Good Morning! Today’s edition is 1,120 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Iran pauses new dress code laws

• World’s largest iceberg adrift again

• Insane Guinness World Record

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Big Story

New Predator Species Found in Atacama Trench

Scientists have discovered a new species of large predatory amphipod, Dulcibella camanchaca, in the Atacama Trench, one of the deepest places on Earth.

• Found at 25,900 feet below sea level, the 1.57-inch crustacean is much larger than typical amphipods and uses special appendages to hunt smaller prey in the dark, high-pressure hadal zone. It is named after the Andean word for “darkness.”

• The Atacama Trench stretches along the coasts of Peru and Chile, plunging to depths of over 26,000 feet. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Chile’s Instituto Milenio de Oceanografía discovered D. camanchaca during a 2023 expedition using a lander vehicle with baited traps.

• Four specimens were collected, frozen, and analyzed. DNA studies confirmed the amphipod as a new species and genus. Many species that exist nowhere else on earth are being discovered in the Atacama Trench.

Big Story

Wisconsin School Shooting

A shooting claimed the lives of three people at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday morning.

• Police responded to the scene around 11 a.m., finding the suspected shooter, also a student, dead. The 17-year-old female shooter killed one student and a teacher. Six other people were injured, with two students in critical condition and four others suffering non-life-threatening injuries.

• Police Chief Shon Barnes said the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and police didn’t fire their weapons in the school. Local law enforcement is working with the FBI to gather evidence.

• Monday’s incident is the 83rd school shooting in the US in 2024.

Big Story

Iran Pauses New Dress Code Law

Iran's National Security Council has paused the new "hijab and chastity law," which was supposed to go into effect on Friday.

• The law proposed harsher punishments for women and girls who do not follow strict dress codes, including heavier fines and longer prison sentences. President Massoud Pezeshkian called the law "ambiguous" and said it needed reform.

• Human rights groups are calling the law an attempt to enforce stricter repression. Many people have protested against the rigid rules, particularly after the death of Mahsa Amini who died in custody after being arrested and beaten for wearing a hijab incorrectly in 2022.

• Despite enforcement pressure from hardliners, many young people in Iran continue to defy the dress code and believe the law will not succeed. The decision to delay its implementation suggests that the government is concerned about triggering more protests.

• More than 300 rights activists have publicly condemned the law and urged Pezeshkian to keep his campaign promise to respect women's personal choices.

Quick Stories

US News

• President Joe Biden established a national monument on Monday honoring Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet and a key architect of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It will be built in Newcastle, Maine. (More)

• TikTok urged the Supreme Court on Monday to block a law requiring its parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by Jan. 19 or face a US ban. The emergency request seeks to delay the ban, which will affect 170 million American users, as TikTok appeals a lower court's ruling. (More)

• Starting September 2027, all new US passenger vehicles must have warnings if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized the rule Monday, which also requires improved front seat belt warnings. (More)

World

• Eight Russian soldiers were reportedly killed in a "friendly fire" incident by North Korean forces in Kursk, according to Ukrainian intelligence. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine attributed the shooting to a language barrier between the two groups. (More)

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after his coalition government collapsed over fiscal policy disputes. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will now decide whether to dissolve parliament, which would trigger new elections within 60 days. (More)

• Seven tourists, including an American, four Australians, and two others, were hospitalized in Fiji after drinking piña coladas at the Warwick Fiji Hotel. The incident is drawing comparisons to the deadly methanol drink poisonings in Laos last month. (More)

Business & Economy

• US stock markets closed mixed on Monday (S&P +0.38%, Nasdaq +1.24%, Dow -0.25%). The Dow fell for an eighth-straight day, but the Nasdaq rose to a new record high, helped by a rally in tech stocks. (More)

• Bitcoin hit a new all-time high on Monday, climbing nearly 3% to $106,126.74, with a peak of $107,229.38. Bitcoin is now up 9% for the month, 52% since the US presidential election, and 149% for the year. (More)

• President-elect Donald Trump and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced a $100 billion investment plan in US projects over the next four years, focusing on artificial intelligence. The announcement took place Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• The women’s volleyball national semifinals are set with two conference rematches: Penn State vs. Nebraska and Pittsburgh vs. Louisville. All four top-seeded teams secured wins on their home courts to advance. The games start at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. (More)

• Alex Gibney and Anonymous Content are developing a documentary on the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the broader debate it sparked about health insurance companies. (More)

• Miami Dolphins wide receiver Grant DuBose remains in a Houston hospital but has movement in all extremities after a scary helmet-to-helmet collision during Sunday’s game against the Texans. The team said initial tests showed “positive results.” (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• The world's largest iceberg, A23a, has begun drifting in the Southern Ocean after being grounded for over 30 years. More than twice the size of Los Angeles and weighing about one trillion tons, the iceberg originally broke off Antarctica's Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. (More)

• The EU has finalized a $11 billion deal to build IRIS², a constellation of 290 communication satellites. Set to rival Starlink, the system will provide secure connectivity for governments, private companies, and citizens while delivering high-speed internet to underserved areas by 2030. (More)

• A study from the University of Castilla–La Mancha in Spain found that walking more helped reduce depression symptoms. People who walked at least 5,000 steps daily showed better mental health, and those who walked 7,000 or more steps had a significantly lower risk of depression. (More)

Extra Credit

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📷️ The best science pics of 2024.

🐦️ Watch: City workers chase off 20,000 crows.

🥒 Martial artists use a mouth, a cucumber, a blindfold, and a chainsaw in this crazy world record.