A Great Pyrenees‚ found wandering the streets of Fort Bend County‚ Texas‚ just became the most loving surrogate mom and savior to six abandoned puppies in late October.

Economist: Donald Trump Biggest Danger in 2024

Oh‚ Really? Mexico “Categorically Rejects” New Immigration Laws in Texas

This week Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has shrunk to the smallest we’ve ever seen it‚ a 71-million-year-old snoozing dinosaur suggests they slept like birds‚ and one of nature's “most intimidating spectacles” may become a lot more common. Finally‚ we investigate how the natural world made ancient warfare pretty weird.Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all the biggest science news delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday and Saturday. Earth’s Surface Is Leaking Water Down To Its CoreWithin the Earth‚ there is a thin layer just around the molten metal of the outer core. Its origin has been uncertain for decades‚ but researchers now believe that the cause of it is to be found right here: It’s the water on the surface that caused that differentiation to take place in the first place. This is difficult to explain by assuming the concentration of a single element dropping there‚ but it could be explained if a widespread chemical reaction is taking place. Read the full story hereThis 3D-Printed Robot Has Tendons‚ Ligaments‚ And "Bones" – Just Like A Human HandThe latest advances in 3D printing have been put to good use by scientists at ETH Zürich‚ who have now unveiled an incredibly human-like robotic hand. What makes this hand unique is that it’s made up of bones‚ ligaments‚ and tendons – all the building blocks of a human skeleton – created from different flexible polymers‚ opening up a whole world of potential applications for this technology. Read the full story hereJupiter's Great Red Spot Is The Smallest We've Ever Seen ItJupiter’s Great Red Spot‚ the Solar System’s most infamous storm‚ is the smallest it has been in observational history. The reasons behind its shrinking fortunes are not fully understood‚ but it's been suggested this gargantuan pool of storm clouds isn't going anywhere soon. Read the full story hereNew Dinosaur Species Snoozing For 71 Million Years Suggests They Slept Like BirdsAround 71 million years ago‚ a small theropod dinosaur curled up to snooze one final time before becoming a part of the fossil record. Retrieved from the Barun Goyot Formation in what we now call Mongolia’s Gobi Desert‚ it’s become a central part of new research that states its curled-up position suggests they slept like modern birds. Read the full story here"One Of Nature's Most Intimidating Spectacles" Is Set To Become A Lot More CommonSand and dust storms – described by UN officials as “one of nature's most intimidating spectacles” – have become dramatically more common in many world regions. While these colossal forces of nature are a seasonal natural phenomenon‚ up to 25 percent of them can now be attributed to human-driven factors‚ such as poor land management and climate change. Read the full story hereTWIS is published weekly on our Linkedin page‚ join us there for even more content.Feature of the week: Scorpion Bombs‚ Infectious Donkeys‚ And Pigs Vs Elephants: 5 Ways Ancient Warfare Got WeirdThroughout history‚ humans have been coming up with creative ways to maim and kill one another‚ and many leaned on the devastating power of the natural world. From Black Death Bombs to war elephants‚ let’s take a look at five of the worst – or best‚ depending on your outlook – weapons born from ancient warfare. Read the full story here More content:Check out season 3 of IFLScience's The Big Questions Podcast‚ so far we've asked:• Is Jurassic Park Possible?• How Is Climate Change Affecting Polar Bear Populations?• Why Is Space Junk Such A Big Deal?• Can We Save A Species On The Very Brink Of Extinction?• How Does A Quantum Computer Work And How Will They Change The World?• What Is Space Weather And How Does It Affect Us?• What Can Ancient Ice Tell Us About The Future?• Are E-Fuels The Future Of Aviation?• How Are Glaciers Changing In A Warming World?• Are We Ready For The Next Massive Solar Flare?PLUS‚ have you seen our free e-magazine‚ CURIOUS? Issue 16 November 2023 is out now. Check it out for exclusive interviews‚ book excerpts‚ long reads‚ and more.

