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🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.96-minute read (1,321 words).

"Listen to what you know instead of what you fear."

–Richard Bach (b. 1936)

Somewhere, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are punching the air with excitement – because the holy grail may be near. On Sunday, at the Endocrine Society’s conference in Boston, researchers presented encouraging Phase 2 trial results for a male birth control treatment.

Gellin' like a fella

In the Phase 2 trial, 222 men applied 5 milliliters of a hormonal gel (the equivalent of a teaspoon) to each shoulder blade once a day.

The result? The gel, comprised of both Nestorone and testosterone, successfully lowered sperm count to the threshold deemed effective for contraception in 86% of men participating in the trial. It also accomplished this feat within eight weeks on average – sooner than the scientists expected and faster than the 9-15 weeks seen with male contraceptive injections.

• Combining Nestorone and testosterone in the new gel is meant to keep men from producing sperm without affecting their sex drive or causing other side effects.
• And so far, so good. The men in the gel clinical trial have shown low enough blood levels of testosterone to maintain normal sexual function, with minimal side effects.

Male BC has been a long time coming. A working female contraceptive, the birth control pill, was developed in the 1950s. But history is littered with failed attempts at creating a male contraceptive, in large part due to biology- and- funding-related challenges.

• Men make millions of sperm every single day, while, on the other hand, women’s ovaries typically release one mature egg per month – a far easier target for contraceptives.
• Plus, developing drugs is expensive work. The median cost to support a drug from R&D all the way through to FDA approval was $985 million between 2009-2018, according to a study published in the journal JAMA.

Looking ahead… The gel’s researchers are set to meet with the FDA next year about the steps needed to begin a larger Phase III trial. They’re also seeking a commercial partner to help bring the product to the market.

And, should it ever get to market, there could be some competition – other male birth control treatments are also in development. YourChoice Therapeutics announced over the weekend that it had completed a small male birth control trial in the UK (16 men) that indicates its nonhormonal male birth control pill is safe and free of side effects.

🚫👶 Bottom line: No male birth control treatment – not even the “testicle-bath" that won the 2021 Dyson Award for Engineering – has ever made it past human clinical trials. But that could soon change.

Are you not quite yourself in the morning? Besides that concerningly large first dose of caffeine (or cold plunge, if that floats your boat), there’s something else that can help pull you out of your zombified state… inspiration!

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🇫🇷🇷🇺 Microsoft identified a Russian misinformation campaign targeting the Paris Olympics. In a blog post published Sunday, Microsoft said Russia has intensified an online campaign designed to “denigrate the reputation” of the International Olympic Committee, and to create the expectation of violence breaking out at the games this summer. The tech giant said Russia’s efforts include a series of falsified news websites, as well as a fake documentary narrated by an AI version of Tom Cruise (☝️).

🇳🇬 Nigeria's main labor unions shut down the country’s national power grid. The blackout, which has left tens of millions of Nigerians without power since early yesterday morning, was part of an indefinite strike by domestic labor unions seeking to increase the national minimum wage. Union workers also blocked access to parliament and disrupted airport operations across the country, in the fourth such strike since President Bola Tinubu took office last year.

💥 Israel-Hamas war: On Friday, President Biden announced his support for a three-phase truce proposal he said was crafted by Israel and passed by mediators to Hamas, which would include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of all hostages taken by Hamas. However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Biden’s description of the proposal was “not accurate,” and that Israel hasn’t agreed to fully remove its troops from Gaza.

The Michigan Central train station in Detroit, a once-abandoned building that stood for decades as a symbol of the city’s downturn, is officially coming back to life this week following a six-year, ~$740 million renovation funded by Ford.

• The building marks the centerpiece of the automaker’s new 30-acre tech and cultural hub near downtown Detroit, which has already attracted thousands of tech-related jobs (including offices for Ford and Alphabet).

It’s the latest sign that Motown is no longer singing the blues. To many locals, Detroit today bears little resemblance to the crime-ridden city that went bankrupt in 2013. The city’s population increased last year for the first time since 1957, while law enforcement recorded its fewest homicides since 1966.

Detroit has also emerged as a popular destination for America’s largest businesses and events. Amazon, GM, and Microsoft agreed to move their local campuses downtown in recent months, while a record-high 775,000+ people flocked to Motown for the NFL draft in April.

• The city’s renaissance has largely been financed by a group of billionaires with local ties – including Rocket Mortgages owner Dan Gilbert, the Ford family, and the Ilitch family – who have collectively amassed ~70% ownership of Detroit’s downtown office space in recent years.

👀 Looking ahead… Detroit-area billionaire Stephen Ross and the Ilitches are planning a $1.5 billion downtown development, which is set to feature a University of Michigan graduate and technology campus, offices, hotels, and housing.

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💬 Quoted: “When you’re dealing with a new outbreak, things change… Covid was a moving target.”

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, defended the federal government’s leadership during the Covid pandemic in testimony before a House subcommittee yesterday. Over the course of three hours, with much of the testimony focused on EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that received US government funding and worked with a virology lab in Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 was first detected, Fauci voiced his support for social distancing, masking, and other measures enacted during the early months of the pandemic, and denied influencing research into the origins of Covid. He also acknowledged that a senior adviser acted inappropriately by suggesting Fauci conduct government business on private email to avoid Freedom of Information Act requirements, and denied ever doing so.

