You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
1 triceratops
Bad news for the people in Thornton, Colorado, waiting for a new public safety facility on 132nd Avenue and Quebec Street: Work will be delayed because of a triceratops that is in the way. Workers uncovered the rare fossil while breaking ground, and now all sorts of scientists and museum curators are involved. [KDVR]
27 years
Alf Clausen, the composer on “The Simpsons” for the past 27 years, has been fired from the program. The longtime animated sitcom has been on a cost-cutting stint recently, but Clausen and his orchestra’s contributions to the show have been massive: They’ve been nominated for nearly two-dozen Emmy’s and have won two. [Vulture]
82 percent
A study of work-related activity found that employees use macOS (Apple’s operating system) while doing work on desktops 25 percent of the time. But Apple really dominates mobile work, 82 percent vs. Android’s 18 percent. [Computerworld]
465,000 people
Number of people in the U.S. with pacemakers that are vulnerable to being hacked, and thus need a firmware update. That’s obviously worrisome news, and I hope those people visit a doctor soon to get everything fixed. But the situation is also a great pitch for the kind of C-to-C-minus “Black Mirror” episode we’re going to start seeing when the show takes a dip after Season 7. [Ars Technica]
$1 million in looted Army weapons
According to testimony in federal court this week, over $1 million worth of stolen military equipment made its way to buyers in Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Mexico and other countries after getting sold on the black market, including through some site on “dark web” called “eBay.” The equipment was allegedly stolen from Fort Campbell in Kentucky. [Army Times]
21.8 million comments
A study of the 21.8 million comments submitted to the Federal Communications Commission about repealing net neutrality rules found that 60 percent were against the FCC chair’s plan to overturn the status quo to benefit internet service providers, and 39 percent were in favor. But the difference is way more stark if you don’t count spam and form letters: 1.52 million comments against repealing the current regulations and a mere 23,000 in favor. [Ars Technica]
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