Good morning and welcome to Wednesday, where we're feeling a little nostalgic about the ending of eras (you'll see why in a few minutes).

On that note: It’s been just about twenty years since Kelly Rowland got upset that Nelly wouldn’t respond to a message she typed on Microsoft Excel. 

Let that sink in...

No seriously, let that sink in.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.59 minutes to read.

"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature."

Socrates (470 BCE – 399 BCE)

The Senate is voting today on a bill that would codify the abortion rights laid out in Roe v. Wade into federal law, roughly one week after Politico published a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion indicating the justices are set to overturn the 1973 ruling.

🏛️ A deeper dive… The measure is all-but-guaranteed to fall short in the Senate, since the bill would need support from at least 10 GOP senators (or in other words, it needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster).

• Still, Democrats say it’s important to hold the vote anyways to demonstrate their committment to fighting for abortion rights, and to force Republican lawmakers to go on the record against such a measure.
• To ultimately pass legislation codifying Roe into law, Democrats would need to agree on abolishing the filibuster, which can be done via simple majority vote. 
• Centrist Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) both reiterated last week that they’re opposed to doing so.

🇺🇸 Big picture: If the Court does overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion would immediately become illegal in at least 13 states that have passed “trigger” laws, per Axios; at least 17 states plus D.C. have similar laws that would come into effect to protect abortion rights in the same scenario.

⚖️ Looking ahead… The Supreme Court’s official decision in the case challenging Roe – which could be different than the leaked draft opinion – is expected in late June or early July.

🪙 A ‘stablecoin’ is a type of crypto that’s meant to keep its value stable at $1 in order to facilitate transactions between other forms of crypto. 

But on Monday, the price of the world’s third-largest stablecoin – TerraUSD (aka UST) – fell to a record low of 31 cents before regaining ground to around 50 cents as a flood of investors sold their holdings.

💻🌙 What's going on?... Stablecoins are usually backed by cash and other assets that can easily be sold in times of market stress – but not UST, which instead uses a complex mix of code alongside a sister coin called Luna to stabilize prices (making UST what's known as an algorithmic stablecoin).

• In simple terms, Terra’s protocol destroys and creates new units of UST and Luna to adjust supply. When the price of UST falls below a dollar, it can be taken out of circulation and exchanged for Luna, tightening the supply and driving the price back up to $1 – at least, in theory.
• UST’s recent price slide was triggered by a collapse in Luna, which lost more than 80% of its value on Monday amidst a double-digit dip in the overall crypto market.

📋 The bottom line: UST is an experiment in whether stablecoins can remain pegged to the US dollar without having the underlying assets to support that price.

• The world’s first and largest stablecoin, Tether, paid a $41 million fine last October to settle allegations that it lied by claiming its digital tokens were fully backed by fiat currency.

EA and FIFA are breaking up, the now-former couple said on Tuesday, ending a more than two-decade partnership that produced one of the most lucrative video games of all time.

🤝👀 A look at the negotiating table…

• FIFA wanted: Double its licensing fee from the previous agreement ($75 million → $150 million) and the ability to attach its name to other video games, since exclusivity would limit its options in the digital world.
• To that EA said: No thanks, we think we can stand on our own – plus, we don’t need your reputational baggage (FIFA underwent a major scandal in 2015). The video game maker has negotiated nearly 300 separate licensing agreements with leagues and international tournaments, all of which will still be active in the new game (and some of which are exclusive to EA).

🎮⚽️ So, what’s next?... This year's game will be named FIFA 23, but the ones after that will be known as EA Sports FC. It’ll no longer feature any FIFA-run events like the World Cup.

• As for FIFA: It’s already inked a number of contracts with other developers for soccer-themed games, some of which will debut later this year. It’ll also launch its own game in 2024.

😕 Zoom out: The FIFA era wasn’t the only era that ended yesterday. Apple officially discontinued the iPod, marking the close of a more than two-decade run that kicked off in 2001.

🎓 A momentous occasion… graduating isn’t just any regular event. For some, it marks the end of the long road. For others, the first milestone in a journey ahead.

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Europe’s first commercial facility for psychedelic drug trials, operated by British startup Clerkenwell Health, will open in London this August, per an announcement published on LinkedIn yesterday.

