The Chinese space program&#8217;s hotly anticipated Zhurong Mars lander landed successfully on the Red Planet&#8217;s Utopia Planitia region on Friday evening, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/CGTNOfficial/status/1393365096609435648">state-owned media group CGTN</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/chinas-zhurong-mars-rover-lands-safely-in-utopia-planitia/">SpaceNews</a>.
The mission, which is the first that China has ever attempted to land on the Red Planet, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launched-mars-mission">launched back in July 2020</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-mars-probe-pictures-crescent-mars">arrived in Martian orbit</a> earlier this year along with the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which is still circling high above the planet.
The landing represents a major accomplishment for China&#8217;s space program, which has significantly ramped up its ambitions in recent years. Those efforts have seen several successful Moon rovers and a Moon sample return mission, and the country also just launched the first segment of an upcoming space station — though that success was clouded by debris from the mission falling back to Earth in an uncontrolled descent.
The logistics of a Mars landing mission, though, are substantially more complex compared to those missions, due to the planet&#8217;s great distance from Earth and thin atmosphere, which lead to a notorious &#8220;seven minutes of terror&#8221; during which any attempt at landing loses contact with Earth (though the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/china-mars-rover-landing.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimesscience">New York Times reports that</a> because of the specific orbital mechanics of the mission, China&#8217;s period without communications were likely to be several minutes longer).
Case in point, over the years numerous robotic landers that were supposed to touch down softly on Mars have instead been destroyed on impact. In fact, China is now only the third country in history to land softly on the Martian surface.
During its approach to the Martian surface, the lander carrying Zhurong used a heat shield, parachutes and thrusters to slow its descent, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2277645-china-is-about-to-land-its-zhurong-rover-on-the-surface-of-mars/">according to </a><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2277645-china-is-about-to-land-its-zhurong-rover-on-the-surface-of-mars/">New Scientist</a>.
Compared to NASA, China&#8217;s space program has been comparatively tightlipped about the the mission, to the <a href="https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1393336924690165760">chagrin of some observers</a>.
Like NASA&#8217;s Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars in February, a <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launched-mars-mission">key goal</a> of the Zhurong rover is to search the Red Planet for signs of ancient life.
The rover is solar powered, according to New Scientist&#8216;s reporting, and is expected to survive for about 90 days after touching down. It carries equipment including cameras, radar, a magnetic field detector, weather instrumentation and tools to investigate the chemical composition of the natural environment.
At <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/china-mars-rover-landing.html">about 530 pounds</a>, the rover is chunkier than NASA&#8217;s Spirit and Opportunity rovers, but dwarfed by NASA&#8217;s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, which are about the size of small automobiles.
More on China: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-attempt-land-mars">China Will Attempt to Land on Mars Tomorrow</a>

Mars Landing

China's rover has reportedly touched down.

Chinese Mars Rover Reportedly Touches Down on Surface of Mars

A Pentagon task force is about to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/u-s-military-takes-ufos-seriously-why-doesn-t-silicon-ncna1264107">release a long-awaited report</a> about &#8220;<a href="https://futurism.com/this-theory-could-explain-many-military-ufo-sightings">unidentified aerial phenomena</a>,&#8221; unusual sightings of strange flying objects that appeared to be defying the laws of physics, mystifying military personnel over the last 15 or so years.
It&#8217;s anybody&#8217;s guess what the report will or won&#8217;t reveal, more and more pilots are coming out to publicly talk about what they saw during the years leading up to the report. In the latest instance, former Navy lieutenant Ryan Graves spoke to CBS News in <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-military-intelligence-60-minutes-2021-05-14/">an interview about his own experiences</a>.
Over two years starting in 2015, Graves says he saw strange maneuverable objects flying in a restricted airspace over Virginia Beach.
These weren&#8217;t just one-off sightings — the retired lieutenant says he encountered the objects every day for almost two years.
Graves isn&#8217;t the only pilot to have come forward. Ever since The New York Times came out with a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html">bombshell report</a> about a series of unclassified videos of UAPs, members of the Air Force and Navy <a href="https://futurism.com/navy-pilot-bizzare-ufo-encounter">have spoken publicly</a> about strange sightings of objects that appeared to have defied the laws of physics.
To Graves, the objects could pose an actual threat.
&#8220;I am worried, frankly,&#8221; he told CBS. &#8220;You know, if these were tactical jets from another country that were hanging out up there, it would be a massive issue.&#8221;
He, along with many other pilots who have made similar sightings, face an uphill battle to be taken seriously.
&#8220;But because it looks slightly different, we&#8217;re not willing to actually look at the problem in the face,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re happy to just ignore the fact that these are out there, watching us every day.&#8221;
Graves also suggested that it is most likely the sightings are a &#8220;threat observation program,&#8221; and that it&#8217;s not impossible that Russia or China could be behind it.
One thing is clear: the objects pilots have encountered must be <a href="https://futurism.com/this-theory-could-explain-many-military-ufo-sightings">incredibly advanced technology</a>.
&#8220;Imagine a technology that can do 600 to 700 G-forces, that can fly 13,000 miles an hour, that, that can evade radar and can fly through air and water and possibly space, and oh, by the way, has no obvious signs of propulsion, no wings, no control surfaces and yet still can defy the natural effects of Earth&#8217;s gravity,&#8221; former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondo told CBS. &#8220;That&#8217;s precisely what we&#8217;re seeing.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-military-intelligence-60-minutes-2021-05-14/">Former Navy pilot says flight crews observed UFOs off Atlantic Coast &#8220;every day for at least a couple years&#8221;</a> [CBS News] 

