Good morning, and welcome to the last day in April. When you read this newsletter tomorrow:

In today’s edition:

• 📱 NASA is one step closer to making FaceTimes with Mars a reality
• 📺 Sports streaming is in its fragmented era
• 📉 Xbox sales are tanking

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.21-minute read (1,403 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“Well done is better than well said.”

–Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is currently hurtling through space on a mission to reach an asteroid that scientists believe holds several quintillion dollars worth of iron and nickel.

But the craft is also involved in another mission with mind-blowing proportions. Earlier this month, Psyche used laser-based communication technology to beam a message across a record-high 140 million miles, or 1.5x the distance between the Sun and Earth, according to a new press release.

• Psyche’s side quest was carried out as part of NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications program, which is aimed at upgrading the space agency’s current method of communicating across vast distances in space.

Background: Since the 1950s, NASA has used radio frequency systems to communicate with objects in space – but this system has limitations. Radio frequencies struggle to handle the amount of data needed to transmit a large volume of high-quality images and video over great distances.

So, since the agency is gearing up to set foot on the Moon and Mars in the next decade-plus, it needs an upgraded method of communication to support astronauts on these journeys.

The solution? *Dr. Evil voice* Frickin’ laser beams. Psyche’s recent test used a laser communication system designed to operate 10x-100x faster than current radio systems. Using this technology, the craft was able to transmit data at a maximum rate of 25 megabits/second – far above the project’s goal of proving at least 1 Mbps was possible across 140 million miles.

• NASA has already proven its laser system can transmit data across shorter distances at speeds comparable to broadband internet (up to 267 Mbps), in a December experiment that beamed a high-definition video 19 million miles across space.

👀 Looking ahead… At the end of June, NASA engineers expect to successfully transmit data 186 million miles. Mars is ~229 million miles away from Earth.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s leader Huzma Yousef resigned after one year in power. First Minister Yousef’s coalition government, led by his pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), fell apart unexpectedly last week following a disagreement over climate policy, leading to Yousef’s resignation. The decision could trigger a snap election in Scotland in the coming months if the SNP’s new leader is unable to win over opposition lawmakers and form a coalition government.

🇨🇳 China tentatively approved Tesla’s plan to launch Full Self-Driving in the country. CEO Elon Musk met with top officials in China over a 24-hour period ending Monday morning, after which Beijing signaled it would allow Tesla to roll out its FSD driver-assistance system to the carmaker’s second-biggest market. As part of the approval, Tesla agreed to deploy its autonomous driving services based on mapping and navigation functions provided by Chinese tech giant Baidu. Tesla shares closed up 15% yesterday.

🌏 Global battery capacity reached a record high in 2023. A new International Energy Agency report found the world’s overall battery capacity increased by an annual rate of 130% last year, adding 42 gigawatts of capacity to electricity systems around the world (enough to power ~32 million homes). The IEA found battery expansion was largely driven by the rapid growth of EVs in the US, China, and Europe.

SportsNet Pittsburgh, the regional sports network home to Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates broadcasts, yesterday announced that it’s launching a new standalone, direct-to-consumer streaming service that costs $17.99/month.

This seems to be a growing trend:

• NESN, which broadcasts Red Sox and Bruins games, became the first regional sports network to offer a streaming alternative outside cable TV in 2022, charging $29.99/month.
• And because what the Red Sox do the Yankees have to do better, the YES Network, home of the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Liberty, last year launched its streaming service, which is available for $24.99/month.
• MSG Network, which airs New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils games, also launched a new streaming service last year and charges $29.99/month.

Regional sports networks, once a lucrative business, are chasing revenue amid the demise of cable TV. Diamond Sports, the owner of the largest portfolio of regional sports networks, also launched streaming services for some of its teams in a bid to stop the bleeding of cable TV subscribers – before filing for bankruptcy in 2023 and exiting some contracts to avoid paying high rights fees.

But consolidation could be right around the corner. Disney/ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery – who collectively hold the rights to all of the major professional sporting league events, the major college sports divisions, and more – plan to launch a standalone sports streaming service this fall.

