Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 🧠📝 Elon Musk’s Neuralink is beginning human trials
• ✌️ Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is retiring
• ☕ Why wait times at Starbucks can be a little on the longer side

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.74-minute read.

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“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Neuralink, the brain implant startup led by Elon Musk, is recruiting patients for its first-ever human clinical trial, the company announced this week. Science fiction, schmience fiction – this is real life, folks.

People who are fully paralyzed in all four limbs due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can apply for the six-year-long study, which aims to give its participants the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using thoughts alone.

• Trial patients will have a chip surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls their intention to move.
• The chip, installed by a robot surgeon, will then record and send the patients’ brain signals to an app, which then translates those signals into computer commands.
• Neuralink has already successfully tested its brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in animals, including a 2021 experiment in which a monkey played the video game Pong using only its thoughts.

👀 Looking ahead… While Neuralink’s initial human trial is focused on giving fully-paralyzed patients the ability to communicate like Professor X, CEO Elon Musk has also announced future plans for implants that could help people learn languages, communicate thoughts mentally, or “solve” brain-related disorders like schizophrenia.

But experts say any such applications won’t be publicly available for at least the next decade, since Neurolink will first have to prove its BCI is safe and effective in humans via a series of years-long clinical trials.

🧠 Zoom out: A handful of other companies working on similar brain implants have made significant strides in recent years.

• Blackrock Neurotech is planning to bring the first commercially-available BCI in history to market sometime next year.
• A Jeff Bezos- and Bill Gates-backed company called Synchron began human clinical trials of their BCI technology in July 2022.
• Startup Paradromics is aiming to launch the first human trial of its BCI device in early 2024.

📊 Flash poll: If given the opportunity, would you personally want an implant in your brain which gave you heightened mental abilities?

Definitely want

Probably want

Probably NOT want

Definitely NOT want

Unsure/other

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🇻🇪 Venezuela seized control of a gang-run prison in a military operation involving 11,000 troops. Tocorón prison, which had been run by inmates for years, was serving as the headquarters for Venezuela’s most powerful gang, the Tren de Aragua. Inmates were allowed to roam freely inside the facility, which featured a pool, a nightclub, and a mini-zoo. The prison’s leader, Tren de Aragua head Hector Guerrero Flores, is reportedly famous in the surrounding area for both his ruthless brutality and his charitable works. Following the successful raid, Venezuelan officials said all Tocorón inmates will be transferred to a more secure facility.

🇮🇳 Indian lawmakers approved a new bill reserving one-third of all lower Parliamentary seats for women. The measure, which PM Narendra Modi is expected to sign into law in the coming days, passed both chambers of India’s Parliament with near-unanimous support. Within the 33% of seats reserved for women, there will also be a minimum for those from tribal communities and those at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder. Women currently make up around 13% of India’s Parliament.

🖼️ A 25-year effort to return artwork stolen by Nazis is seeing results. In recent weeks, nearly a dozen artworks by Austrian painter Egon Schiele have been identified and returned to heirs of Jewish art collector Fritz Grünbaum, who was forced to surrender his collection to the Nazis during WWII. At least six of the artworks, valued between $500,000 and $2.8 million, will be auctioned off this year to fund the Grünbaum Fischer Foundation for young musicians. Manhattan prosecutors are also investigating at least a dozen more Schiele pieces allegedly stolen by Nazis and trafficked through New York.

Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old media mogul, is stepping down from his chairman roles at both Fox and News Corp., he announced yesterday, ending a nearly seven-decade career in the media industry.

📰📺 How it all started: Murdoch inherited an Australian newspaper business from his father in the 1950s.

In 1968, Murdoch acquired the UK-based News of the World tabloid. He then added The Sun (also UK-based).

And, much like Fun with Dick and Jane, once the acquisition spree was rolling it was hard to stop. Murdoch bought the New York Post, making his way into the US, as well as the UK-based Times, London’s storied paper of record.

The budding multi-continental empire rolled into Hollywood in the 1980s, when Murdoch acquired the Twentieth Century Fox movie studio (plus a group of TV stations). This paved the way for him to launch Fox, a US broadcast network intended as a rival to incumbents ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Fox took off with edgy shows aimed at young folks like The Simpsons, and paid $1.6 billion to grab the NFL media rights away from CBS. Off the back of sports, Fox launched local and national cable networks. Fox News came into existence in 1996 as a counter to CNN.

• When all was said and done, Murdoch had compiled a personal fortune in the ballpark of $17 billion, and a company worth ~$27 billion (though he sold some Twentieth Century Fox assets to Disney for $71 billion in 2019).

👀 Looking ahead… Rupert’s eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, 52, will now be the sole executive in charge of Fox and News Corp.

💬 Quoted… “[The] biggest overhaul we’ve ever had.”

