Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🎶 Harnessing the healing power of music
• 🖱️ Apple’s #linkinbio
• 🏠 US homes have a record amount of space for activities

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.85-minute read (1,291 words).

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"The meaning of life is that it stops."

–Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

In yesterday’s newsletter, we incorrectly stated that Conor McGregor plans to fight Jake Paul in an upcoming boxing match in India, when McGregor is actually fighting Jake's brother, Logan Paul.

Note: This is the 52nd correction out of the 722 newsletters we've published since January 2022 (for context, each newsletter contains 20+ news events).

You know when your favorite song comes on, and you instantly feel a little better? LUCID, a Toronto-based startup, is working towards harnessing and recreating that phenomenon for whenever you may need a mental boost.

How it works: LUCID is aiming to take a page from the 60+% of people who use music to target stress and anxiety in their daily lives. That’s compared to 10% who turn to meditation, and 7% who use therapy.

• The company uses psychometric and biometric tools like brain-wave trackers and facial recognition to measure users' moods in response to certain music.
• Then, machine learning algorithms use that information to “prescribe” treatments – aka personalized music playlists optimized to boost mood levels and reduce anxiety. (Think: prescribing more cowbell to cure Christopher Walken’s fever.)

…but does it work?? A 2022 LUCID study found a single 24-minute listening session produced more significant reductions in somatic and cognitive anxiety as compared to pink noise or auditory beat stimulation.

LUCID’s music technology has also indicated a greater ability to reduce stress and boost positive mood vs. the most popular Spotify-curated relaxation playlist.

• Other outside studies have found listening to music can help calm people’s nervous system and lower cortisol levels, which helps reduce stress and anxiety.
• Some evidence even suggests music is more effective at limiting anxiety than certain anti-anxiety drugs.

Not just anxiety: LUCID is also studying how to use its technology to harness the unique effects music has on the brains of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

💥 The potential impact: Around 1-in-5 American adults (~50 million) are affected by an anxiety disorder, while 6+ million are currently living with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

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The link-in-bio phenomenon is expanding from social media. Gaming emulator Delta recently became the first major app to receive approval from Apple to put an external payment link in its App Store profile.

Clicking it is heavily encouraged. The link redirects to Patreon, where users are prompted to sign up for a $3/month membership – a price ~3x less than its $10/month cost through Apple’s App Store.

The app’s developer, Riley Testut, who’s dubbed this pricing approach the “do not buy” sale, told The Verge its motivation stemmed from Patreon’s ability to do things that Apple’s system can’t, such as issue refunds and handle customer support.

Apple did need to give it a blue check

The link was approved via the tech giant’s External Purchase Link Entitlement program, which allows developers to link to outside payment platforms in exchange for giving Apple a slightly reduced 27% cut of sales. The program debuted in January following rulings in the Epic vs Apple lawsuit that found Apple had acted anticompetitively by preventing developers from telling users about alternative payment methods.

🖐️ But…Streamers, such as Netflix and Disney+, which require users to sign up and pay in browsers, are among the apps still populating Apple’s Outlaw Country. Their apps don’t process any transactions and are only accessible by those who already have a membership.

…and it has nothing to do with food. On Tuesday, startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced plans to build the world’s first grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant outside of Richmond by the early 2030s.

• Commonwealth, one of the world’s largest and most-hyped nuclear fusion companies, says it will make a multibillion-dollar investment in a facility that will eventually supply 400 megawatts of power, or enough for ~150,000 homes.

Driving the move: Nuclear fusion, aka the smashing of two atoms together to produce one, is widely considered the holy grail of energy production. The method promises essentially limitless amounts of clean energy – but without the Chernobyl downside of fission.

• On a pound-for-pound basis, fusion generates nearly 4 million times more energy than coal, oil, or gas. It’s also how the sun generates 100% of its power.

✋ But…Commonwealth is like a hiker prepping for a climb – facing an uphill battle. The startup still has several major boxes to check before its new fusion plant can be plugged into Virginia’s power grid, including developing a fusion reactor that results in net-positive energy production, which has never been achieved on a commercial scale.

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• ☝️ Researchers developed a lickable, lollipop-like device aimed at enabling a more realistic VR experience where users can "taste" in virtual environments.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 🏦 The Federal Reserve opted to cut interest rates by 0.25%; it also indicated a slower pace of rate cuts ahead.
• 📉 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -2.9%; Dow: -2.6%; Nasdaq: -3.6%); the Dow’s ten-day losing streak is its longest since 1974.
• 💊 The DOJ filed a lawsuit against CVS Health, alleging the world’s largest pharmacy chain contributed to the opioid crisis by knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for more than a decade.

