OVERWORLD:
-Synthetic DNA technology could wipe us out-

ONE BETWEEN:
-Drake’s house is getting terrorized on Google Maps-

THE DEPTHS:
-”The Father of Minimalism” has passed away, let’s remember his art-

“Innovation is an evolutionary process, so it's not necessary to be radical all the time.”
— Marc Jacobs

✦DISCOVERY PICKS✦

▶️ YouTube:
2021 National Spelling Bee Finals Winning Moment

👽 Reddit:
14-Year-Old Millie Bobby Brown talks about her relationship with Drake

✖️ X:
A bookstore in Omaha that only sells one book.

❓
Mystery link.

New fear unlocked

Synthetic DNA technology could wipe out humans - so the White House regulated it

Did you know that fake DNA is a thing? If you just learned this, you should also know that it’s getting regulated to hell.

What the fuck does it do? Here’s a crash course:

✦If it’s so cool, why are they hating?✦

Well, this is exactly the type of technology that is used to create human-made pandemics.

It’s kinda scary: An instance of this threat was when Canadian researchers reconstructed the extinct horsepox virus in 2017, demonstrating that even pathogens like smallpox could theoretically be synthesized.

And if you didn’t know, smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths in the 20th century alone.

✦AI could design crazy diseases✦

Now that we have AI, it’s getting more and more possible to create completely new DNA sequences that don’t even exist in nature. A disease with that type of makeup could totally obliterate humanity.

So, the White House has recently instituted new regulations targeting companies that produce synthetic DNA.

These regulations were ordered by President Lil' Joe last fall, as a part of efforts to focus on enhancing AI safety and security, particularly within the realm of biotechnology.

To mitigate these risks, the new guidelines require DNA manufacturing companies to scrutinize orders for "sequences of concern" that could contribute to an organism’s harmful traits, and to assess the legitimacy of customers.

Currently, these rules apply primarily to entities receiving federal funding, which represents about three-quarters of the U.S. market for synthetic DNA.

So yeah, fake DNA. Scary and cool.

✦QUICK HITS✦

✦Business & Tech✦

Asian persuasion: Tesla's sales in China fell by 18% year-over-year in April, selling 62,167 vehicles. It sucks for them, because people are buying more EVs than ever in China - the Chinese EV market saw a 33% increase in sales.

Japanese scientists are trying to regrow lost teeth. Yepp, Kyoto University Hospital is initiating the first trials for "tooth regrowth medicine." Apparently, it’s working on animals.

Microsoft is shutting down several game studios, including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks - the makers of Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush.

✦Fashion & Culture✦

Fail, guy: "The Fall Guy," despite a stellar cast and extensive marketing including Super Bowl ads, made only $28.5 million in its North American debut on a $200 million budget, marking Hollywood's weakest summer start since 1995.

ERL is collaborating again with Levi's, reimagining '70s denim with a retro, sun-kissed Californian vibe, featuring bootcut jeans, vests, overalls, and purses. Pretty darn good. Check it out.

✦Hmm… Interesting✦

Read: How I Think About Debt

What the heck: More than 100 arrested in Spain in $900,000 WhatsApp scheme.

Cool ass retro PDF from 2001: Color Concepts 101

Play this game in your browser: Who is the demon?

ONE 

BETWEEN

💀 Drake’s house is getting terrorized on Google Maps
Whiteboy, wifebeater, colonizer, pedophile, dwarf, drug addict, bastard, sex ring leader. These are just a few of the insults Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been hurling at each other during the past week.

Not only does this Machiavellian psychological warfare have fans in fucking shambles…

… Kendrick fans are jumping in, and it’s impressively creative.

✦EXHIBIT A: Brazilian Buttlift Drizzy✦

There’s a competition hosted by Metro Boomin - the winner spits the best verse over a beat that goes "BBL Drizzy" over and over (tying into the speculation around Drake’s plastic surgery).

Here’s the beat, it’s funny. Haha:

✦EXHIBIT B: Violating Drake’s house✦

Fans have been vandalizing Drake’s house by exploiting Google Maps' feature that allows users to “add a new place” or “add your business.”

All around Drizzy’s estate, you’ll find parks and restrooms titled:

• Kendrick’s Dog (A play on Drake’s For All The Dogs)

• CertifiedKidLover (self-explanatory)

• A pdf house (.PDF file = pedofile)

• Money Trees (one of Kendrick’s better songs)

The trolling doesn’t stop there.

People are also reviewing the fake places:

THE DEPTHS

Legend art

Frank Stella has passed away, let’s remember his art

In the late 1950s, Stella's black paintings broke the art world’s minds

The paintings were minimal, with methodically spaced black stripes. It was ridiculously simple, which was radical at the time.

Back then, the explosivity of Abstract Expressionism was the shit - you know, those giant paintings of cluttered splatter à la Jackson Pollock.

Stella went in the reverse; systematic geometry, endless darkness, zero vibrancy, and a stoic, almost monumental presence.

Here’s one of Stella’s black paintings:

Here’s Jack Pollock’s legendary “Convergence.” Get the difference?

✦Plot twist✦

Stella was cool because he wasn’t just radically against what people around him thought - he also challenged his own comfort.

So, by the end of the ‘60s, he did an 180. He was more than the “black art”-guy. He reinvented himself.

Suddenly, his art exploded with vibrant colors, while maintaining his geometric approach.

It was a plot twist, but it still stayed true to the lore of the universe he had built. It had that monumentalism in its DNA.

He debuted the direction with his Protractor series, showcasing a dazzling array of fluorescent colors and half-circle motifs.

✦Plot-twist, again✦

And then he twisted again, into the third dimension.

In the following decades, he ventured into sculptures. It was still geometry, but in a more chaotic, human way.

Here’s Khar-Pidda, from 1978:

✦Modernity✦

By the 2000s Stella had developed his own universe with a multi-dimensional language and was doing huge metal structures and complex 2D/3D blended art.

Despite some critics finding his later work overly ornate or corporate, Stella's ability to reinvent himself artistically kept him at the forefront of the art world.

For that, we wish Stella a beautiful afterlife.

Here’s Bandshell in Miami, from 2000:

Here’s Nessus and Dejanira, from 2017: