Good morning. And let’s just give it up for America’s greatest comedian of all time, Mark Twain. The best comedy, of course, is the truth, and Twain’s was no exception.

Twain was born in 1835, the same year Halley’s Comet was seen from Earth for the first time in about 75 years.

Then, in 1909, Twain said the following: “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835; it’s coming again next year [in 1910], and I expect to go out with it…”

On April 21, 1910, one day after Halley’s Comet made its closest and most visible approach to the sun, Twain passed away.

And now, NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.93 minutes to read.

"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."

–Zig Ziglar (1926-2012)

In a first-of-its-kind experiment, scientists at the California Institute of Technology have successfully transmitted solar energy collected by a satellite down to a receiver on Earth.

☀️🛰🌏 Here’s what happened: The Caltech research team used a prototype satellite equipped with a foldable, 540-square-foot sail-like structure to capture sunlight in Earth’s orbit and convert it into electricity.

A custom-built transmitter onboard the satellite then converted the collected electricity into electromagnetic energy, after which it was beamed down to Earth via microwaves.

• While the experiment only involved enough energy to power two LED light bulbs, the researchers say their eventual goal is to launch a constellation of satellites that can transmit larger amounts of electricity to places that currently lack reliable access.

And though the concept may seem more novel than a Stephen King novel, 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 much like your cousin’s billion-dollar app idea, there are still a few obstacles to overcome before widespread adoption.

For instance: to beam several gigawatts of solar energy (aka enough to power 1-2 million homes) from a geostationary orbit around Earth, you’d need a transmitter measuring roughly 1.2 miles in diameter – both on Earth and in space. Which would be a project of historic proportions.

• The largest single structure ever built in space, the International Space Station, measures 361 feet by 243 feet. And just like your dad’s golf swing, it took 10 years and 30+ launches into space to put together.

⚡ Zoom out: Nearly all of the top global superpowers are currently funding space-based solar power projects, including the US, UK, EU, China, Russia, India, and Japan.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Ukrainian troops launched a counterattack yesterday against Russia at multiple points along the front lines. Russian officials characterized the attacks as the beginning of Ukraine’s long-anticipated spring counteroffensive, while officials in Kyiv – who previously said they wouldn’t announce a major assault – described them as “local” and denied Russia’s claims. Alongside the attacks yesterday, several Russian radio and TV networks aired an apparent deepfake video in which President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in three border regions and ordered a general military mobilization in response to Ukrainian attacks. The Kremlin later confirmed the broadcast was fake, describing it as a “hack.”

🇲🇽 Mexico’s ruling Morena party won the governorship of the country’s most populous state yesterday. The victory by Delfina Gómez, the first woman to hold the position, deals a blow to the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, which had governed the State of Mexico without interruption for the previous 94 years. The left-leaning Morena party now governs 22 of Mexico’s 32 states; it also holds the presidency and a majority in both chambers of the national legislature.

🇬🇧⚖️ Prince Harry's privacy lawsuit kicked off yesterday, but he couldn't make it due to his travel arrangements from California. Prince Harry is expected to take the witness stand later today though, becoming the first prominent UK royal to testify in court since 1891. Prince Harry and other high-profile UK figures are accusing Britain’s Daily Mirror tabloid of illegally obtaining their personal information by hacking their voicemails. The scandal, which encompasses several tabloids under the Mirror Group Newspapers brand, first came to light in 2011, when the parents of an abducted 13-year-old girl saw that her voicemail had been checked and mistakenly assumed she was alive.

Sure, chocolate fondue kits from DeLo-xx are supposed to be enjoyed with friends/family… but do you really need to share? Hey, we won’t judge!

👩‍🍳🌍 Inspired by the master chocolatiers of Europe, DeLo-xx's chocolate pods encapsulate the pinnacle of flavor, crafted with the world's most exquisite ingredients, breathtaking designs, and culinary-inspired tastes. It’s basically an edible art exhibit… but don’t let that stop you!🤤

Everything in DeLo-xx kits is expertly measured, and the melter is included. So sit back, relax, and savor every bit of chocolaty bliss. 

Surrender to helpless chocolate fondue addiction today with DeLo-xx.

Yesterday, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, its much-anticipated augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headset that’s dropping in 2024, and it’s… pretty cool.

The headset, which starts at $3,499 and looks like a pair of futuristic ski goggles, simulates the experience of looking into a giant screen (or screens) that scale to the size of your liking. Oh, and the interface responds dynamically to natural light, meaning it casts shadows for whatever virtual object you’re “seeing.”

