October 29, 2026
Good Morning. A computer glitch, a green light that shouldn’t have been given, and Spain’s second deadly high-speed crash this year. Plus, Pluto may have a new neighbor, Bruce Lee’s 20-minute lift, and Grandma’s soup goes to the lab (first time here? Join 523,000 Betterists ).
Yesterday’s most clicked link : Bud Light’s town crier cease-and-desist
Today’s poll ↓ : Make sure you to vote on your favorite football movie!
TOP STORY TODAY
Spain’s Train Crash
A high-speed train slammed into a stopped train south of Madrid on Wednesday, killing at least 68 people and injuring 68 more. The two trains, run by state-owned Renfe and private Iryo, carried more than 500 passengers.
A computer failure knocked out the line’s control system, stopping several trains. A control center then cleared the Renfe train to proceed with the Iryo train still stopped ahead ( see photos ). The transport minister blamed technical and human errors.
It’s the line’s second deadly crash this year, after a January collision killed 46. Spain runs the world’s second-longest high-speed network , behind China. Train drivers planned a safety strike Thursday.
The Fed’s Split
The Federal Reserve held its key rate at 3.75% to 4% on Wednesday, its last decision before the midterms. Two officials, Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, voted for a hike instead .
The pause comes after a unanimous hike in September. The reason is prices: inflation hit 3.7% in September , up from 3.4% in August, as gasoline jumped 9.1% in one month. The Fed’s preferred gauge is due today.
Watch Dec. 8 to 9, when the Fed meets again and most officials expect another hike . Credit card and home equity line rates move with the Fed’s benchmark, so variable balances would cost more.
Pluto’s New Neighbor
A new telescope in Chile found what could be the solar system’s sixth dwarf planet . The icy world, called 2026 ED138, orbits beyond Pluto and is the first dwarf planet candidate from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
It’s big: an estimated 370 to 930 miles across , and about 46 times farther from the sun than Earth. It hid near the Milky Way’s crowded plane, where millions of stars buried its faint movement.
Astronomers traced its path back to 2016 in older images, and one called a find this size a once-in-a-generation event. You can follow its orbit in 3D and see the discovery images .
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Bruce Lee’s 20-Minute Strength Routine
In 1964, Bruce Lee won a challenge match in Oakland, but he came away winded and unhappy with how he’d fought. So he rebuilt his training. He ran 2 to 6 miles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On the other days, he cycled or jumped rope, then lifted for about 20 minutes:
- Clean and press: 2 sets of 8
- Squat: 2 sets of 12
- Barbell pullover: 2 sets of 8
- Bench press: 2 sets of 6
- Good mornings: 2 sets of 8
- Barbell curl: 2 sets of 8
He also did ab work every day and aimed for 500 punches.
See Bruce Lee’s full weekly routine (expanded) .
Can Grandma’s Soup Beat the Flu?
Flu season is starting early this year, so here’s a soup with a lab report.
For a 2000 study, Dr. Stephen Rennard, a lung doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, tested his wife’s grandmother’s chicken soup on white blood cells. In a dish, it slowed the cells linked to stuffy cold symptoms.
The twist: 5 of the 13 store-bought soups they tested did even better.
Grandma’s version simmers a whole hen with parsnips, turnips, sweet potato and nearly a dozen carrots, then purees the vegetables. The chicken comes out, and the recipe says the meat “makes excellent chicken parmesan.”
It’s a lab finding, not a cure. But it’s a good excuse for soup.
Grandma’s full recipe from the study
THE MARKET
Business & Markets
▲ Nelson Peltz’s Trian offered $1.4 billion to take Wendy’s private, a 20% premium at $7.35 a share | Wendy’s shares jumped as much as 17%
▲ The FTC ordered Walmart, Delta, Target and six others to explain whether your data sets your price | What the FTC is asking each company
▲ Weil Gotshal, the 95-year-old law firm behind the Lehman and Enron bankruptcies, plans to wind down | How a $2 billion firm ran out of rainmakers
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THE OTHER 99%
5 Stories
▲ Flávio Bolsonaro landed in Miami after leaving Brazil despite a court order to surrender his passport | The million-person rally before Sunday’s vote
▲ About 75% of NFL players who died from 2008 to 2023 likely had CTE, a study estimates | What outside experts make of the number
▲ Apple unveiled its first touchscreen Mac, an OLED MacBook Pro shipping Nov. 6 | The “Pro and tell” invite that tipped it off
▲ Six men stole 3,000 pounds of snow crab from a Philadelphia truck while the driver slept inside | Cargo theft losses doubled to $304 million
▲ Nicolas Cage’s John Madden clip drew a wave of fan complaints ahead of the biopic’s November release | Cage and Christian Bale in the first teaser
Fun Links
Hidden reason muscles weaken with age [ Study ]
ChatGPT found a dad’s lost earbud in gravel [ Post ]
How your net worth stacks up by age [ Chart ]
A really big chicken parm [ Recipe ]
Kegel trainer Good Housekeeping rated best [ Partner* ]
Huberman’s case for the sauna, in 5 minutes [ Podcast ]
Animals sculpted entirely from chocolate [ Photos ]
Cheerios and Ziploc team up on resealable cereal [ Blog ]
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