Good morning, and welcome to November. On today’s docket:

• 🤔 How much would you pay for a Big Mac?
• 🖥️ Live sports get a movie-theater twist
• 🦕 What actually killed most of the dinosaurs

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.82-minute read.

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"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

–Carl Jung (1875-1961)

In Friday’s Hot Corner section, we mistakenly said Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour concludes late next month, instead of in late November of 2024. Apologies for any confusion.

Note: This is the 45th correction out of the 461 newsletters we've published since January 2022.

Over the past week, McDonald’s and Chipotle both announced plans to raise their menu prices in California next year in an effort to offset the state’s new minimum wage increase.

⏪ Some quick background: In September, California’s restaurant industry and state labor groups reached a compromise following months of negotiations over working conditions and wages. Under the new deal, restaurant chains with at least 60 locations nationwide will have to pay their California workers a minimum wage of $20/hour starting April 1, along with annual pay-bumps of at least 3.5% through 2029.

• In response to the upcoming wage hikes, McDonald’s and Chipotle said they will increase menu prices by a yet-to-be-determined amount to account for some of the higher labor costs.
• The National Owners Association, an independent advocacy group of over 1,000 McDonald’s franchisees in the US, projects the bill will cost each California restaurant $250,000 annually.

📸 Big picture: Businesses across America have been hiking their prices for more than two years in response to a combination of factors including increased labor costs, which rose to a 20-year high in 2021 and have remained at or above that level ever since.

And, moving forward, the recent surge in strike actions and new labor contracts – including union deals at UPS, the Big Three automakers, Hollywood studios, and healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente – is expected to further push up prices across the US economy, since companies often try to pass on increased labor costs to consumers.

📊 Flash poll: In general, would you support businesses paying higher wages even if it results in higher prices for goods and services?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

🇵🇦 Panama residents are protesting a copper mining contract granted to a Canadian company. The new 20-year agreement allows mining giant First Quantum to operate the Cobre Panama mine, one of the largest new copper mines opened globally in the last decade. Over the past week, thousands of residents have joined demonstrations in protest of the deal over fears it would put Panama’s environment and water supply at risk. On Monday, Panama’s president called for a national referendum on whether to follow through with the mining contract, though officials said the vote can’t be held before the May presidential election.

💥 Israel-Hamas war update: Israel’s military said it carried out airstrikes on 300 targets in Gaza over the 24-hour period ending yesterday morning, while its ground forces killed an estimated 50 Hamas militants. Israeli officials also updated the number of hostages taken in Hamas’ initial October 7 attack to at least 240, including the first hostage to be rescued by Israeli ground forces earlier this week. Hamas-led health authorities said Israeli missiles struck the largest refugee camp in Gaza yesterday and destroyed several housing blocks, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more.

🌍 Meta is introducing ad-free Facebook and Instagram subscriptions for most European users. Starting next month, the new subscription will offer ad-free access to both social media sites via a linked account, with prices ranging from $10.58/month on desktop to $13.75/month for mobile. The move comes after the EU Court of Justice effectively barred Meta from combining user data collected across its platforms without receiving explicit consent, and indicated that offering a subscription service could be a way to comply with the judgment.

Introducing the Tenikle PRO, the next evolution in adaptable mounting. As seen on CBS, Buzzfeed, and Shark Tank, the Tenikle is the perfect companion for hands-free content creation, convenient viewing, and seamless navigation.

The PRO model has made these awesome enhancements to Tenikle’s best-selling product:

• 🦑 Enhanced suction design for a longer-lasting, firmer grip that sticks to almost anything
• 📱 Revamped phone clip that fits any smartphone, even with cases on
• 💪 Sturdier legs and a grip-lock attachment to reduce bounciness, as well as secure angle positioning under heavy loads (holds 100x its weight!)

Higher impact, lower waste… the Tenikle PRO’s new try-me unboxing experience means no assembly required, reducing waste by 60%.

Get your tentacles on the new Tenikle PRO.

For those unwilling to shell out thousands for playoff tickets or courtside seats – the next best thing could be coming soon.

TNT Sports and Cosm, a privately held company specializing in immersive technology, yesterday announced a partnership that aims to turn select live sporting events into a Ready Player One-type experience that “bridges the virtual and physical worlds.”

And, if you’re sick of vague-sounding buzzwords like us, here’s what that actually means:

• Cosm plans to open two venues – a 65,000 square foot building in LA and a 70,000 square foot structure in Dallas – with seating areas for about 800 fans. Each venue will feature domes with 360-degree, 87-foot-diameter 8K LED screens. Think: The Sphere, but for live sports instead of entertainment.
• The domes, which don’t require headsets or glasses, promise to deliver an immersive experience similar to a courtside view at NBA games or a rink-side angle for hockey games.

👀 Looking ahead… Cosm and The Sphere could usher in a new area of immersive live entertainment – especially when it comes to sports. After just one U2 concert at Las Vegas’ new $2.3 billion Sphere, UFC president Dana White described himself as “obsessed” with the venue and the prospect of getting the mixed-martial arts property there as soon as possible, according to Front Office Sports.

Yesterday, the Interior Department approved a plan to build the largest offshore wind farm in US history.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, to be built by Dominion Energy, aims to install up to 176 giant wind turbines about 23.5 nautical miles off the coast of Virginia. If completed, the 2.6-gigawatt wind farm would produce enough electricity to power more than 900,000 homes, according to the NY Times.