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Late last week, Microsoft revealed that its Xbox hardware revenue dropped 31% year-over-year in the first calendar quarter of 2024 (January–March), due to a decrease in gaming consoles sold. That follows a year-over-year drop of 30% in the same quarter in 2023.

This gaming-console revenue crash appears isolated to Microsoft. An ArsTechnica analysis determined that while “recent” console releases – including the Nintendo Switch and Sony’s PlayStation 5 – have experienced a general upswing in sales at the start of their fourth full year on the market, Microsoft’s latest Xbox, which was launched in 2020, stands as a major outlier.

• Previous ArsTechnica analyses have shown PlayStation consoles generally see their sales peaks in their fourth or fifth year of life, with Nintendo portables showing a similar sales trend.
• However, the Xbox Series S/X progression looks more similar to that of the Wii U, which was already deep in a "death spiral" at a similar point in its commercial life.

Software is eating the world (and driving Microsoft’s gaming revenue)… Disappointing console sales aside, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard helped boost the company’s gaming revenue in the January–March quarter by ~51% year-over-year. In fact, following the AB acquisition, Microsoft is now publishing more top-sellers on the PS5 than Sony.

But there’s still a place for hardware… Microsoft’s next gaming console will achieve “the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation,” according to Xbox President Sarah Bond.

💬 Quoted: “This has been entirely a Nike issue. At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”

• The MLB’s latest fashion experiment is coming to a not-so-fashionable end. Since the league introduced new uniforms in Spring Training two months ago, fans and players alike have complained about tiny lettering, see-through pants, flimsy fabric that rips while sliding, and massive stains that appear when players get sweaty. And league officials and players have had enough. In a scathing memo released on Sunday, the MLB Players Association laid all of the blame on uniform designer Nike, and said the league intends for all of the flaws to be fixed by the start of the 2025 season at the latest.

📝 Stat of the Day: This tax season, the IRS launched a pilot for a free, government-run tax filing website – and the program performed like Rocky against Apollo Creed (above expectations). Nearly 141,000 Americans across 12 states used the new Direct File service this year, outpacing the IRS’ goal of 100,000, while 90% of surveyed users ranked their experience as “Excellent” or “Above Average.”

🤔 Did You Know? Scientists typically estimate the age of a whale by counting its layers of earwax (which form every 6 months), in a process similar to counting the rings within a tree. So the next time your partner reprimands you for not using a Q-Tip, you can tell them you’re preserving your body for science.

📰 Worth a Read: Star Scientist’s Claim of ‘Reverse Aging’ Draws Hail of Criticism → (WSJ)

• ☝️ NASA unveiled its 100 best photos of 2023, which include a SpaceX Crew-7 launch and the recovery of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour from the Atlantic Ocean.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Forecaster

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.3%; Dow: +0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.4%).
• 📉 The Japanese yen briefly fell to its weakest value against the dollar since 1990 yesterday, trading at 160 yen for $1 before recovering slightly.
• 🤖🚘 Autopilot isn’t the only driver-assistance system under regulatory scrutiny: Federal regulators opened an investigation into two fatal crashes involving Ford’s Blue Cruise partially automated driving system. | 📝 The Biden administration announced a new rule requiring all new cars and trucks include automatic emergency braking technology by 2029.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏆🎶 Taylor Swift earned her 14th Billboard No. 1 album with The Tortured Poets Department, tying Jay-Z for the most ever by a solo act. | 🎤 Billie Eilish announced a three-continent tour following the release of her upcoming album Hit Me Hard and Soft; North American dates run from September-December, followed by shows in Australia and Europe.
• 🏈 Detroit broke the NFL Draft's attendance record with more than 775,000 people over three days.
• 🎥 Paramount Global officially parted ways with CEO Bob Bakish, who will be replaced by a coalition of three division heads.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with BestBodiesforLife

