Good morning. And a happy start to the loooooooongweeeeeeeekeeeeeend.

Get it? The long weekend as demonstrated by how long the word itself is – this is innovative stuff, y’all. A lot of people in the comedic linguistics community are talking about it so…

Okay but for real – it’s Memorial Day Weekend, and we here at The DONUT just want to say a huge “thank you” to the brave individuals who have served in our armed forces. Your contributions shape our nation’s history and define the values we most hold dear.

And now, NEWS.

P.S. We’ll be off Monday, see you back in the inbox on Tuesday morning.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.88 minutes to read.

“A person is but the product of their thoughts. What they think, they become.”

–Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

These days, it’s hard for Democrats and Republicans to agree on anything – except when it comes to pushing back start times for middle and high school students.

Earlier this month, Florida’s Republican-led legislature approved a law preventing all public middle schools in the state from starting before 8 am, and all high schools from starting before 8:30. This puts the state on par with the Democrat-led California, which passed an identical measure in 2019.

⏩ Driving the change… On average, US high schools across the country start at 8 am every day, with 93% of all schools starting before 8:30 am, per the most recent federal data.

But lawmakers who support pushing back school start times cite research that shows teenagers’ circadian rhythms, aka their internal body clocks, are best synced to sleep between the hours of 11 pm and 8 am – which is typically impossible to achieve on school days.

• Other peer-reviewed studies have found delaying start times for middle and high schools is linked with higher grades, as well as increased rates of attendance and graduation.
• Both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that middle and high schools in the US start no earlier than 8:30 am.

📸 Big picture: Similar to a brand-new sauna, the movement to push back start times is starting to gain some steam. Eight other states are currently considering similar legislation to California and Florida.

📊 Flash poll: Would you be in favor of your state passing a law that mandates later start times for middle and high schools?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

🇨🇳 Chinese state-sponsored hackers have infiltrated a wide range of critical infrastructure organizations in the US. Microsoft first reported the incident on Wednesday, alongside intelligence agencies from the “Five Eyes” nations including the US. The company warned that Beijing is likely pursuing the ability to disrupt critical communications between the US and the Asia Pacific region in the event of a future US-China crisis, such as an invasion of Taiwan. Microsoft also said a key target of the hackers was the US territory of Guam, which contains three military bases that would play an important strategic role should the US need to respond to any future Chinese military attack.

🇬🇧 Net migration to the UK hit an all-time high in 2022 (+606,000), per new data. Government officials said international students were the largest group who emigrated to the UK last year, with refugees from Ukraine, Hong Kong, and Afghanistan also making up a significant percentage. The UK’s ruling Conservative party, which has previously pledged to reduce net migration, this week announced a set of new rules preventing most international students from bringing family members with them to the country.

🇩🇪 Germany’s economy has entered a technical recession following a second straight quarter with negative GDP. The country’s statistics agency said the 0.3% decrease in GDP last quarter was largely due to a 1.2% decrease in household consumption, with high annual inflation – 8.7% in January and February – eroding consumers’ spending power in the world’s fourth-largest economy. Per the WSJ, Germany’s latest GDP numbers suggest the EU as a whole likely also entered a technical recession last quarter.

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Prior to this season, Major League Baseball implemented a series of new rules aimed at quickening the pace of play, encouraging more base stealing, and increasing the number of balls put in play.

And now, as we’re sitting nearly two months into baseball's new era, *checks notes* it’s safe to say these changes are working.

• Games are shorter. Through Monday, the average nine-inning game took 2 hours 37 minutes to complete (s/o to the pitch clock). That’s nearly a half-hour quicker than last season’s average through the same period, and represents the fastest MLB pace of play since 1984.
• There’s more stealing. This season, the MLB introduced larger bases and a limit on pickoff attempts – and someone better call the police because stolen-base attempts are now at their highest level in over a decade.
• Balls put in play are more likely to be hits. Following a ban on defensive shifts, the league-wide batting average on balls put in play is up six points from last year, at .296.

⚾📈 If you change it, they will come… MLB attendance was at a 25-year low last season – but much like therapy, the new rule changes seem to be working. The league’s average attendance through May 21 was 7.5% higher than last year, while viewership for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball was up 11% in April compared to 2022.

Names. Much like opinions and air-fryers, everybody’s got one. But did you know there are a bunch of names that have shifted from being mostly for boys to mostly for girls, and vice versa?

That’s according to a chart recently published by Reddit user u/socjones, who performed an analysis of the Social Security Administration’s data on baby names dating back to 1920. Their flip-flop findings include:

• Angel: Babies with this name were overwhelmingly boys in 1920 (80%+), it switched briefly to majority female from 1969 until 1985, and has now returned to an over 80% male majority.
• Riley: An almost exclusively male name until about 1980, “Riley” switched to majority female in 2002. It’s currently about 75% female.

But most interesting of all – the name “Taylor” switched from majority male to majority female in 1989… the same year that… TAYLOR SWIFT was born🤯.

