Good morning. Food has grown to become the third most popular trivia category in the world (behind US TV shows and soccer), after not being included in the top ten prior to 2021.

A big reason for its relatively recent rise in popularity? The online cooking video craze that began during the pandemic – and appears to be here to stay.

TikTok videos containing the hashtag #foodtok have now been viewed more than 64 billion times (~15 billion of those are probably our managing editor). And, according to the NY Times, TikTok-esque cooking videos are increasingly being featured in popular public areas – including large vertical screens on New York City subways and iPad-size displays in the back of cabs, as well as in common waiting areas like the lobby of a doctor’s office.

Now, if only the upcoming NEWS could get viewed more than 64 billion times…

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news is about a 4.96-minute read (after which we’ll only need 63,999,999,999 more views🥳).

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“Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.”

–Jesse Owens (1913-1980)

In the late 19th century, the global shipping industry began transitioning away from using sails as a method of propulsion, opting instead for steam engines and other more reliable options.

But now, many shipping firms are going back to their roots.

A group of companies led by shipping giant Cargill, America’s largest private company by revenue, this week launched the first voyage of a cargo ship equipped with custom-made giant sails to reduce its fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

If successful, the new technology could sharply reduce the carbon footprint of the international shipping industry, which currently accounts for 3% of all global emissions (a figure higher than the airline industry).

🤔 How does it work?... Each of the sails, called WindWings, are 123 feet tall and made from the same material as wind turbines to increase their durability. When in use, the WindWings automatically rotate to generate propulsion in the same direction the ship is moving. The sails can also be folded down and stored whenever the ship is in port.

According to the sail’s creator, BAR Technologies:

• One WindWing saves an average of 1.7 tons of fuel per day, thanks to the extra propulsion it generates; that’s equivalent to about 10% of an average ship’s overall fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
• Multiple WindWings can fit on the decks of most ships, further decreasing fuel consumption and emissions by an additional 10% per sail that’s onboard.

✋ Yes, but… Cargill isn’t the first shipping giant to embrace their inner pirate and hoist the Jolly Roger to improve fuel efficiency – and previous attempts haven’t exactly gone smoothly.

Danish company Maersk, the world’s second-largest container shipping group, scrapped its sail program in 2021 after an analysis found it would take roughly a decade for the fuel savings to surpass the cost of installing and maintaining the sails.

🚢 Zoom out: UN diplomats agreed last month to reach net-zero emissions within the global shipping industry “by or around” 2050. The outcome, which was criticized by some rights groups as being too lenient, came after a group of nations led by China objected to any stronger climate-focused goals.

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🏥 The WHO held its first-ever summit on traditional medicine last week. During the two-day event, WHO officials said traditional medicine – which refers to the medical knowledge, skills, and practices indigenous to different cultures – exists as a complement to so-called modern medicine, and urged countries to examine how best to incorporate both practices into their health systems. An estimated 80% of the world’s population uses traditional medicine, which includes treatments like acupuncture, homeopathy, meditation, and yoga.

🌍📈 Major events around the world are contributing to higher food prices. Global rice prices rose to their highest level in almost 12 years this week, largely due to India’s rice export ban and adverse weather conditions harming crop production, per the UN’s food agency. Aside from rice, prices for many other agricultural products have spiked since early July, which Bloomberg attributes to heavy rains in Europe and China, unusually dry weather in Thailand, and Russia’s decision to end its grain deal with Ukraine.

🇪🇨 Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon rainforest. The results mean Ecuador’s state oil company will have to cease operating in Yasuni National Park, a 2.5-million-acre section of rainforest that’s home to a wide variety of plant and animal species, as well as two Indigenous tribes. The referendum took place alongside Ecuador’s presidential election – held 11 days after candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated – which appears headed to an upcoming runoff election between leftist candidate Luisa González and right-wing contender Daniel Noboa.

WARNING: If you’re flying soon, you may just wanna skip right to the end of this story.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way – you’ve probably already heard about how near-collision incidents at airports are rising this year. Which is, in fact, accurate.

• From 2018 to 2022, publicly available FAA data shows 23 incidents in which commercial passenger or cargo planes came close to colliding in the US. 2023 – with nine near misses or collisions as of mid-June – was previously on pace to rival that entire total.

But we, the public, may not be getting the full story.

• According to preliminary FAA safety reports not publicly disclosed but obtained by the NY Times, there were at least 46 close calls involving commercial airlines last month alone.
• A review of a database maintained by NASA that contains confidential safety reports filed by pilots, air traffic controllers, and others in aviation shows ~300 accounts of near collisions involving commercial airlines over the most recent 12-month period for which data was available.

🖐️ But, but, but: These are preliminary reports, not necessarily ones that have been thoroughly reviewed. And even if all checked out as valid at the higher reported numbers, near-misses would apply to a tiny amount of the ~16.4 million flights to/from the US each year.

Plus, the results of America’s flight safety regulations, with its Swiss Cheese model containing built-in redundancies, are pretty strong overall. There hasn’t been a fatal crash involving a major US airline since February 2009, the longest streak in the history of American aviation.

If the current car market was a student in an 1880s-era one-room schoolhouse, it’d be walking towards the corner containing a dunce cap and stool – because it appears to be heading for some trouble. Both interest rates and auto prices have increased significantly since the pandemic, to the point where they could soon become unsustainable, the WSJ reports.