*From our partners: 😴🙌 Get extra cozy this season with 20% off bedding & accessories… Tuft & Needle delivers innovative solutions to help you wake up, awake. Bedding made from breathable fabrics, and Snooz White Noise Machine drowns out ambient sounds providing better sleep. Shop Tuft & Needle’s Holiday Sale.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀🏆 The Milwaukee Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• ⚖️ Megan Thee Stallion filed for a restraining order against Tory Lanez, whom she accused of harassing her from prison by proxy as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.
• 🏈 Michael Vick agreed to become the next football head coach at Norfolk State. | 🎓 The Ivy League will begin competing in the FCS football playoffs in 2025, instead of ending each year after the regular season.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Pique Life

• 🦠 The popular 2020 paper suggesting malaria drug hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID-19 was retracted more than four years after publishing; it’s the second most-cited paper ever to be withdrawn. | 🐿️ California ground squirrels commonly hunt, kill, and eat voles, marking predatory behavior never before seen in the species, per new research.
• 🧑‍🚀🛰️ The two NASA astronauts who’ve been stranded in space since June due to issues with Boeing’s Starliner have had their return delayed once again, from February to late March.
• 🤖📲 OpenAI is giving users a new way to talk to its flagship chatbot: 1-800-CHATGPT, available via phone call or WhatsApp.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🧑‍⚖️📲 The Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok's challenge to a federal law that could ban the app from the US; oral arguments are set for January 10 – nine days before the ban is set to take effect.
• ⚖️🗽 Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will waive extradition to New York later today, per his attorney; his charges in New York were upgraded this week to include first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.
• 🏛️ The House Ethics Committee voted to release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) by the end of this year, after initially blocking its release. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🧔 It Pays to Have Long Hair and a Beard in Utah – Jesus Models Are in Demand.

🏠 Stat of the Day: Sorry in advance to those stuck in studio apartments. The number of extra bedrooms, defined as a bedroom in excess of the number of people in the home, has reached the highest level since 1970, when the US Census first began recording this metric, according to a new Realtor.com report.

There were 31.9 million guest rooms/home offices/in-home storage units extra bedrooms in the US last year, up from 31.3 million in 2022. It’s also a more than 4x increase from 1980, when there were 7 million extra bedrooms. And as you’d expect – there isn’t much extra space in densely populated areas like NYC (unless you’re a rat🐀). Extra bedrooms are more common in the Mountain West and South.

Analysts attribute the rise in extra bedrooms to households getting smaller while homes get bigger (though home size hasn’t increased in over a decade). There were a record-high 3.1 persons/household in 1970, vs. a record-low 2.5/household in 2023.

🤔 Did You Know? YouTube started off as a dating site where single people would upload videos of themselves describing what they were looking for in a partner – but after nobody uploaded a single video in the first several days, the creators opened YouTube up for anyone to post any video content.

📰 Worth a Read: The battle over copyright in the age of ChatGPT → (Boston Review)

Yesterday we covered how the decades-long regime in Syria led by President Bashar al-Assad was toppled last week, ushering in a period of transition – and major uncertainty – following ~14 years of civil war.

❓ Our question to you: In general terms, how involved do you think the US government should be when it comes to the current Syria situation?

• Heavily involved: 18%
• Somewhat involved: 35%
• Loosely or not-at-all involved: 47%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,249 votes and 231 longform responses.

Nigel Richards recently won the Spanish World Scrabble Championship – despite not speaking a word of Spanish.

Deemed the "Tiger Woods of Scrabble," Nigel has over 200 tournament victories under his belt, including the French World Championship (a language he also doesn't speak).

🧠 Human or AI? His friend and long-time supporter, Liz Fagerlund, shared that Nigel spent nine weeks memorizing the French dictionary in preparation for the tournament a few years ago, and he likely did it again to claim the Spanish title. 

• The champ bested 145+ opponents from around the world by winning 22 consecutive matches, per the Federación Internacional de Léxico en Español. 

What's the longest river in Europe?

Working your way towards those AirPods? The $100 gift card? Good news – prizes stack, so when you’re emailed to claim your prizes, you don’t have to wait! Hit reply for more info or with any questions🍩✌️.

The Volga River in Russia

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