Today’s topics

• AI outsmarts CAPTCHA

• 3D-Printed Glass Bricks

• Passport renewals go digital

• Sam Nazarian and Tony Robbins invest in wellness

  and more…

US stocks rose on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 achieving record closes, continuing a winning streak on Wall Street. The Dow increased by over 0.1%, building on its all-time high from Friday, while the S&P 500 edged up more than 0.2% to also set a new record. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.1%. Investors are now looking to comments from Federal Reserve officials and an upcoming inflation report for insights on potential future rate cuts.

Sam Nazarian and Tony Robbins bet big on wellness with The Estate. Hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian and Tony Robbins are launching "The Estate," a wellness-focused venture offering hotels, residences, and longevity centers. Tapping into the $5.6 trillion global wellness industry, the project includes $35,000-a-year memberships. Nazarian, known for iconic venues like the Delano and SLS, is shifting from nightlife to health and preventive medicine.

Passport renewals go digital in the U.S. Americans can now renew their passports online, eliminating the lengthy mail-in process that often caused delays. The State Department's new system, now fully operational, is available to adult passport holders with expired passports or those expiring within the next year. While children’s passports and expedited renewals are excluded, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the convenience of this digital transformation.

Zara to launch secondhand clothing service in U.S. by October. Zara is expanding its "Pre-Owned" platform to the U.S. by the end of October, offering services to sell, repair, or donate secondhand clothes. Already available in 16 European countries, the initiative aims to extend the life of garments and reduce waste. Parent company Inditex plans to roll out the platform in all strategic markets by 2025 as part of its sustainability efforts.

Tamagotchi Makes a Comeback with First UK Store as Sales Soar

The iconic 90s virtual pet, Tamagotchi, is seeing a resurgence. Global sales more than doubled between 2022 and 2023, prompting owner Bandai Namco to open its first-ever UK store. Despite being one of 1996's hottest toys, the brand never had a physical store—until now. Tamagotchi's nostalgic charm appears to be stronger than ever.

AI outsmarts CAPTCHA with 100% accuracy. An AI system developed by Andreas Plesner and colleagues at ETH Zurich has mastered CAPTCHA tests, designed to distinguish humans from bots, with perfect accuracy. After training on thousands of road scene images, the AI model, dubbed YOLO (You Only Look Once), can solve these image-based puzzles used by websites for identity verification. This breakthrough challenges the effectiveness of CAPTCHA in differentiating between humans and bots.

OpenAI's $6.5 billion funding round nears completion amid high demand. OpenAI is nearing the completion of its $6.5 billion fundraising round, with prospective investors awaiting news on their participation. The funding round has been oversubscribed, indicating that demand exceeded the amount the company was willing to accept. Reports suggest that the excess demand reached into the billions, meaning some investors will learn they didn't make the cut.

Apple iPhone 16 launch sees slow sales amid AI feature delay. Apple's iPhone 16 lineup debuted in around 60 countries on Friday, but sales have been lackluster. Analysts suggest that the muted demand stems from the absence of the anticipated Apple Intelligence features at launch. This key selling point will not be available until the upcoming iOS 18.1 update in October, rather than with the initial release of iOS 18. Despite the new models hitting the market, the excitement has been dampened by this delay in innovation.

NASA Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson Returns from ISS Mission

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson has returned to Earth after a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. They safely landed in Kazakhstan early Monday after conducting research, including 3D printing cardiac tissue samples for organ transplants and studying protein crystallization for pharmaceuticals. Dyson also inspired future innovators by using student-designed software to control the station’s free-flying robots.

Rebuilding the Future: 3D-Printed Glass Bricks for Sustainable Construction

Imagine construction materials that could be assembled and disassembled as easily as LEGO bricks. MIT engineers are turning this vision into reality with circular construction—a sustainable method that reduces new material manufacturing by reusing building components. They've developed strong, interlocking bricks made from 3D-printed recycled glass, capable of withstanding pressures like concrete. These glass bricks, designed for reuse, could revolutionize how we build, offering a future of endlessly reconfigurable structures with a smaller carbon footprint.

What is a solar halo? A solar halo is a luminous ring that appears around the sun when sunlight passes through thin, high-altitude clouds. These clouds contain ice crystals that bend or reflect the sunlight, creating the stunning halo effect. It’s a natural phenomenon that transforms the sky into a breathtaking spectacle.

Dolphins form protective circle around whale giving birth. In an extraordinary display of nature, hundreds of dolphins surrounded a whale as she gave birth to protect her from nearby sharks. The dolphins swam in circles around the mother and her newborn, standing guard until both were safe from danger. This remarkable act of solidarity highlights the deep bonds and intelligence found in marine life.

TikTok of the day: watch here

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