- 👆 NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely returned to Earth yesterday, ending their unexpected nine-month stay in space; in addition to rescuers, their splashdown off the coast of Florida was attended by several curious dolphins.
BUSINESS & MARKETS
- 📉 US markets fell yesterday (S&P: -1.1%; Dow: -0.6%; Nasdaq: -1.7%)
- 🤝 GM and Nvidia agreed to a deal that will see the automaker use the tech giant’s chips and software to develop next-gen autonomous cars, robots, and manufacturing processes.
- ✈️ Bags fly free…at Frontier? The discount airline is offering a free checked bags promotion; the move comes after Southwest announced the end of its trademark free checked bags policy.
SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
in partnership with Ramada by Wyndham
- 🏆The iHeartRadio Awards took place Monday night in Los Angeles; Billie Eilish and Finneas took home album of the year.
- 🏀 Men’s March Madness officially began yesterday with First Four action (#16 Alabama St. beat #16 Saint Francis U, while #11 _ beat #11 _) ; the Women’s First Four tips off today.
- ⚖️🎭 Ryan Reynolds filed a motion to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against him and his wife Blake Lively.
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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH
- 🌐 Alphabet is spinning off laser-based internet startup Taara into an independent company; Taara is expected to eventually compete directly with SpaceX's Starlink as a way to provide high-speed internet to remote areas. | 🤖📸 Google's new Gemini AI model is effective at removing watermarks from copyrighted images, according to user reports.
- ⏱️💎 WashU in St. Louis physicists created a new type of “time crystal,” or a unique phase of matter that challenges common perceptions of motion and time.
- 🪵 Chewing on wood leads to an increase in a brain antioxidant associated with improved memory, per a new study.
MISCELLANEOUS
in partnership with Commons
- 🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦 President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a series of steps toward an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine following a two-hour call today; Putin agreed to pause attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but remained resistant to a longer-lasting peace plan proposed by the US.
- 🏥 A Texas midwife was arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions; she’s the first person to be charged under the state’s near-total abortion ban enacted in 2022. | 🧑⚖️ Court rulings: A federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service; a separate federal judge ruled that dismantling USAID likely violates the Constitution and ordered DOGE to halt further cuts.
- 🏛️📝 The National Archives released thousands of files related to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy last night following an order from Trump; it wasn’t immediately clear which, if any, documents are entirely new to the public.
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