In advance of Father’s Day this weekend, we are gifting you with 3 absolutely awful (and therefore great) dad jokes:

• A red and blue ship have collided in the Carribean sea. Apparently the suvivors are marooned.

• I don't trust stairs because they're always up to something.

• I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

Need to respect the art of the dad joke and not let these ruin your Friday. Happy Father’s Day, all you dads!

In today's edition:

• Scientists create synthetic embryos

• Bill Gates meets Xi

• 20 Questions!

 🔑 Key Stories

Scientists Create Synthetic Embryos

A team of researchers announced they created the first synthetic human embryo

• Embryos are the earliest stage of development of a multicellular organism. Researchers are only permitted to grow them in a lab setting for 14 days

• In a speech at a medical conference Wednesday, a team of UK and US researchers announced they’d created the first synthetic human embryo. They’d done so using human stem cells

• The lead researcher said the embryos can be used to better study the childbirth process, although it’s unclear if the embryos could actually lead to a birth

Dig Deeper

• “I just wish to stress that [these] are not human embryos,” Żernicka-Goetz said. “They are embryo models, but they are very exciting because they are [very similar] to human embryos and a very important path toward [discovering] why so many pregnancies fail, as the majority of pregnancies fail around the time of development at which we build these [embryos]”

Harvard Morgue Scandal

Prosecutors charged Harvard’s morgue manager with selling body parts stolen from human cadavers

• Cedric Lodge managed Harvard Medical School’s morgue from 1995 until last May. On Wednesday, federal authorities accused him of selling heads, brains, skin, and other body parts between 2018 and 2022. The corpses had been donated for medical research

• Prosecutors allege one of the seller’s customers owned a store called “Kat’s Creepy Creations” that sold “creepy dolls.” One PayPal payment to Lodge for $1,000 included the memo, “head number 7”; another for $200 read, “braiiiiiins”

• The indictment listed charges against 5 people, including Lodge and his wife, for conspiracy and transporting stolen goods

Dig Deeper

• “Some crimes defy understanding,” the prosecutor who brought the charges said in a statement. In an email to the HMS community, Harvard deans called the crimes “disturbing” and a “betrayal”

EU Advances AI Bill

On Wednesday, the EU’s top legislative body passed the “A.I. Act,” a comprehensive AI regulatory bill

• The bill takes a “risk-based approach”: It identifies where AI could have the largest negative consequences and seeks to mitigate those. It outright bans some AI – including facial recognition and those used by police to predict crimes – and requires companies making “high risk” AI to fill out reports

• Some US-based AI companies have criticized the bill, saying it is overly restrictive and will stifle innovation

• Other EU bodies must approve the bill for it to become law. That could happen by later this year

Dig Deeper

• Several AI leaders in the US, including OpenAI’s CEO, have called AI an existential threat and urged Congress to regulate it. But many have also called the EU’s bill overly restrictive and said it would stifle innovation

• US Congresspeople have held numerous hearings to decide what future US regulation could look like

Grand Jury Indicts Penny

A grand jury indicted Daniel Penny, who put Jordan Neely, a homeless man, into a lethal chokehold

• On May 1, Neely – a 30-year-old homeless man – was traveling in an NYC subway car and “acting erratically.” Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, put him into a chokehold. Neely later died, and a coroner determined it was due to that chokehold

• NYC charged Penny last month with second-degree manslaughter. On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Penny, meaning the case can now go to a trial

• A fundraiser for Penny’s legal defense has raised $2.8M+

Dig Deeper

• Penny’s lawyers have described him as an upstanding citizen with no criminal background who choked Neely to protect himself and others

• “The grand jury’s decision tells our city and our nation that ‘no one is above the law’ no matter how much money they raise, no matter what affiliations they claim, and no matter what distorted stories they tell in interviews,” attorneys for Neely’s family said

Still Need a Gift for Father’s Day?

