Crude Breakup, Olfactory Map, and Infrasound Hauntings

 Need To Know 

A Slick Exit

The United Arab Emirates announced yesterday it will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, effective May 1, citing national interests and a desire for greater autonomy over its energy policy. The move signals a reshaping of Middle Eastern alliances exacerbated by the Iran war.

The 12-member group sets prices for more than a quarter of the world’s oil by imposing production quotas on its members. Before the Iran war, the UAE was OPEC’s third-largest oil producer, accounting for 3.6 million barrels per day, or 12% of the group’s total output. The country now aims to produce 5 million barrels per day by 2027. The announcement heightens tensions with Saudi Arabia, already strained over differing policies on Israel and Yemen (hear why they're feuding).

OPEC was founded in 1960, with Abu Dhabi joining seven years later. Today, the group includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela. Watch a 15-minute video on how oil has shaped global power.

Sackler Sentencing

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma was sentenced yesterday in its long-running opioid criminal case, clearing the way for a settlement that includes a $225M forfeiture to the Justice Department and a broader deal that could reach $7B over 15 years.  Purdue will also be dissolved and replaced by a new company, Knoa Pharma.

The sentencing follows years of litigation and a 2020 guilty plea in which Purdue admitted it failed to stop its painkillers from being diverted to the black market and used doctor-speaker programs to drive prescriptions. Under the settlement, the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, will pay state, local, and tribal governments, along with some individual victims, while family members who agree to the terms will be shielded from opioid lawsuits.

Opioid overdoses killed about 806,000 people in the US from 1999 through 2023. In 2023, about 76% of US drug overdose deaths involved opioids—averaging 217 people daily. Purdue's portion is roughly 12.8% of national opioid settlements (see tracker).

From ancient ritual to national crisis, listen to the history of opioids.

🫶 Humankind: CEO sisters provide an up to $3K monthly child care stipend and hope more businesses will do the same for working parents.

Smell, Mapped at Last

Scientists have created the first-ever map of smell receptors in the nose, according to a study published yesterday. The breakthrough could pave the way for therapies to treat loss of smell, such as stem cell treatments or brain-computer interfaces.

A Harvard team used mice to detail the arrangement of smell receptors in the nose, which bind to odor molecules and send signals to the brain (watch process). The map reveals that the receptors are highly organized, clustering in horizontal bands by type (see map). This layout mirrors the layout of the brain region that interprets smells, providing insights into how signals flow from the nose to the brain. 

For more than three decades, scientists assumed the over 1,000 smell receptor types were randomly arranged, in part because their sheer number made patterns difficult to discern. The latest study is the product of new genetic techniques that enabled the analysis of about 5.5 million neurons across more than 300 mice.

Why can't you smell the inside of your nose? Blame olfactory fatigue. (w/audio)

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach, is first person to plead guilty in sports betting scheme with over 30 arrests (More) | Actor Nathan Chasing Horse receives 37 years to life in prison for 13 charges, including 10 counts of sexual assault (More)

> WNBA star Caitlin Clark to publish a children's book based on her life, expected Nov. 3 (More) | NCAA basketball tournament set to expand to 76 teams, up from 68 (More) | Taylor Swift files three new trademark applications to protect voice and likeness against AI deepfakes, one being "Hey, it's Taylor Swift" (More)

> Tony Wilson, the cofounder, bassist, and songwriter of British band Hot Chocolate, dies at age 89 (More) | Listen to his hit "Brother Louie" (More) | Ariana Grande announces eighth album "Petal," to be released July 31 (More) 

Science & Technology

> Eli Lilly strikes $2.25B deal with AI firm Profluent to create next-generation gene-editing therapies for conditions caused by hundreds of mutations in one gene, like cystic fibrosis (More) | Discover the current leading gene-editing tool (1440 Topics)

> Neanderthal brains may not have differed from those of early modern humans any more than brains vary among ethnic groups today, undermining the theory that Neanderthals went extinct due to cognitive limitations (More) 

> AIDS changes the frequency of immune-system genes in hard-hit region of South Africa, showing natural selection in action; drug intervention eventually slowed the DNA changes (More) | Get weekly deep dives on this and related topics with 1440 Health & Medicine (Sign up here)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close down (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq -0.9%) ahead of today's Federal Reserve interest rate decision (More) | Inside the duck hunt that created the Fed (More) 

> Elon Musk testifies in trial determining the future structure and control of OpenAI, which Musk originally cofounded with Sam Altman in 2015 (More) | How OpenAI was conceived during a dinner in Silicon Valley (More) 

> Visa revenue rises 17% year over year in Q2, its strongest growth since 2022 (More) | New York City's first-ever full-scale casino with live table games opens, expected to generate $4B in annual revenue (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> Justice Department indicts former FBI Director James Comey on allegations of threatening violence against President Donald Trump over May 2025 Instagram post with seashells spelling out "8647" (More, w/photo) | What does "86" mean? (More)

> UK's King Charles III speaks before joint session of Congress, emphasizing historic ties between the US and the UK and environmentalism (More) | Watch highlights from the 30-minute speech, including jokes (More) 

> Germany's birth rate falls to the lowest level ever recorded last year (More) | ... and explore interactive map of fertility rates around the world (More)

Classical, jazz music have become less complex over time.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reshaping the snack aisle.

A phenomenon known as infrasound may explain haunted houses.

Peruse Adidas' pet jersey collection.

See the car with no rear window. 

Photos from 1930s Paris at night.

Four theories for why humans are mostly right-handed.

How to use AI to mask using AI.

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Clickbait: Why did the orangutan cross the road?

Historybook: Jazz legend Duke Ellington born (1899); Singer-songwriter Willie Nelson born (1933); Film director Alfred Hitchcock dies (1980); Los Angeles riots begin following acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King (1992); Prince William and Kate Middleton get married (2011).

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