InsureDAOis in the Blockchain Infrastructure Industry

InsureDAO

Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions. Mayday Mayday Mayday Some of you degens were screaming “Mayday” as you watched crypto markets puke from mid-April until the present. There was so much pain that momentum-chasing paper hands like proclaimed that they were “done” with crypto. As if – she will dutifully return posting crypto thirst traps once Bitcoin is back trending up and to the right in short order. Irene Zhao The price action played out as I expected. US tax season, consternation over what the Fed will do, the Bitcoin halving sell the news event, and a slowdown of US Bitcoin ETF asset under management (AUM) growth coalesced over the prior fortnight to produce a well-needed market cleansing. The tourists will sit out the next phase on the beach… if they can afford it. Us hard motherfuckers will hodl, and if possible, accumulate more of our favorite crypto reserve assets such as Bitcoin and Ether, and/or high-beta shitcoins like Solana, Dog Wif Hat, and dare I say Dogecoin (the OG doggie coin). This is not meant to be a fully fleshed-out global macroeconomics, politics, and crypto essay. Rather, I want to highlight why the US Treasury, Federal Reserve (Fed), and the Republic First Bank bailout provide fiat liquidity or a path to increased fiat liquidity now and into the near future. I will quickly step through a few tables that underpin my boooolishness. QT Taper = QE When the average muppet equates quantitative easing (QE) with printing money and inflation, it spells trouble for the elites. Therefore they need to change up the nomenclature and method of providing the junkie, that is, the fiat financial system, its hit of monetary heroin. Reducing the pace of asset runoff from the Fed’s balance in accordance with their quantitative tightening (QT) program sounds benign. But make no mistake – by reducing the rate of QT from $95 billion to $60 billion per month, the Fed is essentially adding $35 billion per month of dollar liquidity. When you combine the Interest on Reserve Balances, RRP payments, and interest payments on US Treasury debt, the reduction in QT increases the amount of stimulus provided to the global asset markets each month. The Fed announced this week that it would taper QT by the aforementioned amounts at its May 2024 meeting. Using a handy chart, let us examine the dollar liquidity situation before and after the meeting. Before Size of Facility Rate PA Monthly Amount (USD Bn) Interest Expense NA NA $88.27 IORB 3271.706 5.40% $14.72 RRP 438.148 5.30% $1.94 QT NA NA -$77.59 Total $27.34 Note that the QT line item is the actual monthly average taper amount in 2024 based on the . As you can see, the Fed has undershot the monthly target of $95 billion. It begs the question of whether the target is $60 billion per month and whether the Fed will undershoot that as well. Undershooting the target pace is positive for dollar liquidity. Fed’s weekly reported balance sheet After Size of Facility Rate PA Monthly Amount (USD Bn) Interest Expense NA NA $88.27 IORB 3271.706 5.40% $14.72 RRP 438.148 5.30% $1.94 QT NA NA -$60.00 Total $44.93 Increase in $ Liq per Month 64.32% “High” interest rates, which require the Fed and US Treasury to hand out interest payment stimmies to rich folks, coupled with a reduction in the pace of QT, are even more stimulative. Please read “ ” to understand what each line item means. Kite or Board That’s what beta cuck towel boy Powell is up to. What about his dominatrix, Bad Gurl Yellen? US Treasury Quarterly Refunding Announcement (QRA) Because the US is in the throes of fiscal dominance, Bad Gurl Yellen's pronouncements are more important than those of any other monetary official. Every quarter, the US Treasury publishes the QRA to guide the market as to the quantity and type of debt that must be issued to fund the government. Before the 2Q24 QRA, I had questions: Would Yellen be borrowing more or less than last quarter, and why? What is the maturity profile of the debt to be issued? What would be the target Treasury General Account (TGA) balance? Question 1: During the April – June 2024 quarter, Treasury expects to borrow $243 billion in privately-held net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-June cash balance of $750 billion. The borrowing estimate is $41 billion higher than announced in January 2024, largely due to lower cash receipts, partially offset by a higher beginning of-quarter cash balance. [2] [3] Source: QRA That’s no bueno if you are a holder of Treasuries. There will be more supply, and tax receipts were underwhelming despite the roaring US economy and stonk markets. This hastens the pace at which the bond market throws a fit and ratchets long-end rates markedly higher. Yellen’s response to that will be some form of yield curve control, and that’s when Bitcoin begins its ascent for realz to $1 million. Question 2: Given current fiscal forecasts, the Treasury Department expects to increase the 4-, 6-, and 8-week bill auction sizes in the coming days to ensure sufficient liquidity to meet our one-week cash needs around the end of May.  Then, in anticipation of the June 15th non-withheld and corporate tax date, Treasury expects to implement modest reductions to short-dated bill auction sizes during early to mid-June.  