Good morning. It's Thursday, Feb. 18, and NASA's most advanced Martian rover is set to touch down on the red planet today. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Perseverance Arrives

NASA's Perseverance rover will attempt to land on Mars today, completing a nearly seven-month trip from Earth. It will be the third spacecraft to arrive in the past two weeks; an orbiter from the United Arab Emirates and a Chinese rover both took advantage of the July 2020 launch window (see 101). 

With a $2.7B price tag, the mission's ambitious primary goal is to search for signs of former life on the red planet. The nuclear-powered rover will touch down in Mars' 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater (take a video tour), where geological formations suggest it was once an ancient lake and thus potentially suitable for microbial life.

The vehicle has a plethora of cutting-edge tools, including a foldable helicopter. The copter marks the first-ever attempt at controlled flight on another planet and must operate in an atmosphere 99% less dense than Earth's.

The rover is scheduled to touch down at 3:55 pm ET, but first it must survive seven minutes of terror—the critical entry, descent, and landing phase, which happens without communication from Earth. Watch the landing live here.

Rush Limbaugh Dies

Conservative radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh passed away yesterday at the age of 70 from complications arising from advanced lung cancer. His death came 13 months after his initial diagnosis and almost four months after doctors revealed the disease had become terminal. 

Long considered the most influential voice in conservative talk radio, Limbaugh grew his eponymous "The Rush Limbaugh Show" into the most listened to radio program in the US. Launched in 1988—shortly after the repeal of a policy requiring equal airtime for opposing commentary on matters of public importance—the show expanded to more than 650 affiliate networks, boasting an estimated 20 million monthly listeners ($$, WSJ). Shortly after his initial diagnosis, Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Donald Trump. 

Listen to Limbaugh's wife, Kathryn, make the announcement on yesterday's show here.

Whitey Bulger Handler Released

Ex-FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly, the former handler of James “Whitey” Bulger, was granted a medical release from his 40-year prison sentence yesterday due to a terminal cancer. 

The boss of Boston’s Irish American Winter Hill gang, Bulger provided info for two decades on his mafia rivals (see timeline), with Connolly as his FBI contact. In return, Bulger was effectively given carte blanche and received info on federal investigations from Connolly.  The former agent was convicted of second-degree murder in 2008 for the 1982 killing of businessman John Callahan, who was shot by Winter Hill gang associates after Connolly indicated Callahan was about to implicate them in a separate murder. Connolly was also convicted on racketeering and obstruction of justice charges.

Connolly's relationship with Bulger, who was murdered in prison in 2018, was dramatized in the 2015 film "Black Mass" and partly inspired 2006's "The Departed." 

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FIVE STOCKS FOR 5G

The 5G rollout has begun. Apple released the iPhone 12 late last year, beginning what is likely to be a cycle of ever-increasing speeds, improved reliability, and the oft-mentioned “Internet of Things.”

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

Brought to you by Kettle & Fire

> “Bridgerton” star Regé-Jean Page, inaugural poet Amanda Gorman among 100 emerging leaders named to the 2021 Time100 Next list (More) | See Time's selection criteria (More)

> UK’s Prince Philip, 99, admitted to London hospital as a precautionary measure (More) | Arrest made in a hit-and-run accident that killed rapper Nicki Minaj's father last week (More)

> Women's tennis No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka beats Serena Williams, advances to the Australian Open finals (More) | Men’s tennis No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal knocked out of tourney after five-set quarterfinal loss (More)

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Science & Technology

> Google's Waymo begins limited testing of driverless taxis in San Francisco using employee volunteers; marks the first expansion of tests outside Phoenix, Arizona (More)

> Scientists shatter record for oldest genome ever sequenced; genetic material was retrieved from a permafrost-preserved woolly mammoth tooth believed to be 1.1 million to 1.6 million years old (More)

> New engineered plastic mimics widely used high-density polyethylene, but is fully recyclable at the molecular level using closed-loop (or chemical) recycling (More)

Business & Markets

> US retail sales surge 5.3% in January, showing the first growth in four months; beats expectation of 1.2% growth (More)

> CEO of Robinhood, hedge fund managers, and Reddit traders among individuals to testify on GameStop trading today before the House Financial Services Committee (More)

> Elon Musk's SpaceX raises $850M at $74B valuation (More) | Axiom Space raises $130M to fund production of private space stations (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Death toll from winter storms reaches 30; more than 100 million under winter advisory today as second storm brings icy conditions to the Appalachian region and East Coast (More)

> Federal probe launched into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of long-term care facilities during the pandemic (More) | Seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the US falls to 77,000 per day, with a low of 54,000 reported Monday (More) 

> Facebook to restrict Australian users' ability to share or view news items, citing the country's proposed News Media Bargaining Code; proposal would require Facebook pay per news link posted in users' news feeds (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Richest Black Girl in America

Truly*Adventurous | Lauren Henley. Sarah Rector was 11 years old—in 1913, smack in the middle of Jim Crow America—when a parcel of land allotted to her in Eastern Oklahoma was found to sit on top of an oil geyser, making her an instant millionaire. Here's what followed. (Read)

The Mother of All Squeezes

The Ringer | David Hill. After years of betting on long shot companies, self-described beach bum Mike McCaskill became obsessed with GameStop—before it was cool—and ended up cashing out $25M. (Read)

ONCE IN A DECADE

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Roughly once a decade since 1G in 1979, a new cellular technology has been released. And every time, a select few investors in the rollout have benefited massively.

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ETCETERA

Ninety-year-old Seattle woman walks 6 miles in the snow for her COVID-19 vaccine.

Survey says most teachers back in the classroom are comfortable with it.

Feel crushed at work since the pandemic began? It's not just you.

See New York City's newest skyscraper. 

This Instagram account curates the world's best drone photography.

Thousands of cold-shocked turtles rescued in Texas.

The dinosaur fossil industry is booming.

Don't dump your printer toner in ponds.  

Clickbait: Tornadoes are a mere inconvenience for this Yorkie. 

Historybook: RIP artist Michelangelo (1564); “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” published in the US (1885); Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto (1930); HBD television personality Vanna White (1957); Auto racing legend Dale Earnhardt killed in crash at Daytona 500 (2001).

"You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones."

- Dale Earnhardt

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