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05.28.2025

 

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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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 Need To Know 

 

Starship Takes a Spin

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 Strips Tenure

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.

 

New 'Harry Potter' Cast

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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 In The Know 

 

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

> President Donald Trump threatens to withhold federal funding from California if it allows a transgender female athlete to compete in state's high school track and field championship (More) | Cornell wins first NCAA men's lacrosse title since 1977; UNC finishes season undefeated to win women's lacrosse championship (More)

> Billie Eilish dominates the 2025 American Music Awards, bringing home seven awards (More) | Rick Derringer, legendary rock musician and songwriter whose career spanned six decades, dies at age 77 (More)

 

Science & Technology

> 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)

> Researchers discover first tools made from whale bones dating back 20,000 years in what is now Western Europe, roughly 15,000 years earlier than previously known (More

> New memory model suggests brain cells known as astrocytes are involved in storing memories; may explain brain's larger-than-expected storage capacity (More

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Once reserved for insiders, opportunities like this are now accessible to everyday investors. Shares are $0.60—but the price changes after May 29. 

 

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Business & Markets

> 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)

> Salesforce acquires cloud data management firm Informatica in $8B equity deal (More) | Motorola Solutions to buy wireless radio-maker Silvus Technologies for $4.4B (More) | Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant company, raises $600M at $9B valuation, up from $3.5B valuation in 2023 (More)

> 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)

 

Politics & World Affairs

> State Department pauses all new student visa interviews as Trump administration considers updating procedures to vet applicants' social media profiles (More)

> Chaos erupts at new Gaza distribution center as thousands of people attempt to secure aid from US- and Israeli-backed distribution group (More) | See updates on the war (More)

> Cholera outbreak in Sudan sparks concerns of public health disaster, with drone strikes on water purification stations reducing access to clean water; more than 150,000 people have been killed in the two-year civil war (More)

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 Etcetera 

 

Newly discovered far-flung world may be additional dwarf planet.

 

German wins Gloucestershire's Cheese Rolling contest.

 

News anchor continues show in early labor. (w/video)

 

"Blue Danube" waltz to be beamed into space.

 

Dutch social movement creates screen-free public spaces.

 

See London's new installation of a rippling townhouse.

 

Blobfish wins New Zealand fish of the year contest.

 

Photo series explores if birds left tracks in the sky.

 

Clickbait: Five of the animal kingdom's worst dads.

 

Historybook: Native American athlete Jim Thorpe born (1887); Volkswagen founded in Germany (1937); Singer Gladys Knight born (1944); Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou dies (2014).

"If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls."

- Maya Angelou

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*Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel's Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.radintel.ai

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