You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
218,000 copies per issue
The National Enquirer, supermarket-tabloid fixture and fervent supporter of President Trump, is on the selling block. American Media Inc., its owner, is “actively seeking to sell off” the publication, according to Washington Post sources. A hedge fund manager whose company controls AMI reportedly became “disgusted” with the Enquirer’s reporting, which led to the decision to sell. In 2014, the tabloid sold an average of 516,000 copies per issue — a number that fell to 218,000 in December, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. [The Washington Post]
50,000 years ago
A new human species, which lived at least 50,000 years ago, was discovered in a cave in the Philippines, according to new research in Nature. The species is being called Homo luzonensis. The bad news for H. luzonensis — other than being extinct and all — is that they probably stood less than three feet tall. [The New York Times]
$846,394 in income
Tax returns and the hypothetical and actual releases thereof are all the rage these days, and Elizabeth Warren released hers yesterday. She and her husband reported $846,394 in adjusted gross income in 2018. Over $300,000 of that came from writing. Speaking of which, I need to have a talk with my editor. [CNN]
119 to 1
The New Zealand parliament voted 119 to 1 to ban most automatic and semi-automatic weapons. The vote came less than a month after 50 people were killed in attacks on two mosques in Christchurch. The lone no vote came from the sole member of the libertarian ACT party. [Associated Press]
18.24 percent of a park
In San Francisco earlier this week, the city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected an apartment complex, which would’ve contained 15 below-market-rate units, “because it would cast an evening shadow on a South of Market park.” Specifically, the building would’ve cast a shadow for 100 minutes on the longest day of the year, covering an additional 18.24 percent of the park in darkness. [San Francisco Chronicle]
9 freshman representatives
Should first-term Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib worry about getting primaried? Some in their party are already discussing recruiting challengers, but out of 626 total freshmen who served between 1999 and 2018, nine have lost primary challenges since the 2000 election, my colleague Nathaniel Rakich writes. That’s a 1.4 percent rate of defeat, compared to 1.1 percent for all representatives over that period. [FiveThirtyEight]
From ABC News:
National Enquirer put up for sale by AMI
Love digits? Find even more in FiveThirtyEight’s book of math and logic puzzles, “The Riddler.”
If you see a significant digit in the wild, please send it to @ollie.