🍔 Good idea, bad packaging

Plus: Blow your savings on whiskey, the weirdest kind of job hunt, a chinchilla in a tiny bathtub, and more. View Online Weird: Any day now, hundreds of millions of cicadas will emerge from underground after 13-17 years away to infest parts of the US. Far, far, far weirder are these cicada facts: The insects' urination flow rate is 2x-3x stronger than humans, and they are subject to an STD that makes their gonads fall off, turns them into actual zombies, and causes birds that eat them to hallucinate. Anyway, good morning! In today's email: Far out pharmaceuticals: Drug development shoots for the moon. Not necessary: The perfect drink if you take your $15k on the rocks. Why, though?: A burger with a promising idea and a great commercial, but unfortunate packaging. Around the web: How to find a therapist, discovering your antipode, and more. 👇 Listen: Can drugs made in space really speed up cancer treatments? The Big Idea To the pharmacy and beyond: Drug development goes to space The next frontier of pharmaceuticals is outer space. 2024-04-02T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman Lifesaving cancer drugs? Cool. Outer space? Cool. So, by our calculations, developing groundbreaking medicine in space would be really freaking cool. BioOrbit, a space manufacturing company founded in 2023 and funded by the European Space Agency, agrees — that's why it's trying to commercialize drug production in space, per Wired. Why, you might ask, is this even a thing? Let's back up a little: Immunotherapy, which mimics the body's immune system to attack harmful cells, is one of the most effective new cancer treatments — but it's usually administered intravenously, which means patients have to sit for time-consuming infusions. To speed up the process, patients could, in theory, self-inject the drugs at home. But any solution concentrated enough for an at-home injection to work would be too thick. Unless you could crystallize the proteins — but that's essentially impossible on Earth. Without Earth's gravitational pull getting in the way, proteins could crystallize uniformly and a superconcentrated solution would be a game changer. That's why BioOrbit will trial the process on the International Space Station in 2025, followed by a second space flight, hopefully alongside a pharmaceutical partner. Out of this world BioOrbit isn't the first to dabble with drugs in space: Big Pharma companies like Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb have long been working on protein crystallization experiments. But, for startups and Big Pharma companies alike, there are challenges. Namely, outer space has a high barrier to entry, with long wait times to board a rocket, high expenses, and regulations. If it can overcome the obstacles, BioOrbit could one day have a permanent outpost in space for drug research and manufacturing. I mean, how hard could it be — it's not rocket science. Wait… Free Resource The hotshot bot that clobbers blog posts Hey. We made an AI bot that helps you whip up blog posts. Like the others, it's a total friend. Unlike the others, it's: 100% free to use Built on search insights from Semrush Tailored to crank out concepts, keywords, and starter-level copy faster than you fix yourself a latte Look at that — you're about to be fully caffeinated and armed with a ton of riveting ideas, while most folks continue hitting snooze. In the cabals of the business world, we call that a win. Blogger bot (beep boop) → TRENDING Getting help with job hunting is almost always a plus — except when your current employer is the one offering that help. McKinsey is offering career coaching and nine months of pay to any employee who promises to leave. The consulting firm hopes the incentives will help it slim its head count. SNIPPETS Microsoft is unbundling its Teams and Office products globally — six months after doing so in Europe — to avoid antitrust fines. The tech giant was investigated after Slack filed a complaint in 2020 with the European Commission. Google will destroy millions of users' web history data, possibly including yours if you used Chrome's "Incognito" browser. The move settles a class-action suit that accused Google of tracking users' activity without their knowledge. The United States Postal Service is trading allegiances in the FedEx-UPS rivalry, agreeing to make UPS its primary air cargo partner. FedEx has had the job for the last 20+ years. California's new minimum wage of $20 an hour for fast-food workers took effect yesterday — a 25% increase from the $16 minimum pay that remains for those in other industries. Here's something for generations to bond over: Fifty-four percent of Gen Z taxpayers say filing taxes has made them cry in the past or that they expect it will this year, per a Cash App survey. Evolv is being sued by shareholders who claim it exaggerated its AI-powered security tech's ability to detect weapons, leading to inflated stock prices. Last week, NYC announced it would install Evolv scanners in the city's transit stations. Authentic Brands Group, owner of Sports Illustrated, is suing Manoj Bhargava, the 5-Hour Energy founder and head of SI's former publisher Arena Group, for $48.8m in missed payments and damages due to copyright and trademark infringements. