You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
30 days of martial law
Following Russia’s firing on and seizing of three Ukrainian navy vessels this past weekend, the Ukrainian parliament voted Monday to declare martial law for 30 days. The Ukrainian president asked lawmakers to enact the policy because of intelligence about what he called “a highly serious threat of a ground operation against Ukraine.” [Associated Press]
300 million miles
NASA’s InSight spacecraft landed safely on Elysium Planitia — a flat, smooth plain on Mars. The craft alit on the red planet after a 300 million mile journey that began in California in May. InSight — short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — is there to study the crust, mantle and core of Mars. Happy digging! [Los Angeles Times]
79 percent likely
Speaking of space, scientists, including some from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the International Space Station. Using genetic analyses, the researchers estimated that the strains of bacteria they found had a 79 percent chance of being disease-causing. [Gizmodo]
12 draws
The regulation games of the best-of-12 World Chess Championship ended yesterday — with 12 straight draws. Despite the lack of wins and losses, the match has been a rollercoaster, featuring a deleted video, a black eye and a bizarre handshake. The defending champ Magnus Carlsen of Norway and his challenger Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. will play tie-breaking speed chess games Wednesday. Caruana would be the first American world champion since Bobby Fischer in 1972. [FiveThirtyEight]
69 migrants
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner said that 69 migrants were arrested in California after trying to cross the border from Tijuana. Mexico’s National Migration Institute said that 98 migrants were being deported. This came amid a confrontation during which Border Patrol agents fired tear gas into Mexico “to stop some migrants who tried to breach the border,” according to the AP. [Associated Press]
14,000 jobs
General Motors plans to “idle” five factories in North America and cut some 14,000 jobs. This includes an assembly plant in Ohio and factories in Maryland, Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. GM’s chief executive said the cuts were an effort “to stay in front of a fast-changing market” — GM stock climbed nearly 5 percent to its highest closing price in months. [The New York Times]
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