Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🏥 Weight-loss drugs could soon be used to treat other major diseases
• 📉 Humane’s AI Pins just aren’t selling
• 🚀 Terraforming Mars

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.77-minute read (1,269 words).

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"Do one thing every day that scares you."

–Mary Schmich (b. 1953)

Craving a little down-south style? We’ve partnered with Chalo to give away a pair of their everyday cowboy boots – perfect for little moments, big occasions, and everything in between.

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By now, it’s been clearly established that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are highly effective at both helping people lose weight and treating Type 2 diabetes.

But there’s also mounting scientific evidence that GLP-1s can provide benefits for a wide range of other serious medical conditions.

• Heart disease: Earlier this year, the FDA approved Wegovy for treating heart disease in patients who also have obesity. Additionally, Eli Lilly last week published results from a Phase 3 trial in which Mounjaro greatly reduced the risk of heart failure in obese patients.
• Addiction: An NIH-backed study published last year found use of semaglutide (the generic name for Ozempic) was linked to lower binge-like alcohol drinking in mice. Separate research published last month also found evidence semaglutide can potentially help people quit smoking.
• Neurodegenerative diseases: Novo Nordisk is currently conducting a Phase 3 trial to see whether semaglutide has a positive effect on early Alzheimer’s disease. A separate Phase 2 trial published last year found Sanofi’s GLP-1 drug lixisenatide was linked to slower progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Zoom out: In recent years, GLP-1 drug usage has exploded in the US. An estimated 1 in 8 American adults have tried a GLP-1 drug to date, with US demand for prescriptions rising 300% between 2020-2023.

But… The sharp spike in demand has also spawned a growing black market of illegal knock-offs, which are ineffective and/or dangerous for patients.

• Around 42% of online pharmacies selling semaglutide in the US are operating without a valid license and selling medications without prescriptions, making them illegal, according to a study published last week in JAMA Network Open.

📊 Flash poll: Have you personally ever tried a GLP-1 drug? (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, etc.)

• Yes
• No

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🇷🇺 A Russian chess player is under investigation for allegedly poisoning her opponent. Last week at a women’s chess tournament in southern Russia, pro player Amina Abakarova was caught on camera spraying her opponent’s chessboard with a substance allegedly containing mercury, resulting in her rival getting sick. Abakarova has been temporarily suspended from competing, and faces a possible lifetime ban along with up to three years in prison.

🇯🇵 Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. A 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred off Japan’s southern coast yesterday, triggering a tsunami advisory expected to remain in place for a week. No major damage or deaths were initially reported. Yesterday’s earthquake was located at the edge of a major fault line, prompting Japan’s government to issue its first-ever alert – the lowest level of warning – about an increased risk of a "major earthquake" striking in the near future (which experts say could potentially result in up to 224,000 deaths).

🇲🇽🇺🇸 Mexico’s lawsuit against American gun manufacturers was largely thrown out by a US judge. In 2021, Mexico’s government filed a lawsuit against eight US gun manufacturers over allegations the companies are fuelling widespread weapons trafficking from America into Mexico. On Tuesday evening, a US federal judge threw out claims against six of the eight gun-makers, in a ruling that said the companies’ alleged connection to gun violence in Mexico is “gossamer-thin at best."

Humane, an AI-device startup founded by two former Apple employees, is like an Alaskan hiker lost in the woods in the middle of the winter – not doing too hot.

The startup, which has raised $240 million to date, released its first product, the infamous AI Pin, in April. And things went south quickly. Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased, according to internal sales data newly obtained by The Verge.

• The AI Pin, meant to be worn on a user’s lapel, costs $699 and requires a $24/month subscription for cloud storage, cellular data, and a “phone” number.
• It promises numerous features, including an AI voice assistant, camera, and laser projector – but if user reviews are any indication, Humane whiffed bigger than Bartolo Colon.

The reviews were…bad. Popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee called the Pin "the worst product I've ever reviewed." The Verge described it as "totally broken." The NY Times said it has "glaring flaws," including "off-putting responses" to questions.

By the numbers: Humane was reportedly projecting to sell 100,000 AI Pins in the year following its release. To date, ~10,000 Pins have been shipped – and 3,000 of these have already been returned, per The Verge.

👀 Looking ahead… All things considered, many investors believe the humane thing is to put Humane down. The startup has reportedly reached out to HP about a possible acquisition and hired an investment bank to help it manage acquisition discussions.

Besides fun originals, Game Show Network has all your all-time favorites like…

• 💰 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (weekdays at noon ET)
• 🥳 Wheel of Fortune (weekdays at 3pm ET and 3:30pm ET)
• 🍀 Press Your Luck (weeknights at 9pm ET)
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Feud (weeknights at 10pm ET)

Check out the full schedule at Game Show Network.

“The gap between where Mars is and where Mars could be for habitability is narrower than we might think.”

• One of the classic tropes in science fiction is terraforming Mars – aka modifying the planet’s surface temperature (median: -85°F; range = -225°F to 70°F), atmosphere, and other key features to make it more habitable for life forms. But the idea also has a strong basis in reality, according to a study published yesterday in Science Advances. In the study, a team of US researchers proposed a novel idea for terraforming Mars that involves injecting tiny particles of iron and aluminum into the planet’s atmosphere, which the scientists say could warm Mars by at least 52°F in as little as a few months (enough to sustain liquid water on its surface). But terraforming Mars isn’t a one-and-done deal – the researchers plan would require the addition of ~2 million tons of particles each year, an amount they say can easily be obtained from the large quantities of iron and aluminum found in Martian dust.

