Good morning. Congrats to the roughly 75% of respondents who correctly guessed that the pop culture reference in yesterday’s intro was from Cheers, the hit 70s/80s show.

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The DONUT, the only daily newsletter where everybody knows your name, and we’re always glad you came.

We loved reading all of your replies explaining why you chose the option that you did, especially those like: “Because I’m old,” “I’m 38,” and “Are you checking in on your older demographics??”

Also, bonus points to the ten people who responded with “NOOORM!”

Now get ready for the NEEEEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.91 minutes to read.

"The more you extend kindness to yourself, the more it will become your automatic response to others."

–Wayne Dyer (1940-2015)

Picture this: You’re out for a walk one day when, suddenly, the northern lights fill the sky with waves of glowing blue and green. Puzzled, you pull out your phone – but there’s no internet connection or cell service. And it’s not just you; the entire world has been transported back to the analog age.

While this may sound like the beginning of an alien invasion movie, it’s actually a scenario experts say has a small chance of happening in the near future as the Sun enters a particularly active period for solar flares.

☀️🧲 Let’s break it down… The Sun’s magnetic field operates on a cycle where its north and south poles swap places every 11 years. As the magnetic fields change, so does the level of activity on the Sun’s surface, which varies from high to low (and back again).

After several years of downtime, the Sun is now entering a high activity phase that’s projected to peak in 2025.

• And more solar activity means higher odds of a catastrophic flare happening – like the Carrington Event in 1859, when a solar electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disrupted Earth’s magnetic field so much that telegraph systems in the Northern Hemisphere were rendered useless.
• So far, Earth hasn’t experienced a major solar flare in the digital age. But if it were to occur, experts predict the flare would wipe out power grids, internet signals, and satellite/radio comms across the globe for weeks or months, costing ~$7 billion per day in lost productivity for the US alone.

✋ Yes, but: Much like a flop from Martin Scorsese, these powerful solar flares don’t happen very often. There’s between a 1.6% and 12% chance Earth will experience an extended internet disruption within the next decade due to a solar flare, per a 2021 study from UC Irvine.

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🖼️🍕 A newly-discovered fresco (painting) in the ruins of Pompeii depicts a possible ancient ancestor of pizza. Archaeologists excavating the site earlier this year came across the 2,000-year-old drawing, which shows a flat, round piece of dough that looks a lot like modern-day pizza. But looks can be deceiving. Experts quickly pointed out the key ingredients needed to make Italy's iconic dish (tomatoes and mozzarella) weren’t available when the fresco was painted. And even though it wasn’t exactly pizza that was depicted, the meal shown in the picture – focaccia bread covered with fruit, spices, and a pesto sauce – was considered frugal and simple at the time; much like a $5.55 Hot-N-Ready from Little Caesar’s today.

🇷🇺 Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly planned to capture Russia’s military leaders in last weekend’s mutiny. Prigozhin had originally intended to capture Russia’s defense minister and a top military general during a visit to a region near Ukraine, but the Wagner chief was forced to accelerate his plans after the Kremlin became aware of the plot two days before it was supposed to occur, multiple Western intelligence officials told the WSJ. Separately, the Journal also reported that Russia is trying to seize full control of the Wagner Group after the short-lived mutiny, including its troops stationed in Africa and the Middle East.

🇫🇷 Protests broke out across Paris on Tuesday after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by a police officer. Hours after the incident occurred Tuesday morning, a video of the shooting taken by a witness began circulating on social media. Paris authorities said police had attempted to stop the teen for traffic violations prior to the shooting, but he kept driving. The officer accused of shooting the teen was detained on homicide charges yesterday morning, after 31 Parisians were arrested in a series of mass protests Tuesday night.

The DOJ has its lasso out again (yeehaw!). Yesterday, the agency announced that it’s charged 78 individuals with $2.5 billion in healthcare fraud as part of a coordinated law enforcement effort.

And, as you’d expect when talking about billions worth of fraud, some of the alleged schemes outlined in the agency’s press release are both sneakier than Mr. Deeds’ butler and larger than anything Danny Ocean has ever planned.

• In the biggest case, three individuals are alleged to have used a massive telemarketing operation + a software system that generated templates of false doctors’ orders to fraudulently file more than $1.96 billion (😳) in false claims with Medicare for reimbursement.
• In another case, the owner and a corporate officer of a pharmaceutical company allegedly sold more than $150 million in repackaged HIV medication obtained from the street to pharmacies. Some of the bottles contained the wrong medication, improper labels, broken pills, and pebbles.

All told, 24 doctors and numerous healthcare execs, as well as nurses and other licensed medical professionals were charged. Officials also seized more than $10 million in cash, cars, houses, and a boat.

💰🚨 Zoom out: Fraud, it seems, is a high-priority item on DC’s agenda this week. According to a separate report released by the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration on Tuesday, at least $200 billion – or 17% – of the $1.2 trillion in federal aid disbursed to small businesses during the pandemic may have gone to scammers.

Ever wished you could automate some of the mundane, repetitive tasks you perform on your computer? Like, imagine pushing a button to open a specific website, unmute yourself on Zoom, or close all open windows on your screen except one.

Well, all iPhone and iPad users can do exactly that. For free.

🎛️ How it works… Yesterday, tech company Elegato released the Stream Deck Mobile 2.0, an app that essentially turns your iPhone or iPad into a six-button control panel. You can program each button to perform a task, or series of tasks, on your computer (or smart device in your home).

