The results were determined using data from the 1990 and 2000 Census, as well as the 2005, 2006 and 2007 American Community Survey, also conducted by the Census Bureau, to see how communities change from year to year rather than decade to decade.
But they may be only years, rather than decades, away.
The transfer of useful characteristics might now take weeks, rather than decades.
"What's amazing about this time, is that companies are getting started from nothing, and becoming incredible institutions in years, rather than decades," Mr. Houston said.
He said he could foresee the day a British chief constable spoke with an American accent coming "within years rather than decades".
Grammatical and phonological structures are relatively stable and change noticeably over centuries rather than decades (see below Linguistic change), but vocabularies can change very quickly both in word stock and in word meanings.
Perhaps now the act's true potential can be realised; it feels like parity in pay between the genders can be a matter of years away, rather than decades.
Since it's so precise, we can reap the benefits in years rather than decades".
The cautious among us envisage timescales of centuries rather than decades for these transformations.
If we want survivors to speak out in days rather than decades, we need to start by believing them.
