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By The Numbers

I’m leaving on a (garbage-fueled) jet plane

Tony Wagner Jun 30, 2015
1 second

That’s how much time will be added to the world clock on Tuesday. What may seem like an insignificant amount of time actually has big implications for trading around the world. Take a look at our explainer on how the ‘leap second’ will be applied to the global market.

26 million

At least that many Facebook users have put their profile picture through a rainbow filter in celebration of Pride month and last week’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. The company its not running a study related to the photo tool, but the Atlantic points out Facebook has previously examined the way users can influence each other with the ‘I Voted” button, profile picture changes and other instances of what’s sometimes called “slacktivism.”

$50,440 a year

That’s the amount proposed by President Barack Obama as the new earning threshold for workers qualifying for overtime pay. The current ceiling is $23,660 a year. The White House says as many as 5 million workers will benefit from the rule change in the short term. But as the New York Times reports, some economists worry that the change will result in employers shortening hours, rather than paying time-and-a-half.

66,320

That’s how many people used Airbnb to stay in the Marais neighborhood in Paris last summer, more than actually live there. The Wall Street Journal examined how the explosion of bookings on Airbnb have changed Paris, and what kinds of people are staying where. Looking for more Airbnb data? This site gets granular — down to individual listings — with several major cities.

$30 million

That’s how much United Airlines says it will invest in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a company that effectively turns trash into fuel. As reported by the New York Times, the airlines plans a flight for this summer that will be primarily run on the garbage-sourced fuel. A large part of the motivation to invest in alternative fuels is the pressure on major airlines to reduce carbon emissions.

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