Sponsored by Punchbowl

Father’s Day is Sunday, and if you need an easy, thoughtful way to recognize all the Dads in your life, try Punchbowl

• They’ve got hundreds of free digital Father’s Day cards you can personalize and send in minutes, all from the comfort of your chair

• Plus they let you customize everything down to the envelope liner. For a special surprise, add a Gift Card from brands like Amazon, The Home Depot, Starbucks, Target, and DoorDash; or include a heartfelt video message

• Deliver your digital Father’s Day cards instantly by text or email, or schedule them to arrive first thing Sunday morning for extra credit

• Find the perfect card for your dad, husband, brother, son, uncle, grandpa, stepdad, friends & more

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• How ‘bout them Apples: Microsoft’s stock hit a record high after an executive said the company could make $10B from AI this year. Its stock is up 46% this year

• Nar-can you believe this? California officials have seized enough fentanyl in San Francisco since the beginning of May to kill the city’s population 3 times over

• “Jamie, pull up Jack Ruby CIA”: Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he “takes precautions” to prevent the CIA from killing him

Wildcard

• Innocent until proven Dracula: German police have detained a 30-year-old American man in relation to the attack and killing of a woman at a German castle

• Bill with Bae-jing: Bill Gates met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today. Xi called him the “first American friend” he has met this year

• Wildcat formation: Conservationists in Scotland are releasing 20 wildcats into the Scottish Highlands in an effort to save the endangered species

👇🏻 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Just 20 Questions!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🗣 20 Questions

Every Friday, we ask the Roca readers 20 questions, then feature our favorite answers the following week.

It seems like everyone in the Roca office is traveling this month, for weddings, beach escapes, girl’s weekend, boy’s weekend — you name it. So this week, we have “Pick your preference,” dream vacation edition.

We've got 20 prompts, and you pick your preferred destination on each one! We will include the breakdown of results next week.

Here's the link. Have an AMAZING WEEKEND!

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Easier environment for survival?

Amazon rainforest: 54%

Alaskan wilderness: 46%

Yesterday's Question:

Should the children of hostile foreign leaders – say, Vladimir Putin – be allowed to study in the US? What about Xi Jinping's?

Rebecca from Iowa: "No, if their parents think what they've created is so great they shouldn't want their kids to come to the US. You reap what you sow.”

Jessica: "Yes, let's enrich them with our culture.”

Bill from Newark, Delaware: "No, unless they renounce their Russian, or Chinese, citizenship”

Joe from Athens, Alabama: “Sure, worked for Fidel Castro...”

R.E.: “40 years ago, I would have said "Yes". Foreign students attending U.S. schools were often exposed to a broad spectrum of ideas and influences that more than likely helped them to think independently and come up with their own thoughts and opinions. They may have still rooted their worldview to that of their nations hostile to US policies, but they encountered different views and ideas along the way.

Nowadays, though, I don't even recommend that American youth attend colleges and universities. There is no free exchange of ideas and thoughts and viewpoints. If school faculty and/or student body are opposed to a viewpoint that differs from their own, steps are taken to quash the "offending" stance.”

Last Week's 20 Qs Responses:

Last week. we asked you to choose between lunch options.

1. Bringing: 61%
   Buying: 39%

2. Caesar salad: 60%

   Greek salad: 40%

3. Chipotle: 77%

   Sweetgreen: 23%

4. Leftover pasta: 45%

   Deli sandwich: 55%

5. McDonald’s: 50%

   Taco Bell: 50%

6. Delivery: 37%

   Pick-up: 63%

7. Croissant sandwich: 58%

   Bagel sandwich: 42%

8. Pizza: 75%

   Gyro: 25%

9. Sandwich on a baguette: 40%

   American style sub: 60%

10. Chinese restaurant lunch special: 71%

    Subway: 29%

11. Smoothie: 69%

    Protein shake: 31%

12. Grilled chicken sandwich: 50%

    BLT: 50%

13. Soup and half sandwich: 73%

    General Tsos combo order: 27%

14. Grilled cheese: 69%

    Reuben: 31%

15. Coffee and donut: 46%

    Coffee and bagel: 54%

16. Mac and Cheese: 57%

    Pasta alfredo: 43%

17. Soft tacos: 66%

    Hard tacos: 34%

18. Italian sub: 60%

    Meatball sub: 40%

19. Pad Thai: 56%

    Ham and cheese sandwich: 44%

20. Cobb salad: 53%

    Green salad with berries and balsamic: 47%

🧠 Final Thoughts

To all the Roca Dads out there, we wish you a happy Father’s Day. We hope you all can relax, spend time with those you love, and avoid the toxicity of Big News.

To everyone else: We hope you have great weekends too, especially if you’ve got a long one for Juneteenth. We’ll see you next week!

—Max and Max