Science question of the day: What drops twice as fast as flies? (Hang on, we’ll get to the math too.)

We learned today of another Republican retirement in the House:

Florida Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart will call it quits today, retiring after nine terms representing a heavily Cuban-American district in the Miami area, according to a source briefed on the decision.

Diaz-Balart, whose younger brother, Mario, also holds a congressional seat in Florida, is the 18th Republican to retire this cycle and the second in two days. On Wednesday, Michigan Rep. Vern Ehlers (R) announced he would not be running again.

Yesterday, after the Ehlers announcement, Jonathan Singer pointed out that the Republicans’ retirement rate is approaching 10%. Today, Diaz-Balart took them through the 10% threshold.

With Democrat Diane Watson announcing her retirement today, Democratic retirements will now be 13 out of 255. Which is just a tad above 5%.

So if Democrats are dropping like flies, and Republicans are dropping twice as fast, what does that make Republicans?