More on UFOs: <a href="https://futurism.com/economics-professor-ufos-big-deal-economy">Economics Professor: UFOs Could Be a Big Deal For the Economy</a>

UFO Threat

"I am worried, frankly."

Former Navy Pilot Says Team Saw Unidentified Objects “Every Day” For Years

The race is on to become the next mainstream cryptocurrency that doesn&#8217;t contribute millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions due to unsustainable mining practices.
Now, a new cryptocurrency called Chia, founded by BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, is promising to make mining cryptocurrencies at home a whole lot easier and sustainable.
But it may have an Achilles heel that could make it a lot less useful to the average person than the company likes to think, as <a href="https://www.tomsguide.com/news/chia-crypto-mining-could-kill-your-ssd-in-40-days-heres-why">Tom&#8217;s Guide reports</a>.
Chia&#8217;s secret sauce is an entirely new way to mine, a process the company is calling &#8220;farming.&#8221;
Rather than completing complex and taxing calculations on beefy computational hardware — such is the case for any &#8220;proof of work&#8221;-based cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Dogecoin — Chia can be &#8220;farmed&#8221; by using unused storage on practically any device.
Chia&#8217;s farming concept relies on a consensus model called Proof of Space and Time (PoST).
&#8220;Unlike most projects, coin ownership has nothing to do with the protocol — this is not Proof of Stake,&#8221; Chia COO Gene Hoffman <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/5-takeaways-from-chia-networks-new-white-paper">told CoinDesk in February</a>.
PoST works by &#8220;provers&#8221; showing that they can &#8220;allocate unused hard drive space for storage space,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://www.chia.net/faq/">company&#8217;s FAQ</a>. In other words, it&#8217;s &#8220;a way to prove that you are keeping some storage unused on your hard-disk drive.&#8221;
Other users will &#8220;seed&#8221; unused space through a special software to build &#8220;plots.&#8221; New blockchain challenges then reveal which farmer&#8217;s seed comes closest, kind of like a massive game of Bingo.
The process also happens to be way more energy efficient according to the company, minimizing electricity waste.
While that may sound like a wholesome way of mining cryptocurrencies, the approach comes with a major downside.
According to Tom&#8217;s Guide, this back and forth of allocating and then freeing up space on storage devices could age solid state drives (SSD) incredibly fast. In fact, a consumer grade 512GB SSD  could be killed in just 40 days while farming Chia, according to Tom&#8217;s Guide&#8217;s reporting.
Luckily, specialized storage devices are already hitting the market, with some of them designed specifically for Chia farming. Such drives will likely cost you a pretty penny, however.
Chia has gained significant momentum over the last week, jumping by more than 50 percent.
It&#8217;s still far too early to tell if Chia has what it takes to join the big leagues — but any cryptocurrency that sidesteps using vast amounts of electricity generated using coal and fossil fuels could have a pretty decent shot right now.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.tomsguide.com/news/chia-crypto-mining-could-kill-your-ssd-in-40-days-heres-why">Chia crypto mining could kill your SSD in 40 days — here’s why</a> [Tom&#8217;s Guide] 

More on crypto: <a href="https://futurism.com/hard-make-bitcoin-sustainable">It Would Be Incredibly Hard to Make Bitcoin Sustainable, Experts Say</a>

Pour Me Some Chia

This promising new token has an Achilles heel.

