👋 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 83 bullets.
Thank you for being here. If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with a friend. If this message was forwarded to you, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future issues 😊.
📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
The min. wage increased for ~10M workers in 22 states last week to adjust for rising costs of living (🔒WSJ). Washington has the highest rate ($16.28/hr).
A new study estimated that, in 2022, the top 6 social media platforms in the US generated $11B in ad revenue from users under age 18.
Chinese company BYD unseated Tesla as the biggest seller of fully EVs in Q4 2023.
The US national debt eclipsed $34T. The Congressional Budget Office’s projections showed that gross federal debt would surpass that amount in fiscal year 2029.
The total number job posts in the US in 2023 declined >15% from a year earlier (🔒WSJ), according to Indeed. Job posts are still up by more than a quarter from their prepandemic levels.
Private donations to US colleges and universities last year reached $59.5B, up from ~$14.8B in 1980–81.
Warren Buffett donated 1.5M shares of Berkshire Hathaway—worth $541.5M—to his Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which primarily backs women’s reproductive health. That was the biggest charitable donation last year.
Inflation in Europe rose 2.9% in Dec., after 7 mo. of decline in the months before. The rise was partially driven by food costs, which increased by an annualized rate of 6.1%.
Wholesale egg prices are rising in the US (🔒WSJ) after one of the largest producers reported that an outbreak of bird flu at some of its facilities affected ~1.5M hens.
Parasite hunters who find caterpillars that have been afflicted with ophiocordyceps sinensis, can sell them for $110K/kg (🔒Nat Geo). Some can derive their entire annual income from the May and Jun. harvesting period. Part of the reason is that the fungus became popular after it was featured in The Last of US. It’s also a stable in China’s traditional medicine and becoming increasingly popular in US supplements.
The latest report by the Office of Personnel Management found that federal employees who worked remotely 3+ days per pay period reported higher engagement and an increased desire to remain at their agency, rather than seek work elsewhere or retire, compared to workers who teleworked fewer than 3 days.
According to the package tracking app Route, Amazon was responsible for 21% of global orders of online packages in the week of Thanksgiving (🔒Bloomberg). In the final 2 weeks before Christmas, Amazon represented 29% of global orders.
57% of US workers are making more money now, adjusting for inflation, than they were a year ago. 41% have seen a real wage increase of >5%.
🧘 Health, Healthcare & Safety
A new analysis suggests 500+ drug prices will increase this month (🔒Reuters). Only 3 companies are expected to lower prices.
There were, on average, 102 fatal accidents in the US each day in 2021. The number of fatal traffic accidents across the US tends to increase after 5pm and peak between 9pm-10pm.
Between Nov. 2022 and Nov. 2023, there were 24 accidents per 1K Tesla drivers, which was the worst accident rate among all car brands. BMW drivers were the most likely to drive while under the influence with 3 DUIs per 1K drivers.
British doctors went on a 6-day strike over pay last week, which is the longest in the history of the National Health Service.
Hospitals in at least 6 states have reinstated mask policies amid the rise in respiratory infections, including Covid.
A private practice psychiatrist explained how administrative bureaucracy and constant denials for payment drove them to stop accepting insurance.
A new study found that $1M isn’t enough to cover 25 yrs of retirement expenses in any state, assuming a retirement age of 65+ and the state’s average annual cost of living. $1M lasts the longest in Mississippi at ~22.7 yrs and shortest in Hawaii at 10.3 yrs.
New findings suggest that transcranial magnetic stimulation in certain areas of the brain can enhance a person’s hypnotisability, which could be used to help treat conditions like chronic pain.
A study by NIDA found that the active ingredient in popular obesity and diabetes drugs like Ozempic, semiglutide, was not linked to an increase in suicidal thoughts compared with other weight loss drugs.
US hospitals and doctors are fighting a proposed Medicare plan that would dock payment to providers who are blocking the flow of patients' electronic health information. Some hospitals' losses under the plan could be 10x+ the estimated median penalty of ~$395K.
A new study by Consumer Reports found traces of BPA and other bisphenols in 79% of 85 foods from 67 grocery stores and 18 fast food restaurants. Phthalates were found in every product tested except for Polar raspberry lime seltzer. Phthalates and BPA are carcinogens.
Researchers identified a new class of antibiotics that appears to be effective at killing a highly drug-resistant pathogen called Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), which has a 40%-60% fatality rate. The new drug is the 1st new class of drugs for CRAB in 50+ yrs.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
170K photos taken by the US federal government between 1935 and 1943.
Baby name trends and pop culture. One thing… early in the article the author says that the number of births in the US has increased dramatically and that parents have gotten more “experimental” with names. Yes, but there’s nuance. Births have increased because the population has grown and not because women are having more babies. We’ve partly seen an increase in unique names because the population has become more diverse, particularly through immigration. Immigrants may have certain preferences in baby names that differ from the host country (e.g., Gerhards & Hans, 2009; Sue & Telles, 2007).
