Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🌿 Marijuana reclassification
• 🏈 CFB gambling scandal
• 🍔 In-N-Out’s 100-patty burger

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.72-minute read (990 words).

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"You'll have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren't paying attention to."

–Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting (1997)

Late last week, the Justice Department and DEA issued an order to officially begin the process of reclassifying marijuana on a federal level, moving it into a new category alongside less dangerous drugs.

How we(ed) got here

Since 1970, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, meaning it’s considered to have no accepted medical use and a high risk of dependence. But that classification has been under review in recent years.

• In 2022, the federal government began weighing whether marijuana should instead fall under Schedule III, a category for drugs with moderate-to-low risk of dependence.
• FDA officials ultimately found marijuana doesn’t pose the same level of risk as other Schedule I drugs and does show some potential medical benefits.

The potential impact

Reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III won’t make the drug federally legal, or change existing sentences for past convictions. But it would open the door for major shifts in how the industry operates:

• Marijuana companies would be able to write off normal business expenses, saving hundreds of millions annually.
• The industry would gain broader access to banking services and institutional investment, which have largely been off-limits under the Schedule I classification.
• Researchers would face fewer barriers while studying marijuana’s effects, expanding on existing (but still incomplete) data around both potential risks and health benefits.

Zoom out: Nearly 9 in 10 Americans (88%) support legalizing marijuana in some form, including ~57% who back both medical and recreational use, per the latest Pew Research polling.

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Drones may soon be delivering more than just your latest impulse buy.

NASA and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees most of the US transplant system, have teamed up to test using unmanned flying drones for organ transport.

It’s been a bumpy ride to date: America’s organ transplant system has come under increased scrutiny in recent years due to a combination of safety concerns, inconsistent oversight, and breakdowns in coordination between hospitals.

• While organs are routinely flown between cities to help treat the ~103,000 Americans on the transplant waiting list, getting them from plane to patient isn’t always smooth.
• And ground transport can create added delays, especially in traffic-heavy or hard-to-reach areas where every minute counts.

Efforts to address these gaps have been underway for years, with reforms spanning both the Trump and Biden administrations.

That’s where NASA comes in

The space agency says its new collaboration with UNOS will explore faster, more reliable ways to transport donor organs using advanced aviation technologies, starting with unmanned drones.

• Their upcoming tests will examine whether drones can transport sensitive biological materials over obstacles and beyond visual range without ground spotters.
• They’ll also see if organs can remain viable through the temperature swings and reduced blood flow that comes during transit.

Both NASA and UNOS say drones could cut costs, shorten delivery times, and add flexibility to the process.

Looking ahead: If early trials prove successful, researchers will attempt to scale the system for real-world medical deliveries.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🤖 OpenAI and Microsoft reach new deal granting the AI startup more freedom and setting a cap on revenue it must share with Microsoft through 2030.
• ⚖️ Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft, and several others kicked off yesterday; suit centers around Musk’s allegations that he was misled to believe OpenAI would always remain a nonprofit when he became an early investor.
• ✈️ United officially abandons takeover bid for American, after rival airliner repeatedly declined to engage in talks.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby, the #1-ranked transfer portal player this offseason, is taking “indefinite” leave of absence as he enters a gambling addiction treatment program; move comes amid NCAA investigation into "thousands of online bets” placed by Sorsby, which reportedly includes wagers on Indiana while on the team in 2022.
• 💍 Harry Styles and Zoë Kravitz have become engaged, per multiple sources.
• 🎤🤖 Taylor Swift files trademark application for her voice and appearance, in apparent attempt to protect from AI impersonations; it follows a similar move from actor Matthew McConaughey, who became the first celebrity to do so in January.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏥 South Carolina’s measles outbreak concludes after 42 days with no new cases; the 997 people sickened since October represents America’s worst measles outbreak in 35+ years
• 🐈 Cats sometimes stop eating before finishing a meal—even after fasting—because they get bored, not because they’re full, new study finds.
• who mysteriously stop eating may not be full, but simply bored, a new study suggests
• 🧠 MIT scientists discover self-organizing “pencil beam” laser that could help design new brain-targeted therapies.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• ⚖️ 31-year-old man accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ dinner is charged with three criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate President Trump; he faces a potential life sentence if convicted.
• 👑 King Charles III arrives in Washington, D.C., for four-day trip marking his first visit to the US as monarch; Charles is set to address Congress later today, becoming the first British monarch to do so since 1991.
• 🗳️ Supreme Court strikes down lower-court ruling blocking Texas from using its new congressional map that favors Republicans. | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis releases proposed redraw of state congressional lines that would create four new GOP-leaning districts.

👆 You’re looking at some of the finalists from the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2026 awards, which received nearly 9,000 entries across 15 countries.

🤔 Did you know? In-N-Out used to accommodate burger orders of any size beyond its largest 4x4 option (four patties + four slices of cheese). That is, until one particularly famous incident in 2004 where a customer ordered a 100x100 burger, which prompted management to ban off-the-menu additions.

📰 Worth a read: Did a mystery trader tamper with the temperature to win big on Polymarket?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Everything you do in life is being monitored
• 8 signs that you’re the problem in an argument
• San Francisco goes nuts over Chonkers the giant sea lion

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Yesterday we covered the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a gunman opened fire in what authorities describe as an assassination attempt against President Trump and other top admin officials, with the incident coming amid a wider rise in political violence.

❓ Our question to you: Which of the following best describes your opinion of political violence in America today?

• It’s one of the top issues: 33%
• It’s a pretty big issue: 49%
• It’s a minor issue: 11%
• It’s not an issue: 7%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 599 votes and 64 longform responses.

❓ Trivia: M&M’S Fruit Chews would eventually become what popular candy?

🍨 True or false?… On average, Americans eat roughly 19 lbs of ice cream each year.

🤔 Riddle me this… What can you catch, but not throw?

✈️❤️ A 2-year-old dog's story recently went viral when the pooch was abandoned at a ticket booth in a Las Vegas airport. While adoption requests soon came flooding in from around the world, the pup—named JetBlue—eventually found a home with the very police officer who rescued him.

❓ Trivia: Starburst

🍨 T/F: True

🤔 Riddle: An illness or disease

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