Subsequently, throughout July, the Treasury Department anticipates returning short-dated bill auction sizes to levels at or near the highs from February and March. Source: QRA Yellen needs to increase the issuance of short-dated bills because the market couldn’t handle it if she swung her BSD at the long end of the curve. The added benefit of issuing more bills is that it drains the RRP, which adds dollar liquidity to the system. To understand why, please read “ ”. Bad Gurl Question 3: During the July – September 2024 quarter, Treasury expects to borrow $847 billion in privately-held net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-September cash balance of $850 billion. Source: QRA The TGA balance target is $850 billion. It currently stands at $941 billion, which equates to a roughly $90 billion reduction over the next three months. To understand why, please read “ .” Bad Gurl The impact of this QRA is mildly dollar liquidity positive. It is not a bombshell like the November 2023 announcement, which sent bond, stonk, and crypto prices flying. But it will help pump our bags slowly over time. Republic First Bank Have you ever heard of this tiny, piece-of-shit bank? I hadn’t, until they went bust. The fact that another non-Too Big To Fail (TBTF) bank failed is not noteworthy. But what is important is the response of the monetary mandarins in charge of the Pax Americana. The US government (via the FDIC) insures deposits in any US bank up to $250,000. When a bank fails, uninsured depositors should get zeroed. However, that is politically unpalatable in an election year, especially if the powers that be have continuously assured the public the banking system is sound. Here is an excerpt from the : FDIC As of January 31, 2024, Republic Bank had approximately $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits.  The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) related to the failure of Republic Bank will be $667 million. The FDIC determined that compared to other alternatives, Fulton Bank’s acquisition of Republic Bank is the least costly resolution for the DIF, an insurance fund created by Congress in 1933 and managed by the FDIC to protect the deposits at the nation’s banks. Understanding what happened in plain speech requires reading between the lines. Fulton agreed to purchase Republic First and ensure all depositors were made whole only if the FDIC ponied up some cash. The FDIC insurance gave Fulton $667 million so that all Republic First depositors were made whole. Why is the insurance fund being used for all deposits when some deposits were not insured? The reason is that if all deposits weren’t covered, then a bank run would start. Any large depositor with a non-TBTF bank would instantly transfer money to a TBTF bank, which sport a full government guarantee of all deposits. Subsequently, thousands of banks would go under across the country. That is not a good look in a democratic republic with elections every two years. Once the public is educated that the bank failures are 100% due to Fed and US Treasury policy, some overpaid idiots will have to get real jobs. Rather than suffer at the ballot box, those in charge essentially now guarantee all deposits in the US banking system. That is a stealth addition of $6.7 trillion, as this is the amount of uninsured deposits as . reported by the St. Louis Fed This leads to money printing because the FDIC’s insurance fund doesn’t have $6.7 trillion. Maybe they need to ask CZ for advice because funds ain’t SAFU. Once the fund is exhausted, the FDIC will borrow money from the Fed, which will print money to satisfy the loan. Like the other stealth money printing policies discussed in this essay, there is no massive liquidity injection today. However, we now know with full confidence that trillions of contingent liabilities have been added to the Fed’s balance sheet, which will be funded with printed money. Buy in May, Go Away! The slow addition of billions of dollars of liquidity each month will dampen negative price movement from here on out. While I don’t expect crypto to fully realize the recent US monetary announcements' inflationary nature immediately, I expect prices to bottom, chop, and begin a slow grind higher. As the northern-hemispheric summer kicks into full gear, crypto muppets will be out enjoying being pre-rich at all the usual hot spots. I see you at DC10, Scorpios, Chiltern … I see you playa. I certainly won’t be babysitting Bitcoin when I could be two-stepping. The recent intense puke out provides an excellent opportunity to unstake my and spend synthetic dollars on high beta shitcoins. USDe I’m buying Solana and doggie coins for momentum trading positions. For longer-term shitcoin positions, I’m upping my allocations in Pendle* and will identify other tokens that are “on sale.” I will use the rest of May to increase my exposure. And then it’s time to set it, forget it, and wait for the market to appreciate the inflationary nature of the recent US monetary policy announcements. 同志们好 China is not to be forgotten. The CNY will be devalued, but it won’t be against USD; rather, it will be against gold and Bitcoin. I will explain this theory in an in-depth essay later this summer. For those of you who need bullet points on my predictions, here you go: Yes Did Bitcoin hit a local low at around $58,600 earlier this week? A rally to above $60,000 and then range-bound price action between $60,000 and $70,000 until August. What is your price prediction? Yes. Are the recent Fed and Treasury policy announcements stealth forms of money printing? Yachtzee!! Disclaimer: I am an advisor to and investor in Pendle, and have received Pendle tokens as compensation for my advisory services.

