Good morning. Tbh, it’s been a long week and when it came time to write this section we were all exhausted. So here’s a GIF of a cute hedgehog:

In today’s edition:

• 💵📈 The US’ latest inflation report
• ☀️ Solar power, beamed to Earth from space
• 🍿 Netflix’s ad-supported tier is (almost) here

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.78 minutes to read.

“Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act on building the life you desire.”

–Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), America’s most widely-used measure of inflation, rose 8.2% in September from the same month a year ago, the Labor Department reported yesterday. That’s down slightly from 8.3% in August and 9.1% in June, which was the highest rate in 40 years.

🔢 By the numbers… On a month-to-month basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in September (vs. 0.1% in August). The core index – which excludes often volatile food and energy prices – was even higher for the month, rising 0.6%. On a yearly basis, core inflation rose 6.6%, the biggest annual gain since 1982.

• The highest monthly increases were seen in transportation (+1.9%), medical care (+1.0%), food (+0.9%), and shelter (+0.8%), the last of which is weighted to make up about one-third of the entire CPI.
• These increases more than offset monthly declines in prices for energy (-2.1%), used cars and trucks (-1.1%), and apparel (-0.1%).

📉📈 The market reacts: All three major US indexes fell by 1.5%–3% when trading officially began this morning, exactly one hour after the CPI was released.

• But then, markets began trending back up, maintaining that trajectory for the rest of the day – to the surprise of many analysts. (Dow: +2.8% | S&P: +2.6% | Nasdaq: +2.2%)

👀 Looking ahead… The Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee is expected to raise interest rates by at least 0.75% for the fourth straight time when it meets early next month.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, what’s the most important problem facing America today?

Inflation

Violent crime

Climate change

Health care affordability

Inequality

School quality/education

Other

🇷🇺 Russia continues to strike at Ukraine with missiles and kamikaze drone attacks. Ukrainian officials said three Iranian-made suicide drones struck an unspecified infrastructure facility in the Kyiv region, while six others were shot down by the country’s military. It follows days of airstrikes on Ukraine, ordered by Moscow as retaliation for explosions last weekend that damaged a $3.7 billion bridge linking Russia with Crimea.

🇨🇳 China’s 20th National Congress begins on Sunday. The six-day meeting, held once every five years, represents the highest leading body of the Chinese Communist Party. President Xi Jinping, 69, is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as party leader and commander-in-chief. Separately, a rare anti-government protest against Xi and China’s strict no-Covid policy popped-up... and then was quickly shut down yesterday.

🌎 The world's wildlife populations have fallen 69% over the past five-plus decades. That’s according to a new study from the World Wildlife Fund, which analyzed data from 32,000 wildlife populations across 5,000 different species going back to 1970. Animals from Latin America and the Caribbean were hit especially hard (-94%), while North America (-20%) and Europe and Central Asia (-18%) were the least affected.

In a live demonstration in front of the European Space Agency and Airbus, New Zealand-based startup Emrod recently showed off new tech that can be used to beam down solar energy from space.

☀️🛰️ Background: The idea of space-based solar power isn’t new. The first patent for such a satellite was filed in 1973, and the idea showed up even earlier in Isaac Asimov’s 1941 short story Reason.

The potential advantages are simple: a higher collection of the Sun’s energy due to no atmosphere, as well the potential for 24-hour solar power. But just like running the 400-meter hurdle, there are still some… obstacles to overcome.

• To beam several gigawatts of solar energy from a geostationary orbit around Earth (aka enough to power 1-2 million homes), you’d need a transmitter measuring roughly 1.2 miles in diameter – both on Earth and in space.
• For context, the largest single structure ever built in space, the International Space Station, measures 361 feet by 243 feet. And even that took 10 years and 30+ space launches to assemble.

⏩ Which brings us to two weeks ago… when Emrod successfully demonstrated its near-field energy beams, which the company says are much more efficient than other existing technology. The result? It unlocks the ability to deploy smaller transmitters (~6 feet in diameter).

• The startup plans to set up a network of hundreds – or even thousands – of these antennas in orbit.

🌎 Zoom out: A handful of other countries’ governments or militaries are currently exploring the feasibility of space-based solar power stations, including those from the US, UK, China, and Australia.

