Numbers: Feb. 21, 2005

1963 The last year, prior to last week's municipal elections in Riyadh, that Saudi Arabia held a public election

640 Number of candidates who ran for Riyadh's seven open city-council seats

59% Proportion of 10th-graders in 1990 who said they expected to graduate from a four-year college

80% Proportion of 10th-graders in 2002 who expected to graduate from a four-year college, attributed to increased encouragement from teachers

824 Number of NHL games already missed this hockey season when players and owners gave up negotiating last week

378 Number of players who have moved overseas to play in European leagues so far, more than half the NHL roster

0.23 sec. Amount of time it takes a star-nosed mole to eat one mouthful, thought to be the fastest eating of any mammal

22 Number of fleshy nasal appendages that help the mole quickly determine what's edible

Sources: Washington Post (2); USA Today (2); Reuters; International Ice Hockey Federation; Nature (2)