NASA uncovers a 19-year fraud that caused failed missions

An investigation finds the cause of failed NASA launches and $700 million in losses.

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
  • An Oregon company provided falsified tests to a NASA rocket builder for almost two decades.
  • The company is now liable for $46 million in payments and the lab manager went to prison.
  • NASA can't test every single component itself, making it important the supply chain is protected.
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Technology & Innovation

Blood diamonds, stolen cars, sweatshops: Blockchain stops all that

The technology is poised to change how many companies operate.

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  • Blockchain technology, as a digital ledger for economic transactions, is poised to "radically" impact companies across the board.
  • It may help reinforce the trust in certain markets as sensors collect data throughout production.
  • Blockchain might also create a marketplace for whistleblowing.
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Videos

Income equality is getting worse. Can the co-op model solve this problem?

Co-ops are more pervasive than you think. They just suffer from a marketing problem.

Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images.
  • The cooperative model accounts for $154B every year in America.
  • America leads the world with cooperatives, with over 30,000 businesses operating under this model.
  • Co-op advocate Nathan Schneider believes this model can help level the economic playing field.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Japan finds a huge cache of scarce rare-earth minerals

Japan looks to replace China as the primary source of critical metals

Rare-earth magnets (nikkytok/Shutterstock)
  • Enough rare earth minerals have been found off Japan to last centuries
  • Rare earths are important materials for green technology, as well as medicine and manufacturing
  • Where would we be without all of our rare-earth magnets?
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Technology & Innovation

Mercantilism: The theory that explains Trump’s trade war

Mercantilism, the oldest thing in economics, is back in a big way.

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  • The use of tariffs by the Trump administration has confused more than a few leading economists.
  • The policy and the motivations behind them do reflect an economic theory with a long tradition: mercantilism.
  • Understanding mercantilism can help us understand why there is a call for more tariffs, and what might happen to the economy as a result of them.
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Politics & Current Affairs