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View More NewsDemocratizing weather derivatives with tokenizationThis is where tokenization enters, and where I think the crypto industry has a genuinely important role to play in democratizing weather risk hedging. It’s an initiative that I think is significantly more important than simply offering traditional yield-generating assets like bonds onchain.The core advantages of putting weather derivatives on a blockchain are not theoretical. Smart contracts can automatically trigger payouts when verified weather data crosses a predetermined threshold, while bypassing manual processing, disputes, delays, and counterparty risk. With tokenized weather derivatives, a farmer in a rain-dependent economy no longer needs a Goldman Sachs relationship to…
Data centers, already unloved by the general public, have a new enemy: cuddly leopard cubs. In Nashville, plans by Atlanta-based company DC BLOX to build a data center have provoked heated opposition from the Nashville Zoo, next to which the planned facility would go. The zoo argues that the constant hums and vibrations from the data center would have a negative impact on animals with sensitive hearing; chief among them the clouded leopards bred in the zoo. “Clouded Leopards are notoriously sensitive to any mechanical noise, which causes excessive stress and elimination of successful breeding, harming the overall endangered population,”…
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Three thousand years ago, Homer gave us the face that launched a thousand ships. This weekend, Christopher Nolan gave us the film that launched a million grifts, and he buried them.His Odyssey opened to $124 million domestically and a whopping $264 million worldwide. The haul does not prove the film is good. It does prove that the seven-month social-media campaign against it face-planted the moment real people bought tickets.Their indictment ran on three charges. Nolan cast Lupita Nyong’o, a black actress, as Helen of Troy, the legendary beauty of the ancient world. Elliot Page, the transgender star, was said to…
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The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ostensibly prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing publicly…
In brief Samsung said Samsung Wallet will add native stablecoin support at Galaxy Unpacked in London on July 22, showing a mockup with Circle’s…
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The crypto market continues to mature with growing institutional participation, and memecoins are paying the price.The combined market capitalization of DOGE$0.06905 and shiba inu…
In brief MiniCPM5-1B scores an average of 42.57 across agentic and reasoning benchmarks, beating the next-best 1B-class competitor’s 35.61. The model supports MCP and…
from the sometimes-it-can-be-a-useful-tool dept I’ve spoken to enough teachers and professors to know that LLM tools are absolutely a challenge for many of them…
This week, editors Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are joined by The Gist’s Mike Pesca to discuss the ongoing Iran conflict, the unstable ceasefire negotiations,…
U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “critically important” that the CFTC keep “exclusive authority” over prediction markets, echoing CFTC Chair Michael Selig in…
Several Bitcoin mining stocks rallied Tuesday, reflecting a broader equity surge driven by optimism around artificial intelligence productivity gains as more miners pivot toward…
In brief Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev posted an unofficial world-record time in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Non-enhanced athletes won both the 100-meter sprint finals…
An EFF analysis of millions of searches of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) data by police has uncovered a troubling pattern: in…
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the latest edition of Rent Free. This week’s slightly abbreviated post-Memorial Day issue includes a breakdown of the latest version…