???? Get Real

Good morning. Quick reminder in case your dad hasn’t sent one through already: Mother’s Day is on Sunday.

In today’s edition:

• 🤔 Are younger Americans overloaded on mental health awareness?
• 💪 Apple’s new AI-enabling chip is on the loose
• 🪪 The US government is trying to keep it Real

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.23-minute read (1,392 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“It is useless to meet revenge with revenge; it will heal nothing.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

In recent years, mental health awareness in the US has become a central subject of childhood and adolescence. Many school systems have introduced preventive coursework in emotional self-regulation and mindfulness, while such topics are also widely covered across social media.

But some scientists point to a growing amount of research indicating that, while mental health awareness campaigns are helpful for some young people who need treatment, they can also have a negative effect on others who over-interpret their symptoms and think they’re more troubled than they are.

A few examples:

• University of Oxford researchers published a study last year suggesting that a recent increase in the reporting of mild or transient symptoms as mental health disorders is partially due to awareness campaigns.
• Students in the UK and Australia who learned the basics of mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy consistently reported feeling slightly less healthy over the following months than their peers who didn’t participate.
• A US-based study published last month found that among young people, “self-labeling” as having depression or anxiety is associated with poor coping skills like avoidance and rumination.

The arguments: Some scientists theorize that it may not help to bring awareness to the symptoms of mental health, since it encourages people to sit with darker feelings while often failing to provide solutions – especially for societal problems like racism or poverty.

• However, this remains a minority view among specialists in adolescent mental health, who mostly point to large meta-analyses that show students on average benefit from social and emotional learning courses.

Looking ahead… A growing number of experts are advising school systems to proceed cautiously with large-scale mental health interventions until further research has clarified their potential negative effects.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, are younger Americans overexposed to the subject of their mental health?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇸🇪 The Eurovision Song Contest kicked off in Sweden yesterday. The annual event features original song performances by artists from 37 countries, all of which are European except Australia and Israel. The competition is the world’s most watched non-sports event, typically drawing ~160 million viewers. This year’s Eurovision will conclude with the Grand Final on Saturday.

💥 Israel-Hamas war: Israeli troops seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing yesterday and sent tanks into the city, with US officials describing the move as a limited operation that falls short of a full-scale invasion of Rafah. The move came as more details emerged regarding the proposed cease-fire deal accepted by Hamas on Monday, with Israeli officials saying Hamas added conditions that Israel hadn’t approved, including a complete withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas also disclosed that not all of the 33 Israeli hostages who would be freed in the first phase of the cease-fire deal are still alive.

🇺🇦 Ukraine said it foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky. Yesterday, Ukrainian law enforcement arrested two colonels for their alleged involvement in an operation to strike Zelensky’s travel convoy with missiles and drones (which Zelensky said was at least the 10th attempt on his life). Ukrainian officials say the plot was intended as a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his inauguration yesterday, where Putin officially began a fifth six-year term that, if completed, would make him Russia's longest-serving ruler since the 18th century.

Yesterday, Apple held its Let Loose event, which CEO Tim Cook heralded as "the biggest day for iPad since its introduction."

The event’s main attractions: New versions of the $999 11-inch and $1,299 13-inch iPad Pro with more vibrant OLED displays, and an upgraded iPad Air, which now has a 13-inch screen option to go along with the existing 11-inch version.

But, while the products themselves may have been the main attractions, Cook might as well have yelled “Chips Ahoy!” instead – because the chips behind the devices ended up being yesterday’s biggest stars:

• The newly unveiled iPad Pro is the first Apple product to be powered by the company’s M4 chip – which was designed specifically with AI in mind. It’s less power-hungry and more powerful: Apple says the chip can deliver the same performance as the M2 (currently used in Macs) using half the power, with an improved neural engine capable of performing 38 trillion operations/second.
• The new iPad Air also got a chip upgrade, trading in the M1 for the M2.

Between the lines: Apple has come under pressure from investors to unveil new AI features to compete with OpenAI and Google, at a time when Mac, iPhone, and iPad sales have been dropping.

👀 Looking ahead… Apple will hold its annual World Wide Developer Conference next month, which is expected to provide more insight into the company’s AI ambitions.

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An important deadline is on the horizon for people who plan on flying around the US in 2025 and beyond.

Americans aged 18+ now have exactly 364 days to update their state-issued driver’s license or identification, in order to comply with new “Real ID” rules from the Department of Homeland Security.

Anyone whose state-issued identification doesn’t feature the Real ID seal by May 7, 2025, won’t be able to use that form of ID when boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants (this writer’s favorite pastime), or accessing certain government facilities.

• The rules are part of a larger federal law aimed at setting “minimum security standards” for identification materials, which was initially approved by Congress in 2005 but has experienced several delays.

How do I upgrade my license to Real ID? Applicants must visit their local DMV and provide documentation showing their full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, lawful status, and two proofs of address of principal residence. States may impose additional requirements beyond that, so check your local DMV website before visiting.

• There is one exception: enhanced driver’s licenses – only issued by Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington – are considered acceptable alternatives to Real ID-compliant cards.

📝 Bottom line: If you have other forms of identification that TSA accepts, like a passport or permanent resident card, there probably isn’t an immediate reason to obtain a Real ID. But for everyone else, the clock is ticking.

💬 Quoted: “I’ve been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality.”

• Is Marvel fatigue a treatable condition? Disney CEO Bob Iger sure thinks so. In the entertainment giant’s quarterly earnings call yesterday, Iger revealed that Marvel will release a maximum of three new movies and two TV shows each year, instead of its current rate of around four apiece. Iger’s announcement is at odds with Disney’s most recent release calendar, however, which has four Marvel films slated for both 2025 and 2026.

🏫 Stat of the Day: The number of American students who are chronically absent – defined as missing 10+% of the school year – has made like a spaceship and skyrocketed since the start of Covid. This year, an estimated 30% of all public school students are considered chronically absent, up from 15% before the pandemic, according to data from the NY Times and American Enterprise Institute.

🤔 Did You Know? Between 2008-2021, more tourists died from taking selfies (140) than from shark attacks (90).

📰 Worth a Read: “When you’re furious get curious”: How to handle emotional hijacking → (Big Think)

• ☝️ You’re looking at some of the best science images from April, as selected by the journal Nature’s photo team.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Slumber

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.1%; Dow: +0.1%; Nasdaq: -0.1%). | 🍏 Apple stock remained relatively unchanged following the company’s Let Loose event (+0.38%).
• 🐭 Disney beat analysts' estimates on earnings in Q2 but missed expectations on revenue; Disney+ and Hulu turned their first profit; the company also provided lower-than-expected forward guidance; shares fell ~10% on the day.
• 📝 An independent investigation released yesterday found widespread sexual harassment and other misconduct at the FDIC.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏡 Drake‘s Toronto mansion was the scene of a drive-by shooting early Tuesday; the rapper is safe but a member of his security detail was shot and rushed to the hospital.
• ⚖️ TikTok filed a lawsuit aiming to block its impending ban.
• 🏆 The Pulitzer Prizes, honoring American achievements in journalism, letters and drama, and music, were awarded this week. See the full list of winners.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Matcha.com

• 🖼️ OpenAI unveiled a new tool that detects 98% of pictures generated by its text-to-image generator DALL-E 3, but its success drops if the images are altered or generated by another AI model.
• 🧑‍🚀 SpaceX debuted a spacesuit with a heads-up display inside the helmet.
• 🦷 Scientists are set to conduct the world's first clinical trials for a medicine that aims to regrow teeth.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌪️ Several Midwest states were under tornado warnings yesterday due to an ongoing severe storm system; the same storm on Monday produced a tornado that killed one person and destroyed dozens of homes in a small Oklahoma town.
• 🦅 The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name to Scouting America ​​in an effort to emphasize inclusion; the name change will officially take place next February, on the organization’s 115th birthday.
• ⚖️ Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who’s a central figure in the New York hush-money criminal case against former President Trump, testified in court yesterday. (Read more)

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🌌 What happens when you fall into a black hole? Check out NASA's simulation.

It was a standard day at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Weihai, China, when a toddler accidentally dropped their shoe into the elephant enclosure.

🩴 Saving the shoe... A group of onlookers, who thought the tiny sandal was lost for good, were delighted when a clever elephant named Shanmai gently picked up the shoe and extended their trunk towards the barrier, returning the shoe to its owner.

• Shanmai was rewarded with a ripe piece of watermelon for their efforts.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

• 🥚 15%: How much of an egg’s weight is comprised of its shell
• 🫘 5: Number of days it takes to make a jelly bean
• 🌋 60%: Amount of Earth’s volcanic activity that occurs underwater

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1. Under, 11%
2. Over, between 7-14
3. Over, 75%