You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
$60 billion in goods
China has launched its own salvo in the latest escalation of President Trump’s trade war, saying that it will raise tariffs on nearly $60 billion in U.S. goods from 10 percent to 20 percent or 25 percent. After the news, the S&P 500 fell more than 2 percent. [The New York Times]
30 percent commission
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4, in a majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and joined by the court’s liberal bloc, that an antitrust action against Apple brought by iPhone users could proceed. The users argue that Apple’s 30 percent commission on App Store sales “is an unfair use of monopoly power that results in inflated prices passed on to consumers.” [CNBC]
265,000 galaxies
We have a new “deep-field image” from the Hubble Space Telescope, the most comprehensive such image of the cosmos to date. It is made from 16 years’ worth of data, over 7,500 separate exposures, and shows 265,000 galaxies dating back over 13 billion years. I’m guessing it took that long just to get everyone to look at the camera and not blink. [MIT Technology Review]
5th place
In the midst of the protracted Brexit tumult, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party fell to fifth place in a recent YouGov poll ahead of the European parliamentary elections. The Conservatives (at 10 percent) were behind the Brexit Party (34 percent), Labour (16 percent), Liberal Democrats (15 percent) and the Greens (11 percent). [Reuters]
85 percent of the solar system
The new “gold rush” may take place in outer space as upstart star-gazing firms such as the Asteroid Mining Corp. seek to exploit heavenly bodies for their for precious metals and minerals. But a group of scientists has proposed making more than 85 percent of the solar system off-limits to such development. “Its primary goal is to ensure that humanity avoids a catastrophic future in which all of the resources within its reach are permanently used up,” reports The Guardian. [The Guardian]
15 days
The fallout from the controversial Kentucky Derby continues to settle. Luis Saez, the jockey atop the disqualified Maximum Security, has been banned for 15 days, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced. He was suspended for failing to “make the proper effort to maintain a straight course.” [Associated Press]
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