New Cryptocurrency Kills Your Hard Drive to Mine New Coins

Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tesla-suspending-bitcoin">recently announced</a> that the car company will no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, citing the cryptocurrency&#8217;s immense power requirements and environmental toll — but hedged his bet, saying that if the currency becomes greener, Tesla will embrace it again.
&#8220;Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy,&#8221; he said.
But Bitcoin won&#8217;t magically become environmentally friendly over night. In fact, making Bitcoin sustainable would be incredibly difficult, <a href="https://www.reuters.com./world/china/elon-musk-wants-greener-bitcoin-has-he-got-plan-or-pipedream-2021-05-13/">as Reuters reports</a>.
The reality is that mining Bitcoin requires massive amounts of electricity, much of which is being generated using fossil fuels and coal, particularly in China.
Tesla&#8217;s flip-flopping on Bitcoin is symbolic of much greater problems. Switching to alternative cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, heavily endorsed by Musk himself, probably wouldn&#8217;t work since most rely on the same basic mining principle — &#8220;proof of work&#8221; calculations — as Bitcoin.
Building out renewable energy systems to take care of Bitcoin&#8217;s gargantuan energy requirements would take years to get off the ground, according to Reuters.
There may be other ways to make cryptocurrencies sustainable in the long run. One promising option is switching to a &#8220;proof of stake&#8221; system, a different underlying mining methodology that requires only a fraction of the energy to complete.
Ether, currently the second biggest cryptocurrency, is <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/mev-eth-2-0-good-bad-and-ugly">planning to eventually move to this new system</a> — but we still don&#8217;t know exactly when.
&#8220;The only real answer is 1. actively investing in renewable mining farms and making mining &#8216;greener&#8217; or 2. switching to a protocol that is based on proof of stake,&#8221; director of research at crypto site The Block Larry Cermak told Reuters.
Bitcoin miners have already invested billions of dollars in computer hardware to complete increasingly complex calculations. Convincing them to switch to a new protocol would be near impossible, as  CEO of Chinese mining firm LightningAsic Jack Liao told the outlet.
&#8220;How can they change the protocol?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Change means a loss of billions.&#8221;
Tesla&#8217;s reversal on Bitcoin has reignited the debate over cryptocurrency&#8217;s harmful impact on the environment. The crypto market has become deeply entrenched in these practices, making any larger switch to &#8220;greener&#8221; digital tokens immensely difficult.
We have yet to see a one-size-fits-all solution that would appease everybody involved, despite a host of new sustainable crypto startups <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/05/09/chia-green-eco-friendly-cryptocurrency-farming-bitcoin-mining/">claiming otherwise</a>.
Musk has <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tesla-accept-dogecoin">repeatedly demonstrated</a> his substantial influence over both Bitcoin and Dogecoin — and his recent decision to <a href="https://futurism.com/dogecoin-spikes-elon-musk-tweets-developers">work with the developers</a> of the latter &#8220;to improve system transaction efficiency&#8221; is certainly intriguing.
But whether he can take the reigns and shift the entire cryptocurrency market towards a greener future is still very much uncertain.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.reuters.com./world/china/elon-musk-wants-greener-bitcoin-has-he-got-plan-or-pipedream-2021-05-13/">Analysis: Elon Musk wants a greener bitcoin. Has he got a plan or a pipedream?</a> 

More on crypto: <a href="https://futurism.com/dogecoin-spikes-elon-musk-tweets-developers">Dogecoin Spikes After Elon Tweets About Helping Its Developers</a>

Gimme Green Coin

"Change means a loss of billions."