• Five years ago, there were dozens of new car models retailing for less than $20,000. In 2023, there’s only one: the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback.
• Today’s average new car loan has a monthly payment north of $750 and an interest rate of 9.5%, compared to $554 and < 4% in October 2019. Paying off a new car at current prices now demands 42 weeks of income for the average American, up from around 33 before the pandemic.

💥 The sharp increase in prices and high interest rates are proving to be problematic for many buyers. Auto loan delinquencies among those with subpar credit are rising, outpacing even their Great Recession peak, per an S&P Global analysis published last week that called the data “ominous.” Lenders owned by auto manufacturers, also known as "captives" (GM Financial, Stellantis Financial, etc.), are responsible for 44% of new car loans, far outpacing banks (26%) and credit unions (24%).

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💬 Quoted… “Usually you can tell what people are going to order, but now the mixture is definitely different.”

• Many restaurants have been experiencing a growing dining trend – people ordering a salad + a side of fries and calling it a full meal. According to data from food industry consulting firm Technomic, an estimated 15% of diners are now ordering sides as their entree, an increase from the previous year.

📊 Stats of the Day: Among US adults who plan to vote for Donald Trump next year, 71% think what he tells them is true, per a new CBS News/YouGov poll. That’s higher than results for friends and family (63%), conservative media figures (56%), and religious leaders (42%).

🤔 Did You Know?... The sliding door dates back to at least the 1st century B.C.E., based on archaeological evidence discovered at Pompeii.

📰 Worth a Read: The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius → (Paul Graham)

• ☝️ A series of photos posted on social media this week that purportedly show a flooded Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles after it was struck by Tropical Storm Hilary are actually optical illusions, according to the LA Times; a Dodgers spokesperson also confirmed the ballpark and surrounding area was merely soaked, not flooded.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Slumber

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.7%; Dow: -0.1%; Nasdaq: +1.6%). | 🏠📈 The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.48%, per Mortgage News Daily; that’s the highest level since November 2000.
• 👩‍✈️🤝 American Airlines pilots approved a new labor deal that includes immediate raises of 21%; it’s the second major US airline/pilot labor deal to get done this year.
• 📁📊 SoftBank’s Arm Holdings Ltd. is going public, per a regulatory filing; the British chipmaker’s IPO is widely expected to be the largest of the year.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Chrono

• 🗣️🎮 Charles Martinet, the English-language voice behind Mario, Luigi, Wairo, and other Nintendo characters, is retiring from his role.
• 🍿 Mission: Impossible 7 and Indiana Jones 5 are reportedly on track to lose $100 million apiece.
• 🎽🏆 US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson won the gold medal in the 100-meter race at the World Athletics Championships yesterday; her record time of 10.63 seconds makes her the fifth-fastest woman in history; Richardson was previously stripped of her national title and Tokyo Olympic berth in 2021 after testing positive for marijuana.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🩸 Vlad Drăculea, aka Vlad the Impaler and Dracula’s namesake, may have cried tears of blood, per a new peer-reviewed chemical analysis of his letters.
• 💰🚀 Space company Axiom raised a $350 million funding round led by Saudi-owned Aljazira Capital and Korean healthcare investment firm Boryung.
• 🤖🖼️ ​​AI-generated artwork can not be copyrighted, a federal judge ruled late last week, saying “human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright.”

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌯 Chipotle IQ, an online trivia game based on the chain of restaurants, is back; users have unlimited tries to score 10/10 and receive a BOGO menu item while supplies last.
• 😰 27% of US adults currently report having symptoms of an anxiety disorder, up from 8% in 2019, per the National Center for Health Statistics.
• ⚖️ Former President Donald Trump says he’ll surrender in Atlanta on Thursday in the criminal election-interference case against him. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 📺🥇 Ranking the 50 worst decisions in TV history.

Yesterday, we covered how several countries – including the US, Russia, and India – are rushing to scope out the Moon’s south pole as a place for future lunar bases due to the presence of ice.

❓ Our question to you: Do you think a military conflict will occur in space, or on the Moon/Mars, within the next 30 years?

• 👍 Yes: 47%
• 👎 No: 38%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 15%

Click here to read some of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 8,909 votes and 852 longform responses.

⏪ Results from the last time we asked this question in April:

• 👍 Yes: 43%
• 👎 No: 36%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 21%

Koda is a seven-year-old Pomeranian from central Florida. A licensed therapy dog, the little fluffer is known around town for "driving" her tiny red convertible, bringing smiles to anyone in her path. 

🚗🐶 Tiny cars, big hearts... Koda and her owner, Jena, founded Smiles Fur Miles, a small pet therapy team of specially-trained dogs that ride around in little cars providing a specialized form of pet therapy.

• Why is Koda's therapy so effective? Jena has an idea: “Koda driving around in her car is nothing but pure, saturated happiness." 

🥍 Trivia: How many players are on the field at once during a lacrosse match?

🦦 True or False?... Platypuses can glow in the dark.

🤔 Riddle Me This: What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has “T” in it?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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🥍 Trivia: 20 (10 on each team)

🦦 T/F: True

🤔 Riddle: A teapot