Good morning. The MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks and LA Dodgers were all set to start a game on Tuesday night – the national anthem had been played and the athletes were getting ready to take the field – when a bee colony starting forming on top of the protective netting above home plate faster than Michael Richards tanked his comedy career, forcing a delay.

Luckily, local beekeeper Matt Hilton came to the rescue. One hour and thirty-five-ish minutes later, he ended up removing the bees as ~30,000 fans gave a standing ovation and “I need a hero” blared over the loudspeakers.

You gotta love a DJ who can read the mood.

In today’s edition:

• 🛢️ Congressional Democrats claim Big Oil has lied about natural gas
• 🎮 Why LinkedIn is getting into gaming
• 🚗 Inside the battle for your car’s infotainment system

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.19-minute read (1,381 words).

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

"Happiness is not a goal... it's a by-product of a life well lived."

–Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Following three years of investigation, Senate and House Democrats published a report this week detailing allegations that large oil companies have deceived the public about the negative climate effects of natural gas.

The report centers around internal conversations between 2015-2020 that were obtained from major oil companies and organizations – including BP, Chevron, Exxon, and Shell – via subpoena.

• Democratic lawmakers allege these communications are proof that big oil companies have tried to portray natural gas as a climate-friendly fuel to bridge the gap between coal and renewable energy, while also "internally acknowledging that there is significant scientific evidence that the lifecycle emissions from gas are as bad as coal" due to the presence of methane leaks.

By the numbers: Natural gas, aka methane gas, produces fewer carbon emissions when burned for energy compared to coal – but it’s prone to consistent leaks across nearly every stage of production. The EPA estimates that about 6.5 million metric tons of methane leak from America’s oil and gas supply chain each year, or roughly 1% of total natural gas production.

• Previous research indicated those methane leaks had a negligible environmental impact compared to the emissions saved by switching away from coal.
• But several new studies published within the past two years suggest that US methane emissions are ~70% higher than government figures, and that it takes as little as 0.2% overall leakage for natural gas to become as harmful to the environment as coal.

On the flip side: Several oil companies named in the report pushed back against its characterizations, rejecting claims that they misled the public. Some Republican lawmakers and oil officials also noted that fossil fuels like natural gas are currently an irreplaceable part of the US economy, since they deliver huge amounts of relatively cheap and concentrated energy that renewable sources can’t yet replicate at scale.

👀 Looking ahead… In a Senate hearing yesterday regarding the big oil report, Democratic lawmakers said they would push for new legislation aimed at addressing oil companies’ actions.

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🇬🇪 Residents of Georgia (the country) are protesting a bill critics say is inspired by Russia. Tens of thousands of Georgians have gathered daily in Tbilisi in recent weeks to demonstrate against a proposed media law, which would require organizations to register as foreign agents if they receive 20+% of their funding from abroad. Critics frame the law as Russia’s latest attempt to export its legal standards to old Soviet Union countries, as well as a bid from Moscow to weaken growing ties between Georgia and Europe.

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe completed the rollout of a new currency. The ZiG – aka "Zimbabwe Gold" – was introduced electronically in early April, with banknotes and coins entering circulation on Tuesday. The gold-backed ZiG is the sixth currency the country has used since 2009, when the Zimbabwe dollar collapsed amid 5 billion percent inflation and triggered a still-ongoing currency crisis. The US dollar, which currently accounts for 85% of transactions in the country, will remain legal tender.

💉 Global vaccination efforts have saved ~154 million lives over the past 50 years, per the WHO. A new study found vaccinations against 14 diseases – including measles, polio, and hepatitis B – reduced infant deaths by 40% globally since 1974, saving 101 million infant lives. On average, the WHO found each person saved through immunization gained 66 years of full health.

So much for all work and no play: LinkedIn, the business- and- employment- focused social media platform, is getting into gaming.

As of yesterday, users on the company’s mobile app or on desktop can access three different games – Pinpoint (a word association game similar to the NY Times’ Connections), Queens (sudoku without numbers), and Crossclimb (trivia + wordplay).

Each game can only be played once per day. And once a session is completed, users are able to access different metrics (high score, daily streak, etc.), as well as leaderboards.

But, most importantly to LinkedIn, who sees the games as a more casual way to knit existing connections closer together, users are also able to interact with each other and share results.

• “Games, as it turns out, is a really phenomenal way to [build meaningful relationships],” Daniel Roth, editor in chief of LinkedIn, told CNN. “We’ve seen that with the recent explosion of short games that help you.”

LinkedIn isn’t alone in its gaming push. NY Times’ games were played over 8 billion times last year, and the number of people signing up for its subscription packages that include games keeps growing. Hearst, which publishes magazines and newspapers across the US, last year acquired Puzzmo, a puzzle game platform that includes games like SpellTower and Really Bad Chess. Netflix is also investing in building out its suite of games.

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• “Time and again, the success of businesses and individuals comes down to their systems. The Monk Manual system is the best in class for supporting a life of meaning, peace, and impact.”

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Poor car-model rollouts aren’t just relegated to Fisker: GM’s new 2024 Chevy Blazer EV is also going through it. Sales of the model were suspended from January–March, while the automaker worked to resolve issues with the car’s infotainment software.

