Good morning. Researchers from Peru, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and beyond published an article in Nature yesterday documenting a 39-million-year-old mammal called the Perucetus colossus whale, which they estimate could be the biggest animal in history at ~750,000 lbs.

For context, here are some other things that are 750,000 pounds:

• Two Boeing 747s😳
• 154 Ford F-150s
• 162,338 Razor scooters

Feel small yet? We recommend doing some kickflips on a Razor scooter; you’ll feel like a stud in no time (not speaking from recent experience or anything).

Now, NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.94 minutes to read.

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“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

–Seneca (4 B.C. – 65 A.D.)

America’s budding cannabis industry suffered a pair of setbacks over the past week.

• Mastercard last Friday instructed US financial institutions to stop allowing any marijuana transactions on its debit cards, citing the drug’s illegal status on a federal level.
• Then on Monday, a $2 billion deal that would’ve created America’s largest cannabis company was called off in a mutual decision by Cresco Labs and Columbia Care, due to “the evolving landscape in the cannabis industry.”

Things weren’t exactly going well before, either

Many states where cannabis is legal saw an annual decline in reported sales last year. This includes three of the top-selling states by volume – California, Colorado, and Washington – which collectively lost $1.1 billion in taxable revenue compared to 2021.

Despite the recent downtick, however, the upside is… high. The US cannabis market was valued at $13.2 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow to $40.1 billion by 2030.

But, like Harold and Kumar’s journey to White Castle, there are a few challenges to overcome before reaching the promised land.

1. State-level bureaucracy. The rollout of each state’s cannabis program is often complicated and time-consuming. In New York, for example, it took nearly two years for officials to issue the first dispensary licenses following legalization in 2021. And to date, just 21 retailers across the entire state are open to the public, leaving farmers and processors with hundreds of millions of dollars in slowly-deteriorating crops they aren’t yet allowed to sell.
2. A thriving illegal market, which made up an estimated 75% of all US marijuana sales in 2021 (the most recent data available). This includes the vast majority of cannabis sales in legal states like Michigan, California, and New York.
3. Existing federal banking laws that effectively ban all US cannabis companies from traditional financing and loans – an obstacle the industry has been trying to overcome for a decade. Last year, a proposed law allowing the cannabis industry access to US banking services failed in the Senate, despite receiving House approval for a seventh time (an eighth attempt is scheduled for this fall).

🌿 Zoom out: After a new Minnesota law officially came into effect on Tuesday, recreational cannabis is now legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, while medicinal marijuana is legal across 38 states plus D.C.

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🐋🇪🇸 Orcas off the coast of Spain appear to be playing a game when interacting with (and damaging) nearby ships. That’s the conclusion of a new research project led by marine conservation organization CIRCE, which runs counter to earlier claims by experts who thought the behavior was first inspired by a female orca who had a traumatic run-in with a boat. CIRCE’s investigation found at least 20 orcas in the region have learned to play with ships’ rudders since 2020 by copying the behavior of their elders.

🇨🇳📵 Chinese regulators unveiled new restrictions for children accessing the internet via smartphone. All Chinese residents under the age of 18 will be cut off from accessing the internet on a mobile device from 10 pm to 6 am once the new law, first announced yesterday, takes effect on September 2. In addition, the law will impose maximum daily time limits for internet usage via smartphone, ranging from 40 minutes for kids under eight to two hours for 16- and 17-year-olds. Chinese parents are allowed to bypass these restrictions if they wish.

🇹🇼 The Taiwanese government began providing free period products in all schools and universities this month. On Monday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education announced a $3.2 million plan to provide all of the country’s educational institutions with free tampons and sanitary pads. Taiwan is the third country in the world to do so, following Scotland (2020) and New Zealand (2021).

The Writers Guild of America and AMPTP (the studios) are set to meet on Friday to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations, after a studio negotiator reportedly reached out to the union to set up a time to chat. It’ll be the first time the two sides are meeting since the Hollywood writer’s strike began three months ago (and also weirdly reminiscent of meeting an ex for coffee).

