You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
18 years old
Vashti Cunningham will help represent the U.S. in the high jump at the Rio Olympics. At just 18 years old, she’s the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympics since 1980. [Excelle Sports]
50 years
The Freedom of Information Act has turned 50. President Lyndon Johnson signed the open-records law, allowing anyone to request federal government documents with a mere letter. [The Washington Post]
110 emails in 52 chains
James Comey, the director of the FBI, released details on Tuesday of his department’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state. The FBI found 110 messages in 52 email chains that contained classified information, but no criminal charges were recommended. [Digg]
300 pounds
A 61-year-old Canadian man, Rick Nelson, survived an attack by a 300-pound mother black bear after coming across the bear’s cub while walking his dog. Nelson punched the mama bear in the face (twice). “Most bears are right-handed,” Nelson, a former bear hunter, said. I’m really just going to trust him on this one. [CBC]
31 million routers
Close your eyes and think of a wireless router. You are probably thinking of the Linksys WRT54GL router. You know, the blue one with two antennae that came out in 2005. Shockingly, this antiquated bit of George W. Bush-era tech is still a good seller for Linksys, pulling in multi-million dollar sales each year. They’re cheap, they stack, and they’re apparently durable. The WRT54G line of routers has sold 31 million units in the past 14 years. [Ars Technica]
264 billion barrels
Estimated recoverable oil reserves in the U.S., more than half of which is locked up in shale oil, according to Rystad Energy. That’s a higher figure than Russia or Saudi Arabia. [Bloomberg]
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