Good morning, it's Thursday, May 14. And if you've ever gotten a root canal, at least your dentist wasn't a Neanderthal.
Also in today's Digest: a trailer for the "Big Bang Theory" spinoff (Sports, Ent., & Cult.), the new Fed chair (Bus. & Mkts.), the people who composed washing machine music (In-Depth), jurors' little-known power (Civics Thursday), and much more.
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The earliest known dental procedure dates back 59,000 years and was conducted by a Neanderthal, a new study reveals. Explore images of the tooth here.
Archaeologists discovered the molar in a Siberian cave. A deep hole suggests a sharp tool, possibly a toothpick made of local jasper, was used for the beginnings of a root canal. The process would have taken between 35 and 50 minutes, according to researchers, who conducted similar procedures on three modern human teeth. Wear patterns indicate the Neanderthal was able to continue eating with the tooth following the procedure.
The discovery marks the first such procedure by any species other than Homo sapiens. It also challenges prior understandings of Neanderthals’ cognitive abilities, showing they could identify a source of pain as well as determine—and administer—proper medical treatment, which would require physical dexterity.
Do you have some Neanderthal DNA? Here are 10 ways it can impact your health. |
The Philippines’ Senate was in lockdown yesterday after gunfire was heard in the building. It was not immediately clear who fired the shots, and there were no known casualties or arrests as of this writing. See video footage as gunshots can be heard here (via Reuters/X).
The incident comes as Philippine Sen. Ronald dela Rosa has been holed up in the building since Monday to evade an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Dela Rosa served as police chief during the early years of the country’s War on Drugs, which has killed thousands of people. Today, hundreds continue to die annually of drug-related violence; see recent data here (scroll for chart).
Former President Rodrigo Duterte has been in The Hague since last year on charges of crimes against humanity. While the current Marcos administration broke with Duterte, national government agents have limited authority in the Senate’s chambers. (Watch dela Rosa fleeing authorities.) |
🫶 Humankind: Watch a philanthropist tell North Carolina college graduates he and his wife will cover their final-year education loans. (via Instagram) |
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South Carolina's Supreme Court yesterday overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent lawyer accused of killing his wife and youngest son in 2021. The court ruled jurors were influenced by comments made during the trial by a court clerk writing a book about the case.
Prosecutors plan to retry Murdaugh, who remains in prison on separate, decades-long sentences after admitting he stole roughly $12M from clients. They allege the killings were an attempt to divert attention from his financial crimes, which he feared would be exposed in a lawsuit tied to a fatal boat crash involving his 22-year-old son, Paul. Murdaugh maintains his innocence in his son's and wife's deaths. See the crime scene evidence here.
Disgraced county clerk Becky Hill pleaded guilty to perjury, obstruction of justice, and misconduct last year. Her book has also been pulled from shelves over plagiarism allegations. Read the BBC article she's accused of stealing from here. |
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In partnership with Cytonics |
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500+ Million Cases, 1 'Unsolvable' Problem |
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Osteoarthritis. Despite being the most common joint disease in the world, affecting over 500M people, the only available treatments are temporary “Band-Aids” like painkillers.
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The best part? They’re still accepting investments, and unlike most early-stage biotechs, this opportunity isn’t reserved for institutional investors. Become a Cytonics investor ahead of Phase II trials today.* |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> PGA Championship begins today at Pennsylvania's Aronimink Golf Club; explore the course hole by hole (More) | The US waives visa bonds for visitors from qualified countries who bought tickets for the World Cup; bonds can cost up to $15K (More) |
> "Big Bang Theory" 10-episode spinoff trailer releases ahead of July 23 premiere (More, w/trailer) | Conan O'Brien is tapped to host the Oscars for a third consecutive year (More) |
> Drug addiction counselor who sold "Friends" star Matthew Perry 51 vials of liquid ketamine, including the dose that killed him, is sentenced to two years in prison (More) | "Revenge of the Nerds" star Donald Gibb dies at age 71 (More) |
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In partnership with Motley Fool Money |
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A Best-Kept Secret for Managing Debt |
Still feeling the squeeze from high interest rates? You’re not alone. For many Americans, debt payoff is front and center in 2026.
