Loud and clear

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: The abrupt shut down of Spirit could drive airfares even higher; A look at how airlines actually plan flights; A new mammogram technology is improving early detection; and it’s official, the Stones a e back, baby! 

Let’s get into it!

Spirit Airlines shut down for good on Saturday, and not even 24 hours passed before other airlines began filling the void in an attempt to capture the gap in the market immediately.

Spirit had been in creditor protection since 2024, and though it was working towards a restructuring that maybe could have saved it, the recent rise in jet fuel costs was too much for the beleaguered airline to handle.

Its wind-down had already been anticipated by rival carriers for months, especially given it was only expected to account for about 1.5% of the market this summer. Still, its access to airport gates and the customers that only seek budget fares were key to the competitiveness of the still-remaining American carriers.

JetBlue seized the moment over the weekend, immediately announcing new routes out of Fort Lauderdale—previously the home of Spirit. Other airlines—including United, American, Frontier, and Southwest—all immediately capped fares for passengers whose Spirit flights were cancelled.

While a show of good faith to start, the fact remains there is now less competition in the market, which usually means higher prices will follow.

“Beyond direct revenue capture from Spirit’s prior network, we also suspect industry pricing could benefit significantly for nearly all airlines given the removal of excess point-to-point capacity, which will likely drive even higher unit revenue outcomes in the near term,” said Barclays airline analyst Brandon Oglenski said in a note yesterday.

Did you know that when you board a flight, you’re stepping into a single piece of a near-infinite jigsaw puzzle put together by what’s often a single person known as the airline’s chief planning officer?

Each airline has one, in order to establish the most profitable and efficient operation. What routes exist, how often planes fly on them, what time they leave and depart, and dozens of other variables factor into the decision making of the single—perhaps most important—person at the airline.

“It’s my team’s responsibility to make sure that we’re making money off that aircraft or maximizing profits,” says says Neil Chernoff, the CPO for British Airways, who was previously an investment banker and now runs one of the most complex logistical operations in commercial aviation.

Certain destinations have become more popular for BA travellers post-pandemic, and Chernoff’s team has had to be able to pivot on a dime.

“We’ve definitely seen that leisure travelers want new destinations and want to be able to do something different and explore new markets,” he says, noting the addition of flights to destinations like Bangkok and Colombo in anticipation of heightened demand.

Breast cancer is among the most important types of cancer that must be detected early for the patient to be eligible for multiple treatment options.

A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba are developing a first-of-its-kind screening technology that combines the use of ultrasound and microwave imaging in order to assist with early detection in mammograms.

“We’re hoping that we can get more, what’s called, specificity of the tissue to identify the tissue in the reconstructed image,” said Joe LoVetri, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Manitoba.

“Typically in a mammogram, as any woman who’s gone to get a mammogram knows, you wait for the radiologist to look at the 3D scan or the 2D scan, and the radiologist has to interpret what’s in that image.”

The technology is being tested for use not to replace mammograms, but to enhance image clarity and usefulness when a physician conducts analyses and determines findings.

“Normally when a woman gets cancer treatments, they don’t usually monitor during the treatment,” LoVetri said. “They only image at the beginning and at the end. This would be ideal technology to monitor during the treatment, to see if the treatment is working or not.”

Microplastic pollution is a global crisis that many scientists believe is the biggest threat to humanity. Particulates as small as one 25,000th the width of a human hair have been found in the jet stream, drinking water, the bottom of oceans, and nearly every human organ that’s been tested.

It’s unclear exactly how big a threat to human survival these particles are, but they are a threat, and researchers for a study recently published in ACS Omega found a potential method of filtering 98.5% of microplastics from water.

The method used seeds from the Moringa tree, which typically grows in the Himalayan region. Often referred to as the “Miracle Tree” for the healing properties it’s been known to have for thousands of years, the tree’s seeds were used in the study as coagulants that could bind microplastics together in water before removing the seeds and the pollutants.

This method of filtration is typically conducted using aluminum sulfate—or simply alum. On an industrial level, this compound leaves behind a toxic sludge that is itself a hazard to human health if not safely removed. It’s also quite expensive.

While Miracle Tree seeds would also leave behind organic waste, they aren’t as expensive, and they’re certainly less toxic. The researchers believe they could be used for filtration on large scales, particularly in rural and remote areas that struggle to afford alum.

After weeks of hints dropped in an intentionally puzzling fashion across the world and the internet, the final pieces were published on the social media accounts of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood.

When put together, those pieces reveal the image above on the right, featuring what appears to be the cover of the next Rolling Stones album, Foreign Tongues.

In 2023, when Jagger was promoting that year’s Stones album, Hackney Diamonds, he said in an interview with the New York Times, “We've got almost three-quarters through the next one.”

Richards commented as well, saying, “With Charlie leaving us, I think we needed to make a new mark with [new drummer] Steve [Jordan],” which they’ve certainly done. He said earlier this year that the band even has ten songs ready for a follow-up to the yet-to-be-released Foreign Tongues.

A release date hasn’t been announced, but one would have to assume it’s fast-approaching. It’s unclear if any live performances will be announced in conjunction with the new album, after sources close to the Stones revealed late last year that a world tour had been cancelled due to Keith Richards’ inability to commit.

Trivia, yeah that’s the ticket

That’s right Staker, today we’re looking back at SNL great characters and sketches from the ’80s 🤣