You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
20 undisclosed missile sites
There are as many as 20 previously undisclosed secret missile sites in North Korea, according a new research report sponsored by an American defense think tank. The report comes ahead of a second U.S.-North Korea summit, scheduled for February. [NBC News]
Patriots -1.5 (O/U 58.5)
All but one game of the NFL season is now in the books and the New England Patriots will play the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3 in Atlanta. According to most Vegas sports books, as I write, the Patriots are 1.5-point favorites, and the game’s over-under is 58.5 points. [ESPN]
8 are running (so far)
Sen. Kamala Harris of California announced yesterday on “Good Morning America” that she is running for president. For those keeping a tally at home, that’s now: Eight people who are running for the Democratic nomination, two who are “all but certain” to run, four who are “likely” to run, and eight who “might” run. [The New York Times]
40 tweets
On Sunday, the 30th day of the government shutdown, President Trump sent out 40 tweets. And they were as motley as they were numerous. Trump boasted about the economy, criticized the news media, discussed the weather, belittled the existential threat of global warming, talked about the wall, warned Nancy Pelosi, corrected Ann Coulter, boasted about his poll numbers, bragged about his building skills, thanked the father of right-wing conspiracy theorist, criticized the news media again, posted a video, retweeted a conservative radio personality, thanked the actor James Woods, retweeted his wife, thanked those going without pay because of the shutdown, congratulated the Patriots, retweeted his son, and lauded Curt Schilling. [Politico]
3-fold increase
If you’ve noticed something different happening these past 290 million years, it’s not just you — the rate of asteroids striking Earth and the moon have increased sharply, from once every 3 million years to once every 1 million years. Be careful out there. [The Guardian]
12 murals
The University of Notre Dame plans to cover 12 murals, painted in the 1880s, in its campus’s Main Building depicting Christopher Columbus. Notre Dame’s president called it “darker side of this story, a side we must acknowledge.” [Associated Press]
Love digits? Find even more in FiveThirtyEight’s book of math and logic puzzles, “The Riddler.” It’s in stores now! I hope you dig it.
If you see a significant digit in the wild, please send it to @ollie.