🍎🗣️ Apple’s Big Announcements

Image: Apple

📱 Biggest hardware news from the event… Apple unveiled the brand-new iPhone 13 lineup, new Apple Watches with a bigger screen, and new iPads.

• ​​Along with the typical upgrades to processing speed, display, and battery life, the iPhone 13 adds a Cinematic Mode, which uses an automatic focus to shift between subjects in a video, similar to Portrait Mode for photos. Pricing starts at $699 and caps out at $1,599.

⚙️ Biggest software news from the event… iOS 15 launches on Monday. After it’s downloaded, you’ll be able to FaceTime Android users, search text within images, and use the new Focus mode to manage notifications.

• The Safari, Maps, Weather, and Notes apps have also been redesigned.

🔒 And the biggest news from outside the event… Apple on Monday advised all users to update the software on their devices ASAP Rocky. The reason? Researchers discovered Israeli spyware company NSO Group had developed a way to take control over nearly any Apple computer, watch, or iPhone with a program called Pegasus.

• The malicious software takes control of an Apple device by first sending a message through iMessage and then hacking through a flaw in how Apple processes images.
• It uses what’s known in the cybersecurity industry as a “zero-click” exploit, the term for hacking a device that doesn’t require a victim clicking a link or downloading a file to take over. It’s extremely unlikely for the victim to realize they’ve been hacked.
• If you said “this sounds familiar,” you’d be right. A global media consortium published a report in July detailing how Pegasus has been allegedly used for years to spy on journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and the richest man in the world (jumpstarting a series of events culminating in his divorce).

“It’s absolutely terrifying,” said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, who published a report about it Monday.

📸 The big picture: The event caps a year in which Apple has seen record profit, largely thanks to the 5G capability of last fall’s iPhone 12.

• But hurdles still remain for CEO Tim Cook – namely, things like potential regulation, privacy issues, and app store legal challenges.

🎁 SpaceX is set to launch the first all-civilian, non-astronaut crew into space aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule during a 24-hour window that opens tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

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Image: Susan Haejin Lee for NPR

🤿 A deeper dive… The district’s plan is to have all eligible students vaccinated by the start of the second semester.

• Students ages 12 years and older who participate in in-person extracurricular activities must be fully vaccinated by October 31.
• Others must receive their second dose by December 19 and prove their vaccination status before January 10 to continue attending school in person.
• Those who turn 12 years old after those dates must receive their first dose no later than 30 days after their birthday.

Students who are not vaccinated by the deadline will not be allowed on campus and must enroll in online learning.

⚖️ Is the mandate legal ?… The school district’s move is expected to be challenged in court, though public schools have long mandated certain vaccinations for students to attend school in person.

• Complicating the issue is the fact that Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine is only allowable under emergency-use authorization for adolescents aged 12 to 15, which could harm the district’s standing in any upcoming litigation.
• The FDA is in the process of gathering the required six months of followup safety data from its study of the vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds, after which full approval is expected.

🇺🇸 Zoom out… Many school districts across the country have indicated they'll take a wait-and-see approach regarding student vaccine mandates while paying attention to how the situation plays out in LA.

• A handful of smaller districts in California and Massachusetts already approved vaccine mandates for students, while others (including Oakland) are currently considering similar proposals.

🚗 Reinventing the Wheel

Image: Michelin

Each year, more than three billion tires are produced globally, with many ending up in landfills once they’ve outlived their usefulness. They’re also a fire risk and release toxic fumes into the atmosphere.

• Michelin’s Unique Punctureproof Tire System (UPTIS) is designed to be airless, rechargeable, connected, and sustainable – all without sacrificing performance.
• UPTIS combines an aluminum wheel with a flexible load-bearing structure made out of glass fiber reinforced plastic (seen here in a futuristic concept video).
• It’s currently made from 46% sustainable materials, with the ultimate goal of reaching 100% by 2050.

👁 Looking ahead... The company said it’s “on course” to bring UPTIS to the market by 2024.

• Keep reading.

Image: New Reality Records

Kev Crane is a 49-year-old plumber in England with a love of music. When he was contracted by Paul Conneally to fix the bathrooms in his homes, he never could’ve predicted the job would land him a record deal.

Paul, a record producer, started to notice Kev singing while he worked.

• When he complimented the plumber on his voice, he discovered Kev was actually a vocalist and songwriter with an entire album already recorded.
• Kev shared a few songs with Paul, impressing the producer with “a sound that is so 80’s but so now at the same time.”

The result: “Why Can’t I Be You ?” is now available worldwide, thanks to Paul’s label New Reality Records.

Where is the fastest muscle in the human body?

A) Leg
B) Eye
C) Fingers
D) Heart

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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B) Eye

The fastest-moving muscle in the human body is the orbicularis oculi, which controls the closing action of the eyelids.

• When the corneal reflex - an involuntary reaction that protects the eye - is triggered, the orbicularis oculi snaps the eyelid shut in less than 0.1 seconds.