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U.S. touts fusion breakthrough as one of ‘most impressive scientific feats’ this century
The reaction “briefly simulating the conditions of a star,” National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby said. Lab lasers had triggered fusion reactions before. But this time, the scientists managed to keep the reaction going long enough to produce three megajoules of energy, more than the two megajoules the lasers had deposited, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Marvin Adams said at the event. The whole reaction took less time than it takes light to travel one inch, Adams added. But that was enough to prove for the first time that it was possible to mash together atoms and release a greater amount of energy than was used to trigger the reaction. Livermore focuses its efforts on research to maintain the U.S. nuclear weapon fleet. But this experiment also h...
Ethereum rallies to $1,350, but derivatives metrics remain neutral to bearish
Ether (ETH) rallied 6.3% to $1,350 on Dec. 13, mimicking a similar failed attempt that took place on Nov. 10. Despite reaching the highest level in 33 days, the gains were not enough to instill confidence in traders according to two key derivatives metrics. Ether/USD price index, 12-hour. Source: TradingView Bulls’ frustrations can partially be explained by Binance facing a near-record $1.1 billion in withdrawals over a 24-hour period. The unusual behavior comes as the exchange attempts to put out multiple disputes about its proof of reserves and overall solvency on crypto Twitter. According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, the social media posts amount to nothing more than FUD. However, Binance’s USD Coin (USDC) reserves were emptied after alleged troubles with commercial bankin...
Crypto community members discuss bank run on Binance
Within the past 24 hours, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has seen outflows of over $1.14 billion due to rising FUD — or fear, uncertainty and doubt — within the crypto ecosystem. According to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the exchange has seen this before, and he believes “it is a good idea to ‘stress test withdrawals’ on each CEX [centralized exchange] on a rotating basis”. We saw some withdrawals today (net $1.14b ish). We have seen this before. Some days we have net withdrawals; some days we have net deposits. Business as usual for us. I actually think it is a good idea to “stress test withdrawals” on each CEX on a rotating basis. 1/2 https://t.co/uF9lLPDSyS — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 13, 2022 The bank run on Binance comes a month after CZ triggered a bank ...
What Goldman Sachs’ CEO misunderstands about private blockchains
Only one of the following news items is real, but someday, all will sound equally comical. Headline, 1896: The owner of Wagoneer & Sons, a leading horse-drawn carriage maker, has announced the adoption of a new machine called the “internal combustion engine” to improve its manufacturing process. “Gas engines are powerful but dangerous,” the owner said. “We will use them to make better wagons. Headline, 1918: The American Association of Candle Makers has announced a new initiative to electrify its wax-making process. It believes that electricity is too dangerous to use for lighting but can be utilized to make cheaper candles. Headline, 1989: The United States postal service will adopt a new technology called “the internet” to speed up the sorting and delivery of letters and postcards. H...
Algorand to support bank and insurance guarantees platform in Italy
Layer-1 blockchain platform Algorand has been chosen as the public blockchain to support an “innovative digital guarantees platform” to be used in Italy’s banking and insurance markets. The Algorand-supported platform is expected to be launched in early 2023. According to Algorand’s Dec. 13 announcement, this is the first time an EU Member State will use blockchain technology for bank and insurance guarantees. A bank guarantee is when a lending institution promises to cover a loss if a borrower defaults on a loan. It’s an alternative to providing a security bond or a deposit to a supplier or vendor. An insurance guarantee is similar but is offered by an insurance company rather than a bank. Algorand said that blockchain technology was ideally suited for the “Di...
The Legal Beat: Taylor Swift Ends ‘Shake It Off’ Battle – Plus Megan Thee Stallion, Nick Carter & More
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings, and all the fun stuff in between. This week: Taylor Swift ends a long-running copyright case over the lyrics to “Shake It Off,” Tory Lanez heads to trial over accusations that he shot Megan Thee Stallion, Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter is accused of sexually assault, and much more. THE BIG STORY: Taylor Swift’s Accusers Drop “Shake It Off” Case It was the next big music copyright case – until it wasn’t. After five long years of litigation, and with just a month to go until a scheduled trial, attorneys for Taylor Swift reached an agreement Monday with songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler to end their copyright infringement lawsuit cl...
Ecobank cautious on Ghana strategy as it counts cost of proposed debt-swap
Ghana’s proposed domestic debt restructuring leaves Ecobank, the country’s largest bank by assets, cautious over its corporate finance strategy in the country. The debt restructuring “will affect our risk-weighted assets,” the bank’s head of corporate finance Meinna Gwet tells The Africa Report. “We will have to be very cautious about our strategy in the country” in 2023. Your browser could not fetch this story If you are reading this message your browser has Javascript disabled. Please enable Javascript in order to access to this story.
US-Africa Summit: Joe Biden tests his new Africa strategy
It has been eight years since the event last took place. The first edition was organised in August 2014 during the Barack-Obama presidency. This year, African heads of state are once again converging for the US-Africa Leaders Summit, which opens on 13 December at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Of the 50 or so leaders who were invited, most have said they will attend the three-day conference. Eritrea – with which the US no longer has diplomatic relations – was ignored by the organisers, who have also been careful to follow African Union criteria: Countries that have recently experienced a military coup and were suspended from the AU have not been invited. They include Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Sudan.
Ghana: Staff-level agreement with IMF gives government respite, but what’s next?
The Akufo-Addo government is heaving a sigh of relief after reaching a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $3bn credit facility and expects the news to bring back investors’ lost appetite for Ghana. Source
What to know about DOE’s fusion milestone
“From my perspective, this is the proof that the physics work for net gain,” said Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, an industry advocacy group, in an interview before the announcement. Here are several important things to know about the milestone’s significance and next steps: Why is this so important? In theory, nuclear fusion could produce massive amounts of energy without producing lost-lasting radioactive waste, or posing the risk of meltdowns. That’s unlike nuclear fission, which powers today’s reactors. Fission results when radioactive atoms — most commonly uranium — are split by neutrons in controlled chain reactions, creating lighter atoms and large amounts of radiation and energy to produce electric power. Fusion is the opposite process. In the most common ap...
‘America has achieved a tremendous scientific breakthrough’
The reaction “briefly simulating the conditions of a star,” National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby said. Lab lasers had triggered fusion reactions before. But this time, the scientists managed to keep the reaction going long enough to produce three megajoules of energy, more than the two megajoules the lasers had deposited, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Marvin Adams said at the event. The whole reaction took less time than it takes light to travel one inch, Adams added. But that was enough to prove for the first time that it was possible to mash together atoms and release a greater amount of energy than was used to trigger the reaction. Livermore focuses its efforts on research to maintain the U.S. nuclear weapon fleet. But this experiment also h...
Granholm announces fusion technology ‘breakthrough’
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