You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
1 point
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and ace kicker Justin Tucker have endorsed a senseless, ridiculous and honestly pretty awesome NFL rule that would give a team one point if they boot a kickoff between the uprights. In a tough year for kickers overall, Tucker is the only kicker to make every kick — 15 extra points and 27 field goals — and just this past Sunday got the ball between the uprights on a kickoff. [Fox Sports]
410 euros
The Dutch parliament has approved a ban on face coverings in public; the rule covers ski masks as well as burkas and niqab face veils. The fine is up to 410 euros, which is about $435. The Dutch Senate needs to approve the bill for it to become law in the Netherlands. [BBC]
506
A study suggests that about a third of antibiotic prescriptions written in outpatient settings in the U.S. were not appropriate. In 2010 and 2011, U.S. doctors wrote 506 annual antibiotic scripts for every 1,000 population, but only 353 were medically necessary. [JAMA, National Geographic]
$1,000
New York has made automated ticket bots super illegal, compared to the somewhat illegal they used to be. The previous fines were bearable by ticket scalpers, but the new ones are devastating: up to $1,000 or twice the gain from the crime, plus potential jail time. [The Verge]
1.3 million
Number of British citizens who live abroad in the European Union. In a parliamentary committee about health care for these folks, an interesting disparity came to light: There are about 70,000 British retirees living in Spain, but only 62 recorded Spaniards who thought to spend their golden years in the U.K. [Quartz]
4.8 million
Number of people aged 75 or older in Japan who have a drivers license, up from 2.4 million in 2005. Traffic accidents involving a driver aged 75 and up comprise 12.8 percent of incidents now, up from 7.4 percent a decade ago, and authorities are trying to get more 75-year-olds off the road by — no joke — offering discounts on ramen. [The Guardian]
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