Wednesday, July 16
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2025 MLB All-Star Game set for tonight (8 pm ET, FOX); see roster breakdown and preview (More) | 2025 MLB Draft wraps; see full tracker of all 615 picks (More) | The history of MLB (1440 Topics)
> John Elway won't face charges in the April death of his friend and agent Jeff Sperbeck, who died from injuries sustained after falling off a golf cart driven by Elway (More)
> Animated children's show "Bluey" is most streamed US show in first half of 2025 with 25 billion minutes viewed (More) | HBO's "Harry Potter" TV series begins production, sets 2027 release date (More) | "Superman" flies to $122M in its opening weekend to lead US domestic box office (More)
Science & Technology
> Defense Department awards contracts worth up to $200M to Google, Anthropic, xAI, and OpenAI to develop AI systems for unspecified national security applications (More)
> Astronomers detect the largest merger of two black holes to date via measuring gravitational waves; collision produced a single black hole roughly 225 times the mass of the sun (More) | What happens if you fall into a black hole? (1440 Topics)
> Photonic quantum device—systems that use light to perform quantum computing tasks—integrated into a commercial electronic chip for the first time; marks a key step toward manufacturing light-based quantum computers (More) | Einstein's insight underlying quantum computing (1440 Topics)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.3%) as investors continue to monitor trade talks and look ahead to second quarter earnings reports (More)
> Cognition AI to acquire coding startup Windsurf in deal with undisclosed financial terms; follows failed acquisition by OpenAI and $2.4B licensing deal between Google and Windsurf last week (More)
> Amazon’s Prime Day event drove over $24B in e-commerce sales—the equivalent of two Black Fridays—with traffic from generative AI products increasing 3,300% year over year (More) | Starbucks employees ordered to work in person four days a week by October or take payouts; some leaders must also relocate to headquarters within 12 months (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Supreme Court clears the Trump administration to lay off over 1,300 employees at the Department of Education, functionally eliminating the agency (More) | Two dozen states sue the federal government for withholding $6.8B in education funds (More)
> President Donald Trump announces plan to sell Patriot air defense systems, other weapons to Ukraine, paid for by European allies; Trump threatens tariffs on Russian goods if a peace deal is not reached within 50 days (More) | Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launches independent mayoral bid after Democratic primary loss to Zohran Mamdani (More)
> Food and Drug Administration approves blue color additive derived from gardenia fruit as part of larger push to remove synthetic dyes from American diets (More) | Dozens of ice cream makers, representing roughly 90% of the US market, pledge to stop using artificial dyes by 2028 (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Project Management: Time - Cost - Quality
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Project Managers are faced with the triangle from the very beginning when they are told upfront that their project must be completed on time, must be under budget and must be of the highest quality.
Time, Cost, Quality ARE NOT mutually exclusive; they are in fact, closely interrelated and unavoidable.
For instance, in order for your project to be finished on time, you must hire more people or more expensive equipment... well, that raises costs... unacceptable.
It is also entirely possible that if you reduce the time it takes to complete a task, then the quality of that task will be reduced... well, that saves costs but deceases quality... unacceptable.
On the other hand, let's say you want to IMPROVE QUALITY... well, that typically takes more time which increases costs... unacceptable.
HOWEVER, it is not that simple because if your product is NOT QUALITY MADE, then the customer will not buy it in the volumes you anticipated... unacceptable.
There are TRICKS of the TRADE that allow you to deal with TIME-COST-QUALITY without violating the triangle to a large degree although though some degradation is always inevitable.
Manipulating start and end of tasks, finding ways to buy in bulk, removing the variation of processes... some of the skills you will learn as you progress through your experiences.
Ancient Egyptian rock art discovered near Aswan may be from the dawn of the first dynasty
The rock art panel shows a boat dragged by five figures. It has a standing figure holding an oar and the head
and right shoulder of a seated figure inside the boat's inner structure, possibly a cabin.
(Image credit: Dorian Vanhulle (2025); Antiquity Publications Ltd.)
An ancient Egyptian rock engraving may have been carved at the dawn of the first dynasty, up to 5,100 years ago, a new study suggests.
The engraving depicts a boat that may have a royal figure seated in it, although only the person's head and right shoulder are visible.
The engraving is stylistically similar to ancient Egyptian rock panels from the protodynastic period and early first dynasty — periods that aren't well known to archaeologists.
These similarities hint that the newfound carving may hold clues about the formation of the Egyptian state, according to the study.
Tuesday, July 15
Headlines
President Donald Trump with NATO Secretary
General Mark Rutte. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Trump threatens 100% tariffs over Ukraine war, makes arms deal with NATO. President Trump said yesterday that he would impose a 100% “secondary tariff” on Russia’s trading partners if Moscow doesn’t make a deal to end its invasion of Ukraine within 50 days. The president also announced an agreement for US companies to sell “billions of dollars worth of military equipment” to European countries that will send them to Ukraine. He expressed disappointment in President Vladimir Putin for not reaching a peace deal sooner, reflecting a recent shift in Trump’s attitude toward the Russian leader.
