Good morning, and a warm welcome to all our new subscribers. In today’s edition:

• 🎓 Colleges now apply to kids
• 💼 Blowout US jobs report
• 🪱 Worm revived after millennia in ice

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.88-minute read (1,033 words).

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

“The best way to understanding is a few good examples.”

–Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

A New Hampshire man was recently on the receiving end of perhaps the world’s strangest bridge loan: a genetically modified pig kidney that successfully kept him off dialysis long enough to receive a human kidney transplant.

The milestone marks the first successful transition from a pig kidney transplant to a human kidney transplant.

That’ll do, pig

Tim Andrews, a 66-year-old with end-stage kidney disease, received the pig kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital in January 2025.

• The kidney came from a genetically edited pig designed to make its organ more compatible with humans and reduce risks from pig viruses.
• It worked inside Andrews’ body for 271 days (~9 months) without him needing dialysis, the longest such survival on record.

But after Andrews’ immunosuppressive medication was reduced because of an infection, the kidney eventually developed inflammation and damage leading to organ failure.

Andrews returned briefly to dialysis before receiving a human donor kidney in January 2026. That organ began working immediately, with doctors finding no evidence the pig transplant made his immune system more likely to reject the human organ.

Why it’s a big deal: An average of ~11 Americans die every day while waiting for an organ transplant. And of the ~110,000 people on the national organ transplant waiting list, some 85% are in need of a kidney.

Looking ahead…Altogether, five patients at Mass General Brigham have received modified pig kidneys from biotech company eGenesis, with three already living with the organs for 8+ months. eGenesis is also starting a formal clinical trial next year with 33 patients receiving pig kidneys, while other researchers are currently experimenting with transplanting modified pig hearts into human patients.

Skip the extra accessories, give the girls a little lift. CAKES Lift™ lets you pull, position, and customize your boost until that top or dress finally hits the way you pictured it.

The secret to success is in the longer lifting tabs, designed for stronger hold and longer-lasting lift, while larger coverage creates a rounded, natural shape instead of flattening everything down.

Gentle, second-skin silicone keeps CAKES Lift™ light-as-air, while the dermatologist-tested design and adhesive-free Nip Nook™ center add comfort where it counts. Turns out, the finishing touch your outfit needed was underneath it all along.

High-school juniors and seniors used to bend over backwards pitching themselves to prospective colleges. But now, the shoe appears to be on the other foot.

Hundreds of US colleges are sending acceptance letters to students who never submitted a traditional application, in an increasingly popular practice known as direct admissions.

No application? No problem

Students interested in direct admissions typically fill out a basic form through platforms like Common App or Niche and submit their high-school transcripts, after which schools determine whether they qualify.

• If they do, the acceptance letters can start rolling in without any school-specific application—no essay, extracurricular lists, or standardized tests required.
• The number of schools participating in direct admissions on Common App has more than tripled since the 2023-24 admissions cycle, and now represents roughly one-fifth of the platform’s college partners.

Bottom line: The change of strategy is partially a numbers game. Colleges across the US are confronting a gradually shrinking population of 18 year olds, forcing schools to compete more aggressively for prospective students. Direct admissions allows schools to reach students who may never have considered them otherwise.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, about 3x higher than what economists expected and a sharp increase from July (a revised +21,000 jobs), Labor Dept. data shows.
• 🤖 OpenAI officially launches GPT-6 Astra, its newest frontier AI model, which several AI executives have hailed as the potential arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
• 🛢️ Oil prices rise to six-week high on Monday after the US and Iran traded strikes over the weekend. | Price of diesel fuel hits record high $5.85/gallon average nationwide on Friday, up from $3.71/gallon at this time last year.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Summer box office earns $4.76 billion in domestic ticket sales between May 1 and September 7, up 26%+ from last year and narrowly edging 2013 as the highest-earning summer in box office history. | Spider-Man: Brand New Day leads domestic box office for sixth straight weekend (~$23.5 million through Labor Day), the longest stint since 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water.
• 🏈 CFB Week 1: #9 Ole Miss narrowly beats #24 Louisville, #11 LSU dominates Clemson, and #16 Michigan survives against Western Michigan on a controversial last-second Hail Mary. See the full scoreboard. | 🏀 WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to retire in December after leading the league for seven years.
• 🏆 2026 Emmy Awards: Part 1 of the two-week ceremony was held across Saturday and Sunday; Widow’s Bay (8), Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX Halftime Show (7), DTF St. Louis (6), and The Traitors (6) have the most wins so far.