Vision Pro is powered by VisionOS, an entirely new operating system that users can control with their *checks notes* hands, voice, and eyes😳 (no controllers!). Use cases include:

• Work: The “infinite canvas” lets you work on multiple virtual screens, which fill whatever space you’re in as if you’re Tom Cruise in Minority Report.
• Entertainment: Sit back and watch movies that feel like they’re on a 100-foot-wide screen, spatial audio included.
• Camera: The Vision Pro includes what Apple is calling the world’s first 3D-camera. With it, you can capture 3D-footage, and then play it back as if you were there experiencing it in real time.

Wondering what happens when you need to interact with another actual human being? The headset comes with a feature called EyeSight, which “reveals your eyes” to those nearby (not dystopian at all!!).

✋ But wait, there’s more: Apple yesterday also launched iOS 17, which came chock full o’ new features, including Visual Voicemail (aka recorded FaceTime messages), a much-improved autocorrect, and a Journal app to help support a user’s mental health.

Yesterday, the SEC filed 13 charges against Binance, the largest crypto-trading platform in the world, as well as its billionaire co-founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao (widely known as CZ). They include:

• Failure to restrict US investors from accessing the platform. Binance, an internationally-based company, allegedly knew tens of thousands of its customers were located in the US, but chose not to act despite it being illegal for an exchange (i.e., Binance) to offer and sell unregistered securities to US citizens. And the company might have a tough time proving its execs were unaware. The SEC claims a senior executive told Binance's Chief Compliance Officer in 2018: ”we are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.”
• Commingling customer funds and misleading investors. Per the 136-page SEC complaint, Binance mixed billions of dollars in customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate company, which was controlled by Zhao. The SEC also alleges that Binance and Zhao used market-making companies they controlled to engage in wash trading to inflate trading prices and profit off their customers.

Binance issued a response yesterday, saying it’s “disappointed” with the SEC and has been cooperating in good-faith. The exchange is also facing legal action from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed a similar lawsuit this past March.

🪙⚖️ Big picture: Crypto companies have long existed in a legal gray area. But it seems the crypto showdown is finally here – since November, when FTX went belly-up and SBF became a meme basically overnight, US regulators have pursued more than a dozen mostly high-profile legal actions against crypto companies.

💬 Quoted… “We truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.”

Several of Reddit’s biggest communities (aka subreddits) announced yesterday that they will be going dark for two days beginning on June 12 to protest the platform’s new API pricing. The subreddits, which reach over 300 million Reddit users, say the new pricing model will put many of the third-party apps that moderators rely on out of business.

• For instance: the creator of Apollo, a third-party browser for Reddit, said it would now need to pay over $20 million/year to service its customers.

👪 Stat of the Day: Vin Diesel once said “there’s nothing stronger than family” – and it looks like he was right. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, almost three-quarters of respondents said spending time with family was one of the most important things in their lives.

• Meanwhile, only about 5% of respondents counted ‘being involved in social or political causes’ as one of their most important things.

🤯 Did You Know?... Can someone call Mario and ask him to bring as many mushrooms as he can? According to a study published by Current Biology on Monday, fungi neutralize over a third of the planet’s fossil fuel emissions – or enough to cancel out the yearly carbon pollution of China.

📖 Worth a Read: Customer Ratings Have Become Meaningless. ‘People Hand Out 5 Stars Like It’s Candy’ → (WSJ)

🌮👑 Just like Taco T**sday is the king of food-themed weekdays, Chartr is the king of awesome data infographics.

📊 Chartr is the free visual newsletter packed with charts, facts, and data snacks, delivering data-driven insights on business, tech, entertainment, and society straight into your inbox.

They tackle topics like "How Apple makes its money," "Why Women aged 25-54 are more active in the workforce than ever", "How the new Little Mermaid performed vs other Disney remakes," and a lot more.

It’s data like you’ve never seen – and you have to see it to fully appreciate it. Oh, and it’s free!🥳

Join 400,000+ visual learners and data-driven professionals with Chartr.

