👋 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 80 bullets.
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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
In the past 10 yrs, production of mezcal, which is made from agave, has risen from 1M litres to 14M litres (🔒Bloomberg). Cheap mezcal is made from the Espadín variety of agave, which matures in 6-8 yrs, while premium the Tepeztate variety takes 25 yrs to mature and can only make a few bottles per plant. On average, prices for farmed agave have jumped from $50/ton in 2012 to $500/ton today.
The federal government brought in ~$4.5T in revenue in fiscal year 2023. ~Half was collected through individual income taxes (~$13.3K/person) and 37% was from payroll taxes. The government spent $18.4K/person.
22.5% of Americans with a disability were employed in 2023, marking a record high since reporting began in 2008.
52% of US job postings on Indeed didn’t mention any formal education requirement as of Jan. 2024, up from 48% from Jan. 2019.
Consumer spending on "personal interest payments," which do not include home mortgages, soared 43% over the 12 mo. ending in Nov. 2023. That’s ~2x the share of total consumption expenditures.
A new report from Yelp showed that women are opening more businesses traditionally dominated by men, such as plumbing and HVAC repair. Overall, women-created businesses increased 17% YoY in 2023. Austin saw the largest increase at 34%.
Bitcoin topped $60K last week, marking a 40% jump in value in 2024 and a 20% increase in a week.
Younger generations have become less engaged in their jobs since the pandemic. The decline was most pronounced among older millennials, of whom only 32% are engaged in their jobs, down from 39% in 2022.
The price per metric ton for cocoa rose to $6K (🔒Bloomberg), up from $2.6K/ton this time last year. Since the 1980s, cocoa futures have traded below $3.5K.
Insurify projected that average full-coverage annual car insurance premiums will rise 7% to ~$2.2K in 2024, down from a 24% YoY spike in 2023. Rates are the highest in New York at an average of ~$3.4K/yr while the cheapest are in New Hampshire at an average of <$1.2K/yr.
Rolex accounted for 30% of all luxury watch sales in 2023 (🔒Bloomberg). Sales revenue also topped $10B for the first time.
The IRS is going to send 125K notices to Americans making $400K+ and haven’t filed a return between 2017-2021 (🔒WSJ). 25K letters will go to those earning $1M+ in income and 100K letters will go to those making $400-$1M.
🧘 Health, Healthcare & Safety
Doctors are increasingly charging fees for administrative tasks like signing patient documents to emailing responses to patient questions, partly because of shrinking reimbursements.
An NYT investigation revealed how hundreds of kids in 44 states were exposed to toxic levels of lead by eating cinnamon-flavored applesauce (🔒NYT) that was sold in grocery and dollar stores last year. The cinnamon in the applesauce was likely contaminated with lead chromate, a powder that is sometimes illegally used to tint or bulk up spices.
Monthly prescriptions for antidepressants for US teens ages 12-17 rose 63.5% between 2020 and 2022. Prescriptions surged ~130% for teen girls over that period. Among women ages 18-25, prescriptions rose 56.6%. Among teen boys, prescriptions declined and there were no changes among men ages 18-25.
23 teams participated in a drug-discovery competition and predicted 2K+ compounds that could bind to an enzyme associated with Parkinson’s disease, but only 12% actually did when tested in the lab.
An expert panel advising the CDC on vaccines recommended that people 65+ should get an additional Covid shot this spring. Only ~42% of people 65+ have been vaccinated with the updated shot that became available in Sep. — but that’s still ~2x the rate of adults overall.
Dartmouth researchers created a smartphone app that uses facial recognition and AI to detect depression—supposedly before the user may even realize symptoms.
At least 16 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean have reported cholera outbreaks. Between Dec. 23-Jan. 23, ~50.5 people contracted cholera and ~500 died. Of the 3 vaccines qualified for use by the WHO, only 1 is still being made, and its supplies barely cover a fraction of the global need.
New data from the CDC and FDA suggest that the RSV vaccine is linked to an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome. Given that the risk is small, adults age 60+ should still get vaccinated. For every 1M doses of RSV vaccine given, between 2.4K-2.7K RSV hospitalizations, 450-520 ICU admissions, and 120-140 deaths are averted.
A new study estimated that, in 2022, ~1 in 8 people worldwide had obesity. From 1990 to 2022, the obesity rate among children and teens quadrupled to 6.9% in girls and 9.3% in boys. The rate among women rose from 8.8% to 18.5% and 4.8% to 14%.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
Patric Gagne shares what it’s like to be a sociopoath (🔒NYT). Traits may include a lack of remorse, deceitfulness, and a disregard for the feelings of others as well as right and wrong. Gagne shared how she learned to control her sociopathic compulsions and what love feels like while navigating difficulties with empathy.
Airplane tires last between 300-450 landings and can be re-treated up to 7-8 times before they’re discarded.
Why do we have leap years? And how did they come about?
Historic vs. Historical: What’s the difference (and which should I use)? Historical is most often used in the “relating to history” sense; historic in the “great historical importance” sense.