It Would Be Incredibly Hard to Make Bitcoin Sustainable, Experts Say

A day after <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tesla-suspending-bitcoin">publicly announcing</a> that Tesla is no longer accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, citing the currency&#8217;s negative impacts on the environment, CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dogecoin-devs">suggested that he was working</a> with the developers of <a href="https://futurism.com/tags/dogecoin">Dogecoin</a> to make it more environmentally friendly.
&#8220;Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency,&#8221; Musk tweeted. &#8220;Potentially promising.&#8221;
Surprising nobody, the endorsement from the richest man in the world sent the value of Dogecoin soaring. <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/price/dogecoin">According to Coindesk,</a> its value is up more than 43 percent up since Musk&#8217;s tweet, recovering from a low of $0.39 before it to a high of $0.56 on Friday morning.
Musk&#8217;s tweets have repeatedly sent the value of Dogecoin on a rollercoaster. Most recently, the runup to his appearance on &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; first <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tweets-doge-guest-snl">sent the token soaring</a> to an all time high of $0.74 — and then caused it to come <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/dogecoin-price-elon-musk-snl">crashing back down</a> as soon as he appeared on screen.
Most recently, Musk reversed course on Bitcoin, which Tesla had <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/buy-tesla-bitcoin">recently started taking as payment</a> for electric vehicles.
&#8220;Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin,&#8221; Musk <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392602041025843203">wrote in a Wednesday statement on Twitter</a>. &#8220;We are concerned abut rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.&#8221;
China has increasingly made use of coal to power massive Bitcoin mining stations, heightening the cryptocurrency&#8217;s already sky-high environmental toll.
It&#8217;s still unclear what exactly drove Tesla and Musk to ditch the token at this exact point in time, since Bitcoin mining practices have long been immensely environmentally harmful thanks to the immense amount of computing power required to produce more of the digital currency.
Whether Dogecoin will ever become the shiba inu-themed savior that will turn cryptocurrencies green is anybody&#8217;s guess.
But experts aren&#8217;t exactly optimistic, since both Dogecoin and Bitcoin mining require the completion of proof of work, a process that&#8217;s taxing on computer hardware.
&#8220;The thing is, if something runs on proof of work, which is the case in Dogecoin, then it’s just as bad as bitcoin,&#8221; cryptocurrency economist Alex de Vries <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/13/22434617/renewable-energy-bitcoin-pollution-tesla-elon-musk">told The Verge</a> in an interview published on Thursday.
As of right now, Bitcoin accounts for some 55 million metric tons of CO2 annually, according to de Vries, which is about the same as the nation of Singapore. Dogecoin may have less of an impact — but there&#8217;s a simple reason for that.
&#8220;The impact that Dogecoin has currently is a lot smaller than bitcoin, but that’s because the value of Dogecoin is a lot less and these things are directly related with each other,&#8221; de Vries told The Verge.  &#8220;There is a direct relationship between the value of these assets, how much money is being earned by the miners, and how much they’re spending on electricity.&#8221;
In other words, Elon Musk hiking up the value of Dogecoin is directly impacting the amount of electricity needed to mine it.
&#8220;Very simply said, the more valuable an asset, the more money will be made by miners, the more they will spend on resources like hardware and energy,&#8221; de Vries added.
Which explains why Musk is invested in working with the token&#8217;s developers to improve efficiency.
Whether improving transaction efficiency could be enough to offset the electricity needed to mine it in the first place is still to be seen, however.
Efficiency or not, Musk&#8217;s space venture SpaceX is <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-dogecoin-mission">already planning</a> on sending a Doge-funded satellite to the Moon. Maybe then, we will start to see the limits of Dogecoin.
READ MORE: <a href="https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-prices-spike-again-because-this-man-just-will-1846893283">Dogecoin Prices Spike Again Because This Man Just Will Not Stop Tweeting</a> [Gizmodo] 

More on Dogecoin: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dogecoin-devs">Elon Musk Says He’s Helping Dogecoin Devs Make It More Efficient</a>

To the Moon I Guess

"Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency."

Dogecoin Spikes After Elon Tweets About Helping Its Developers

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<h2><a href="https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-100011167-14412537?sid=prod-901995" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Recent Trends In Crypto Trading</a></h2>
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Given these developments, it’s no wonder a lot of experts are now pretty bullish on the future of cryptocurrencies. Legendary investor Mark Mobius, the cofounder of Mobius Capital Partners who once proclaimed bitcoin a “fraud,&#8221; now believes crypto will be &#8220;alive and well&#8221; in the future. Meanwhile, billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently proclaimed cryptocurrencies “the future,” and his Dallas Mavericks have started accepting them as payment for tickets and merchandise.
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Crypto Trading

eToro makes it easy to create a successful crypto strategy.

This Revolutionary Crypto Trading Platform Lets You Mimic Its Top-Performing Investors

