👋 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 84 bullets.
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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
Nearly 1 in 5 American adults said they’re worried about losing their job in the next month. Among those making more than $100K/yr, job loss fears were the strongest at 24%, up from just 9% in Feb.
There are 40K acres of strawberries in CA, which account for ~90% of US production. The recent torrential rains are jeopardizing this year’s harvest. The price of a 12-oz package of strawberries in the US has risen 8.7% year over year and 41% since 2021 (🔒Bloomberg).
Following a spate of incidents on US runways, the Dept. of Transportation is seeking $117M from Congress to hire another 1.8K air traffic controllers next year, on top of the 1.5K being hired this year. Today, there are about 1.2K fewer certified air traffic controllers than there were a decade ago. The median annual salary for air traffic controllers in 2021 was almost $130K.
Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, agreed to buy Credit Suisse, its 2nd largest bank for $3.2B. Credit Suisse shareholders will receive 1 UBS share for every 22.48 Credit Suisse shares they hold. Investors holding $17B worth of additional tier-one bonds are out of luck.
Inflation in the UK was 10.4% in the 12 mo. through Feb. Economists expected a decline below the double digits.
In a survey of more than 1K hiring managers last summer, 27% posted for positions that they weren’t actively trying to fill (🔒WSJ), with close to half of them reporting that they kept the ads up to give the impression that the company was growing.
In 2019, 20% of American households earned passive income either through dividends, interest, or rental properties. The median amount was $4.2K/yr. With a median passive income of $7K/yr, CA residents earned the most. At the metro-level, residents in the Miami earned the most with a median passive income of $9K.
OpenAI claimed that an estimated 19% of workers in the US could see at least half their job tasks impacted by its technology.
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans prefer bottled water over tap water. The industry is projected to reach almost $95B this year. FYI, bottled water is often just tap water.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that wind turbine service technicians will see the fastest salary growth in the coming decade, which will jump from $52.9K to $85.2K by 2029. Nurse practitioners are expected to receive the highest total increase in salary, starting from $109.8K and going up to $166.9K.
JPMorgan Chase estimated that $550B has moved out of smaller banks to big institutions and money market funds (🔒WP), in the two weeks since Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed.
🧘 Health
More than 550 slots for emergency medicine residents were left unfilled this year, reflecting an ongoing trend of graduates increasingly steering away from emergency medicine and opting for specialties like orthopedics and plastic surgery.
Almost 6 in 10 US adults believe that the government should ensure healthcare coverage, but only 4 in 10 want a government-ran system.
Witchita, KS, is the #1 most challenging place to live with seasonal allergies in 2023, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Cities rounding out the top 10 include: (2) Dallas (3) Scranton, PA, (4) Oklahoma City, (5) Tulsa, (6) Sarasota, (7) Cape Coral, (8) Orlando, (9) Des Moines, and (10) Greenville, SC.
The CDC issued a warning about a drug-resistant and potentially deadly fungus, a type of yeast called Candida auris or C.auris, which has been spreading rapidly through US health care facilities. It has been detected in more than half of all states after first being found in the US in 2016.
Supplies of some essential drugs used in hospitals are hitting 10-year lows. Oncology drugs have been hit particularly hard. Manufacturing delays and quality problems are blamed for the shortages, but that's often because there aren't many alternative sites to pick up the slack due to the economics of the market.
Bonner General Health, the only hospital in Sandpoint, ID, will stop delivering babies due to the inability to retain pediatricians because of the state’s new anti-abortion law. The more than 9K residents there have to drive 46 miles to receive their training ata the nearest delivery care center.
59% of adults living in the Seattle area experienced some level of anxiety, more than any other large metro in the US.
Americans are turning to Canada and Mexico to purchase injectable weight-loss drugs like Ozempic because it’s cheaper there. The drug costs about $1K/mo. without insurance. One patient was able to purchase 5 Ozempic pens from a Costco pharmacy in Mexico for about $250 each - no prescription required. In British Columbia, 9% of Rx fills for Ozempic were for Americans in 2022, 22x higher than the average rate across all other drugs.