Mayday

মে দিবস

Maifeiertag

May Day

Au secours

मई दिवस

メーデー

노동절

Socorro

Первое мая

Mayıs günü

ngày tháng năm

劳动节

The digital asset industry is not one that is stagnant. Beyond the perennial excitement induced among enthusiasts and users due to the volatile price movements of the assets, the industry is no stranger to eventful occurrences. Most recently, the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) approved the issuance of Bitcoin ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) for a handful of prominent asset management and financial services companies. The move pushes the crypto industry towards institutionalization, with multiple jurisdictions worldwide already regulating or working on implementing regulations for all kinds of digital assets beyond Bitcoin. As the industry matures and the innovation evoked by the asset class attracts retail and institutional investors alike, its institutionalization is the only logical step ahead. The Good Comes with the Bad – Still, the Industry Grows Beyond those desired happenings, the industry has also been prone to setbacks. For example, the recent Binance debacle saw the company shelling out over due to its negligence in reporting and preventing transactions serving money laundering. Another example is the infamous that led to collective losses in the billions for crypto users due to the blatant mismanagement of funds. $4 billion in fines FTX saga Regulations will ensure such failures do not occur, keeping digital asset investors and users safe from untoward incidents. Nevertheless, despite the setbacks, the development of innovative products from this space remains strong. Digital assets, alongside a vibrant DeFi ecosystem and robust centralized platforms offering asset storage and exchange activities, among others, are booming. Family Offices Are Showing Unwavering Interest in Digital Assets A rapidly evolving digital asset industry is witnessing massive influxes of funds, now more than ever. With the capabilities it offers to build massive wealth and regulatory perceptions shifting towards the positive, one group of investors flocking to the ecosystem is family offices. Servicing HNWIs (High Net Worth Individuals) and wealthy families to build and maintain generational wealth, family offices are diversifying investment strategies to accommodate digital assets. However, their entry into the crypto markets should occur with the assistance of platforms specializing in handling the large value they pour into these assets. Family offices must turn to working to safeguard users’ assets from the various elements in the ecosystem that can lead to their loss or theft. digital asset custodians Custodians Make Digital Asset Usage Safe and Convenient for Family Offices In fact, jurisdictions rolling out regulations for the asset class are mandating the usage of licensed custodians while dealing with large amounts of assets. And that is for good reason. For one, self-custody wallets aimed to secure digital assets are a good choice for retail users dealing with less significant amounts. On the other hand, interacting with such assets in the millions of dollars, as family offices do, can be inconvenient and dangerous when using self-custody storage solutions. The chances of losing private keys and having assets worth millions trapped forever are more common than assumed and obviously not ideal. Turning to experienced custodians, like BitGo, Liminal, and Copper, is the best way for family offices to go. These custodians offer the perfect balance of security and convenience that they can ask for. Licensed custodians utilize state-of-the-art asset storage and data transfer infrastructure, ensuring the digital assets they handle remain safe. Hot and cold wallets protected by Multi-Signature and are commonplace with custodians, alongside infosec certifications attesting to their robust infrastructure. MPC (Multi-Party Computation) technology Increased Access to the DeFi Ecosystem Through Custody Platforms By turning to custodians, can stay assured they possess instant access to their assets, overseen by bank-grade storage security. Of course, asset storage is only one aspect of custodian offerings. Custodian platforms also come equipped to let their users indulge in DeFi strategies across various blockchain networks – all from their platform interfaces. family offices With the DeFi ecosystem being one of the most prominent use cases of digital assets, family offices naturally utilize the assets under their management to earn steady passive income. So, family offices can indulge in multichain DeFi ecosystems, purchasing all kinds of tokens to put to work in applications deployed on prominent blockchains from well-known third-party custody platforms. Custodian Insurance Removes All Worries of Dealing with Third Parties While relying on third parties to hold crypto assets can seem daunting, especially when blockchain tenets dictate doing away with intermediaries, reputed custodians bring unfaltering trust. It is so because licensed custodians come insured to protect their users from worst-case scenarios like hacks, exploits, and bankruptcies. Family offices can confidently employ custodians, knowing their value is recoverable through insurance despite losses incurred due to negligence or bad behavior exhibited by custodians. Reputed Custodians Uphold Compliance Even for Their Clients Numerous jurisdictions with established digital asset regulations enforce insurance on custodians to safeguard investors. They also enforce AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and CFT (Countering the Financing of Terrorism) protocols upon these platforms, which is a need in the digital asset ecosystem. Such protocols prevent family offices from accidentally indulging in prohibited tokens like privacy coins and interacting with sanctioned wallets linked with illicit activities. Tapping into custody services can make sure family offices remain within legal bounds and do not have their operations, funds, and investments jeopardized. Likewise, custodians can even effect good behavior among family offices, mainly multi-family offices handling investments for multiple HNWIs and families. This type of family office is operated by third parties, rather than the traditional single-family office set up and controlled by HNWIs or families themselves. Most jurisdictions have lax regulations over family offices, meaning the clients of multi-family offices will find their value at risk if the third parties misappropriate said value. Custodians storing end of such offices are mandated to track and report suspicious movements of funds by regulators. client digital assets on behalf Malicious activity can easily be detectable when huge sums are misused, protecting investors from bad actors. Thereby, custodians offer a layer of transparency and accountability. Multi-family offices looking to increase their credibility with end clients interested in digital assets must employ custodians. Custody Solutions Are a Necessity for Crypto-Inclined Family Offices Digital asset adoption is in full swing as investors turn to the asset type and the innovative products it is central to. Family offices are the same as these assets, as they have shown their ability to steadily bring returns that magnify wealth, often more effectively than traditional assets. As they take a more influential place in the portfolios of HNWIs and wealthy families, custodians can help alleviate the issues with handling them. Thus, family offices should consider custody-related solutions to traverse the while making the most out of the novel financial system. digital asset landscape securely and conveniently