All technology has benefits and drawbacks depending on how we decide to use it. And, while we&#8217;d never go back to a pre-smartphone, pre-digital world, modern technology is being used for petty annoyances like <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/research-fake-comments-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automating obnoxious behavior</a> and scams. Fortunately, you don&#8217;t have to put up with spam, as <a href="https://stacksocial.com/sales/robokiller-2-year-subscription?utm_source=futurism.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=robokiller-2-year-subscription&amp;utm_term=scsf-491215&amp;utm_content=a0x1P000004f6ZTQAY&amp;scsonar=1&amp;aid=a-wmceeqco" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RoboKiller</a> keeps the scammy calls and texts off your phone, and you can now save over 50% on a two-year subscription.
RoboKiller solves the spam problem by fighting fire with fire, a solution so creative that it was awarded <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/08/ftc-awards-25000-top-cash-prize-contest-winning-mobile-app-blocks" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the top prize by the FTC</a> in 2015 for its robocall prevention contest. It deploys its AnswerBots to accept calls before they ring you, and determine if they&#8217;re legitimate or fake. If the latter, the AnswerBots are designed to keep spammers talking, both to keep them from bothering other people and to get enough audio to be analyzed for their unique audio &#8220;fingerprint.&#8221;
Every person has a unique sound to their voice that can be identified with enough data. Once RoboKiller finds that fingerprint, it goes into its database to be compared against others. When there&#8217;s a match with a known spammer, RoboKiller&#8217;s database blocks the numbers. It&#8217;ll also send you alerts with the number that attempted to call you, what the caller was claiming to be, and a recording of the call if you want to listen to the spammer have the tables turned.
In addition, RoboKiller has anti-spoofing tools to prevent the incorrect number being shown on your phone and trick you into answering, as well as SMS protection to block unwanted text messages. It even has a personal block/allow listing tools so you can &#8220;whitelist&#8221; friends and family and guarantee they always get through.
Usually, two years of RoboKiller costs $79. Currently, though, you can get a 49% discount, plus $10 off, meaning peace of mind is <a href="https://stacksocial.com/sales/robokiller-2-year-subscription?utm_source=futurism.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=robokiller-2-year-subscription&amp;utm_term=scsf-491215&amp;utm_content=a0x1P000004f6ZTQAY&amp;scsonar=1&amp;aid=a-wmceeqco" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">just $39.99</a>.
Prices subject to change.
Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with an affiliate partner. We may collect a small commission on items purchased through this page. This post does not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the <a class="c-link" href="http://futurism.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://Futurism.com" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Futurism.com</a> editorial staff.
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This evening, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392974251011895300">tweeted that</a> he&#8217;s working with the developers of Dogecoin to make the cryptocurrency more efficient.
&#8220;Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Potentially promising.&#8221;
Musk has made cryptocurrency a core part of his identity over the past year.
On Twitter, and during an appearance on &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; the past weekend, he&#8217;s brought forth an onslaught of memes about Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek cryptocurrency that&#8217;s spiked in value since becoming the subject of Musk&#8217;s attention.
He also embraced the seminal cryptocurrency Bitcoin at his electric carmaker Tesla, which <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-plan-sell-cars-bitcoin">bought $1.5 billion worth</a> of the digital cash in February of this year and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/buy-tesla-bitcoin">started accepting it</a> for car purchases in March.
Things got more complicated in April, though, when Tesla <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-just-sold-a-large-amount-of-the-bitcoin-it-just-bought">unloaded $100 million of that Bitcoin</a>. Musk characterized the sale as a move to &#8220;prove liquidity&#8221; for the cryptocurrency.
Then yesterday, in a surprise reversal, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tesla-suspending-bitcoin">said that Tesla</a> would no longer be accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles. Musk said that the flip flop was due to Bitcoin&#8217;s <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-york-ban-bitcoin-mining">considerable environmental toll</a>, but the move prompted <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/bitcoin-furious-elon-musk">furious outrage from cryptocurrency enthusiasts</a>, who argued that it&#8217;s vanishingly unlikely that the mercurial billionaire didn&#8217;t understand the carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining when he started to dabble in it at Tesla earlier this year.
Before making the Dogecoin announcement today, Musk had already been musing about topics related to the environment and cryptocurrency.
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<div id="tweet-text" class="css-901oao r-1fmj7o5 r-1qd0xha r-1blvdjr r-16dba41 r-vrz42v r-bcqeeo r-bnwqim r-qvutc0" dir="auto" lang="en">&#8220;It is high time there was a carbon tax!&#8221; he <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392947696470659072">exclaimed</a>. Later on, <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392950720979030019">he tweeted</a> that &#8220;I strongly believe in crypto, but it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal.&#8221; 
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It&#8217;s not clear how serious Musk was about helping the Dogecoin team, or what form that help might take. And to be fair, Musk could be joking about the collaboration.
Dogecoin itself, the price of which has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/05/how-much-a-1000-dollar-investment-in-dogecoin-is-worth.html">surged more than 10,000 percent</a> this year largely because of Musk&#8217;s boosterism, is in the middle of a controversy of its own.
This week, an app developer and startup accelerator <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dogecoin-devops-support-commercial-apps-231312892.html">announced their intentions</a> to assemble a team that would build apps that work &#8220;off the Doge blockchain.&#8221;
But a Twitter account associated with actual Dogecoin developers immediately distanced itself from the project.
&#8220;We are aware a new company has started offering devops services on Dogecoin,&#8221; the <a href="https://twitter.com/dogecoin_devs/status/1392778772072513536">account tweeted</a>. &#8220;Please note this does not involve any of the team maintaining Dogecoin Core.&#8221;
A current Dogecoin developer didn&#8217;t answer questions about a potential collaboration with Musk by press time.
But Doge creator Billy Markus, who is no longer involved in the project, did share his own thoughts in the form of a meme.
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<a href="https://t.co/XsSuOEZyoG">pic.twitter.com/XsSuOEZyoG</a>
&mdash; Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillyM2k/status/1392979214849040386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
More on Elon Musk: <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-tesla-suspending-bitcoin">Elon Musk: Tesla Immediately Suspending All Bitcoin Car Purchases</a>

Coin Lord

"Potentially promising."

