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Good morning, it's Tuesday, July 14. Japan is building a new spy agency, and someone will become the proud owner of a gigantic T. rex named Gus today. First time reading? Join over 4.7 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
Also in today's Digest: police investigate a World Cup player's death (Sports, Ent., & Cult.), neuroscientists predict kids' future social lives (Sci. & Tech.), why your 40s are your new primetime (Etc.), and much more.
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Need To Know
Japanese Spy Revival
Japan is building its first centralized intelligence agency since World War II as it struggles to combat espionage attempts by China, Russia, and North Korea, a report revealed yesterday. The effort is being supported by agencies in Germany, Australia, and the US.
The country’s intelligence program dates back to the late 1800s, when a loose network of spies decoded cables in the 1904-05 war with Russia (see history). In the 1920s and ‘30s, the country’s internal police force—the Tokko—rounded up tens of thousands of political dissidents. After Japan’s postwar defeat, the country adopted a pacifist constitution and dismantled its defense and intelligence infrastructure, relying on the US for both.
Japan set aside $407M for the new agency, which plans to be up and running by December and will be led by Japan’s prime minister. Japanese leaders have also begun rebuilding the country's defense infrastructure, allocating a record $58B this year for defense.
Cosmic Sugar Rush
Scientists have discovered a sugar molecule common in raspberries and self-tanning products inside clouds of dust and gas near the Milky Way's center. The finding suggests some of life's raw ingredients may have formed in space.
Astronomers previously found simpler sugar-like molecules, but erythrulose is the most complex and the first to meet the chemical definition of a true sugar—a molecule with at least three carbon atoms. Scientists identified erythrulose, which has four carbon atoms, by matching its unique radio-wave signature to lab measurements, much like a fingerprint. The technique lets astronomers catalog chemicals without collecting samples. See how scientists identify the composition of celestial matter here (w/video).
Sugars are essential to life, serving as an energy source and building blocks for DNA and RNA. Erythrulose isn't used by living organisms but can be converted into important sugars. Researchers estimate millions of tons of erythrulose may have rained onto Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment roughly 4 billion years ago.
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Gus Goes to Auction
One of the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever found—known as "Gus"—goes up for auction this morning with a $19M starting bid. Some experts expect the hammer price to more than double, making Gus one of the most expensive dinosaurs ever sold. See images.
Commercial paleontologists began excavating Gus in 2021 on a private ranch within South Dakota's Hell Creek Formation, where over 95% of T. rex museum specimens have been discovered. Measuring about 12.5 feet tall and 38 feet long, the skeleton suggests Gus was a very large creature that lived roughly 67 million years ago. The paleontologists spent two years hand-digging roughly 7,000 square feet to recover about 61% of Gus' bones—an exceptional amount, since even a 50% recovery rate is considered rare.
The current record for a dinosaur auction belongs to Apex, a stegosaurus sold to billionaire investor Ken Griffin for $44.6M. The specimen is on loan to New York's American Natural History Museum through late 2028.
In The Know
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Sam Neill, New Zealand screen actor who played paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in "Jurassic Park," dies at age 78 months after announcing he was cancer-free (More) | See Neill's most memorable roles (More, w/videos)
> Jordan Walker wins the MLB's Home Run Derby with 12 home run hits; the All-Star Game is tonight at 8 pm ET (More) | ... and the average MLB fastball velocity hits an all-time high for the sixth straight season (More)
> Police investigate death of South Africa soccer player Jayden Adams, weeks after he helped the nation reach its first-ever World Cup knockout stage (More) | France and Spain meet in the semifinals at 3 pm ET; see results from past matchups (More)
1440 x Men in Blazers: Follow the final World Cup rounds with the most in-depth daily coverage (Sign up)
Science & Technology
> Engineers develop paint-on electrodes that could one day power heart monitors, robotic prosthetics, and more wearable health technology—while letting users create designs ranging from sharks to foxes (More, w/photos)
> Children's brain responses to seeing emotional faces may predict future social life quality; girls with greater amygdala activity were more socially engaged, while the opposite was observed for boys (More) | Amygdala 101 (More, w/video)
> Distant exoplanets may harbor water in deep sinks that lie beyond the James Webb Space Telescope's reach, based on new readings of atmospheric data (More)
How dreams work: Tomorrow's 1440 Health & Medicine explores what's happening in our brains while we snooze. See last week's newsletter on phobias and join 125,000+ readers here (see box at top of page)!