Why Family Offices Should Care About Digital Asset Custody

The ability to earn rather than buy your cryptocurrency has always been an important aspect of the crypto community. Unfortunately, for many who are new to the blockchain space, the days of being able to mine hundreds of with just your home computer are long gone. However, there are now more inclusive ways to earn cryptocurrency, and while the idea is still new, crypto-earning platforms could soon make central banks start to sweat. Bitcoin What is Crypto Earning? While most people are familiar with Bitcoin and Ethereum miners, for the high-tech, slightly mysterious subset of individuals working the blockchain for paydirt, using high-powered computers stuffed with GPUs, that's not the only way to earn your coins. Investors looking to earn coins or tokens without spending $20,000 on mining equipment can still participate in community initiatives by way of Proof of Stake. POS is an alternate consensus method used by certain blockchains to secure the network and validate transactions. While the first Proof of Stake coin, PeerCoin, was introduced as early as 2012, the rise of DeFi and Ethereum's announcement that it would be moving to Proof of Stake has revitalized this once controversial consensus method and sent it into the mainstream. Now, the only thing stopping you from earning hefty returns on your coins is knowing where exactly you should put your money. Your return will depend on the level of risk you're willing to stomach, the lock-up terms you choose for your coins or tokens, and whether you plan to go with a centralized or decentralized earning platform. Centralized vs. Decentralized platforms Like all things in cryptocurrency, or even just investing in general, there is always a risk. The world of cryptocurrency is still very much the wild west, mostly lacking regulation and consumer protection, and putting your trust in the wrong hands can often lead to disaster. Investors who previously lost their Bitcoin fortunes to shady platforms like Mt. Gox will be quick to warn you: "Not your keys, not your coins," a popular saying in the crypto community. This saying stems from the fact that when you are using a centralized platform, you do not control the private keys to your wallets. That means that, unlike your private wallet, which can't be taken from you, funds kept on platforms owned by someone else are always at risk to some degree of being lost to insolvency, have a higher risk of theft, or can even be seized should your country's flavor of cryptocurrency wane in some way. Part of the appeal of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms is that you are in control of your private keys and recovery phrases, allowing you to participate without giving up wallet ownership. So why would you ever use a centralized platform, then? Well, in its current iteration, is not as user-friendly as it could be. There are a lot of ways to make a mistake, and many people simply are not interested in or prepared to be a custodian of their own finances. DeFi This is part of the reason why central banking and credit cards have become a consumer staple; they provide protection to the user. With a non-custodial wallet, this protection is gone. You're responsible for your own private keys and recovery phrase, and if you lose those, then you're certainly out of luck, but you won't be alone. It's estimated that between 2.78 million and 3.79 million Bitcoin have been lost in this manner. While if you use the custodial wallet, support can come to the rescue in most cases if you lose access to your account or if you were to perhaps send your coins to the wrong wallet, which is an easier mistake to make than you might think. Especially with cross-chain confusion now coming into play. Earning on custodial vs. Non-Custodial Platforms Custodial Platform Earning A custodial platform, such as Nexo or Celsius, simply pays out an advertised interest rate on held cryptocurrencies, just like your bank savings account. Earnings typically go up if you are willing to commit to a longer lock-up term, which is great if you are long on an investment. You will, of course, not earn as much as you would using DeFi, but your risk is mitigated as long as you trust the platform. This is because these platforms are taking on much of the risk of blockchain finance for you. In return, they take a cut of the profits for themselves. Interest is paid out daily or weekly, typically in the same currency that you are staking, making it a good way to grow your holdings while you wait. It's the simplest way to earn if you are not technologically inclined or are risk-averse. These platforms make money by doing their own staking or lending, at varying degrees of risk, and typically also provide other services that allow them to profit off of trade or transaction fees from the users of the platform. What are the Risks of Custodial Earning Platforms? Custodial platforms are not without risk. Besides the fact that you are typically not in control of your private keys, management of the exchange can also be an issue. While the platform's job is to absorb risk, if they get into trouble, things could go south quickly, and your investments could be at risk if the company becomes insolvent. Custodial platforms are not immune to bug exploits or the will of overbearing governments. Hackers exploiting smart contract vulnerabilities or damaging new regulations could put your holdings at risk. . This loss was not passed on to the consumer, but should a loss be large enough to put a platform out of business, it could be. Even FDIC-insured exchanges only offer protection to the fiat currencies in your account. Celsius is estimated to have lost $50 million in the Badger DAO exploit Non-Custodial Platform (DeFi) Earning While DeFi staking is much more complicated and more risks are involved, the potential for profit is also greater if you are willing to take those risks. There's also a greater variety of ways to earn going the DeFi route when compared to a centralized earning platform. You can participate in yield farming, which is essentially becoming a liquidity provider to a platform that provides lending services to traders. Or, you could stake your assets and become a validator for transactions, helping to secure the network, similar to what miners do in Proof of Work setups. You can also participate in liquidity mining, a process that rewards you with native tokens or governance rights rather than a standard APY yield like yield farming does. Each of these methods of earning has its own benefits and dangers, so it's imperative that you thoroughly research each method before deciding on one. There's a very real risk of losing your initial deposit if you aren't careful. What are the Risks of Non-Custodial Earning Platforms? In addition to worrying about potential vulnerabilities in the smart contracts you are utilizing and liquidation, higher-yield currencies are often highly volatile, and shady platform providers can quickly throw a wrench in your plan, like when Sushi Swap's developer decided to sell all of his tokens, , and leaving investors high and dry. plummeting the price of the currency by 50% It's important to realize that pretty much anybody can create a token or even an entire platform for something like yield farming overnight, often anonymously, and in a faraway country, outside the reach of your country's legal jurisdiction. This is why it's important to make sure to research not just the type of Defi activity you wish to pursue carefully but also to be sure to vet the platform you intend to do it on properly. Spreading your investments across multiple platforms can also help to avoid a total loss of assets. In short, both custodial and non-custodial platforms have their own unique benefits and dangers. It's important to know what you're getting into before putting your life savings into a risky situation in which there could be no way out if things go badly.

