More Americans are killed in Lawn Mover incidents than by terrorists 01-03

Kim Kardashian is an unlikely champion of statistics, but a tweet from the reality TV star in January 2017 contained a startling figure that has been named International Statistic of the Year.

She shared a table showing a range of violent or unexpected ways people meet their deaths annually in the United States. Kardashian’s aim was to highlight how many more Americans are killed by fellow citizens with guns, than by terrorists.

The table also revealed that lawnmowers are actually more deadly than terrorists.

According to the table below, first published by the Huffington Post, an average of 69 people are killed every year in accidents involving lawnmowers. By comparison 14 people are killed each year by terrorists. The killers in this category include Muslims inspired by jihadist philosophy as well as white, far-right extremists. Both categories include American citizens.

Lawnmower trend

The statistic of 69 lawnmower deaths a year was named International Statistic of the Year for 2017 by the UK’s Royal Society of Statistics.

Liberty Vittert, a member of the Royal Society’s judging panel, said: “Everyone on the panel was particularly taken by this statistic and its insight into risk - a key concept in both statistics and everyday life.

“When you consider that this figure was put into the public domain by Kim Kardashian, it becomes even more powerful because it shows anyone, statistician or not, can use statistics to illustrate an important point and illuminate the bigger picture.

”The killer lawnmower statistic was sourced from the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) database. The CDC analyzed death statistics from 2005 to 2014. It found there were 689 deaths involving lawnmowers during this 10-year period.

More recent data show death by lawnmowers is a growing trend: Between 2006 and 2015 there were 723 lawnmower deaths, an average of 72 per year.

And in the 10 year period between 2007 and 2016 there were 758 deaths caused by lawnmowers, an average of 76 per year.

During the same period the CDC recorded eight deaths in total related to terrorism, an average of less than one death per year. This is far lower than the figure in the Huffington Post’s table that shows an average of 14 year, which is based on 15-year data since 9/11.

Deaths from lightning averaged out at 30 per year. Falling out of bed can prove exceptionally dangerous. An average of 802 people meet their deaths this way every year.

Perception gap

This disparity between terror-related deaths and everyday accidents like falling out of bed highlight a gap between reality and people’s perceptions.

Chapman University’s 2017 Survey of American Fears reveals that 43.3% of Americans are either afraid or very afraid of a terrorist attack.

Far fewer - just 28.1% - are afraid of a random mass shooting, and just 18.3% are afraid of being murdered.

Let’s compare those fears with reality. Americans are 14,381 times more likely to be killed by a firearm held by a fellow citizen than they are to be killed in a terrorist attack.

CDC data show a total of 115,053 deaths in the US caused by firearms between 2007 and 2016, an average of 11,500 per year.

But the US isn’t the only country where there are large gaps between perception and reality.

In fact, according to Ipsos MORI’s latest Perils of Perception Index, the US has only the 15th largest perception gap in the world.

On issues ranging from murder rates to teen pregnancies, survey respondents from South Africa were likely to give the least accurate guesses of where the figures stood.

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Peshawar live: Over 100 children among 126 dead in Taliban attack in Pakistan, 122 injured 12-16

Peshawar live: Over 100 children among 126 dead in Taliban attack in Pakistan,

 122 injured

 The Taliban attacked a military-run school in Peshawar on Tuesday,
 killing over 100 students, because they wanted revenge for the Pakistani
 military targeting their own families, a spokesman said.

"We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is 
targeting our families and females," said Taliban spokesman 
Muhammad Umar Khorasani. "We want them to feel the pain."

Schoolchildren being rushed to hospital in Peshawar after Taliban's deadly attack.

"In CMH (Combined Military Hospital) there are around 60 and there are 24 dead in Lady Reading (hospital)," Pervaiz Khattak, chief minister of the
 province where Peshawar is located, told local television channels. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has left for Peshawar to supervise operation. According to Reuters, Pakistan Taliban has said,"We targeted 
school because army targets our families, we want them to feel our pain." 

Police officer Javed Khan says the gunmen entered the school on Tuesday morning. He says army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and
 exchanged fire with the gunmen. 

20 dead, including 17 school children. 1,500 still inside, hostage.#PakSchoolAttack pic.twitter.com/CkVPV3EXy8
Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) December 16, 2014

Pakistani television showed soldiers surrounding the area and 
pushing people back.

