HOMECOMING // SPACE
🎂🚀 NASA'S DON PETTIT RETURNS TO EARTH — AT 70 YEARS OLD. NASA’s oldest active astronaut just wrapped 220 days in space, landing in Kazakhstan on his 70th birthday. Don Pettit and two cosmonauts completed 3,520 orbits and 93 million miles aboard the ISS.
—> WHY IT MATTERS: Pettit’s return comes as the aging space station faces leaks, funding gaps, and a looming retirement date in 2030. NASA’s planning to crash it into the ocean with a SpaceX deorbit vehicle.
—> THE VIBE: Pettit admits reentry hits hard — “the first thing I’ll do is probably puke.” Still, he’s logged 590 total days in orbit, making him one of the most experienced astronauts in U.S. history.
📸 CBS News
Source: Phys.org
hello, future. it’s me, kev.
…and this is a dispatch from the digital frontier. It’s time to meet the future NOW — with the latest on markets, tech, and freedom. The day is 111. The year is 2025. The planet is Earth.
The planet has complete 30.41 percent its annual orbit around the sun star. Happy Easter to all who celebrate!
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FUTURES
📉🇺🇸 SHOCK POLL: AMERICANS DON’T LIKE THE TARIFFS — TRUMP’S ECONOMIC APPROVAL CRATERS. Trump’s economic approval just hit a record low: 43% approve, 55% disapprove — the first time he's underwater on the economy while in office, according to a new CNBC poll.
—> THE BLAME: Voters are souring on tariffs, inflation, and spending. The optimism that followed Trump’s reelection is gone — replaced by the highest level of economic pessimism since 2023.
—> THE BASE IS CRACKING: Blue-collar workers still lean positive, but disapproval among them has surged 14 points. Independents and Democrats are sharply more negative than during his first term.
Source: CNBC.
Meanwhile…
WSJ: Border Crossings Grind to Halt as Trump’s Tough Policies Take Hold. WSJ reports: “Illegal crossings at southern border are at lowest levels in decades, as a trend that began before the election has continued under new administration.”
CRYPTO
💰📈 BITCOIN TO $139K? CRYPTO FIRM 21SHARES SAYS IT’S POSSIBLE: A new report from 21Shares — one of the biggest crypto investment firms — says Bitcoin could hit $138,555 by the end of 2025 if current trends hold.
—> WHO IS 21SHARES? They’re like a crypto version of Fidelity or BlackRock. Based in Switzerland, they make crypto easier to invest in through stock-like products — no need for wallets or passwords.
—> WHY THEY THINK BTC WILL RISE: Despite economic chaos, Bitcoin is holding strong. Inflation in places like Argentina and Turkey is pushing more people to use BTC. Even when banks fail or crypto hacks happen, Bitcoin’s price stays steady — a sign that investors are growing more confident.
—> THE BIG PICTURE: More people are buying and holding Bitcoin long-term. Big investors are moving in. Governments are finally giving clearer rules. And Bitcoin is becoming more mainstream in the world of finance.
—> THE WARNING: Bitcoin could still drop to around $77K short-term. But if the trend continues, 21Shares says a 64% gain is realistic this year.
Source: CoinDesk
QUANTUM // ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
🧠💸 “THANK YOU” COSTS MILLIONS: AI MANNERS ARE MELTING THE PLANET
Every polite “please” or “thank you” you type into ChatGPT is costing OpenAI big — and burning real energy.
—> THE DAMAGE: Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, says those extra words have racked up “tens of millions of dollars” in electricity. All because ChatGPT has to parse, process, and respond in full. Kindness costs... literally.
—> THE SCI-FI TWIST: 67% of Americans say they’re polite to AI. Why? Some think it’s just good vibes. Others? They're hedging against a robot uprising. (Yes, really.)
—> THE ENERGY HIT: Typing out “Hi ChatGPT!” instead of just the prompt? That’s data. And data eats power. One AI-generated email = enough energy to light 14 LEDs for an hour. Multiply that by millions of daily prompts — it’s not nothing.
—> WHY IT MATTERS: AI already consumes 2% of global electricity. As we rely more on bots, that number’s set to skyrocket. Our digital pleasantries aren’t just philosophical — they have environmental impact.
So go ahead, be polite to your robot. But maybe skip the long thank-you speech next time. Earth will thank you back.
Source: Futurism, TechCrunch, Jerusalem Post
ONE MORE THING
🤖🏃♂️ DNF FOR MOST OF TEAM ROBOT: CHINA’S HUMANOIDS FACE-PLANT AT BEIJING HALF MARATHON: Twenty-one humanoid robots entered Beijing’s half marathon. Only six finished. Most overheated, fell over, or got dragged by leashes across the course. America? We’re still lapping the field.
—> WHAT HAPPENED: In what Chinese officials claim is the first-ever human vs. humanoid marathon event, robots ran a parallel course while 12,000 humans raced nearby. The fastest bot — Tiangong Ultra — finished in 2:40:00 after three battery swaps and one tumble. That’s roughly the average half-marathon time for a 70-year-old human, according to Running Level. Oof.
—> AMERICA VS. CHINA: While Chinese bots went viral earlier this year for synchronized dancing, real-world endurance exposed their limitations. Most fell apart mid-race, overheated, or had limbs duct-taped back on. Compare that to Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which can leap, vault, and parkour without crashing into a wall. China might win viral views — but the U.S. is winning function.
—> WHAT IT MEANS: The race was more about hype than hardware. AI researchers say humanoids need to solve actual problems — like working safely in chaotic environments — not just finish races or perform party tricks. As one robotics professor put it: “People are going to get bored of dancing and karate.”
Source: Wired, Running Level
With gratitude,
Kev
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