President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday instructing agencies across the federal government to study the possible risks presented by the explosion in popularity of cryptocurrencies and consider the creation of a U.S. digital currency. The executive order urges federal regulators to review the risks a roughly $1.75 trillion Read more…
President Joe Biden announced today that the US will ban imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal. The UK will follow suit, according to a Politico report, phasing out Russian oil and gas purchases over the next several months. The coordinated moves will add further pressure to Putin’s regime Read more…
Apple has announced the Mac Studio, a desktop system that looks like the Mac Mini on the outside but packs a lot more power on the inside. The Mac Studio features both Apple’s M1 Max chip as well as a new, even more powerful processor, the M1 Ultra. It looks Read more…
With sanctions against Russia starting to bite, the Kremlin is mulling ways to keep businesses and the government running. The latest is a creative twist on state asset seizures, only instead of the government taking over an oil refinery, for example, Russia is considering legalizing software piracy. Ars Technica reports: Read more…
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Interesting Engineering: Green Hydrogen International (GHI) has unveiled its plans to build a 60 GW green hydrogen production facility near the Piedras Pintas salt dome in Texas. The facility will be the largest of its kind in the world, the company claimed in Read more…
New research, published in the journal Physiological Entomology, suggests that the palm-sized Joro spider, which swarmed North Georgia by the millions last September, has a special resilience to the cold. This has led scientists to suggest that the 3-inch (7.6 centimeters) bright-yellow-striped spiders — whose hatchlings disperse by fashioning web Read more…
Google has confirmed plans to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant in an all-cash deal worth $5.4 billion. The move comes exactly a month after reports emerged that Microsoft was in early discussions to buy Mandiant, meaning that Google is essentially getting one over its big cloud rival. Mandiant works with customers Read more…