What's up, doc?

Chiclets were always a treat. The fruit flavours were delicious and with the mint option, you could fashion yourself some genuine Bugs Bunny teeth. But whatever variety was your fave, blowin’ into that empty pack and makin’ a cool harmonica sound was worth the whole 10 cents.

That sound was awesome, but it turns out some of us might’ve enjoyed it more than others—and for good reasons. A new study suggests that the pleasure we get from music varies depending on our genes.

Still, nearly all of us want to listen ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

WEEKLY POLL

What are we thinking?

IN THE NEWS

American doctors flooding Canadian application site

According to the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), medical professionals south of the border are flocking to physiciansapply.ca in an effort to obtain a license to practice in Canada.

The number of accounts opened by Americans between October and March spiked 583% compared to the same time period the year before.

“In addition, we have observed a slight increase in inquiries from U.S. medical graduates to our service desk. Over the past two months, our agents have received approximately 100 calls per month from U.S.-based locations, marking a 33% increase compared to September and October 2024,” said an MCC spokesperson in an email to Global News.

The surge is being attributed to several factors, but the main reason seems to be concern over the political climate in the United States, and how it’s affecting healthcare domestically, according to Michelle Flynn, COO of CanAm Physician Recruiting, a health-care recruitment firm based in Nova Scotia.

“They’re bringing up concerns about wanting to raise their children in a safer, kinder society. There are definitely a lot of factors coming into play here,” she said.

Canada continues to deal with crisis-level doctor shortages, and record levels of burnout throughout the healthcare system.

BUSINESS

NHL stays with Rogers

As first reported by Sportico, the NHL and Rogers have come to an agreement to keep the majority of broadcasting rights for NHL games with Sportsnet for the next 12 years.

The deal is reportedly worth $11 billion, and will give Rogers sole possession of the national rights to NHL games.

It follows the monumental deal struck 12 years ago for $5.2 billion, which Rogers ultimately didn’t break even on, according to some sources.

Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said “sports is core to the company and the rights are the most valuable sports rights in Canada.”

Sportsnet will have exclusive rights to nationally broadcast NHL playoff action, the Stanley Cup Finals, and other special NHL-affiliated events.

Notably, it comes with exclusivity across several verticals, including TV, digital, and streaming, and will also allow Rogers to sub-license rights for certain French-language content and single-night national broadcasts.

TRAVEL

United States Border Patrol searching foreigners’ phones

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have always had the authority to inspect the phones of those seeking to enter the country, though the agency rarely takes such measures.

The authority was typically only invoked if a visitor was suspected of drug trafficking or possessing child pornography. However, recent examples appear to include officers searching for political leanings that could be critical of the U.S. government.

“CBP has the authority to search the devices of anybody travelling across the border, including U.S. citizens—and definitely Canadians,” said Cindy Switzer, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer.

One recent example involved a French scientist being turned away at customs while trying to travel to Houston for a conference.

“This measure was taken by the U.S. authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed his political opinion on the policies of the Trump administration on research,” said French Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste.

Some experts have recommended using a different cellphone if travelling to the United States, or thoroughly examining and possibly deleting any contents on one’s primary device that could be perceived as critical of the United States government.

THIRSTY THURSDAYS

Michelle Obama launches sports drink

Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Plezi Nutrition is getting into the sports beverage arena with its launch of Plezi Hydration.

The company was co-founded by Obama, along with Steph and Ayesha Curry, and they’ve decided to join the race for supremacy in the rapidly growing hydration category.

“At Plezi, we’re always thinking about how we can change the game when it comes to nutrition,” Obama said in a statement. “We’re excited to provide a delicious, healthier option for everyone who’s trying to get active and stay hydrated.”

Celsius, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Waterdrop all have hydration beverages on the market, along with portable powders to mix with water on the road or during a game.