We’ve all seen it in movies and on TV. The witness watches from behind a two-way mirror while a line of potential perps files into a room. They turn to the left‚ then to the right‚ and maybe one or two of them step forward for a closer look. Then the million-dollar question: are any of these the person the police are looking for? But what happens if you just can’t be sure?Although eyewitness testimonies can be key pieces of evidence for law enforcement building their cases‚ a witness can sometimes pick the wrong person‚ with potentially devastating consequences. Because of the high stakes‚ there’s an urgent need for scientists to try and figure out what factors can make it more difficult for a witness to make a positive – and correct – identification.  “We have clear information from the Innocence Project in the US and other cases around the globe‚ that of the people who have been convicted and later found to be innocent‚ approximately 70 percent have been imprisoned‚ at least partly‚ due to misidentification‚” explained study lead Thomas Nyman‚ an assistant professor at New York University Shanghai‚ in a statement.Previous research has focused a lot on how police can best conduct lineups to give a witness the greatest possible chance of correctly recognizing their perp‚ but Nyman’s study went back a little further‚ looking at the effect of different variables at the actual time the witness observes the person committing the crime.“No earlier research has investigated the combined effects of increased distance‚ decreased lighting‚ and facial masking on eyewitness identification accuracy using live mock criminals‚” Nyman told PsyPost. The team recruited 1‚325 participants during visits to the Heureka Science Centre in Finland‚ who observed mock criminals from different distances and in different lighting conditions. The “criminals” also took different steps to obscure their faces‚ such as wearing a hood or sunglasses. After 20 seconds of observation‚ the volunteers were asked to identify their “criminal” from an eight-person lineup. As the statement explains‚ the number of participants makes this one of the largest live studies ever conducted. Although the study was designed like a game to attract as broad a range of people as possible to take part‚ the team tried‚ as best they could‚ to recapitulate a real-world scenario for an eyewitness to a crime.“A lot of [the design] had to do with what are real-life settings like. What do criminals actually do?” said Nyman. “If it’s worse lighting you might think now is an optimal time to go out and commit a crime‚ because no one is going to see you.”The factor that had the biggest effect‚ the results showed‚ was distance – it was much more difficult to make a positive identification when the “criminal” had been observed from the furthest distance of 20 meters (66 feet). Sunglasses also hampered the witnesses’ ability to ID their suspect‚ but surprisingly‚ using a hood to hide their face did not make much of a difference.With no facial masking in place‚ witnesses could identify a suspect observed from 5 meters (16 feet) away with 69 percent accuracy‚ dropping to just 17 percent at 20 meters. When sunglasses were worn in daylight‚ accuracy at 5 meters plummeted to 32 percent. When sunglasses were worn in twilight‚ accuracy at 5 meters was roughly the same at 33 percent‚ but at 20 meters it tanked to only 8 percent.While not an exact replica of a real-life crime scenario – for one thing‚ the witnesses knew that they were going to be asked to ID the suspect later‚ which rarely happens in the real world – the study does raise some important questions for researchers to explore further.“One thing I would like to see is a systematic investigation into how often these factors (e.g.‚ increased distance‚ decreased lighting‚ various facial masking) are present in real-life criminal events‚” Nyman told PsyPost. Summarizing the findings in the statement‚ Nyman concluded‚ “If you can exclude unreliable identifications‚ it would mean that fewer innocent people will go to prison. And that’s what this whole project is about: trying to protect people.”The study is published in the journal Psychology‚ Crime &; Law. 