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
Due to heavy rains, a temporary lake formed in Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park. The lake is ~6 mi. long, 3 mi. wide, and 1 ft deep. This is a rare event for one of the driest places in the world. The lake is deep enough to go kayaking. The lake may only last through April.
The 10 best live music venues in DC, according to local musicians interviewed by Afar.
The 10 best cars of 2024, according to Consumer Reports.
Ann Arbor, MI, is the best place to live for quality of life in the US in 2023-2024, according to US News’ Quality of Life Index which includes crime rates, educational quality, general well-being, commuter indices, healthcare availability, air quality, and the FEMA National Risk Index.
Searches for Airbnb rentals along the solar eclipse path in the US for Apr. 5-8 increased 1,000% YoY. Austin and Hill Country, TX are the most popular cities along the path of totality.
Rental cars: Know the Pitfalls (🔒NYT): 1) compare prices and conveniences of airport vs non-aiport locations since prices vary widely (airports are subject to extra taxes and fees so they can also be more expensive); 2) don’t opt for a prepaid contract which incurs fees if you cancel; 3) max. your memberships like Costco, AAA, and AARP; 4) you may want to look at companies like Turo and Getaround; 5) understand upgrade policies - traditional agencies should give you the next-best available car at no extra charge if the car you reserved isn’t available; 6) your auto insurance and/or credit card often extend coverage to rentals; 7) fill up the gas tank before you return it; and 8) return the car on time.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
31K Ukranian soldiers have been killed in action in the 2 yrs since Russia invaded the country. It’s unknown how many civilians have been killed but estimates suggest >6K. A mid-Dec. 2023 US intelligence report estimated that 315K Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, which is ~87% of troops Russia had before the war.
A new report suggests that US federal agencies have too many layers of leadership that need to be approved by the Senate. The top 2 levels—the secretary and deputy secretary of a major dept.— are usually within 2 mo. of a president’s inauguration; 3rd-level positions in ~350 days; and the last 2 levels in ~400+ days.
The Pell Grant program is expected to have a $35M shortfall over the next 10 yrs. The benefits would need to be reduced by 10% or funding raised by 12% to close the budget gap under the best-case scenario.
Donald Trump was trailing President Biden in overall campaign cash on hand at the end of 2023 but he led in small donations. ~668K donors gave <$200 to Trump compared with 564 for Biden (🔒NYT).
An active-duty member of the Air Force died after setting himself on fire as an act of protest outside of the Israeli Embassy in DC last Mon.
Putin threatened nuclear war (🔒NYT) if NATO countries send troops to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion.
Mitch McConnell (KY:R) announced he’s stepping down from his leadership position after the presidential election in Nov. He plans to serve out his full term which ends in Jan. 2027. He’s the longest-serving party leader ever in the Senate.
The global cost of cybercrime is expected to surge from $9.22T in 2024 to $13.82T by 2028.
New data from PRRI showed that ~3 in 10 US adults qualify as Christian Nationalism Adherents (10%) or Sympathizers (20%). Many Christian nationalists believe the federal government should declare the US a Christian nation and move away from secular interpretations of pluralist democracy.
100+ Palestinian civilians were reportedly killed after Israeli troops opened fire at an aid site, causing humanitarian trucks to barrel through the crowd.
Guyana recently discovered oil underneath its coastal waters (🔒Bloomberg), with the primary area of production believed to contain 11B barrels. Production is estimated to reach 1.2M barrels per day by 2027.
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
Women accounted for 55% of fans of pro sports in S. Korea in 2022 (🔒NYT).
The NFL raised its 2024 salary cap by ~$30M, with each of the 32 teams allotted $255.4M to build its roster for next season. The league’s total player spending will reach $10.5B this year.
According to the data from SFIA, 13.6M Americans tried pickleball in 2023, up 52% YoY.
According to data collected by the Pew in Aug. 2023, the most active 25% of adult TikTok users in the US produced 98% of public content posted on the site. ~50% of users have never posted a video. The largest share of users are ages 30-49 (40%) and 35-49-yr-olds are more likely to upload videos than 18-34-yr-olds.
🏡 Real Estate
The median listing price of a home in Paradise Valley, AZ, in Jan. 2024 was $5.05M (🔒WSJ).
The CEO and co-founder of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, has been quietly buying hundreds of acres of land in Waimea, HI. Waimea is a tight-knit community that has a large Native Hawaiian population, and the people there say they don't want to lose that culture. Since 2000, Benioff has bought at least 38 parcels of land through at least 6 anonymous LLCs and 1 nonprofit.
60 Minutes found that 80M+ new apartments in China are empty.
According to Redfin, the US housing market gained $2.4T in 2023 to a total value of $47.5T. Newark, NJ, saw the largest YoY gain in home values at 12.8% while Boise, ID, saw the lowest gain (-3.8%).
An informal poll showed that a majority of people think it’s a bad idea to replace all bathtubs in the house with showers. I think it could potentially negatively affect the resale value. What do you think?
