Good morning. Have you seen the latest Ryan Reynolds' flick??

Actually, we don’t really recommend it… the actor recently filmed his first colonoscopy after losing a bet to Mac from It’s Always Sunny (Rob McEllenhey). 

The wager and filming are intended to raise awareness for colon cancer, which causes 50,000+ US deaths every year – 90% of which are preventable if caught early.

In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇦 An update on Russia/Ukraine
• ⚖️ Ford dealers have a decision to make
• 🎧👩‍⚖️ The power of true crime podcasts

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.98 minutes to read.

“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. ”

–Wayne Dyer (1940-2015)

In yesterday’s Dose of Positive, we called Wally the alligator the first legally-registered support gator in the US. As it turns out, there aren’t any “legally-registered” support animals in the US, since no legitimate registration agency exists. Apologies for the error!

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced visit to the town of Izyum yesterday, which Kyiv’s forces recently seized as part of their counter-offensive in the northeast.

Ukraine’s military has recaptured more than 3,000 square miles of Russian-occupied land in the east and south over the past month, covering an area that’s home to 150,000 people across 300 towns and villages.

📈 Mounting casualties… Here's a tally of Russian losses over the past week, per military analysis site Oryx: 100+ tanks, dozens of armored vehicles, several helicopters, and a handful of drones. Around 5,500 Russian troops have been killed since August 29, Ukrainian officials said this week.

• Overall, the Pentagon estimates up to 20,000 Russian troops have died and 60,000 have been injured since the war began in late February, including at least ten generals who were killed.
• On the Ukrainian side, an estimated 10,000 troops had died and 30,000 had been injured as of mid-June. The UN Human Rights Office earlier this month confirmed 13,917 civilian casualties in Ukraine, though it believes the true number is “considerably higher.”

🇰🇵🇮🇷 Russia finds new foreign partners: Moscow has agreed to buy millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, per newly declassified US intelligence made public last week – a sign Western sanctions have led to “severe supply shortages” for Russia’s military, an inside source told WaPo. Moscow is also “almost certainly” sourcing weaponry from Iran, British intelligence analysts said yesterday.

👀 Looking ahead… Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Uzbekistan this week, marking their first in-person discussion since Moscow invaded Ukraine; the two leaders are expected to talk about the ongoing war, the Kremlin confirmed yesterday.

Even the best and brightest get things wrong sometimes (look no further than today’s Correction section😉).

And according to a paper recently published in peer-reviewed journal PNAS, that’s exactly what’s happened in the world of color theory for the past 100+ years. Meaning legends in math and physics – and subsequently, the whole scientific community – have been wrong about how humans perceive color for more than a century.

🎨👀 A deeper dive… The team that performed the study didn’t set out to upend anything. “Our original idea was to develop algorithms to automatically improve colour maps for data visualization, to make them easier to understand and interpret,” Roxana Bujack, the paper’s lead author, said in a release.

• But when they started working, they found some… discrepancies in the existing model. To waaaaaay oversimplify the discovery as well as color theory, it currently overestimates humans’ perception of large color differences (you can read a more technical description here).

🤔 Why should we care?... Expect to see more vibrant computer, phone, and TV screens moving forward, as well as printed materials and textiles.

📝 Bottom line: The uncovered mathematical error underpins a theory introduced by Bernhard Riemann, then furthered by Hermann von Helmholtz and the Nobel-prize winning Erwin Schrödinger (any other paradoxical cat fans out there?). Math and physics majors are nodding their heads rn, but the rest of us can think of these names like Ron Burgundy: kind of a big deal.

And according to Bujack, “proving one of them wrong is pretty much the dream of a scientist.”

Ford dealerships have the next six weeks to decide if they want to keep selling electric vehicles from 2024 through 2026 – and they’ll have to agree to new conditions if they do, the automaker revealed yesterday.

☝️ First things first: Earlier this year, Ford reorganized its company to form three main divisions:

• Ford Pro, which sells all types of vehicles to businesses.
• Ford Blue, which sells internal-combustion engine and hybrid electric vehicles to consumers.
• Ford Model e, which sells fully electric vehicles to consumers.