Elon Musk Says He’s Helping Dogecoin Devs Make It More Efficient

Some people never learn their lesson.
A 25-year-old named Param Sharma was <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cops-arrest-man-tesla-drivers-seat">locked up</a> by the California Highway Police (CHP) this week for reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/police-california-tesla-driver-riding-backseat-arrested-77646289">according to ABC News</a>, in what appears to be the latest incident of a driver abusing Tesla&#8217;s self-driving features.
Multiple videos <a href="https://www.instagram.com/goldcollarlavish/">uploaded to Instagram</a> show Sharma repeatedly riding Tesla vehicles from the back seat, while seemingly using his foot to fool the car into thinking there&#8217;s someone at the wheel — a series of incredibly incriminating pieces of evidence, as <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5dnb/man-arrested-for-sitting-alone-in-backseat-of-moving-tesla-has-very-incriminating-instagram">Vice points out</a>.
And Sharma is still doubling down, bragging abut the stunt and taunting authorities. In <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COy-f9FjFNH/">one video</a> posted on Wednesday, Sharma brags about how he &#8220;just got out of jail.&#8221;
&#8220;Bitch, tell the CHP I bought my license,&#8221; reads the caption on one video.
It&#8217;s yet another instance of somebody easily abusing Tesla&#8217;s self-driving tech for a reckless stunt that could have easily turned deadly.
The reports couldn&#8217;t have come at a worse time for Tesla, as federal investigators are looking into a <a href="https://futurism.com/two-die-fiery-tesla-wreck">deadly crash</a> last month in which neither of the two passengers were found in the driver&#8217;s seat — a claim that has been <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-cops-wrong-deadly-crash">refuted by Tesla</a>.
Sharma has a long history of trying to be the &#8220;center of attention&#8221; and being a &#8220;constant thorn in the side of the school administration,&#8221; according to former classmates who <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Tesla-autopilot-Bay-Area-Param-Sharma-Instagram-16172049.php">spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
&#8220;That was my Tesla and I got it only to commute from the back seat,&#8221; a person who claimed to be Sharma told the newspaper over the phone.
The repeat offender is now being investigated by the CHP, according to Vice.
&#8220;We’re conducting a thorough investigation that will consider the possibility of previous incidents and obviously his social media,&#8221; a spokesperson told the outlet. &#8220;With the investigation we consider everything and this will be thorough.&#8221;
While blame should fall on Sharma and his dangerous actions, his stunts go to show just how easy it is to manipulate Tesla vehicles into &#8220;driving themselves.&#8221;
Tesla has long prided itself on its Autopilot and &#8220;Full Self-Driving&#8221; technologies, features that still fall short of actual autonomous driving.
While Tesla will be the first to admit that no, Teslas won&#8217;t completely drive themselves, Sharma&#8217;s actions go to show how hazy that information remains in the eyes of the public. His stunts — as well as a <a href="https://futurism.com/easy-drive-tesla-without-anybody-drivers-seat">recent investigation</a> by Consumer Reports — illustrate just how easy it is to manipulate the company&#8217;s self-driving features.
Whether regulators are willing to step in remains to be seen. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened some 28 investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles, with 24 active today, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/tesla-faces-another-nhtsa-investigation-after-fatal-driverless-crash-in-texas.html#:~:text=The%20NHTSA%20has%20opened%20around,of%20these%20are%20active%20today.">according to CNBC</a>.
In July 2020, the NHTSA was investigating 19 crashes involving &#8220;some form of advanced driver assistance system&#8221; that &#8220;was engaged at the time of the incident,&#8221; according to a statement <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-crash/u-s-safety-agency-reviewing-23-tesla-crashes-three-from-recent-weeks-idUSKBN2BA2ML">obtained by Reuters</a>.
If regulators aren&#8217;t willing to step in, Tesla should probably clean up its act by condemning these reckless stunts, revamping its marketing and the names of its self-driving features to better reflect reality, and ensuring via software updates that a simple foot touching the steering wheel from the back seat won&#8217;t fool its systems.
That may be a tall order since Tesla has decided to <a href="https://electrek.co/2020/10/06/tesla-dissolves-pr-department/">fully dissolve its entire PR department</a> in October of last year — meaning that public communications will likely fall on the company&#8217;s mercurial CEO, Elon Musk.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Tesla-autopilot-Bay-Area-Param-Sharma-Instagram-16172049.php">Bay Area man charged with reckless Tesla stunt was once declared &#8216;the most spoiled kid in the US&#8217;</a> [SFGate] 

More on the incident: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cops-arrest-man-tesla-drivers-seat">Cops Arrest Man For Driving Tesla With Nobody in Drivers Seat</a>

Reckless Stunts

He's not the only one to blame.

