Hello, you marvellous mind!

And happy international Rare Disease Day.

It's fitting that on this day in 1953, Watson & Crick cracked the DNA helix - a breakthrough that helps us understand everything, including rare diseases.

Today our hearts go out to the resilient heroes who live with these conditions, especially to those with auto-ferment syndrome, who literally get "drunk" if they eat any carbohydrates. That's probably not as fun as it sounds 😳

So here’s to awareness, breakthroughs, and brilliant minds shaping a healthier future!

Big love,
Chris & the 42courses team x 

• A new generation of AIs: Ethan Mollick, basically the oracle on practically using the cutting edge of AI, has written a new Substack on the latest releases from Claude and Grok.
   
• An AI playbook from...the UK government: In an act of inspiring transparency, the UK government has released their DOs and DON'Ts on using AI for their civil servants. be sure to check out the posters they'll be sticking up around the tea room.
   
• Two AIs abandon English when talking to each other: Yes, a new language of AIs, Gibberlink, is real, and if you're old enough, it'll remind you of dial-up sounds.
   
• Dan Ariely on the cost of free speech: The ever rational behavioural scientist, Dan, discusses what happens when people re-write the holocaust on wikipedia.
   
• The Original Entrepreneur: In his characteristic style, Dave Trott tells us a delightful story of 18th century entrepreneurship, 200 years before the word was even invented.

• 1849 - The first boatload of Gold Rush prospectors arrives in San Francisco from the East Coast. ⛏️💰
   
• 1935 - The Ladby Ship is discovered within a Viking grave on the island of Funen, Denmark, by amateur archaeologist Poul Helweg Mikkelsen—proving once again that Vikings knew how to make a dramatic exit. ⛵⚔️
   
• 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discover the chemical structure of the DNA molecule (the double-helix polymer), using studies of x-ray diffraction developed by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. 🧬
   
• 1967 - A West German court rules that impostor Anna Anderson failed to prove she was missing Russian duchess Anastasia Romanov, finally ending a nearly 30-year legal battle. 👑
   
• 1977 - The first killer whale is born in captivity at Marineland, Los Angeles. 🐳
   
• 1984 - At the 26th Grammy Awards, Michael Jackson wins a record-breaking 8 Grammys, cementing himself as the King of Pop. 🏆🎤
   
• 2012 - Scientists announce the discovery of the largest prehistoric penguin, Kairuku grebneffi, which stood nearly 5 feet tall! 🐧
   
• 2016 - The 36th Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies) declare Fifty Shades of Grey the worst film, also awarding worst actor and actress. 🎬💀
   
• 2023 - FBI Director Christopher Wray confirms the bureau believes the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab accident in Wuhan, China. 🔬😷