👋 Good morning. Don’t judge a book by its cover, but do judge a bat by its beauty: The Bureau of Land Management’s annual Bat Beauty Contest begins this weekend. The fuzzy, slightly scary competitors all live on land managed by the public agency and have been photographed by wildlife technicians (on their good sides, of course). This year’s winner would unseat the defending champ — a hoary bat from Oregon named Hoary Potter.
NEWS FLASH
🪄 The Philosopher's Stone: San Francisco-based startup Marathon Fusion claims to have transformed mercury into stable, real gold using fusion neutrons instead of a particle collider. The company says it could produce 5k kilograms of gold per gigawatt of thermal energy, while also creating medical isotopes used in cancer therapy. But before you start worrying that lab-grown gold could flood the market with this modern-day alchemy, keep in mind it has yet to release any data, experimental results, or third-party verification.
🍗 The other kind of chips: We keep yapping about computer chips, but this time we’re finally talking about the good ol' snacking kind. WILDE just raised $40m to grow its line of protein-packed snacks. The company, which surpassed $100m in sales and expanded to 35k+ US retail locations, makes chips and crackers primarily from bone broth, egg whites, and chicken to satiate protein-crazed consumers.
🦾 Touchy-feely: Zurich-based Enact Intelligence emerged from stealth with a $30m pre-seed round to build robots that feel force and touch through their motors. The technology measures force similar to how we feel tension in our muscles. Enact's "haptic intelligence" gives robots more dexterity to do things like close a box or peel an orange without costly touch sensors. We just hope it doesn't have an invisible touch like Genesis sang about: "It takes control and slowly tears you apart."
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
- Drop the sponge: Starting next month, Airbnb will stop hosts from asking guests to do any chores that take “significant effort or time,” including stripping beds, taking out the trash, or washing dishes. Hallelujah.
- Santa’s workshop is open: Amazon plans to hire 300k+ people this holiday season for part-time and full-time roles across the US, a 20% increase from last year’s seasonal hiring.
- More money, more Monet: Claude Monet's long-hidden Iris fetched $56m at Sotheby's in Paris, a record for the highly sought-after subject. The never-exhibited work remained in exceptional condition at the home of art collector Jeanne Schlumberger.
- Party's over: Fintech startup Coast raised $35m to help businesses better track how employees are using the company credit card. The company aims to make the process more transparent and improve how businesses monitor spending. So much for a night out on the company card.
STARTUP SECRETS
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How we grilled 24 big shots:
- What do you wish you knew earlier as an entrepreneur?
- What are some trends or ideas you’re obsessed with lately?
- Unconventional tips that make you a better operator?
THE BIG IDEA
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The delicate palates of pet food taste testers
Pets can be picky eaters — especially cats — but perhaps they just have more refined palates than we give them credit for.
Pet food makers are spending serious cash to study the taste preferences of cats and dogs — and to cater to their parents who increasingly see them as family members (obviously they are), per The New York Times.
Feeding frenzy
Pet owners are spending more money than ever to feed their furry family members, thanks, in part, to "petflation":
- Pet food prices jumped 24.9% between Jan. 2020 and Aug. 2026, compared to an 8.8% increase over the previous decade.
- Americans spent $68.3B on pet food and treats in 2025.
- $17B spent on cat food last year, up 14% from two years ago.
- The global pet food market is worth an estimated $106.4B, and is projected to grow to $135B in 2030.
But dedicated owners spare no expense for their felines and canines:
- 66% of surveyed owners splurge on high-quality food.
- 37% anticipate spending more money on their pets in 2026.
- 65% would make budget cuts to their own lifestyle before disrupting their pets'.
Pet food makers have taken note...
In what sounds like a dream job, nutritionists at the Royal Canin pet center in France hang with dozens of cats and dogs as they frolic, swim, nap, and, most importantly, eat. The pet food maker — owned by candy giant Mars Inc. — uses scales to measure which kibble formula they prefer.
But they go much further, monitoring how the animals behave after eating, and — less enviable — their stool quality.
Researchers are determined to not only test flavor preferences, but also to develop foods that benefit aging pets — including those adopted during the pandemic now reaching middle age.
And Mars isn't alone: Many companies are increasingly offering specialized — and pricey — pet food lines that can support aging joints, muscles, and cognitive function.
- Nestlé, another candy giant, announced a $1.8B investment in pet food R&D in 2023.
Boy, those snack makers really love pets, or at least, what's in their owners' wallets.
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NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
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Number of Waffle House locations that make up the “Waffle House Index,” a shockingly reliable system Southerners (and FEMA) use to gauge how bad a storm really is, per The Associated Press.
In the color-coded system, green means full menu and minimal damage, yellow means limited menu and a generator-powered kitchen, and red means the location’s closed, which is Waffle House for “evacuate now.”
Know that the chain will do everything it can to keep your bacon sizzling: After losing seven locations and shutting down 100 more during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Waffle House invested in generators and a mobile command center.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1850, the first National Women’s Rights Convention began in Worcester, Massachusetts, with 1k+ suffragettes from 11 states attending the two-day conference.
🔨 Game: Pick the last tile standing.
🔴 Wanna be cross-eyed?: Here ya go.
🧑🎨 That’s fun: You’re a digital Mondrian.
🐈 Aww: What’s the catch of the day?
SHOWER THOUGHT
If you don't look closely, a drive-in movie theatre looks like a bunch of cars watching a movie. SOURCE
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Editing by: Sara "Cat got your tongue?" Friedman.
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