Good morning, it's Tuesday, Nov. 24. Another day, more positive news on the vaccine front—and this one may be easier to transport. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com.

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NEED TO KNOW

Ascertainment

President Trump instructed the General Services Administration yesterday evening to begin protocols for a transition to the Biden administration. The process, known as ascertainment (see 101), is not a concession, but unlocks funds for transition support staff while allowing Biden's transition team to receive classified briefings and begin interacting with current agency staff. The president's campaign still has a number of legal challenges remaining, though legal experts say they appear increasingly unlikely to succeed ($$, WSJ). A bid to block results in Pennsylvania was filed Monday (see full list).

Trump's decision followed a vote by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to certify the state's election results. Some allies had reportedly begun to worry postelection battles could harm the GOP's chances in a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia Jan. 5. 

Separately, details on who will be nominated to fill out the national security and foreign affairs wing of Biden's cabinet have emerged. The roster includes foreign policy veteran Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Obama-era appointee Alejandro Mayorkas as homeland security chief, and more (see list).

Former Secretary of State John Kerry would return in a climate-related role. On the financial side, Janet Yellen, former head of the Federal Reserve, is expected to be tapped as treasury secretary. If confirmed, she would become the first woman to lead the institution.

Chang'e 5 Takes Flight

China embarked on its most ambitious lunar mission to date yesterday, launching the Chang'e 5 probe from the country's southern Hainan province, with the goal of retrieving samples from the moon for study. If successful, it would mark the first time in four decades lunar samples were returned to Earth, while making China the third country to demonstrate the technical capability to pull off such a mission, behind the US and the former Soviet Union. 

The craft is scheduled to land on the moon's near side, on a volcanic formation known as Mons Rümker (see moon map). After drilling down roughly 7 feet, the probe will gather more than 4 pounds of soil and rocks, estimated to be around 1.2 billion years old—much younger than the 3- to 4-billion-year-old samples retrieved by the US Apollo program 40 years ago. 

Beyond lunar science, the mission plays a key role in China's effort to establish its space-based geopolitical power. 

Another Vaccine Success

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and its partner, the University of Oxford, announced yesterday their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was up to 90% effective based on preliminary data. The drug becomes the third Western-developed vaccine to be successfully demonstrated in neutralizing the coronavirus, following similar results over the past two weeks separately from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. 

The results come with a caveat: The study examined two dosing regimens, two full shots separated by at least a month, and a half shot followed by a full shot. Perplexingly, the former appeared to be only 62% effective, while the latter—conducted on a small subset of 2,700 volunteers—was 90% effective. Scientists are currently unsure why a smaller dose would yield better results; the full datasets are expected to be published in the near future.

Based on a modified chimpanzee virus (how it works), AstraZeneca's vaccine can be held at normal refrigeration temperatures—unlike Pfizer and Moderna's drugs, which must be held at -94 degrees and -4 degrees, respectively. Officials have said high-priority groups in the US could receive vaccines by the end of December. The development of the drug was supported in part by $1.2B from the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed.

The US has reported 12.4 million total cases, with 257,701 deaths, as of this morning. See rolling averages here and here.

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GROW UP, CEREAL

Ah, the bowl of cereal. That crunchy, sugary-sweet goodness, the ice-cold milk, and a big ol’ spoon to savor it with. There is nothing we loved better on Saturday morning as kids and—let's be honest—as dinner every weeknight when we were in college. But when we realized how much hidden sugar was in every bowl, we gave it up. Until now. 

Magic Spoon has changed the cereal game. We’re talking high protein (11g in every bowl), low carb (only 3 net carbs in every bowl), and 0g of sugar. You can choose between all the breakfast greatest hits: fruity, frosted, cocoa, blueberry, and more. It’s all the nostalgia of childhood without the sugar high. Magic Spoon promises a gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free bowl of cereal that not only tastes great, but packs in your daily protein. We particularly love the peanut butter flavor, which is such a favorite that it has sold out three different times. 