Of the 150 largest metro areas analyzed by Realtor.com, the number of homes for sale peaks the earliest in the year in Tallahassee, FL, which reaches its inventory peak in April.
🌎 Society
A recent study found that boys ages 8-10 with high “social desirability bias, ” or the tendency to act in ways to seem more socially acceptable to others, ate fewer fruits and vegetables. That same association was not found with girls. The authors suggested that “boys may be less inclined to eat ‘girl foods,’ like fruits and vegetables, if they fear social ramifications.”
2020-2021 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System showed that DC has the highest estimated share of adults identifying as LGBT at 14.3%, while West Virginia had the lowest at 4.1%. Overall, 5.5% of US adults self-identified as LGBT, with the greatest share among 18-24-yr-olds.
Japan’s birth rate fell 5.1% YoY to a record low of 758.6K in 2023, marking the 8th straight year of decline. Marriages fell to 490k, which is the 1st time that figure has slipped below 500K. Deaths ticked up to 1.59M.
The latest USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report revealed that 2023's top-grossing films featured 30 girls or women leads, which was the same number in 2010. 37 of the 100 top-grossing films were led by an actor from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group, up from 31 in 2022. Women of color were the protagonist in 14 movies, down from 18 in 2022.
A brief history of the word “idiot” and an essay on why we should consider dropping it from our vocabulary.
A new Harris Poll found that ~7 in 10 US adults said it's acceptable to do chores at home while working remotely. The most acceptable chore to do while working remotely is laundry while the least acceptable is mowing the lawn and washing the car.
One group that tends to over-apologize is neurodivergent individuals — that is, people whose brains do not process information in a typical way (e.g., people with autism, ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, and dyslexia).
The share of US Latinas with a 4-yr college degree ~quadrupled between 2000 and 2021. The highest rates were among those with Venezuelan (57%), Argentine (46%), and Chilean (42%) origins.
A new study found that ~78% of women said they’ve encountered age-related discrimination in their careers.
An analysis of 449 NYT staff showed that, of the 8 colleges most common for undergrad degrees, 6 are Ivy League schools with Yale being the most common.
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
The recycling rate for plastics in the US sits at ~5%-6%. It’s never risen >10%.
A malfunctioning vending machine at the University of Waterloo revealed that it was secretly using facial recognition tech. The vending machine (made by Venda) showed an error message read “Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognition.App.exe"
An uproar broke out on social media after Nature published a paper about All of Us, a US health research effort to capture the genetic diversity of people across the country. A key figure, which depicts patterns of relatedness among ~250K volunteers' genomes, could mislead some readers into thinking the data support the idea that humans fall into distinct races.
Winners of the annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest have been announced. Weliton Menário Costa, who recorded an original song Kangaroo Time for his entry, won the social sciences category; Siena Dumas Ang won the biology category; Xuebing Zhang won the chemistry category; and Layla El-Khoury won the physics category.
A new study suggests that impolite prompts given to AI chatbots may negatively affect model performance, including increasing mistakes, stronger biases, and omission of information.
Northern Virginia has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, with 25M+ sq ft in operation and more in development. The power capacity used by data centers in the region was 2.7 GW in 2022, which was more than Seattle’s entire power grid.
The Toyota Mirai, which is a hydrogen fuel cell-powered car, has been discounted by $40K. The car typically retails for $52K. With the $15K free hydrogen offer for 6 yrs and 0% interest loan, Toyota is essentially paying consumers $3K for the car.
Grand piano maker Steinway & Sons created a new feature that allows players to record their performance and play it back on the actual piano (🔒MIT Tech Review). The addition costs $29K-$48K. The pianos cost ~$150K on average.
On average, the US sees 36.8M lightning strikes that hit the ground per year and an average of 23.4M flashes. Florida led the nation with 112 lightning strikes per sq km in 2023.
In 2023,~2.5M people in the US were displaced by weather-related disasters (🔒NYT). Of those, ~1 in 3 experienced food shortages and >50% encountered potential fraud in the aftermath.
GitHub is struggling to contain an ongoing attack that’s flooding the site with millions of code repositories that contain obfuscated malware that steals passwords and cryptocurrency from users’ devices.
130+ monthly high-temp. records were set in the US last week, with 70+ toppled on Mon. alone.
A new study suggests that Golgi ribbons are NOT exclusive to vertebrates.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is the largest in Texas history and the 2nd largest in US history. As of last Fri., the wildfire has extended to ~1.1M acres and was only ~15% contained.
Inventors in China applied for ~68.6K patents in 2022 compared with ~58.2K in the US, marking the 1st time China surpassed the US.
A Consumer Reports investigation found that major retailers are selling video doorbells that have serious security vulnerabilities that expose home IP addresses and enable people to spy on their owners. There are at least 10 seemingly identical video doorbells being sold under a range of brand names, all controlled through the same mobile app, called Aiwit, which is owned by Eken.
Wishing you a good week
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