The world’s first CRISPR-based therapy has been approved by the UK medicines regulator‚ it was announced on Thursday. The pioneering treatment‚ which involves the much-lauded gene-editing method CRISPR‚ will target two blood conditions: sickle-cell disease and beta-thalassemia.“This is a landmark approval which opens the door for further applications of CRISPR therapies in the future for the potential cure of many genetic diseases‚” Kay Davies‚ a professor of anatomy at the University of Oxford‚ told the Science Media Centre.According to an announcement from the medicine’s manufacturers‚ Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics‚ the treatment‚ called CASGEVY‚ has been authorized for certain sickle-cell disease or beta thalassemia patients aged 12 and up – around 2‚000 people in the UK will be eligible to receive it.It is thought that the US will soon follow suit‚ with the Food and Drug Administration expected to approve the therapy for sickle-cell patients in December and for beta-thalassemia patients next March.Casgevy is based on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system that revolutionized the field of genome engineering when its discovery was announced back in 2012. Since then‚ it's been used in all manner of research‚ in our species and others‚ winning its developers a Nobel Prize in 2020.“I am excited and a bit overwhelmed with emotion at the news of the approval of CASGEVY in the UK. Going from the lab to an approved CRISPR therapy in just 11 years is a truly remarkable achievement‚” one of the system’s developers‚ Jennifer Doudna‚ said of the latest breakthrough.“I am especially pleased that the first CRISPR therapy helps patients with sickle cell disease‚ a disease that has long been neglected by the medical establishment. This is a win for medicine and for health equity.”Sickle-cell disease and beta-thalassemia are caused by errors in genes that code for hemoglobin – the protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to our tissues. CASGEVY makes use of the CRISPR-Cas9 system to edit a gene called BCL11A‚ which normally prevents production of a type of fetal hemoglobin. In doing so‚ it disrupts that gene‚ meaning the hemoglobin‚ which is free of the abnormalities associated with sickle-cell disease and beta-thalassemia‚ can be produced.When gene-edited cells are then infused back into patients‚ they mature into red blood cells that contain fetal hemoglobin‚ and therefore boost oxygen supply to the tissues and alleviate patients’ symptoms.The treatment’s approval comes off the back of promising clinical trial results‚ which identified no serious safety issues. However‚ some experts have raised potential concerns.“It is well known that CRISPR can result in spurious genetic modifications with unknown consequences to the treated cells‚” Professor David Rueda of Imperial College London told the Science Media Centre. “It would be essential to see the whole-genome sequencing data for these cells before coming to a conclusion. Nonetheless‚ this announcement makes me feel cautiously optimistic."It’s also likely to cost a lot – a price has not yet been set in the UK – which‚ unfortunately‚ will limit its reach.“The challenge is that these therapies will be very expensive so a way of making these more accessible globally is key‚” Davies added.

If you hear the word “tetanus”‚ there’s a good chance you’ll have a cringe-inducing vision of stepping on a rusty nail‚ followed by a swift trip to the hospital. However‚ this is a bit of a misconception: tetanus doesn’t actually have much to do with rust. Tetanus is a serious‚ life-threatening condition caused by the bacteria Clostridium tetani. People generally become infected with the disease after the bacteria is introduced into a wound. Once inside the body‚ the bacteria produce a potent neurotoxin called tetanospasmin‚ which acts on the nervous system‚ specifically on the nerve cells that control muscle movement.It’s an especially nasty disease that can result in symptoms like involuntary muscle spasms‚ painful muscle stiffness‚ trouble swallowing‚ and – most noticeably – extreme stiffness in the jaw‚ aka "lockjaw." Between 10 to 20 percent of cases can prove fatal.Rust has little to do with it‚ though. According to McGill University‚ the main reason we associate tetanus with rust is because the bacteria are typically found in soil that’s rich in rotting organic material like dead leaves‚ which are also the kind of places you might come across a rusty old nail.A bacteria-coated nail will also provide the bacteria with the perfect entry point for the infection‚ should anyone accidentally step on it. However‚ there’s nothing about the rust that necessarily means the bacteria is lurking.That said‚ if you do find yourself with a nasty wound in an outdoor environment‚ or a rustic setting like an old barn‚ then tetanus is a serious risk you should be aware of. Fortunately‚ treatments are available. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)‚ people with suspected tetanus should immediately seek emergency care‚ upon which they will be treated with a medicine called human tetanus immune globulin‚ intense wound care‚ drugs to control muscle spasms‚ and antibiotics. Additionally‚ there is a tetanus vaccine available‚ which the CDC recommends for all babies and children. Adults can also get the vaccine‚ which lasts for approximately 10 years. Another plus: tetanus is really rare and rates have been steadily declining in the US for several decades. Since 1947‚ reported tetanus cases have declined by more than 95 percent‚ and deaths from tetanus have declined by more than 99 percent in the US.In 2017‚ a relatively average year in tetanus terms‚ there were 33 reported tetanus cases and two deaths in the US‚ according to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. The majority of these sporadic cases of tetanus occur in adults who have not gotten all the recommended tetanus vaccinations. All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current. The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice‚ diagnosis‚ or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions. 

