Good morning. It's Wednesday, April 15, and we're covering a revived trial over a soccer legend's death, how a $1M painting sold for roughly $117, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.7 million insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.
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Plus, it's Tax Day in the US—and one of the biggest parts of the system may not work the way you think. In a special episode of our flagship podcast, "1440 Explores," we unpack complicated tax brackets and how some of the wealthiest Americans pay less.
🎧 Listen now on Apple | Spotify | YouTube. |
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Argentina has resumed a trial over soccer star Diego Maradona’s death, with seven healthcare workers accused of negligence, almost a year after the first case collapsed when a judge withdrew following a documentary appearance.
Prosecutors say the defendants failed to provide adequate care in the weeks before Maradona died in November 2020 at age 60 of cardiac arrest while recovering from brain surgery. Defense attorneys say Maradona had multiple serious medical conditions and argue that no crime was committed. Defendants—a neurosurgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, doctors, and nurses—face culpable homicide charges, similar to involuntary manslaughter in the US, and could receive eight to 25 years in prison if convicted. A verdict is expected in early June.
Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title and shared the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award with Pelé, is famous for the controversial “Hand of God” goal against England, an illegal handball that was not called in real time (watch the infamous goal). |
Researchers yesterday presented a novel wireless earbud-camera system that lets users talk with an artificial intelligence model about what they're seeing.
Each earbud has a rice-grain-sized camera that captures low-resolution images and sends them to a phone or other nearby device. There, an AI model verbally answers questions about the scene in about one second (watch in action). The prototype—called VueBuds—achieved over 80% accuracy in identifying objects and 93% accuracy in identifying book titles and authors. Due to camera size constraints, the images are in grayscale, so the system cannot yet answer color-related questions. Future studies will explore how VueBuds could help people with low vision read books and assist travelers with translations.
The project team hopes VueBuds will be adopted more widely than smart glasses and VR headsets, since people already wear earbuds. Users can also delete images instantly, addressing privacy concerns tied to Meta’s AI glasses, which have reportedly sent sensitive footage to subcontractors in Kenya. |
Can You Afford a Picasso? |
France sold a $1M Picasso painting to a Parisian sales engineer for 100 euros ($117) yesterday. The sale was part of a charity raffle that collectively raised 12 million euros ($14M) for Alzheimer’s research. See the painting and the man's reaction here.
The portrait was Pablo Picasso’s 1941 “Tête de Femme” (“Head of a Woman”), a cubist gouache-on-paper in shades of gray donated by Paris’ Opera Gallery. The piece measures 15.3 inches by 10 inches. It was painted under Nazi occupation, in the same Paris studio where Picasso painted his sweeping canvas “Guernica” four years earlier. Watch a retelling of the story behind “Guernica” here.
The sale marks the third-ever “1 Picasso for €100” raffle. In 2013, organizers sold “Man in the Opera Hat” to a fire-sprinkler worker in Pennsylvania. In 2020, “Nature Morte” was sold to an Italian accountant who got the ticket as a Christmas present. Learn about the style Picasso co-pioneered via 1440 Originals here (w/video). |
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... Yes, you read that right. New ButcherBox customers will get to choose between two ribeyes, filet mignons, or NY strips FREE in every box for a year (up to a $924 value).
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Ex-Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore gets 18 months of probation on charges stemming from a confrontation with a now former female staffer (More) | NFL reporter Dianna Russini resigns after vacation photos of her with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel surface (More) | See the photos (More) |
> Broadcaster Dick Vitale, 86, is diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time after completing his 46th year covering college basketball (More) | US Soccer's sporting director departs for a job in Saudi Arabia two months before the World Cup (More) |
> Taylor Swift leads 2026 American Music Awards nominations with eight nods (More) | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame reveals 2026 inductees, including Billy Idol, Phil Collins, and Wu-Tang Clan (More, w/full list) |
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> Fusion power startup Inertia strikes a deal with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to commercialize fusion energy, marking one of the largest public-private partnerships in lab history (More) | How fusion could (potentially) provide unlimited power (More, w/video) |
> Scientists identify nine genes linked to hyperemesis gravidarum—a severe pregnancy sickness that affects about 2% of women and can lead to severe malnourishment; the condition was long dismissed as psychological (More) |
> Ultraprocessed foods may hurt muscle health by creating more fat between people's muscles, increasing the risk of knee osteoarthritis (More) |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.2%, Dow +0.7%, Nasdaq +2.0%) (More) | Iran war to hit UK economic growth the hardest of any G7 nation, IMF says (More) |
> Amazon to buy Globalstar to boost its low Earth orbit satellite network in $11.57B deal; Globalstar is the biggest rival to SpaceX's Starlink satellite program (More) | Explore NASA visualization tracking satellites and space debris (More) |
> Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sold to nonprofit publishing group, will no longer shut down following the 240-year-old company's January announcement (More) | Walt Disney Co. begins laying off 1,000 employees, including within Marvel unit (More) |
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In partnership with FinanceBuzz |
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19 Things to Cut When Money Gets Tight |
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> President Donald Trump says second round of negotiations with Iran could restart this week; the US turns away six ships as it continues blockade of Strait of Hormuz (More) | See an interview with the Iranian making Lego-style anti-US videos (More) |
> New accuser says outgoing Rep. Eric Swalwell (D, CA-14) drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2018 (More) | ... inside the whisper network (More) |
> Lebanon and Israel hold direct negotiations for the first time since 1993 amid ongoing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon (More) |
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In partnership with ButcherBox |
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Please support our sponsors! |
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ICYMI: What you're actually paying in taxes—and what the system doesn't want you to know. Listen to the bonus "1440 Explores" episode on Apple | Spotify | YouTube.
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Historybook: President Abraham Lincoln dies (1865); RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 (1912); Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier, becomes first Black major league baseball player (1947); Actress Emma Watson born (1990); Two bombs explode at Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring 264 (2013). |
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"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." |
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