The US Health Resources and Services Administration is overhauling the nonprofit United Network for Organ Sharing due to failures that have led to thousands of unnecessary patient deaths which fall disproportionately on patients of color. ~104K Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant and ~17 die per day while waiting.
A new study estimated that more than 4 in 10 US adults are obese, with the highest prevalence in the South and Midwest. MS and WV have the highest obesity rates at 51% while DC had the lowest at 33% followed by CO at 34%.
New findings suggests that road noise can literally raise blood pressure, with a stronger effect when also associated with air pollution.
The WHO warned there may be undetected chains of transmission of the deadly virus Marburg fever in Equatorial Guinea. The number of confirmed and probable cases has grown from 9 to 29, with cases reported in 3 different provinces over a range of about 90 miles. Some have links to known cases, others do not.
When adjusting the data to account for age and comorbidities, AZ saw the highest COVID death rate (581 per 100K people) in the nation. HI had the lowest adjusted COVID death rate with 147 fatalities per 100.
The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in American children rose from about 1 in 44 8-yr-olds in 2018 to about 1 in 36 in 2020 (🔒NYT). The prevalence was roughly 4 percent in boys and 1 percent in girls. For the first time, autism was significantly more prevalent among 8-year-olds of color than in white children, who have traditionally been more likely to receive autism diagnoses. The overall rise in prevalence does not necessarily mean that autism has become more common among children, and it could stem from other factors, such as increased awareness and screening.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
2,000 years of kindness, from Marcus Aurelius to Einstein, poets and philosophers on the deepest wellspring of our humanity.
Professional athletes owe a portion of their salary to most states and cities they visit for a game, which is known as a “jock tax.” Here’s an example of what this looks like based on Stephen Curry’s salary during the 2018-2019 basketball season. This tax can be applied to other traveling professionals too, like nurses and consultants.
How quantum computers work and how this tech can break the internet as we know it (24.5 min. video).
When a woman is called "ma'am," even by a well-meaning stranger, it can send a specific and unwanted social message. That’s because "ma'am" is considered an age-graded term by sociolinguists and dialectologists, which means how the speaker's use of the word changes as they age. “Sir” has a similar connotation for men.
Once considered an unsophisticated term, “youse” may be one of the most gender-neutral ways to address others. Its origins can be traced back to Irish-American immigrants.
How the smiley face became a $500M business (3.5 min. video).
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
Finland is the happiest country in the world for the 6th straight year, according to the Word Happiness Report. Denmark and Iceland rounded out the top 3, respectively. The US was #15 and Afghanistan came in last (#137). On a bright note, global happiness didn’t decrease over the last 3 yrs compared with the prior 3 yrs, despite the pandemic. People over age 60 actually reported a modest improvement in happiness.
S. Korea will begin construction on what will be the largest Ferris wheel in the world, which will symbolize the future unification of the Korean people. The Ferris wheel will be constructed Haneul Park in the capital city of Seoul and will be completed in 2025.
The University of Washington shared a new online tool to help visitors time their trip during the peak of cherry blossom season. See this guide for other locations in WA where you can enjoy the blooms.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
After logging more than 18K US consumer complaints, the FCC will require telecom companies to block texts from certain numbers in an effect to curb spam messages.
NY prosecutors signaled they’re seeking felony charges against former President Trump over a $130K hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election.
A UN report estimated that 43K people, half of them children under age 5, died in Somalia last year due to prolonged drought. About 7.9M people — nearly half the population — are in need of humanitarian assistance.
In Dec., 2022, Kias and Hyundais accounted for 7 in 10 stolen automobiles in Dayton, OH, the highest theft rate in the country.
The SEC charged 8 celebrities for promoting cryptocurrencies without disclosing that they were paid to do so: Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty, Akon, Austin Mahone, Ne-Yo, and Kendra Lust. All but 2 (Soulja Boy and Mahone) have settled for a collective $400K.
Uganda's parliament passed a bill that criminalizes the “promotion of homosexuality” by individuals or organizations. Citizens must report gay family members or community members and the bill calls for life sentences for anyone engaging in gay sex and carries the death penalty for some crimes, such as same-sex sexual assault of children or disabled people.
