Episode 7

Psychics

In America in 2020, a survey found that Americans increased their involvement in Psychics and Mediums.
According to the survey, the use of Psychics increased by 74%, Mystics by 71% and Astrologers rose by 63%.

Colorado River

The Colorado River supplies the water needs of 7 different States in the USA.
With 40 million people reliant on this water, the water is shared between the different states based on what is available.
Up until now Utah has never used all of its fair share of the water and has allowed states like California and Nevada to have part of their share, but now they intend to build an underground pipeline to a nearby reservoir and take back their full share, which means states like California are going to see less water than they are used to.

Cell-Based Meat

Cell-based meat, which is meat that is grown in a lab rather than as an animal, is growing in popularity but is still very expensive to produce.
In 2013, a 1/4 pound burger cost approximately $330,000 to produce.
By 2022 it cost about $9 to produce a burger.
Scientists predict it may take until 2030 for the price to reduce to about $2 a burger and be commercially viable to replace meat on a mass-produced level rather than as a speciality burger.

Movies

As of the end of January 2023, the top-grossing movies of all time are:
1 - Avatar
2 - Avengers: Endgame
3 - Titanic
4 - Avatar: The Way Of Water
5 - Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
It is worth noting that the actress Zoe Saldana appears in three of the top five movies.

James Webb Telescope

The James Webb telescope was so expensive that when it came to transporting it to the launch pad in French Guiana via cargo ship, it was top secret as to when they were sailing and on what ship.
The reason for the extreme measures was that there were occasional incidents of piracy in the area that they would have to travel and they didn't want any potential thieves to know which ship had a $10 billion, gold-plated satellite on board.

Rubber

The global rubber industry produces approximately 20 million tonnes of rubber each year.
The biggest producers are Thailand, Indonesia, China and West Africa which produce around 85% of all the rubber.

Dungeons & Dragons

Although lately due to the TV show Stranger Things, the Dungeons & Dragons gaming business has exploded since 2014, seeing a 33% increase in sales in 2020 alone.
The business during the pandemic was generating an $800 million profit and is actually one of the most profitable products in the toy market, with a 46% profit margin compared to Hasbro which was operating at around an 8% profit margin.

Adaptive Cruise Control

Adaptive Cruise Control is an advanced form of cruise control for cars, which uses radar to determine how far in front and what speed the vehicle in front of your car is and adapts the cruise control speed to maintain a safe gap.
A recent study of Adaptive Cruise Control found that while it may have made the car safer, it also encouraged speeding and was more likely to cause a driver to get a speeding ticket than if they drove without it.

Netflix Password

Netflix has introduced measures to stop password sharing by requiring a subscriber to log in to their home WiFi every 30 days.
This has caused a lot of anger but the reason for it is that Netflix reports that as many as 50% of subscribers share their password with someone who is not living at their home, which translates to half of their entire viewership freeloading off the back of someone else's account.

Sushi Promotion

In Taiwan, there is an incredibly popular sushi chain that offered a promotion to award anyone with the name Salmon a free, all-you-can-eat buffet meal for them and five friends.
What they didn't bank on is that in one district alone, 150 people legally changed their name to Salmon to cash in on the offer. Worse still, some of the people changing their name found that you could only legally change your name three times in your life and they had already changed it twice before without realising the limit, and are now stuck being called Salmon for the remainder of their life.
In the end, after close to a thousand name changes within a couple of weeks, the government stepped in and ended the promotion early and begged people to not change their name for a marketing stunt.

Suitcases

When travelling via an airport, wrap some insulating tape, duct tape or a coloured ribbon around the handle of your suitcase.
This will make it much easier to identify amongst the many other near-identical suitcases when collecting luggage.

Dorothy Counts-Scoggins

Dorothy "Dot" Counts-Scoggins (born March 25, 1942) is one of the first black students admitted to the all-white Harry Harding High School in 1957. She endured teasing and taunting by her peers as shown in this photograph.

New Body Part

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown body part in the human anatomy. The structure called the atlantoaxial joint capsule, is a small, fluid-filled sac that helps to cushion the top two vertebrae in the neck. The joint capsule was first identified in cadavers, but researchers have now confirmed its existence in living people using MRI scans.
The discovery of the atlantoaxial joint capsule could have implications for our understanding of neck injuries and pain. The joint is particularly vulnerable to damage in car accidents and other high-impact events. The capsule may help to explain why some people experience chronic neck pain after such injuries.

Bigfoot Sighting

Alleged Bigfoot sighting, captured on a trail camera in Pierce County, Washington State, in August 2020.