This all came about after GM gave Apple CarPlay (and Android Auto) the boot in favor of an in-house platform called Ultifi. GM is betting that its own software group, led by recruits from Apple, Amazon, and Google, can create a better in-car experience and eventually cash in via digital sales. The automaker projects that digital services will bring in as much as $25 billion annually by 2030.

But, the system’s initial struggles aside, that could be a tall order. According to Apple, as of 2022, 79% of US car buyers would only consider purchasing cars that were CarPlay compatible.

• Rivian: “Hold my beer.” The EV-maker has been able to change many customers’ minds after users experience its in-house software.

The infotainment battle is in full-swing. As Apple tries to burrow further into the cockpit – the company’s latest version of CarPlay syncs with onboard sensors to manage vehicle settings, climate control, and even oil and gas gauges – many automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, are trying to James Bond-ejector seat its software in favor of in-house solutions.

💬 Quoted: “If you’re a person who gets angry all the time, you’re having chronic injuries to your blood vessels.”

• As it turns out, learning to stay calm in the midst of a heated moment can help save more than just interpersonal relationships. A new study found that bursts of anger as brief as eight minutes can temporarily damage blood vessels’ ability to dilate, thereby increasing a person’s risk of a heart attack or stroke – while other emotions like sadness and anxiety have no apparent effect on cardiovascular health. Scientists say the results could help doctors persuade patients to manage their anger through yoga, exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, or other established techniques.

📚💰 Stat of the Day: European police are investigating what appears to be a coordinated series of thefts targeting rare 19th-century Russian books with an M.O. that would make Danny Ocean proud. Since 2022, more than 170 books, valued at a collective $2.6+ million, have vanished from libraries across Europe – and in most cases, the original books were replaced with ultra-high-quality copies mimicking their every detail (including the brown/yellow/red spots that appear on paper over time).

🤔 Did You Know? An estimated 60 Americans die each year from walk-in freezer incidents.

📰 Worth a Read: The Shark Whisperer → (Nautilus Magazine)

• ☝️ You’re looking at a visualization of the most common household pets in America, created by Visual Capitalist using 2023-2024 data from the American Pet Products Association.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Dooeys

• 💰 US markets closed mixed yesterday (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: +0.2%; Nasdaq: -0.3%). | ☕ Starbucks shares closed down ~16% following a disappointing earnings report; the coffee-slinger cut its sales outlook for the second time this year.
• 🏦 The Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting; Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s bar to decrease interest rates has gone up, but the bar to increase rates is even higher.
• 🔍 Google is laying off at least 200 employees from its “Core” organization and moving some of those roles to India and Mexico.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🐝 Bumble began allowing men to initiate conversations with women for the first time in the dating app’s 10-year existence.
• ⚾📺 Bally Sports’ regional networks went dark for Comcast cable customers yesterday due to a breakdown in carriage negotiations with Bally’s bankrupt operator, Diamond Sports Group; the blackout affects 11 MLB teams.
• 🎭 Dan Schneider, the former Nickelodeon showrunner depicted in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, filed a defamation lawsuit accusing the documentary’s producers of falsely implying that he sexually abused children who worked on his series.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Pair

• 🤖📲 Anthropic, the Amazon- and Google-backed AI startup behind chatbot Claude, announced its first enterprise offering, as well as its first iPhone app.
• ♻️🦠 Researchers developed a biodegradable form of plastic that includes bacterial spores which digest the plastic once it reaches a landfill.
• ⛰️🔭 The world’s highest observatory, a telescope located 18,500 feet above sea level atop a mountain in the Chilean Andes, officially opened for business this week.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🎓 Israel-Hamas student protests: NYPD officers arrested nearly 300 protesters yesterday across a pair of demonstrations at Columbia and near City College of New York; UCLA canceled classes yesterday after a clash between pro-Palestinian protesters and counterdemonstrators left 15 people injured.
• 🏥 Florida's ban on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy – with exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies, and some “fetal anomalies” – took effect yesterday. | 🗳️ Arizona’s Senate voted 16-14 to repeal a Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions, which would still be active in the state until the fall.
• 🏛️ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she plans to force a vote next week to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA); House Democrats have said they’ll ensure Speaker Johnson has enough votes to survive. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🤑🏘️ Inside America’s priciest resort, where the cheapest homes cost millions.

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• Utah cat with a fondness for cardboard takes surprise trip to California in an Amazon box → (Associated Press)
• Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day → (Japan Today)
• PA man receives $34 billion tax bill; IRS investigating → (WGAL)
• Scarborough woman wants answers after being told she is dead → (BBC)
• American Airlines repeatedly mistakes 101-year-old woman for baby → (WKRC)

Yesterday, we covered a recent disclosure from the Department of Justice saying the agency is closely monitoring the AI industry for potential conflicts of interest due to shared board members between AI competitors.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, should regulators be concerned about the potential conflicts of interest within the AI industry?

• 👍 Yes: 64%
• 👎 No: 21%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 15%

Click here to read more of the best longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,427 votes and 292 longform responses.

US-based tech company Aquaai is studying the world's oceans with fishlike drones that collect data from underwater environments. 

• The battery-powered drones come in multiple sizes and are designed to look and swim like fish underwater, resembling Marlin the clownfish from Finding Nemo.

🐠 Here, fishy fishy... Waterways are typically monitored manually, which makes for sporadic and sometimes flawed data collection. These cute fish robots are intended to make that work easier. 

The Valley of Fire State Park, pictured above, is located in which US state?

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