🎮 Stat of the Day: The GameStop meme-stock saga is… roaring back in the national conversation. On Sunday, a Reddit account linked to meme-stock hero Keith Gill (aka “Roaring Kitty”) posted for the first time in years, with a screenshot appearing to show a GameStop position worth ~$116 million – a far cry from his initial $53,000 investment in 2019. Gill’s recent online posts and GameStop position, which grew another 21% as of market close yesterday, has led trading platform E*Trade to consider banning Gill’s account over concerns about potential stock manipulation, the WSJ reported last night.

🤔 Did You Know? As of 2021, nearly two-thirds of the ~70,000 meteorites discovered on Earth were found in Antarctica, with Africa ranking second at 21%.

📰 Worth a Read: Survival of the richest: Inside the short-lived fallout shelter bubble → (The Hustle)

• ☝️ Scientists recently uncovered a near-complete skull of a flightless, 500-pound bird nicknamed the “Giga-Goose,” which lived in Australia during the Ice Age; it marks the second such skull ever discovered, and the first in over a century.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tate Art Gallery

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.1%; Dow: -0.3%; Nasdaq: +0.6%).
• 📉 A technical glitch caused Berkshire Hathaway’s share price to appear down 99.9% on the NYSE – falling from $627,400 to $185 – before trading was halted to resolve the issue; at least 40 stocks experienced volatility in total.
• 🤝 It is decided: Paramount and Skydance have reportedly agreed to terms of a merger. (Read more)

*From our partners: 🙌 Art – pure, dynamic, and from the heart… With over 20 years experience and paintings hanging in some of the finest homes in the world, Steve Tate’s abstract art is described as “like no other” and “mystical and spiritual.” Visit Tate Art here.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎶 Spotify is raising the cost of Premium subscriptions for all users except students.
• 🤸 Simone Biles won her record ninth all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships, earning an automatic berth in the Paris Olympics this summer.
• ⚾ Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano faces a potential lifetime ban over an ongoing MLB investigation into allegations that he bet on his team’s games while on the injured list, per a WSJ report.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Commons

• 💉 Moderna and Merck said their experimental vaccine combined with a therapy named Keytruda resulted in improved survival for patients with a deadly form of skin cancer.
• 🧠 Swiss startup FinalSpark developed what it calls a “living computer” made from 16 mini-brains created with human tissue.
• 🚀 The first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been re-rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

*From our partners: 👏 Commons users reduce carbon emissions by 20% and save $200 per month… They get cashback for sustainable purchases like public transit, EV chargers, and farmers' markets, and also get tips for living sustainably. Get the Commons app FREE here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥒 Fresh Start Produce Sales, a Florida produce company, is recalling whole cucumbers shipped to 14 states due to the risk of salmonella.
• 🇿🇦 The African National Congress is no longer the ruling party in South Africa for the first time since apartheid ended 30 years ago; the ANC received ~40% of the vote in last week’s election, forcing it to form a coalition government.
• 🗽📲 New York lawmakers have reportedly agreed on a new law prohibiting social-media companies from using algorithms to serve automated feeds to minors without parental consent. (Read more)

CLICKBAIT

• 🗣️ People’s last words are often these 4 phrases: What they teach us about being happy.

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

• 📊 Over half of Americans identify as middle class (39%) or upper-middle class (15%), while 31% consider themselves “working class,” 12% say they’re “lower class,” and 2% identify as “upper class.” (Read more)
• 🗣️ US adults use the word “please” in ~7% of their requests, with the word mostly used to overcome an inhospitable environment rather than politeness, per a new UCLA study. (Read more)
• 👶 Over 6,000 baby girls in the US were named Alexa in 2015, a year after Amazon released its voice assistant with the same name; last year, that number had fallen to 490. (Read more)
• 🤖 4% of Americans aged 14-22 say they use AI tools daily or almost daily, with 41% of that age group saying they’ve never used AI. (Read more)
• ⚽🏆 Real Madrid claimed a record 15th UEFA Champions League title on Saturday – more than double the number of titles held by second-place AC Milan (7). (Read more)

Yesterday, we covered a landmark Vermont law that will require companies to pay for the state’s historical costs associated with climate change based on emissions levels, making it the first US state to enact such a measure.

❓ Our question to you: Do you agree with Vermont’s new climate damages law?

• 👍 Yes: 47%
• 👎 No: 37%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 16%

Click here to read the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 3,736 votes and 407 longform responses.

🐋 It's not photoshop... You're looking at the Beluga airbus, an oddly shaped cargo plane that's been in service for close to two decades. The plane mainly transports aircraft parts between Airbus’ manufacturing facilities across Europe.

• Airbus recently launched an updated version of the Beluga (👆), replacing the original fleet – which is now powering a standalone freight airline.

❓ Trivia: In which Oscar-winning film does HAL 9000 appear?

🤔 Riddle Me This: What has many teeth but doesn’t bite?

👆 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.

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❓ Trivia: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

🤔 Riddle: A comb