Today’s Big Story

March Madness Is Back

And so are the brackets and betting

Personally, I’m not much of a college basketball fan. So, I don’t get into March Madness much. But I know I’m in the minority there. The festivities kicked off over the weekend with Selection Sunday, which means that everyone's filling in their brackets hoping that this is their year.

But the real tournament tips off tonight at 6:40 p.m. EDT, as Alabama State takes on Saint Francis. The winner of that men’s No. 16 seed game gets No. 1 overall seed Auburn. Princeton and Iowa State will tip things off for the women at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Winner of that No. 11 seed matchup gets No. 6 seed Michigan.

Of course, this will not be the year you (or anyone else) fills out the perfect bracket. And neither will next year, or any in the next millennium. According to the NCAA's statisticians, even if you know a decent amount about the game, your odds are still around 1 in 120.2 billion. Still everyone loves the action, right?

Of course, there’s certainly a financial motivation for correctly predicting the Final Four, and it’s hard to deny NCAA college basketball is in a betting-heavy era. More Americans can legally bet money on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments than in previous years, and many will place a wager on their bracket’s success. According to the Associated Press, most U.S. adults—56%—say that if someone enters a March Madness bracket pool for money, they consider that to be gambling. About two in 10 say it depends on the amount of money, and another two in 10, roughly, say this is not gambling.

Perhaps, like me, you’re wondering who invented the bracket? Before all those office pools came to define this month, the bracket was the supposed brainchild of an Irish pub owner in Staten Island—a “creative businessman,” his son calls him—whose straightforward idea of plunking down 10 bucks to pick the Final Four teams and the national champion turned the unassuming spot into a bustling attraction where the special of the day could be a million-dollar payout. “We created a pool that just blew up over time,” current bar owner Terence Haggerty says. The rules were simple: Pay $10 to pick only the Final Four teams, the national champ and total points as a tiebreaker in a winner-take-all format. The tournament field of 32 teams—no need to fill a line for every round—was dwarfed by the 88 total entries, with the winner netting $880. By the time it was shut down in 2006, under scrutiny from everyone from the IRS to Sports Illustrated, the jackpot was a whopping $1.6 million to the winner.

Gaza Ceasefire Shatters

Israel resumes war with a series of airstrikes against Hamas

Israel’s military launched a large-scale bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, breaking the fragile ceasefire with Hamas that has been in place since late January. At least 326 people have been killed and more than 400 others wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. An Israeli official, who spoke to the Washington Post, said the strikes targeted Hamas leaders and infrastructure, following weeks of stagnant negotiations.

The strikes come exactly two months after the signing of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal that the Biden administration brokered with the help of the incoming Trump administration. Last week, the White House tried to extend the ceasefire and presented a proposal to the parties. But the talks in Doha ended without a breakthrough and with the U.S. saying Hamas rejected the proposal.

Israeli security cabinet member and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on social media that Israel had “resumed intense attacks” against Hamas as part of “a phased operation that we’ve built and planned over the past few weeks.” Two Israeli officials told Axios that Israel notified the Trump administration in advance of the airstrikes and briefed it on the objectives. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is expected to host a briefing on Gaza and the Middle East today. It had been scheduled before the Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Harvard Makes Tuition Free for More Students

The Ivy League university is the latest elite school to announce income thresholds as a way to bolster diversity

Going to Harvard just got more affordable for most of America. The Ivy League university announced on Monday that it plans to offer free tuition for students whose families earn $200,000 and below, making it the latest elite school to expand financial aid after the Supreme Court banned the use of racial preferences in college admissions. Harvard estimates that 86% of U.S. families could be eligible for financial help under the new system.

According to the Wall Street Journal, schools including Stanford, Princeton and the University of Texas system cover tuition for students whose families earn close to or above six-figure salaries. Last fall brought a string of announcements from schools making their financial aid more generous, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania, each boosting their free-tuition salary caps to $200,000.

Over the years, Harvard has worked to lower the annual cost of tuition for undergrad students. “We know the most talented students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and experiences, from every state and around the globe,” William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard College’s dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement. NBC News reports that since the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative launched in 2004, the university has expanded its threshold to cover tuition, food and housing costs four times. Currently, 55% of undergraduates receive financial aid, and their families paid an average of $15,700 for the 2023-24 year.

Stranded Astronauts Head Home

SpaceX craft carrying Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams has left the International Space Station

Call it an extended business trip of epic proportions: When the NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station in June, they expected to stay for maybe a few weeks. But the two spent more than 280 days aboard the space station. Finally, they’ve launched towards Earth, kicking off their long-awaited return journey home.

A SpaceX vehicle carrying the astronauts undocked from the ISS just after 1 a.m. ET this morning, according to a NASA livestream, putting them on track to splash down near Florida just before 6 p.m. Eastern tonight. Butch and Suni, as the two are nicknamed, arrived at the orbiting research laboratory as part of the mission aimed to test the capabilities of a Boeing-developed spacecraft, called Starliner, designed to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.

Problems with Starliner’s propulsion system prompted NASA to change course: Officials decided that bringing the pair back on the Boeing craft was too risky, though the aerospace company said the vehicle was up to the task. So, until they were able to return, the two were integrated into Expedition 72. They've conducted research and performed spacewalks, with Williams setting a new record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut.

How to Care for Your Skin Barrier

An expert’s guide to simplified skincare

Depending on how deep you go into the world of grooming and skincare, you may or may not be familiar with the phrase “skin barrier”. To put it simply, this invisible wall is your skin's first line of defense against the world. A barrier island of sorts that keeps things in balance. Located in the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, this layer is referred to by dermatologists as the “stratum corneum” or the “lipid layer”.

According to Dr. Marisa Garshick, a board-certified New York City-based dermatologist, a healthy functioning barrier will also keep skin from developing conditions like serious acne, eczema and rosacea. In order to keep redness, dry-ness and dullness at bay, you simply need products that will help maintain this hardworking yet, at times, delicate system. To help build up your barrier, she recommends products with ceramides (hydrating fatty acids that protect against environmental stressors), hyaluronic acid (amazing at retaining moisture), and peptides or growth factors (which stimulate the production of collagen and decrease inflammation). To help you out, we've got four proven products to kickstart your routine.

Be aware of your surroundings.