You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
2.4 million empty manufacturing jobs
According to a new report from the consulting firm Deloitte, there will be 4.6 million American manufacturing jobs to fill in the next decade — and 2.4 million of them will go unfilled. The report cites three reasons: the increased skill required thanks to automation, the exiting of baby boomers from the work force and “negative perception” of the manufacturing industry. [MIT Technology Review]
1,000-year chill
A giant crater, bigger than Washington, D.C. and caused by an asteroid strike, was discovered in northwest Greenland. It may have been created as recently as the end of the last Ice Age, “as humans were spreading across North America.” It wasn’t quite as serious as the strike that killed the dinosaurs, but meltwater from the expanse of ice it crashed into may have disrupted ocean currents and caused a “thousand-year chill” on the continent of North America. [Science]
$90.3 million painting
A David Hockney painting of a swimming pool (what else?) sold for $90.3 million at an auction at Christie’s yesterday. According to the auction house, that’s a new record for a living artist. I’m no expert, but I imagine you could have an actual swimming pool for that kind of money. [AFP]
More than 10,000 medical marijuana patients
A new National Institute on Drug Abuse study will follow some 10,000 medical marijuana patients who also take opioids, to see if their opioid use drops. The study’s lead investigator calls it a “natural experiment” — can relief provided by medical marijuana help opioid users? A “rising tolerance of weed” and “dramatic spike in opioid deaths” in the U.S. have paved the way for the existence of this research. [BuzzFeed News]
“10s of thousands of votes”
According to Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, there are still “tens of thousands of votes” uncounted in that state as of yesterday. The Republican candidate Ron DeSantis, on the other hand, called the election results “clear and unambiguous.” Gillum trailed DeSantis by just over 33,000 votes. [NBC News]
Nearly 150 trees
Some say it’s lazy for journalists to lead with a description of the weather. Others say (correctly) that the weather is the single most important thing in our lives and well worth mentioning. In any case, it snowed in New York — and elsewhere — for the first time this year yesterday. The New York snow ripped down nearly 150 trees and downed more than 300 tree limbs, which injured a police officer, crushed cars and blocked streets. Happy early Thanksgiving! [NBC New York]
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