Good Morning! 🌞 

Were you taught in school that fossil fuels come from dinosaurs bones? Or maybe you just have that impression from the very name “fossil fuels”.

The origin of the word actually does not refer to what we generally think of as fossils. According to Oxford Dictionary, the word “fossil” means, “[o]btained by digging; found buried in the earth” and the use in the word “fossil fuels” predates our more common usage in reference to fossilized bones.

Fossil fuels are actually from things like algae, bacteria, and phytoplankton, not from dinosaur bones.

I remember watching a neat video on the subject early last year and seeing an interesting comment saying that because of how they say it in his native language, he had never even considered that some people would draw a connection to dinosaur fossils. He was from somewhere in Europe if I remember correctly.

p.s. There is a internet factoid floating around that claims John D. Rockefeller came up with the term “fossil fuel” to trick people into thinking it was a scarce resource to drive up the price. From the little research I did, this seems to be entirely made up.

Economy

Positive Job’s Movement

While the economy continues to be tough, there are some positive movements. The nation's employers added a strong 216,000 jobs in December, according to a recent government report. This increase exceeded the 173,000 jobs added in November, indicating the resilience of the American labor market despite higher interest rates.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7%, marking the 23rd consecutive month that joblessness has stayed below 4%. However, some details of the report may not be well-received by the Federal Reserve, which is focused on fighting inflation.

Average hourly wages rose 4.1% from a year earlier, up from a 4% increase in November. This uptick in wage growth could make it more challenging for the Fed to slow inflation back to its 2% target. As a result, the central bank might be inclined to delay any cuts in its benchmark interest rate.

Some interesting details are were the jobs mostly came from. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest gains were in health care and social assistance. Which gained about 58,900 new jobs. Followed by government jobs (mostly local) which gained around 50,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality with around 40,000. While retail trade and construction both got around 17,000 respectively.

Entertainment

A New Star Wars Movie

Lucasfilm and Disney have officially announced the production of a new Star Wars film titled "The Mandalorian & Grogu," directed by Jon Favreau. The movie, an extension of the popular Disney+ series, is set to commence production this year. While no release date has been disclosed, some speculate that this will come out before the recently announced Star Wars movie starting Daisy Ridley.

Pedro Pascal, who portrayed the bounty hunter in the Disney+ series, is expected to reprise his role, but specific casting details remain undisclosed. Dave Filoni will join Favreau and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as a producer for the film.

Jon Favreau expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created. The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting."

Since the mixed reception of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, a slew of announced movies have been canceled, leaving us with no new movies since the 2019 release of "The Rise of Skywalker". However, this very well could change with "The Mandalorian & Grogu,". As well as the several other upcoming Star Wars projects, including works from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Mangold, and Dave Filoni, who is concurrently working on the second season of “Ahsoka”.

What do you all think about the upcoming Mandalorian movie? Does it pique your interest? Or is it a pass?

World News

Cycling for a Full Scholarship

Mamadou Safayou Barry, a husband and father from Conakry, Guinea, embarked on an extraordinary journey to reach an Egyptian university. Cycling over 2,500 miles across West Africa and the Sahara Desert through five countries, including Benin, southern Mali, Togo, Chad, and areas known for bandit activity in Burkina Faso and Niger.

During his journey, he was unjustly detained three times, twice in Burkina Faso and once in Togo. After nearly four months on the road, he garnered attention from a local journalist in Chad, leading to a generous local philanthropist facilitating a flight to Cairo.

In Cairo, Al-Azhar University awarded Barry a full scholarship, initially for Islamic studies and later for engineering. Notably, Hollywood star Will Smith learned about Barry's remarkable achievement through a BBC report in September. Smith congratulated Barry via video call, gifting him a new bicycle and a laptop for his studies.

Barry expressed his astonishment at meeting Will Smith in Cairo, recalling the surreal experience of sitting in front of the actor whom he had admired through his films.

Sports

Evenepoel to Make Tour de France Debut in 2024

Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel is set to participate in his first ever Tour de France, according to his team. Evenepoel was the winner of the 2022 Vuelta a Espana and the road time trial title at the World Championships, but had to withdraw from the Giro d'Italia due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Putting the setbacks of 2023 behind him, the 23-year-old expressed his focus on the current year, stating, "All that happened in 2023 is in the past now, and all my focus is on this year." Evenepoel plans to compete extensively in France in the coming weeks, aiming for positive results and a successful debut in the Tour de France.

His 2024 campaign will kick off at the Figueira Champions Classic in Portugal in February.

Mind Stretchers

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What’s bought by the yard and worn by the foot?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
An automobile!

Yesterday’s answer is a bit of a bait and switch, but Chris Hostetler once again come up with a fantastic alternative answer - Gastrology.

Which fits all the parameters, so it definitely deserves a shout out.

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected]

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.