Keep relying on your coffee for energy. Let Seed handle the digestive support. DS-01®, the #1 Probiotic*, can ease discomfort from bloating in just 1 week, support easier regularity in 2 weeks, and strengthen the gut barrier by 22%** for steadier digestion and better immune balance.

ViaCap® capsule-in-capsule technology protects 24 live strains through digestion, delivering them to your colon. Paired with a no-bloat prebiotic that feeds beneficial gut microbes.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 Isar Aerospace successfully completes Europe’s first commercial rocket launch to orbit, deploying satellites in its second test flight; the SpaceX rival says it has a pipeline of launch orders worth $11+ billion.
• 🏆 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes honoring unusual scientific research were announced; winners include turning mosquito proboscises into ultra-precise 3D-printing nozzles and designing splash-free urinals.
• 🧑‍🦲 Arthritis drug upadacitinib restores up to 100% of hair in patients with severe alopecia, new clinical trial shows.

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• ✈️ Amazon cargo plane coming from Puerto Rico overran the runway at Miami International Airport and struck vehicles as it crossed a nearby road; at least five people were killed, with five others hospitalized (three with critical injuries).
• 🗺️ President Trump posts a map that suggests renaming New Mexico to “New America”; the state’s name would have to be changed via constitutional amendment.
• 🇩🇪 Germany’s AfD party wins ~44% of votes in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU party earns just ~17%; AfD is now three seats short of forming its first state government, testing Germany’s longstanding political “firewall” against cooperating with the right-wing populist party.

☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners from the 2026 Underwater Awards Australasia, which awarded $50,000 across nine categories to marine photographers in Oceania.

🤔 Did you know? In 2018, a tiny roundworm called a nematode was revived by Siberian scientists after spending the past ~46,000 years frozen in permafrost. The ancient, revived nematode—a female-only species that reproduces asexually—then proceeded to start making babies.

📰 Worth a read: Young people are obsessed with this simple retirement-savings formula.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Snoop Dogg is hiring an international ice cream taster
• Why do dogs tilt their heads?
• America’s 10 fastest-growing jobs over the next decade

🚨🛏️ The bedding of your dreams is one entry away… Enter FREE to win the Sierra Dreams Align™ Organic Lustre Sheet Set (up to $300 value). All entrants receive $50 gift card to Sierra Dreams and free fabric swatches. Enter here.

On Friday, we covered how approval of President Trump’s job performance has turned further negative just past the year-and-a-half mark of his second administration, with Trump’s popularity likely to play a major role in upcoming midterm elections.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you approve or disapprove of President Trump’s job performance so far during his second term?

• Approve: 21%
• Disapprove: 73%
• Unsure/other: 6%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 907 votes and 158 longform responses.

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Bi
2. Glob
3. Ign
4. Test
5. Viv

(keep scrolling for the answers)

❤️ After a young Pokémon fan was allegedly scammed out of his most prized trading card, the collecting community rallied around him, with traders around the world offering replacement cards, packs, and other gifts to the young collector.

1. Bi = Two (e.g., binoculars)
2. Glob = Sphere (global)
3. Ign = Fire (ignition)
4. Test = Witness (testimony)
5. Viv = Live (survive)

Advertise with us: Want to reach other smart and inquisitive readers like you? Become a DONUT partner.

Disclaimers: *Source: SPINS, Combined Amazon + Target Sales data, Last 24 weeks ending in January 2026. **Data derived from a model simulating the GI tract with human stool samples. Results may vary.

Made it this far? Let us know what you think:

👍 👋 👎