You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
6 percent
Last night the New York Jets played the Buffalo Bills, and for once it wasn’t a disappointment only for the Jets: Having the Bills clad in red and the Jets adorned in green meant that the game was inscrutable for red-green colorblind fans, an affliction that 6 percent of men have. [Deadspin]
25 mph
A Google driverless car was pulled over Thursday for driving too slow, the company said. Google caps speeds for the vehicles at 25 mph. [The Verge]
30 people
In the latest attempt to plumb the depths of the “significant” part of this column’s title, here’s this: A skateboarding bulldog named Otto set a world record after boarding through a tunnel made by the legs of 30 people in Peru. Have you ever done that? No? Well, you’re just going to have to live with the fact that this dude is way gnarlier than you for the rest of your life. [BBC]
$40 per hour
Cost to rent a surrogate mom in Brooklyn, New York. Nina Keneally is offering her matronly services at an hourly rate to counsel and reassure disaffected millennials in the borough through her Need A Mom company. I think we did it, guys. I think we took the gig economy too far. [The Daily Beast]
40.8 percent
Percentage of Iowa Republicans who said they thought the state of the economy was poor, notable because the Iowa economy is actually doing really great right now. This dissonance could be a major factor in the upcoming election. [FiveThirtyEight]
165 years
When it comes to timeless styles, you really can’t do much better than buffalo check. What’s buffalo check? I want you to close your eyes and picture a bearded man chopping wood in the snow. His shirt? Red and black buffalo check. The 165-year-old style is coming back this year in all sorts of forms and remains a staple on retailers’ shelves each winter. [Adweek]
192,000
Fox Business Network enjoyed a viewership boost after it hosted a Republican primary debate Tuesday, with 192,000 viewers during a business day Wednesday, about double its number from the day before. [Talking Biz News]
631,187
Number of students who were scheduled to take the Suneung in South Korea on Thursday. The nationwide exam has a substantial bearing on the academic future of Koreans planning to enter university. [The Korea Herald]
1 million
Approximate number of U.S. households that would be affected by a proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development rule that would ban smoking in public housing units. The change would affect a lot of people in New York, where 400,000 people live in 178,000 New York City Housing Authority apartments. [The New York Times]
526 million
Number of Spotify streams of “Lean On” by Major Lazer & DJ Snake, currently the most-streamed song in the service’s history. Given that New York is in a cold snap and I’m getting in that mood, I expect to single-handedly take “Let It Go” past that bar by Christmas. [The Guardian]
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