In partnership with EnergyX
How Texas Will Become a Lithium Powerhouse
Texas made history. EnergyX commissioned the largest lithium production demo facility of its kind in the state, an emerging lithium hotspot.
America may need up to 5X more lithium by 2040. But supply deficits are already forming, with Morgan Stanley projecting an 80K-ton shortage this year. EnergyX's patented technology produces up to 3X more lithium than usual methods at 500X the speed. They have rights to ~50K acres of lithium-rich Texas land with 3M+ untapped tons, part of a global portfolio with up to 15M+ tons.
General Motors, POSCO, and 50K+ investors have backed EnergyX. Join them by Thursday.*
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -1.6%) as Wall Street braces for this week's earnings season kickoff (More) | How to read and understand a company's earnings report, simplified (More, w/video)
> Twelve states, led by California, sue to block Paramount Skydance's $111B purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on antitrust grounds; DOJ approved the merger last month (More) | A visual timeline of 100 years of Hollywood mergers (More)
> President Donald Trump proposes 20% toll on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz; the US will also reimpose blockade of Iranian ports near the strait (More) | Mapping the world's key maritime chokepoints (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appoints late Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill his Senate seat through the end of his term (More) | Who might run to fill the seat in January? (More)
> ICE agent fatally shoots a 26-year-old Colombian man in Maine; Department of Homeland Security alleges the man was using his vehicle as a weapon (More)
> Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth creates joint task force with Justice Department to crack down on leaks; announcement comes days after New York Times reporters were subpoenaed over a story about Air Force One (More) | Read the article (More)
In-Depth
> It's Not X ... It's Y
The Atlantic | Will Oremus. This rhetorical device is no longer rare ... it's ubiquitous, and a telltale sign of AI writing. What are negative parallels, and how did they become irresistible to chatbots? (Read)
> Skill Nostalgia
Aeon | Joshua Habgood-Coote. Many of us romanticize slow, artisanal work like knitting, pottery, and baking. Is it a response to our fears of social change? (Read)
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Etcetera
Explosive diarrhea forces restaurants to change their menus.
Watch a mother seal give her baby a swimming lesson.
Pitbull got 22,141 people to wear bald caps, a new world record.
Medieval brides and grooms didn't always go to their weddings.
DNA just cracked a Revolutionary War-era cold case.
Will this underrated Portuguese town become a new hotspot?
Why 40-somethings aren't middle-aged—they're in their prime.
Quantitative proof that students may be using AI to cheat on exams.
In partnership: A key lithium deadline investors have their eyes on for Thursday.*
Clickbait: Who wins in a standoff: a cat or a cobra?
Historybook: Revolutionaries in France storm the Bastille (1789); Archaeologist and spy Gertrude Bell born (1868); President Gerald Ford born (1913); Howard Hughes' crew breaks record with 91-hour flight around the world (1938); NASA's New Horizons probe completes flyby of Pluto (2015).
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*Disclosure: Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (“EnergyX”) has engaged 1440 Media to publish this communication in connection with EnergyX’s ongoing Regulation A offering. 1440 Media has been paid in cash and may receive additional compensation. 1440 Media and/or its affiliates do not currently hold securities of EnergyX. This compensation and any current or future ownership interest could create a conflict of interest. Please consider this disclosure alongside EnergyX’s offering materials. EnergyX’s Regulation A offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers and sales may be made only by means of the qualified offering circular. Before investing, carefully review the offering circular, including the risk factors. The offering circular is available at invest.energyx.com/. Comparisons to other companies are for informational purposes only and should not imply similar results. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Market shortfall are forward‑looking estimates and are subject to substantial uncertainty.
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