Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗳 Trump selects a running mate
• 🌕 Moon caves
• 🤔 Conscious AI?

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.51-minute read (1,200 words).

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"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."

–Voltaire (1694-1778)

Yesterday, former President Trump revealed his 2024 vice presidential running mate: Ohio Senator JD Vance, a politician known for supporting the style and views of Trump’s conservative populist movement.

• In his announcement, Trump signaled that Senator Vance, the 39-year-old former venture capitalist and author of Hillbilly Elegy, could help appeal to voters in crucial Midwest battleground states.

Outside of a new running mate, other storylines have emerged in the aftermath of Saturday’s failed assassination attempt against Trump:

The Secret Service is under major scrutiny. Congressional lawmakers from both parties are moving to open investigations into the Secret Service’s security lapses at Trump’s rally, including how the shooter was able to obtain rooftop access less than 450 feet from Trump’s position. An eyewitness video also shows some Trump rally attendees noticed the gunman on a nearby roof at least one minute before he opened fire, and unsuccessfully tried to alert law enforcement.

History indicates Trump will likely see a polling boost. When President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in March 1981 – the most recent shooting of a US president or major candidate prior to Trump – his approval rating increased from 60% to 68% over the next two months. However, Reagan’s polling boost was short-lived, and by the end of the year his approval rating had fallen below 50%.

Trump’s RNC plans have changed. In an interview on Sunday, Trump said he completely rewrote his upcoming speech at the Republican National Convention following his shooting, and now plans to focus more on national unity and less on his political opponents.

👀 Looking ahead… Trump is set to deliver this RNC speech on Thursday evening.

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🇸🇦🎮 Saudi Arabia will host the first Olympics Esports Games in 2025. The country signed a new agreement with the International Olympic Committee to host the Esports Olympics “regularly” over the next 12 years, starting in 2025. The deal is part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s multi-trillion-dollar Vision 2030 campaign, which aims to attract tourism and diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.

🇨🇳 China reported lower-than-expected GDP growth last quarter. Official statistics show China’s economy grew by 4.7% between April and June, below the 5.1% expected by analysts. The news comes as senior Chinese Communist Party officials gather in Beijing for a four-day meeting to discuss the future of China’s economy, with the disappointing Q2 GDP figures expected to increase the likelihood of new stimulus measures.

🇮🇳 Apple’s sales in India reportedly reached a record high in 2023. According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple’s India sales – which account for 2% of its overall revenue – rose ~33% over the 12 months ending in March to reach a record ~$8 billion, with iPhones accounting for over half the sales. The increase signals progress in Apple’s effort to target India and diversify its manufacturing and revenue sources beyond China, where business relations have become riskier due to trade tensions with the US.

Journey to the Center of the Earth could soon have a greenlit sequel: Journey to the Center of the Moon.

On Monday, an Italian-led team of researchers published a study detailing evidence for a sizable cave that could one day host a lunar base full of astronauts.

The cave, located in an ancient lunar lava plain (the Sea of Tranquility) ~250 miles away from where Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind, comprises an area roughly equivalent to 14 tennis courts. It lies ~450 feet below the surface, and appears accessible via the deepest known pit on the Moon.

Early humans lived in caves on Earth – and early colonies on the Moon will most likely take a similar approach. Building lunar habitats from scratch would be more time-consuming and challenging than just reinforcing cave walls to prevent a collapse, the researchers say.

Caves also provide protection from cosmic rays, solar radiation, and the harsh lunar surface, which reaches temps of 260° F during the day and minus 280° F at night. 

• Temps in hundreds of the Moon’s pits and caves stay at roughly 63° F (tanktop weather for Midwesterners), according to research from 2022.

👀 Looking ahead… Future babies may very well be able to say to their ancestors: “you merely adopted the dark, I was born into it.” NASA, as part of the Artemis program, is planning to build a lunar habitat on the Moon sometime in the 2030s.

“[They’re] very annoyed by the drones… They think they’re defending their chicks from a predator.”

• New York City’s beaches have turned into a real-life Angry Birds situation. In recent weeks, several NYC beaches have reported swarms of distinctive shorebirds called American oystercatchers attacking fleets of drones, which are deployed as part of a city program to scan for sharks and swimmers in distress. Officials say the situation is dangerous for the birds, who are especially aggressive when defending their nests, as the drones’ rotating blades pose a serious injury threat. The drones, which are equipped with inflatable life rafts that can be dropped on distressed swimmers, have yet to conduct any swimmer rescues – but they spotted their first shark on Thursday, resulting in a beach closure.