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
The world’s busiest international airline route in 2023 was Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
The 50 best places to travel in 2024, according to Travel + Leisure.
New data from the US Dept. of Transportation showed that just 1.2% of the 16.3M flights in the US were canceled in 2023, which was the lowest level in 10 yrs.
1M+ people are expected to travel to Texas in Apr. to see the solar eclipse on the 8th - the most of any state in the path of totality.
South Korea is offering a “digital nomad” visa for up to 2 yrs for remote workers who make $66K+/yr. The typical visiting visa has a max. limit of 90 days.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
Last Sun., the US Navy sank 3 boats piloted by Houthi militants in the Red Sea (🔒Bloomberg), while responding to a distress call from a Maersk ship. Iran sent a warship to the Red Sea in response. The Houthis, who are based in Yemen but backed by Iran, began attacking commercial ships traveling through the area in response to the Israel–Hamas war. Escalating conflict in the region is forcing commercial shipping vessels to change routes and prices have shot up as a result.
A series of earthquakes rocked Japan last week, prompting evacuations of ~100K people. At least 48 people were killed.
Officials arrested 3.5K suspects involved in an international cybercrime involving phishing, romance, and ecommerce scams that racked up $300M in assets across 34 countries. UK authorities reported numerous cases in which AI was used to scam, harass, and extort victims by impersonating the voices of people known to the victims.
South Korea’s opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the city of Busan. The wound is not life-threatening.
The US Office of Personnel Management launched a new website that shares data on 8K+ top executives in the federal government.
After 52 yrs, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is stepping down on Jan. 14 and handing the crown to her son.
At least 84 people were killed and 211 were injured by 2 explosions during a ceremony honoring Qassem Soleimani, a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who was killed by a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020.
Several state capitols were evacuated or locked down last Wed. after receiving mass-emailed bomb threats. A copy of an email obtained by CNN showed government offices in at least 23 states listed as recipients.
US school districts across 41 states have spent $2.5M over the past 8 yrs to buy magnetically sealed pouches (made by Yondr) so students can store their phones in them during class.
A congressional report found that Donald Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8M from entities controlled by 20 foreign governments during his presidency. $5.5M was from China.
A survey by Morning Consult from Dec. 22-24, found that 81% of potential Democratic primary voters support Biden’s nomination (🔒).
Last Thurs., a 6th grade student was killed and 4 students and a school administrator were injured in a shooting at a High School in Iowa. The teen shooter appears to have acted alone and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A suicide net has been installed around ~95% of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. ~2K people are known to have jumped to their deaths from the bridge since it opened in 1937.
USPS reported that ~$70K worth of EV charging and IT equipment was stolen last year. The review came as the Postal Service is prepping to acquire 41K+ charging stations to support its 66K new EVs.
The US Supreme Court agreed to hear Donald Trump’s challenge to a Colorado ruling that barred him from the state’s primary ballot. The case will be considered on an expedited schedule, with oral arguments on Feb. 8.
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
The best podcasts of 2023, according to podcast hosts, producers, and executives.
Of the top 50 grossing films of all time, 11 are musicals, 10 of which are Disney productions. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is #1.
As of Nov., 24.4% of customers canceled 3+ of their streaming subscriptions over the past 2 yrs (🔒WSJ), compared with 15.1% in the prior 2 yrs.
Taylor Swift’s solo album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was #1 on the Billboard 200 for 68 weeks, eclipsing Elvis Presley. Now, only The Beatles have more weeks at #1 with 132 weeks across 19 albums.
A survey by CivicScience found that 24% of US respondents aged 21+ said they were highly likely to participate in Dry January, which means foregoing alcohol this month. More young adults said they were likely to participate than older adults (ages 55+).
The Lancashire heeler is the latest breed to be recognized by the American Kennel Club, which means that the rare herding breed is now eligible for US dog shows. The AKC said that there are ~5K of the dogs currently in existence. A breed must have at least 300 pedigreed animals in at least 20 states for recognition.
The NCAA signed an 8-yr TV deal with ESPN that's worth ~$1B to cover 40 of its championships in the US.
Videos of people camping outside of Target and then racing each other to grab the limited edition of Stanley’s Valentine’s travel cups went viral on social media. The cups, which cost $20-$50 are sold out and many are being resold on auction sites like eBay for $100+. Stanley reported $750M in revenue from a similar special in 2022.
One of the top borrowed books from public libraries in the US last year was Lessons in Chemistry, which is a novel about a 1960s chemist who battles gender inequality in her field before eventually becoming the host of a popular cooking show. The book was adapted for a show that debuted on Apple TV+ a few months ago.