Here’s the good news: There’s a card setting itself apart with an incredible 0% intro APR on balance transfers into late-2027. On top of that there is cash back to earn, and no annual fee. Yes—really. Add up the 0% intro APR, a solid sign-up bonus, and no annual fee, and this one’s hard to ignore.
Take a look → 0% interest until nearly 2028 |
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> Wearable polygraph detects underlying stress by measuring heart activity, breathing patterns, blood flow, and more; could help clinicians care for nonverbal patients and monitor mental health over time (More) |
> Some living people carry a protein variant discovered in the teeth of the first human species to evolve a humanlike body and gait, Homo erectus (More) |
> Researchers rapidly rearrange tens of thousands of atoms in a material at room temperature, opening the door to faster innovation in areas like quantum computing (More) | Quantum computing explained without the jargon (More) |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +1.2%) (More) | US producer price index, a key inflation metric tracking wholesale product prices, rises 6% year-over-year in April; marks biggest gain since December 2022 (More) |
> Kevin Warsh confirmed as Federal Reserve chair to succeed Jerome Powell, whose term ends tomorrow (More) | How Warsh became the wealthiest Fed chair (More) |
> US average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rises to 6.46%, the highest level in five weeks (More) | Home sellers stuck without offers are asking Reddit to roast their listings, hoping strangers can spot what they can't (More) |
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> President Donald Trump arrives in Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping (More) | See photos (More) | ... and track live updates (More) |
> Kouri Richins, Utah woman who wrote a children's book on grief after the death of her husband, is sentenced to life in prison without parole for his murder (More) | The book has an average of 1.7 stars on Goodreads, as of this writing (More) |
> Senate unanimously advances resolution to suspend their own pay in government shutdowns (More) | How much do senators make? (More) |
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> Everyone Here Is Someone Else
n+1 | Mina Tavakoli. Frank Sinatra holds a drink; Jeff Bezos is across the room; Martha Stewart is somewhere; and none of them are real. A writer boards a celebrity impersonators' cruise and reports from one of the strangest places on Earth. (Read) |
> Your Appliances Have Composers
Science Friday | Flora Lichtman. Your appliances don't just make noise—they're engineered to shape how you feel. Two of the people behind those sounds explain what they built, what backfired, and why we've all gone too far. (Listen) |
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In partnership with Cytonics |
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They’re Beating Big Pharma at Their Own Game |
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1440 Topics: Civics Thursday |
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As of 2023, over 14% of Americans were summoned for jury duty annually, with approximately 11 million people reporting for service. Here are some of the most interesting resources we found on one of our core civic responsibilities:
> When jurors disagree with a law, they have the little-known power to acquit regardless of the evidence. Learn about "jury nullification," a practice courts won't tell you about, and judges work hard to prevent. (Listen)
> The hit show "Jury Duty" put one real juror through a fully staged trial alongside actors, including James Marsden playing himself. Hear from the casting director who built the ensemble for the unique production. (Watch)
> Explore the rest of the resources we discovered on our topic page about jury duty in the US.
What is 1440 Topics? A continuously updated ecosystem where we curate the best evergreen resources we've found on thousands of topics for you to explore. Have a suggestion for our Civics section? Let us know here. |
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In partnership: One of the world’s most common diseases may finally have a cure.*
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Historybook: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embark on their famous expedition (1804); "Star Wars" creator George Lucas born (1944); Skylab, the first US space station, launched (1973); Singer Frank Sinatra dies (1998); Blues musician BB King dies (2015).
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*Please support our sponsors. |
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"Everybody has talent and it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is. A talent is a combination of something you love a great deal and something you can lose yourself in." |
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*Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Cytonics Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://cytonics.com/. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee of performance. Past performance does not predict future results. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. |
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