Fear of digital dollar grips banks as Washington warms to idea
The idea of a government-backed virtual currency has support in policy circles, but Wall Street sees a threat to its consumer-finance dominion. Imagine logging on to your own account with the U.S. Federal Reserve. With your laptop or phone, you could zap cash anywhere instantly. That vision sums up the appeal of the digital dollar, the dream of futurists and the bane of bankers.
Lunar cycle set to make coastal flooding worse in the next decade
Led by the members of the NASA Sea Level Change Science Team from the University of Hawaii, a new study shows that high tides will exceed known flooding thresholds around the country more often. In the mid-2030s, every U.S. coast will experience rapidly increasing high-tide floods, when a lunar cycle will amplify rising sea levels caused by climate change.
When the next animal plague hits, can this lab stop it?
To diagnose deadly diseases and develop treatments and vaccines for them, researchers need to work with them in a lab, but very few facilities are secure enough. A new federal facility in Kansas will house the deadliest agricultural pathogens in the world — and researchers working tirelessly to contain them.