• 🗣️ A new mouth-spray UTI vaccine successfully prevented infection in more than 50% of patients for up to nine years, per a new study presented at a conference this month.
• 🩸 Swedish and Danish scientists discovered a new method that can change a donor’s blood group into the universal type O, which is consistently in short supply at hospitals and emergency rooms.
• 🦖 Tyrannosaurus rex was roughly as smart as modern crocodiles and other reptiles, per a team of researchers that investigated – and ended up challenging – recent claims that T. rex may have been as smart as monkeys.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🎓 Columbia University began suspending student protesters who defied orders to vacate a pro-Palestinian protest by yesterday afternoon; the school’s president said Columbia declined to divest from Israel, but offered to raise students’ proposals to its committee in charge of divestment. | 🎓 Police at UT Austin arrested 43 people yesterday in an attempt to break up a pro-Palestinian student protest.
• 🏘️🏛️ Lawmakers across the US, including some Democrats in Congress, have introduced legislation that would set a maximum limit on how many single-family homes can be owned by a single entity.
• 🇮🇱 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked President Biden to help prevent the International Criminal Court from issuing arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.

CLICKBAIT

• 😊 The happiest people balance and prioritize these 3 things.

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• 🏈 NFL Draft: 5 quarterbacks were selected in the top-10 picks for the first time ever, while 14 consecutive offensive players were drafted before the first defensive player (breaking the previous record of 7). (Read more)
• 🧠 The share of Americans with mental health diagnoses rose 40% nationally from 2019-2023 to encompass 19% of the total population. (Read more)
• 🕟📈 33% of all S&P 500 stock trades are executed in the final 10 minutes of each day’s trading session (which lasts 6.5 hours). (Read more)
• 🏥 Nearly 1 in 3 US births (32.4%) were delivered via C-section last year, the highest rate since 2013. (Read more)
• 🎧🤷 Out of the one-third of American adults who’ve owned Apple AirPods, 39% of them say they’ve lost at least one pair, per YouGov polling. (Read more)

Yesterday, we covered how ever-rising prices on financial assets in recent decades are heavily concentrated with older folks, leading to an increasingly large generational wealth gap in America.

❓ Our question to you: What are your thoughts on the growing generational wealth gap among US households?

• “It’s just demographics and tenure. Boomers were/are such a huge portion of legacy demographics they have skewed results and continue to. As they pass away over time we will see the numbers change as the Millennials/Gen Zers are a larger group but just too young yet to outweigh the experience of the Boomers.”
• “I feel for younger people starting out today. The price of houses, groceries, and childcare have grown exorbitantly. It's almost impossible to settle down and start a family. Part of that is due to the spending that our government is doing, which is causing inflation, and part of that is due to corporations buying housing. I do have hope that, like the Carter-era, this too shall pass.
• “It kind of makes sense. Unless you subscribe to the FIRE movement, the younger generation has been taught to spend their money like drunken sailors. They have always "had money" via their parents. But their parents (or grandparents) lived through the Great Depression and learned quickly how to accumulate wealth.”

Click here to read more of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 226 longform responses.

💭 Imagine this... You've just sat down on your LOT Polish Airlines flight when you notice an unusual sight: the captain standing at the front of the plane with a bouquet in hand. 

• “On today’s flight there is a very special person and I hope that she doesn’t expect anything,” says Captain Konrad Hanc.

Your heads turn towards one of the flight attendants, Paula, as she runs down the aisle to meet the captain. He continues: "You are most precious to me. You are my greatest dream come true. This is why I have to ask you a favor, honey. Will you marry me?”

❤️ This real-life movie moment came true last week, with the flight erupting into applause after Paula gave an emotional "yes."

❓ Trivia: Which gland is known as the “master” gland?

🎓 True or False?... In the past, mustard was used as a medicine.

🤔 Riddle Me This: Different lights do make me strange, thus into different sizes I will change. What am I? 

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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.

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❓ Trivia: The pituitary gland, because it controls other glands in the endocrine system

🎓 T/F: True, so was ketchup

🤔 Riddle: A pupil (eye, not student)