Good morning. The DONUT is in the midst of a civil war and we need our Abe Lincoln (aka all of you) to help us settle a debate.

To the work-from-home crowd – are you more productive from somewhere at home (office, backyard porch, etc.) or away from home (library, coffee shop, etc.)?

And for the in-office crowd – what type of working arrangement makes your work more productive? (Open seating, cubicles, etc.)

To everyone who hits reply and sends in an answer, we’re eternally grateful for your scientific contribution. We’re doing important work here😤.

Now, for some other important work – the NEWS.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 5.03 minutes to read.

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“From the errors of others, a wise person corrects their own.”

–Pubilius Syrus (85 B.C. – 43 B.C.)

Late last month, a team of Korean scientists published two preprint studies claiming to have developed a material, called LK-99, that can act as a superconductor at room temperature and ambient pressure – one of the holy grails of physics.

This kicked off a race in which researchers around the world are competing to be the first to reproduce the potentially breakthrough results, which could usher in an era of ultra-efficient electrical grids, superpowered computer chips, and high-speed trains that levitate using magnets.

⚡ Some quick background: A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity with near-zero resistance, meaning virtually none of the energy is lost as electricity travels through the material.

• Dating back to 1911, scientists have discovered a wide range of metallic alloys, ceramics, and other materials that can act as superconductors – but only when cooled to extremely low temperatures (below -452°F), or subjected to extremely high pressures.
• These limitations mean superconductors are difficult and expensive to incorporate into most products and services. So for now, they’re only utilized in some larger technologies like MRI machines, cell phone towers, energy particle accelerators, and quantum computers.

But, but, but: that could soon change if scientists are able to consistently replicate the results from last month’s preprint studies, which claim to have created a room-temperature superconductor using two fairly common lab ingredients (lanarkite and copper phosphide).

🧑‍🔬 How are things going?... Short answer: not so great. Two preprint studies published last week couldn't replicate the breakthrough results, while a third study reported creating LK-99 and measuring zero electrical resistance – but only at temperatures below -260°F.

• On the theory side, four preprint studies calculated the electronic structure of LK-99 and found some features associated with superconductivity, but no evidence it could do so at room temperature and/or ambient pressure.

📝 Bottom line: If the initial claim ends up a hoax, it wouldn’t be the first time. But experts say none of the studies published thus far are conclusive proof in either direction – so stay tuned for future developments.

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🇵🇦🚢 The Panama Canal is experiencing a large ship pileup. The number of vessels waiting to cross the canal climbed to 154 yesterday, with a current average wait time of 21 days – and experts say the situation will likely worsen in the coming weeks before it gets better. The pileup is a result of water conservation measures Panama’s government enacted in late July due to drought, which temporarily reduced the number of ships allowed to book passage through the canal. An estimated 40% of all US container traffic travels through the Panama Canal each year.

🇮🇶 Iraq ordered companies to stop using the term “homosexuality” and replace it with “sexual deviance.” The new rule, which applies to all media, social media, phone, and internet companies operating in Iraq, also bans any use of the term “gender.” Iraqi officials said they haven’t yet determined a punishment for violating the rule. The country’s laws don’t explicitly criminalize gay sex, but some loosely-defined moral clauses have been used in the past to prosecute local members of the LGBTQ+ community.

🇸🇦 🇮🇱 Saudi Arabia and the US are discussing a deal for the Saudi kingdom to recognize Israel in exchange for concessions. A WSJ report, published yesterday, claimed that US and Saudi officials have agreed on “the broad contours of a deal” under which Saudi Arabia would establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for concessions to Palestinians, US security guarantees, and help developing a civilian nuclear energy program. But White House spokesperson John Kirby later pushed back against the WSJ report, saying there’s currently no agreed-upon framework between the US and Saudi Arabia.

Get ready to hear some wild drops at EDM festivals. Google and Universal Music, the music industry’s largest record company, have entered into talks to create a tool that would enable individual creators to legally use other artists’ melodies and voices in songs generated by AI, according to the Financial Times.

Warner Music, the third-largest music label, has also reportedly been talking to Google about a similar product.

And while discussions between the groups are in the early stages and don’t mean a deal or product launch is imminent, they’re aimed at addressing what’s become a growing problem for the music industry – people using AI to create and monetize convincing “deepfake” tracks, usually without the artists’ consent (though there are some exceptions).

For example:

• An AI-created song featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd called “Heart on My Sleeve” amassed 250,000+ Spotify streams and 15 million views on TikTok before being taken down for copyright infringement.
• Frank Sinatra’s voice has been used without permission on a version of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Johnny Cash’s on a remix of “Barbie Girl,” and the voices of Tupac and Biggie can be found in various songs on YouTube. And that’s just scratching the surface.

🤔 The Blueprint?... Though not created by Jay-Z (iykyk), there’s a blueprint for this type of licensing negotiation. In the early days of YouTube, users began adding popular songs as soundtracks to their videos – and after the platform and the music industry battled it out for a few years, a copyright system was established that now pays the music industry ~$6 billion/year.

Around 11 am ET, the launch window for Virgin Galactic’s first spaceflight containing at least one paying civilian passenger begins. And for the Richard Branson-founded space company, which opened shop in 2004, it’s been a long time coming.

On board today’s spaceflight will be six people – three civilian passengers (one paying) and three Virgin Galactic crew members.

• Passenger #1: Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old former British olympian who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nine years ago. He’s the paying crew member, shelling out $250,000 for a ticket in 2005.
• Passengers #2 and #3: Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, the first mother-daughter duo to ever go to space. The pair won the tickets in a fundraising competition from Space for Humanity (like we covered in yesterday’s Dose of Positive).
• Crew members: Joining the civilians are Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses, pilot Kelly Latimer, and flight commander CJ Sturckow.