Better Than Your Bank: A Primer on the Benefits and Risks of Crypto Earning

As climate change plays havoc with weather forecasting across the globe, one company's long-term goal is to save thousands of lives by ensuring early and timely warnings of these severe weather events are reaching people across the globe. Rainbow Weather’s Mission Using artificial intelligence, is on a mission to provide meteorological forecasts at this crucial time when severe weather events cause billions of dollars in damages each year, as reported in USA Today. Rainbow Weather The planet was plagued by $42 billion worth of weather disasters in 2022 alone, and the all-time total damage wrought by weather disasters sits at $360 billion, with 39% of that total being insured damages, according to insurance broker Gallagher Re in its annual report. The global Weather Forecasts market was valued at $2.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $4.6 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 7.3% according to Stats Market Research. The World Meteorological Organization reports that "just 24 hours’ notice prior to an impending weather hazard can cut the ensuing damage by 30 percent, calling early warnings the “low-hanging fruit” of climate change adaptation because of their tenfold return on investment. " That is why investors have ploughed almost $1.5 million of funding into Rainbow Weather to date, to take on more established apps and forecasters who often fall short of accurate forecasts. As reported in Vox.com, Apple’s weather app is ‘pretty much useless’ as it cannot distinguish between ‘light rain’ and ‘rain’, that the percentages it spits out feel ‘bogus’, and to never trust it when it tells you what time the rain will stop. Apple bought the weather forecasting app Dark Sky three years ago, and it seems that the tech giant’s investment is not paying off yet. However, investment in Rainbow Weather is paying off. The first round included private investors as well as Venture Capitalist firms Kolos Ventures, Verras Capital, and Melnichek Investments. Furthermore, the company which trades as Rainbow Meteo Technologies and is based in Poland, has had further financial backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. What sets Rainbow Weather apart from Apple and other weather apps is its advanced AI modeling which delivers superior weather predictions based on a wide range of data sources (from satellites and meteorology stations to user reports and shared barometer data), beating the competition in both speed and precision. According to the company's internal analysis, Rainbow Weather has already achieved 3.5 percentage points of rain prediction precision over Apple Weather in the US (where Apple has the best coverage) and 9.5 percentage points over AccuWeather worldwide. Precision was calculated based on the share of rain accurately predicted within a 30-minute forecast window. To put these numbers into perspective, that means for every million weather app users, 35,000 to 95,000 more people will get correctly notified about an upcoming shower if they opt for Rainbow Weather. Words From the CEO Rainbow Weather CEO Alexander Matveenko shares the story of how the company was born: "I was swimming in Sri Lanka when suddenly it began to rain quite heavily. The downpour started to overwhelm me, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the shore. This experience made me realize how critical timely weather warnings can be. My co-founder Yuri Melnichek had a story of his own. He almost had his passport destroyed while on a hike when all weather apps failed to predict a sudden rain. After discussing both of these incidents we decided to create a new weather forecast tech based on machine learning algorithms that would be able to better predict highly variable local weather events." Their first product on the market is the mobile app for iOS and Android which provides super-accurate hyperlocal forecasts notifying users about upcoming rain and snowfalls, storms and hurricanes, and their movements on the map. The app is picking up steam with half a million downloads and great reviews from both users and the press. However, the most stellar review comes from Tatsiana Khakhelka, Associate for SME Finance & Development at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: “The EBRD’s Star Venture program targets promising start-ups to unleash their full potential. The EBRD supports them with world-class business advice and access to finance to strengthen their performance and accelerate their life cycle. Star Venture assigns the start-ups advisory projects tailored to their specific competencies and needs. Across 23 countries, Star Venture has nurtured 550+ early-stage companies, spanning diverse regions from Eastern Europe to the Western Balkans. One of these rising stars is Rainbow Meteo Technologies. After a rigorous selection process, this start-up company was shortlisted as a finalist in the EBRD’s Star Venture program supported by the European Union, and the Bank continues to provide advisory assistance. I am personally inspired by Rainbow’s product and the team’s professionalism and look forward to their future endeavors.” Disclaimer: Parts of this article have previously appeared on other news media platforms Also published here

Rainbow Weather, a Deep AI Driven Tech Startup, Aims to Take on the Tech Giants With Only $1.5m

রেইনবো ওয়েদার, একটি গভীর AI চালিত টেক স্টার্টআপ, মাত্র $1.5 মিলিয়ন দিয়ে টেক জায়ান্টদের সাথে লড়াই করার লক্ষ্য

Rainbow Weather, ein tiefgreifendes KI-gesteuertes Technologie-Startup, will es mit nur 1,5 Millionen US-Dollar mit den Technologiegiganten aufnehmen

Rainbow Weather, una startup tecnológica impulsada por la IA, tiene como objetivo enfrentarse a los gigantes tecnológicos con solo 1,5 millones de dólares

Rainbow Weather, une startup technologique basée sur l'IA profonde, vise à affronter les géants de la technologie avec seulement 1,5 million de dollars

