Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 👉💻 Apple gets in touch with MacBooks
• 🤖 Robot dog with lab-grown human brain
• 🗳️ Your election night cheat sheet

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.80-minute read (1,011 words).

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“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

–Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Apple is finally taking a hands-on approach with a feature it's spent decades keeping at arm's length.

The tech giant recently announced its first-ever touchscreen laptop will go on sale starting Friday, reversing its longstanding opposition to touch-enabled Macs.

Keeping their finger on the pulse screen

Apple has historically argued that touchscreens belong solely on iPads and iPhones, which are designed around touch, and not laptops optimized for indirect input. But the new MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR Display breaks that longstanding rule.

• Its touchscreen allows users to scroll through webpages, zoom in on photos, move windows around the screen, and perform more advanced tasks like manipulating 3D models or playing virtual musical instruments.
• The 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch starts at $3,399, marking a $400 increase over similar MacBook Pro models without touchscreen features.

The market is currently touch and go: Apple’s launch comes amid a challenging period for the PC industry. Global shipments of laptops (-11%) and overall PCs (-20%) have fallen significantly year-over-year in Q3—including an 11% decline for Apple’s PC shipments—as rising memory costs fueled by the AI boom contribute to higher prices.

Zoom out: It marks the third major product launch under new Apple CEO John Ternus, who assumed the role two months ago.

Apple released the iPhone 18 line in September, and launched its first foldable phone last month (the iPhone Duo). The tech giant also revealed its first-ever home smart display, called HomeView, that features a redesigned version of Siri and officially launches next week.

When Ron S. wore his WAVwatch to the church nursery, he discovered something remarkable: “We had eight toddlers, about five of whom were known criers,” he said. “My wife suggested putting it on Calm and turning the volume up. When I did, within a few seconds all of them stopped crying, looked around, and showed interest in playing with toys. It was an otherworldly experience.”

WAVwatch organizes 1,250+ acoustic frequencies into 166 sets for sleep, stress, energy, and possibly baby whispering (TBD). Wear it like a regular watch and choose a set for your needs. No Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or subscription required.

Virginia is cracking down on drivers who think the left lane of I-95 is the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Since launching the nation's first program of its kind in July, Virginia has installed ~100 speed-limiting devices in cars driven by people charged with or convicted of reckless driving.

How it works

The device serves as an alternative to suspending the licenses of especially reckless drivers, who are often charged with exceeding 100 MPH on the roads.

• The devices use GPS and a map database to determine the speed limit on a given road and prevent cars from exceeding it, even if drivers floor the gas pedal.
• Drivers can temporarily override the limit in certain situations, like merging onto a highway or making emergency maneuvers.

The goal is to help problem drivers kick their speeding habits without taking away their ability to get around by suspending their license.

But…The program has hit some speed bumps. One driver reportedly had his car's top speed unexpectedly capped at 35 MPH while traveling on a highway, forcing him to pull over, while another said his device mistakenly applied a cross street's speed limit as they were passing through an intersection.

Zoom out: The idea of speed limiters is slowly gaining traction nationwide. Washington D.C. recently launched a similar program, while eight states and D.C. have passed laws allowing speed-limiters for problem drivers, with additional rollouts planned over the next few years.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🛢️ Oil prices post their sharpest drop in three months amid renewed hopes of a US-Iran peace deal, with international Brent crude falling nearly 8% to ~$105/barrel while US crude dipped over 7% to ~$96/barrel.
• 🍎 Apple reports stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q3, driven by a 22% increase in iPhone sales, but issues weak guidance for the current period; shares fell over 6% in after-hours trading before recovering quickly to turn positive.
• 💻 Marvell Technology is buying optical-components maker Lumentum for $115 billion, positioning the custom chipmaker as a challenger to larger rival Broadcom.

SPORTS, MEDIA, & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎙️ Michael Wilbon, longtime co-host of Pardon The Interruption and NBA analyst for ESPN, is taking an indefinite leave due to “struggles with multiple health issues.”
• 📺 Saturday Night Live Korea to launch first international spin-off show from an SNL skit, called The Smile Clinic.
• 🏆 Kennedy Center Honors announce this year's annual winners, including singer/songwriter Paul Anka and playwright David Mamet.

Up three pounds overnight, and your mind starts doing flips. But all you did differently was eat some pasta. Regular scales lump everything into one number. Hume Health’s Hume Pod displays your body’s water percentage, plus 44 other metrics.

This 3D body scanner sorts fat from muscle in under a minute with Hume reporting 99% body-fat accuracy compared with DEXA, without the recurring costs. Hume AI then explains your shifting metrics, so pasta nights stop taking the blame.

SCIENCE, SPACE, & EMERGING TECH

• 🩺 New menopause treatment guidelines released by American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists for the first time in 12 years; they recommend hormone therapy for many women with hot flashes and night sweats, alongside non-hormonal options.
• 🤖 Robot dog controlled by lab-grown human brain cells developed by Australian scientists, who say the technology could eventually be used to help robots adapt to unfamiliar environments.
• 🧠 Risk of Parkinson’s disease found to be ~2.5x higher with long-term exposure to common pesticide chlorpyrifos, new UCLA study shows; the chemical appears to disrupt brain cells’ ability to clear damaged proteins, potentially offering new treatment options.

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• 🗳️ Election Day 2026: Locate the nearest polling station where you can vote; find out where to watch live election-night coverage across major news networks; follow live election updates and results as they come in.
• ⛽ Russian gas sales to Europe would resume through Ukraine under new US-backed proposal to secure an energy ceasefire ahead of winter, per new WSJ report; the plan would use a US intermediary and provide Ukraine with transit revenue, but faces strong European opposition.
• 🙏 Nine people were killed in a private jet crash in a south Florida neighborhood Sunday; the Bahamas bound aircraft reported icing and turbulence before crashing. | Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is awake and alert at Johns Hopkins Hospital after suffering a stroke Saturday.

☝️ NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes recently captured images of a star-forming nebula named the Cat’s Head Nebula, the region is about 7,500 light-years away from Earth and may offer new information into the complexities of star formation.

🤔 Did you know? Juneau, Alaska, is the only US state capital that can’t be reached by a road system. Any person—or car—who wants to visit Juneau must arrive via plane, ferry, or private boat.

📰 Worth a read: Did Thomas Jefferson father children with an enslaved woman? Untangling an American mystery after a decade-plus of research.

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Your election night cheat sheet
• Can animals play video games?
• The best ways to make sure you get enough Vitamin D in the fall

The blush 1M+ people love… MERIT’s Flush Balm is lightweight and buildable for a long-lasting glow that’s never heavy, made with Vitamin E to condition skin. Shop MERIT and get a free Signature Bag.

Yesterday we covered how Wall Street's AI enthusiasm took a hit last week, after mixed earnings reports from major tech companies raised fresh concerns about the enormous sums being poured into the technology.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, is the US economy currently in an AI bubble that will “pop” in the near future?

• Yes: 67%
• No: 18%
• Unsure/other: 15%

Read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 495 votes and 31 longform responses.

❓ Trivia: Which bird species can sleep while flying?

🎓 True or false?... The first mammal ever to be cloned was a dog.

🤔 Riddle me this…I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

❤️ When a Florida couple noticed a middle schooler sitting at the end of their driveway waiting for the school bus, they decided to build her a bench. But they weren't prepared for her hilarious reaction, or for their small act of kindness to spark a much bigger movement.

❓ Trivia: The albatross

🎓 T/F: False, it was Dolly the sheep

🤔 Riddle: Seven

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