Welcome to the first day of July. Summer is here in earnest, but let me briefly tide you over with the final regulations for cryptocurrencies in the US and tales of how Lego made bricks out of stardust.
A new rule finalized by the US Treasury Department will ensure that people dipping their toes into crypto (and cryptocurrency trading) pay the proper amount on their sales. The new rule will require cryptocurrency platforms such as exchanges and payment processors to report their users’ transactions to the IRS. Brokers will have to start reporting digital asset sales revenue for all transactions in 2025 in 2026, meaning cryptocurrency traders are still on their own.
The rule will make it easier for people to declare their earnings because their brokers will now do so there is providing them with a 1099 form. The form has a $10,000 threshold for reporting transactions related to stablecoins, cryptocurrencies that track fiat money like the U.S. dollar.
– Matt Smith
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Engineers are preparing to investigate the Starliner’s propulsion problems.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are not “trapped” on the International Space Station, officials insisted at a news conference Friday afternoon. “We’re in no rush to get home,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing’s Starliner aircraft has been tethered to the ISS since June 6 for a 10-day flight test. However, during approach, the craft experienced problems with five thrusters and a known helium leak worsened.
Initially, it was reported that the Starliner would only be able to stay on the ISS for a maximum of 45 days due to battery limitations, but Stich said during the conference that those batteries had been recharged by the space station, so that time could be extended.
Cognify would mentally imprison prisoners.
The United States has a higher rate of incarceration per 100,000 people than any other NATO country. Molecular biologist and science communicator Hashem Al-Ghaili says he has a solution. in an interview with Wired, he described how a virtual prison might work. Instead of incarcerating prisoners for long periods of time, prisoners in a virtual environment would be exposed to artificial memories. The system creates personalized AI-generated content that is converted into visual information and delivered to the inmate’s brain, as well as transferred to parts of their DNA and RNA associated with memory formation to create a long-term memory pattern. There are many wrinkles and road bumps, but the biggest one may be the lack of such technology.
Will it make a decent building material?
The Lego company, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), has made Lego pieces from real meteorite dust. They’ll be on display at several Lego stores until September 20th, though it’s not all for giggles or Lego kit sales. It’s a proof of concept to show how astronauts could use lunar dust to build lunar structures.