रेनबो वेदर, एक डीप एआई संचालित टेक स्टार्टअप, जिसका लक्ष्य केवल $1.5m के साथ टेक दिग्गजों से मुकाबला करना है

ディープ AI 主導のテクノロジースタートアップ、Rainbow Weather がわずか 150 万ドルでテクノロジー巨人に対抗することを目指す

딥 AI 기반 기술 스타트업 Rainbow Weather, 단 150만 달러로 거대 기술 기업을 상대하는 것을 목표로 함

Rainbow Weather, uma startup de tecnologia baseada em IA profunda, pretende enfrentar os gigantes da tecnologia com apenas US$ 1,5 milhão

Rainbow Weather, технологический стартап, основанный на искусственном интеллекте, стремится бросить вызов технологическим гигантам всего за 1,5 миллиона долларов

Derin Yapay Zeka Odaklı Teknoloji Startup'ı Rainbow Weather, Sadece 1,5 Milyon Dolarla Teknoloji Devleriyle Mücadeleyi Hedefliyor

Rainbow Weather, một công ty khởi nghiệp công nghệ dựa trên AI sâu, đặt mục tiêu cạnh tranh với những gã khổng lồ công nghệ chỉ với 1,5 triệu USD

Rainbow Weather，一家深度人工智能驱动的科技初创公司，目标仅用 150 万美元挑战科技巨头

The federal government announced a plan Wednesday that would wrest control of the country’s transplant system from its longtime nonprofit contractor, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that contracts directly with UNOS, seeks to break up the current all-encompassing contract into pieces intended to go to multiple contractors, according to HRSA. The plan was first by The Washington Post. reported “At HRSA, our stewardship and oversight of this vital work is a top priority,” HRSA administrator Carole Johnson said in a . “That is why we are taking action to both bring greater transparency to the system and to reform and modernize the OPTN. The individuals and families that depend on this life-saving work deserve no less.” release The announcement comes a day after The Markup and the Post published an investigation detailing how disproportionately affects a handful of poorer states in the South and Midwest, while two states that for the policy reap many of the benefits. a liver sharing policy that UNOS created lobbied fiercely UNOS’s for the Organ Transplantation and Procurement Network (OPTN) gives it control over nearly all facets of the transplant system, including policymaking, oversight, and the technology that underlies the system. UNOS has held the contract for nearly 40 years. current $6.5 million contract The largest change would break the contract into multiple pieces “in order to foster competition and ensure” independence for the board that oversees the system. (UNOS and the OPTN currently share a board.) To do so, the agency is asking for an increase in its budget to $67 million to fund the additional contractors. It is not clear exactly how many pieces the contract will be broken into. HRSA is also asking Congress to broaden which contractors would be eligible to bid on such contracts, since the way the law is currently written favors UNOS. Other proposed changes would bring the underpinning technology in line with modern standards and produce “data dashboards” on the performance of nonprofits charged with organs, UNOS and HHS have faced a growing wave of criticism from Congress and others over the transplant system’s performance. Under UNOS’s stewardship, a significant number of organs go to waste, including, in 2021, the in nearly a decade. In last year that focused on issues with kidney transplants, senators noted reports that kidneys, which can be flown commercially, are regularly left to spoil. highest number of livers a Senate hearing UNOS’s technology has long been a point of contention, as UNOS has said it owns the system that makes the transplant function digitally, not the U.S. government. This system was the subject of a confidential assessment in 2021, in which the White House’s U.S. Digital Service recommended the system be “ ” and broken out from the main transplant contract. vastly restructured During the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told Brian Shepard, then-CEO of UNOS, “You should lose this contract.” An by The Markup and the Post found that for livers, the second-most transplanted organ, UNOS pushed through a policy that it was warned would disenfranchise states that already struggled with access to health care. investigation The investigation found that those fears came true—a handful of states that are more rural, have lower household incomes, fewer transplant hospitals, and lower rates of insured people are most hurt by the policy. Two of the states that benefited most significantly were New York and California, which along with Massachusetts lobbied vehemently for the change, going as far as that eventually overturned the system. Among the main changemakers in this policy were two UNOS past presidents and its CEO at the time, as well as organ procurement executives. funding a lawsuit The proposed changes by HRSA would need to be approved by Congress. But in an interview with the Post, Johnson said the agency is able to act even if Congress does not agree. UNOS’s contract is up for renewal this fall. By Malena Carollo Also published here Photo by on Joshua Hoehne Unsplash

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Plans on Breaking Up the Organ Transplant Monopoly