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Netflix unveiled specifics around its upcoming ad-supported plan yesterday, called… Basic with Ads. And it is, in fact, basic with ads.🤯

💰🍿 Here’s what it’ll look like: The new plan will be available in the US on November 3 and cost $6.99/month – compared to $9.99/month for its previous entry-level “Basic” plan. (Side note: Disney Plus’ ad-supported tier, coming this December, is priced at $7.99/month.)

But the biggest change with the new plan isn’t the price, it’s the ads (obviously). And subscribers will have to sit through – or plan bathroom breaks around – 4 to 5 ads per hour, shown before, after, or during shows and older movies (and only before new movies). Though those bathroom breaks better be quick; each ad will range between 15 and 30 seconds.

More basic features of the Basic with Ads plan include: No HD (720p only) and no downloads, plus not all of Netflix’s programming will be available – something the company says is due to licensing restrictions that it's currently working on.

📸 Big picture: Comparatively, the max of 2.5 minutes of ads per hour is ​​less than Hulu (6 mins), Discovery+ (6), HBO Max (5), Peacock (~4), and the upcoming ad-supported tier of Disney+ (~4). Most broadcast TV networks average between 12 and 17 minutes per hour.

💬 Quoted…​​ “The real deal.”

• Google’s Project Starline, a glasses-free 3D chat booth designed to make a virtual call feel like a one-on-one conversation, is making its real-world debut later this year across 100+ companies, including T–Mobile, WeWork, and Salesforce.

📰📱 Stat of the Day: TikTok reportedly takes a 70% cut from donations on charitable live streams – such as those from displaced Syrian or Ukrainian citizens – while officially saying that type of content isn’t allowed on its platform, per a BBC investigation published Wednesday.

🤯 Did You Know?... When Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game in 1962 – still the all-time record – he did so while shooting his free throws “granny style,” aka underhand.

📖 Worth a Read: What happens when you donate your body to science → (MIT Technology Review)

• ☝️ You’re looking at one of the winners of the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, aptly named “Heavenly flamingos.” Check out the other winning photos.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🏘️📈 The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.81% this week, its highest mark since 2008, per new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
• 🤝 Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs to offer “high-yield” savings accounts for Apple Card users. | Delta and Starbucks are linking their loyalty programs to boost spending among their 100 million and 27 million respective members.
• 🛒 Kroger is in advanced talks to acquire rival grocer Albertsons, per multiple reports.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is now the second most watched English-language show in Netflix history, behind Stranger Things.
• 👨‍🎤 Queen released a previously-unheard song featuring Freddie Mercury yesterday called Face It Alone.
• 🐦 Twitter is working on a ‘don’t @ me’ feature that gives users the option to block their handle from being mentioned by non-followers, or anyone at all.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦿 Stanford researchers have created a boot-like exoskeleton that can help wearers walk and run faster with less effort.
• 🇬🇷⚡ The Greek government announced that its entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewable energy for ~5 hours last Friday for the first time in history.
• 💊 The FDA confirmed there’s a nationwide shortage of Adderall. (Background)

EVERYTHING ELSE

• ⚖️ The 24-year-old man responsible for killing 17 people at a Parkland, FL, high school in 2018 was sentenced to life in prison without parole by a jury yesterday, sparing him the death penalty.
• 🏛️ Trump recap: The Supreme Court denied a request from former president to hear a case centered around the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago residence. | The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump at its latest public hearing yesterday, though experts say it’s unlikely he’ll actually testify. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 📅 Elon Musk has the world’s strangest social calendar.

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Travis Carpenter was only thirteen when he had to make the life-altering decision to amputate his left leg.

• The Utah teen was born with neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition causing countless tumors to grow in his leg. He broke it three times before finally deciding to have it surgically removed.

🐾 ❤️ Who rescued who?... In the process of deciding about his leg, Travis became a proud dog dad to Lady, a playful pup with one unique trait: shes missing one of her legs, too. 

• "When I saw her get around it really well, I'm like, maybe I should do that so I can get around better than I am right now," Travis said. "I think it’s really cool to have a dog that’s just like me.”

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Peaches
• White & brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Lemon juice
• Cornstarch
• Flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Butter
• Water

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Yeast
• Sugar
• Olive oil
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Hot dogs
• Egg
• Milk
• Sesame

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Flour
• Sugar
• Honey
• Dry yeast
• Sea salt
• Warm water
• Butter
• Oil
• Light brown sugar
• Cinnamon

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Peach cobbler

✌️ Recipe #2: Pigs in a blanket

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Cinnamon babka