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🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.63-minute read.

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"Judge a person by their questions rather than their answers."

–Voltaire (1694-1778)

After decades of losing market share to cars and planes, the US passenger train industry is attempting a resurgence.

On Friday, Brightline, America’s first private passenger train service in over a century, began carrying travelers on a new $5 billion route connecting Miami and Orlando.

• The route features 32 daily trips between Florida’s two biggest tourist hubs at a top speed of 125 MPH. Each journey takes three and a half hours, roughly 30 minutes faster than the average car ride, with individual round-trip tickets starting at $158.

🚂 Trains, a history: Passenger rail was first introduced in the US in the early 1800s and quickly flourished as a method of transportation. But after WWII, rising competition from the airline industry and newly-constructed US highway system meant fewer and fewer travelers were opting for rail.

By 1970, railroad operators were in such bad shape that the federal government created Amtrak to take over the passenger side of operations, allowing the industry to focus solely on shipping freight.

But passenger rail is starting to make a comeback. In addition to the new Miami-Orlando service, Brightline is currently building a route between Southern California and Las Vegas it hopes to open in 2027, featuring electric trains that can reach a top speed of 190 MPH.

And it’s not the only group with major plans for the future:

• Texas developers are working on a new rail route that would carry passengers from Dallas to Houston in just 90 minutes, compared to 3.5 hours by car. The service was initially slated for completion in 2020, but has been delayed by ongoing litigation.
• US and Canadian local governments are in the early phases of planning a high-speed rail route between Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, which is projected to add $355 billion worth of economic activity to the region over two decades.

📊 Flash poll: If given a choice, which of the following options would be most prudent for you and your current situation when taking a medium- or long-distance trip?

Personal vehicle (aka driving)

High-speed rail

Airplane

Unsure/other

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🇪🇹🇩🇪 Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa shattered the women’s marathon world record. Assefa, a former sprinter who ran her first marathon in 2022, delivered a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds at the Berlin Marathon in Germany yesterday – more than two minutes faster than the previous women’s record set in 2019. The Berlin Marathon, which features a combined ~50,000 runners and roller-skaters each year, is a favorite for those chasing world records due to its flat terrain and cool weather.

🇨🇦🇮🇳🇺🇸 Canada reportedly accused India of assassinating a domestic Sikh leader based in part on US intelligence. Sources told the WSJ and NY Times that American spy agencies shared information with their Canadian counterparts that helped them conclude India was involved in the assassination. But the sources also said the “smoking gun” piece of intelligence which prompted PM Justin Trudeau to publicly accuse India of orchestrating the plot came in the form of intercepted communications from Indian diplomats in Canada.

🦏 Africa’s white rhino population pulled a Charles Barkley-like comeback and rebounded for the first time in a decade. A series of protection initiatives across the continent helped increase white rhino populations by 5.6% in 2022, per a new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the first time that figure has increased since 2012. Governments and conservation groups have announced several programs in 2023 aimed at continuing the upwards trend in rhino population growth, including a US-South Africa anti-poaching taskforce and a global initiative to release 2,000 rhinos into the African wild over the next decade.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said in a press conference on Friday that he’s “days away” from asking for a federal emergency declaration to help combat a saltwater intrusion that’s flowing up the Mississippi River and threatening his state's drinking water supplies.

What is a “saltwater intrusion”?

Saltwater (seawater) is denser, so it sits underneath freshwater. When the freshwater volume drops – like the nearing record-low Mississippi River due to a period of drought – saltwater can begin to replace it, mixing with and contaminating the freshwater supply. This is referred to as saltwater intrusion.

And, similar to when Greeks sails appeared on the horizon of Troy, this sea intruder only signals problems. High concentrations of salt in drinking water can lead to hypertension and corrosion of the water infrastructure, the latter of which can cause metals in the pipes to leach into the water.

• In this particular instance, saltwater has already entered the drinking water of communities south of New Orleans – from Empire Bridge to Venice, Louisiana – making the water undrinkable for about 2,000 residents and causing water outages at local schools.

👀 Looking ahead… To combat the saltwater wedge – which is expected to be in the New Orleans area by October 28 – officials are working to heighten an existing underwater sill (used to block or slow the salt), as well as bus in up to 36 millions of gallons of water per day for residents in the impacted areas.

💬 Quoted… “Human, please! Your species holds fascination for me.”

Looking for a little sass to go along with your AI chatbot? As soon as this week, Meta is planning to release AI chatbots with distinct personalities across its social media platforms as a way to attract new users, per a WSJ report based on internal company documents.

• The new personalities Meta is testing include Bob the robot, a “self-described sassmaster general with superior intellect, sharp wit, and biting sarcasm,” as well as a chatbot called Alvin the Alien that seeks to understand humans’ way of life.