The blockchain ethos of the self-custody of digital assets remains relevant over a decade after the creation of Bitcoin in 2009. Numerous scams later, users at their receiving end get suggested to hold on to the keys that provide access to their coins and tokens. While that is the safest way to go, many users, especially institutional investors and enterprises, frequently transacting tremendous amounts of digital assets prefer third parties handling their value. The reasons for delegating the keys to third parties are manifold, with convenience being the frontrunner. While many have burnt their hands seeking convenience, relying on regulated, trustworthy custodians is the way to go. Activities like trading or running crypto-native enterprises benefit from the convenience engendered by custodians. The Issues Relevant to The Digital Asset Custody Landscape in the Past The issue, however, has been safety. The custody of digital assets has had no regulatory directives until recently, thus leaving safeguarding assets to enterprises operating conflicting verticals and not possessing the right capabilities. For a long time, crypto exchanges and other crypto enterprises offered custody services. However, such enterprises would also be involved in profit-generation activities like lending and investing with their own assets and portfolios. Without adequate regulations, some of these without the knowledge of their users. enterprises decided to hypothecate their user assets in risky strategies Such activities are a big no-no as user-deposited assets must never get comingled with enterprise profit-generation activities. The assets must remain in safe storage so the enterprises can honor all their user withdrawals simultaneously, preventing runs. In fact, many enterprises lost the assets they held on behalf of their users due to the strategies they indulged in going bust, leading to bankruptcies and causing their users to wave goodbye to their entrusted assets forever. Thus, digital asset users relying on third-party custody were at the losing end in the past. However, with growing awareness about such instances and regulatory entrance into the industry in various jurisdictions, third-party custody of assets is being done right. Custody services now offer adequate safety and convenience to those who do not want to manage their crypto holdings themselves. The Revival of the Custody Markets and Its Reasons The TradFi world has operated with third-party custodians for decades and proved that regulations and controls can, in fact, offer tremendous amounts of safety and let enterprises and investors conduct their activities with ease. The digital asset sector is no different. Some of the industry’s top custodians have operated honestly through their long tenures, and their users can attest to this fact. With regulations, many are implementing TradFi-like systems. Those in jurisdictions with no digital asset regulations are still following global regulatory trends to offer nothing but the best to their clients. A common trait with regulation-oriented custodians is that they do not operate verticals other than safeguarding user assets. That is what TradFi regulations have directed custodians to do for decades. With crypto regulations bringing the same dictates, users can know their assets are protected. The regulations discourage custodians from operating conflicting verticals and require them to maintain transparency with their regulators and get insured. Such requirements provide levels of . Custodian wrongdoings are identifiable from the get-go and can get nipped in the bud. safety that mirror the self-custody of assets Moreover, users can stay assured that their assets are always accessible, even during calamities like custodian bankruptcies and losses to hacks and thefts. Custodian insurance enables users to reclaim their assets, moving them away from third-party risks. What Can Be Expected by 2030 With that, many users have already begun using third-party digital asset custodians in droves. 2022 was a great year to be in the custody business, despite all the commotion in the crypto markets due to failing projects, lack of controls implemented by top exchanges, hacks, and a persisting bear market. The , showing the interest many digital asset users possess in trustworthy custody services. market size of crypto custodians rose to a whopping $447.9 billion While that is just the beginning, the digital asset custody market is set to rise at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 23.65%, taking its market size to $1.6 trillion by 2028 and closer to $2 trillion by 2030. The projection comes from a recent Proficient Markets Insight report that shines a light on digital asset custody usage. It includes various market segmentations of the digital asset custody landscape, like custody types, regions, industries, and custodians. The Custodians Enriching the Digital Asset Custody Market The data from the segmentations all point to one thing – burgeoning institutional interest in the digital asset ecosystem, with custodians providing the safety checks they need. While several custodians operate in the industry, a few dominate the markets thanks to the trust they have built over the years and the features they provide. Coinbase Custody Coinbase, as an entity, offers more than just its popular exchange service. Its custody service is one of the industry’s most trusted, with the company maintaining adequate controls to prevent the intermingling of user-stored assets with its other verticals. Its services are licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services, a regulator known to enforce the most stringent checks before approving licenses to applicants. Resultingly, Coinbase Custody possesses $128 billion in AUM (assets under management), handing it the lion’s share of the industry’s assets under custody. Coinbase lets its users custody assets in its ‘Vault Storage’, a proprietary digital asset storage solution amalgamating the security of offline, cold wallets with MPC (multi-party computation) or MultiSig capabilities. The solution also addresses redundancies with and effortless integration of team members to access enterprise wallets and their contents. The features are usable through the platform’s intuitive dashboard. high levels of asset storage security by providing easy-to-use workflows Furthermore, Coinbase Custody supports 400+ assets, which users can use in activities like staking, lending, and DeFi yield generation right from the platform. Users utilizing its custody and allied offerings have their assets in storage insured by up to $350 million, ensuring they are protected when undue situations occur. BitGo Another massive player, BitGo, is a runner-up to Coinbase Custody in the custodian market share, with over $90 billion in AUM. The custodian opened its doors in 2013 and has remained a household name in the industry thanks to its efforts in securely storing its clients’ assets. Like Coinbase Custody, BitGo, too, is licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The platform utilizes computational consensus for its wallets’ functioning, meaning users store their assets in cold storage, with its wallets configured with MPC or MultiSig setups. BitGo’s custody solutions let users tap into profits through staking, lending, DeFi, and other activities with their assets in storage. Furthermore, BitGo lets institutions and enterprises employ its custody services by harnessing its wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) offering, enabling the ventures to store assets by simply connecting to its APIs. There is no need for complex coding to utilize its WaaS application – convenient drag-and-drop capabilities allow users to integrate BitGo offerings into their workflows smoothly. The custodian lets users store over 600 digital asset types from multiple blockchains, protecting their deposits with insurance of up to $250 million. Also, users can utilize their funds from BitGo’s custody in various applications, similar to what Coinbase Custody provides, like staking, lending, and DeFi yield generation. Newer Custodians Look to Take the Reins of the Growing Markets While several more established digital asset custody providers exist, including famous TradFi banks like BNY Mellon, the crypto ecosystem is witnessing new names filling the increasing demand for custody services. These new entrants give established players a run for their money, offering highly secure storage facilities bolstered by state-of-the-art technologies to introduce additional layers of security and convenience. Liminal Custody Solutions Birthed in 2021, Liminal is creating bigger waves than any competitor recently entering the custody landscape. The custody service provider offers various banking-grade digital asset storage options to institutions and enterprises exclusively, making it an all-encompassing solution for the crypto ecosystem. To that end, the platform has grown to safeguard digital assets worth over $600 million in its short time here. Keeping in line with the secureness offered by the top players, Liminal utilizes MPC and MultiSig technologies to fortify asset storage in its wallets. The platform offers a range of custody solutions, comprising custodial cold and hot wallets, self-custody solutions, and business solutions like wallet infrastructures and white-label offerings. Moreover, Liminal also provides an exhaustive suite of integrations like an automation engine, firewall configuration, compliance checks, and DeFi connectivity at no extra cost. Liminal brings algorithmic capabilities to the asset storage and transaction processes, offering equal parts convenience and security. Zodia Custody Zodia Custody, the Standard Chartered and Northern Trust developed and owned digital asset custodian, represents the surging institutional interest in digital assets. The custody service began operations in 2020, with the TradFi heavyweights entering the digital asset space to facilitate safeguarding digital assets for their client bases interested in interacting with tokenized value. Like the other custodians, Zodia Custody utilizes the much-needed MPC and MultiSig technologies to safeguard digital assets for users. The custodian has the advantage of its parent companies originating from the banking sector, implementing multiple hardware security modules (HSMs) from the TradFi banking world. Also, Zodia Custody is licensed across multiple countries – the UK, Ireland, and Luxembourg, ensuring its dedication to providing banking-grade custody services. While that is already evident due to the companies responsible for its genesis, and convenience to institutions utilizing its services. the custodian takes all the steps needed to provide banking-level safety Its efforts materialize as insurance coverage for stored assets, secure and quick transaction settlements, and yield generation capabilities through staking integrations. Conclusion As custody requirements become more pronounced with evolving regulations and institutional entrance into the ecosystem, established and recently developed solutions will witness massive growth. As we move closer to 2030, the industry can expect a surge in new custodians that bring cutting-edge developments to offer the highest levels of security to digital asset storage.

