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Significant Digits For Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news. A Significant Digits daily newsletter is coming soon. If you want to be one of the first to receive it, sign up here.

12 percent

GoPro stock is down 12 percent after it was reported that Apple has received patents for mounted digital cameras similar to GoPro’s, and that the patents specifically reference weaknesses in GoPro cameras. Presumably the company is kicking itself for not strapping a GoPro on the stock before it started to freefall. [Mashable]


13 percent more likely to drink

More money, more problems: People who work more than 48 hours per week are 13 percent more likely to engage in risky drinking than those working between 35 and 40 hours. [NPR]

16 percent of Republican men

Pew Research Center asked Americans if they hope the United States elects a female president in their lifetime. On the left, 69 percent of women and 46 percent of men indicated they hoped that would happen. On the right, 20 percent of women and a meager 16 percent of men agreed. [Pew Research Center]


32 percent down

The digital currency Bitcoin is in the middle of another crash, falling 32 percent in 2 days. One bitcoin went for $181.45 on Wednesday. Bitcoin was one the worst investments of 2014 — worse than the ruble or oil — losing 58 percent of its value. [Bloomberg]


40 percent

Proving that HBO’s “Girls” truly has its finger on the pulse of society, 40 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 have tried anal sex. [Vogue]


47 percent

President Obama’s approval rating, which is up 5 percentage points in the past month, according to the Pew Research Center. It’s roughly on par with Ronald Reagan’s at the same point in his presidency. [New York Times]

600 miles

Length of a wall Saudi Arabia plans to build along its border with Iraq. The wall is a combined fence and ditch, and had been discussed since 2006. As the power of the Islamic State in the region grows, Riyadh has sent 30,000 additional troops to the border. [Business Insider]


603 presents

Prince George, a well-known genetic lottery winner born into unimaginable wealth and privilege in July 2013, received 603 gifts from members of the Australian public. The gifts included clothing, books and sports equipment. I realize the kid could be king one day, but still, this is rather a lot of expectation to put on him. [The Telegraph]

4,074 uses of force

New York City corrections officers reported using force — ranging from pepper spray to punches — 4,074 times in 2014, an all-time high. [Associated Press]


$750,000

Reported cost of a one-day Snapchat ad. A masthead ad on YouTube goes for only about $500,000, and many advertisers are griping about Snapchat’s price. While we’re on the subject of costly decisions related to the ephemeral photo sharing app, I don’t know what exactly I sent to all of you last Friday at 1 a.m., but I am very curious why several of you screen-shotted it. [Adweek]

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As always, if you see a significant digit in the wild, tweet it to me @WaltHickey.

CORRECTION (Jan. 15, 9:57 a.m.): A previous version of this article misstated the source of 603 gifts received by Prince George. They came from people in Australia.

Walt Hickey was FiveThirtyEight’s chief culture writer.

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