All 3,000+ US Ford dealerships are currently allowed to sell any type of car to consumers without restriction – but that’s set to change when the automaker’s newly-announced rules take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. At which time, all Ford dealerships wishing to sell its Model e line must invest in regular training, improve their physical and digital sales experiences, install one or two EV fast-charging stations, and publish non-negotiable pricing online.

🚘🔌 The decision: The full cost of becoming a Model e certified dealer ranges from $500,000 to $1.2 million. And the clock is ticking: dealers have until the end of October to submit their formal decision to Ford. Plus if they opt-out of becoming a Model e certified dealer now, they won’t have the opportunity to reverse course until 2027.

📝 Zoom out: Ford’s policy stands in partial contrast to rival GM, which told its Cadillac and Buick dealerships to either a) make the necessary upgrades for EVs at a cost of ~$200,000, or b) accept a buyout and close their doors – which ~20% ended up doing.

Know what makes a story really exciting, especially for kids? When you can relate to the protagonists and see yourself in your heroes. However, many kids are underrepresented in children’s content, specifically, those with disabilities and BIPOC children… and self-esteem suffers because of it.

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Baltimore prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to overturn the conviction of Adnan Syed in the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a case that came to widespread attention when it was featured on the first season of the hit podcast “Serial.”

• It was also the subject of a 2019 HBO docuseries called “The Case Against Adnan Syed,” which questioned his guilt as well.

⚖️ More deets… To be clear, prosecutors aren’t necessarily saying Syed is innocent – just that they lack confidence "in the integrity of the conviction," and recommend he be released on his own recognizance or bail before a new trial begins (technicalities, amirite?).

Per the court filings, the reinvestigation uncovered evidence that two other suspects may have been involved, either separately or together. They were known during the initial investigation, but not properly ruled out.

Some other info uncovered by the reinvestigation:

• The grassy lot where Ms. Lee’s car was found in Baltimore was located behind a house that belonged to one suspect’s relative.
• One suspect (we don’t know if it’s the same one) had even threatened to kill the victim – information the prosecution had at the time. Prosecutors are required by law to give defense counsel exculpatory evidence upon request.

🎧👩‍⚖️ Zoom out: This isn’t the first time a podcast has helped set the wheels of justice in motion. Last month, a 74-year-old former high school teacher in Australia was found guilty of murdering his wife in 1982 after popular true-crime podcast "The Teacher's Pet" renewed an investigation.

💬 Quoted…​​ “It’s a very accessible type of information.”

A new NIH-funded project announced this week aims to turn the human voice into something that could be used as a biomarker for disease, similar to blood or temperature.

• Researchers’ initial work will focus on building a database of human voices, which they’ll use to develop AI-based tools that could eventually diagnose serious diseases like cancer, depression, autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and more.

🏘️ Stat of the Day: ¼ of all millennials (ages 26-41) plan to “always rent” and never own a home in their lifetimes, per a new report from Apartment List. That’s up from 13% in 2018.

🤯 Did You Know?... Researchers at Google and the University of Oxford have concluded it's now "likely" that superintelligent AI will spell the end of humanity, per a new peer-reviewed study.

📖 Worth a Read: The Difference Between Busy and Non-Busy People → (Becoming Minimalist)

📊 Poll results: Yesterday, we asked who y’all would vote for if the midterm elections were held today.

• 29% would vote Republican, 34% would vote Democrat, 12% would vote for a third party, 11% don’t plan on voting (or aren’t old enough to), and 14% haven’t made up their minds yet.

See the full 360° view here.