For instance, tap just one button and you could:

• Automate a multi-step process: Convert an email into a task within your task manager.
• Kick-start a meeting: Automatically switch your Slack status to “in a meeting,” open Zoom, and mute your microphone.
• Control your smart home: When 5pm hits, turn your living room lights on, start playing your “chill time” playlist on Spotify through your smart speaker, and shut off your computer.

🔴 Real buttons only: For anyone craving the tactile sensation of interacting with anything that isn’t your phone, the Elegato Stream Deck also comes in a sits-on-your-desk version with real buttons you can mash to your heart’s content.

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💬 Quoted… “Harry would interview a procession of controversial guests, such as Vladimir Putin, Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump, about their early formative years…”

Since last week’s announcement that Spotify was parting ways with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, stories have begun coming out about the couple’s… interesting ideas for podcasts.

• For example, Prince Harry pitched a show where he would interview controversial guests like Putin and Trump about the childhood experiences that made them who they were today. Suffice to say, the show wasn’t green lit.

📰 Stat of the Day: As of last night, there were 127 million Americans under air quality alerts in response to smoke blowing down from wildfires in Canada. Parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and Washington D.C., among others, are currently affected.

🤯 Did You Know?.... Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, took the phrase “there’s no such thing as bad press” to a whole new level. In the 1950s, Parker sold buttons that said “I Hate Elvis” and “Elvis Is A Jerk,” so the singer could be making money off of the people who disliked him.

📖 Worth a Read: The 40 greatest tech books of all time → (The Verge)

• ☝️ A Delta flight from Atlanta with 96 passengers onboard was forced to make a rare belly landing at a North Carolina airport yesterday after its front landing gear refused to open; there were no reported injuries among passengers, who had to exit the plane via inflatable slide.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💰 US markets closed mixed across the board yesterday (S&P: -0.04%; Dow: -0.2%; Nasdaq: +0.3%).
• 🏦 All 23 major US banks included in the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test were able to survive a hypothetical severe recession scenario while continuing to lend to consumers and corporations, per a new report. | 📈 Fed Chair Jerome Powell yesterday said the central bank very likely hasn’t finished raising interest rates this year, and could even implement consecutive rate hikes if need be.
• 🛍️ DoorDash announced plans to offer drivers the choice to receive an unspecified hourly minimum wage.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Spleash

• 🤸 Seven-time Olympic gymnastics medalist Simone Biles will return to competition this August for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
• 🏒 Connor Bedard, 17, was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the first overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft last night.
• 📵 Social app IRL, which most recently raised $170 million from SoftBank and others at a valuation of $1.2 billion, is shutting down and returning money to shareholders after an internal board investigation found 95% of its users were fake. | 🙅‍♀️ TikTok is discontinuing TikTok Now, an in-app feature and standalone app that mimics BeReal.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Slumber

• 🧬 A team of MIT and Harvard researchers discovered a new CRISPR-like system in animals that can edit the human genome, per a peer-reviewed study published yesterday in Nature.
• 🦟 Five cases of malaria have been confirmed in Texas and Florida, per a new CDC advisory; they represent the first known cases of locally acquired malaria in the US since 2003.
• 🍽️ Intermittent fasting is roughly as effective as calorie counting for losing weight, per a new peer-reviewed study.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥵 About 110 million Americans in the southernmost US states were under some sort of extreme heat advisory yesterday, with alerts spanning from California to Florida.
• ⚖️ Former President Donald Trump filed a defamation countersuit against columnist E. Jean Carroll yesterday.
• 🏥 A federal judge last night temporarily blocked part of a new Tennessee law that bans non-surgical gender-affirming care for minors; the ruling allows a law banning gender-affirming surgeries for minors to take effect. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🚗 The best (and worst) states for summer road trips.

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Yesterday we covered a new report from the DOJ Inspector General which concluded that Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit suicide in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019 due to “numerous and serious failures” by the employees who worked there.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, which of the following events most likely happened?

• Epstein committed suicide on his own: 25%
• Epstein was coerced into committing suicide: 28%
• Epstein was murdered: 30%
• Unsure/other: 17%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 18,302 votes and 1,734 longform responses.

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

• NASA just recycled 98% of all astronaut pee and sweat on the ISS (engineers are thrilled) → (Space.com)
• Drugs rain down on countryside after French fighter jet intercepts tourist plane → (CBS News)
• Illinois dog's 5.46-inch tongue breaks world record → (UPI)
• High art becomes body art as visitors to Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum get inked → (APNews)

A pair of pilots just potentially broke a Guinness World Record, flying and landing in each of the 48 contingent states in under 48 hours.  

The idea started with Delta A350 Capt. Barry Behnfeldt, who was inspired by another pilot's attempt at the same goal. He chose Delta A321 Capt. Aaron Wilson as his co-pilot, with Thomas Twiddy as the in-flight repair technician.

• The trio started in Maine, and flew to all 48 states in just under 48 hours – landing in Michigan to finish off the journey. They touched the ground at a public airport in each state to have a witness sign paperwork. 

✈️ Bottom line: Barry had three pillars for his mission: "to promote general aviation, inspire the next generation of pilots, and give to the Veterans Airlift Command- an organization that provides free, private air transportation to our nation's combat injured veterans for medical or other compassionate purposes."

Which city, pictured above, was the first in recorded history to reach to reach 1 million inhabitants in 133 B.C.E.?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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Rome, Italy