Good morning. In this edition:

• 🥩 Beef has never been more expensive
• 🌎 Today = the third-shortest day in history
• 🤩 New official emojis released

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.82-minute read (1,016 words).

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“Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there.”

–Hilary "Zig" Ziglar (1926-2012)

Rejoice, small-talk haters: silence could become the preferred option in Uber rides if the ride-hailing giant has its way. Uber late last week announced plans to launch its own fleet of autonomous taxis through a new partnership with EV-maker Lucid and autonomous vehicle (AV) startup Nuro.

• The ride-hailing company is investing $300 million in Lucid, which will provide Uber with 20,000+ electric Gravity SUVs over the next six years to use as robotaxis.
• Nuro—backed by Google and SoftBank’s Vision Fund—will provide the self-driving software for the cars, which will be owned and operated by Uber or its third-party fleet partners.
• Uber, Lucid, and Nuro plan to bring their new robotaxis to at least one major US city by next year.

It’s part of Uber’s AV master plan. The ride-hailing giant has spent the past two years locking in partnerships with 18 global autonomous vehicle tech companies across the full spectrum of self-driving systems, including ride-hailing, delivery, and trucking. It’s inked its highest-profile deal in the US with self-driving industry leader Waymo, which allows Uber app users to order Waymo rides in Austin and Atlanta.

Robots, start your engines

More broadly, autonomous taxis are starting to become more common on US streets. The aforementioned Waymo is currently testing its driverless ride-share operations across 10 new cities, in addition to the five metro areas it currently operates in, while Tesla rolled out its first-ever robotaxi service last month in Austin, TX.

• Both companies’ vehicles are equipped with Level 4 self-driving systems, meaning they can drive passengers without a human behind the wheel under certain conditions, and within a specific geofenced area.

But…The road to mass adoption still has several obstacles left to clear. Current self-driving tech doesn’t perform well in colder weather conditions, struggles to handle more complex traffic scenarios, and faces a general lack of public trust when it comes to safety. Plus, as San Francisco residents will tell you, they can honk quite a lot.

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It’s prime grilling season, and beef prices are wafting up like smoke off a sleek Weber three-burner.

• For the first time in recorded US history, the average price of ground beef has crossed the $6/lb mark, representing a 12% increase from one year ago, according to new federal data from June.
• Steak prices have also jumped 8% year-over-year, per the latest Consumer Price Index.

Driving the moo-ve

Demand for beef in the US has remained consistently strong in recent years, with it ranking as the second-most consumed meat on average behind chicken.

However, America’s beef supply has taken a hit due to a combination of factors, including increased tariffs on beef imports and a multi-year drought that has shrunk cattle herds.

• Overall US cattle inventory is currently 8% smaller compared to 2019, falling to its lowest level since 1952.

Looking ahead…The twin pressures of fewer cattle and strong demand for beef are projected to remain for the foreseeable future, meaning Americans will likely keep paying more into 2026 and beyond, industry experts say. Or in other words: the steaks will remain high.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• ✈️ Southwest Airlines announces assigned seating will go into effect on Jan. 27. 2026, lays out new boarding order; the company’s previous trademark open-seating policy was put in place 50+ years ago.
• 🥤 Pepsi introduces prebiotic version of its namesake cola with 3g of fiber; move follows the drink giant’s May acquisition of prebiotic soda brand Poppi for ~$2 billion. | Subway names former Burger King executive Jonathan Fitzpatrick as CEO; marks the sandwich chain's first chief executive hire since being purchased by Roark Capital for ~$9.6 billion last year.
• 📊 Polymarket, a prediction market platform, set to become legal in the US after paying $112 million to acquire small derivatives exchange recently licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with PensionBee

• 🏟️ President Trump threatens to interfere with the Washington Commanders’ new ~$3.7 billion DC stadium deal unless the team changes its name back to the Redskins; Trump is also pushing the MLB's Cleveland Guardians to change their name back to the Indians.
• 📝 Netflix airs the first generative AI final footage on its platform, a shot of a building collapsing in an Argentine show called El Eternauta (The Eternaut). | Universal Music Group, which owns the record label behind Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, files for US IPO.
• 🙏 Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54, best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, dies in accidental drowning off the coast of Costa Rica.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 💻 Microsoft targeted by “active attacks” on its popular SharePoint collaboration software, tech giant says; hackers already used the vulnerability to breach US federal and state agencies, along with universities and energy companies, WaPo reports ($).
• 🌎 Today will be the third-shortest day in recorded history due to puzzling increase in Earth’s rotational speed; difference set to be just 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours.
• ✈️ NASA’s experimental “quiet” supersonic plane begins taxi tests using its own power for the first time; aircraft could travel from NY to London in ~3.5 hours.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Supa Power

• 🏛️ Environmental Protection Agency to reduce staff by ~23% and eliminate its R&D arm; changes expected to save ~$750 million.
• 📝 FBI releases 230,000+ pages of records related to MLK Jr.’s assassination; documents had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Harvard and Trump admin face off in a court hearing over the university’s lawsuit seeking to reverse a gov’t freeze of $2+ billion in grants and contracts. | Former Louisville police officer involved in 2020 death of Breonna Taylor sentenced to 33 months in prison.

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☝️ The Unicode Consortium—a group including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants—unveiled its latest batch of emojis, set for release on September 9; new emojis are typically added to iOS and Android a few weeks/months after release.

🤔 Did You Know? Women in the US are ~73% more likely to be seriously injured in a head-on car crash compared with men in the same crash. Most experts attribute this disparity to nearly all US cars being designed around crash-test dummies modeled after men.

📰 Worth a Read: The fiercest border fight: High kicks, mustache twirling, and very long flagpoles

🖱️ Clickbait: If you teach your kid ‘just one’ skill for a successful life, make it this

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Yesterday, we recapped the first six months of President Trump's second term.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job Trump has done as President thus far?

• Approve: 38%
• Disapprove: 54%
• Unsure/other: 8%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 2,566 votes and 356 longform responses.

❓ Trivia: Who was the Greek god of messengers?

🎓 True or false? A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope.

🤡 Riddle me this: Which word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?

🐱 Thanks to aggressive conservation efforts, the Iberian Lynx is no longer considered endangered. Some experts claim it's "the greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation." Read the whole story here. 

💸 Austro-German heiress Marlene Engelhorn made headlines when she announced she would be giving away nearly all of the ~$27 million inheritance she received from her late grandmother. After a few months of planning by a group of 50 people, the decision was been made to split the money between 77 humanitarian organizations, charities, and think tanks.

🍦 Did you know Ice Cream College exists? It's real, and located at Penn State University. The weeklong crash-course is all about the science behind the frozen treat, and is often full of employees from popular ice cream companies, including Hudsonville, Hershey, and Baskin-Robbins.

+Note: These stories previously appeared in a July 2024 edition of Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

❓ Trivia: Hermes

🎓 T/F: True

🤡 Riddle: Queue

+Clue for the Games newsletter: Click here, and the fourth answer in today’s Conjoiner sequence shall be revealed.