• ☝️ You’re looking at a "cotton candy" lobster that was discovered last month by a fisherman off the coast of New Hampshire and later transferred to a local science center; its coloring, which is distinct from a less-rare blue lobster, stems from a genetic rarity that impacts 1 in ~100 million individuals.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Scott Kemper Imagery

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +2.3%; Dow: +1.8%; Nasdaq: +2.9%). | 💼 ​New US jobless claims fell by 17,000 last week to reach 233,000; it’s the biggest weekly drop in ~11 months. | 🏘️ Mortgage refinance applications rose 16% last week, as mortgage interest rates fell to their lowest level since May 2023.
• 📱 A prominent advertising coalition dissolved yesterday following a lawsuit this week from X, which accused the group of violating antitrust laws by organizing an ad boycott.
• 🛒 Amazon announced deals with TikTok and Pinterest that allows users to buy Amazon products without leaving the social media apps. | 📺 Paramount reported its first-ever quarterly profit from its streaming business; it also announced a $6 billion write-down in the value of its cable-TV networks (including Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon).

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🥇 The Olympics: The US men’s basketball team rallied to beat Serbia 95-91, advancing to the gold medal match against France on Saturday. | American Noah Lyles said he tested positive for Covid before running in the men’s 200-meter final, where he won bronze. | American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the women’s 400-meter hurdles world record en route to a gold medal. | The US and China remain neck-and-neck in the gold medal race, with America still comfortably leading in total medals; see the overall medal count.
• 🚨 Rapper Nelly was arrested at a casino near St. Louis early Wednesday on charges of drug possession and failure to obtain car insurance.
• 🍿 Borderlands, a movie starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart that’s based on the popular video game franchise, debuted with a 6% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (47 reviews); the film hits theaters today.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Paleovalley

• 🤖 AI startup Anthropic is testing a new program to pay well-intentioned hackers who find flaws in its model output review systems, per an Axios report.
• ☄️ The ongoing Perseid meteor shower is projected to peak late Sunday into early Monday.
• 🌳🔥 Certain species of trees shut down their “breathing” systems when exposed to heavy smoke from forest fires, according to a new study.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌀 Tropical Storm Debby, which has already dumped over a foot of rain on parts of the Southeast, made a second US landfall yesterday in South Carolina; there have been seven deaths related to the storm as of this writing.
• 🏬 Costco will soon require shoppers to scan their membership cards upon entry, in an effort to crack down on card-sharing.
• 🗣️ Former President Trump said he has reached agreements with ABC, NBC, and Fox News to participate in three separate September debates against VP Kamala Harris; in response, Harris reiterated her previous commitment to the September 10 debate on ABC, but didn’t mention the two other dates. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🐴 Coming to America: Competitive Hobbyhorse Riding.

🇺🇸 Stat of the Day: Covid was the 10th leading cause of death in the US last year – down from fourth in 2022 – following a 69% annual reduction in mortalities, according to CDC data published yesterday. Overall, there were 3.1 million US deaths in 2023, a 6% decline compared to the previous year, with heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injuries ranking as the top-three leading causes.

🤔 Did You Know? It’s virtually impossible for a human to sink entirely in quicksand due to the higher density of the fluid. Studies have shown people only sink up to their chests before beginning to float.

📰 Worth a Read: The 'absurd' real-life sting operation that inspired a movie → (BBC Culture)

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

• 'Bluey' coins worth $400,000 stolen by Australian warehouse worker, police say → (Reuters)
• Girl denied passport over ‘Game of Thrones’-inspired name → (Toronto Sun)
• French Pole Vaulter’s Bulge Costs Him an Olympic Medal → (Variety)
• Thieving seagull snatches man's wallet in grocery store parking lot → (UPI)
• Video shows dog chewing on a lithium-ion battery and sparking house fire in Oklahoma → (Associated Press)

Max is a well-loved and frequent visitor to Vermont State University’s Castleton campus.

The cat lives with his human family on a street close to campus. Four years ago, he started inching closer and closer to the school, befriending many animal-loving college kids on his way.

🐾 Today, the kitty is somewhat of a local legend, strutting down the university streets and interacting with students and professors, and even tagging along on campus tours for potential students.

• “Max the Cat has been an affectionate member of the Castleton family for years,” the school said in a Facebook post. They recently awarded the kitty an honorary doctorate – in litter-ature, of course.

In just two minutes or less, find out how your news superpowers stack up against the team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Semisweet chocolate chips
• Unsweetened baker’s chocolate
• Whole milk
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Salt
• Whipped cream
• Chocolate shavings

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Eggplant
• Salt
• Garlic
• Yellow onion
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• Marinara sauce
• Butter
• Basil leaves

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Onion
• Butter
• Fresh spinach
• Potatoes
• Chicken broth
• Water
• Chicken bouillon cubes
• Half and half
• Salt & pepper
• Sour cream
• Chives
• Allspice

☝️ Recipe #1: Chocolate mousse

✌️ Recipe #2: Eggplant parmesan dip

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Cream of spinach soup