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…]
Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and is likely to be extradited to the United States, where he now faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and campaign finance violations. He was set to appear before a magistrate judge on Tuesday, local time. The magistrate judge denied him bail during the … [Read more…]
After 25 and a half days in space, a test version of the Orion spacecraft returned to Earth. It splashed down just off the western coastline of Baja, California, at 9:40 a.m. PST on December 11, 2022. “With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated … [Read more…]
The Perseverance Rover got two samples of dust and sand from a small, windblown, dune-like structure on Mars. One of these samples might return to Earth on a sample return mission that is currently being built in Europe. The sample return mission is expected to launch later this decade. An orbiter will launch as early … [Read more…]