Peshawar has been the target of frequent militant attacks in the past.

Military officials at the scene said at least six armed men had entered 
the military-run Army Public School. 

"We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers," 
said Jamshed Khan, a school bus driver.

A teacher said that the attackers targeted the school while exams were taking place.

"After half an hour of the attack, the army came and sealed the school,"
 a teacher told a private television channel outside the besieged school.

"We were in the examination hall when the attack took place," he said. 
"Now the army men are clearing the classes one by one."

Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani told Reuters his group
 was responsible for the attack.

"Our suicide bombers have entered the school, they have instructions 
not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel," he said.

"It's a revenge attack for the army offensive in North Waziristan," he said, referring to an anti-Taliban military offensive that began in June.

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Unmasked: Area 51's Biggest, Stealthiest Spy Drone Yet 12-14

Unmasked: Area 51's Biggest, Stealthiest Spy Drone Yet

The drone that spied on bin Laden and on Iran's nukes was just the start. Meet its bigger, higher-flying, stealthier cousin, the Northrop Grumman RQ-180. It's probably been flying for a few years now, but you weren't supposed to know that; the existence of this secret project, based out of Area 51, was revealed Friday 

by Aviation Week.

The existence of the RQ-180 has been long rumored. Cryptic public statements by U.S. Air Force officials indicated a secret high-altitude reconnaissance drone, and Northrop officials frequently reference the broad strokes of the program. For that matter, it is likely not the only classified unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. Other companies, including Lockheed and Boeing, also have a stable of smaller secretaircraft.

The RQ-180 is likely flying from the secret Air Force test facility at Groom Lake, Nevada, widely known as Area 51. Its exact specifications, including such crucial details as the number of engines, is unknown, but Aviation Week suggests a wingspan of over 130 feet, based on hangar construction at Northrop's Palmdale, California facility. The number of aircraft built is also unknown; however, a flight test program, relatively quick entry into service and open budget documents suggest a small fleet are flying routinely.

One such aircraft is Lockheed's RQ-170, first shown to the world in grainy pictures from Kandahar air base, Afghanistan, but only officially acknowledged after one crashed almost-intact in Iran. The RQ-170 was (and maybe still is) tasked by the CIA to spy on Iran's contentious nuclear program. 

The drone was reportedly used to spy on Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan before and during the raid that killed him. RQ-170 has also been reported in South Korea, possibly to look at North Korea's nuclear program. RQ-170 was impressive, but limited: it showed only some stealth characteristics, and was widely believed to be slightly outdated by the time it was discovered. The larger and stealthier RQ-180 would be able to fly higher, longer, allowing the CIA to watch the same targets for days at a time, and -- just maybe -- spy on more sophisticated countries.

The RQ-180 is based off the X-47B, a much smaller experimental aircraft that became the first drone to takeoff and land from an aircraft carrier. Where the smaller X-47B lacks range and stealth, RQ-180 evidently delivers. Though RQ-180 is far too large for an aircraft carrier, it may have the same air-to-air refueling capabilities as the X-47B, allowing it to stay in the air virtually indefinitely. It may also have attack capabilities: X-47B has bomb bays, which have thus far gone unused, and indeed Aviation Week suggests it is used for electronic attack and carries sophisticated sensors.

The aircraft's performance is said to be similar to Northrop's white-world entry, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, which can fly for days and cover thousands of miles. Hopefully the RQ-180 performs better; Global Hawk has received mixed marks on its evaluations, and the aircraft it was meant to replace, the venerable Lockheed U-2, will continue to fly for decades to come.

White-world reconnaissance capabilities, such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and a plethora of modified Beechcraft King Airs, are incapable of stealth and can easily be tracked on radar. Though few doubt stealthier capabilities, the Air Force has been closemouthed on its stealthy intelligence aircraft.

The Nevada desert has a long history of supporting whole squadrons of classified aircraft, including the famed Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 stealth fighter and the RQ-170. Often upon becoming public the aircraft are transferred to other facilities, usually the slightly-less-classified Tonopah Test Range airport. The wheels of declassification turn slowly, so as with RQ-170, details of the RQ-180 will likely remain opaque for years to come.

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