UT passed a bill that requires kids under age 18 to obtain permission from guardians to use social media and another bill prohibiting kids from using social media between the hours of 10:30pm and 6:30am. Lawmakers in AR, TX, OH, LA and NJ are advancing similar proposals.
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
A Black Lotus Magic: The Gathering card sold for $540K at auction, breaking the previous record of $510K from an auction 2 yrs ago. It’s an impressive figure, but it suggests the market for collectible trading cards has stabilized after years of explosive growth.
Major League Baseball is far more dependent on revenue from regional broadcast networks than any of the major US sports leagues. The org believes that the entire regional sports network model is going to fail and is now looking to restructure its distribution model. Despite this dependence, the average value of an MLB team increased by 12% to $2.3B. The Yankees are the most valuable franchise at a value of $7.1B.
A 60-yr-old man from Tampa did 3,264 pushups in an hour, breaking a world record.
Bad Bunny’s ex Carliz De La Cruz Hernández is suing the musician for $40M for using her voice in 2 songs without her permission. The songs have ~1B streams on YouTube and Spotify combined and she hasn’t seen a cent from any of the revenue.
Barbara Strick from Mill Valley, CA, won Best in Show at QuiltCon 2023.
A podcaster estimated Taylor Swift covers as much as 2 miles per show (🔒WSJ) - in high heels - during her Eras Tour which spans 44 songs over 3 hrs.
Japan beat the US (3-2) in Miami to win its 3rd World Baseball Classic title.
🏡 Real Estate
According to Redfin, the median US home sale price fell 1.2% in Feb. to ~$386.7K, marking the first year-over-year decline since 2012. San Jose and Austin saw the largest declines at roughly 12x the national pace. About 1 in 7 homes for sale had a price cut. While that’s down from a peak of 22% in the fall, it’s still more than 2x the 5.7% rate of a year earlier.
The Fed's rate hiking campaign has brought activity in the US residential real estate market to a crawl, but prices have barely budged relative to other countries around the world.
The typical US homebuyer made a down payment of $42.4K in Jan., the lowest number in almost 2 yrs. The median down payment is now 10% of the purchase price of the house, off its pandemic-era peak of 17.5% (~$65K) in May 2022.
According to real estate data firm ATTOM, 407.4K single family homes and condos in the US were flipped in 2022, up 14% from 2021 and 58% from 2020. The number of homes flipped by investors last year represented 8.4% of all home sales, the largest figure since at least 2005. Averrage gross profit was $67.9K, which was down 3% from 2021. ROI was 26.9% last year, compared with 32.6% in 2021.
In Jan., new home sales accounted for 27% of all homes sold in the US. Historically, new home sales accounted for ~11% of total inventory.
The average home renovation in the US now takes 79 days (🔒WSJ), about 259% longer than the same period in 2019.
🌎 Society
At 31.1%, Portland, OR, has the highest share of single men with cats (aka ‘cat dads’), while Miami had the lowest share (11.2%).
NC saw a nearly 16% spike in teachers quitting between this school year and last — the highest rate among the 8 states reporting teacher turnover data. Nearly 5.5K more teachers left between Sep. 2021 and Sep. 2022, compared to that same period in 2019 and 2020. Around 7% of NC principals also left their roles in the 2021-2022 school year.
A new study found that Americans' IQs dropped in 4 out of 5 categories from 2006 to 2018. The only category that did not decline was 3D rotation (spatial reasoning). Prior to 2006, IQ scores have steadily increased by roughly 3-5 pts per decade.
Nearly 4 out of 5 US parents do not feel confident that their children’s generation will be better than their own (🔒WSJ). Fewer than 3 in 10 agreed that people like them and their family have a good chance of improving their standard of living. Some 56% of respondents said that a 4-yr college degree wasn’t worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with heavy debt.
According to the annual report by the American Library Association, in 2022, there were 1,269 attempts to ban books in libraries and schools in the US. That’s the highest number of complaints in the 20-yr history of the study and more than double the volume of the prior year.
