Good morning. It's Tuesday, Oct. 21, and we're covering a global disruption to millions of websites, fewer children with peanut allergies, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
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A failure in Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure knocked more than a thousand websites and apps offline for hours yesterday morning, with reports of spotty service persisting throughout the day. Platforms affected ranged from apps like Snapchat to Venmo, as well as the British government’s website.
Amazon Web Services provides clients with computing power, data storage, and other infrastructure to host web applications—eliminating the need for companies to maintain their own costly physical servers (watch explainer). Yesterday’s global outage originated at a data center campus in Northern Virginia, renewing concerns among experts about centralized internet infrastructure. AWS is the world's leading infrastructure provider, with roughly 30% of the market share. Microsoft's Azure and Google Cloud trail at 20% and 13%, respectively.
The AWS outage has drawn comparisons to the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage, which affected about 8.5 million Windows systems and cost Fortune 500 clients over $5B. |
New food allergies in the US have dropped 36% in 10 years, according to a study published yesterday in Pediatrics. The drop follows a 2015 landmark trial on peanuts and shifting national guidance on early introduction to food allergens.
Researchers analyzed electronic health records for roughly 125,000 children from 48 pediatric practices across the US. They looked at cohorts of children ages 0-3 before and after a 2015 trial found feeding peanut products to babies cut their allergy risk by over 80%. Guidance was updated later that year to encourage early introduction of peanuts to high-risk children; today parents are encouraged to introduce peanuts and eight other common allergens to children as early as four months old, regardless of risk level.
By 2020, an estimated 57,000 fewer children developed food allergies alongside the evolving recommendations, according to yesterday's study, as pediatric practices slowly update their guidance to parents. Read the full study here. |
The 2025-26 NBA season gets underway tonight, starting with the Houston Rockets visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 pm ET, NBC/Peacock) in a game featuring superstar Kevin Durant's Rockets debut. The action continues with the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers (10 pm ET, NBC/Peacock).
Top storylines entering the 80th season include Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton sidelined for the year after tearing their Achilles tendons, shaking up the Eastern Conference. On the rookie front, Dallas debuts No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Meanwhile, LeBron James begins his record 23rd season chasing a fifth championship while the Thunder look to defend their title. See all storylines here.
For the first time in over two decades, the NBA has overhauled its broadcast partners. Prime Video and Peacock replace TNT, while NBC joins ESPN/ABC on a rotating schedule. Fans who want to catch every game online may need multiple streaming services, estimated to cost nearly $1K. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Toronto Blue Jays clinch ALCS title with 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7, setting up World Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday (More) |
> Police say former NFL running back Doug Martin, 36, died after a struggle with officers attempting to detain him during a home break-in Saturday in Oakland, California; no other details were released (More) |
> Broadway actors reach tentative labor deal with commercial producers; musicians' union still negotiating to avert strike (More) | Ticketmaster to ban multiple accounts and shutter resale software in response to federal lawsuit alleging collusion with brokers (More) |
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> Federal regulators launch probe into Waymo robotaxis following reports one of the Alphabet-owned company's autonomous vehicles drove around a stopped school bus in Atlanta (More) |
> Researchers develop chip implant and glasses that partially restored vision to patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration—first eye prosthesis to give functional sight to those with incurable vision loss (More) |
> Scientists discover blood marker of multiple sclerosis present years before symptoms appear, potentially enabling earlier diagnosis and treatment (More) |
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In partnership with Surfshark |
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Remember when “pop-ups” meant toys, not annoying ads? Back when the only thing tracking you was your neighbor’s nosy cat? Today’s internet is loud, cluttered, and secretly collecting your data.
CleanWeb from Surfshark is the digital bouncer you never knew you needed. It blocks ads, trackers, and malware. Just one install, and boom — pages load faster, creepy banners disappear, and your browsing feels like the internet used to: clean, simple, and yours.
1440 readers can get it now for just $1.99/month (87% off), plus, enjoy 3 extra months free. |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.1%, Dow +1.1%, Nasdaq +1.4%) (More) | Apple shares close at record after iPhone 17 series outsell iPhone 16 in the US and China within first 10 days of availability (More) |
> The US and Australia sign critical mineral deal that includes plans for up to $8.5B in projects (More) | What are critical minerals? (1440 Topics) |
> OpenEvidence—3-year-old startup likened to ChatGPT for doctors—raises $200M at a $6B valuation; now reports 15 million consultations per month (More) |
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> Colombia recalls its ambassador to the US amid ongoing tensions over drug trafficking allegations and US military strikes (More) | Bolivia elects centrist as president, ending 20 years of socialist government (More) |
> At least six universities reject Education Department compact offering preferential access to federal funding in exchange for adhering to list of commitments, including on international student enrollment, transgender participation in sports (More) |
> Supreme Court agrees to consider whether people who regularly smoke marijuana can legally own a firearm (More) |
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> Between Sleeping and Wakefulness
Quanta | Yasemin Saplakoglu. The process of falling asleep is intricate, and has inspired artists and creatives including Salvador Dalí and Thomas Edison. What happens to our brain during this transition phase? (More) |
> The Ghost Hunter
Lit Hub | Ben Machell. For decades, Tony Cornell was one of the world's most prolific parapsychologists. He investigated alleged supernatural events with a steady hand—and a stream of questions. (More) |
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Historybook: USS Constitution first launched (1797); Inventor Alfred Nobel, founder of Nobel Prizes, born (1833); Actress Carrie Fisher born (1956); Guggenheim Museum opens to the public (1959); Poet and novelist Jack Kerouac dies (1969); Kim Kardashian born (1980).
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