• ☝️ A complete mastodon jaw fossil was recently discovered by a New York homeowner in their backyard.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Paleovalley

• 📊 US markets closed mostly flat (S&P: -0.1%; Dow: +0.04%; Nasdaq: -0.1%). | 🏠 US existing home sales rose 6.1% in November from a year earlier, the biggest annual gain since June 2021.
• 🥪 A father and son pled guilty to orchestrating a stock manipulation scheme involving a small New Jersey deli that at one point had a market cap of $100 million (with < $40,000/year in revenue).
• 📦 Amazon workers went on strike across seven facilities in New York, Georgia, California, and Illinois. | 👟 Nike posted better-than-expected results in its first quarterly earnings report under new CEO Elliott Hill. | 🚚 FedEx announced plans to spin off its freight trucking division; shares rose in after-hours trading.

*From our partners: 🙌🎁 Healthy, delicious snacks for the holidays… Paleovalley’s 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks and Superfood Bars are clean, flavorful, and nutrient-packed. Made with organic, natural ingredients and tasty flavors available – perfect for stuffing stockings. Save 30% on lifetime subscriptions or 20% on single purchases.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏓 Women pro pickleball players are paid an average of $260,000, higher than the highest-paid WNBA player (~$250,000) and ~4x what most NWSL athletes make (~$65,000).
• 🍿 Disney is only studio to top $2 billion at the 2024 domestic box office; the tally includes three of the year’s top-five grossing films (Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2). | 📺 Beast Games, MrBeast’s competition show, premiered on Amazon Prime Video.
• 🤝 Private equity firms are reportedly looking to buy into college sports. | 💰 What the top 75 college sports programs are worth. | 🏈 The 2024 College Football Playoff kicks off tonight with #7 Notre Dame taking on #10 Indiana.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Nuts.com

• 🚫🐝 Murder hornets are officially gone: The USDA and Washington state officials declared the northern giant hornet eradicated from the country.
• 🦠 The modern form of syphilis likely originated in the Americas within the last 9,000 years, per new research.
• 🧠🌌 Brain cells appear to mature faster in space compared to Earth, per a new study by scientists who utilized the ISS.

*From our partners: 🎁⌛ Time is running out for delicious holiday deals… Celebrate the holidays with flavors crafted and sourced in the USA from Nuts.com. Get the Gourmet Gift Basket or Chocolate Lover Tray for 40% off – plus new customers save 20%. Get last minute gifts here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🇫🇷 A French court convicted the former husband of Gisèle Pelicot and 50 other men in a mass rape trial that’s transformed the 72-year-old woman into a feminist icon.
• 🚫🚁 The FAA temporarily banned drone flights over 22 “critical infrastructure” areas in New Jersey amid a recent spate of reported drone sightings across the Northeast US. (What we know about the sightings.)
• 🧑‍⚖️ A Georgia appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump and co-defendants in a case she brought over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election; analysts say the decision could spell an end to the case. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🍿 The 30 must-see films for 2025.