9.19.2022

Royal Burial, Hurricane Fiona, and a Two-Headed Turtle Everything you need to know for today in five minutes.

Good morning. It's Monday, Sept. 19, and we're covering Queen Elizabeth II's burial, an intense storm in Puerto Rico, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

 

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NEED TO KNOW

 

A Royal Burial

Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, will be laid to rest today in the vault of St. George's Chapel after 10 days of national mourning. Following a state funeral at Westminster Abbey—the first since Winston Churchill's in 1965—attended by hundreds of world leaders, the queen's coffin will travel 20 miles west to Windsor Castle.

 

Thousands paid their respects since Wednesday while the queen has lain in state in Westminster Hall, with now-famous queue lines lasting as long as 17 hours for some (see time-lapse). Two thousand high-profile guests attended an 11 am service (6 am ET) at Westminster Abbey, where the archbishop of Canterbury gave a sermon and Prime Minister Liz Truss read a lesson. 

 

Once the queen's coffin arrives in Windsor, a committal service will take place at St. George's Chapel at 4 pm (11 am ET), with a private burial scheduled for 7:30 pm. See an overview of the day's schedule here

 

The coronation of King Charles III is slated for 2023. See details on what's next for his reign here.

Hurricane Fiona

Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico yesterday, dropping more than 2 feet of rain in some areas and reportedly knocking out power across the island. As of this morning, one death had been attributed to the storm.

 

A Category 1 storm, Fiona arrived in Puerto Rico almost five years to the day that the island was decimated by Hurricane Maria, which left more than 3,000 dead across the region. The system is the third hurricane in what thus far has been a relatively calm season to date—partly due to excess dry air near Africa disrupting typical atmospheric dynamics. The storm is expected to veer northeast, passing over Bermuda by Thursday (see trajectory). 

 

Separately, hundreds of residents in western Alaska took shelter as the remnants of Typhoon Merbok slammed the coast. See photos and video of the storm surge here.

Ukraine Defends Reclaimed Areas

Russia has expanded its shelling of civilian targets across Ukraine's eastern region in recent days, according to Western intelligence reports, a move that comes in response to a rapid counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces in the country's northeast. The attacks follow a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the recently recaptured town of Izyum—about 50 miles from the Russian border— where evidence of mass graves was reportedly uncovered. 

 

Separately, sources suggest Russia has begun using Iranian-made kamikaze drones (paywall, WSJ), believed to be its first wide-scale deployment of a foreign-made weapons system during the war. The Shahed-136 drones are designed to explode on impact, with each one capable of knocking out single long-rage artillery units (for example, US-supplied howitzers). 

 

In related news, the war in Ukraine is expected to dominate the annual United Nations General Assembly, which begins tomorrow in New York. See more updates here.

In partnership with Ally Robotics

ROBOTS THAT LEARN FROM HUMANS

 

Robots are complex and expensive to program. That’s why so many businesses that need automation still haven’t adopted them.

 

Mitch Tolson, founder and CEO of Ally Robotics, discovered this when he was helping a $500M fast food automation giant achieve global scale. Inspired to take an entirely new approach, Mitch and his team at Ally developed a robot that can eliminate programming altogether. Their bot Iearns by observing and imitating human movement—no coding required. As a result, Ally robots cost 70% less to operate than competing bots, giving businesses access to truly affordable automation for the first time.

 

With first-mover advantage, Tolson and his team are now seeking investment to capture their share of a $114B market, including sectors like agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. Check out their investment opportunity before it closes Sept. 29.

 

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IN THE KNOW

 

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

In partnership with Naadam

> Las Vegas Aces top the Connecticut Sun in Game 4 of the WNBA championship to win the first title in franchise history; guard Chelsea Gray wins Finals MVP (More)

 

> "Phantom of the Opera," Broadway's longest-running show, to close in 2023 after 35 years and nearly 14,000 performances (More)

 

> Canelo Álvarez wins unanimous decision over Gennadiy Golovkin to retain boxing super middleweight title (More) | Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri, 15, becomes youngest ever English Premier League player (More) | See NFL roundup from Week 2 (More)

From our partners: The world's fairest cashmere. Naadam's Recycled Cashmere collection for women & men is made from 70% recycled cashmere and 30% cashmere. They use their own leftover scraps to close the loop on production, and every piece looks and feels like a million bucks. Today, you can enjoy 15% off (some exclusions may apply). Need we say more? Use code 1440DAILY for 15% off.

Science & Technology

> Texas law prohibiting social media platforms from banning users based on political viewpoints goes into effect after federal court lifts injunction; companies have argued they have the right to moderate content under existing federal law (More)

 

> Machine learning platforms design new complex protein structures not found in nature, allowing researchers to create proteins targeted to a variety of medical and other applications (More)

 

> Simulations suggest Saturn's rings were created by a collision between the planet and an ancient moon; the presence of the moon prior to collision may also be responsible for Saturn's current wobbly rotation (More)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close lower Friday (S&P 500 -0.7%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -0.9%); S&P 500 and Nasdaq post worst week since June (More)

 

> FedEx shares fall 21% Friday—the largest single-day drop in company history—after company warns a global recession may be on the horizon (More)

 

> Gautam Adani—founder of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, which operates numerous logistics and energy business lines—passes Jeff Bezos as world’s second richest person with fortune of $147B (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Typhoon Nanmadol makes landfall in southern Japan; millions of residents under evacuation orders as the storm is expected to crawl northeast toward Tokyo (More)

 

> Taiwan hit with 6.9 and 6.5 magnitude earthquakes within the span of 18 hours over the weekend; no fatalities reported as of this morning (More)

 

> European Union proposes cutting $7.5B in developmental funding to member country Hungary, accusing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of undermining democratic institutions (More)

A $114B MARKET OPPORTUNITY

 

In partnership with Ally Robotics

 

Ally Robotics' AI-powered robotic arms are capable of learning simply by watching humans work. It's called "imitation learning" and it slashes costs of leading robotic arm manufacturers by up to 70%.

 

Ally’s technology has already achieved $30M in LOIs to boot, and that’s just the beginning. The potential of this tech is massive, with opportunities for automation in major industries like construction, agriculture, and manufacturing—a $114B total addressable market. Check out the Ally Robotics investment opportunity before it closes on Sept. 29.

 

Please support our sponsors!

ETCETERA

 

America's best fall foliage not in New England

 

Audubon's new global bird migration explorer.

 

"Boomerang kids" are on the rise

 

Recovering addicts are celebrating "soberversaries." 

 

This year's National Toy Hall of Fame candidates

 

Eight TV-inspired cocktails

 

Toronto restaurants receive Michelin ratings for first time.

 

How fire ants form rafts on water

 

Clickbait: A two-headed tortoise receives daily massages.

 

Historybook: President James Garfield dies from gunshot wounds (1881); British cultural icon and model Twiggy born (1949); First-ever underground nuclear test takes place in Nevada (1957); Jimmy Fallon born (1974); Deepwater Horizon oil spill is sealed after five-month oil leak (2010).

 

"Being young isn't about age; it's about being a free spirit."

- Lesley "Twiggy" Lawson

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