To help get you on the Magic Spoon train, here’s something to sweeten the deal. They're giving exclusive early access to their Black Friday sale for our readers via a secret link—that is, they’re offering a FREE Peanut Butter box with any 4-pack purchase. That’s a $10 value, just for giving Magic Spoon a try.

Please support our sponsors!

IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Ken Jennings, “Jeopardy!” legend and highest-earning American game show contestant, will guest host the show weeks after the death of iconic host Alex Trebek (More)

> Delegation of NBA players and officials meet Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss social justice issues (More) | Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft, suffers season-ending ACL, MCL injury (More)

> “The Queen’s Gambit” hits 62 million viewers, a Netflix record for a scripted limited series (More) | Chessboard sales spike since “The Queen’s Gambit” debuted (More)

Science & Technology

Brought to you by Noom

> Snapchat rolls out Spotlight, a TikTok competitor inside the native user feed; company will pay the top daily creator $1M per day in an effort to jump-start usage (More)

> Study identifies cluster of brain cells responsible for driving the body's physiological response when fear and anxiety mechanisms kick in (More)

> AI-powered program scans millions of computer science research papers, producing one-sentence summaries; free-to-use software was developed by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's research nonprofit (More)

Healthy for the holidays. It's that time of year again ... and while the holiday season is wonderful, it can also be very unhealthy. Thankfully, Noom's health and wellness program uses psychology to help us manage stress and avoid bad habits over the holidays. Start your trial today. #Ad

Business & Markets

> US stock markets up (S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow +1.1%, Nasdaq +0.2%) on AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine news (More)

> Germany agrees to a female executive quota for board positions at public companies, requiring boards with more than three members to have at least one woman (More)

> General Motors will recall 7 million automobiles globally to replace Takata air bag inflators, costing the company an estimated $1.2B (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Saudi foreign minister denies reports Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; it would mark the first meeting between high-level leaders from the two countries (More)

> Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to step down as top Democrat on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee (More) | Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) eyes post (More)

> Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial for corruption charges; Sarkozy is accused of bribing a judge in return for information on an investigation into his party's finances (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Baby Stealers

BBC | Staff. A look at Kenya's thriving black market for stolen children—typically kidnapped from impoverished or homeless mothers—where babies can be sold for as little as $500. (Read)

'Road of Bones'

NYT | Andrew Higgins. Russia's Kolyma Highway, which once transported hundreds of thousands of prisoners to one of the Soviet Union's most infamous gulags, has become symbolic of revisionist history around the mythos of Joseph Stalin. (Read, $$)

11G OF PROTEIN IN EVERY BOWL

In partnership with Magic Spoon

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But just as important as when you eat, is what you’re eating.

Magic Spoon makes it easy to hit your protein goals first thing in the morning (or for lunch if you’re intermittent fasting), with 11g of the good stuff in every bowl. Ready to give it a try? With your exclusive early access to the Black Friday sale through this secret link, Magic Spoon is offering you a free Peanut Butter box with any 4-pack purchase. Visit their website to get in on the offer.

Please support our sponsors!

ETCETERA

Corn and Cob—this year's presidential turkeys—are living it up.

How to set aside "me" time in a world of never-ending work.

Travelers flood US airports despite COVID-19 warnings. 

Tropical Storm Eta unearths a Florida shipwreck from the 1800s.

Take a flyover of Jupiter, courtesy of NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Indian villagers save a baby elephant from a well after 14-hour operation. (w/video)

Why the future of farming may be vertical.

Ohio man leaves $3K tip on a beer as the pandemic closes his favorite restaurant.

Clickbait: Florida retiree saves a puppy from the jaws of an alligator. (w/video)

Historybook: Charles Darwin’s “On the Origins of Species” published (1859); Lee Harvey Oswald is shot and killed just two days after assassinating President Kennedy (1963); RIP Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury (1991); RIP “Brady Bunch” actress Florence Henderson (2016).

"You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man."

- Freddie Mercury

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