🤔 Why it’s a big deal: Drug developers are increasingly exploring psychedelics as potential treatments for mental health conditions like PTSD and addictions, but their status as controlled substances can make it bureaucratically challenging and expensive to progress through clinical trials, The Guardian reports.

That’s where Clerkenwell Health comes in:

• Rather than developing one compound or class of compounds for a single condition, the startup will act as a regulatory liaison with multiple drug developers who want to study a gamut of mental health conditions using psychedelics.
• It’ll also offer training for therapists who want to work with psychedelic drugs.

📸 The big picture: Psychedelics like MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD — combined with cognitive behavioral therapy — have shown promise for treating a range of addictions and mental health disorders, including treatment-resistant depression and PTSD.

🧠 One interesting thing: Those who underwent psilocybin-assisted therapy in a peer-reviewed study published earlier this year experienced noticeable changes in brain patterns associated with depression. No such changes were seen in the brains of the control group receiving SSRIs, suggesting that psilocybin acts differently on the brain.

• ☝️ The states with the highest beer consumption per capita, according to VinePair.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• ⛽ Average US gas prices hit $4.37, a new all-time high (not adjusted for inflation).
• 💰 Grindr is going public via SPAC at a $2.1 billion valuation; Dr. Seuss Enterprises has reportedly been in talks with bankers to go public, sources told Axios.
• 📱 Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s indefinite ban of former President Donald Trump enacted in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021, saying it “alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.” (From the Left | From the Right)

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎙️ The podcasting industry is projected to generate $2 billion in revenue this year and $4 billion by 2024, according to a new report.
• 🏈 Tom Brady announced a 10-year, $375 million deal to become the lead analyst for Fox Sports after he retires (if that ever happens).
• ⚖️ Celebrity chef Mario Batali was acquitted of allegations of indecent assault and battery after a two-day trial in which he waived his right to have a jury decide the case.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌊🤖 China is attempting to build a new dam project on the Tibetan Plateau using zero human workers.
• 🪐 The biggest earthquake on Mars was detected yesterday by NASA’s InSight lander, a magnitude 5 quake.
• 🛰️ NASA released new images yesterday from the now-fully-aligned James Webb Space Telescope; not to be undone, the Hubble Space Telescope also released a stunning new image of a ‘grand design’ galaxy.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🚨 A former corrections officer who broke out an Alabama inmate and went on the run nearly two weeks ago shot herself and died yesterday during a brief car chase with authorities; the 38-year-old inmate, who was also in the car, ended up turning himself in.
• 🌐 Online web searches for “vasectomy” have risen by 99% since a leaked draft opinion last week signaled that the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• 🐗 Rome is implementing a wild boar “slaughtering plan” after a dead boar was discovered in the city carrying a disease that could affect livestock; roughly 100,000 wild boars live in and around the city.

💬 Quoted… “They are committing conservatively 75% to 80% of all the violent crime in our community.”

• Atlanta rappers Young Thug and Gunna were arrested yesterday on charges that include conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO act; Young Thug is accused of co-founding a violent street gang known as YSL that committed multiple murders, shootings and carjackings over the past ten years.

📉 Stat of the Day: 40% of bitcoin investors are currently in the red, with more than 15% of bitcoin wallets falling into an unrealized loss last month alone, per new data from CNBC.

🤯 Did You Know?... Trader Joe was a real person; Joe Coulombe opened his first store in Pasadena, California, in 1967. Its calling card? The world’s largest assortment of alcohol.

📖 Worth a Read: The United States of Babel → (The Atlantic)

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Who doesn't love a good ol' fashioned zipline? 

One seagull in England got quite the ride after it was stuck suspended on a utility wire by a fishing hook in its foot. 

• The quick-thinking rescue team threw a line up to the bird, which they used to pull it slowly down the wire, similar to a zipline.  

🐦 Safe and sound... While it was probably a disorienting few minutes for the bird, it's now recovering at Pawz for Thought animal rescue and will soon be released back into the wild. 

• Watch the rescue here. 

Name the numbered European countries.👇

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

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1. Portugal
2. Spain
3. France
4. Germany
5. Italy