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Significant Digits For Friday, Oct. 27, 2017

You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.


20 deals

Less than 15 percent of first-look producer deals with the six major studios are with production companies led by women, a new report from Variety found. Out of 139 such deals — in which the studio pays overhead and provides some cash in exchange for first dibs on the film — only 20 were with companies helmed by women. That number has barely changed recently. [Variety]


1 interstellar visitor

We have a visitor! Late Thursday, astronomers announced that they’ve spotted a space rock from another star cruising through our solar system. It’s the first time we’ve caught an interstellar asteroid or comet visiting the neighborhood. Scientists are provisionally calling the object A/2017 U1. They’re not sure if it’s mostly rock or ice yet, but it’s about a half-kilometer in size and flying at just over 40 kilometers per second. [Scientific American]


40 nuclear reactors

Wind power generation in Germany is predicted to go nuts on Sunday, reaching a projected 39,190 megawatts at 7 a.m.. That’s roughly 40 nuclear reactors worth of power. [Bloomberg]


95,000 workers

United Parcel Service is adding 95,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. The company expects holiday season deliveries will rise 5 percent, to 750 million, this time around. On an average day, UPS handles 19 million packages, a figure that roughly doubles around the holidays. [Bloomberg]

$900 million

Next year, the Smithsonian Institution will begin a seven-year, $900 million total renovation of the National Air and Space Museum. The first new exhibits are planned to open in 2021. Construction will cost $650 million, and new exhibits will cost $250 million. The museum cost $40 million to build in the first place, in the 1970s (roughly $176 million in today’s dollars). [The Washington Business Journal]


$66 billion

CVS Health Corp. is looking into buying the insurer Aetna for something in the ballpark of $66 billion. It could be the biggest M&A deal of the year if it pans out. [The Wall Street Journal]


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If you see a significant digit in the wild, send it to @WaltHickey.

Walt Hickey was FiveThirtyEight’s chief culture writer.

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