Significant Digits For Monday, March 26, 2018


You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news. This is Anna Maria Barry-Jester, filling in for Walt Hickey, our most significant leader, for a couple of days while he gets a little R&R.

4 out of 10 people

The obesity rate keeps on growing in the U.S. Data released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 39.6 percent of adults qualified as obese in a 2015-2016 survey. That’s up from 34 percent in 2007-2008. Slightly better news: the kids’ obesity rate has seen seen only a small rise, from 17 percent a decade ago, to 18.5 percent. “Maybe all these community efforts that we’ve put forth are making a difference,” said one endocrinologist. [Web MD]


7 minutes

The country with the shortest average wait time for hitching a ride is Iraq, according to the life work of Juan Villarino, who’s been hitchhiking his way around the world for several years. He’s hitched more than 2,350 rides and written two books, taking meticulous notes along the way. [New York Times Magazine]


27.5 percent stake

Uber is handing over its businesses in Southeast Asia to a rival (reportedly in exchange for a 27.5 percent stake). The ride-hailing company has previously retreated from China and Russia. [QZ]


202 years

Founded in 1816 in upstate New York, Remington Outdoor is one of the oldest firearm manufacturers in the U.S. It filed for bankruptcy on Sunday; the company has seen sales fluctuate along with the potential for gun legislation in Congress, but sales have dropped off since Donald Trump became president. [New York Times]


5 million Gs

That’s the acceleration of the stinging cell of a jelly fish. The caustic creatures are being tested for a range of medical treatments, including bandages for wounds and delivery devices for collagen to minimize wrinkles. Nothing like the force of more than a million Ferraris to make you feel young again. [Undark]


$58 billion

Facebook share prices plummeted last week after news emerged that data from 50 million people had been taken by Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm. The company lost $58 billion in value overall. This week’s not looking too much brighter for the social media company; over the weekend, several news sites reported that Facebook has been tracking calls and text messages on Android phones for years. [BBC]


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CORRECTION (March 26, 2018, 11:10 a.m.): A previous version of this article gave the incorrect number of years since Remington Outdoors’ founding. It was founded 202 years ago, not 198.