Double take

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Jobs report shows strong gains, driving rate hike speculation; Why Social Security monthly benefits can vary so much;  An update on Tesla’s long-awaited “hovercraft”; and all about this year’s loneliest paint colour… 🎨 

Let’s get into it!

For at least nine years, EV and flying car enthusiasts alike have been waiting for some sort of reveal of what Elon Musk has described as a SpaceX-rocket-boosted Tesla Roadster that can maybe fly.

A prototype was sort of presented in 2017, but any serious mock-up of the highly-anticipated and long-awaited flying car has been delayed multiple times in the years since it was first teased.

The joint project between SpaceX and Tesla may finally get a legitimate update this year. Musk told Joe Rogan in October of last year that it would “soon be demoed.” In March, he posted on X that a revival of the original Tesla Roadster from 2008 would hopefully be demoed “next month,” which didn’t happen.

According to the Information, a demo is actually coming in August, and will feature SpaceX cold gas thrusters in the back of the car instead of seats. Musk previously boasted that these thrusters would provide unprecedented acceleration, enhance sharp turns and braking, and potentially even allow the car to fly.

It’s likely that if this vehicle is able to fly, it will be just inches off the ground. 😝

The colour of the year is great, but when it comes to the artistic and soul-spilling nature of painting, we’re looking for something more than just a generic title. We want something like “Loneliest Color of the year,” and that’s what Sherwin-Williams just named.

Announced via its website with a whole webpage devoted to the Emerald-like hue, the company named Offbeat Green SW 6706 as 2026’s Loneliest Colour.

“This citric lime green with warm undertones isn’t afraid to go against the grain. It’s equal parts bold and grounded,” the paint provider announced.

An accompanying Instagram post showcased some examples of how this color can be used, including with wild yet intuitive interior design mock-ups that would certainly fit the mold for a person with a solitary nature.

According to Sue Wadden, the company’s director of color marketing, Offbeat Green gives "a bold yet grounded expression of individuality that reflects how people want to live today. It balances brightness with warmth in a way that feels both fresh and livable."  

If you thought you were scared of bugs before, just be glad you weren’t alive in prehistoric Britain, where an apex predator scorpion once ruled the land.

With claws as big and sharp as knives, this dog-sized creature known as a Praearcturus gigas lived 415 million years ago.

According to a study published last week in Paleontology, the predator’s claws (or pincers) were about 16 centimeters in length, and could slice their prey with ease.

“What makes (the scorpion) so interesting is that it became enormous at a time when life on land was otherwise very small,” said Russell Garwood, a study author and University of Manchester paleontologist in a press release. “But it was a world that could somehow support a giant predator.”

The researchers said there weren’t many small animals for this would-be mythological monster to prey on, since its time period was only just when animals were starting to evolve out of the sea and onto land.

“When we think of giant arthropods, people often picture Carboniferous rainforests with giant millipedes or dragonfly-like insects from later in Earth’s history,” Richard Howard, lead study author and curator of London’s natural history museum, said in the press release.

“But Praearcturus lived at least 50 million years earlier, well before the evolution of trees, when life on land was only just getting started.”

Heaven in ’77

From the hits at the box office to the hits on the charts, we’re throwing it back to all things going on this week in 1977 with today’s trivia!