Lego’s new strategy, plastic in your brain, parental burnout: Catch up on the day’s stories

By Daniel Wine, CNN

Editor’s Note: CNN’s 5 Things newsletter is your one-stop shop for the latest headlines and fascinating stories to start and end your busy day. Sign up here.

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Parents are feeling overwhelmed and burned out by the “dizzying pace” of daily life. In fact, it has reached the point where the US surgeon general issued a new advisory calling parental stress a significant public health issue.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:

5 things

1️⃣ Building blocks: With sales and profits surging, Lego plans to replace the fossil fuels used in making its signature bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic. The toymaker tested hundreds of different materials with limited success before settling on this solution. And don’t worry, the company will absorb the additional cost for now.

2️⃣ Underwater mountain: Imagine four skyscrapers stacked on top of one another. That’s the approximate height of a newly discovered “seamount” off the coast of Chile that’s home to sponge gardens, ancient corals and rare marine species.

3️⃣ Brain health: Tiny shards of plastic are infiltrating our brains. A new study found that the levels have increased 50% in less than a decade, though researchers said it’s not clear how much damage the microplastics cause.

4️⃣ Sky’s the limit: British sprinter John McFall, who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was 19, won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympics. Now he’s an astronaut in training who hopes to become the first disabled person to go to space.

5️⃣ Money matters: Your retirement plan probably has been looking pretty good for the past year or so. In fact, the number of 401(k) “millionaires” just hit a record high, according to the latest numbers from Fidelity Investments.

Watch this

🕷️ Jungle nightmare: A wildlife researcher working in the Peruvian Amazon captured footage of a tarantula that appears to have died after being infected by a “zombie fungus.”

Top headlines

• FBI releases photos of the gun used in Trump assassination attempt
• Supreme Court leaves Biden’s new student loan repayment plan blocked
• CNN Exclusive: Inside Iran’s hacking operation that has US officials on edge ahead of election

Check this out

🦄 Bouncing back: In the 1970s, the Arabian oryx was classified as extinct in the wild, but today populations are growing thanks to conservation efforts. The antelope species’ skinny horns are believed to have inspired tales of the mythical unicorn, while their white fur keeps them cool in the desert heat.

17,608

🏀 That’s how many fans packed into State Farm Arena as the Atlanta Dream set a record for the highest attendance for a WNBA game in Georgia — likely thanks to one rookie phenom.

Quotable

📱 Fake accounts: The 32-year-old is angry that photos of her and other women are being used by a phony campaign on X backing Donald Trump ahead of November’s presidential election.

Quiz time

✈️ Which US city is expected to be this year’s top Labor Day weekend travel destination?
A. New York
B. Seattle
C. Boston
D. San Francisco
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Celebrity corner

⭐ Dress like a dad: Actor and comedian Adam Sandler rocked his usual goofy shorts and colorful sneakers while dishing out some fashion advice. “Whatever is in the closet, I grab it,” he says.

Good vibes

😎 We like to wrap things up on a positive note: It’s a sneaky way of protecting seals from plastic pollution: Divers swim underneath a floating dock built for the seals to bask in the sun, then slip a special tool beneath the dock’s slats to cut away any harmful plastic from the seals’ necks. The playful creatures never even notice their presence.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
🧠 Quiz answer: B. Seattle, a popular departure point for cruises to Alaska, could see a nearly 30% increase in visitors for the holiday weekend compared with last year.
📧 Check out all of CNN’s newsletters.

5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Tricia Escobedo, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.