Good morning. In this edition:

• 🍷 Science on drinking
• 💊 First-ever GLP-1 pill
• 🤔 Is swearing good for you?

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.21-minute read (1,120 words).

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+Editor’s note: We’ll be off until January 5. Happy Holidays, and see you back here in the New Year!

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Days ahead of Dry January, a new American Heart Association report has revived a very old, very thirsty debate: Is drinking alcohol in moderation actually good for you?

In a new scientific review aimed at cardiologists, the AHA concluded that consuming 1-2 alcoholic beverages per day:

• Poses no increased risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, sudden death, or possibly heart failure
• Potentially even reduces the risk of those conditions
• Is linked to lower overall mortality compared to not drinking at all

It’s a big shift from recent messaging

In 2023, the AHA stated there’s “no safe level” of alcohol, echoing similar guidance from the CDC and World Heart Federation. The AHA still maintains: “If you don’t drink, don’t start,” while many public health groups have emphasized that even small amounts of alcohol can increase the risk of several cancers.

• Experts critical of the AHA’s most recent review argue that it downplays or leaves out important studies that have found no heart benefits in people who naturally drink less.
• They also contend that the so-called “J-curve,” where light drinkers seem to live longer than those who abstain entirely, doesn’t account for biases like former drinkers who quit for health reasons (and now classify as abstainers).

Also worth mentioning: The vast majority of existing research on alcohol consumption is observational—meaning it can’t prove cause-and-effect—since assigning people to drink daily for science is a hard sell, ethically speaking.

Looking ahead…The US Dietary Guidelines, which include alcohol recommendations, are due for an update early next year. Industry groups are hoping for soft language regarding alcohol consumption, while most public health advocates are in favor of stronger warnings.

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Local officials in Denver and across the US believe the next clean-energy breakthrough could come from your latest trip to the porcelain throne.

In the Mile-High City, a growing number of sewage pipes are heating and cooling buildings with hidden energy found in wastewater.

How it works: Sewage represents a largely untapped source of energy due to its stable temperature of ~70°F. Denver’s new systems are designed to extract that energy using a heat exchanger, a device which takes heat from one source (wastewater) and puts it into another (clean water).

• This energized clean water is sent into a pump that heats or cools the rooms in a building based on temperature.
• Meanwhile, the wastewater flows back into the sewer system once the thermal energy has been extracted.
• The dirty and clean water loops never come into contact with one another, meaning no odors are transferred—only heat.

The potential impact: America flushes away the energy equivalent of ~350 billion kilowatt-hours of hot water every year, or enough to power ~32 million US homes, according to 2005 data from the Department of Energy.

Proponents of wastewater heat recovery say it represents a cheaper and more reliable source of energy compared to wind or solar, and can be incorporated into cities with little or no new infrastructure.

Big picture: In addition to Denver, systems to extract wastewater heat have already been installed across California, Washington, New York, and Canada.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 Gold and silver prices both hit record highs during trading yesterday; gold prices are currently up ~68% in 2025, which would mark its best year since 1979.
• 🎥 Paramount guarantees backing of billionaire Larry Ellison—father of Paramount CEO David Ellison—in amended offer for Warner Bros. Discovery; move comes after WBD’s board raised questions about Ellison’s support.
• ⚡ Alphabet is buying clean energy developer Intersect in all-cash deal worth nearly $4.8 billion; it’s the latest Big Tech deal aimed at expanding power capacity for developing AI. | Mercedes agrees to pay up to $150 million to settle decades-long case over its use of “defeat devices” designed to cheat diesel emissions tests.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Kansas City Chiefs announce plans to move across the state line from Missouri to a new ~$3 billion domed stadium in Kansas starting in 2031.
• 🎶🏴‍☠️ Spotify confirms at least some of its current music catalog was illegally copied, in an incident claimed by pirate activist group Anna’s Archive; group claims the copied music covers 99.6% of all Spotify listens, and says the ~86 million audio files will soon be released publicly.
• 📺 CBS News pulls segment about Trump admin’s deportations of Venezuelan immigrants to a notorious El Salvador prison; new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss reportedly told producers they hadn't done enough to get Trump admin officials on the record.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏥 Pill version of Wegovy is approved for use in the US, marking the first GLP-1 tablet available to Americans; Novo Nordisk says it will start selling the new pill in early January for a cash price of $149/month for starting dose. | Department of Health and Human Services reportedly plans to release a new childhood vaccine schedule early next year that recommends fewer shots, bringing the US (18 diseases targeted) more in line with Denmark (10 diseases).
• 🤖 Nearly twice as many Americans want the federal government to restrict the use and development of AI (44%) than promote it (23%), according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.
• ⚛️ Scientists develop new quantum computing chip that achieves record-breaking 99.99% fidelity, a measure of how well error-correction and mitigation techniques are working.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🚫🌬️ Trump admin suspends leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast, citing what it says are national security risks identified by the Pentagon.
• 🏛️ Homeland Security is offering a $3,000 stipend for undocumented immigrants who sign up to "self-deport" from the US by the end of this year.
• 🚢 President Trump announces new “Trump-class” battleship that will be the centerpiece of what the admin describes as a new “Golden Fleet” for the US Navy.

☝️ Florida startup Max Space unveiled a new expandable commercial space station that’s designed to be packed inside a single SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, then expand to a volume of 12,360 cubic feet—about a third of the ISS’ size—once it arrives in orbit.

🤔 Did you know? Scientists recently developed a new way of testing for aphantasia, or the inability to visualise things in your mind. The test involves having patients imagine bright and dark shapes, then checking to see if their pupils still constrict (bright) or dilate (dark) appropriately. If their pupils don’t change in response to the imaginary scenario, the patient has aphantasia.

📰 Worth a read: Why do lawyers buy so many billboards?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Is swearing actually good for you?
• Introducing the world's first beer vaccine
• Everyone watches Avatar. So why does no one talk about it?

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Yesterday we covered how the 199th Congress is ending the year with a growing reputation as one of the least productive editions in modern history.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, do most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected?

• Yes: 3%
• No: 91%
• Unsure/other: 6%

❓ Follow-up question: In your opinion, does the House member from your district deserve to be re-elected?

• Yes: 16%
• No: 76%
• Unsure/other: 8%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 663 votes and 123 longform responses.

❓Trivia: What's the smallest bone in the human body?

🎓 True or false?…Lightning strikes the Earth about 40 times/second worldwide.

🤔 Riddle me this: I have a neck, but no head; two arms but no hands. What am I?

🎄🧶 A group of 25 women called the Crochet Collective recently stitched more than 1,000 hand-crocheted squares into a towering Christmas tree inside India’s Museum of Goa.

❓Trivia: The stapes bone

🎓 T/F: True

🤔 Riddle: A shirt

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

*Disclaimer: Based on studies of oral minoxidil up to 2.5 mg per day at various doses.