NC Plants Make Blue Origin Flight

Blue Origin’s all-female space flight on Monday included an astrobotany experiment from Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). 

WSSU is the only historically black college and university (HBCU) with a space plant biology lab, which happens to be the only HBCU lab that has a Space Act Agreement with NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Crop Production Team.

Crew member Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist, took plant samples from WSSU’s astrobotany lab on the 11-minute flight to test how they respond to microgravity. WSSU students Gabrielle Erwin, Anya Buckner, and Sarah Lang were in Van Horn, Texas, to witness the launch.

In addition to Bowe, the crew included CBS co-host Gayle King, pop artist Katy Perry, former journalist Lauren Sánchez, space policy advocate Amanda Nguyen, and movie producer Karianne Flynn.

TSA Swimmers to Compete Based on Sex at Birth

The Tarheel Swimming Association (TSA) in Wake County voted to require transgender swimmers to compete based on the sex they were assigned at birth—not the gender they identify with.

TSA is one of North Carolina’s largest recreational swim leagues. Its president, Shawn Gage, said there are no more than 10 transgender swimmers out of 13,000 swimmers on nearly 90 TSA teams around the Triangle.

The new policy, defining boys and girls categories as their biological sex, passed 43 to 25 after the league conducted an anonymous vote via paper ballot, with each team getting one vote and 19 teams reportedly not voting.

The Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary’s JCC J-Rays withdrew from the league over the policy, calling it “unnecessary and in direct conflict” with the team’s values of inclusivity.

NC Programs Make Best Graduate Schools List

Several North Carolina higher education programs made U.S. News’ 2025 list of best graduate schools.

In the business school category, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business ranked No. 13 (tying with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor), while UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Flagler School of Business came in at No. 28. Duke University’s School of Law fell two spots to No. 6 in the law school category, while UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Law moved up from No. 20 to No. 18.

In the engineering graduate school category, Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering broke into the top 20 for the first time, while NC State’s College of Engineering graduate program came in just behind it at No. 27.

NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine is among the nation’s best, and it held steady at No. 5 this year.

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➤ Statewide: The League of Women Voters of North Carolina filed a federal class-action lawsuit Monday over the state Supreme Court’s Griffin-Riggs ruling, which could retroactively invalidate 5,509 ballots cast by military and overseas voters. (See Details)

➤ Asheboro: Five people face charges for operating illegal gambling rooms that paid out cash for credits earned from gameplay. (More)

➤ Pembroke: House Republicans proposed allocating $10 million from the general fund to build a library in honor of President Trump at UNC-Pembroke, but didn’t consult the chancellor’s office before introducing the bill. (More)

➤ Asheville is being sued by the Asheville Watchdog for refusing to allow reporters and the public to attend Independent Review Committee meetings regarding the city’s “catastrophic” water system failure in 2022-2023. (More)

➤ Lake Norman: Alabama bass—an invasive species first found in Lake Norman that often outcompetes and replaces native largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass—have been illegally stocked and spread to other parts of the state by anglers. (More)

➤ Outer Banks: Cape Lookout National Seashore officials are warning visitors to avoid Shark Island, which has a phantom sandbar that vanishes at high tide, trapping visitors just outside national seashore limits. (More)

➤ Durham: Duke University announced a concentration in software engineering and design now available to students pursuing either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in computer science. (More)

➤ The Charlotte Hornets dropped their regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics 93-86 Sunday. They finished their season with a 19-63 record—their worst since the then-Charlotte Bobcats infamously finished 7-59 during the lockout-shortened 2011-2012 NBA season. (More)

➤ NC State women’s basketball stars Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers were among the 16 players invited to the 2025 WNBA draft last night. (See Draft Results)

➤ The Carolina Hurricanes fell 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday in their final game at the Lenovo Center this season, falling just short of breaking their franchise record for home wins. (More)

Yesterday’s results: MLB | NHL | NCAABB | NCAASB | Soccer

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➤ Charlotte-based Bank of America launched the Golf with Us initiative to provide 50,000-plus juniors nationwide with affordable access to golf courses. (More)

➤ Belmont-based Piedmont Lithium will change its name to Elevra Lithium after merging with Australia-based Sayona Mining in mid-2025. The U.S. headquarters will remain in Belmont. (More)

➤ A biometric facial screening system being tested at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cut customs wait times by up to 51% since implementation in February. (More)

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From Selling Pokemon Cards to Disrupting a $1 Trillion Industry

Mark Cuban delivered local papers, Warren Buffet sold packs of gum, Richard Branson bred parakeets. Today’s wealthiest business leaders started their entrepreneurial journeys at a young age.

And Dan Novaes’ story is no different.

From selling Pokemon cards at the age of 7 to founding Mode Mobile, Dan’s EarnPhone has led to over $325M in savings for over 45M users worldwide. His company was ranked the #1 fastest-growing software company in 2023. by Deloitte and plans are underway for a potential IPO on the Nasdaq (ticker: MODE).

From humble beginnings to generating over 32,481% revenue growth from 2019-2022, Mode Mobile is on the verge of disrupting a $1 trillion industry, and the opportunity to invest in Mode’s vision at $0.26/share is closing soon.

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➤ Winston-Salem’s Score More Sports Collectibles recently sold a pack of cards that yielded a one-of-a-kind autographed collectible featuring Duke men’s basketball star Cooper Flagg. The card, pulled by a lifelong Duke fan, is likely worth six figures. (More)

➤ The Old Farmer’s Almanac—distinct from the similarly named Farmer’s Almanac—predicts a hot, dry summer for North Carolina with “near to slightly below normal” rainfall. (More)

➤ The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicular ferry’s summer schedule begins today, with crossings increasing from 36 to 52. (See Schedule)

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Did you collect sports cards as a kid?

1. Yes
2. No
3. I tried
4. I still do

Yesterday’s Results:

Have you ever been stung by a man-o-war or jellyfish?

1. No: 46%
2. Both: 28%
3. Yes: 26%

According to two recent rankings, which North Carolina university has the best engineering undergraduate program?

Show me the answer