Stellar Recap | Aug 6-12
AUG. 13, 2023
👋 Hello there,
Welcome to another edition of the Stellar Recap, a weekly newsletter where I share interesting content you may have missed over the week. This issue features 68 bullets.
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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
The CPI rose slightly MoM in Jul. to 3.2%. Overall, consumer prices are 17% higher than they were at the start of 2020. The average price of meat is up 22%, gasoline is up 24%, electricity is up 24%, and used cars are up 44%. Airline fares are 1% cheaper.
A new study found that companies that allow at least 1 day of remote work each week increased staffing at ~2x the rate in the year ending in May (🔒WSJ) than those with full-time office requirements.
The share of US car buyers who financed a vehicle with a monthly payment of at least $1K jumped to a record 17.1% in Q2. In 2019, it was just 4.3%. In Wyoming and Texas, more than 1 in 4 car buyers who financed their vehicle pay $1K+/mo.
US parents expect to spend ~$597 this year on school supplies per child, down 10% from last year. The largest cuts are on clothing and tech.
California contributed 14.2% to GDP in Q1 of 2023, more than any other state.
Total household debt balances in the US increased by $16B in Q2 2023. Credit card balances saw the largest increase of all debt types—$45B—and now stand at $1.03T, surpassing $1T for the first time. But consumer debt is still just 6% of total deposits, which is the lowest % in 20 yrs.
The number of people who withdrew from their Bank of America 401(k) accounts due to financial distress jumped 36% quarter over quarter in Q3. BoA manages 4M retirement plans.
In the week since UPS workers negotiated a new contract that will pay FT drivers ~$170K/yr, searches for jobs with “UPS” or “United Parcel Service” in the title spiked >50% on Indeed (🔒Bloomberg).
The Black-white gap in men’s employment is converging and is the narrowest that it’s been in at least 50 yrs.
An analysis by WSJ reporters found that spending increased by 38% at the median flagship college (the best known and usually the oldest public university in each state) between 2002 and 2022—and they passed the tab to students.
The wholesale price of olive oil hit an all-time high of $8,445 per metric ton (🔒Bloomberg), more than 2x the price last Aug. and shattering the $6.2K/ton record set in 1996.
Thanks in part to investments from the CHIPS and Science Act, the Semiconductor Industry Association estimated a 33% growth in industry jobs by 2030, but a report estimated a shortage of ~67K workers (technicians, computer scientists, and engineers) or 80% of newly created technical jobs.
A recent estimate suggests that only 14% of employed adults in the US, or ~22M people, remain fully remote (🔒Providence Business First).
🧘 Health
Infections from a new Covid variant (EG.5.1 aka “Eris”) have doubled over the past couple of weeks in the US. The spread of Eris comes as the US logged its 1st increase in hospitalizations from Covid this year. The prevalence of EG.5.1 (along with the FL.5.1 variant) has increased 35%+ worldwide. The new Covid boosters will likely be effective against emerging variants but the CDC said it may not be available until Oct.
Nearly 30% of Duolingo users ages 60+ have maintained yearlong streaks on the app (🔒WSJ), with many saying they use it for brain training. Scientists have cautioned against viewing bilingualism as insurance against dementia since evidence for this claim is still flimsy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents 67K pediatricians, unanimously voted to reaffirm its support for gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. At least 21 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Americans have become less happy since the 2000s, with the largest gap in self-reported happiness levels found between married vs nonmarried people.
A new study estimated the biopharma industry spends around $200B/yr on R&D, with 70% of spending associated with failed projects. Cancer drugs are especially prone to failure, accounting for ~$60B in unsuccessful projects.
New research suggests that ~50% of the world’s population "can expect to develop" at least one type of mental disorder during their lifetime. For women, the most common disorders were depression, a specific phobia, and PTSD. For men, the most common disorders were alcohol abuse, depression, and a specific phobia. The median age at which disorders emerge was 20 for women and 19 for men.
The US has fewer doctors per person than 27 out of 31 OECD countries (🔒WP). Part of the issue is that there are far fewer residency slots than qualified med school graduates, which means thousands of qualified future physicians are “artificially” shut out of the residency pipeline, denied their chosen careers, and stuck with large student debt loans.
A new survey by Morning Consult found that 70% of US adults said they're concerned about the growing presence of AI in healthcare (🔒).
American healthcare workers suffer more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, accounting for 73% of such injuries in 2018 which is the most recent data available.