The heartwarming tale of Maybelle‚ a dairy cow‚ and her son Miles‚ unfolds in a captivating narrative that underscores the profound bond between animals. Maybelle’s life‚ typical of dairy cows‚ involved repeated cycles of pregnancy and separation from her calves‚ with her milk harvested for human consumption. After eight years‚ when her productivity waned‚ she... The post Rescue cow melts hearts with ’emotional’ reunion with baby torn away from her appeared first on Animal Channel.

In financial circles‚ CBDCs — central bank digital currencies — are being talked about as an inevitability. Twenty-nine countries have already implemented CBDCs or pilot programs‚ including China‚ India‚ Nigeria‚ Jamaica‚ the Bahamas‚ UAE‚ Australia‚ Singapore‚ and Thailand‚ with 114 more exploring them. Here in the U.S.‚ the Federal Reserve and the Biden administration have been actively investigating the possibility of implementing a “digital dollar.” Even the Bank of America has declared that CBDCs are “the future of money.” But if you’re not in finance and you’ve heard of this technology‚ it’s probably because you’ve seen dark warnings about the prospect of CBDC-enabled digital tyranny from crypto enthusiasts or from your MAGA uncle on Facebook. Conservative politicians like Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis are pushing to outlaw CBDCs‚ and as justification for their proposed ban‚ they cite apocalyptic scenarios that sound straight out of an InfoWars clip. Surely CBDCs can’t possibly be as bad as the critics say‚ right? To sort fact from dystopian fiction‚ we did a deep dive into what U.S. and international monetary authorities are saying about CBDCs. What we learned is that‚ actually‚ yeah – it’s shockingly bad. It’s even InfoWars-level bad. But please don’t take our word for it. Read on to see what authorities have publicly said about this technology and their plans for it. Summary: The appeal of CBDCs for technocrats is unprecedented control over the money supply – it’s “programmable money” that can be tracked and restricted. The alleged benefits to ordinary citizens are far vaguer. CBDCs may or may not be blockchain-based. Multiple schemes are being floated. It is possible to create a CBDC that’s every bit as privacy-preserving as paper cash‚ but oddly enough‚ the authorities don’t seem enthused about this option. Much of the really negative stuff you’ve heard about CBDCs – the Book of Revelation-sounding stuff – is well sourced and based on non-exaggerated readings of statements from monetary authorities. In places where CBDCs have been tried so far‚ the results are not promising. The official CBDC pitch CBDCs are often thought of as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but controlled by a central bank. That’s probably close enough to a definition for most people‚ but it isn’t quite accurate. Unlike distributed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin‚ CBDCs are centrally issued and more like NFTs minted on Ethereum. They may or may not be based on blockchain technology‚ but all new funds are created by a central bank‚ not by a distributed network of miners or stakers. In all of the hype and discussion about CBDCs‚ their proponents haven’t done a great job explaining the supposed benefits of this idea. Neel Kashkari‚ president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis‚ went on a rant about this. “I keep asking anybody‚ anybody at the Fed or outside the Fed‚ to explain to me what problem this is solving. I can send anybody in this room $5 with Venmo right now. So what is it that a CBDC could do that Venmo can’t do? And all I get is a bunch of hand-waving‚” Kashkari said in a recent video. Publicly‚ officials are vague about what problems a CBDC would solve‚ especially as they simultaneously bash cryptocurrency. One of the arguments is inclusivity for the unbanked. However‚ here in the United States‚ only 4.5% of the population is unbanked — not exactly an epidemic. That reason also makes little sense because a CBDC would theoretically partner with existing commercial banks‚ much like China. In fact‚ it’s hard to envision a CBDC working in any other way. The financial sector accounts for up to 25% of the world economy‚ making it an industry governments aren’t terribly interested in experimenting with. The Fed says as much: The Federal Reserve Act does not authorize direct Federal Reserve accounts for individuals‚ and such accounts would represent a significant expansion of the Federal Reserve’s role in the financial system and the economy. Under an intermediated model‚ the private sector would offer accounts or digital wallets to facilitate the management of CBDC holdings