By The Numbers

Live Long and Draw my Image on $5 Bills

Tobin Low Mar 2, 2015
$11.8 billion

That’s how much NXP Semiconductors will pay for Freescale semiconductor in what will result in a huge chip maker for all sorts of devices and industries. As reported by the NY Times, the merger will also benefit companies looking to simplify their list of suppliers for products like smart cars and mobile phones.

2.5 million

That’s how many homeless children live in America todaythe highest number on recordaccording to the National Center for Family Homelessness at the American Institutes for Research or AIR. Some say this demographic and their families have received less attention than homeless veterans and the chronically homeless. 

$5

In honor of the late Leonard Nimoy, The Canadian Design Resource called for a revival of “Spocking fives,” the practice of drawing Spock’s iconic hair, eyebrows, and pointy ears over the image of Canada’s seventh prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on $5 bills. As Quartz reports, defacing currency may be illegal, but it doesn’t stop the $5 from being legal tender.

399 yuan

That’s the price of Xiaomi’s recently released Go Pro-like camera, as reported by the BBC. The device costs half as much as a Go Pro, and comes with certain features that its competitor lacks. It cannot, however, withstand some of the rough and tumble action related to filming oneself out in the wild.

$3 billion

For all you House of Cards fans, this is your official Spoiler Alert. Over at Vox, they’ve broken down a key element of the most recent season’s 5th episode: the Stafford Act, which allows the President to allocate funding to what is deemed a national emergency. In the show, what President Frank Underwood attempts to pull off under the Stafford Act is met with intense skepticism. Turns out, real life isn’t that different from television, with Congress worried that Presidents have started to abuse that power over time. There’s even a theory that Presidents declare more states of emergency during election years. Though, with only a couple election years to compare since the act was passed, available data isn’t conclusive, as you can see from Vox’s chart:

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.