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11 percentage points
Finally, an issue that the polarized left and right can approach — almost sort of kind of — agreeing on. When asked whether all children should be required to be vaccinated, 76 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Republicans, and 65 percent of independents said yes. That’s a margin of a mere 11 percentage points! Vaccinate your kids, people. [FiveThirtyEight]
21 percent
An investigation of herbal supplements by the New York State attorney general found that only 21 percent contained any DNA from the advertised plants. The supplements — which investigators purchased at Target, GNC, Walgreens and Walmart — were advertised as containing supplements such as ginseng or ginkgo balboa, but in fact often contained seemingly random vegetable matter. [CBS News]
68 percent approval
NASA continues to enjoy a solid favorability rating across the board, with 68 percent of Americans holding a favorable view of the space agency. NASA spent 0.5 percent of total federal outlays last year. Meanwhile, the IRS — which collects that coin — sits at a measly 45 percent favorability. [Pew Research Center]
99.8 pounds
640 kilograms
Hafthór Björnsson, an Icelandic strongest-man competitor who plays a barbaric character on the popular television show “Game of Thrones,” has broken a millennium-old mythical record after taking five steps while carrying a log that weighs 640 kilograms (1,411 pounds). The 26-year-old is 6′ 9″ and is a living reminder that we should all be pretty thrilled the Vikings stopped doing that raiding thing a little while back. [New York Daily News]
10,000 Picassos
31,000 mph
47,000 edits
$15 million
$6.3 billion
Staples is buying Office Depot for $6.3 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. If the deal goes through, the only things that will stand between the paper juggernaut and world domination are the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and the inevitable obsolescence of paper. [Reuters]
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