🚀🌌 The experience: Passengers and crew will reach an altitude of ~50 miles, considered the edge of space by the US government (though some scientists consider 62 miles the lower boundary of space). Everyone on board will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth – and will be wearing diapers for the whole 90-ish-minute trip.

👀 Looking ahead… Today’s launch marks the beginning of Virgin Galactic’s space tourism program (think: an airline but for space), pitting the company directly against competitors like SpaceX and Blue Origin. Virgin – which already has a passenger waitlist of 800 people – will now be moving to regular monthly launches, with five more missions planned through year-end.

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💬 Quoted… “Our losses and negative cash flows from operating activities raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.”

WeWork, the office-space leasing company founded by Adam Neumann that was privately valued as high as $47 billion in 2019, warned in an SEC filing on Tuesday that it’s close to declaring bankruptcy after posting a net loss of nearly $700 million in the first six months of this year.

• The company’s stock, which has traded under $1 for several months, closed at $0.13 yesterday, giving WeWork a current market cap of ~$275 million.

📱⏱️ Stat of the Day: Each of TikTok’s 150 million US users spends an average of 93 minutes per day on the app.

🤔 Did You Know?... Prior to the Covid pandemic, Cuba’s largest economic export was doctors, whom the country leased out to foreign governments to the tune of ~$11 billion per year.

📰 Worth a Read: The biohacking devotees spending hundreds of thousands – even millions – to enhance their homes → (WSJ)

• ☝️ A series of wildfires broke out yesterday on the Hawaiian island of Maui due to strong winds from Hurricane Dora combined with dry conditions; at least 36 people were killed and dozens more seriously injured; the fires also destroyed dozens of homes and businesses in the historic town of Lahaina.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Visit Lodi

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.7%; Dow: -0.5%; Nasdaq: -1.2%). | 📉 Roblox shares dropped 22% after missing estimates on top and bottom lines.
• 🚚 UPS drivers will average $170,000 in pay and benefits at the end of the newly negotiated five-year deal with the Teamsters, UPS’ CEO said this week; the Teamsters are currently in the middle of a ratification vote that ends August 22.
• 🐭 Disney+ subscribers dropped 7.4% last quarter to reach 146.1 million, largely due to the loss of Indian Premier League cricket matches; Disney will raise the price of both its Hulu and Disney+ ad-free streaming tiers in October, and is also exploring ways to crack down on password sharing.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Oppenheimer has now brought in more than $550 million at the global box office, earning the title of highest-grossing movie set during WWII.
• 🎤 TikTok announced a new livestreamed talent show called “Gimme the Mic.”
• 🙏 14-year-old YouTuber Lil Tay, whose real name is Claire Hope, has reportedly passed away.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with EnerHeatlh Botanicals

• 🪐 NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover found evidence the red planet once experienced seasonal wet-dry cycles ~3.6 billion years ago; the discovery indicates Mars may have been habitable in the past, but doesn’t confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life.
• 🌊🌋 An international team of scientists discovered a first-of-its-kind ecosystem beneath the hydrothermal vents of an underwater volcano in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
• 🛰️ The International Space Station contains more toxic organic pollution than the average American home, per a new peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

*From our partners: ☕🍄 Coffee just got an upgrade… say goodbye to jitters and hello to mental clarity with Lion’s Mane mushroom-infused coffee from EnerHeatlh Botanicals (all the benefits, but no mushroom taste). Save 20% with code DONUT20.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚨 The FBI fatally shot a Utah man yesterday while serving a warrant on his home for allegedly making online threats to kill President Joe Biden ahead of his visit there this week (along with allegedly threatening other US officials).
• 🏛️ Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), 90, was briefly admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after suffering a fall in her San Francisco home, her office said yesterday. (Background)
• ⚖️ The Supreme Court issued a temporary 5-4 ruling allowing federal regulations on “ghost guns” to stay in place while legal challenges move forward. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• ✈️🌎 Around the World in 24 Days: Is a Luxury ‘Jet Cruise’ for You?

Yesterday, we covered how Americans’ views on the US government’s role in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine are changing.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, should Congress keep authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine in its war against Russia for the foreseeable future?

• 👍 Yes: 44%
• 👎 No: 38%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 18%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 10,708 votes and 1,047 longform responses.

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

• 4-year-old run over by golf cart after dog accidentally rests on pedal → (ABC News)
• Tampa mayor reels in 70 pounds of cocaine during her family fishing trip → (CBS News)
• Bear crashes Colorado wedding, raids the dessert table → (UPI)
• Flipping over 12 people on roller skates, US girl bags world record → (SheThePeople)
• A sheep got loose during half-time of a Canadian football game → (NPR)

... they'd have some impressive stories to tell. 

🚗 A trip back in time... Curious about his 1933 Austin Saloon's history, owner Carl Slater spent months scouring record books to find all of the car's previous owners. After a year of planning, he and his wife set out on a roadtrip to reunite the vehicle with each one of them. 

• They started by visiting the cottage of the car's first owner, Elizabeth Morris, who passed away in 1943. 
• Continuing on their journey, Carl and his wife met two more of the car's owners before finishing the trip with Rupert Bevan, who bought the car in 1968. 
• Rupert's mom (pictured above) was always a fan of the classic vehicle. "l will never forget the look of surprise and joy on her face at seeing the old car again," Rupert shared of his 97-year-old mother.

😮 What a journey: Before Carl bought the car last year, it was also featured in the 2016 film Dad’s Army (starring the great Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Which river, pictured above, serves as the border between Texas and Mexico?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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The Rio Grande River