• ☝️ Today is the 79th anniversary of D-Day, the date in 1944 when Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to begin a direct assault that led to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board yesterday (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.6%; Nasdaq: -0.1%).
• 🎙️ Spotify laid off 200 employees yesterday as part of a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division; the figure represents 2% of the company’s total workforce.
• 🛻 General Motors announced plans to invest over $1 billion in two Michigan plants that will produce next-gen heavy-duty gas and diesel trucks, such as the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with myBalto

• 🏒 The Las Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers by a score of 7-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night to take a 2-0 series lead.
• 📧 Gmail issued a warning to its 1.8 billion global users yesterday after discovering that some scammers found a way to convince Google’s new email verification system that their fake brands are legit.
• 🎭 Members of the Screen Actors Guild overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike authorization ahead of upcoming contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

*From our partners: 💰🐩 myBalto users save an average of $1,550/pet… The app lets you save on top pet brands, earn cash back, enter vet bill sweepstakes, and donate to pets in need. Download myBalto free for Apple or Android.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Flume

• 🤖👩‍🏫 Harvard University’s CS50, an introductory computer science class that’s also the most popular online learning course in the world, will start using AI to help grade assignments, teach coding, and personalize learning tips.
• 🧠 A small-brained human relative called Homo naledi used to bury its dead and carve symbols on cave walls, per a preprint study published yesterday; both behaviors were previously thought to be unique to big-brained Neanderthals and our species, Homo sapiens.
• 🚀 SpaceX successfully launched its 28th cargo mission to the ISS yesterday, with its Falcon 9 rocket promptly returning back to Earth for future use.

*From our partners: 💧💰 Catch water leaks before they drain your wallet… 70% of Flume Water users detect a water leak before it costs them big. Flume is an affordable water monitor system that’s easily installable by yourself in minutes, save $50 with code DONUT.

MISCELLANEOUS

• ✈️ The pilot of an unresponsive private plane that flew off course near D.C. on Sunday was reportedly seen slumped over in his seat before the plane crashed in Virginia; all four people onboard the plane were killed in the crash, including the daughter and granddaughter of a prominent Florida businessman; a preliminary report on cause is expected from investigators within 10 days.
• 🏛️ Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said his panel will start proceedings to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress; Comer is accusing the FBI of refusing to comply with a subpoena to turn over a document that alleges President Biden was involved in a criminal bribery scheme. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 🗳️ Former VP Mike Pence filed paperwork yesterday declaring his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right) | 🙅‍♂️ New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced that he won’t be running for president next year. | 📝 See a list of declared candidates so far.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔 Is Gen Z working too hard?

*Sponsored post

Yesterday, we covered the recent increase in student-perpetrated violence against teachers and other school staff across America.

❓ Our question to you: Calling all 15,000+ classrooms reading the DONUT: What policies or changes would you enact to combat the recent increase in student violence against school staff?

• “Schools need to hold kids accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, parents don’t support the schools in disciplining their kids and come to their rescue, which makes the problem worse. Students don’t get held back a grade anymore – they just get pushed through the system. Causing problems the entire way because they know they can and get away with it.”
• “As a teacher, the best policy to stop violence is consistent guidelines and rules of conduct AND an administration actively enforcing these guidelines fairly and with transparency. Students will always try and get away with whatever they can. Teachers need to feel supported. We are licensed professionals! If teachers do not feel safe, what do we think most of the students feel about their safety at school?”
• “Increased mental health and counseling services provided within the walls of the schools. Our school counselors don't always have the same training as therapists and psychologists, yet are often expected to do some of the same work. Teachers are asked to train and teach students on mental health therapies that we don't always understand.”

Click here to read more of the best responses from yesterday’s poll.

+Note on sample size: We received 762 longform responses.

Last month, Sweet Something Bakery in Vancouver was robbed of six cupcakes.

In the bizarre robbery, the burglar stumbled to the shop around 3 am and broke the glass door; he then proceeded to mop up the glass on the floor, steal six cupcakes, take selfies of himself on the shop phone, and walk out. 

• “Yes, business is tough for small food shops," said owner Emma Irvine with a positive outlook. "But then again our cupcakes are irresistibly good!”

🧁 It gets better... In an even more bizarre turn of events, the burglar called the shop and profusely apologized, owning up to everything from that night and offering to pay for both the cupcakes and the door. 

• “[He] and I had a good laugh together," said Emma. "I told him I’m not mad or upset. He told me that maybe one day we could sit down together and have a cupcake and just talk about the situation.”

❓ Trivia: How long is the typical US copyright protection that's granted to an author after their death?

🎓 True or False?... Cashmere comes from sheep.

🤔 Riddle Me This: Alive without breath, as cold as death, never thirsty, ever drinking, covered in armor but never clinking. What am I?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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

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.)

Start referring.👇

❓ Trivia: 70 years

🎓 T/F: False, it comes from goats.

🤔 Riddle: Fish (s/o to The Hobbit)