Rackin' frackin' varmint

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Delta announces tiered business class fares with basic option; What's the deal with alkaline water; and Elton John announces 2 stadium shows! 🎹

Let’s get into it!

Alkaline water is trending these days, and like most trending food or drink items, it’s enjoyed a steady climb in the ranks thanks in large part to fitness and nutrition influencers pumping the algorithm with tons of content, not all of which is factual.

In the case of alkaline water, enough people have praised its ultra-hydrating properties that the general public now “knows” this “fun fact” about alkaline water.

What does science actually say on the matter? According to Laura Acosta, associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida, alkaline water is really just regular water that passed through an electric current, and picked up some acidity through interactions with minerals.

“While it’s often marketed as health-boosting, it’s really just water with altered pH, which doesn't translate to a clinically meaningful advantage for health or wellness,” Acosta said.

According to S. Adam Ramin, MD, urologist and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles, there’s “absolutely no need” to drink alkaline water.

Lastly, the general academic consensus on the hydration claim is that it’s unclear where the claim came from in the first place, and minimal evidence exists to suggest it hydrates better than tap water.

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope focused its gaze in deep, deep space, and observed 31 previously undiscovered quasars, including two dating back to the earliest days of the universe as it’s currently composed.

Quasars are the brightest objects in the universe. Those discs of light and gas spiraling into the supermassive blackholes at the center of galaxies—those are quasars.

Scientists identified two that are so bright and big, they determined the black holes they’re leaking into are the largest ever discovered.

"It's a big step towards understanding these fascinating objects on a more fundamental level," Antonio La Marca, an ESA research fellow on the Euclid team, said in a statement.

1.3 million Earths can fit in the Sun. According to the ESA, these black holes have the mass and luminosity of 160 trillion Suns.

"These early quasars date back to the Universe's infancy," Daming Yang, an astronomer at Leiden University in the Netherlands and first author of the new study, said in the statement. "By finding and studying them, we can better understand how these enormous systems formed and grew so quickly—one of the greatest mysteries in astrophysics."

Google quietly sent users an email last month indicating they “now have more control” over their saved history and personalized recommendations.

The email was sent primarily to inform customers of an update in their terms of service, which was required for what Google was actually slipping into the update.

The company has been training its AI with user data for years, but the updated terms indicate Google is now training models on “images, files, and audio and video recordings,” in order to improve the company’s large language models.

“Like your Search Services History, your saved media is also used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.”

The company is joining its peers in the AI race, leaving behind the tall tale that large language models would only ever be trained on data scraped from the internet and not granular and personalized data.

This is understandably frustrating and even alarming to many. If you wish to opt out of Google’s new training methods, you can find instructions here.

Elton John finished the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour three years ago, and though it was a farewell to traditional touring, he certainly didn’t retire from playing after the 330-date world tour, which grossed US$940 million.

Still, the Rocket Man is 79 and counting, so anyone with the lottery-like opportunity to see him in concert would be wise to make it happen.

Since the end of the farewell tour, Elton has played 23 concerts—some regular shows at traditional venues, and others private parties or events. The two concerts announced for this October, appear to be squeezing in a couple more goodbyes to that long and winding yellow brick road.

If you happened to catch the Mexico vs. England game the other day, you saw how rambunctious and electric the Estadio Azteca can be. That’s where Elton will play his final (final, final) two shows on Oct. 2 and 3.

“Mexico City has always held a special place in my heart,” Elton explained via press release. “I was truly disappointed that the pandemic kept me from touring Latin America during my Farewell tour, which makes this return especially meaningful. I’m thrilled to finally share this very special moment with my fans after all these years.”

Need it, got it, got it, need it

Whether it was 8 track tapes or vinyl records, back in the day it was all about albums. We’ll be testing your knowledge of some of the best from the ’70s and ’80s, with today’s album match trivia 🎵