Remorseless Man Brags About Abusing Tesla Self-Driving Features

Nothing makes you feel more rundown and miserable than a bad night’s sleep. Unfortunately, if you or the person you sleep next to <a href="https://futurism.com/snooor-wearable-stop-snoring-device">snores</a>, you probably feel rundown and miserable a lot. Snoring is by far the most common reason people give for not sleeping well. According to <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/why-do-people-snore-answers-for-better-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Johns Hopkins Medicine</a>, about 45-percent of people snore occasionally, while 25 percent say they snore on a regular basis. That means there are roughly 94-million U.S. adults whose lives are impacted by snoring in some way, and at least 52 million who deal with it almost every single day of their lives. But it doesn’t have to be. If you want to stop snoring once and for all. the <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VitalSleep anti snoring mouthguard</a> can help.
<h2><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why Do We Snore?</a></h2>
<figure id="attachment_219856" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219856" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img class="wp-image-219856 size-full" src="https://wordpress.futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/vitalsleep-logo.jpg" alt="Stop Snoring" width="1200" height="800" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219856" class="wp-caption-text">Image via VitalSleep</figcaption></figure>
In order to understand how<a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> the VitalSleep anti snoring mouthguard</a> works, first you have to understand what causes snoring in the first place.
When you sleep, the muscles in your neck and throat relax, and your tongue falls to the back of your mouth. When your tongue falls back, your throat narrows and your airway walls loosen and sag, resulting in the partial obstruction of the upper airway. When you inhale, the loosened walls of your partially obstructed airway vibrate, producing that unmistakable, incredibly annoying sound.
For some people, all of this only happens every once in a while, under certain conditions. For others, however, snoring is a chronic problem that takes a major toll on quality of sleep. Over time, low quality sleep can lead to impaired critical thinking and judgement. And in the context of a relationship, it can cause feelings of shame and resentment.
Needless to say, if you want to stop snoring, you have to figure out a way to keep your airways open. One of the most popular ways of doing this is with a continuous positive airway pressure machine, a.k.a. a CPAP machine. However, CPAPs are big, and they require cumbersome face masks as well as access to electricity. The <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VitalSleep anti snoring mouthguard</a> is a much simpler solution that fits in your pocket and can be used absolutely anywhere.
<h2><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VitalSleep Anti Snoring Mouthguard For Men &amp; Women</a></h2>
<figure id="attachment_219857" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219857" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img class="wp-image-219857 size-full" src="https://wordpress.futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/vitalsleep-main-product-image.jpeg" alt="VitalSleep" width="1200" height="800" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219857" class="wp-caption-text">Image via VitalSleep</figcaption></figure>
The VitalSleep anti-snoring mouthguard keeps your airways open, and thus prevents snoring, by holding your jaw and tongue forward. It features a <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">patented Accu-Adjust system</a> that allows you to adjust the lower tray in 1-millimeter increments based on snoring intensity. The further forward you position the bottom tray, the more your airways will be held open.
The VitalSleep anti-snoring mouthguard ensures a comfortable fit with <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">molded teeth impressions</a>. A lot of mouthguards you order online don’t offer this feature. VitalSleep gives you a perfect custom fit without having to see a doctor or making multiple visits to a sleep clinic. All you have to do is heat the mouthguard in hot water for 60 seconds, then bite into the mouthpiece. And this process can be repeated multiple times, meaning you can make adjustments to the molding as needed.
<h2><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stop Snoring For Good &#8211; Satisfaction Guaranteed</a></h2>
<figure id="attachment_219855" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219855" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-full wp-image-219855" src="https://wordpress.futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/vitalsleep-anti-snoring-customer-results.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219855" class="wp-caption-text">Image via VitalSleep</figcaption></figure>
Made in USA with medical-grade, FDA-approved, hypo-allergenic materials, the VitalSleep is BPA, latex, and metal free. It comes in two different sizes, <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one for men</a>, and <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fsmall-size-for-women&amp;afftrack=902074" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one for women</a>. And most importantly, it comes with a 2-year warranty and 60-night money-back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with the product for any reason, simply contact customer service for a full refund. They’ll even give you a free postage-paid return label.
If snoring is starting to take a toll on your quality of life, don’t just sit there. Take action right now and <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=260865&amp;u=2238517&amp;m=29727&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitalsleep.com%2Fproducts%2Fregular-size-for-men&amp;afftrack=902075" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">order the VitalSleep anti-snoring mouthguard</a>. You have nothing to lose but so much to gain.
Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with an affiliate partner. We may collect a small commission on items purchased through this page. This post does not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the Futurism.com editorial staff.

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The VitalSleep Anti Snoring Mouthpiece is the easy, affordable way to treat the root cause of snoring. 

