🌎 Beast Mode

Good morning. Today is National Zoo Lovers Day, which fits pretty well with what we’re going over, since, you know… dire wolves are back from the dead. Also, I would like to mention that starting Friday, the newsletter will be sent out around 6 am ET for you early risers out there.

I hope you enjoy today’s edition and have a great rest of your day.

— Chase Goepfert, Founder

Asian stock markets see their worst declines in decades after Trump tariffs

There’s nothing like tariffs to get a good recession going. Global markets worldwide continue to nosedive as Trump’s tariff plans go into effect, with some regions seeing the worst freefalls since the 2008 financial crisis.

Shock & Awe

Since US President Donald Trump imposed his sweeping tariffs to over 100 countries, markets around the world are reeling:

• The S&P 500, which measures the top 500 companies in the US, fell 10% in two days — marking its worst week since 2020.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Index, which is often used to gauge the overall health of the US stock market and economy, dropped over 2,200 points.

• Oil prices plunged to their lowest level in four years.

Those in the retail, automotive, airline, and tech industries also took massive hits as US stocks saw over $5 trillion in losses. However, they aren’t alone… Asian markets have also had quite a rough stretch in the past couple of days.

Many want to cut a deal: The White House's chief economic counselor, Kevin Hassett, told ABC News that more than 50 nations have contacted the White House for trade talks since Wednesday.

Market mania

While the US stock market might have retreated to its bedroom and assumed a fetal position, Asian markets are under the bed looking for the boogie monster:

• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell more than 13% yesterday, marking its worst drop since the 2008 global financial crisis (see overview).

• The Shanghai Composite dropped more than 8% at one point while Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 7.8%.

One analyst described the drops as a “bloodbath” to the BBC, as the global stock market chaos gets increasingly worse and the tariff war with the US only escalates.

Speaking of escalation… US President Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods Monday if China doesn’t withdraw its retaliatory 34% levy on the US by sometime today.

Scientists have brought the Dire Wolf back from extinction

We literally got dire wolves before Winds of Winter. Thanks George. After over 12,000 years of extinction, genetic engineers at Colossal Biosciences brought back three dire wolves as a part of the company’s mission to resurrect extinct animals.

The de-extinction company

Colossal Biosciences first gained popularity in 2022 when it announced its goal of resurrecting the woolly mammoth — although the company has only been able to create woolly mice so far.

• Colossal has marketed its gene-editing technology as a means of bringing back prehistoric wonders, while simultaneously developing commercial applications in healthcare and conservation.

Now, the company has brought back the dire wolf, a species popularized by the insanely popular HBO series Game of Thrones, in its latest attempt to bring a long-dead species back to modern life.

An unlikely trio

Colossal’s newest breakthrough is the birth of three young dire wolves, Romulus, his brother Remus, and a younger female Khaleesi (named after the dragon-wielding Game of Thrones character).

• The ancient pups eat a combination of cow, deer, and horse meat, in addition to a specifically made kibble, the company said.

• The trio lives on a nature preserve in a hidden location within the US.

According to Colossal, the brothers are roughly 20%-25% larger than a gray wolf—their closest living relative—and predict that they’ll weigh roughly 140 pounds when they reach adulthood. See a breakdown of dire wolf biology here.

How did they do it? 

Essentially, they reconstructed the wolf’s genome using ancient DNA from a nearly 12,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull, according to Colossal CEO Ben Lamm.

Colossal’s genetic scientists were able to find alternative genes only found in dire wolves and then modified DNA from modern-day gray wolves to include the ancient DNA.

• That DNA was introduced into denucleated gray wolf egg cells, which were then allowed to develop in the laboratory before being placed in the wombs of surrogate dogs, TIME reported.

The embryos were implanted successfully, resulting in the births of what we now know as the three pure white pups, Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi. While the achievement is pretty damn cool, it’s also a “leap forward for science, conservation, and humanity,” Colossal said in a post on X.

P.S. they’re super cute: Check out this video of the pups howling (which hasn’t been heard in over 12,000 years) and a montage of them growing up.

Second measles death reported as outbreak spreads

They mark the first deaths from the disease since 2015. Officials confirmed over the weekend that a second child, who was only 8 years old, has died amid a growing measles outbreak in West Texas and the neighboring areas.

Unprecedented times

The two children, who are members of the local Mennonite community (see here) and are allegedly unvaccinated, are the first measles deaths in the United States to be confirmed since 2015.

• There have been 607 reported cases of the disease this year, and nearly all (90%) have been linked to the outbreak in West Texas.

