• ☝️ Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is in: The famed prognosticating rodent did see his shadow on Groundhog’s Day yesterday in front of a ~40,000-person crowd, implying six more weeks of winter instead of an early spring.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📊 US markets were mixed last week (S&P: -1.0%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: -1.6%). | 🪙 Cryptocurrencies fell following news of the US tariffs; as of this writing, the CoinDesk 20 index, which measures the largest 20 digital assets by market cap, is down 19%; ether is trading at its lowest level since November.
• 🇨🇳 China's January factory growth came in below expectations.
• 🚗 US car insurance rates increased 15% nationwide last year; rates are expected to increase another 5% in 2025, according to Insurify, an online insurance agent and comparison-shopping site.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Niphtio

• 🏀 Caitlin Clark’s #22 jersey was retired by the Iowa Hawkeyes’ basketball program in a ceremony yesterday afternoon. | ➕ WNBA expansion: Austin, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Nashville, Philadelphia, and St. Louis are all bidding to become the location of the WNBA’s 16th franchise.
• ⚖️ Elon Musk’s X added ​​Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell to its advertiser boycott lawsuit.
• 🏆🎶 The 2025 Grammy Awards ceremony took place last night in Los Angeles; winners include Beyoncé (Best Country Album) and Sabrina Carpenter (Best Pop Album); see the full list.

*From our partners: 🏄‍♀️ Surfing Bluesky?… Niphtio is our favorite extension for bookmarks and organizing, and they’ve released a beta integration with Bluesky. The Chrome/Firefox extensions let you easily save posts from your Bluesky feed, add them to collections, annotate with notes, and retrieve them later with smart search. Sign up free for Niphtio here.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 👂 Humans try to perk up their ears when listening hard, like other animals – even though this ability was lost by our evolutionary ancestors millions of years ago, per a new study.
• 🧏 Ice Age Europeans as young as 10 had cheek piercings ~30,000 years ago, which likely signaled a person's membership in a group, per new research.
• 🧬 NASA scientists want to solve a mystery: Why did life "turn left?"

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Quince

• ✈️💥 A medical jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood ~30 seconds after taking off on Friday, killing all six people onboard as well as a person inside a vehicle and injuring 22 others.
• ⚖️ A federal appeals court struck down the US government’s longstanding ban on handgun sales to Americans between the ages of 18-20; the case is expected to reach the Supreme Court.
• 🏛️ President Trump fired Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; the widely expected move allows Trump to name a new director. | 🚨🏦 A former Fed senior adviser was arrested for allegedly stealing and selling Federal Reserve trade secrets to China.

*From our partners: 🥰 Gifts their heart desires – at a price you’ll love… Quince connects you directly with factories that make for the world’s leading designer brands to deliver premium luxury at an insanely low price. Cashmere, Italian leather handbags, jewelry, and more. Shop Quince’s Valentine’s Gift Guide.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🧼 How often you should wash your towels, according to science.