Good morning. It's Friday, Jan. 3, and we're covering new details about a deadly New Year's terrorist attack in New Orleans, a prehistoric discovery, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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New Orleans Probe Continues |
Bourbon Street in New Orleans opened to the public yesterday amid a heavy police presence, as details continued to emerge about the terrorist attack there early Wednesday. Several of the 14 victims have been informally identified by friends and families (see list), with official identification expected within days.
The FBI clarified earlier reports the US Army veteran potentially had help, instead claiming he acted alone. The 42-year-old rented the Ford F-150 in Houston Monday before traveling to New Orleans late Tuesday. Between 1 and 3 am Wednesday, he posted five videos on Facebook proclaiming support for ISIS and claiming he had originally planned to kill his family but opted for a more public attack. Surveillance footage shows him placing two coolers containing explosives in the area of Bourbon Street—both were later disarmed. See a timeline here.
Investigators denied any clear link between the New Orleans rampage and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas later that day, though both men served portions of their US Army careers at North Carolina’s Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg); they also both used peer-to-peer car rental app Turo. |
'Dinosaur Highway' Discovered |
Workers in a limestone quarry in southern England have uncovered almost 200 dinosaur footprints dating to roughly 166 million years ago, researchers revealed yesterday. The tracks are in the vicinity of a similar, previously discovered—but now inaccessible—site found in 1997, leading paleontologists to describe the area as a "Dinosaur Highway."
The recent find includes imprints from at least five different animals, believed to be four large sauropods and one Megalosaurus. The latter, a nearly 30-foot-long carnivore, was the first dinosaur fossil ever to be formally described in 1824. The new discovery sheds light on the behavior of dinosaurs in the region dating to the Middle Jurassic period—at a time when what is now England had a tropical climate and was covered in warm, shallow seas in many areas.
Unlike the previous 1997 discovery, researchers were able to extensively image and create 3D reconstructions of the prints, potentially providing insight into how the animals walked and interacted. Learn about the three epochs of dinosaurs here. |
'It Ends With Us' Lawsuits |
Actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni filed competing federal lawsuits this week over allegations surrounding their film "It Ends With Us." Lively accuses Baldoni and his publicity team of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a retaliation campaign to damage her reputation. Conversely, Baldoni has sued The New York Times for $250M for libel, claiming the newspaper published inaccurate information based on Lively's allegations.
Lively's initial complaint to the California Civil Rights Department Dec. 20 alleged a toxic work environment and inappropriate behavior by Baldoni. Lively also claimed that Wayfarer Studios, the production company, failed to provide proper channels for reporting harassment. The New York Times published an article about the allegations Dec. 21. Following the article, Baldoni was dropped by his agency, which also represents Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Baldoni has denied the allegations. The New York Times has defended its reporting, stating it was based on an extensive document review. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> NFL regular season wraps up this weekend with Week 18; see latest playoff picture (More) | Rosters announced for 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games (Feb. 2) (More) | Notre Dame tops Georgia 23-10 to advance to College Football Playoff semifinals (More) |
> Agnes Keleti, oldest living Olympic gold medalist and Holocaust survivor, dies at age 103 (More) | Wayne Osmond, original member of the Osmond Brothers and sibling to Donny and Marie Osmond, dies at age 73 (More) |
> The 82nd Golden Globe Awards to be presented Sunday (8 pm ET, CBS); see predictions for each category (More) | Billie Eilish's "Birds of a Feather" is Spotify's most-streamed song of 2024 (More) |
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> Meta to introduce AI-generated characters with their own profiles that will share content, interact with users across Facebook and Instagram; release date to be determined (More) |
> Volcanic activity under the Yellowstone caldera is shifting toward the northeast, according to new geological survey; one of the world's biggest supervolcanoes, Yellowstone has experienced three massive eruptions over the past 2 million years (More) | Everything you need to know about the National Parks (More, w/video) |
> Federal appeals court strikes down Biden administration net neutrality rules, finding regulators lack authority to restore requirements internet service providers treat all data on their networks equally (More) | Net neutrality 101 (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.2%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.2%) in choppy first trading session of 2025 (More) |
> Tesla shares drop 6% after quarterly results show first-ever annual drop in delivery numbers amid EV competition in China, Europe, and the US; Tesla delivered more than 1.7 million electric vehicles in 2024, down from more than 1.8 million in 2023 (More) |
> US weekly jobless claims drop to 211,000 for week ending Dec. 28; figure is the lowest level since March 2024 (More) | US average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rises to 6.9%, the highest since July 2024 (More) |
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> The 119th Congress convenes today, with US House to vote on a speaker; current speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) needs 218 votes to win—at least 14 of 219 Republicans remain undecided while one GOP lawmaker plans to vote "no" (More) |
> Twenty people honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R, WY-At large) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D, MS-2), who led House probe into Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol storming (More) | See full list of honorees (More) |
> Winter storm to bring snowfall and ice from Central Plains to mid-Atlantic regions this weekend; between 6 and 12 inches of snow expected in some areas (More) |
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> Cultivated Clutter
Aeon | Matt Alt. Despite the widespread assumption that Japan is the exemplar of minimalist living, many ordinary Japanese people, in fact, cultivate a specific kind of clutter reflecting the messiness of life. (Read)
> Bird Flu, Explained
Astral Codex Ten | Scott Alexander. As the avian H5N1 flu spreads from bird flocks to herds of cattle—and isolated human cases—a doctor breaks down the origins of flu and the likelihood of this one to turn into a pandemic (he estimates 5%). (Read) |
> Conjoined Twin Anatomy, Visualized
Hashem Al-Ghaili | Staff. Abby and Brittany Hensel share a lower body, but have two spines, heads, and hearts, with each able to control an arm and a leg in an incredible coordination of their nervous system. (Watch)
> When Sobriety Makes Sense
Search Engine | PJ Vogt. For millions, the line between social drinking and an unhealthy attachment is unclear, so this podcast weighed in on how to determine if sobriety is the right path for you. (Listen) |
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