• Of those who have gotten infected, 97% are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Health Secretary RFK Jr. attended the 8-year-old girl’s funeral on Sunday and expressly supported the MMR vaccine—used to treat measles, mumps, and rubella—calling it the “most effective way” to stop the spread of the disease amid the current outbreak.

The outbreak has continued to spread, spanning across the US to Kansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and even New Jersey. See an interactive map here.

We thought it was gone: Measles was considered to be eradicated (meaning no ongoing, endemic transmission) in the US in 2000, mainly due to the introduction of a vaccine in 1963 and the ensuing public health initiatives.

If you’d like to support independent media…

Consider joining our Patreon. If you enjoy the newsletter and like getting non-biased, need-to-know news, it would mean the world if you would consider tossing a few bucks our way (and get insider access if you do).

We don’t have deep-pocketed sponsors or shadowy billionaires funding us (unlike other media outlets). Instead, we rely on readers like you to keep the lights on and the news flowing into your inbox.

If you’d like to keep independent media alive, please consider donating to our Patreon below 👇

P.S. On top of supporting NextGen News, you’ll also get exclusive member benefits…

The Future Circular Collider will address the biggest mysteries in physics

What’s better than the Large Hydron Collider? A way bigger one. Scientists at the world’s largest particle collider unveiled blueprints for what would be science’s newest and biggest instrument, the Future Circular Collider. Researchers say it could unlock the secrets of physics.

Atom smasher

The Large Hadron Collider (pictured above as ‘LHC’) is one of the pinnacles of the scientific world, but scientists are thinking we can do better.

While an underground, 56.5-mile wide atom smasher might seem like a supervillian-esque contraption, it’s a successor that could vastly improve research and potentially solve some remaining enigmas of the universe.

• Experts say that the Future Circular Collider (FCC) could help bring insight to the Higgs boson, better known as “the God Particle,” which helped explain how matter formed at the beginning of the universe.

• The Higgs boson was discovered by the LHC in 2012; however, a much larger particle accelerator is needed to examine it further.

What else could it do? The FCC could also lead to developments in electrical transmission, fusion energy research, and superconducting materials for medical purposes.

• Not to mention, it would be three times the size of the LHC and produce 10 times more energy.

• Luckily, it’s only projected to cost $16 billion.

It’ll take a while: Unfortunately, the project won’t be approved until 2028, and even then, phase one wouldn’t begin until the 2040s—at the earliest.

Gen Z is flocking to Tumblr as an alternative to other platforms

We’ve officially gone full circle. Tumblr was once a social media heavyweight, hanging in there with the likes of Instagram and Facebook, but has since faded into obscurity… or has it?

Today, young people (mainly Gen Z) are joining the platform in hordes, bringing Tumblr back into the game and possibly making it a contender with other, more popular platforms.

Nostalgic resurgence

At its peak, Tumblr had amassed over 100 million members and was often compared to up-and-coming social media giants like Facebook. However, the platform struggled to profit off of its userbase, and was sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion in 2013.

• In 2019, software developer Automattic bought the company from Yahoo for a mere $3 million—0.3% of Yahoo's initial purchasing price.

So, what changed? Gen Z revived it. The second-youngest generation accounts for 60% of new sign-ups and 50% of Tumblr's active monthly users, according to a Business Insider article. To keep up with the newfound demand, Tumblr has added some fresh features:

• It debuted Tumblr TV, a TikTok/Reels-style feature that lets users fulfill their short-form content quotas.

• The app also added a Reddit-like feature called Communities, where users can find others with shared interests and post on forums.

Just how popular is it? According to analytics firm Similarweb, the platform is now the 9th most used social media app in the US behind BlueSky, which rocketed to fame as an X alternative.

FAST FACTS
Catch up on this week’s weird news

Minecraft Mob: Despite a below average response from critics, A Minecraft Movie made $157 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend after analysts expected it to generate only ~$80 million.

Paper Producers: A Chilli’s location in Scranton, PA, will pay homage to the Uber-popular sitcom, The Office. The location will feature decor ripped directly from the show and be decorated as it would have been in the mid-2000s.

Storm Surge: At least 24 people have died as severe storms ravaged parts of the US; 10 deaths have been counted in Tennessee alone. Flash flooding has shifted to the southeast, and governors have urged residents to stay inside.

Goal Getter: The Washington Capital’s Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's goal record, which had lasted for more than 25 years, to become the NHL's all-time leader with 895 goals.

Falling Finances: Following Thursday and Friday's worldwide market meltdown, the world's 500 wealthiest individuals lost $536 billion in value last week—the largest two-day decline in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index's history.

Thank you for reading our newsletter! We strive every day to provide you with an objective experience that makes the news easy and entertaining to read. If you’d like more from us, please don’t hesitate to follow our socials below 👇