Good morning! The weekend edition is 751 words, a 3-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Nancy Pelosi hospitalized in Europe

• Child leukemia patient donates 400 gift bags to sick kids

• Googly eyes prank

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Today’s Big Story

Scientists Warn About “Mirror Life” Microbes

A group of top scientists, including Nobel laureates and experts like Dr. Craig Venter, has called for a stop to research on “mirror life” microbes.

• All DNA is built from "right-handed" nucleotides and "left-handed" amino acids that join together to form proteins.

• Recently, scientists have created molecules mirroring the proteins in our body. These synthetic proteins have shown promise in treating stubborn diseases like HIV and cancer. However, building other mirror cell components could produce mirror microbes.

• The group of scientists warns that mirror microbes could pose serious, unprecedented risks. For example, mirror bacteria might be able to evade the immune systems of humans, animals, and plants. Additionally, existing antibiotics would be useless against them, meaning they could cause deadly infections that would spread uncontrollably.

• Although developing these microbes could lead to further biomedical breakthroughs, the scientists believe the risks are too great to continue. (See their writeup here)

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Saturday’s Quick Hits

• The Department of Justice has charged 14 North Korean nationals with using fake identities to secure IT jobs at US companies, funneling at least $88 million to North Korea between 2017 and 2023 in violation of US sanctions. Some even stole sensitive company information and blackmailed employers for more money to stop its release. (More)

• French President Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou, a centrist ally, as the new prime minister on Friday. The move comes after a no-confidence vote ousted former Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government. Bayrou, 73, now faces the challenge of forming a government that can work with a deeply divided parliament. (More)

• Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 84, was hospitalized while on a trip with other lawmakers, her office said Friday. She got injured during an event in Luxembourg, where a Congressional delegation was marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. (More)

• McKinsey & Co will pay $650 million to settle a US Department of Justice investigation into its role in advising Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, on increasing sales. Prosecutors argued that the consulting firm gave the drug company advice on how to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales, which contributed to the US opioid crisis. (More)

• Amazon plans to donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund and will stream the event on Prime Video, valued as an additional $1 million donation. Meta and Open AI also pledged $1 million as tech companies seek stronger ties with the new administration. (More)

• Crystal Mangum, the Black woman who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006, admitted for the first time on the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast that she fabricated the story for personal validation. The case, which drew national attention, spotlighted issues of race, class, and privilege. (More)

• Louisiana health officials reported what could be the state’s first case of bird flu, involving a resident from southwestern Louisiana who was exposed to sick and dead birds possibly infected with the H5N1 virus. This is the second person in the US who has been hospitalized with the virus. (More)

Weekly Dose of Positive

• LEGO celebrated five years of its Replay program, which lets people donate used bricks for redistribution. Since its 2019 launch, Replay has collected over 1.2 million pounds of bricks and given them to nearly 400,000 children. (More)

• Volunteering is on the rise, according to a biennial AmeriCorps report. The study found that 28.3% of Americans volunteered at least once in the past year, a 5% increase from 2021, as acts of helping others rebound post-pandemic. (More)

• Since the HPV vaccine's introduction in 2006, cervical cancer deaths among vaccinated women have dropped significantly. Deaths among women under 25 fell by about 4% per year from 1992 to 2015. After 2016, the decline sped up, with rates dropping over 60% by 2021. (More)

• Four-year-old leukemia patient Elliott Hole delivered over 400 gift bags to kids still at the hospitals where he was treated. His family and community collected items like advent calendars, games, and chocolates to stuff into the party bags. (More)

Extra Credit

👀 Oregon city officials not amused by googly eyes prank on public art.

🎄 The states with the most and least Christmas spirit. 

🕺 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke is still dancing.

🥇 Man who doesn’t speak Spanish wins Spanish Scrabble Championships.