🌎 Beam me up, Starlink

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

SpaceX and T-Mobile teamed up to expand wireless phone connectivity across the US. The satellite-to-cellular service is expected to launch by the end of next year.

Panasonic might open a second battery plant in the US. The Japanese company and Tesla supplier is considering Oklahoma for the $4 billion factory, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Hackers targeted LastPass. The popular password manager said source code and proprietary info were stolen, but no user passwords were compromised.

Crypto is struggling to recruit new users. A new Pew survey found that 16% of Americans have invested in crypto to date, showing no growth since the last survey of its kind almost one year ago.

Mexico said it may take up to a year to free workers trapped in a coal mine. Ten miners have been stuck underground since August 3.

Microsoft co-founder’s art collection goes under the hammer. Valued at $1 billion, Paul Allen’s trove will set a record for the largest art auction ever.

Novak Djokovic will skip the US Open. The tennis star has refused to get vaccinated against covid.

What to watch for

Japanese and African leaders will gather in Tunisia this weekend at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). The event, now in its eighth iteration, is an opportunity for Japan to channel more foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent.

Items on the agenda include helping Africa recover from the economic consequences of the covid pandemic, curbing food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine, and supporting the continent’s $100 billion infrastructure financing, which remains a tricky endeavor.

Japan invested $4.8 billion in Africa in 2020—a paltry sum compared to the billions invested by other countries such as the US, China, and European states. But as China decreased its financial commitments to Africa by a third between 2018 and 2021, Japan can pick up some of the slack.

Is MoviePass too late for a sequel?

“I walk up to the kiosk. And the person on my left pulls out a MoviePass card. The person on my right pulls out a MoviePass card. And they’re literally looking and smiling at each other. And you knew we were all part of something big. And I’d created that. I never forgot that feeling.” —Stacy Spikes to Time in April 2022

MoviePass is back—kinda, maybe. The movie ticket subscription service, which famously flamed out in 2019, is opening up a waitlist for a new version of the service.

Co-founder Stacy Spikes, who was ousted in 2018, is behind the reboot, but details of how it will work are still sketchy. The OG MoviePass charged a flat rate for a certain number of tickets per month but it was never able to work out bulk discounts with theaters. TL;DR—everyone wanted to use it, costs skyrocketed, and things fell apart.

While a shift to streaming is making theater operators sweat, chains without their own subscription models may be scared off by relatively fresh memories of MoviePass’s spectacularly bad final act. But as Time found, some of them are willing to try whatever it takes to get moviegoers back into seats.

Seen Lizzo’s latest Instacart yet?

In other attempted industry disruption news, Instacart is betting it can replicate the experience of scrolling on Instagram to discover the latest clothing trends, but for online grocery shopping. It would be a big win to move product discovery from social media like Instagram or TikTok to the places where consumers actually buy the things.

But will the promise of Lizzo’s vegan shopping list be enough to tempt users to spend their idle scrolling time flipping through the app they use to order their yogurt? Michelle Cheng takes a look.

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Surprising discoveries

Herpes is as old as kissing. Back in Bronze Ages, the virus strain spread alongside the practice of locking lips for romantic reasons.

Japan’s latest travel trends are “random trips.” Travelers know where the journey starts, but not where it ends.

Parakeets have become an unlikely source of income in Gaza. The invasive avians are prized caged songbirds.

A butterfly once extinct in the UK is thriving again. Efforts to save the large blue have been successful, giving hope for the insect across Europe.

People who take psychedelics reported diminished fear of dying. The substances could play a role in dealing with anxiety and distress in end-of-life care.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, surprise itineraries, and mushie courage to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—become a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Scott Nover, Faustine Ngila, Adario Strange, Samanth Subramanian, Sofia Lotto Persio, and Susan Howson.