Coastlines around the world are changing, causing serious problems for the many communities living near the sea, as well as vital and fragile coastal ecosystems.
In the second of a two-part special on coastal erosion, CrowdScience explores the best ways to tackle this problem. Presenter Caroline Steel visits the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico to see the various methods they use to protect their coasts.
First up: ‘riprap’ – rocks strategically placed to keep the encroaching sea at bay. The problem is, while it protects the area immediately behind the rocks, riprap can exacerbate erosion nearby.
But there are other, more nature-friendly solutions, including sand dune restoration. Caroline picks up her shovel and helps to re-plant dunes, destroyed in the past by erosion as well as sand extraction for the construction trade. The roots of these plants stabilise the dunes, while building boardwalks prevents further damage from humans.
Nature also offers the perfect offshore protection against coastal erosion: coral reefs. These are the first line of defence in absorbing the power of the ocean’s waves. Down on the beach, we see for ourselves just how effective they are. The reefs face threats, but restoration plans are afoot. We visit a nursery that grows corals to plant out on the reefs – and find out about corals’ surprising cannibalistic tendencies in the process.
Featuring:
Professor Robert Mayer - Director of Vida Marina, Center for Conservation and Ecological Restoration, University of Puerto Rico
Nada Nigaglioni - Biology student, University of Puerto Rico
Ernesto Diaz - Caribbean Regional Manager at TetraTech
Dr Stacey Williams - Executive Director, ISER Caribe
Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Emma Harth
(Photo: Coast restoration measures at Ultimo Trolley Beach, Puerto Rico. Credit: BBC)
We wrap up our series on the economics of the video game industry with a triple roundup. Today, how the new ban on noncompete contracts could affect the gaming industry, whether young men are slacking off work to play games and the ever-controversial world of loot boxes.
Related episodes: Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify) Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify) The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify) Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Charlie and Will go through this week’s headlines, including the $2.1 million ‘Epic Satoshi’ mined by ViaBTC during the Bitcoin halving, then auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Follow along on your favorite podcast player of choice by clicking here.
We go through this week’s news in Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, including ViaBTC’s 33.3 BTC auction reward, Jack Dorsey’s Block announcing its 3 nm chip plans for a Bitcoin ASIC, and a behind-the-scenes look at TSMCs Arizona chip fab!
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Start
00:07:27 Post-Halving Difficulty
00:12:16 Via BTC's Epic Sat Sale
00:16:14 Block's 3nm Mining Chip
00:20:01 Challenges for New ASICS
00:24:28 Jack Dorsey's Support
00:27:28 TSMC's Arizona Fab Issues
00:32:26 Wrap-up
Published twice weekly, "The Mining Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday and a news show on Friday!
Thank you to our sponsor, CleanSpark, America’s Bitcoin miner! And thank you to Foreman Mining, Master Your Mining!
"The Mining Pod" is produced by Sunnyside Honey LLC with Senior Producer, Damien Somerset. Distributed by CoinDesk with Senior Producer Michele Musso and Executive Producer Jared Schwartz.
Former President Trump's lawyers argued before the US Supreme Court that the President ought to be broadly immune against misdeeds committed in office, even many that are clearly criminal. The Supreme Court is now weighing where to draw the lines both for this former President and future former Presidents. Clark Neily discusses the oral argument at the high court.
The polling isn't there yet, but Biden is delivering on the job, MAGA is extreme and dangerous, the GOP is a dumpster fire, and Trump is the ugliest political figure in our lifetimes. After a hellish week at SCOTUS, some hopium for the weekend pod from Simon Rosenberg. Plus, Tim Miller reads from the mailbag.
With its lawsuit, Consensys aims to settle the question of whether staking turned ether into a security, and to hopefully put an end to what it calls the SEC’s “regulatory overreach.”
On Thursday, Consensys sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Texas federal court, seeking to prevent an impending SEC action against its MetaMask wallet and to clarify that ether is not a security.
The complaint calls out the agency for what Consensys describes as “regulatory overreach,” challenges its notion that ETH is a security, and says the SEC has violated the Constitutional requirement of fair notice under the due process clause. It notes that for years, the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, took the position that ETH is not a security.
The lawsuit also challenges the SEC’s recent focus on Ethereum's switch to proof of stake in 2022 as a basis for increased scrutiny, a stance Lubin deemed "preposterous."
Laura Brookover, Senior Counsel & Head of Litigation and Investigations at Consensys, joined Unchained to unpack the lawsuit and what it means for the future of Ethereum and overall crypto in the US.
Show highlights:
Why Consensys sued the SEC and why Brookover feels like the SEC has gone too far
How they are looking for a Judge to declare that the ETH is not a security
Whether the switch to proof of stake turned ETH into a security
Why the SEC issued Consensys a Wells Notice, with one potential allegation being that it is operating an unregistered securities broker through its MetaMask wallet
How the major questions doctrine applies to what the SEC is doing in the industry, according to Brookover
Why Hinman’s speech is still relevant today, even after 6 years
Whether the moves by the SEC are related to a motivation to deny ether spot ETFs
How the several cases against the SEC show that the industry “has had enough”
Whether Texas is a jurisdiction favorable to crypto, given that many lawsuits are being filed there
The implications of a Consensys victory for the industry and what the next steps in the case are
Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz.
On April 17, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in McIntosh v. United States. At issue was whether a district court’s failure to comply with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(b)(2)(B)’s requirement to enter a preliminary order imposing criminal forfeiture before sentencing bars a judge from ordering forfeiture at sentencing subject to harmless-error principles on appellate review.
Join us to hear Stefan Cassella break down the decision and discuss its potential ramifications.
Featuring: Mr. Stefan Cassella, CEO, Asset Forfeiture Law, LLC
Noam Blum joins the podcast today to discuss the strategy Hamas is pursuing to stave off the Israeli action in Rafah—the use of a hostage video to freeze Israeli society in place and turn the conversation away from victory and toward rescue. What are the consequences? Give a listen.
More than 220 civilians, including at least 56 children, were massacred by Burkina Faso's military in a single day this year. That's the allegation by Human Rights Watch. So, how did HRW reach this conclusion and what's the response from the Burkina Faso government?
Also why is the DR Congo warning big tech companies, like Apple, to not use minerals from the eastern part of the country?
And we meet Nigerian Afrobeats artist, Ayra Starr!
Presenter: Richard Kagoe
Producers: Charles Gitonga, Stefania Okereke and Bella Hassan
Technical Producer: Danny Cox
Senior Producer: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
