Good morning, it's Tuesday, Dec. 1. We've made it to the final month of 2020 and there's a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Moderna Vaccine

Biotechnology giant Moderna formally requested emergency authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine from US and European regulators yesterday, becoming the second vaccine in the West to be considered for use. The request followed full results from an accelerated 30,000-person trial showing the treatment to be more than 94% effective. 

Many have highlighted the logistical challenges around vaccine distribution. Similar to the treatment from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, Moderna's drug must be shipped and stored at low temperatures—though it requires conventional freezer temperatures, whereas Pfizer's drug must be kept at an ultracold minus 100 degrees. Shipping giant UPS has begun investing in the production of dry ice, which can reach nearly minus 109 degrees—but also gives off gaseous carbon dioxide, limiting how much can be shipped at once. The CDC has estimated distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will cost upward of $6B. 

The Food and Drug Administration is meeting to review Pfizer's emergency authorization request Dec. 10. A review date for Moderna's vaccine has not been set. High-priority groups in the US—most notably, front-line health care workers and the elderly—are expected to begin receiving doses by the end of the month. 

Overseas, a Chinese whistleblower leaked documents alleging to show how the government mishandled the early days of the pandemic, between October 2019 and February 2020. 

The US has reported a total of 13.55 million cases as of this morning, with 268,087 deaths. See rolling averages here and here.

Protein Folding

Google's DeepMind has demonstrated a breakthrough ability to predict complex protein structures based on nothing more than the molecule's string of amino acid building blocks. The achievement nearly solves one of biology's grand challenges, known as the protein folding problem.

Proteins—complex molecules made of hundreds of amino acids (video explainer)—are the building blocks of life. Every cell contains thousands of proteins, each with different tasks. The structure of a protein determines how it interacts with the machinery around it, and misfolded proteins can manifest as crippling diseases. Because of the large number of possible arrangements, it is nearly impossible to guess what a protein's ideal structure is—and even then, laborious X-ray or electron imaging techniques must be used to determine it. The ability to return results in hours is expected to dramatically impact drug discovery and our understanding of diseases. 

Check out the team's AlphaFold program in-depth here.

Reapportionment

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday over plans by the Trump administration to exclude unauthorized immigrants from population counts used to determine the number of congressional districts in each state. 

Known as reapportionment (see 101), the process determines how many of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to each state, with the number received proportional to the state's population. The math is carried out every 10 years, using data from the decennial census. Under the proposed policy, California, Florida, and Texas would each lose a seat relative to projections based only on total population, while Ohio, Alabama, and Minnesota would gain a seat. However, it's unclear how the proposal would be executed—the census contained no question on citizenship.

Justices appeared hesitant to block the policy before the updated numbers are submitted to Congress in January. See background on the case here.

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LIKE BUYING NETFLIX IN 2007?

What do Netflix and an internet company 1/50th the size of Google have in common? Well, for starters, they're both smaller than Google (ha!). But they also both have a special connection with our pals, Tom and David Gardner.

The Gardner brothers founded The Motley Fool back in 1993, and every month since then, Tom and David have searched far and wide with their independent teams to release their most promising stock picks. Because these teams work entirely independently of each other, their picks are—more often than not—very different. But every once in a while, they'll arrive at the same recommendation. Which brings us back to Netflix. Back in 2007, both Tom and David recommended the little-known DVD-subscription site, and returns have been a whopping 16,970%. In fact, their teams have only arrived at the same pick 27 times in the entire history of The Motley Fool, with average returns of 1,352%.

And recently, Tom and David arrived at another pick independently. Like we hinted at, it's a small internet company roughly 1/50th the size of Google, with massive potential to grow within the entertainment advertising space. Motley Fool Stock Advisor members can check out the report for free—sign up now.

