| | Good morning. In this edition: - 🎯 Student loan defaults are back in Washington’s crosshairs
- 🛫 America’s first successful hypersonic tests in decades
- 💰 High-school juniors + $70,000 job offers
Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.52-minute read (1,202 words). Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free. |
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💬 Daily Sprinkle | “Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so intensely.” –Percy Colson (1873-1952) |
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⏱💥 Speed Rounds: Quick, Impactful Stories |  | Student loan defaults are back in Washington’s crosshairs |  Image: Columbia Legal Services | The US government officially resumed collection efforts on defaulted student loans this week, after a five-plus-year hiatus prompted by the Covid pandemic. And while borrowers don’t immediately face consequences for being in default—or 270+ days late on payments—the penalties are right around the corner, according to newly published details from the Department of Education. Some ground rules: The US government has significant collection powers when it comes to federal debts, with the ability to seize defaulted borrowers’ wages, tax refunds, Social Security/disability benefits, and even state lottery winnings. Borrowers can also be sued by the DOJ in some cases and receive an order forcing them to hand over funds directly from bank accounts. - These penalties have been on hold since March 2020, when student loan repayments were first paused, meaning millions of recent college graduates have never been at risk before.
Time to pay the Uncle Sam-sized piperAll 5.3 million federal student loan borrowers who are currently in default (~13% of all loan-holders) will receive Treasury Department notices “later this summer” that their wages will be subject to garnishment. - The US government can garnish up to 15% of all disposable income for delinquent student loan borrowers, though they must be left with at least $750/month.
- The Education Department this week also began alerting the ~195,000 student loan borrowers who are in default and receive federal benefits to tell them their benefit checks will be subject to garnishment within the next 30 days.
Big picture: A record-high 20.5% of all federal student loan borrowers with a payment are 90 days or more past due (~10 million people), up from 11.5% in February 2020, per a new report from credit reporting agency TransUnion. Overall, federal loans account for 92% of all student loan debt. |
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The world’s largest plane is finally being put to use launching hypersonic crafts |  Image: Stratolaunch/Julian Guerra | California-based startup Stratolaunch successfully completed two hypersonic flights with its reusable autonomous aircraft, the company and US Defense Department announced this week, marking America’s first successful hypersonic flights since 1968, when the legendary rocket-powered X-15 aircraft—still the record-holder for fastest speed by a piloted aircraft—was retired. What does hypersonic mean? Hypersonic vehicles are highly maneuverable craft capable of flying at least 5x the speed of sound (~3,800 MPH, or fast enough to circumvent the entire Earth in ~6.5 hours). Their combination of speed and agility make them much more difficult to track and intercept than traditional ballistic missiles. One fast plane piggyback rideTalon-A, Stratolaunch’s autonomous hypersonic plane that measures a little smaller than a school bus, is kind of like The Beatles—it gets by with a little help from its friend. - Stratolaunch, founded in 2011 by now-deceased Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, initially built the world’s largest plane, Roc (wingspan: 385 feet), with the intention of using it to launch satellites into space.
- The company has since pivoted, and now uses Roc to launch Talon-A midair and as a test platform for other hypersonic activity.
Big picture: The tests are part of the Pentagon’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed program (MACH-TB), announced in 2022 in a bid to close the technological gap with China, which US officials acknowledge has become the world's leader in hypersonic missile development. |
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Mickey and Minnie are heading to the Middle East |  Images: Mohamed Al Balsoohi/Abu Dhabi Media Office, Disney | What happens when the world’s luckiest number meets the happiest place on Earth? We’re about to find out in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital city, where Disney announced yesterday that its seventh global theme park is currently under development. The high-tech resort is a collaboration with local leisure and entertainment company Miral, which is in charge of building and developing the park while Disney Imagineers control the creative design and operational oversight. Location, location, location: Roughly one-third of the world's population lives within a four-hour flight of the UAE, according to Disney. The company’s new park will also be located an hour’s drive from the Dubai Airport—the second busiest in the world—when it opens, which CEO Bob Iger said could occur within seven years. It comes as Disney’s overall business is booming. The entertainment giant yesterday posted quarterly earnings that beat analysts' expectations across the board, boosted by higher-than-expected Disney+ subscriber growth. The company’s entertainment streaming business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, reported a profit of $336 million for the quarter, compared with $47 million a year earlier. |
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👂 Stat of the Day: Hmmmm… |  | Residents of the Scottish Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides are slowly being driven mad by a persistent and mysterious low-frequency hum of unknown origin. The constant 50 Hz hum, comparable to a car or truck engine idling several yards away, has been reported by ~200 people on Lewis and confirmed with spectrograph recordings taken across the entire island, local resident Lauren-Grace Kirtley told BBC. - Kirtley said in a recent Facebook post that the hum is less noticeable on the island’s center and strongest on its east coast, indicating the source is likely offshore.