If you’re tired of waiting ten-plus minutes for a Starbucks drink in a cup that more times than not has your misspelled name on it, pay attention – because there’s a very good reason for the delay. The coffee chain’s menu, with its customized drinks containing various shots, syrups, and cold foams, contains more than 383 billion different possibilities just for a latte. Or enough combinations that the company’s chief marketing officer last year told investors he asks his kids to simplify their orders “because I feel bad for the person who has to make it.”

• To try and better solve for this issue, Starbucks recently committed to spending billions of dollars to reinvent its behind-the-counter operation, aiming to shave seconds from the process of making nearly all of its drinks (it’s even shifting to smaller ice cubes because they’re easier to scoop, per Bloomberg).

🏡 Stat of the Day: Nearly half of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are currently living with their parents (45%), per a new Harris poll. That’s roughly the same level as the 1940s, when women were more likely to remain at home until marriage and men lingered on family farms following the Great Depression.

🤔 Did You Know?... The human stomach can dissolve a razor blade in as little as two hours, per a 1997 peer-reviewed study (for the second day in a row in this section, we’re pleading with you to not try this at home🙏).

📰 Worth a Read: The Billionaire Keeping TikTok on Phones in the US → (WSJ)

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• ☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners from the 2023 Minimalist Photography Awards, which drew over 3,100 entries across 31 countries.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tenikle

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -1.6%; Dow: -1.1%; Nasdaq: -1.8%).
• 💻 Cisco agreed to acquire cybersecurity software company Splunk for ~$28 billion; it’s Cisco’s largest acquisition ever.
• ❌🚗 Where key issues stand as UAW closes in on extended strikes against GM, Ford, and Stellantis.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎭 The Writers Guild Association met with major studio executives for the second time this week to discuss the ongoing writer’s strike, which is in its 20th week. | 🔀 Over the past week, Bill Maher, Jennifer Hudson, and Drew Barrymore all reversed previous decisions to resume their talk shows amid the strike.
• 📝 Euphoria star Angus Cloud, 25, died of an accidental drug overdose in July, per a medical coroner’s report made public yesterday.
• 🏈 The San Francisco 49ers defeated the NY Giants 30-12 last night behind 310 yards and two TDs from QB Brock Purdy. | 🙏 Trevon Diggs, star cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, suffered a season-ending torn ACL in practice yesterday.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with The Wine Connection

• 💻 Microsoft unveiled a new line of Surface computers and revealed details about the upcoming release of Windows 11 – including Microsoft 365 Copilot, its supplemental AI tool – in an event held yesterday.
• 🪐 Astronomers detected the presence of carbon within a vast ocean beneath the surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons; the findings suggest Europa could be the most promising place in the solar system to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.
• 🧑‍🚀 The astronauts selected for NASA’s Artemis II moon mission completed their first dry run ahead of an upcoming launch scheduled for November 2024. (Background)

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🏞️ All US national parks will waive admissions fees on Saturday in celebration of National Public Lands Day, one of five holidays during which national parks are free.
• ⚖️ Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdagh, who was previously convicted of murdering his wife and son, pleaded guilty to nearly two dozen federal fraud and money laundering charges yesterday.
• 🏛️ The Senate confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America’s top military officer; he’ll replace outgoing Gen. Mark Milley. | 🏛️ The House adjourned for the weekend after a procedural vote on a defense funding bill failed yesterday morning; congressional lawmakers have until October 1 (next Sunday) to avoid a government shutdown. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• ✈️ The best and worst airports in North America in 2023.

Chances are if you go to the dentist, they're going to tell you to brush your teeth.

Especially Georgian dentist Dr. Val Kolpakov, who can recommend an impressive amount of different toothpastes – 2,037 to be exact.

🦷 There's a record for everything... The dentist currently holds the world record for Largest Toothpaste Collection, with tubes from across the globe comprising his impressive arsenal of dental hygiene. 

• Val started collecting toothpaste in 2001. Some of his most unusual flavors include a trio of whiskey-flavored tubes in rye, scotch, and bourbon varieties. 
• He also has a wasabi flavored toothpaste that he has "no intention" of trying any time soon. 

💰😁 Cha-ching: He estimates his collection is worth somewhere around $30,000. 

Our weekly news quiz is live. In just two minutes or less...

Find out how your news superpowers stack up against the team.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Chicken breast
• Salt & pepper
• Broccoli
• Mushrooms
• Oil
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce
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✌️ Recipe #2:

• Peanutbutter
• Butter
• Powdered sugar
• Crushed graham crackers
• Chocolate

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Dark & light soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Sugar
• Ramen noodles
• Onions
• Chopped veggies
• Mirin

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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☝️ Recipe #1: Chicken veggie stir-fry

✌️ Recipe #2: Peanut butter balls

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Lo mein