🔍 Zoom out: Names aren’t the only thing that have changed for babies over time. In the 1880s, boys and girls all wore dresses until about age six. And until the 1940s, department stores often recommended that boys wear pink clothes and girls wear blue.

Don’t believe us? Below is a photo of a 2.5-year-old FDR, which was taken in 1884.

💬 Quoted… "Will AI be a force for good or a vehicle of destruction? With the exception of the youngest Americans, hands down, Americans think the latter."

A majority of Americans (54%) think artificial intelligence poses a danger to humanity, while 31% think it will benefit humanity, according to a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday.

• The only demographic that believes AI will be a force for good more than a vehicle of destruction? Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.

🏘️ Stat of the Day: 46% of US households in 2020 consisted of a married couple, down from 55% in 1990, per new data from the Census Bureau.

🤯 Did You Know?... The first-ever submarine to sink an enemy ship in wartime belonged to the Confederate Army in the US Civil War.

📖 Worth a Read: America’s Math Coach Is Teaching Fifth-Graders to Outsmart AI → (WSJ)

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• ☝️ The National Science Foundation’s Inouye Solar Telescope this week published eight extremely close-up images of the Sun; scientists say the unprecedented level of detail will help them better understand the Sun’s magnetic field and the drivers behind solar storms.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with BetterBone

• 💰 US markets closed mixed yesterday (S&P: +0.9%; Dow: -0.1%; Nasdaq: +1.7%).
• ⚡🚗 Ford EVs will soon be granted access to over 12,000 Tesla charging stations, both companies’ CEOs said yesterday.
• 🖥️📈 Nvidia shares increased 24% following a better-than-expected quarterly earnings report; the chipmaker said it expects sales of about $11 billion in this coming quarter, ~50% higher than Wall Street estimates; the company's market cap is now approaching $1 trillion.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 Succession’s 90-minute series finale will air on MAX this Sunday at 9 pm ET.
• 🏈🤝 DirecTV agreed yesterday to a multiyear deal that will allow the company to provide NFL Sunday Ticket to commercial businesses including bars and restaurants.
• ⚾🎰 The Oakland Athletics and Nevada governor Joe Lombardo reached a tentative agreement that will see the A’s move to Las Vegas; it marks the second instance of a majors sports team moving from Oakland to Vegas this decade (Raiders were the first).

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Ice Barrel

• ⚡ Researchers at UMass Amherst invented a device that can continuously generate electricity from thin air, per a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in Advanced Materials.
• 🛰️ South Korea successfully launched its first commercial-grade satellite in history yesterday; the launch came a week after rival North Korea announced plans to place its first military spy satellite into orbit.
• ☀️🌍 Life on Earth may have first originated due to enormous superflares from a hyperactive young Sun; that’s per a new peer-reviewed study in which researchers fired charged particles found in solar winds at a concoction of gasses present in Earth's early atmosphere.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 📞🤖 The attorneys general of 48 states plus D.C. filed a lawsuit against Avid Telecom, accusing it of being behind billions of illegal robocalls, including some impersonating companies or government agencies.
• 🏛️ The White House and House Republicans are close to reaching a deal that would raise the federal debt ceiling for two years in exchange for government spending cuts, per multiple reports. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• ⚖️🌊 The Supreme Court issued a new ruling yesterday that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate US wetlands and waterways. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🏡 America’s best places to live in 2023.

*Sponsored post

It’s time to find out – our weekly news quiz is live.

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🐓 What's in a name?... Shrimp is a rooster, who was saved by Here with Us Animal Sanctuary in Pennsylvania just one day before his scheduled euthanization date.

• When Shrimp started being bullied by some of the other roosters outside at the sanctuary, however, the staff moved him indoors. Little did Shrimp know, his soulmate was just a few waddles away 👀. 

♿ Some would call it fate: Basil is a hen, who suffered from a leg infection resulting in amputation. Bound to her little chicken wheelchair, Basil is also kept inside at the sanctuary to be cared for by staff.

• While the birds were kept in separate areas at first, it was immediately clear that Shrimp wanted to be as close to Basil as possible. 
• “He was so interested in her through the baby gate and did a little dance as soon as he saw her,” said sanctuary owner Amanda Clark. 

❤️ The rest is history... Now, Shrimp and Basil are inseparable, spending their days lounging together and sharing berries, with Shrimp showing off his best dance moves for his love. 

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

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Light brown sugar
• Natural cocoa powder
• Cinnamon
• Sugar
• Flour
• Salt
• Butter
• Bananas
• Baking soda
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Chocolate chips

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Chicken breast
• Lime juice
• Salt & pepper
• Cornstarch
• Vegetable oil
• Light mayonnaise
• Sweet chili sauce
• Sriracha

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Za’atar
• Beefsteak tomatoes
• Bell pepper
• Eggplant
• Green onions
• Fresh mint & parsley
• Juiced lemon

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Chocolate-chip banana bread coffee cake

✌️ Recipe #2: Bang Bang Chicken

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Mediterranean eggplant salad