Bitcoin Hits an All-Time High of $118,000, Up 21% for 2025

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 12:34
Bitcoin "vaulted to a fresh all-time high Friday, breaking above $118,000," reports Yahoo Finance: Year to date, the token is up roughly 21%, buoyed in part by crypto-friendly policies from the Trump administration, including the establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a broader digital asset stockpile... "At the heart of this rally lies sustained structural inflows from institutional players," wrote Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone. "Corporates are also ramping up participation," he added. The analyst noted companies like Strategy and GameStop have continued to add bitcoin to their balance sheets. Trump Media & Technology Group this week also filed for approval to launch a "Crypto Blue Chip ETF", which would include about 70% of its holdings in bitcoin. The timing of bitcoin's breakout also comes days before Congress kicks off its highly anticipated "Crypto Week" on July 14. Lawmakers will debate a series of bills that could define the industry's regulatory framework... The GENIUS Act is among the regulations the House will consider. The bill, which recently passed through the Senate, proposes a federal framework for stablecoins. "After jumping above $118,000 on Thursday, technical analyst Katie Stockton, founder and managing partner of research firm Fairlead Strategies, believes bitcoin is on track to reach $134,500, about 14% higher than current levels," writes Business Insider . It's not just bitcoin that's jumped this week. Other cryptos are surging as well. Ethereum has rallied over 16% in the past five days, and as DOGE rose 8% in the last day alone... Additionally, over $1 billion in short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours as the price of bitcoin surged and traders were forced to close their positions, [said Thomas Perfumo, global economist at crypto Kraken].

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New Student Loan Limits Could Leave Some Short. Who Will Help?

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 12:29
The federal cap on the amounts people can borrow means some of them will fall short. That’s especially true for students in professional schools.

Spend an Hour in the Dark With Bats, Cats and Naked Mole Rats

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 12:10
The Bronx Zoo has reopened its World of Darkness exhibit after a 16-year hiatus.

FCC Chair Accused of 'Political Theater' to Please Net Neutrality's Foes

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 11:34
The advocacy group Free Press on Friday blasted America's Federal Communications Commission chief "for an order that rips net neutrality rules off the books, without any time for public comment, following an unfavorable court ruling," reports the nonprofit progressive news site Common Dreams: A panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled in January that broadband is an "information service" instead of a "telecommunications service" under federal law, and the FCC did not have the authority to prohibit internet service providers (ISPs) from creating online "fast lanes" and blocking or throttling web content... FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a Friday statement that as part of his "Delete, Delete, Delete" initiative, "we're continuing to clean house at the FCC, working to identify and eliminate rules that no longer serve a purpose, have been on our books for decades, and have no place in the current Code of Federal Regulations...." Responding in a lengthy statement, Free Press vice president of policy and general counsel Matt Wood said that "the FCC's so-called deletion today is little more than political grandstanding. It's true that the rules in question were first stayed by the 6th Circuit and then struck down by that appellate court — in a poorly reasoned opinion. So today's bookkeeping maneuver changes very little in reality... There's no need to delete currently inoperative rules, much less to announce it in a summer Friday order. The only reason to do that is to score points with broadband monopolies and their lobbyists, who've fought against essential and popular safeguards for the past two decades straight...." Wood noted that "the appeals process for this case has not even concluded yet, as Free Press and allies sought and got more time to consider our options at the Supreme Court. Today's FCC order doesn't impact either our ability to press the case there or our strategic considerations about whether to do so," he added. "It's little more than a premature housekeeping step..."

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UnitedHealth’s Campaign to Quiet Critics

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 11:33
The company has invoked the murder of an executive last year to complain about coverage in news outlets, on streaming services and on social media.

Texas Court Seals Records in Ken Paxton’s Divorce Case

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 11:22
The order meant details in the case, which involves allegations of adultery, would not be public as the Texas attorney general challenges Senator John Cornyn in the 2026 primary.

