You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
4.4 percent
The New England Patriots are currently 3-0, leading some to speculate they’ll go undefeated through the rest of the year. According to my colleague Neil Paine, there’s a mere 4.4 percent chance of this happening. And according to Prophecy, even if it does happen, the New York Giants will beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. [FiveThirtyEight]
5 attempted hacks
Russian hackers made five attempts to access the private email server of Hillary Clinton. There’s no evidence those attempts worked, and the U.S. government is currently dealing with a massive hack of Office of Personnel Management data, so I’m close to considering this a win for the Clinton camp. [Associated Press]
9.8 percent
Percentage of respondents to a Suffolk University poll who, when asked to describe Donald Trump in one word, said something like “idiot,” “jerk,” “stupid,” or “dumb.” And it’s not like the entire remaining 90.2 percent had nicer things to say either. [Business Insider]
45 employees
The Secret Service, which has lately been carrying out its duties with the professionalism of elementary schoolers with off-brand Nerf guns, is being scrutinized for accessing — and maybe leaking — information on a member of Congress investigating the agency. Secret Service employees dug up Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s unsuccessful 2003 application for a job with the agency “starting 18 minutes after the start of a congressional hearing in March about the latest scandal involving drunken behavior by senior agents… At least 45 employees viewed the file.” [Associated Press]
66 percent
Percentage of South Carolinians who said removing the confederate battle flag from state grounds was the right decision, about 50 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats. [Winthrop University]
115 miles per hour
Hurricane Joaquin is building up power near the Bahamas, and was upgraded to Category 3 status with sustained winds of 115 miles per hour. And Joaquin is forecasted to become a Category 4 storm. If you’re on the east coast, it’s always important to be prepared in the event of a big storm, so be sure to hit up the liquor store today before the lines get too long and the good stuff sells out. If you think I’m joking, and I mostly am, keep in mind that the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department confirmed my advice on Twitter early Wednesday night. [Capital Weather Gang]
200 servers
Yahoo! recently donated 200 servers to Howard University and The University of Texas at El Paso, a historically black college and a predominantly Mexican-American university, respectively. It’s part of an effort to increase diversity in the technology field, and at Yahoo! in particular. [TechCrunch]
6,500 meter summit
The Nepali government, after an explosion in the number of people attempting to climb Mount Everest, is considering instituting new requirements on the age and ability of climbers. Under the proposed rules, climbers would have to be between the ages of 18 and 75, climbers with disabilities would not be allowed to summit Everest if they cannot do so on their own, and each climber would need to have another 6,500 meter climb under their belt. [Outside]
$25,000
The top salary in the National Women’s Hockey League, belonging to Kelli Stack of the Connecticut Whale. There are 72 players in the league. [ESPN]
$5 million
Reward the U.S. is offering for information that disrupts the sale of antiquities looted by ISIS. [The Hill]
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