A new study showed that the injectable weight-loss drug Wegovy was associated with a 20% lower risk of major heart complications. It’s the first study to show that an obesity medication leads to long-term cardiovascular benefits. Norvo Nordisk (the maker of the drug) gained $60B in market cap (🔒Bloomberg) after the results were announced.
New data shows that just 1 in 5 US adults who had opioid use disorder in 2021 received medication to treat it. People who received treatment through telehealth were ~38x more likely to receive medication for opioid use disorder than those who were treated in person. White adults were 14x more likely than Black adults to receive medication, and there was a similar gap between working and unemployed adults. Men were 6x more likely than women to get meds, and those in urban areas were 3x more likely than those in non-urban areas.
Based on data from 116 countries between 2000 and 2018, researchers found a link between fine particle pollution and antibiotic-resistant pathogens. They estimated that reducing air pollution to levels advised by the WHO could lead to a 17% decrease in antibiotic resistance by 2050.
Recent data showed that there are 309 active, ongoing drug shortages in the US. The drug classes with the most shortages include antibiotics, central nervous system medications, and chemotherapy drugs.
The American Psychedelic Practitioners Association outlined what it says are the first set of professional guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy. It expects the guidelines will quickly evolve with the research.
49.5K people took their own lives last year in the US, the highest number ever.
A new meta-analysis suggests that walking just ~4K steps per day (30-45 min. walk) is associated with a lower risk of dying from any cause. Mortality risk decreased by 15% with every additional 1K steps participants took.
A new study showed that men who play organized football have a 61% higher odds of developing Parkinson's disease or Parkinson's-like symptoms.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
Language is a poor heuristic for intelligence. This assumption has harmed disabled people and it has the potential to harm society if we continue to use it as the primary benchmark to assess AI systems.
There are 150+ subgenres that constitute rock and metal music (15 min. video).
The average US physician earns $350K/yr (🔒WP). Top doctors pull in 10x that. A study estimated that in their peak years, in 2017, neurosurgeons earned the most at ~ $920K/yr, followed by orthopedic surgeons ($789K) and radiation oncologists ($709K). Doctors specializing in general practice and preventive medicine earned the least at $224K-$225K/yr.
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
The US has a new National Monument: the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, which is made up of 3 distinct areas to the S, NE, and NW of the Grand Canyon. It protects about 1.6K sq mi of cultural and religious sites, flora, fauna, and waterways that flow into the Colorado River from future uranium mining.
Jacksonville Beach, FL, is the most in-demand summer destination in the US, according to HomeToGo.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
A train derailed in southern Pakistan last weekend, killing at least 30 people and injured 100.
The Colorado Dept. of Higher Education reported a massive data breach that impacts students and educators dating back to 2004. People who may have been impacted include anyone who attended a CO institution of higher ed between 2007-2020 or a public high school between 2004-2020; individuals with a CO K-12 public school educator license between 2010-2014, people who participated in the Dependent Tuition Assistant Program from 2009-2013 or the Adult Education Initiatives program between 2013-2017; and anyone who obtained a GED between 2007-2011.
The number of open domestic terrorism-related cases recorded by the FBI has grown 357% from 2013 to 2021, rising sharply starting in 2018. Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism led to the most lethal incidents, accounting for 94 deaths and 111 injuries (out of 145 total deaths and 370 total injuries).
The Ukrainian military struck a Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea, following a drone strike on a Russian warship near Novorossiysk, a key oil hub. The Black Sea is involved in ~15%-20% of oil exports from Russia.
The number of foods, wines, and spirits whose names are reserved by the EU for use by traditional local producers has grown by 28% since 2010 to ~3.5K (🔒WSJ). Wines make up ~half of the protected products while cheese accounts for ~9%. The latter has frustrated dairy producers who must rename their cheeses to something else like “Belgiago” instead of Asiago and “Fontal” instead of fontina.
Hackers accessed the data of 40M UK voters in a cyber attack that went undetected for a year. The public was not told for another 10 mo.
Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a campaign event. The current president declared a state of emergency for 60 days.
A new ProPublica investigation found that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose a lot of questionable gifts, including “at least 38 destination vacations; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional 8 by helicopter; 12 VIP passes to sporting events; 2 stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and 1 standing invitation to an exclusive golf club.”
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
Barbie surpassed $1B in global box office sales just 17 days after its release, making it the first film solely directed by a woman to ever cross that threshold. Barbie is also the fastest-selling movie in the 100-yr history of Warner Bros.
The US Women’s National Team was eliminated from the World Cup after they lost to Sweden in a penalty shootout. It’s the earliest exit in tournament history for the US.