Plezi appears to be competing directly with Gatorade, however, which is without a doubt the most well-known and successful brand of the bunch. Plezi’s apparent edge on the competition comes from its health benefits, including “20 milligrams of sodium (vs 230 milligrams), 500 milligrams of potassium (vs 70 milligrams), and 12 grams of sugar (vs 28 grams),” according to a.

MEDICINE

Blood test for determining early-onset Alzheimer’s

Researchers at Lund University developed a blood test they say can help doctors determine if patients are displaying early symptoms of Alzheimer’s, allowing them to determine which preventative treatments may be appropriate.

“There is an urgent need for accurate and cost-effective Alzheimer diagnostics considering that many countries have recently approved the clinical use of amyloid-targeted therapies [such as donanemab and lecanemab],” said study co-author, Prof Oskar Hansson.

Published in Nature Medicine, the study involved blood testing 902 patients for a tau protein fragment called eMTBR-tau243. It and beta amyloid are both hallmark early indicators of Alzheimer’s, and previous research suggested when tau entanglements in the brain are elevated, they can be detected through eMTBR-tau243 in the bloodstream.

The tests indeed showed elevated levels of eMTBR-tau243 in the bloodstreams of those among the 902 patients who were experiencing early symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as mild cognitive impairment.

“Scientifically, these results are very promising and important as this marker performed better than existing tests and the new marker could help track performance of new drugs in trials,” said Prof Tara Spires-Jones, a neurodegeneration expert at the University of Edinburgh who didn’t participate in the study.

CURIOSITIES

The granddaddy of the shoes

New Balance has GQ’s attention again, this time for doubling down on the “dad shoe” by sticking with its roots and releasing the the Granddaddy Colorway for its latest Allerdale shoe.

New Balance knows how its bread is buttered, and that’s by the simple fact that dads and granddads alike cannot get enough of “a simple pair of white shoes,” says GQ in a write up about New Balance’s latest release.

The Colorway is simple, indeed, with a white pebbled leather on the upper region of the classic kicks, an off-white sole, and the NB logo faded and stitched in its usual spot.

The thing that usually stops folks from buying all-white shoes is that they’re going to appear to get to dirty faster. The thing is, dads and granddads don’t care about that; they just want to get in and out of the store with a functional pair of shoes.

Brilliantly, thie Colorway basically boxes the shoes as if they were a pair of snow-white shoes four or five months after buying them—a little worn, a little dirty, a little who cares.

If one thing is clear, it’s this: if New Balance is making shoes even for fellas who don’t know or care about the modern sneaker hype, then you know the hype is real.

SPACE

SpaceX crew orbits the planet’s poles

SpaceX’s Fram2 mission launched just after 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday, and has released the first images of Earth’s polar regions taken from a human-piloted spacecraft.

The mission is named after the first ship to reach both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and the spacecraft—Dragon Resilience—is the same vessel aboard which the first private spacewalks were conducted just last year.

Manned ships rarely travel this region of outer space, given the higher-than-usual radiation levels they could be exposed to when passing through. It also costs more, because the orbital path requires more effort to complete when not travelling in the opposite direction of the Earth’s rotation.

The astronauts aboard Dragon Resilience are Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian cinematographer; Eric Philips, an Australian polar adventurer; Rabea Rogge, a German robotics researcher; and finally, commanding officer Chun Wang, a crypto billionaire who founded Bitcoin mining companies f2pool and stakefish (no relation 😉).

The crew is tasked with growing mushrooms in microgravity, attempting the first X-ray in space, and returning to Earth with no follow-up medical service in an effort to see how humans fare without it after short and long space flights.

They’re set to return sometime later today, or over the next two days.

STAKE TRIVIA

Some high scores

There’s nothing like the magic of the movies, but the best films to grace the silver screen have always been enhanced by the magic coming out of the speakers.

It’s National Film Score Day, so we’ll be celebrating some of those epic compositions by quizzing you on films with iconic scores for today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow afternoon—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.