🤔 How’s the strike going?... To be clear – just because the two sides are meeting doesn’t mean a deal is imminent.

The WGA and AMPTP remain far apart on a number major issues, including demands by writers to secure a larger share of streaming revenue, greater protections against the use of AI, and increases in minimum pay rates to offset inflation and the shift toward shorter TV seasons, the LA Times reports.

And, according to people familiar with the studios’ thinking, movement on any of these deal points could take a while. “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio exec was quoted as telling Deadline in mid-July.

📸🍿 Big picture: We’re about to run head-on into a scarcity of new content. Tens of thousands of actors joined the Writer’s Guild on the picket lines last month, bringing Hollywood productions to a standstill and marking the first simultaneous actors and writers strike since 1960.

Much like a hiker who’s safely made it down the other side of a 14-er, dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, etc., may be past their peak. User growth is slowing, and the pool of available younger users is starting to slow down.

• Roughly 30% of America’s addressable single population uses any type of dating site or app, the same number as in 2020.
• Analysts expect the annual growth in Internet-connected single people ages 18 to 65 to slow to about 1% over the next eight years, from 4% between 2011 to 2019.

However, dating apps are still forecasting future revenue growth. And, since the pool of potential users is projected to largely remain unchanged or even decrease, this growth can really only come from one place – increasing the average revenue per user (by raising prices, adding add’l paid features, etc.). According to a recent Morgan Stanley research report, the average paying user currently spends between $18 and $19 per month on either subscriptions or a la carte purchases.

🤔 A sneak-peek of the future?... Many, already frustrated with the dating app experience before the increased emphasis on monetization, are looking elsewhere for romance. There’s been a rise in “date-me docs” created on Google Docs, for example, which can basically be described as a dating resume containing all sorts of info about the person.

There’s also a growing crowd that places an emphasis on meeting people elsewhere. Like on Instagram, TikTok, or – brace yourself – in real life😱.

Nestled between the stunning San Francisco Bay and majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lodi Wine Country is the perfect destination for your next getaway. With 125 award-winning varietals to taste, amazing amenities, and a welcoming downtown atmosphere, you’ll want to stick around and savor all that Lodi has to offer.

At Lodi, you’ll find:

• 85+ award-winning wineries
• Luxurious accomodations featuring full-service spas and restaurants
• Gorgeous lakes, trails, and parks
• A picturesque downtown with one-of-a-kind boutiques and local eateries
• Unbeatable deals – tasting fees start at just $15

😌 Nothing beats a glass of great wine… besides taking in all the amazing things Lodi has to offer while enjoying a glass of their award-winning wine, that is.

Get sipping! Check out the official Lodi visitor’s guide here.

💬 Quoted… “Oh my God. Wow.”

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s reaction in a recent interview after learning his interviewer paid ~$50 for a 2.95-mile ride to get to their meeting in NYC (Khosrowshahi estimated it’d be ~$20). To which the interviewer replied: “And that was my second try. Five minutes earlier, the price was $20 higher.”

• As anyone who’s traveled to the airport recently could tell you, this kind of ride-hailing sticker shock is a pretty common occurrence. Data from Rakuten Intelligence indicates the cost of rides from ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft increased by 92% from 2018 to 2021.

🌬️⚡ Stat of the Day: The world’s largest wind turbine recently began operating in China; it features a trio of 400-foot-long blades that weigh a collective 324,000 pounds (aka half of one Perucetus colossus whale).

🤔 Did You Know?... An estimated 20% of all meerkats are killed by other meerkats, making it the world’s most murderous mammal, per a 2016 study; meerkat society is built around reproductive competition between closely-related females, who routinely kill and eat each other’s pups.

📰 Worth a Read: Do you want to be Helped, Heard, or Hugged? → (Examined)

• ☝️ You’re looking at the winners of the 2023 iPhone Photography Awards, held for a 16th straight year.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Chartr

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board yesterday following the Fitch downgrading news (S&P: -1.4%; Dow: -1.0%; Nasdaq: -2.2%).
• 🚙 Toyota’s Land Cruiser is coming back to the US; the model was discontinued in the country in 2021.
• 🛒 Amazon is launching an overhaul of its grocery business. | 🥤 DoorDash reported a record number of delivery orders (532 million) and revenue ($2.1 billion) in Q2; shares were up as much as 7% in extended trading.

