bahai house of worship in New Delhi that’s shaped like a flower 37 Talk show guest, maybe 38 Local guy mentioned in Onion headlines 40 “Dark ___” (video game featuring an undead protagonist) 41 “Don’t believe what you hear!” 43 Get a read on 44 Site of the humerus 45 Alter, constitutionally 46 Genesis plant often depicted in paintings with the serpent coiled around its branches 55 Toss high above 58 “Wheel of Fortune” co-host White 59 Curse words? 60 ___ Four (Beatles) 63 “Now That ___ Gone” (Destiny’s Child song) 65 Doesn’t speak clearly 67 Something challenged by a paradox 68 Murder weapon for Mr. Hyde 69 Pay careful attention to small details 71 home.howard.___ 73 Hockey infraction of swinging one’s stick at another player 75 Annoy over and over 76 Firing 78 Complete 79 Precious minerals used in the warp drive on “Star Trek” 82 Millie Bobby Brown’s numerically named role on “Stranger Things” 84 Theater box? 85 When repeated, a giggle 86 Detects as Dalmatians do 89 Guilty pleasure 90 Free throw’s point total 91 Wander, with “about” 93 Long, unstitched garment 94 Roth ___ (savings plan) 95 Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, in the Kübler-Ross model 102Reactive particle 103KO, in the ring 105Initial financial commitment? 106Expand 108Some temporary spray-on body art 113“___ Us” (online game with secret impostors) 116Musical partly set in an apartment 117Comprehension phrase 118Ruler mentioned in the Rig Veda 122Smooth antonym 123Initial financial commitment 12417th-century play king 125BP subsidiary gas brand 126With 129 Across, break of day ... and what’s spelled out by the letters breaking the circled abbreviated days i n this puzzle 127Queen who is president of United World Colleges 128“Burning” body parts 129See 126 Across

DOWN

1 Alcoholic brunch drinks 2 How some flips into a pool may be attempted 3 Stop working for now 4 “Babe” female 5 Just in case 6 Become tired of 7 Negative follow-up to a suggestion 8 Ruling elite, for short? 9 Lout 10 “American Masters” channel 11 Spiritual carvings 12 Relished 13 “Do you want me to?” 14 Provoke, as controversy 15 0-over result on a hole 16 Bartholomew of the Bible, e.g. 17 Keep in, as emotions 18 Removed all doubt 24 FDR’s dog 26 Come together 32 Direction from St. Louis to Louisville 34 Immerse in water, say 35 Verb heard on a GPS app 36 He sang “It’s Raining Cookies” with Cookie Monster 37 ___-day delivery 39 “Wheel of Fortune” creator Griffin 42 Sinks under pressure 47 Enters gradually 48 Sign up for the service 49 Burden 50 Distant 51 “The Girl ___ Played With Fire” (Stieg Larsson novel) 52 What squats strengthen 53 Banished citizens 54 Pours off, as pinot noir 55 Drug that NASA gave to dolphins in the 1960s in an attempt to communicate with them 56 “Call on me! Call on me!” 57 Process that occurs in an unstable nucleus with too many protons or neutrons 60 “I’ve got to be treated just like everybody else” 61 Boleyn played by Natalie Dormer on “The Tudors” 62 Implore on bended knee 64 Devote real energy (to) 66 Sensationalize 67 Event at which you may pick sides? 68 Restaurant where you can order Chicken Crispers 70 ___ and hearty 72 Not shining brightly 74 Black Widow and Black Panther co-creator Lee 76 “That’s Just What You Are” singer Mann 77 BBC’s “MasterChef” co-presenter Wallace 80 Pass time idly (with) 81 2021, e.g. 82 “Man produces ___ as a bee produces honey”: William Golding 83 Turkish currency 87 Kissed creature for the Brothers Grimm 88 Function of a math class 90 Fibrous muffin stuff 92 Ones cutting out cookies? 95 Minute 96 Dark liquid in pits 97 Solange, to Beyoncé 98 “Now I’m interested!” 99 Totally ineffective 100Brian who coined the word “scenius,” which means “communal genius” 101Of orchids and oxlips 104Canines’ canines 107“Ditto” 109Nevada poker hub 110A law ___ itself 111Not aground, say 112Joyful or sorrowful drop 113Newfoundland noise 114Mademoiselle’s “me” 115Shared by us 119Cardio exercise 120“___ du lieber!” 121Like the weather at the equator

Solution to this month’s puzzle on page 20