A familiar tune: The reports from Lewis join a host of other mysterious hums heard by groups of people around the world for decades. Hum-hearer Glen MacPherson, a former University of British Columbia lecturer, founded the World Hum Map and Database Project to document and map the phenomenon. |
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🍩 DONUT Holes |  | BUSINESS & MARKETS- 📊 US markets rose across the board as the Fed opted to keep interest rates steady (S&P: +0.4%; Dow: +0.7%; Nasdaq: +0.3%). | Alphabet and Apple shares sank after Eddy Cue, Apple’s services chief, said he believes that AI search engines will eventually replace standard search engines like Google.
- 💰 Israeli spyware giant NSO Group was ordered to pay ~ $170 million to Meta’s WhatsApp for hacking accounts.
- 📝 Used car retailer Carvana reported record Q1 sales. | The NY Times added 250,000 digital subscribers last quarter; now boast 11+ million digital-only subscriptions.
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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTin partnership with Dunhill Travel Deals - 📺 Netflix is overhauling its TV home screen for the first time in 12 years. | CBS ordered another Yellowstone spinoff, titled Y: Marshals, which is centered around Luke Grimes’ character.
- 🦣 Meet the Utah Mammoth: The state’s NHL franchise has officially rebranded away from “Utah Hockey Club” following a 13-month name selection process.
- ⚽ The UEFA Champions League final is set; Inter Milan will face Paris Saint-Germain on May 31 to determine the winner of Europe’s top club competition.
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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH- ⚛️ Google signed a deal with nuclear energy developer Elementl Power to build three sites for advanced reactors.
- 🦖 The T. rex may have first evolved in North America, rather than Asia as previously assumed, according to new research.
- 🩹 Chinese researchers developed a smart “band-aid” for human organs aimed at improving drug delivery systems.
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US, WORLD & POLITICSin partnership with Arro - 🎓 Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied part of Columbia University’s main library yesterday; after several hours, ~60 protesters were led out of the building by authorities, per NBC News.
- ✝️ The Vatican’s conclave to elect a new pope ended Day 1 with black smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel, meaning the cardinals’ first ballot was unsuccessful.
- 🌎 The US is reportedly stepping up its intelligence-gathering efforts on Greenland, which President Trump has repeatedly said he wants to acquire for the US. | The Trump admin plans to overhaul federal regulations that would have limited how many US-made AI chips certain foreign countries could buy starting May 15. (Dive deeper: The tussle over US chip export controls)
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🧠 Tidbits |  |  Images: Angelika Krikava | Karsten Mosebach | Dr. Beate Oswald | Jens Cullmann | |
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📊 Poll Results |  | Yesterday we covered how OpenAI reportedly agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for ~$3 billion, in a move that comes as OpenAI changed its financial mission to remain under control of its founding nonprofit board—instead of a for-profit entity. ❓ Our question to you: In general, what’s your opinion of OpenAI? - Positive: 28%
- Neutral: 37%
- Negative: 35%
Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses. +Note on sample size: We received 1,839 votes and 218 longform responses. |
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive |  | 🏠 California nonprofit A Sense of Home "prevents homelessness before it starts," helping furnish empty spaces and creating livable homes for young people who are aging out of foster care. 💗 UK based pharmacy and beauty store Boots will introduce dedicated 'menopause zones' to 150 stores this summer. The move will see signage added to guide shoppers through a range of products designed to treat or alleviate menopause symptoms. 🐱 Oscar, a seven-year-old rescue cat from Dallas, just scored the Guinness World Record for longest jump by a cat, leaping an incredible 8 feet and 5 inches. |
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🤔 Trivia |  | GeoGuessr, DONUT style |  What's the only city in the world located in two separate continents? k e e p s c r o l l i n g |
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🤔 Answer |  | Istanbul, which straddles Europe and Asia |
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