Supreme Court rules dismantling of the Department of Education can begin. The high court ruled that the Trump administration can start implementing its plans to fire 1,400 Department of Education employees, pausing a Massachusetts federal judge’s order that blocked the layoffs in May. The administration aims to eliminate the department, which would require Congressional action. The Supreme Court’s order didn’t provide a reason and was unsigned, as is customary in response to emergency applications like the one that put the issue before the court. But the court’s three liberal justices issued a dissent, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing that the decision “hands the Executive the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out.”
JPow’s building reno is getting a lot of attention. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell asked the central bank’s inspector general to review a $2.5 billion building renovation project after its budget overruns prompted severe criticism from the White House. The request came after National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC on Sunday that the president could fire Powell “if there’s cause.” With President Trump having previously expressed a desire to axe Powell for not lowering interest rates, many Fed watchers see the building project as a potential cause the White House could use to get rid of Powell before his term ends and install someone new.—AR
Trump threatens 100% tariffs over Ukraine war, makes arms deal with NATO. President Trump said yesterday that he would impose a 100% “secondary tariff” on Russia’s trading partners if Moscow doesn’t make a deal to end its invasion of Ukraine within 50 days. The president also announced an agreement for US companies to sell “billions of dollars worth of military equipment” to European countries that will send them to Ukraine. He expressed disappointment in President Vladimir Putin for not reaching a peace deal sooner, reflecting a recent shift in Trump’s attitude toward the Russian leader. Supreme Court rules dismantling of the Department of Education can begin. The high court ruled that the Trump administration can start implementing its plans to fire 1,400 Department of Education employees, pausing a Massachusetts federal judge’s order that blocked the layoffs in May. The administration aims to eliminate the department, which would require Congressional action. The Supreme Court’s order didn’t provide a reason and was unsigned, as is customary in response to emergency applications like the one that put the issue before the court. But the court’s three liberal justices issued a dissent, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing that the decision “hands the Executive the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out.” JPow’s building reno is getting a lot of attention. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell asked the central bank’s inspector general to review a $2.5 billion building renovation project after its budget overruns prompted severe criticism from the White House. The request came after National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC on Sunday that the president could fire Powell “if there’s cause.” With President Trump having previously expressed a desire to axe Powell for not lowering interest rates, many Fed watchers see the building project as a potential cause the White House could use to get rid of Powell before his term ends and install someone new.—AR
Robert Reich
The Poisoning of Presidential Power
Friends,
Three examples from just the last week.
On Saturday, Trump said, “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He called O’Donnell a “threat to humanity” and said she should remain in Ireland, where she moved in January after Trump won a second term.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram: “The president of the USA has always hated the fact that I see him for who he is — a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.”
A central feature of Trump’s second term is his poisoning of the power of the presidency for personal ends, such as wanting to get even with O’Donnell for having expressed negative views about him.
Another example: Trump is putting a 50 percent tariff on imports from Brazil, starting August 1. This isn’t because it will help the American economy or even the broader interests of the United States.
At A Glance
Can our brains run out of memory?
The most common job in every US state: 1998 versus 2024.
Do dolphins use their doulas when giving birth? (w/video)
The stories behind TV pilots that crashed and burned.
Wimbledon winner's favorite dish: pasta with strawberries.
The origins of pickleball and the game's name.
Housekeeping reveals the dirtiest parts of a hotel room.
German customs finds 1,500 tarantulas in cake boxes.
Clickbait: The census of swans begins.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> World No. 1 Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Wimbledon title and fourth career Grand Slam (More) | Iga Swiatek tops American Amanda Anisimova to win her first Wimbledon and sixth major title (More)
> Chelsea cruises to 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain to win 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (More)
> Washington Nationals take Oklahoma high schooler Eli Willits with top pick in 2025 MLB Draft; see complete Day One draft tracker (More) | Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh breaks American League record by hitting 38 home runs prior to the MLB All-Star Game (More)
Science & Technology
> Tesla adds Grok chatbot to newer vehicles in software update; follows the release of xAI's latest version of its flagship large language model, chatbot not yet capable of issuing commands to the vehicle (More)
> Some gut microbes are capable of processing PFAS, or "forever," chemicals from the body; study may lead to probiotics to replace bloodletting or drug therapies (More) | PFAS 101 (More)
> Archaeologists discover royal burial tomb belonging to the first known ruler of the ancient Mayan city of Caracol; once a major metropolis in modern Belize, city was abandoned about 1,000 years ago (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower Friday (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -0.6%, Nasdaq -0.2%) following President Donald Trump's announcement of 35% tariffs on Canada and baseline tariffs of 15% to 20% on other countries (More)
> Google pays $2.4B to license AI coding startup Windsurf and hire company's top talent, including its CEO and cofounder (More) | SpaceX invests $2B in Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, as part of $5B equity round (More)
> North Carolina, Texas, and Florida top CNBC's ranking of best states for business in 2025; Massachusetts is ranked "most improved"; Alaska ranks last (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Lawmakers visit Alligator Alcatraz, the 3,000-bed immigration detention center newly opened in Florida's Everglades; Democrats criticize conditions as unsanitary, overcrowded (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Israeli strike kills 10 people, including six children, in line to fill water containers in central Gaza; Israel says missile was intended to strike an Islamic Jihad militant, blames malfunction for missed target (More) | US citizen Sayfollah Musallet among two Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank (More)
> Sudanese Armed Forces retake control of strategic North Kordofan region from paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (More) | International Criminal Court suggests both sides are committing war crimes in western Darfur region (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
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