*From our partners: 📊💡 Data visuals anyone can understand… Get insights into business, tech, and society straight to your inbox with the world’s #1 visual newsletter, Chartr. Join 400,000 others and sign up free.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚖️ WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was served with a federal grand jury subpoena and a search warrant last month over an ongoing investigation into allegations of hush-money payments to women who accused him of sexual misconduct. | 🎤 Pop star Lizzo was accused of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by three of her former backup dancers.
• 🏈🚨 Eyioma Uwazurike of the Denver Broncos is facing criminal investigations in two states after he allegedly placed 30+ bets on his own team’s games last NFL season; Uwazurike was suspended indefinitely by the NFL last week.
• 🎓 The Big Ten athletic conference has reportedly begun preliminary talks to add either two or four schools from the Pac-12; the first two added would be Oregon and Washington, while the other two would be California and Stanford.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Ice Barrel

• ☄️ A new algorithm designed to detect any near-Earth asteroids within the foreseeable future identified its first “potentially hazardous” object: a 600-foot space rock (that doesn’t appear to threaten our planet).
• 🧱⚡ MIT researchers have developed a cement mix that can store and conduct electricity, per a peer-reviewed study published Monday in PNAS; potential future applications could include turning roads and buildings into almost limitless batteries.
• 🌋🌪️ A newborn volcano in Iceland has been spewing out tornadoes and methane explosions in addition to molten lava over the past three weeks.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🏛️ Senate office buildings were placed on lockdown for nearly two hours yesterday in response to a report of an active shooter that authorities later said “may have been a bogus call”; no injuries or shooter were located.
• ⚖️ The 50-year-old gunman convicted of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in June 2018 – the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history – was sentenced to death by a federal jury yesterday.
• 🇨🇦 Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie separated yesterday after 18 years of marriage.

CLICKBAIT

• 🥇✈️ The top 10 US airlines ranked best to worst.

*Sponsored post

Yesterday, we covered a new federal law that took effect this week under which US consumers are no longer able to purchase common household incandescent light bulbs from retailers, and must instead opt for LED bulbs.

❓ Our question to you: Do you agree with the federal government’s new ban on the sale of most incandescent light bulbs?

• 👍 Yes: 45%
• 👎 No: 44%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 11%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 10,959 votes and 1,133 longform responses.

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

• Maryland woman blasts a world record-breaking 107-decibel burp → (UPI)
• The Miami Marlins are selling $5 hamburgers to celebrate trade acquisition Jake Burger → (Associated Press)
• Bear takes a dip in California Jacuzzi amid heat wave → (CTV News)
• Enormous Lebanon bologna sandwich unveiled at Pennsylvania community fair → (ABC News)
• Truck spill covers road in nacho cheese, shuts down Arkansas highway → (NY Daily News)

Parisians, like many city dwellers, often get a bad rep for being "brusque and unfriendly." 

The République des Hyper Voisins, or Republic of Super Neighbours, however, has spent the last five years trying to change that. 

🦸‍♀️ Super Neighbors to the rescue... The movement, which basically consists of a community-focused organizing coalition, was founded by local resident Patrick Bernard in 2017 after he organized an event to set up a 215-meter-long banquet table to share a meal with the entire neighborhood. 

• Now, the organization encompasses a stretch of roughly 50 streets and 15,000 residents in Paris. The Republic of Super Neighbours hosts community events, promotes mutual aid, and provides a general sense of support for residents in the area to help fight the difficulties of city living. 

❤️ What they're saying: “I wouldn’t speak to anyone [before]," 86-year-old resident Mireille Roberdeau told The Guardian. "I would scowl at people. But now I look forward to going out. It’s good because my doctor says I need to get out.”

Which country, pictured above, is called "Alba" in Gaelic?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

👆 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.)

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Scotland