Men hold almost 3 in 4 science and engineering positions in the US. Close to 2 in 3 are occupied by white people. People with at least 1 disability account for about 1 in 4 of the US population, yet hold only 3% of science jobs.
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
A new study found that there are nearly 3.8K animals from 419 different species in 142 of Japan’s exotic animal cafes (🔒NYT). Of those species, 52 are on the brink of extinction and 9 are banned from international trade. Of all the species, 62% were birds with owls alone making up 40%.
The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges all industrialized countries to move up their net zero emissions targets from 2050 to “as close as possible to 2040,” citing a litany of indications that climate change is already severe and causing human suffering.
Ford recalled more than 1.2M of its vehicles (Ford Fusions and Lincoln MKZs sold between 2013 and 2018) over a serious issue with its brake fluid hoses. Honda recalled about 448.6K US vehicles because the driver and front passenger seatbelt may not latch correctly.
Researchers have discovered the first example of a single shape that can cover a surface with an infinite pattern that never repeats: a 13-sided shape called “the hat.”
In the biggest study of its kind, researchers sequenced ancient genomes from the remains of 89 individuals unearthed from 29 archaeological sites across the Tibetan Plateau and found that Tibet’s first settlers arrived from East Asia at least 5K yrs ago.
A new investigation suggests that the global demand for the “anti-aging” ingredient collegen is linked to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
A new study found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 is more likely to share prominent false narratives more frequently and more persuasively — when prompted — than its predecessor GPT-3.5. The responses also included fewer disclosures.
Microsoft’s Bing search engine and Edge browser are now equipped with OpenAI’s Dall-E which can generate images from text prompts.
Adobe launched its own text-to-image AI tool called Firefly. In a demo, Adobe showed how one might take a picture of a summer scene and type “change scene to winter day” to alter the image without any editing by the user.
Dodge unveiled its 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170, which boasts 1,025 hp and has optional parachute attachments. It will be the last gas-powered muscle car from the company.
Facing a demographic crisis, the government officials in Guixi, China, launched a dating app that uses AI to match compatible strangers to go on a blind date.
Argentinian mathematician Luis Caffarelli won the 2023 Abel Prize for his work on differential equations.
How scientists are using AI to understand whales (21 min. video).
Art collective MSCHF created a free dating simulator, called Tax Heaven 3000, to help single-filers do their taxes in the US. It’s expected to launch on Apr. 4.
The 5,000-mile wide seaweed bloom, spanning 2x the width of the continental US and weighing an estimated 12M tons, will reach the shores of Miami between May and Jun. It’s already washing up in Key West and Fort Lauderdale. The bloom will spare beaches in Tampa Bay which are suffering from red tide.
A data visualization of the past and present drought severity in CA.
Japanese researchers analyzed dirt retrieved from an asteroid ~186M miles from Earth and found traces of uracil (🔒Reuters), 1 of 4 RNA bases that are considered building blocks for life.
A new study estimated that there are more than 170T pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans.
Scientists launched a machine learning and computer vision competition called the Vesuvius Challenge to read the Herculaneum Papyri. The grand prize winner will receive $700K.
Epic Games unveiled its new AI motion capture tool called MetaHuman Animator which can virtually create and animate facial models in minutes.
A Chinese startup created a ~$38 long-distance kissing machine called Mua which users plug into their phone’s charging ports and pair them using an app. The company received 20K orders within 2 weeks of its release.
Austrailian scientists discovered a new “super-sized” species of trapdoor spiders. Females can live up to 20 yrs. in the wild and grow up to 5cm long.
The largest-ever forecasting study asked more than 100 teams of social scientists to make monthly predictions about social phenomena, like political polarization and life satisfaction, and they were no more accurate than those made by large groups of lay people. Scientists made slightly better predictions in their field of expertise, and multi-disciplinary teams tended to do better overall.
At least 23 people were killed after a tornado and strong thunderstorms swept across MS on Fri. Dozens more were injured and at least 4 are missing.
Wishing you a productive week
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