Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 28, and we're covering the ninth test flight of SpaceX's Starship program, Harvard University's first professor to lose tenure since the 1940s, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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SpaceX carried out the ninth test flight of its massive Starship space vehicle last night, achieving mixed results as the spacecraft successfully reached orbital velocity but disintegrated upon reentry. After launching from Starbase, Texas (see previous write-up), the uncrewed ship experienced several issues, including a fuel tank leak, cutting short planned exercises. Mission controllers lost contact shortly before an uncontrolled, spinning descent into the Indian Ocean. Watch here.
It marks the third straight test where Starship failed to complete the entire flight. Following the launch, CEO Elon Musk—having returned “24/7” to his companies from the Trump administration—pointed out the vehicle exceeded a number of checkpoints from Flights 7 and 8 and vowed to accelerate the launch schedule to once every three to four weeks.
Starship is currently slated to carry astronauts to the moon by 2027 as part of NASA’s Artemis program. Explore 1440’s deep dive into SpaceX here. |
Harvard has revoked the tenure of Business School professor Francesca Gino after an internal investigation found she manipulated data in multiple studies to support her conclusions. It’s the first known case of a tenured professor being dismissed since Harvard formalized its process in the 1940s. Gino, once seen as an expert in ethics and decision-making, came under scrutiny after the academic blog Data Colada flagged a 2012 study on honesty that was later retracted.
Gino was once among Harvard’s highest-paid faculty, earning $1M annually in 2018 and 2019. She has denied the allegations and is suing Harvard and the blog’s authors for $25M, claiming defamation, breach of contract, and gender discrimination. A federal judge has dismissed the defamation claim but allowed her contract-related claims to proceed. Gino has published two books and more than 140 academic papers, including one on workplace dishonesty.
Separately, the Trump administration is moving to cancel all remaining federal contracts with the university, worth roughly $100M. |
HBO unveiled the lead cast of its “Harry Potter” TV series yesterday, ending a monthslong search for the main roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. The young leads—Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout, respectively—will begin filming for the series this summer, with a debut scheduled for next year. See the press release here (w/photo).
More than 30,000 actors from Ireland and the UK auditioned in HBO’s open casting call, announced last fall. The adaptation will be a decade-plus project, with each season covering a single book in JK Rowling's seven-book series. Warner Bros. has described the adaptation as faithful to the novels, with longer character arcs than the 2001-11 film adaptations. Rowling will serve as executive producer.
“Harry Potter” is the bestselling book series in history, with more than 600 million copies sold worldwide since the first book was released in 1997. The film franchise has grossed over $7.7B at the worldwide box office. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial continues as ex-aide testifies Combs kidnapped her at gunpoint, threatened to kill rapper Kid Cudi (More) |
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> Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will remove COVID-19 shots from its list of recommended immunizations for healthy children and healthy pregnant women (More) | See announcement via X (More) |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +2.1%, Dow +1.8%, Nasdaq +2.5%) on optimism the US will secure a trade deal to prevent 50% tariffs on goods from the European Union (More) |
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> Southwest ends policy of two free checked bags per passenger, the last major airline to offer the perk; most Southwest passengers will now pay $35 for a first checked bag, $45 for a second (More) |
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> State Department pauses all new student visa interviews as Trump administration considers updating procedures to vet applicants' social media profiles (More) |
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