Comets are small, icy, dusty celestial bodies that orbit the Sun. They are made up of a mixture of water ice, dust, and other volatile compounds, and they are often referred to as “dirty snowballs.” Comets are thought to be remnants of the early Solar System, and they are believed to contain some of the … [Read more…]
NASA has begun construction on a space telescope that is specifically designed to detect asteroids. Called the NEO Surveyor, it will watch for asteroids that might pose a danger to Earth. “NEO” stands for Near-Earth Object. Many near-Earth objects like asteroids and comets might regularly cross Earth’s orbit and could smash into Earth eventually. Most … [Read more…]
2022 was generally a rough year for digital asset markets. In May, the Terra stablecoin depegged, causing the Terraform Labs ecosystem to disintegrate (and Do Kwon is still on the run as of 12/28/2022). This caused a domino effect leading to the bankruptcy of some large organizations and left others scrambling for bailouts. For a … [Read more…]
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams recused herself from the Sam Bankman-Fried fraud case due to a potential conflict of interest. Her husband is a partner at a law firm named Davis Polk and Waddell, which advised FTX in 2021. The law firm also represented parties who may have a dispute with Sam Bankman-Fried and his … [Read more…]
The Perseverance Rover dropped the first sample cache to be returned to Earth in a future mission. These tubes are full of Martian rocks and dust that can be analyzed in sophisticated laboratories on Earth. The first cache is in a flat area known as Three Forks. The Perseverance team plans to drop ten of … [Read more…]
The InSight lander arrived at Mars on June 26, 2018. Since then, it has accomplished significant milestones like detecting the first recorded “Marsquake” and inserting a thermometer into Mars to take its temperature. On December 21, 2022, NASA has declared the InSight mission over after the Jet Propulsion Laboratory lost contact with the lander. Engineers … [Read more…]
Where’s my flying car? Everyone who’s grown up with the idea that you could commute to work in a “The Jetsons”-style flying car in the future might have asked that question. You could even call an Uber-like flying car with an app if you want somebody else to do the driving. NASA is working with … [Read more…]
In a blog post published on December 19, 2022, Visa described a system for automated Ethereum payments using the Layer 2 solution StarkNet. The system will make it possible to set up automated recurring payments using self-custodial wallets. Visa cited anticipated increases in blockchain adoption as one reason for developing a recurring payment system. This … [Read more…]
During a recent creditors’ meeting, FTX management revealed that it is working on consolidating about $1.2 billion in cash into accounts at financial institutions approved by the United States Department of Justice. It already has almost $500 million in U.S. banks and found another $720 million that it will work on consolidating. $130 million in … [Read more…]
In the tumultuous couple of months since Elon Musk took charge of Twitter, he may have come across as a bull in the china shop. Now he may step away from daily operations after a poll in which he asked, “Should I step down as head of Twitter?” 57.5% of respondents voted “Yes.” Elon Musk … [Read more…]