 |
|
|
|||||
If the holiday hustle and bustle is stressing you out, the night sky is providing a perfect moment to pause and wonder at some majesty this weekend, as the Geminid meteor shower (Geminids) is set to peak. The Geminids are technically active annuallythis year, from around December 1 through 21, and the action peaks on the evenings of the 12th and 13th. Lets take a look at the science and history behind this cosmic phenomenon, before we dive into how best to view it. When was the Geminid meteor shower first discovered? These days, the Geminid meteor shower is considered by NASA to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers. The event started much smaller. The meteors were first observed in the mid-1800s and only boasted 10-20 meteors an hour. As time went on, Jupiter got in on the action. The planets gravity pulled the show closer to Earth. What causes the Geminids? It wasnt until the 1980s that scientists understood the cause of the meteor shower was asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Typically, meteor showers are caused by a comet. Asteroid 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet, despite most asteroids taking 1.4 years to fully orbit the sun. Scientists are still learning about this unique space object. A 2023 article, published in Planetary Science Journal by California Institute of Technology PhD student Qicheng Zhang, stated that when the asteroid approaches the sun, it forms a sodium-gas tail instead of dust. This challenges earlier beliefs about the object. It is now hypothesized that the dense Geminid meteoroids are a result of a possible past mass loss, not an ongoing tail shedding around the sun. Regardless, the average person will delight in the vivid burst of light as the meteoroids burn up in Earths atmosphere. How best to see the Geminids Scientists and night-sky enthusiasts can agree that whatever label you assign 3200 Phaethon, it puts on one heck of a show. This years offerings are best seen in the northern hemisphere, although some meteors will be visible to the southern hemisphere as well. The moon is also cooperating, as it will be in its waning crescent moon phase and not shining too brightly. When nightfall comes on December 12 and 13, find the darkest place you can, away from city lights. Special viewing equipment such as binoculars or telescopes are not necessaryespecially since meteors move quickly. The action originates around the Gemini constellation, but you should not just focus there. Look at the entire night sky. If you do miss the peak viewing time, the days around the December 12 and 13 peak should still offer quite a show.
Category:
E-Commerce
Wealthfront Corp. is looking to rake in the wealth after going public on Friday. The Palo Alto-based automated digital wealth platform raised $486 million after selling 43.6 million shares, putting the companys valuation at roughly $2 billion. Wealthfront shares began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker WLTH. The company made more than 34.6 million shares of common stock available for the IPO for $14an offering that expires on Monday, December 15. The stock was up around 4% by mid-afternoon on Friday afternoon after trading began. To mark the occasion, the companys leadershipincluding CEO David Fortunato, cofounder and chairman Andy Rachleff, and cofounder Dan Carrollrang the opening bell at Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. Courting Gen Z and millennial investors The listing has been a long time coming. Wealthfront was founded in 2008 under the name KaChing. In 2011, it was reborn as Wealthfront, and over the past decade or so, has become known for its automated investment products and servicessomething young investors have found particularly alluring. Wealthfront refers to these consumers as “digital natives,” defining them as people born after 1980. The fintech also offers other financial products, such as high-yield savings accounts, and will soon start offering home lending services. Its filing documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that the company has $88 billion in assets under management. For the six months ended July 31, it had net income of nearly $61 million on revenue of almost $176 million. In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Friday, Fortunato said that the company will remain competitive in a tight market for a key reason: Wealthfront can offer many of the same services as traditional banks but at lower costs. [Customers] are going to be able to invest, save, and borrow from Wealthfront at a better cost than they would otherwise, he said. He added that attracting customers early and sticking with them for the long haul has helped position Wealthfront for growth. Our goal is to compound with our clients for decades,” he said. Wealthfront joins other large fintech companies in going public this year, including Chime Financial and Klarna Group. Since its IPO in June, Chime shares are down more than 23%, and Klarna, which went public in September, has seen its shares fall by almost 28%.
Category:
E-Commerce
Time magazine has named the Architects of AI as its 2025 Person of the Year, a decision that has sparked significant backlash from gamblers who lost out on semantics. The companies behind AI tools and infrastructure arent AI in the literal sense, so prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket ruled that anyone betting on AI doesnt win. As author Parker Molloy pointed out on Bluesky, gamblers on the site are not pleased. Someone please explain to me how this is not a trick? one user complained after betting on billionaire Elon Musk on Kalshi. Person of the year is a singular title ThE aRcHiTeCtS oF AI, another user wrote. Fuck you pay me. Others remained insistent that the platform owes them a payout. This pretty clearly shouldve resolved to yes, one user wrote. If you bought AI, reach out to Kalshi support because AI is literally on the cover and in the title Architects of AI.’ On Kalshi, anyone who bet on any of the Architects of AIincluding Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Su, and Demis Hassabisstill won the bet. Those who bet their products, however, did not. People who bet on this on Kalshi are not pleased. Lol— Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) 2025-12-11T16:19:54.852Z Polymarket explained the decision in a note. This market is about the person/thing named as TIME’s Person of the Year for 2025, not what is depicted on the cover. Per the rules, If the Person of the Year is Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, this would qualify to resolve this market to Trump. However if the Person of the Year is The MAGA movement, this would not qualify to resolve this market to Trump regardless of whether Trump is depicted on the cover, it said. Accordingly, a Time cover which lists Architects of AI as the person of the year will not qualify for AI even if the letters AI are depicted on the cover, as AI itself is not specifically named. People spent more than $19 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Kalshi and more than $55 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Polymarket. I cant believe an unregulated gambling market let people bet frivolously and then took all their money, one Bluesky user mused.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||