Good morning. In this edition:

• 🗳️ Election Day cheat sheet
• 🤖 Robot servants
• 🧠 What your brain sees when dying

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.59-minute read (955 words).

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“The best way to understanding is a few good examples.”

–Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

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Later today, millions of Americans will vote in elections to determine new governors, lawmakers, state Supreme Court justices, and key ballot measures across the country.

A rundown of the top races

New Jersey: While Democrats have long dominated legislative elections in the state, Republicans are very competitive in races for governor, winning five of the past ten. In today’s gubernatorial election, the latest polling indicates a dead heat between Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli.

Virginia: Voters will choose the state’s first-ever female governor to replace Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who’s barred by law from seeking a consecutive second term.

• Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) currently holds a slight polling lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) heading into the gubernatorial contest.

New York City: The Big Apple is set to elect a replacement for Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the mayoral race last month.

• State lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic socialist, is the clear polling and fundraising frontrunner over former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

California: Voters will decide on a ballot measure promoted by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that would set aside the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission for the rest of the decade, and allow the Democrat-dominated legislature to draw congressional maps for the next three election cycles.

• Newsom and other Democrats say the measure is aimed at countering similar redistricting efforts in GOP-led states like Texas.

Pennsylvania: Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court. But three Democrat-leaning justices are up for re-election today in a bid to keep their seats for a new ten-year term.

• The election could heavily influence which party has an advantage in the battleground state's congressional delegation and legislature.
• It also impacts crucial cases for voting rights, reproductive rights, and more.

Looking ahead…Today’s election results, which become available starting tonight, will be highly scrutinized by both parties to see who has the upper hand heading into next year’s midterms.

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California-based startup 1X Technologies has opened preorders for Neo, a 5’6” humanoid robot it’s calling “the world’s first consumer-ready home robot.” Or in other words: Rosie from The Jetsons is now available to anyone willing to shell out $20,000 (plus a $499/month subscription).

What Neo can do

The robot is able to lift up to 150 pounds and handle a range of household chores, including folding laundry, organizing shelves, and fetching items.

• The robot runs on 1X’s Redwood AI, which recognizes objects, responds to voice commands, and can even hold light conversation.
• Neo moves around the house with a tendon-based system, and can dock itself for a recharge when its four-hour battery runs low. (No word yet on Neo’s bullet-dodging capabilities.)

Privacy check: Despite its “consumer-ready” label, Neo isn’t quite fully independent. When it hits a task it doesn’t know, a human employee at 1X is tapped to take control of the robot remotely—but only if approved by the user.

Big picture: Neo is one of several humanoid robots that aim to soon reach the consumer market, a list that also includes Tesla’s Optimus and the Figure 03 robot from Figure AI. However, analysts say these current robot models still struggle with the unpredictability and chaos of human homes full of stairs, pets, and kids.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🤖 OpenAI signs $38 billion deal to buy cloud capacity from Amazon Web Services; until this year, the AI giant had an exclusive cloud contract with Microsoft.
• 💊 Kimberly-Clark agrees to buy Tylenol-maker Kenvue in cash-and-stock deal worth $48.7 billion including debt.
• 📈 How the US economy has defied doomsday predictions on tariffs.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 Jon Stewart signs one-year extension to remain host of The Daily Show through December 2026.
• 🏈 First College Football Playoff rankings of 2025 set to be released tonight on ESPN.
• 🎶 Finneas was tapped to create a new “mnemonic” intro for Apple TV, similar to HBO’s static-filled intro; check it out here.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🧠 Alzheimer’s disease can be slowed by taking as little as 5,000 steps/day, new research reveals.
• ⛰️ Scientists are triggering earthquakes on purpose from a tunnel deep beneath the Alps to help determine the danger of a major earthquake before it strikes.
• 🦧 Chimps use the "scientific method" to change their minds if they come across convincing new evidence, research shows.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🏛️ Group of centrist House lawmakers unveil bipartisan proposal to end the ongoing gov’t shutdown, which officially becomes the longest in US history tonight.
• 🍽️ US government says it will use emergency funds to pay ~50% of SNAP benefits in November, in compliance with a judge’s order to provide full or partial payments.
• 🪖 President Trump reportedly directs staff to brief more members of Congress on his admin’s military strikes in South American waters; the move comes amid recent lawmaker complaints.

☝️ New research videos reveal just the second recorded instance of orca whales preying on juvenile great white sharks. The footage shows a group of five female orcas working together to push young great white sharks to the surface and turn them over, which induces a state of immobility in the sharks and allows the orcas to feast on their nutrient-rich livers.

🤔 Did you know? The first-ever recording of a dying human brain discovered brain waves similar to memory flashbacks. The findings, published in 2022, suggest that reliving significant parts of your life as you die may be pre-programmed into the human brain.

📰 Worth a read: How to tolerate annoying things

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• The #1 sign that you're watching an AI video
• World's oldest Quarter Pounder turns 30 years old
• Who do predictions markets favor on Election Day?

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Yesterday we covered new polling data that shows the number of Americans who say they’re disillusioned with capitalism has grown to reach new all-time highs, while views on socialism are on the upswing across the country, mostly among younger Americans and Democrats.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how would you best describe your opinion of capitalism?

• Positive: 48%
• Neutral: 19%
• Negative: 33%

➕ Follow-up question: In general, how would you best describe your opinion of socialism?

• Positive: 36%
• Neutral: 18%
• Negative: 46%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 1,001 votes and 199 longform responses.

📐 The “art gallery problem”: Could a 50-year-old math problem have prevented the Louvre robbery?

📚 Find your next read: Literature Map takes your favorite author(s) and provides dozens of similar recommendations, ranked by how likely you are to enjoy them.

🪟 Explore the globe: Take a peek out of other people's windows around the world.

🧪 Science, b*tch!... Assist scientists with real-life research projects—no prior experience needed. Explore dozens of projects.

🎙️ Listen: How to weigh the pros and cons of doing what you love for a living.

❓Trivia: What part of the human body cannot heal itself once damaged?

🎓 True or false?…The Moon has a permanent “dark side” that never sees sunlight.

🤔 Riddle me this…I have roots nobody sees, I am taller than trees. Up, up I go, yet I never grow. What am I?

🐾 A pint-sized pup who disappeared from her Mississippi home five years ago just reunited with her family, after turning up 520 miles away in a Florida city.

❓Trivia: Tooth enamel, which lacks living cells for repair

🎓 T/F: False; the dark side of the Moon receives sunlight just like the near side—the name comes from it being unseen from Earth

🤔 Riddle: A mountain

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