• To date, the Biden administration has approved five commercial-scale offshore wind projects as part of its goal to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power in the US by 2030.

✋ But… Wind farms are running into some (wait for it) headwinds. The Virginia plan approval comes as renewable power developers are facing a series of challenges that have slowed – and in some cases halted – smaller offshore wind projects, from soaring costs, to rising interest rates, to supply chain delays, to local opposition (related to higher proposed energy bills for consumers as well as environmental concerns). Analysts at BloombergNEF now expect 16.4 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity will be completed by 2030, roughly half the Biden administration’s goal.

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💬 Quoted… “Within a few weeks [or] months, the planet underwent a global shutdown in photosynthesis.”

• The Mount Everest-sized asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, ending the age of dinosaurs, caused massive earthquakes, wildfires, and tsunamis with devastating effects across the globe. But, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience, what likely ended up killing most of the ~75% of global species that went extinct was dust from the impact, which was ejected into Earth’s atmosphere and darkened skies around the world. The study found this dust shield caused a 15-year global winter during which photosynthesis, the energy process that forms the basis of most food chains, was essentially impossible.

🗣️ Stat of the Day: During Monday’s cross-examination in his ongoing criminal fraud trial, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said the phrases “I don’t remember,” “I don’t recall,” and “not sure” a combined total of 178 times, per Bloomberg courthouse reporter Bob Van Voris. And yesterday’s testimony was more of the same. A final verdict in the trial is expected in the next week or so.

🤔 Did You Know?... An estimated 62% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck in September, a figure unchanged from last year, according to a new LendingClub report.

📰 Worth a Read: Ancient Egyptians may have spiced their mummies → (Atlas Obscura)

• ☝️ NASA's newest X-ray space telescope recently snapped this photo of a supernova explosion whose remains resemble a skeleton hand.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Spoak

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.7%; Dow: +0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.5%).
• 🍻 Anheuser-Busch reported Q3 earnings that beat expectations; though revenue fell ~14% in the US, the company's largest market, due to lower Bud Light sales.
• 🏡 The National Association of Realtors and large residential brokerages conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high, a federal jury found yesterday; ~$1.8 billion in damages were awarded (which could increase to more than $5.3 billion under US antitrust law), though the decision is expected to be appealed. (Background)

*From our partners: ✨🏠 “Like Simcity for interior design, but so much better!” - A happy Spoak user. Spoak provides design tools, free courses, and a vibrant community to help you master the craft of interior design. Save 45% on your first month of Spoak with code DONUT.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🥇 The College Football Playoff committee published its first top-25 rankings for this season; Ohio State ranks No. 1, followed by Georgia, Michigan, Florida State, and Washington.
• 🏀 The Philadelphia 76ers agreed to trade guard James Harden to the LA Clippers as part of a deal involving seven players as well as draft picks, per ESPN. | 🏈 The NFL trade deadline expired at 4 pm ET yesterday afternoon (see a recap of the deals).
• 🩲 Kim Kardashian’s Skims is now the official underwear partner of the NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Tugboat

• 🤖📝 OpenAI introduced new beta features for ChatGPT Plus members, including the ability to upload files (including PDFs) and have them analyzed.
• 🧬 23andMe is selling access to 80% of its users’ anonymized DNA data for one year to drugmaker GSK for $20 million.
• 🌕🌱 China’s space agency says an experiment performed by its Chang’e-4 Moon lander demonstrates that plants can successfully grow in a contained environment on the lunar surface.

*From our partners: 🏠 Feeling ignored or underpaid by your home insurance company?... Tugboat helps you communicate like a pro and address any issues with your settlement (the average user increases their claim by $15,000). Save 15% on Tugboat’s Claim Support Tools with code DONUT.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🎓 The Biden administration unveiled a new proposal for student-loan relief that prioritizes borrowers experiencing financial hardship.
• 📲 The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case asking whether public officials blocking constituents on social media represents a violation of their First Amendment rights.
• ⚖️🗳️ Trial proceedings began this week in a 14th Amendment lawsuit seeking to bar former President Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballot in Colorado due to his alleged role in the January 6 Capitol riot; Minnesota’s Supreme Court will hear arguments in a similar trial tomorrow. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 👥 How many friends do Americans have? A survey crunched the numbers.

😮 Picture this... You're driving down a suburban Massachusetts street when, all of a sudden, you're staring at a giant Egyptian god towering over the neighborhood. 

• On that same street the year prior, you may have seen a larger-than-life dragon "landing" on a house from the sky, or a 10-foot-tall ghost menacing around the yard.

🔨 Meet the builder: These massive Halloween creations are built by Tom Saltsman, an architect and Dad who has made it his mission to impress the community each year with his spooky spectacles. Each spooky sculpture only costs around $200 to make, and Tom spends two months designing and prepping them each year.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the stated value.

1. 📝 2%: The average chance of getting audited by the IRS
2. 🐞 95%: Amount of insects with six legs
3. 😴 20: Average number of years a person sleeps in their lifetime

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 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.)

Start referring.👇

1. 📝 Under; it's a 0.625% chance (1 in 160)
2. 🐞 Over; 100%
3. 😴 Over; 25 years