Good morning. In this edition:

• 👓 “Autofocus” glasses
• 🏘️ Trump’s new home-buying ban
• 🤔 Can animals read?

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.53-minute read (940 words).

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"Even though you are on the right track – you will get run over if you just sit there."

–Will Rogers (1875-1939)

Finally, a pair of glasses that doesn’t make you choose between reading the menu and seeing your significant other.

Finnish startup IXI is gearing up to launch a new wave of smart glasses that can “autofocus” at different distances based on the wearer’s prescription needs, eliminating the need for bifocals or multiple pairs of glasses.

How it works: IXI’s new glasses use eye-tracking and liquid crystal lenses to instantly adjust between prescriptions: near, far, and everything in between, all based on where you're looking. Key features include:

• Eye-tracking sensors in the frames that detect exactly where the user is looking.
• Liquid crystals inside the lenses shift that focus in ~0.2 seconds, almost as fast as the blink of an eye.
• A near-vision zone that appears in the lens when needed—then fades when it’s not.

The next-gen tech is packed into frames that weigh just 0.78 ounces, roughly the same as regular glasses.

The tech isn’t 20-20 just yet

Like most early innovations, IXI’s glasses still have a few personality quirks. Mild distortion can show up at the edges or transition points, and the glasses need to auto-switch to distance mode if anything glitches. They also aren’t yet approved for driving, with limited data on how they perform in low light or bad weather, and need to charge overnight.

Looking (heh) ahead…IXI plans to launch the glasses within the next year in Europe and later in the US, with CEO Niko Eiden saying they’ll be priced “in the really high end of existing eyewear."

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The domestic box office experienced a successful winter holiday season, with Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Housemaid, Marty Supreme, Anaconda, and Zootopia 2 all bringing movie fans to the theaters.

But the biggest single-day gross posted by any release over the past two weeks wasn’t a movie.

• The series finale of Netflix TV show Stranger Things, which ran in North American theaters for 24 hours simultaneously with its streaming debut on New Year’s Eve, earned an estimated $25 million–$30 million at the box office, according to Deadline.

It was a lucrative event for theaters. Contractual issues dictated that the tickets for this event were technically free, though most cinemas offered $20 concession vouchers to reserve seats. This means that rather than splitting the pot with the distributor, as is usually the case, that money went entirely to theaters themselves.

Zoom out: The Stranger Things release marks the latest example of theaters and distributors leaning into non-traditional releases in an attempt to boost their struggling bottom lines.

In just the past year: hot Broadway shows like Hamilton appeared in movie theaters across the US, Netflix arranged a series of theatrical engagements for its hit animated musical KPop Demon Hunters, and Taylor Swift’s release party for her album The Life of a Showgirl made $50 million globally in theaters.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 US private employers added 48,000 new positions last month, per ADP’s private-sector jobs report for December.
• 🎥 Warner Bros. Discovery recommended its shareholders reject Paramount’s amended hostile bid to buy the company in favor of an existing $72 billion deal with Netflix.
• 🏘️ President Trump said he’s taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, with more details to come later this month.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈👀 NFL finished the 2025 regular season averaging 18.7 million viewers/game, up 10% from last year and the second-highest total in history (behind 1989).
• 📰 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced plans to publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3; the newspaper’s origins date back to 1786.
• 🏈🎓 University of Washington QB Demond Williams Jr. enters transfer portal despite signing a contract with UW last week; Washington reportedly has “no intention” of releasing Williams from his deal, which the school claims is binding.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🪐 New study casts doubt on the potential for Jupiter’s moon Europa to have an active environment beneath its frozen surface that can sustain life; Europa has long been regarded as one of the most promising spots for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.
• 🎗️ MIT and Microsoft researchers develop AI-designed sensors with the potential to detect cancer in early stages based solely on an at-home urine test.
• 🏹☠️ Scientists detect traces of plant toxins on Stone Age arrowheads used by hunter-gatherers in South Africa ~60,000 years ago; it represents the oldest known poison weapon by a margin of ~25,000 years.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🚨 An ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman and US citizen who was in a vehicle that drove close to federal agents in Minneapolis this morning, according to the Department of Homeland Security; federal officials called it a "vehicle ramming" incident, while Minneapolis’ mayor said video evidence shows “that is bullsh*t."
• 🌎 US military escalated its campaign against a shadow fleet of sanctioned tankers that ship Venezuelan oil yesterday; American forces forcibly boarded a ship being escorted by the Russian navy, and seized another tanker near the Caribbean Sea.
• 🏛️ Trump admin freezes $10B in federal funds for social services programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York over fraud allegations.

☝️ A pair of rare sloth bear cubs celebrated their one-month birthday at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute yesterday. The duo mark the zoo’s first births of the vulnerable species since 2013.

🤔 Did you know? Ketchup was briefly sold as medicine about 200 years ago. In the early 1800s, doctors prescribed ketchup pills to treat conditions like indigestion and diarrhea, believing tomatoes had powerful healing properties.

📰 Worth a read: The rise and fall of the US Army camel corps

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Can animals read?
• The world’s most stressful airports
• The wellness trends worth taking into the new year

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Yesterday we covered recent widespread speculation about the potential for the US to exert more control over the Western Hemisphere in a manner similar to its current situation with Venezuela, under a new Trump admin foreign policy dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.”

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support or oppose the Trump admin’s new “Donroe Doctrine” regarding US influence in the Western Hemisphere?

• Support: 19%
• Oppose: 74%
• Unsure/other: 7%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 862 votes and 108 longform responses.

What’s the capital of Mongolia?

👕 Kenyan fashion label Hisi Studio is turning fashion into feel-good inclusivity, sewing beaded Braille phrases into clothes so blind and visually impaired shoppers can read messages like “The less you see with your eyes, the more you see the heart.”

• Each piece also includes QR codes that speak garment details aloud, making everyday style easier and more empowering for all.

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Advertise with us: Want to reach other smart and inquisitive readers like you? Become a DONUT partner here.