Good morning. It's Friday, Sept. 12, and we're covering the ongoing search for Charlie Kirk's assassin, the US' medical equivalent of the Nobel Prize, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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The FBI released images yesterday of a person of interest in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week. A search for the unidentified suspect continues as of this writing. See live updates here.
Officials say the shooter appeared to be college-aged, with surveillance images showing a person in sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a long-sleeved shirt with an American flag graphic. Authorities also recovered a hunting rifle in a wooded area near Utah Valley University's campus, where Kirk was hosting an outdoor debate event. A preliminary internal report suggested cartridges alongside the rifle were engraved with political messages; police have not yet publicly identified a motive.
President Donald Trump said yesterday he would posthumously award Kirk—cofounder of conservative student organization Turning Point USA—the Presidential Medal of Freedom. See a roundup of tributes here. |
The winners of the 2025 Lasker Awards were announced yesterday for breakthroughs in immunology, neuroscience, and genetic technology. Established in 1945 by Mary and Albert Lasker to promote medical research, the prizes are among the most prestigious in US biomedical science, with each category awarding $250K.
Lucy Shapiro (Stanford) won the special achievement award for her 55-year career decoding bacterial cell biology and mentoring new generations. The basic medical research award went to Dirk Görlich (Max Planck Society) and Steven McKnight (UT Southwestern) for discoveries showing how “low complexity domains” in proteins drive cell organization. The clinical medical research award honored Michael Welsh (Iowa), Paul Negulescu (Vertex), and Jesús González (formerly Vertex) for the development of a triple-drug combination for cystic fibrosis, benefiting over 90% of patients. See the winners here.
The Lasker Awards often predict Nobel winners; 83 recipients—including 31 in the last two decades—have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. |
Bolsonaro Coup Conviction |
The majority of Brazil's five-justice Supreme Court panel voted yesterday to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a military coup to stay in office following his electoral loss. The 70-year-old, who led the country from 2019 to 2022, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
The trial has divided Brazilian society since Bolsonaro was indicted in February. Thousands gathered Sunday in dueling Independence Day rallies for and against the nationalist populist leader. He has been under house arrest since August following accusations that he attempted to interfere with court proceedings. The Trump administration, which condemned the case this summer by imposing 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods and sanctioning the presiding judge, quickly criticized the ruling and warned it would respond.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers are expected to raise questions about the sentence length and request house arrest due to Bolsonaro’s ongoing health issues. Learn more about Brazil's judicial system here. |
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The Salty Science Behind Optimal Hydration |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards air Sunday (8 pm ET, CBS), hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze; see predictions for each category (More) |
> Canelo Alvarez takes on Terence Crawford tomorrow (9 pm ET, Netflix) for the undisputed super middleweight boxing championship (More) |
> The 2025 World Track and Field Championships kick off from Tokyo tomorrow; see preview and schedule (More) | Chelsea Football Club charged with 74 breaches of Football Association rules related to payments to agents (More) |
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In partnership with Pendulum |
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> Federal Trade Commission orders Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI, and several other AI chatbot makers to disclose information on products' effects on children (More) |
> Fossilized dinosaur eggs in central China are dated to roughly 85 million years ago using a novel laser-based method; further egg sampling may reveal how dinosaurs adapted to climatic shifts (More) |
> Marine biologists discover octopuses prefer their four front arms for exploring and four rear arms for walking by analyzing videos taken in the wild; finding could inform the design of life-saving robots (More) |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.9%, Dow +1.4%, Nasdaq +0.7%) as consumer prices rise and weekly jobless claims approach four-year high (More) |
> US consumer price index rose 2.9% year over year in August, above 2.7% in July and the fastest pace since the start of the year (More) | Average US 30-year fixed mortgage rate falls to 11-month low of 6.35% (More) |
> Warner Bros. Discovery shares close up nearly 29% after report of recently merged Paramount Skydance preparing takeover bid (More) |
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> Opening statements begin in the trial of man accused of attempting to assassinate then-candidate Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club last September (More) | Suspect in Colorado school shooting earlier this week identified as 16-year-old student, dies by suicide after wounding two students (More) |
> Poland closes airspace in the country's east nightly for three months following Russian drone incursion; Latvia follows suit (More) |
> UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer fires ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson over his history of friendly emails with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (More) |
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> The Story of the B-29
BBC | Stephen Dowling. The Boeing B-29 was World War II's most advanced aircraft, capable of flying higher than ever before. It cost $55.6B in today's dollars to make—almost 50% more than the Manhattan Project. (Read) |
> Designing the Escalator
Veritasium | Staff. The physics behind why the handrails move slightly faster than the steps and other subtle features that keep modern escalators safe. Plus, a criminal investigation into an escalator malfunction. (Watch) |
> Day at the Dog Show
n+1 | Mina Tavakoli. From undergoing testicular implants to standing for anatomy contests, dogs serve as indifferent vessels for owners' and trainers' pride at the Westminster Dog Show. (Read) |
> A Wild Luxury
TED-Ed | Staff. Truffles are among the world’s rarest, most expensive foods. What about these fungi's biology makes them so alluring yet so difficult to farm? (Watch) |
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The Truth About Sodium & Peak Performance |
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