the conversation
-
North Korea’s Nuclear Program Is Funded by Stolen Cryptocurrency, Could It Collapse Now That FTX Has?
Since the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX, declared bankruptcy earlier this month, the flow-on effects have been felt far and wide. But among the many victims are also some not-so-innocent parties. For the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a country facing heavy sanctions, cryptocurrency theft has been a (relatively) simple way to fund the country’s…
-
Want Your Groceries Delivered in 60 Minutes? It’s on the Cards, but Be Patient
The ‘last kilometre’ between the supermarket and your home remains the most costly and complicated leg of the grocery supply chain.
-
Artemis 1 Is off and We’re a Step Closer to Using Moon Dirt for Construction in Space
NASA has just launched its first rocket in the Artemis program, which will, among other things, take scientific experiments to produce metal on the Moon. In recent years, a number of businesses and organisations have ramped up efforts to establish technologies on the Moon. But doing work in space is expensive. Sending just one kilogram…
-
‘One of the Greatest Damn Mysteries of Physics’: Why Scientists Are Still Learning From Distant Suns
There’s an awkward, irksome problem with our understanding of nature’s laws which physicists have been trying to explain for decades. It’s about electromagnetism, the law of how atoms and light interact, which explains everything from why you don’t fall through the floor to why the sky is blue. Our theory of electromagnetism is arguably the…