Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 2. Tennessee is pausing executions after an inmate survived two failed injection attempts. First time reading? Join millions of insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.

Also in today's Digest: your voice could reveal your biological age (Need To Know), San Diego football team vs. mumps (Sports, Ent., & Cult), AI data centers in space (Sci. & Tech.), why you don't get dinner invitations (In-Depth), and much more. 

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 Need To Know 

Tennessee Execution Failure

A Tennessee woman convicted of a 1995 murder is hospitalized in critical condition after apparently surviving two doses of lethal injection Wednesday night. Gov. Bill Lee (R) paused executions as the state reviews its protocols.

Christa Pike, 50, would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. She spent 30 years on death row after being convicted of murdering a classmate at age 18. Her lawyers spent decades appealing her sentence, citing a history of sexual trauma, bipolar disorder, and concerns about injection delivery into her small veins. Tennessee delayed another execution in May after medical staff could not find a vein. Pike is believed to be the first person to survive two doses of the drug pentobarbital (why is it controversial?). The state does not have a protocol for administering a third dose. 

Lethal injections have become the most common execution method in the US (see map), but also have the highest failure rate, at 7.2%. 

School Voucher Rules

The Treasury Department yesterday unveiled proposed rules for the nation’s first federal tax-credit scholarship program, set to launch Jan. 1 and help cover private- and public-school expenses.

Created under last year’s tax and spending law, the program offers taxpayers a nonrefundable, dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually—or $3,400 for married couples filing jointly—for donations to approved scholarship-granting organizations, which distribute funds to eligible families. Scholarships can cover private school tuition, tutoring, disability services, books, computers, and other education expenses. Families earning up to three times their area’s median income qualify, covering roughly 96% of students in participating states. The rules let states select which qualifying SGOs participate, but limit additional restrictions on how they distribute funds and require annual independent audits. At least 31 states have said they will participate (see where your state stands).

By 2030, officials estimate the program could generate nearly $26B annually, funding about 2.2 million scholarships. See how school vouchers work and the debate surrounding them.

How Old Do I Sound?

Scientists have developed a new AI-powered tool that uses speech to estimate age and indicate signs of cognitive issues like dementia. The so-called “speech clock” could make aging assessments more accessible in rural communities because it does not require advanced medical technologies or blood samples. 

Researchers recorded 2,928 Spanish-speaking participants, using audio samples from healthy adults to participants with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists then used machine-learning algorithms to extract over 700 speech characteristics that can evolve with age, including pitch, vocabulary range, and talking speed. The data informed the speech clock’s assessments of participants’ ages and resulted in the tool identifying when a voice sounded older than the speaker. Larger gaps between the ages correlated with higher levels of a blood-based biomarker that can detect Alzheimer's with roughly 90% accuracy.

Changes to the larynx over time directly impact voice pitch; see how here (via YouTube).

 In The Know 

Science & Technology

> Google launches experimental satellite as part of a long-term plan to deploy AI data centers in space (More) | ... the project comes as 60% of Americans say they would not be comfortable with a new data center in their neighborhood (More, w/charts)

> Four astronauts participate in SpaceX's quickest flight to the International Space Station yet, at about eight hours (More) | Commander Jessica Watkins becomes the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit (More) 

> Roughly one in eight cancer cases globally is attributable to infections, including HPV, hepatitis C, and HIV; learn how viruses can cause cancer (More) 

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.0%, Nasdaq +0.0%) as 10-year Treasury yield hits 5.3%, its highest intraday level in 24 years (More) | See 10 reasons investors are driving government bond yields higher (More)

> Thirty-year mortgage rate surges to 7.3%, marking the largest weekly increase in four years and the rate's highest peak since November 2023 (More) | How are rising rates affecting house hunters? (More) 

> Accenture shares climb 15.8% after the firm’s fiscal fourth-quarter report highlighted $18.7B in total revenue, a roughly 6% year-over-year increase that eased investors' concerns AI would threaten the consulting industry (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) moves oversight of Cornell University sexual assault investigation to state AG Letitia James (D); the district attorney says a recently filed civil lawsuit includes new allegations missing from the alleged victim's 2024 statement (More) | ... and see a summary of the initial police report (More)

> Renee Good's family sues US government officials over her killing by an ICE agent in January (More) | Supreme Court agrees to consider whether Trump administration can detain noncitizens indefinitely without bond (More)

> Ethiopia and Eritrea cut diplomatic ties, after Ethiopian officials accuse Eritrea of supporting unrest in northern Tigray region (More) | Pakistan launches airstrikes in Afghanistan, killing at least 10 civilians, in strikes it said targeted militants (More)

In-Depth

> Captured by DraftKings 

ProPublica | Jake Pearson. A journalist spent 10 weeks aggressively sports betting online. The more money he lost, the more DraftKings quietly coaxed him to wager even more. (Read, w/graphics) 

> Death of the Dinner Party

The Atlantic | Derek Thompson. The share of Americans who say they've hosted family or friends in their home or attended a dinner party at least monthly has dropped by 70% over the past half-century. Have we lost the stamina for coordinating time with our friends? (Read) 

Editor's note: More than 12 million monthly clicks can't be wrong. Here are the most popular stories we ran in September. Enjoy!

(9/9/26) Why Sept. 9 is the most common birthday.

(9/12/26) How often do you really need to shower?

(9/4/26) The most popular Halloween costume the year you were born.

(9/28/26) How often should you wash sheets and towels?

(9/8/26) Cars that hold their value best—and worst.

(9/21/26) How much a gallon of gas cost the year you were born. 

(9/9/26) The biggest headline the year you were born.

(9/8/26) A better way to calculate your dog’s age.

(9/12/26) What happens when you turn off your social media algorithm? 

(9/9/26) What is the best position for sleeping? 

(9/22/26) How to make Jackie Kennedy's four-ingredient casserole. 

In partnership: There's a reason 315,000+ people stopped sitting directly on their tailbone.*

Clickbait: Cary Grant’s romantic tryst created a hotel tradition.

Historybook: Mahatma Gandhi born (1869); Fashion designer Donna Karan born (1948); Thurgood Marshall sworn in as first Black Supreme Court justice (1967); Rock Hudson is first major US celebrity to die from AIDS-related complications (1985); Tom Petty dies (2017).

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