Before Air India Boeing 787 Crash, Fuel Switches Were Cut Off, Preliminary Report Says

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 10:34
Slashdot reader hcs_$reboot shared this report from NPR: A pair of switches that control the fuel supply to the engines were set to "cutoff" moments before the crash of Air India Flight 171, according to a preliminary report from India's Air Accident Investigation Bureau released early Saturday in India... Indian investigators determined the jet was properly configured and lifted off normally. But three seconds after takeoff, the engines' fuel switches were cut off. It's not clear why. According to the report, data from the flight recorders show that the two fuel control switches were switched from the "run" position to "cutoff" shortly after takeoff. In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots can be heard asking the other "why did he cutoff," the report says, while "the other pilot responded that he did not do so." Moments later, the report says, the fuel switches were returned to the "run" position. But by then, the plane had begun to lose thrust and altitude. Both the engines appeared to relight, according to investigators, but only one of them was able to begin generating thrust. The report does not draw any further conclusions about why the switches were flipped, but it does suggest that investigators are focused on the actions of the plane's pilots. The report does not present any evidence of mechanical failures or of a possible bird strike, which could have incapacitated both engines at the same time.

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Bill Dilworth, Caretaker of ‘The New York Earth Room,’ Is Dead at 70

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 09:56
For decades, he tended a SoHo loft filled with dirt, made by the conceptual artist Walter De Maria. People made pilgrimages to see it — and Mr. Dilworth, its magnetic steward.

Our Investigation of UnitedHealth Started With a Tip

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 09:50
A reporter was familiar with the insurance giant under scrutiny and the law firm known for its attack stance. Then one hired the other.

After Texas Floods, Summer Camps Reassess Safety Measures Amid Parental Concerns

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 09:32
Camp officials across the country said they had heard from worried parents after the Texas floods. As they try to reassure them, some camps are adding more safety procedures.

AI Slows Down Some Experienced Software Developers, Study Finds

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 09:00
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Contrary to popular belief, using cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools slowed down experienced software developers when they were working in codebases familiar to them, rather than supercharging their work, a new study found. AI research nonprofit METR conducted the in-depth study on a group of seasoned developers earlier this year while they used Cursor, a popular AI coding assistant, to help them complete tasks in open-source projects they were familiar with. Before the study, the open-source developers believed using AI would speed them up, estimating it would decrease task completion time by 24%. Even after completing the tasks with AI, the developers believed that they had decreased task times by 20%. But the study found that using AI did the opposite: it increased task completion time by 19%. The study's lead authors, Joel Becker and Nate Rush, said they were shocked by the results: prior to the study, Rush had written down that he expected "a 2x speed up, somewhat obviously." [...] The slowdown stemmed from developers needing to spend time going over and correcting what the AI models suggested. "When we watched the videos, we found that the AIs made some suggestions about their work, and the suggestions were often directionally correct, but not exactly what's needed," Becker said. The authors cautioned that they do not expect the slowdown to apply in other scenarios, such as for junior engineers or engineers working in codebases they aren't familiar with. Still, the majority of the study's participants, as well as the study's authors, continue to use Cursor today. The authors believe it is because AI makes the development experience easier, and in turn, more pleasant, akin to editing an essay instead of staring at a blank page. "Developers have goals other than completing the task as soon as possible," Becker said. "So they're going with this less effortful route."

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They Fled War in Ethiopia. Then American Bombs Found Them.

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 07:13
In April, U.S.-made bombs destroyed a detention facility that held Ethiopian migrants in Yemen, crushing bodies and shredding limbs. Amid official silence, the survivors are left wondering why.

Trump’s Cabinet of Incompetents

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 07:00
Putting talking heads in charge — not the best idea.

