Good morning. Random fact dump incoming:

• Americans have a collective $21 billion in unspent gift cards, with nearly two-thirds of all US consumers owning at least one.
• The US has never finished lower than 3rd place in the Women’s World Cup (it began in 1991).
• 1 in 3 Americans are unable to do five consecutive push-ups.

Now, here’s some more fodder for the water cooler and your mind – the NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 5.04 minutes to read.

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“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. Imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality.”

–James Cameron (b. 1954)

A long-awaited change in how Americans light their homes and businesses is finally here. Under a new federal law that took effect yesterday, US consumers are no longer able to purchase common household incandescent light bulbs from retailers, and must instead opt for LED bulbs.

• The new law carves out several exemptions, including heat lamps, plant grow lights, specialty bulbs, and appliance bulbs (like fridge and oven lights).
• It also allows US consumers to use any incandescent bulbs they’ve already purchased.

💡 Some quick background: US homes and businesses have been using incandescent light bulbs since Thomas Edison first registered the patent in 1879. But in 2007, Congress approved a bipartisan law that would effectively ban the manufacture and sale of most incandescent bulbs by 2014, citing the improved energy efficiency of LED bulbs.

However, enforcement of the law was delayed or canceled several times during the Obama and Trump administrations, before the Biden admin last year re-committed to implementing the ban starting August 1, 2023.

🗣️ Arguments in favor: Consumer groups and the Biden admin say LED bulbs save money and energy in the long run because they turn electricity directly into light, while incandescent bulbs turn electricity into heat first, then into light. The latter process loses 90% of the available electrical energy, compared to 30% energy loss for LEDs.

• So while the average cost of an LED light bulb ($5-$7) is more than double that of an incandescent bulb ($2-$3), the Department of Energy says the average US household would save $225 in energy costs per year by switching fully from incandescent to LED bulbs ($3 billion per year, collectively).

🙅‍♀️ Arguments in opposition: Some Republican lawmakers have pushed back against banning incandescent bulbs, arguing US consumers – rather than the federal government – should be allowed to do their own cost-benefit analysis that includes functional and aesthetic trade-offs.

• They also portray Biden’s light-bulb ban as part of a campaign by Democrats to have the government interfere in nearly every aspect of US citizens’ daily lives, pointing to recent state-level efforts to ban gas-powered stoves as well.

📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with the federal government’s new ban on the sale of most incandescent light bulbs?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

💡 It’s 1879… you’ve just received a telegram informing you that Thomas Edison has filed a patent for his breakthrough innovation - the incandescent light bulb! Armed with this knowledge, you're suddenly able to make plans to profit from this revolutionary invention🥳.

⏩ Now, fast forward 144 years and meet Patent Drop…

This free twice-weekly newsletter scours the US Patent and Trademark website to uncover the latest innovations in big tech that will shape the direction of our future.

Be the first to know of Big Tech’s modern day “lighbulb moments” by subscribing free to Patent Drop.

🇨🇳 A Chinese zoo denied allegations one of its bears was a human in costume following a viral video that raised questions. "I'm Angela the sun bear – I got a call after work yesterday from the head of the zoo asking if I was being lazy and skipped work today and found a human to take my place," read a Sunday statement from zoo officials, which was inexplicably written from the bear's perspective, as translated by CNN. "Let me reiterate again to everyone that I am a sun bear," the statement continued. "[N]ot a black bear, not a dog – a sun bear!" Which… well, you make the judgment👆.

🇮🇹 The UN’s cultural agency says the city of Venice should be added to its endangered list. In a report published yesterday, UNESCO said Venice, Italy, hasn’t done enough to avoid "irreversible" damage from overdevelopment, high levels of tourism (28 million visitors per year), and rising sea levels due to climate change. But some Venetian officials pushed back on the UN’s claims, pointing to recent preservation-focused initiatives like a ban on cruise ships in Venice’s lagoon, as well as new sea walls to keep out high tides.

🇨🇦🚫 Meta has started blocking access to all news links for Facebook and Instagram users in Canada. The move came in response to Canadian legislation passed by Parliament in June that compels digital platforms with 50+ million users to compensate media outlets for all links to their articles shared on the platform. Google has also committed to blocking all news links in Canada once the law officially takes effect later this year. Meta and Google’s stance reflects their concern about a contagion effect in which other jurisdictions around the world end up mimicking Canada’s approach to news distribution, experts told the WSJ.

Ads are coming soon to a Walmart grocery aisle near you, according to a CNBC report published yesterday.

And the retailer’s not alone in this strategy. As venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen puts it: “Software advertising is eating the world.”

🤔 What’s behind the move?... Typical brick-and-mortar retailers operate off razor-thin margins. For example, a grocery store’s net profit margin usually falls between 1%–3%. But when it comes to selling advertising, the margins are much higher. Which means Walmart should be able to increase its profit without significantly altering normal operations.

The company plans to ramp up in-store ads by selling product sample stations, leveraging the ~170,000 digital screens it already has across its locations to show commercials, and offering 30-second radio spots.

And given the company’s massive reach – about 240 million people visit its stores weekly – the revenue it generates from advertising could become significant.

• Walmart’s ads business brought in $2.7 billion in revenue last fiscal year. And while that represents less than 1% of the retailer’s total annual revenue, its growth prospects are strong.
• The company’s global ads revenue grew ~30% last year, compared to an ~7% increase in its total revenue and US net sales during the period.

📈 Big picture: Other retailers – including Kroger, Target, and Walgreens – are also experimenting with in-store ads. The retail media industry, which refers to third-party ads sold by retailers, is on track to generate $45 billion in revenue in 2023, up 20% from the prior year, according to Insider Intelligence.

Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in D.C. yesterday afternoon, in a criminal case accusing Trump of trying to subvert the will of US voters by falsely claiming there was enough fraud to overturn his 2020 election loss.

More specifically, Special Counsel Jack Smith is charging Trump with four felony crimes related to his behavior between the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by his supporters on the US Capitol:

1. Conspiracy to defraud the US
2. Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
3. Obstruction of an official proceeding
4. Conspiracy against the rights of US voters

🧑‍⚖️ Zoom out: Yesterday marks the third indictment against Trump since early April. He’s also facing federal charges for allegedly mishandling classified US government documents after he left office, as well as state charges in New York for alleged hush-money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels and another woman prior to the 2016 election.

• In addition, a Georgia grand jury will decide later this summer whether Trump will face criminal charges over a call he made to GA’s secretary of state asking him to “find” enough votes to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state.

+Dive deeper: From the Left | From the Center | From the Right

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💬 Quoted… “MrBeast Burger has been regarded as a misleading, poor reflection of the MrBeast brand that provides low-quality products to customers that are delivered late, in unbranded packaging, fail to include the ordered items, and in some instances, were inedible.”

MrBeast Burger has a serious quality problem. At least that’s what Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is alleging in a lawsuit against Virtual Dining Concepts, the ghost kitchen operator of MrBeast Burger.

• The suit states Virtual Dining was more concerned with expanding its line of MrBeast food than quality control, and that the food was consistently bad enough to hurt his reputation. Some customers have described the food as “revolting” and “likely the worst burger [they] have ever had.”

🏠📈 Stat of the Day: It’s a tale as old as millennials – rising home prices and rents contribute to driving people out of major cities. According to a new analysis of US Census Bureau data, Miami – which saw home prices go up 53% since June 2020, the second most out of the top 50 metropolitan housing markets – lost 79,535 people through net migration between 2020 and 2022. It represents the city’s first population drop in decades.

🤔 Did You Know?... Like all of us, famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin had a mother – and her maiden name was “Moon.”

📰 Worth a Read: ‘Wait, am I the fool here?’: why our fears of being scammed are corrosive and damaging → (The Guardian)

• ☝️ Cedar Point, the popular amusement park in northern Ohio, unveiled a reimagined version of its iconic Top Thrill Dragster ride yesterday; the Top Thrill 2 features a second 420-foot tower and a new backwards “weightless” free fall, which previously would be a sign of the ride's failure.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Upway

• 💰 US markets closed mixed yesterday (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: +0.2%; Nasdaq: -0.4%). | 📉 Fitch Ratings downgraded the US’ long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA.
• 🤔 Amazon’s internal info is reportedly finding its way to messaging apps like Telegram, where brokers act as a middleman between sellers and Amazon employees who leak the data in exchange for money.
• Earnings corner: ☕ Starbucks beat analysts’ expectations on quarterly earnings; though same-store sales missed estimates. | 🚗📲 Uber posted its first quarterly profit (using generally accepted accounting principles) in company history.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⛳ Tiger Woods agreed to become the sixth player-director on the PGA Tour’s policy board.
• 🍿💰 The Sound of Freedom surpassed $140 million in US box office sales vs. a $14.5 million budget; it’s now made more domestically than the new Mission Impossible (though the Tom Cruise-led franchise makes bank overseas; it generated $155 million internationally in its opening weekend).
• ⚾ Justin Verlander is headed back to the Astros.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with CariFree

• 🦠⚖️ Henrietta Lacks' descendants reached a settlement over the alleged use of her cells to develop products later sold for a profit; the descendants argued those cells were taken without Lacks' consent in the 1950s.
• 🏥 There is rising evidence that leprosy is endemic in Florida, per a new CDC research letter; central Florida has accounted for 81% of reported cases in the state and almost one-fifth of reported cases nationwide. (What does endemic mean?)
• 🛰️ NASA picked up a “heartbeat signal” from its Voyager 2 space probe yesterday, more than a week after it had gone silent; the craft was only designed to last 12 years but has been beaming data back to Earth for over four decades; it’s currently located over 12.3 billion miles away.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚘 The NHTSA launched a preliminary investigation following a dozen reports about Tesla 2023 model year Model 3 and Model Y vehicles encountering steering issues.
• 🙏 New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the first Black woman elected to a statewide office in the state, died Tuesday at 71.
• 🏛️ Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified to Congress on Monday that Hunter occasionally put his father Joe Biden on speakerphone at business dinners and in other situations to impress clients and associates; Archer also said Joe Biden and his son never discussed business on these calls. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🏡 1 in 4 US homebuyers want to move to a different city – here's the No. 1 place they're looking.

You're looking at Tater Tot, a tiny kitten with special needs that has captured the internet's heart. 

🤯 The origin story: Tater Tot's foster mom, Ash Houghton, shared that it felt like fate when the tiny kitten was brought home by a neighborhood dog at only two days old. "Almost as if to say, ‘Mom, this one needs help.’"

• All four of Tater Tot's legs were malformed at birth, so he was quickly put into stints to prevent surgery. The kitten also has a cleft palate and will eventually need reconstruction surgery. 

🏆 Go, little rock star... When Ash started posting about Tater Tot's journey to health, she was surprised to find his fan base growing – and quickly.  

• Tater Tot's online fan groups have close to 200,000 followers and counting. His videos have millions of views 🤯.
• "I think people love an underdog," said Ash of Tater Tot's rise to internet fame. "[A]nd this spud has a lot of things working against him, but his zest and fight for life is super inspiring. I know he's inspired me!"

Name the movies described by the following poorly-explained plots.

1. Two 90-year-old men fight when one of them can't remember who the other is.
2. A teenage girl meets the man of her dreams.
3. A couple of thieves narrowly survive a gauntlet of death. 

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
3. Home Alone (1990)