This Simple Solution Helps You Stop Snoring for Good

In an era of data breaches and experts wondering if your very thoughts <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/expert-neuralink-sell-private-thoughts-highest-bidder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">could be filed in a database for sale</a> somewhere as new technologies catch on, it pays to think about privacy. Virtual private networks (VPNs) help keep your data yours, and one of the best-reviewed VPNs, NordVPN, currently has <a href="https://stacksocial.com/sales/nordvpn-2-yr-subscription-10-stacksocial-com-store-credit?utm_source=futurism.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=nordvpn-2-yr-subscription-10-stacksocial-com-store-credit&amp;utm_term=scsf-491217&amp;utm_content=a0x1P000004f6ZVQAY&amp;scsonar=1&amp;aid=a-wmceeqco" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a two-year subscription for $89, 68% off</a>, and $10 in StackSocial.com store credit.
VPNs protect your data by directing all your traffic through their servers, instead of through your internet service provider&#8217;s data farms. Even with protections on your device, your ISP can gather information such as your location, where you go online, what days and times you log in, and more, which can then be shared or sold to, well, pretty much anybody.
With VPNs, that trail stops at their server and anybody tracking you hits a blank wall. VPN servers are also located across the globe, making it easy to get around &#8220;geofencing&#8221; and access the streaming services and content you can be locked out of when you go on vacation.
NordVPN makes it more secure with next-generation encryption, obfuscated servers, IP masking, and compatibility with tools such as The Onion Router to add more layers of security. This all works in the background as you chat, stream, download, and work with lightning speed, and NordVPN functions across up to six of your devices, anywhere you go, with more than 5,000 servers you can access around the globe. That&#8217;s part of the reason it&#8217;s <a href="https://stacksocial.com/sales/nordvpn-2-yr-subscription-10-stacksocial-com-store-credit?utm_source=futurism.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=nordvpn-2-yr-subscription-10-stacksocial-com-store-credit&amp;utm_term=scsf-491217&amp;utm_content=a0x1P000004f6ZVQAY&amp;scsonar=1&amp;aid=a-wmceeqco" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">racked up awards</a> and top ratings, including five stars from Trustpilot and CNET and PC Mag&#8217;s rarely bestowed &#8220;Outstanding&#8221; ranking.
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Prices subject to change.
Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with an affiliate partner. We may collect a small commission on items purchased through this page. This post does not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the <a class="c-link" href="http://futurism.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://Futurism.com" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Futurism.com</a> editorial staff.
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Your data is constantly being collected. A VPN helps you keep snoops out.

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Scientists at the European Space Agency are trying to make shared and frequently-worn spacesuits less gross for astronauts on the International Space Station.
Astronauts going on a space walk outside of the station have to wear several layers of protective clothing, including a disposable Maximum Absorbency Garment diaper, another pair of undergarments, and a liquid- and air-cooled garment.
But sharing these External Mobility Unit suits can get pretty nasty. Reuse means crews are exposed to some gross residue left there by other crew members.
&#8220;Hygiene is always a concern aboard the International Space Station,&#8221; said ESA life support specialist Christophe Lasseur in <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-05-spacesuit-underwear.html">a statement</a>. &#8220;Astronauts wear their clothes on alternating days then eventually they are disposed of — burnt up inside reentering spacecraft.&#8221;
&#8220;But there are some items and surfaces which have to be shared,&#8221; he added.
Grody underwear may not be a  huge issue back on Earth. But in space, it&#8217;s not a simple matter of running a wash.
&#8220;Spaceflight textiles, especially when subject to biological contamination — for example, spacesuit underwear — may pose both engineering and medical risks during long duration flights,&#8221; said ESA material engineer Malgorzata Holynska.
Holynska and her colleagues are trying to come up with special materials that could nix any remaining nasties.
&#8220;We are already investigating candidate materials for outer spacesuit layers so this early technology development project is a useful complement, looking into small bacteria-killing molecules that may be useful for all kinds of spaceflight textiles, including spacesuit interiors,&#8221; she said.
A team at the Austrian Space Forum are looking to find a way to mimic the antimicrobial qualities of materials such as copper or silver, but without running the risk of provoking skin irritation or tarnishing over time.
&#8220;To provide an alternative, we are collaborating with the Vienna Textile Lab,&#8221; said Seda Özdemir-Fritz Bacterma, project scientist at the Austrian Space Forum.
Anther potential solution may sound counterintuitive: fight bacteria with bacteria.
&#8220;They have exclusive access to a unique bacteriographic collection,&#8221; Özdemir-Fritz Bacterma said. &#8220;Those microorganisms produce so-called secondary metabolites. These compounds are typically colorful, and some exhibit versatile properties: antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal.&#8221;
The scientists are now exposing test materials to space-like conditions, including plenty of radiation — as well as simulated lunar dust, since astronauts may soon be returning back to the surface of the Moon.
Perhaps then, astronauts can rest assured they won&#8217;t be swapping germs by sharing spacesuits.
READ MORE: <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-05-spacesuit-underwear.html">How to keep spacesuit &#8216;underwear&#8217; clean?</a> [European Space Agency] 

More on astronaut life: <a href="https://futurism.com/astronauts-drinking-space">So, Uh, Astronauts Routinely Smuggle Booze Into Space</a>

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