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• ☝️ The California Academy of Sciences announced the winners from its 11th annual BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with The Motley Fool

• 💰 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.3%; Dow: +0.5%; Nasdaq: +0.4%); the Dow notched its 20th record-high close of the year. | 🏦 Fed Chair Jerome Powell said yesterday the central bank won't wait until inflation hits 2% to cut rates; markets are currently pricing in a 92% probability that the Fed cuts rates by 25 basis points in September.
• 🏚️ Eviction filings in a half-dozen cities and surrounding metropolitan areas over the past year are up 35% or more compared with pre-2020 norms, per a new report; affected cities include Las Vegas, Houston, and Phoenix.
• 🏬 Macy's ended long-running buyout talks with investment firms Arkhouse and Brigade; Macy’s shares closed down 12%.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚾ MLB Home Run Derby: Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández defeated Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in a final round that came down to the wire.
• 🐭💻 Disney is investigating a hack of its internal Slack channels; a “hacktivist” group claims to have leaked 1 terabyte of data.
• 🏀 The USA Basketball men’s team beat Australia 98-92 yesterday in a tuneup game for the upcoming Paris Olympics; Team USA led by as much as 24 in the third quarter.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Paleovalley

• 🧒📲 Children between the ages of 2.5-5.5 who consume excessive amounts of digital media – aka "iPad kids" – are more likely to have emotional and social issues later in life, a new study suggests.
• ☄️ The annual Perseid meteor shower kicked off on Sunday; it’ll last through late next month, with a peak on the night of August 12th.
• 🧈 Savor, a Bill Gates-backed startup, has created a “butter” product made from CO2 pulled from the atmosphere.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥵 An estimated 258 million Americans will see temperatures exceed 90°F over the next week; ~47 million Americans are projected to see highs above 100°F.
• 🗳️ Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the leading third-party presidential candidate in 2024, will receive Secret Service protection following the attempted assassination of former President Trump. (Read more)
• 📝 A federal judge dismissed former President Trump's federal classified documents case yesterday, citing the "unlawful appointment and funding of special counsel Jack Smith"; the ruling will be appealed by the DOJ. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• ⚔️ Why Netflix’s Game Of Thrones Replacement Was Canceled After Two Seasons.

🤖🧠 Stat of the Day: New research shows artificial intelligence is well on its way to passing the Turing test in the minds of the general public. According to a study published in Neuroscience of Consciousness, two-thirds of Americans now believe that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are conscious and possess the capability for feelings and memories – despite the vast majority of experts denying that current AI systems can be conscious.

🤔 Did You Know? The average lifespan for women is about five years longer than men in the US, and about seven years longer worldwide.

📰 Worth a Read: The forgotten priest who predicted black holes in 1783 → (BBC Future)

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

• 💼 Women currently hold a record-high 79 million jobs across the US, per the latest Labor Department data. (Read more)
• 🫀 89% of all organ transplant recipients report personality changes after undergoing transplant surgery, per a recent study. (Read more)
• 🏀 NY Knicks guard Jalen Brunson signed a 4-year, $157 million contract extension – or $113 million less than he could have received in free agency; analysts say it’s “a largely unprecedented financial concession.” (Read more)
• 🗣️ 60% of Russian citizens say they feel at least somewhat comfortable criticizing Pres. Vladimir Putin, both offline and on social media. (Read more)
• 🇦🇮 Anguilla, a British overseas territory, earned 10+% of its GDP last year from “.ai” web-domain registration fees ($32 million). (Read more)

Yesterday we covered the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which Trump was shot in the ear but otherwise unharmed.

❓ Our question to you: What are your personal thoughts on the apparent assassination attempt against former President Trump?

• “Our culture—fueled by the ability to post online—has lost all sense of etiquette and respect for others’ political beliefs. Too much transparency, access, and too little compassion and understanding. Not enough inquiry; no middle ground. I pray this is the final straw and people begin to see how asinine this hateful behavior is.”
• “It saddens me that we've gotten to a point of demonizing those involved in politics to the point that they aren't human anymore – as if one person is the root of all our nation's problems. We need to wake up and realize we collectively have created this mess and stop trying to rely on one person or a small group of people to fix it.”
• “Today, more than ever, we need politicians who bridge party lines and seek the common good. The future of our nation hangs in the balance if we ignore this need. Both Presidents Biden and Trump have called for unity in the midst of these challenging times. I agree. It's time we unite as Americans before we unite as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. We've got to do better.”
• “The assassination attempt is alarming for our country, a wake up call that political rhetoric is more than just words. The overall temperature of political discourse needs to be lowered moving forward. Americans have an opportunity to unite against violence, listen with an open mind, and let their voices be heard at the ballot box in November.”

+Note: We received 398 submissions; some responses may have been edited for length.

Grubhub delivery driver Alan Moncayo was out delivering meals when he spotted a dog in one of the customers' windows.

It turns out the meal was for a manager at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Lorton, Virginia – and the dog in the window needed a forever home.

🐾 Call it soulmates... "It was love at first sight," Alan told People. The delivery driver had his five-year-old daughter with him that day, and, as she immediately started playing with the black-and-white pit bull mix named Jihoo, he knew he had found their new fur baby.

• The duo decided to take Jihoo home that same day. The loving dog was a favorite among staff and had been in the shelter for more than 240 days.
• "He's so gentle, loving," Alan shared. "He fits so perfectly in our family. We love him so much, it's such a blessing to our hearts."

+Editor's Note: This story first appeared in our Positive section in March 2024.

❓ Trivia: Which two continents have never hosted the Olympic Games?

🐟 True or False?... The barracuda is the fastest-swimming fish.

🤔 Riddle Me This: What comes down but never goes up?

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❓ Trivia: Africa and Antarctica

🐟 T/F: False, it’s the sailfish

🤔 Riddle: Rain