Returns as of 11/18/2020

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

Brought to you by Curiada

> San Francisco 49ers temporarily relocate to Arizona due to Santa Clara County’s three-week ban on contact sports (More) | Dec. 26 NFL game to stream exclusively on Amazon's Twitch (More) | ... and a playoff game will simulcast on Freeform, a cable network targeted at young women (More)

> South Korean pop group BTS joins Taylor Swift as second act in Billboard history to debut a song and album at No. 1 on the charts in the same week (More)

> Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai, who led the repeal of net neutrality, to step down Jan. 20 (More) | What is net neutrality? (More)

Discover artisan spirits. Curiada showcases excellent but lesser-known craft brands from small, independent producers and distillers, then ships them straight to your home. Curiada is a great holiday gift; enjoy their wide (and growing) collection of spirits for $10 off with code 1440. #Ad

Science & Technology

> First-ever Alzheimer's blood test becomes commercially available; tests are meant to supplement more expensive brain scans and offer potential early diagnosis before symptoms appear (More)

> Ancient rock paintings discovered in Colombian rainforest depicting ice age animals; stretching across 8 miles, the find is being hailed as the "Sistine Chapel of the ancients" (More)

> European Union greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 24% since 1990, with an expected 8% drop in 2020 due to the pandemic-induced economic slowdown (More)

Business & Markets

> S&P Global and IHS Markit announce $44B merger combining two of the largest financial data firms (More)

> General Motors and electric carmaker Nikola revise agreement, GM will no longer take equity stake in exchange for services; Nikola shares crater 25% (More)

> Facebook to acquire customer service tool provider Kustomer for $1B (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Arizona and Wisconsin certify their votes, giving President-elect Joe Biden wins by roughly 10,400 and 20,500 votes, respectively (More) | Biden to nominate Center for American Progress chief Neera Tanden as budget director; confirms Janet Yellen as treasury pick (More)

> Iranian security official contradicts previous reports, says the country's top nuclear scientist was killed by a remote electronic device, not gunmen (More)

> Dr. Scott Atlas steps down as President Trump's coronavirus adviser; Atlas had sparked backlash for supporting herd immunity strategy to fight the pandemic (More)

IN-DEPTH

Can Detroit Catch Tesla?

IEEE Spectrum | Steven Cherry. Many auto executives have eyed 2025 as the tipping point for the US electric vehicle market, an industry in which Tesla currently has a wide lead. But General Motors, betting on splashy new battery technology, believes it's primed to win the second wave. (Read/Listen)

America's Deadliest Serial Killer

Washington Post | Staff. How Samuel Little—who admitted to at least 93 murders—went undetected for more than four decades. (Read, $$)

The $2B Mall Rats

Esquire | Ian Frisch. How three hedge fund managers went against Wall Street convention, placing a billion-dollar bet on the demise of the American shopping mall. (Read)

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

In partnership with The Motley Fool

You probably don't want to compete with David and Tom Gardner—cofounders of The Motley Fool—on stock portfolio performance. Together, they average 514% returns, beating the S&P 500 by roughly five times. But what's better than a stock pick from David or Tom?

You got it: a stock pick from both David and Tom. When they both pick the same stock independently, average returns have been 1,352%, beating the markets over 12 times! Read their report today about a stock pick that both David and Tom recently made.

Returns as of 11/18/2020

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ETCETERA

Today is Giving Tuesday—find resources near you.

The mystery of the desert metal monolith may have been solved.

... while another one appears in Romania.

The year's most mesmerizing nighttime landscape photos. 

Five mega-trends accelerated by the pandemic.

Have a dollar? Buy yourself an idyllic Italian home. 

Man rescued after two days at sea, found 90 miles from shore.

Twelve-year-old boy genius accepted at Georgia Tech, has eyes on Mars.

New electronic skin mimics the functions of normal human skin.

Clickbait: Where you can buy and sell faces.

Historybook: First moving assembly line introduced by Ford Motor Company (1913); Rosa Parks arrested in Alabama for refusing to give up her bus seat (1955);  RIP author and activist James Baldwin (1987); World AIDS Day commemorated for first time (1988).

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

- James Baldwin

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