Good morning. It's Monday, Feb. 8, and we're covering Super Bowl LV, coronavirus variants, and a natural disaster in India. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Champa Bay

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy last night, dominating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl LV.

While the victory further cemented quarterback Tom Brady's Hall of Fame credentials, the story of the night was Tampa Bay's tenacious defense, which held the dynamic Chiefs offense to just three field goals. For Kansas City's star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, it was the first time since high school that a team he led failed to score a touchdown.

Brady threw for just over 200 yards and three touchdowns, en route to his record-breaking fifth Super Bowl MVP. The win marks Brady's seventh title and his first in Tampa, after leaving the New England Patriots last year. Before acquiring Brady, the Buccaneers went 7-9 last season, while the Patriots fell to 7-9 this season after his departure. For Tampa Bay, it's their second title in franchise history and the first since 2002.  

The city of Tampa has had an exceptional sports year—the Devil Rays made the World Series in October while the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in September.  

B.1.1.7

COVID-19 cases in the US continue to fall, with the seven-day rolling average for new cases dropping to around 120,000 (see data), down more than 50% from the country's mid-January peak. Experts largely attribute the drop to post-holiday behavior, with inoculation rates too low to make a significant impact at this point. 

Separately, preliminary—but inconclusive—data suggest the variant B.1.1.7 may have a higher mortality rate than other strains. Researchers caution it is unclear whether the variant, first seen in the United Kingdom, is more deadly or whether it is spreading more quickly to vulnerable populations.

To date, current vaccines have shown a drop in efficacy against the new strain, but remain effective. As of last week, just over 600 cases involving the variant had been reported in the US—but the vast majority of tests do not involve genetic sequencing and the reported cases span 33 states, suggesting significant community transmission. Take an in-depth look at B.1.1.7 here.

In related news, South Africa suspended its rollout of a vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University after a small-scale study showed it was less effective in preventing mild and moderate cases involving a separate variant (B.1.351).

The US has reported 463,477 COVID-19 deaths as of this morning. More than 41 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 9.1 million people receiving their second shots. 

Editor's note: In Friday's edition, we incorrectly implied both currently available vaccines must be stored at ultracold temperatures. While the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be held near minus 100 degrees (requiring dry ice), the Moderna vaccine only requires standard freezer temperatures. 

Glacial Lake Outburst

At least 18 people were killed and more than 165 others left missing after a part of a glacier broke off in northern India, causing rapid flooding and sending an avalanche of debris into nearby hydropower plants. 

The disaster occurred in Uttarakhand, one of the country's northernmost states, situated on the southern slope of the Himalayan mountains. Early reports suggest the event is what is known as a glacial lake outburst—essentially when a wall of ice, holding back a large body of water and debris, fails. The break came from a glacier on Nanda Devi, the second-highest peak in India and one of the 25 highest mountains in the world.

The region is prone to flash floods and landslides; almost 6,000 people were killed after torrential rainfall in 2013, an event dubbed the "Himalayan tsunami." See video of water and debris careening through a canyon 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 19,059%. 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 1,532%.

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 what their team believes is 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 2/4/2021

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Christopher Plummer, Oscar-, Emmy-, and Tony-winning acting legend known for “The Sound of Music,” dies at 91 (More) | Former heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic gold medal winner Leon Spinks dies at 67 of cancer (More)

> Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wins NFL MVP for third time (More) | Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson among eight selected to 2021 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (More) | San Antonio to host entire women’s NCAA basketball tournament (More)

> Fox Business cancels “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” its highest-rated show, a day after Dobbs and Fox News were named in $2.7B defamation lawsuit by voting software company Smartmatic (More)

Science & Technology

> United Arab Emirates' Martian orbiter set to arrive tomorrow, beginning the busiest two-week period in the human exploration of Mars; Chinese mission arrives Wednesday, while a NASA rover lands next week (More)

> Google to shift from third-party cookies, used to record browsing behavior and sell advertising, to a machine learning-based targeting system (More) | What is federated learning of cohorts (More)?

> Gut fungi help develop innate immune system response against more dangerous relatives, new study shows; research adds to the understanding of the complex relationship of the gut with overall health (More)

Business & Markets

Brought to you by The Ascent

> US economy adds 49,000 jobs in January, unemployment rate falls to 6.3% (More)

> Cuba to allow small private businesses to operate in more than 2,000 fields, a significant increase from the 127 fields previously allowed (More) | Reports say Thomas Donohue to step down as CEO of US Chamber of Commerce, one of America's largest and most influential lobbying groups (More)

> Kuaishou, Chinese social media platform similar to TikTok, soars 161% in first-day trading after pricing the world’s largest IPO since 2019 (More) | Luckin Coffee—known as the “Starbucks of China”—files for bankruptcy in US after admitting to fabricating sales figures last year (More)

From our partners: Save $2,255 in interest charges alone with this impressive credit card. Earn 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for a market-leading 18 months, so you can spend the next year and a half with less stress. Learn more today.

Politics & World Affairs

> Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump set to begin in earnest tomorrow; Democrats allege Trump incited Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump lawyers expected to argue the process is unconstitutional (More)

> House passes budget resolution paving way for Biden administration's $1.9T stimulus proposal; details still being negotiated (More) | Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says package may drive inflation; see argument and counterpoints here (More)

> George Shultz, influential diplomat and secretary of state under former President Ronald Reagan, dies at 100; Shultz also led the Treasury Department under former President Richard Nixon (More)

 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 584% 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 1,532%, beating the markets over 14 times! Read their report today about a stock pick that both David and Tom recently made.

Returns as of 2/4/2021

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ETCETERA

Remembering the Orangeburg Massacre (53 years ago today).

The best (and worst) commercials from Super Bowl LV.

Watch Captain Sarah Kociuba lead the Super Bowl's stealth bomber flyover.

Ranking the 30 best comedies of all time.

Check out Australia's planned whale-shaped marine observatory.

Photos of Sistine Chapel reopening for business.

... and the past year's best travel photography.

Christie's to auction off 72 meteorites.

Harvard astronomer argues aliens have already visited Earth. 

Clickbait: Cat missing in San Antonio, Texas; orange, striped, and weighs about 200 pounds.

Historybook: Author Jules Verne born (1828); Boy Scouts of America is founded (1910); Hollywood legend Lana Turner born (1921); Actor James Dean born (1931); NASDAQ stock market index opens (1971).

"Gratification comes in the doing, not in the results."

- James Dean

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