Good morning. It's Friday, Dec. 13, and we're covering a US citizen found in Syria, a warning from scientists, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Twenty-nine-year-old Travis Timmerman was freed from a Syrian prison cell this week, one of at least two US citizens who went missing under the Assad regime. The US has asked leading rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham for its help in locating journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing since 2012.
Timmerman was last seen seven months ago in Hungary before he was discovered barefoot this week in a Damascus suburb. In an interview with CBS, he said he illegally crossed from Lebanon to Syria by foot while on a Christian pilgrimage. Timmerman said that upon his arrest, he was allowed to use the bathroom only three times per day but was otherwise well cared for and fed.
Roughly 150,000 people—mostly Syrians—have gone missing under the Assad regime, with nearly 60,000 believed to have been killed or tortured in prison cells. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham—which ended the regime's 54-year rule this week—has vowed to close the prisons. See footage from the Sednaya prison break here. |
Dozens of scientists issued a warning yesterday, urging others to end research on mirror cells. Such a microbe—potentially 10 to 30 years away—was likened to the possibility of creating a second "Tree of Life."
While it's not clear why, all DNA is made up of "right-handed" molecules, while proteins are made up of "left-handed" amino acids (see overview). In recent years, scientists have managed to create right-handed proteins mirroring those in our bodies. These proteins take longer to break down and may lead to treatments for HIV and Alzheimer's.
However, scientists now warn building other "mirror" elements of a cell could lead to a viable "mirror microbe" within years. They say such bacteria could evade not only humans' immune defenses but all organisms' immune defenses, faster than researchers could devise a mirror antibiotic to end a pandemic.
The group of 38 scientists includes two Nobel laureates and Dr. Craig Venter, who led the private effort to sequence the human genome in the 1990s. Read their letter here; see the full report here. |
Biden's Record Commutations |
President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 prisoners and pardoned 39 nonviolent offenders yesterday, the largest single-day act of clemency by a US president since records began in 1900. The majority of those whose sentences were commuted were on home confinement since the pandemic.
The decision comes a week after the president unconditionally pardoned his son, Hunter, of all gun and tax convictions, walking back assurances he would not do so. More pardons are expected in the coming weeks, with Biden reportedly considering preemptively pardoning officials who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol.
The US Constitution's Article II grants the president broad power to pardon federal prisoners (which removes guilt) or commute (lessen) their sentences, except in impeachment cases. Every US president serving a full term has used this power, commonly used toward the end of a president's tenure. See major pardons from history here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> College football bowl season kicks off tomorrow; see schedule and preview of all 36 matchups (More) | Eighteen-year-old Indian Gukesh Dommaraju becomes youngest-ever World Chess Champion (More) |
> Sean "Diddy" Combs accused of rape by three men in separate lawsuits; Combs is currently awaiting trial on felony charges of racketeering and sex trafficking (More) | "Wicked" and "Conclave" lead nominations for the 2025 Critics Choice Awards with 11 apiece (More) |
> BuzzFeed to sell "First We Feast," the studio behind popular "Hot Ones" YouTube show, for $82.5M (More) | YouTube TV to raise monthly subscription fee by $10 to $82.99 (More) |
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In partnership with Motley Fool Money |
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> Google unveils Android XR, a mixed reality operating system for smart glasses and headsets integrating its AI platform Gemini (More) | ... and announces Gemini 2.0, built to support AI agents carrying out tasks for users (More) |
> Neanderthals and humans in Eurasia interbred for a window of about 7,000 years beginning roughly 50,000 years ago, genetic analysis suggests; between 1% to 2% of modern Eurasian genes are inherited from Neanderthals (More) |
> New study estimates superflares—bursts of radiation from stars equal to trillions of hydrogen bombs—may occur roughly once per 100 years; previous studies suggested events occurred every 1,000 to 10,000 years (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -0.7%), weighed down by better-than-expected inflation report a day earlier (More) | ServiceTitan raises roughly $625M in Nasdaq debut, valuing cloud software firm at nearly $9B (More) | Heard about IPOs, but don't know how they work? Sign up for 1440 Business & Finance (Join here) |
> Warner Bros. Discovery shares close up over 15% after announcing it will split its TV business from its streaming studios (More) | Adobe shares close down over 13% in biggest drop since September 2022 after downbeat revenue forecast (More) |
> Federal Trade Commission sues Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, accusing the largest US alcohol distributor of offering discounts to large chain buyers like Costco and Kroger while charging higher prices to small businesses (More) | Stanley recalls 2.6 million mugs after 38 people suffer burns from faulty lids (More) |
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> President-elect Donald Trump is named Time magazine's Person of the Year, rings the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell; magazine cites Trump's historic comeback and impact on news cycle (More) | Read the interview (More) |
> Justice Department internal watchdog report on Jan. 6, 2021, storming of US Capitol finds FBI anticipated potential for violence, failed to canvass informants from field offices or dispatch undercover agents; four informants entered Capitol premises without FBI authorization (More) | Read the report (More) |
> UK's health secretary permanently bans puberty blockers for children under 18, extending a temporary ban in place since May; decision follows a review this year finding a lack of evidence to date supporting the treatment, with transgender advocates calling the decision discriminatory (More) |
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> The New Day
Players' Tribune | Ettore Ewen. A WWE wrestler recounts his youthful struggles with self-image and depression in this earnest and funny essay, crediting his college coach with saving his life by encouraging him to attend therapy. (Read)
> Polaroid's Revolution
Best Idea Yet | Nick Martell, Jack Crivici-Kramer. Edwin Land, the inventor of the Polaroid camera, inspired the legendary founder Steve Jobs with his transformative instant camera—forever changing what we expect from photos. (Listen) |
> The History of the G-Rated Film
Tedium | Ernie Smith. Few films receive the official G rating nowadays, prompting one writer to retrace the ambiguous rating's evolution from the 1960s to today. (Read)
> Perfecting the Strandbeest
Veritasium | Staff. Dutch artist Theo Jansen has pioneered the art of PVC-based kinetic sculptures that can walk on their own. The process of refining them into elegant, sturdy structures has taken decades. (Watch) |
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