and payments. Potential intermediaries could include commercial banks and regulated nonbank financial service providers‚ and would operate in an open market for CBDC services. In plain English: The Fed isn’t interested in completely replacing commercial banks‚ at least not the big ones. Another publicly pitched CBDC benefit is the cost and speed of moving money across borders. There are actually two separate pitches here that often get conflated: Bank-to-bank transfers. Transfers originating from regular users to parties outside their home country. That first category of transfers is what the U.S. has been looking into so far. Allowing financial institutions to transfer funds to one another on a public ledger could be a significant improvement over the current system‚ which sometimes takes days to settle trades and exposes the banks to some counterparty risk. But the obvious answer is just to improve the systems and processes we already have. There doesn’t seem to be a technical reason why it takes days to move money‚ and in fact‚ in a recent panel discussion on CBDCs‚ a SWIFT representative claimed that over half of SWIFT payments settle in five minutes or less. In the Face of Fragility: Central Bank Digital Currencies | Davos 2023 | World Economic Forum youtu.be In the consumer market‚ promises of faster transactions may not pan out. Per McKinsey: “Also‚ CBDCs may not confer the increased speed as predicted. Many developed countries now activate instant payments using legacy (nonblockchain) infrastructure.” If you want to get to the bottom of what CBDCs are really about‚ you have to go digging into white papers and watching videos from authorities who think centrally managed digital cash is a grand idea. CBDCs are about control So if the end user benefits of CBDCs are vague and not very appealing‚ what’s the appeal to authorities? By way of answering that question‚ let’s have the current head of the Bank of International Settlements‚ Agustin Carstens‚ give us a quick summary of what he considers the important differences between CBDCs and traditional cash: Bank for International Settlements head Agustin Carstens about CBDC and control youtu.be Transcript: In our analysis of CBDC for general use‚ we tend to establish the equivalence with cash‚ and there is a huge difference there. For example‚ in cash‚ we don’t know who is using a $100 dollar bill today; we don’t know who is using a 1‚000 peso bill today. A key difference with the CBDC is that the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability‚ and also we will have the technology to enforce that. Those two issues are extremely important‚ and that makes a huge difference with respect to what cash is. You can see from this short clip that the appeal of CBDCs for central bankers and other authorities seems to be primarily about the control the technology could give them over the money supply – not just the amount of money in circulation‚ but who uses it and for what. That control comes from three likely qualities of an officially sanctioned digital currency: Monopoly: The case for alternate digital currencies like Bitcoin gets weaker if an easy-to-use CBDC works similarly and has been mandatorily integrated into a country’s payment rails (or at least‚ authorities hope this is the case). Programmability: The amount of money in circulation can be tweaked‚ and specific end-user wallets could be prohibited from engaging in certain types of transactions. Traceability: The authorities can see who’s paying who‚ and for what‚ down to the smallest transaction. Let’s look at each of these in turn. Monopoly money On the monopoly front‚ China has implemented the digital renminbi because of the perceived threat of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and digital cash apps like WeChat. The Harvard Business Review offers the following explanation of why China is pushing a CBDC: Part of China’s motivation for introducing a CBDC is to reduce the country’s dependence on Alipay and WeChat‚ which currently account for 94% of online transactions‚ $16 trillion in value. It also helps reduce the threat from independent digital currencies such as Bitcoin‚ which could potentially threaten governments’ ability to manage their economies‚ not a prospect that a Chinese government would view with equanimity. Of course‚ China wants more control‚ but Western leaders have similar aims. Christine Lagarde‚ president of the European Central Bank‚ has said as much: “We have been operating as a monetary anchor in relation to the private banks and the private money. If we are not in that game‚ if we’re not involved in experimenting‚ in innovating in terms of central bank digital