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Barometer

What Hillary Clinton won’t find in Area 51

Also in our Barometer column: The dangers of bouncy castles; productivity; wet bank holidays

2 April 2016

9:00 AM

2 April 2016

9:00 AM

Area of doubt

Hillary Clinton has said that if she is elected she will open files on the US military facility in Nevada known as Area 51. Some rumours which will almost certainly not be confirmed:
— According to a physicist who claims to have worked there, nine captured alien spacecraft have been examined there. Another says that a small band of aliens works there. They are 5ft high, wear dungarees and came from a planet called Quintumnia, 45 years’ travel time away.
— Scientists there are working on a 6,000mph plane called Aurora, a prototype of which has already been flown.
— Workers are suing the USAF after their skin turned red and peeled off.

Bouncy hassle

A girl of seven was killed when the bouncy castle in which she was playing was scooped up by winds in Harlow, Essex. How common are bouncy castle injuries?
— A 2012 study in the journal Pediatrics found that the injury rate in US children had risen from 1.01 per 100,000 in 1995 to 15.2 per 100,000 in 2010.
— In 2010, 31 children every day were treated in hospital.
54.6% were boys.
27.5% of the injuries were fractures, with 27.3% sprains.
— The most vulnerable age group were six- to 12-year-olds: 54% of the victims.

Working smarter

Which industries have the best and worst recent records for productivity?

BEST
Admin/support +15%
Motor trade +13%
Transport and storage +13%
Chemicals/pharmaceuticals +11%


Source: ONS

WORST
Manufacturing equipment -14%
Textiles -13%
Rubber/plastics -8.2%
Accommodation/food -8.1%

Source: ONS

Wet wet wet

Easter Monday was disrupted by a storm in southern England. Have recent bank holidays been especially wet?

Rainfall at Heathrow
Spring bank hol 2014 12mm
Aug bank hol 2014 20mm
Good Friday 2015 4mm
Easter Monday 2015 0mm
May Day 2015 7mm
Spring bank hol 2015 0mm
Aug bank hol 2015 17mm

 

Daily average that month
Spring bank hol 2014 2.7mm
Aug bank hol 2014 3.1mm
Good Friday 2015 0.5mm
Easter Monday 2015 0.5mm
May Day 2015 1.3mm
Spring bank hol 2015 1.3mm
Aug bank hol 2015 3.7mm

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