Please Don't Cut Funds For Space Traffic Control, Industry Begs Congress

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 06:00
Major space industry players -- including SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue Origin -- are urging Congress to maintain funding for the TraCSS space traffic coordination program, warning that eliminating it would endanger satellite safety and potentially drive companies abroad. Under the proposed FY 2026 budget, the Office of Space Commerce's funding would be cut from $65 million to just $10 million. "That $55M cut is accomplished by eliminating the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) program," reports The Register. From the report: "One of OSC's most important functions is to provide space traffic coordination support to US satellite operators, similar to the Federal Aviation Administration's role in air traffic control," stated letters from space companies including SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin, and others. The letters argue that safe space operations "in an increasingly congested space domain" are critical for modern services like broadband satellite internet and weather forecasting, but that's not all. "Likewise, a safe space operating environment is vital for continuity of national security space missions such as early warning of missile attacks on deployed US military forces," the letters added. Industry trade groups sent the letters to the Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and Senate budget subcommittees for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, claiming to represent more than 450 US companies in the space, satellite, and defense sectors. The letters argue for the retention of the OSC's FY 2025 budget of $65 million, as well as keeping control of space traffic coordination within the purview of the Department of Commerce, under which the OSC is nested, and not the Department of Defense, where it was previously managed. "Successive administrations have recognized on a bipartisan basis that space traffic coordination is a global, commercial-facing function best managed by a civilian agency," the companies explained. "Keeping space traffic coordination within the Department of Commerce preserves military resources for core defense missions and prevents the conflation of space safety with military control." In the budget request document, the government explained the Commerce Department was unable to complete "a government owned and operated public-facing database and traffic coordination system" in a timely manner. The private sector, meanwhile, "has proven they have the capability and the business model to provide civil operators" with the necessary space tracking data. But according to the OSC, TraCSS would have been ready for operations by January 2026, raising the question of why the government would kill the program so late in the game.

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Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Ban Faces New Peril: Class Actions

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 05:01
In last month’s decision limiting one judicial tool, universal injunctions, the court seemed to invite lower courts to use class actions as an alternative.

You Saved and Saved for Retirement. Now You Need a Plan to Cash Out.

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 05:00
Most people enter retirement without any idea how to manage withdrawing their savings without running out of money. Here is what you need to know.

Solar Was the Leading Source of Electricity In the EU Last Month

SlashDot - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 03:00
In June 2025, solar power became the leading source of electricity in the EU for the first time, surpassing nuclear and wind, while coal hit a record low. CBC reports: Solar generated 22.1 percent of the EU's electricity last month, up from 18.9 percent a year earlier, as record sunshine and continued solar installations pushed output to 45.4 terawatt hours. Nuclear followed closely at 21.8 percent and wind contributed 15.8 percent of the mix. At least 13 EU countries, including Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, recorded highest-ever monthly solar generation, [data from energy think tank Ember showed on Thursday.] Coal's share of the EU electricity mix fell to a record low of 6.1 percent in June, compared to 8.8 percent last year, with 28 percent less electricity generated than a year earlier. Germany and Poland, which together generated nearly 80 percent of the 27-country bloc's coal-fired electricity in June, also saw record monthly lows. Coal accounted for 12.4 per cent of Germany's electricity mix and 42.9 percent of Poland's. Spain, nearing a full phase-out of coal, generated just 0.6 per cent of its electricity from coal in the same period. Wind power also set new records in May and June, rebounding after poor wind conditions resulted in a weak start to the year. But despite record solar and wind output in June, fossil fuel usage in the first half of 2025 grew 13 percent from last year, driven by a 19 percent increase in gas generation to offset weak hydro and wind output earlier in the year. Electricity demand in the EU rose 2.2 percent in the first half of the year, with five of the first six months showing year-on-year increases. The next challenge for Europe's power system is to expand battery storage and grid flexibility to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels during non-solar hours, Ember said in the report.

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David Gergen, Adviser to Presidents and Political Commentator, Dies at 83

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 01:15
He served under Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton before becoming a top editor and a familiar TV pundit. “Centrism doesn’t mean splitting the difference,” he said.

Mark Snow, Who Conjured the ‘X-Files’ Theme, Is Dead at 78

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 00:34
It took a misplaced elbow, a quirk of Los Angeles geography and some whistling from his wife to produce one of television’s most memorable melodies.

Judge Blocks Trump Administration Tactics in L.A. Immigration Raids

NY Times - Sat, 07/12/2025 - 00:21
A federal judge temporarily halted the administration from making indiscriminate arrests based on race and denying detainees access to lawyers, in a lawsuit that could have national repercussions.

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