money‚ we risk losing the role of anchor that we have played for many‚ many decades‚” Lagarde said. Lagarde was a bit more unguarded in a recorded prank call in which she thought she was speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The reason I’m personally convinced we have to move ahead is a situation like the one we are in now. We are dependent on the supply of gas by a very unfriendly country. I don’t want Europe to be dependent on an unfriendly country’s currency. … I don’t want Meta‚ Google‚ or Amazon to suddenly come up with a currency that will take over the sovereignty of Europe. I don’t want a foreign currency to become the currency of trading within Europe‚” Lagarde told the Zelenskyy impersonator. A report from Deloitte mirrors Lagarde’s sentiments‚ identifying a “need to bring central banks back to the centre of currency creation and trust.” Programmable currency A CBDC wouldn’t just secure existing central bank control of currency; it would implement a brand-new method of control in the form of programmability. Some cryptocurrencies‚ most notably Ethereum‚ are “programmable‚” which means the issuance and use of on-chain tokens can be governed by bits of code called “smart contracts.” A customer and a vendor could set up a smart contract that triggers an automatic monthly payment for services if certain conditions are met. The smart contracts that govern many popular non-fungible tokens allow the contract’s owner to issue new tokens and “airdrop” them into users’ wallets. Some NFT smart contracts also let their owners “burn” tokens‚ i.e.‚ the token can be deleted form a user’s on-chain wallet without the user’s knowledge or consent. Smart contracts can be configured so that their tokens can only be sent to wallets that meet certain conditions. All of these capabilities could theoretically give a central bank virtually unlimited flexibility to control both the supply and the uses of its CBDC. On the supply front‚ a recent New York Times editorial features a professor of trade policy at Cornell University openly fantasizing about the possibility that a central bank could spur consumer spending by simply deleting unused funds from citizens’ bank accounts‚ forcing them to run to the store before their money disappears: A central bank digital currency can also be a useful policy tool. Typically‚ if the Federal Reserve wants to stimulate consumption and investment‚ it can cut interest rates and make cheap credit available. But if the economy is cratering and the Fed has already cut the short-term interest rate it controls to near zero‚ its options are limited. If cash were replaced with a digital dollar‚ however‚ the Fed could impose a negative interest rate by gradually shrinking the electronic balances in everyone’s digital currency accounts‚ creating an incentive for consumers to spend and for companies to invest. As for automated payments‚ a Federal Reserve document offers an explanation and example of how a programmable digital dollar could make that happen: Finally‚ a CBDC might generate new capabilities to meet the evolving speed and efficiency requirements of the digital economy. As noted above‚ for example‚ a CBDC could potentially be programmed to deliver payments at certain times. Additionally‚ a CBDC could potentially be used to carry out micropayments — financial transactions that usually occur online and involve very small sums of money — which traditional payment systems are not necessarily designed to facilitate. The Harvard Business Review notes that programmability would let the Fed pay interest to consumers directly‚ giving it much greater control over economic incentives: And by paying interest on CBDC holdings‚ however‚ the central bank can directly transmit monetary policy to households‚ instead of influencing commercial deposit rates through the rates it offers banks on their reserve accounts with the central bank. Today‚ with money held in commercial banks‚ the policymaker can only influence consumer and business behaviors indirectly. Growing and shrinking the money supply by putting money directly into bank accounts or taking it directly out of bank accounts is great and all‚ but the real leverage lies in the central bank’s ability to decide how the money can be spent and by whom. We’ll hand the mic over to Bo Li‚ the current deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund‚ so that he can explain this particular benefit of CBDC programmability to you: — (@) Transcript: The third way we think CBDC can improve financial inclusion is through what we call "programmability." That is‚ CBDC can allow government agencies and private-sector players to program‚ to create smart