Epic Games approved a virtual Holocaust museum for its popular online video game Fortnite. Players who visit the museum can walk through exhibits resembling those found at in-person Holocaust museums, minus photos of dead bodies and concentration camps, which would violate the game’s age rating. Players cannot use weapons, break anything, or dance in the virtual museum.
The cost of ad-free Disney Plus and Hulu subscriptions will cost 20% more per month starting Oct. 12. The ad-sponsored tiers of both services will (for now) each remain $7.99/mo. They’re also cracking down on password sharing.
An author discovered 6 books on Amazon and Goodreads with her name on them — but she didn’t write them. She suspects they’re AI-generated scams but it’s been surprisingly difficult to remove them.
Gizmodo editor-in-chief Daniel Ackerman is suing Apple for alleging plagiarizing his 2016 book The Tetris Effect in their film Tetris.
Last Fri., marked the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop.
The annual Emmy Awards was postponed from Sept. 18 to Jan. 15 due to the ongoing writers and actors guild strikes, which began in May and July, respectively.
🏡 Real Estate
A new study estimated that ~11% of office towers in the 105 most-populous US cities could be converted into residential properties. The best-case scenario would add 400K homes to the market.
82% of Americans think it’s a “bad time to buy” a new house, the most pessimistic survey in the 13-yr history of Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey.
The average rent in Manhattan rose to a record high of $5,588 in Jul. It’s the 4th month of record-breaking prices in the last 5 mo.
57% of Americans said they’d prefer to live in a community where “houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away” than more walkable communities.
Choosing the Right Appraiser: A Guide for Agents, Attorneys, Accountants, and Homeowners.
🌎 Society
Instead of using dating apps, some people have turned to the date-me doc (🔒NYT), which is a single, view-only page about the individual. The popularity of “date-me docs” among some urbanites comes amid signs of people experiencing burnout from dating apps. Someone started to centralize the profiles in a single database.
52% of adults said that the US has made a great deal or a fair amount of progress in ensuring equal rights for all people in the last 60 yrs. Black adults were the least likely to say there’s been a lot of progress (30%) while white adults were the most likely (58%).
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
Generative AI’s biggest threat could be the data that it generates. One researcher said "a system that is so heavily trained on the outputs of other generative AI's that it becomes an inbred mutant, likely with exaggerated, grotesque features."
Two-thirds of the associate editors of the Journal of Biogeography resigned due to concerns about the journal's high article processing fees and a "breakdown in negotiations" with the lead editorial team.
In 2020, global regulations required ships to cut the amount of sulfur from exhaust by more than 80%. Preliminary research suggests that this policy change may have contributed to the marine heatwaves that we’re seeing this summer (🔒Science). Although it’s a pollutant, the sulfur exhaust from ships creates clouds that reflect light above the ocean, which keeps surface water temps cooler.
~13.1M hectares of Canada were burned as a result of the latest fires season, as of Aug. 3 (🔒WP), marking the worst fire season since records began in 1983.
A new study suggests that previous estimates of plastic waste in the ocean may be greatly exaggerated (🔒Science). Using real-world measurements, the researchers estimated that ~550K tons of plastic enter the ocean annually. That’s still a lot but it’s 94% less than a landmark study estimated in 2015.
It’s cheaper to charge an EV battery than it is to fill up an equivalent vehicle’s gas tank for an equivalent number of miles in the US (🔒WP). A typical American who drives 14K mi/yr can save an average of $700 on fuel costs with an electric sedan or SUV and $1K for a truck. EV drivers in Washington save the most on average.
Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists' voices for AI-generated songs (🔒Reuters). The deal would allow fans to legally create AI-generated tracks that pay artists.
A new study estimated that ~59% of all species on Earth live in soil. It is home to 99% of Enchytraeidae worms, 90% of fungi, 86% of plants, and 50%+ of bacteria — but only 3% of mammals.
At least 80 people were killed on Maui after a wildfire burned through the town of Lahaina. 80% of historic and culturally significant sites were destroyed and thousands have been displaced. The fire was 85% contained as of last Fri.
Methane produced by food decomposing in landfills makes up 1.6% of all human-made Greenhouse Gas emissions (anything >1% is considered significant).
Due record-warm sea surface temps, the likelihood of an above-average season jumped from 30% in May to 60% heading into Sep. That means NOAA is expecting 14-21 named storms and 6-11 hurricanes with 2-5 likely becoming major storms. 5 named storms have developed already this season.
Recent experiments at the Fermilab US particle accelerator have left scientists wondering whether they’re on the brink of discovering a 5th force of nature.
Wishing you a good week
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