💳 Fact of the Day: Since the first quarter of 2022, US credit card losses – aka the money credit card companies owe from accounts written off as being uncollectible – have grown at their fastest pace since the Great Recession in 2008, according to a new Goldman Sachs analysis.

🤔 Did You Know?... More than 95% of all NFT collections currently have a market cap of 0 ether, leaving an estimated 23 million people with worthless investments, per a new report by dappGambl.

📰 Worth a Read: The New Face of Nuclear Energy Is Miss America → (WSJ)

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• ☝️ Ophelia, a storm that’s been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, made landfall in North Carolina on Saturday; Ophelia is expected to bring torrential downpours, flooding, and high winds to the mid-Atlantic and New England regions as it heads north in the coming days.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Upway

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board on Friday (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.3%; Nasdaq: -0.1%); the S&P and Nasdaq both notched their highest weekly losses since March.
• ❌🚗 The UAW is expanding its strikes at GM (+3,500 striking workers) and Stellantis (+2,100); the expansion won’t target Ford because it’s “serious about reaching a deal,” according to union president Shawn Fain.
• 📈 McDonald's is raising its fees for new franchise owners for the first time in ~30 years.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Hollywood's writers and studios have reached a tentative deal that could end the ongoing strike.

• 🏈 CFB Roundup: No. 6 Ohio State beat No. 9 Notre Dame thanks to a last-second touchdown, while No. 10 Oregon routed No. 19 Colorado by a score of 42-6; see other highlights from the weekend (link). | 🏈 NFL Roundup: The Dolphins scored more points than any other team since 1966 in their 70-20 victory over the Broncos, while the Cowboys were upset by the Cardinals (full Week 3 recap). | 🏈 Taylor Swift accepted Travis Kelce's invitation to attend the Kansas City Chiefs game; she was spotted in a luxury box.
• 📺 Amazon Prime Video will begin including advertisements during TV shows and movies early next year; the company will offer an ad-free tier for $2.99 more per month.
• 🎤 Usher was selected to headline the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas. | 🦑◯△ Netflix’s Squid Game reality show unveiled its first trailer and announced a release date (November 22).

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Floof

• ☄️ An asteroid sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission landed safely in the Utah desert yesterday. | 🌕 India’s moon lander failed to reply to its first wake-up call after successfully completing its original mission two weeks ago.
• 🪼 Members of a box jellyfish species called Tripedalia cystophora were trained to learn from their past experiences in a first-of-its-kind study published Friday in Cell Biology.
• 💊 Colchicine, a drug that’s been used to treat gout for more than 2,000 years, became the first medicine approved by the FDA to treat cardiovascular inflammation (a key culprit in heart attacks).

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🦠 The US government will begin shipping up to four free Covid tests to all US residents later today.
• ⚖️ Russell Brand made his first public comments since four women accused him of rape and sexual assault between 2006 and 2013.
• 🏛️ Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife were indicted on bribery charges on Friday; the pair is accused of secretly aiding the Egyptian government and interfering with the criminal prosecution of a friend in exchange for gold bars and cash.

CLICKBAIT

• ☕ The best cities in America for coffee lovers.

Monday: Yom Kippur ends this evening; it's also National Daughters Day

Tuesday: House returns to session ahead of a potential gov’t shutdown on Sunday

Wednesday: The second 2024 GOP presidential debate takes place in California; Google turns 25

Thursday: First hearing of the House’s ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden

Friday: Netflix officially ends its mail rental service after 25 years; the Ryder Cup tees off; the Sphere at the Venetian Resort opens for business (background)

On Friday, we covered how Neuralink, the brain implant startup led by Elon Musk, is currently recruiting patients for its first-ever human clinical trial.

❓ Our question to you: If given the opportunity, would you personally want an implant in your brain which gave you heightened mental abilities?

• 👍 Definitely want: 17%
• 📈 Probably want: 15%
• 📉 Probably NOT want: 24%
• 👎 Definitely NOT want: 32%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 12%

Click here to read some of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 13,821 votes and 1,449 longform responses.

Forget your favorite crayons – Crayola is selling flowers💐.

The popular crayon brand, launched way back in 1903, is branching into the world of florals – and it's all part of fundraising for a good purpose. 

• The company has partnered with a long list of charities and entities; 10-50 % of every direct sale gets donated to a participating organization chosen by the customer. 

🗯 What they're saying: The idea “is to extend the Crayola brand into the flowers industry in a slightly different way,” Warren Schorr, senior vice president of business development, global licensing and experiences, said in a recent interview. “Instead of just selling flowers when they’re needed, why not unite this idea of color and creativity with spreading kindness?”

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Blenn
2. Ceram
3. Fili
4. Gust
5. Pecc

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Blenn = Slime (e.g., blennophobia)
2. Ceram = Clay (ceramic)
3. Fili = Son (affiliation)
4. Gust = Taste (disgust)
5. Pecc = Sin (impeccable)