contract[s]‚ to allow targeted policy functions. For example‚ welfare payments‚ consumption coupons‚ food stamps – by programming CBDC‚ those money can precisely targeted for what kind of people can own [it] and what kind of use this money can be utilized. For example‚ for food. So this potential programmability can help government agencies to precisely target their support to those people who need support‚ and in that way can improve financial inclusion. Did you get that? A CBDC can be programmed so that only specific people can hold it and spend it on specific things. Sounds great‚ right? Tracking every dollar Cryptocurrencies are often touted as being private‚ but their central enabling technology – the blockchain – can run counter to that promise. The blockchain is a public‚ distributed ledger of every transaction ever performed with that currency. So it’s entirely possible to take a given fraction of a Bitcoin and trace its path back to when it was first mined‚ even if it’s been run through an anonymizing “mixer.” In fact‚ the blockchain’s transparency is often publicized as an advantage of CBDCs for countering crime. When you combine distributed ledger technology’s transparency with know your customer requirements‚ you have the necessary tools for total financial surveillance. Per the Harvard Business Review: In a CBDC world‚ all transactions could in theory be monitored with the help of data analytics and AI in order to more quickly identify banks that are struggling or are engaging in questionable transactions. At present‚ financial regulators must rely on the reports provided by banks‚ which means that remedial action comes late and often at a greater cost. In addition‚ in a CBDC world in which digital bank codes are visible to the clearing institution‚ it becomes much easier for the authorities to identify the parties to a transaction‚ which greatly simplifies the detection of criminal activity and eliminates the black markets characteristic of countries that deal largely in physical money. The Federal Reserve stresses the know your customer part of the CBDC-powered financial surveillance picture: Financial institutions in the United States are subject to robust rules that are designed to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. A CBDC would need to be designed to comply with these rules. In practice‚ this would mean that a CBDC intermediary would need to verify the identity of a person accessing CBDC‚ just as banks and other financial institutions currently verify the identities of their customers. The Europeans are also salivating at tracking every last fraction of a euro. In the aforementioned conversation between Lagarde and fake Zelenskyy‚ not only did Lagarde frame a European CBDC as resisting foreign control‚ but she was equally quick to point out how a CBDC would also enable European governments to trace and track small payments arbitrarily. Now we have in Europe this threshold above 1‚000 euros you cannot pay cash. If you do‚ you’re on the gray market. If you get caught‚ you are fined or you go in jail. But the digital euro is going to be a limited amount of control‚ but there will be control‚ you’re right. We are considering whether for very small amounts‚ anything that is around 300‚ 400 euros‚ we could have a mechanism where there is zero control‚ but that could be dangerous. The terrorist attacks on France‚ back 10 years ago‚ were entirely financed by those very small anonymous credits cards you can recharge in total anonymity‚” Lagarde said. (Relish the irony of the head of Europe’s central bank lecture about control to an obviously phony Zelenskyy.) The Fed’s Neel Kashkari has flagged the obvious optics problem with all of this transparency: The Fed's Neel Kashkari on CBDC:\n\n"If they want to monitor everyone of your transactions you could do that (...) And if you want to directly tax customer accounts you could do that (...) So I get why China would be interested. \n\nWhy would the American people be for that?" #CBDC — (@) We agree with Kashkari – this sounds bad. CBDCs don’t have to be evil From a technical perspective‚ it’s definitely possible to make a CBDC that’s a true form of digital cash – a privacy-preserving bearer instrument that can’t be tracked or centrally controlled. This thread has a number of proposals to that effect: — (@) David Chaum‚ one of the first cryptocurrency champions who founded eCash‚ is now working with the Swiss National Bank on Project Tourbillon‚ designing a central bank currency focused on maintaining users’ privacy. Chaum’s technology promises quantum-resistant cryptography with robust privacy features. Basically‚ it relies on a two-tiered system