🏈⚽ Alright, Bet 

Image: Giphy

The Disney-owned sports media giant has reportedly held talks with companies that own major sportsbooks including Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings, both of which have existing marketing partnerships with ESPN.

• There is no guarantee a deal will be reached. According to initial talks, the winning bidder would be able to use the ESPN name for branding purposes and potentially rename the entire sportsbook after the network.

🔭 Zoom out: More than two dozen states have legalized sports gambling since a 2018 Supreme Court decision opened the door for any state to do so if they wish (previously, it was only legal in Nevada).

• Sports betting generated ~$1.85 billion in revenue over the first half of this year, according to the American Gaming Association, up from $350 million in 2019.
• Last year, the U.S. saw the largest boom in sports betting in terms of betting handle, revenue, and the number of states to offer a regulated sports betting market.
• An official report by the VIXIO GamblingCompliance estimates the U.S. sports betting market could be worth upwards of $3.2 billion in market size in 2021. Within the next five years, the market could be valued at as much as $10 billion.

⏩ Looking ahead… ESPN has been cautious about expanding into sports betting, as executives have said they want the company to avoid being directly involved in gambling transactions, according to the WSJ.

• A brand-licensing deal would allow the leading U.S. sports TV network to capitalize on the recent boom in sports gambling without having to operate a sportsbook, which requires licenses in individual states.

🎁 DONUT Headline: For the first time ever, an all-Arab team has discovered, scientifically described, and named a whale fossil in Egypt.

The Impossible is Possible

Every single time we bake cookies, we're struck by one fact.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to resist eating the raw cookie dough.

Is anyone else outraged? Everything about it is doughlightful to the senses, and yet it’s poison. The undoughniable injustice! The doughpression! 😡

This painful realization led a talented pastry chef 👩‍🍳 (our personal hero) to create Edoughble.

Edoughble is the original cookie dough that’s meant to be eaten raw. It’s made without eggs, flour, and chemicals, and packed with premium all natural ingredients, like non-GMO butter and Belgian Chocolate. 🍫 GIMME ALL OF IT.

So here is your moment. It’s now possible to consume that cookie dough with reckless abandon! 🤪🍪🍪🍪

With 14 one of a kind flavors, you can try a new one every day for two weeks. What a way to treat yourself.

Sign up for the Edoughble newsletter today and receive 20% off a build-a-box. Customize your own 2, 4 or 6 pack box.

Sign up for free.

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of Thursday's bombing near the airport in Kabul; ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack; Wakil Kohsar/AFP

Friday: The Afghan death toll from Thursday’s suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport rose to 169, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. military also revealed the attack only occurred in one location, not two, as officials initially said.

• The Pulitzer Prize Board announced a special citation for people in Afghanistan who risked their safety to help produce news stories and images from the war-torn country.

Saturday: President Biden said in a statement his national security team warned an attack at Kabul’s airport is “highly likely in the next 24-36 hours.”

• The Pentagon released the names of the 13 U.S. troops killed Thursday in the deadliest such attack in ten years. Twelve of them were in their 20s, while the oldest was 31. They were the first U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020. (The 13 Americans killed in the attack.)
• The U.S. military bombed an ISIS-K member in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province believed to be involved in planning Thursday’s deadly attack at Kabul’s airport. There were no reported civilian casualties.
• U.S. officials said 113,500 people have been airlifted out of the country since August 14 and committed to keeping round-the-clock flights going up until the deadline tomorrow.

Sunday: The U.S. carried out a second drone strike in Kabul, targeting “an imminent ISIS-K threat” to Kabul’s airport.

• “We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. We are assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time.” –U.S. Central Command statement.

🚨 Breaking overnight: As many as five rockets were fired at Kabul's airport, but they appear to have been intercepted by U.S. anti-missile defenses. The White House says "operations continue uninterrupted."

🪵 Wood You Believe It

Image: Electrek

Every piece of wood has two essential ingredients: cellulose, which provides its basic shape and framework, and lignin, which acts as a glue for all the other components.

• Some kombucha companies use microorganisms that produce sheets of cellulose on top of the liquid.
• Pyrus is made from these sheets of cellulose, which are blended together and embedded into a gel.

As the gel dries, it hardens and is placed under a mechanical press to form a flat sheet of wood-like material.

• This material can then be sanded, cut, and coated with resins, just like its tree-based counterparts. Unlike other wood-based alternatives, Pyrus doesn’t use sawdust, which still requires cutting down trees.

Keep reading.

Image: Hope & Comfort

“To those who much is given, much is expected.”

• This J.F.K. quote is often repeated in Jeff Feingold’s home. The Massachusets dad has taken it to heart, making it his mission to teach his kids the joy of always paying it forward.

It started in 2010 when Jeff and his kids dropped off donations at a local shelter. They quickly discovered many families couldn't afford basic hygiene products such as shampoo, soap, or toothpaste.

• "Imagine having to wake up and not being able to brush your teeth," Jeff said. "That has an enormous effect, of course, on one's health but one's self-confidence and one's dignity."

Fast-forward to today, and Jeff has donated nearly 3 million hygiene products to people in need through his nonprofit Hope & Comfort.

"This grew in part out of a need to tell kids how lucky they are, but I'm going to keep working day and night… to end hygiene insecurity."

Keep reading.

Which of these mammals can't jump?

A) Elephant
B) Moose
C) Bison
D) Horse

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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A) Elephant

Elephants can run up to 25 miles per hour. They'd make elite-level power walkers though, since you can always find them with at least one leg on the ground.

• Unlike most mammals, the bones in elephant legs are all pointed downwards, which means they don’t have the “spring” required to push off the ground.