🏡 Real Estate
Japanese investors poured $3.7B into US commercial real estate (🔒WSJ), the most since 2016. Japanese investors are attracted to overseas real estate because they tend to yield higher returns than at home.
A notorious Airbnb host has been accused of running a nationwide scam in which he used fake Airbnb host profiles to double-book and cancel guests and then move them to inferior properties. He made $8.5M through this scheme in 2018 and 2019 alone.
Just 0.3% of homes for sale in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Oxnard were affordable in 2023 - the lowest share of all large US metros.
The share of all-cash buyers in Manhattan reached an all-time high of 67.9% in Q4 2023. The average sale price was $2M, up 3% QoQ and 4% YoY.
The supply of apartments in the US jumped to a 36-yr high in 2023, as a record number of new units have been built and occupancy rates have declined. The supply is expected to increase by another ~232K in 2024.
Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z topped the US property charts in 2023 (🔒WSJ), thanks to their $190M purchase of a Tadao Ando-designed compound in Malibu. It was the most expensive home ever sold in CA. At least 5 deals closed for $100M+ in 2023, down from 7 in 2022.
🌎 Society
A YouGov poll from Dec. showed that 34% of US adults planned to make New Year’s resolutions or set a goal for 2024. Plans to make a resolution decline with age, from 52% among 18-29-yr-olds to 18% among those who are 65+.
Photos of New Year celebrations around the world.
A new study found that of 116 directors involved in the 100 top-grossing films of 2023, only 14 (12.1%) of them were women. Just 3.4% were women of color.
New findings suggest that showing a high school student a popular data visualization that shows the grades and test scores of admitted and rejected college applicants from a student’s high school, known as a scattergram, is associated with a lower likelihood that a student will apply to an elite college.
Generation Alpha is the first entirely online cohort. The oldest of the group is ~13 and the youngest will be born in the coming year.
California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board found that police were more likely to stop Black drivers than white ones in 2022. Out of 4.5M vehicle stops made by 535 agencies, Black drivers made up 12.5% of the cases, though Black people make up just 5.4% of the state’s population.
User activity on dating apps usually peaks on the first Sun. of the new year, aka “Dating Sunday.” OkCupid reported a 70% rise in activity. On Tinder, messages and likes rose 22% and 18.2%, respectively. People also responded 19.4 min. faster, on average, than on any other Sun.
Texas netted the largest number of movers in 2023, marking the 3rd straight year at the top of the list, according to U-Haul data. There were 2M+ 1-way U-Haul truck rentals within the US and Canada in 2023 and TX accounted for>50% of all rentals.
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
Americans wasted an estimated 88.7M tons of food in 2022, according to a study by ReFED. That’s equivalent to 145B meals worth $473B. Residential waste made up 42.8M tons, or 48% of that total. The average person wastes $759/yr on uneaten food.
82.4% of new car sales in Norway last year were electric (🔒Reuters), up from 79.3% in 2022. Tesla was the #1 EV maker, followed by Toyota and Volkswagen.
A new study showed that 48% of teens ages 16-18 in the UK agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I think I am addicted to social media.” 57% of girls agreed compared to 37% of boys.
A 13-yr-old gamer became the first to push “Tetris” to its functional limit, reaching the game’s final screen at level 157, which was once believed to be impossible. It took 40 min. and the alignment of 1.5K+ block lines.
“Urine luck because scientists figured out why pee is yellow.” It’s because of a byproduct of degraded blood cells called bilirubin which is converted into a molecule in the gut that turns yellow when exposed to oxygen.
On New Year's day, just 0.35% of the Great Lakes were covered in ice, the lowest on records dating back at least 50 yrs. A big snow storm this weekend will likely boost these numbers.
A new study found that 75% of industrial fishing vessels and up to 30% of transport and energy vessels aren’t tracked through conventional reporting means. The study revealed clandestine fishing activity and an unreported development in offshore energy development.
Of the 112 organisms with their own emoji, 92 are animals. 76% are vertebrates even though they represent 5.5% of known species of animals. We would need an additional 1,068 arthropods (bugs), 70 mollusks, 24 flatworms, 21 roundworms, and 14 segmented worms for equal representation. Can someone please do this for plant emojis?
A new paper documents how computer vision research contributed to 11K surveillance tech patents.
Germany’s emissions hit a 70-yr low last year due to a lower reliance on coal. Greenhouse gas emissions fell by 73M tonnes YoY.
As of Jan. 4, Colorado’s snowpack was 68% of its average level, with even lower levels in southern parts of the state. Snow levels at ski resorts were ~25”, compared with 40”+ the same time last year. A big snow storm this weekend will likely boost these numbers.
Wishing you a good week
Thanks for tuning in! Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, if you haven’t already. If you have the means, show your support by making a donation.