where transactions are hidden because there isn’t a blockchain recording transactions‚ only the issuance of the initial coins. Users could voluntarily give up their transaction history to law enforcement if they were stolen so authorities could track it. Mr. Chaum has developed these technologies to directly counter the control of financial transactions currently exercised in China. While it’s heartening that private versions of CBDcs are possible‚ it remains to be seen whether central banks are interested in creating currencies they don’t have control over. In reality‚ control seems to be the entire point of these products. Is this really happening? Regardless of how grim the CBDC picture looks‚ you may not have much choice if one is adopted in your country. After Nigerians took to the streets to protest a cash shortage‚ many are finding no other choice than to use the eNaira simply for lack of other options. CBDCs in the West may be a few years away. However‚ it’s clear the central bankers from Davos to London to New York are making a concerted effort to accelerate their implementation. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow money transfer service is set to go live this summer. The service is touted as a way to transfer payments instantly or settle accounts 24/7. While the promise of instantaneously having access to funds is enticing‚ some in the financial industry are suspicious of what looks like a power grab. Having the Fed controling all financial transactions would completely upend how money moves in the economy. It could also be laying the infrastructure for an eventual CBDC rollout and complete government control of the financial market. Economist Richard Werner laid the endgame for FedNow in an interview with journalist Michelle Makori. This is just the beginning‚ because the real totalitarian aspect comes into it when the programmability can be used‚ where it can be totally fine-tuned down to the person and in real-time influence our behavior by restricting us from doing certain things. … You’ll need the permission of the central planners.” Even if you assign the best of intentions to these institutions (which‚ after the last few years‚ why would you?)‚ the level of control we would be handing over to the central banks is frightening. With the click of a button‚ they could shut off banking access to anyone they deem an enemy. Preppers‚ anti-war leftists‚ religious dissidents‚ “cryptobros‚” or the political boogeyman du jour could all be simply unbanked. If you don’t think that’s possible‚ ask the Canadian truckers. What can be done? If we’ve convinced you and you’re now as worked up over this as we are‚ the next obvious question is: What can we do about it? We recommend a two-pronged approach: Voice: Write your representative‚ share this article and other CBDC information with others‚ and generally make some noise about this issue. Maybe we can still stop this‚ and if we can’t stop it‚ then at least we can buy ourselves some time to prepare the second option‚ which is … Exit: You need to be digital sovereignty-maxxing. You need to be going dark. You need to be dragging your friends and family with you out of the matrix as you flee. Gather the knowledge and tools to be your own bank and host your own cloud. Buy your own hardware and learn to run it. To help with the exit option‚ digital sovereignty is a major theme we’ll be covering. So if you’re preparing yourself and your community to digitally go to ground‚ then be sure you’re signed up so you don’t miss any of the upcoming guides‚ reviews‚ and interviews on this topic. And if you can afford it‚ please consider actively joining the fight with a paid subscription. Further reading Harvard Business Review: What If Central Banks Issued Digital Currency? Ajay S. Mookerjee Your Money AND Your Life Edward Snowden World Economic Forum: Central Bank Digital Currency? How money could be redesigned Intersecting Globalist Agendas: CBDCs Nicholas Creed Central bank digital currencies: An active role for commercial banks Mckinsey Money and Payments: The U.S.Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation Federal Reserve White Paper Why the U.S. Should Reject Central Bank Digital Currencies Natalie Smolenski‚ Dan Held I Want to Stop CBDCs – What Can I Do? Catherine Austin Fitts The ABCs Of CBDC‚ The Great Reset(s)‚ &; More Centralized Control Mathew Piepenburg Central Bank Digital Currency: The Risks and the Myths Nicholas Anthony‚ Norbert Michel We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State Kai Strittmatter Why central banks should not push ahead with CBDCs Tony Yates

If doxing means ‘referencing something I wrote‚’ then go ahead.