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire saw an $80m North American box office debut, beating expectations of $50m-$55m and buoyed by large format ticket sales. Negotiation 101: Train your brain for high-pressure situations. Take our negotiation strategy guide and dive into persuasion, soft skills, common mistakes, and countering objections. Don't miss this... You know what'd be awesome? A reliable stream of quality leads with high purchase intent. You know what's not awesome? Reality. Lead numbers are on the decline — see how you should be responding. Not Necessary Woodford Reserve Talk about liquid assets: Don't you think the contents of your 401(k) would taste better over ice? Woodford Reserve does. So, to celebrate the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, it's adding just a few more zeros to those ones and fives with a special-edition $15k bottle of whiskey. The thrice-barreled American whiskey comes in a Baccarat crystal decanter with a red stopper. Best of all, there's a custom leather carrying case, making it easy to get off to the races. FIT THE BILL There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today's billion-dollar brand? Clue 1: This company's namesake founder was way, way ahead of his time, having designed the first-ever hybrid car in — dramatic pause — 1898. Clue 2: Someone call 911: This brand obliterated every one of its competitors en route to a record 19 wins at 24 Hours of Le Mans, motor sports' most legendary endurance race. Clue 3: Its coat of arms, bearing Germany's state colors and a rearing horse, is known the world over. That horse has a lot of company: Its first product reached 35 horsepower. Its current top-line model can hit 700 hp. 👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇 Failure to launch Why, though? McDonald's hot-and-cold burger McDonald's tried to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool, but a green push killed its plan. 2024-04-02T00:00:00Z Juliet Bennett Rylah McDonald's McDLT wasn't really a failure, despite being discontinued after only a few years. Rather, it was a victim of inconsistency and its special packaging. What happened? The McDLT was a simple cheeseburger, but it came in a patented double container (one of which currently resides in the Smithsonian's collection). The idea was that, by putting the bottom bun and the meat on one side and the toppings on the other, "the hot stays hot… and the cool stays cool" — the refrain of this incredible musical commercial starring future "Seinfeld" star Jason Alexander. It's unclear why the cheese wasn't included on the hot side for added meltiness, but keeping the lettuce crisp wasn't a terrible idea and the burger sold well. Unfortunately… … the McDLT's special container drew the ire of an environmentally concerned public. It was, like much of McDonald's packaging, made with polystyrene, which is slow to degrade and can leach chemicals. In 1990, McDonald's agreed to switch its burger packaging to paper before fully phasing out the material in 2018. But paper couldn't keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool, thus negating the entire selling point of the McDLT. McDonald's grill master Ken Forton also doubted the overall concept, telling Serious Eats that many locations likely only had a regular heating rack without a cold side, and perhaps only ever delivered warm burgers. Today, the big push is for companies like McDonald's to move from single-use packaging to reusable, already mandatory for dine-in service in France. Want even more? Here's a great half-hour video all about the McDLT and other McDonald's trivia. AROUND THE WEB 🌴 On this day: In 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de León claimed what is now known as Florida for the Spanish crown, despite an indigenous population, while searching for the fabled Fountain of Youth. 🧘 How to: find a therapist. 🌎 That's cool: Find the exact opposite spot on Earth from where you are. 🎨 Game: Guess the background color. 😍 Aww: A chinchilla taking a dust bath in a tiny bathtub. What more do you need today? SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Don't keep us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we'll send Hustle essentials as a thank you. Share this custom referral link: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Your referral count: 0 Today's Fit the Bill answer is Porsche (Market cap: $42.04B) Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman. Editing by: Ben "Watching the Jason Alexander McDLT ad on repeat" Berkley. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. PODCAST JOBS CONTACT US The Hustle, 2 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA 02141, US. Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.