• ☝️ The world's largest corn maze in Spring Grove, IL, is honoring James Bond’s 60th anniversary this year with a 10-mile trail spanning 28 acres.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• ⚖️ California filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon yesterday, alleging its contracts with third-party sellers and wholesalers illegally inflate prices and stifle competition; it represents the biggest legal challenge in the US to date for Amazon, per the WSJ.
• 🧥 Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has relinquished ownership of 100% of the company’s stock, transferring it to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization designed to fight climate change; the company is valued at $3 billion and expects to donate ~$100 million/year to the nonprofit.
• 🪙 Do Kwon, the co-founder of failed stablecoin TerraUSD, is facing an arrest warrant in South Korea; the implosion of the Terra platform in May led to combined losses of ~$60 billion between TerraUSD and its sister cryptocurrency Luna.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Concussions among NFL players who wore custom Guardian Caps on top of their helmets over the summer dropped more than 50%.
• ⚖️ R. Kelly was found guilty yesterday by a Chicago jury on six of 13 counts related to child pornography and luring underage girls to have sex with him; he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30+ years; Kelly was previously sentenced to 30 years in prison at a Brooklyn federal court earlier this year.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 NASA further delayed its next attempt to launch its uncrewed Artemis I lunar mission; the agency is now targeting September 27 with a backup date of October 2.
• 🧲​​🚗 Chinese researchers are testing custom cars that can magnetically levitate over a stretch of specially modified highway.
• 🛰️🪞 Startup Tons of Mirrors is using satellite-mounted mirrors to redirect sunlight to solar panels on Earth at night.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 📱🛣️ Google’s Waze now lets you set “Biz Jargon” as your navigation voice for a limited time, with phrases like “Make a U-turn: Or what I call ‘circling back’” or “Sorry, I was on mute, are we waiting for anyone else?”
• 🦠📉 The global Covid death toll fell last week to its lowest point since March 2020, the World Health Organization said yesterday.
• 🛤️ A labor union representing US railroad workers said its members – who could go on strike as early as tomorrow – rejected a tentative agreement yesterday, while two other unions ratified agreements. Three are still at the bargaining table. (Background)
• 🌎 Calculate and learn to reduce your carbon footprint with Wren.co. Then start a subscription plan to offset what’s left, and support awesome climate projects. Calculate my carbon footprint.

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We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week…

• Royal beekeeper has to inform palace bees that the Queen has died in strange ritual → (Edinburgh Times)
• Japan’s new digital minister is waging war on floppy disks. Companies fear the fax machine could be next → (Fortune )
• Chinese man gets trapped aloft in hydrogen balloon for 2 days, traveling 200 miles. He was trying to collect pine nuts from a tree. → (CBS News)
• Watch: British man aims for Guinness World Record with 22-foot mobility scooter → (UPI)

CROWDSOURCED

Have you ever encountered a glitch in the matrix, quirky animal behavior, or even just a hilarious first grader? Tell us about it here for a chance to be featured in next Thursday’s newsletter.

👩 Who: Eleanor B. from Mission Viejo, CA

💬 The experience: I was going to go with my mom to her office, then to my eye doctor appointment (I had just gotten glasses and contacts, and was going in for a follow up). I got up and went to my bathroom and put my contacts in, then all I remember is feeling confused and being on the floor of my room. I went back to the bathroom and finished getting ready, then later in the day went to my eye doctor appointment. He told me that I had no contacts in, even though I remembered putting them in that morning. And, when I got home, the little packages that the contacts came in (I have the type where there is one individually packaged for each day, and then when you take it out you throw it away) were in the trash empty.

P.S. Don’t forget to share your odd or hilarious experience with us here.

High school math teacher Julio Castro loves his students. Known around school as everyone's favorite teacher, he's always going above and beyond to ensure their success. 

But while Julio loves his job, he could definitely do without the 2+ hour commute.

• It starts at 4:30 each morning with a seven-mile trek to the metro station on his scooter, followed by a 90-minute bus ride and one mile walk to school. And that's just one way.

❤️🚙 Thanks, teach... All of that changed at a "teacher's appreciation assembly" last month. After months of fundraising, Julio's students could finally reveal their big surprise for the beloved teacher: a dark blue 2019 Mazda, along with a year's worth of insurance and gas money. 

• “We’ve been taught certain values like empathy,” shared one of this students. "Mr. Castro is the embodiment of that. With this car, with this new opportunity, he’s only going to find more and more ways to help other people around him.”

☝️ This European city hosted the first-ever organized marathon. Can you guess it?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

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Athens, Greece