Future of Digital Asset Custody Market by Size and Valuation in 2030

The account of the meeting of men of science at Berlin, in the autumn of 1828

Scientific American, Vol. XXXIX. No. 6. [New Series.], August 10, 1878, by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CROOKED JOURNALISM. here CROOKED JOURNALISM. In the English scientific journal , of June 21, 1878, appears a six column article on "Edison's Carbon Telephone," illustrated with ten engravings from Mr. Prescott's recent work on "The Speaking Telephone, Talking Phonograph, and other novelties." The descriptions of the cuts, and the rest of the information given, so far as correct, obviously come from the same source. Engineering So far as correct: unhappily for the honor of scientific journalism, the writer's desire is plainly not so much to do justice to truth as to exalt Mr. Hughes at the expense of Mr. Edison. To this end he has studiously suppressed from Mr. Prescott's description of the carbon telephone the points which establish Mr. Edison's claim to the prior invention or discovery of everything involved in Mr. Hughes' microphone, while he has as studiously dwelt upon those same points as constituting the peculiar merits of Mr. Hughes' work. For example, while he uses Fig. 21 of Mr. Prescott's book, he leaves out the very important little diagram numbered 20. It represents one form of the apparatus to which Sir William Thomson refers in the letter in which he says: "It is certain that at the meeting of the British Association at Plymouth last September, a method of magnifying sound in an electric telephone was described as having been invented by Mr. Edison, which was identical in principle and in some details with that brought forward by Mr. Hughes." The figure looks altogether too much like one form of Mr. Hughes' microphone to allow of its use in an article intended to establish the novelty of Mr. Hughes' discovery. The omissions from the text are quite as significant. Under the first cut used in , Mr. Prescott says: "In the latest form of transmitter which Mr. Edison has introduced the vibrating diaphragm is done away with altogether, it having been found that much better results are obtained when a rigid plate of metal is substituted in its place.... The inflexible plate, of course, merely serves, in consequence of its comparatively large area, to concentrate a considerable portion of the sonorous waves upon the small carbon disk or button; a much greater degree of pressure for any given effort of the speaker is thus brought to bear on the disk than could be obtained if only its small surface alone were used." Engineering The writer coolly suppresses this important statement. He does worse: he puts in its place the false statement that "the essential principle of Mr. Edison's transmitter consists in causing a diaphragm, vibrating under the influence of sonorous vibrations, to vary the pressure upon, and therefore the resistance of, a piece of carbon," and so on. Engineering A little further on, while repeating Mr. Edison's account of the experiments which led to the abandonment of the vibrating diaphragm (page 226 of Mr. Prescott's book), the writer drops out the following remark by Mr. Edison: "I discovered that my principle, unlike all other acoustical devices for the transmission of speech, did not require any vibration of the diaphragm—that, in fact, the sound waves could be transformed into electrical pulsations without the movement of any intervening mechanism." Engineering Worse yet, in the very face of Mr. Edison's assertion to the contrary—an assertion which he could not by any possibility have overlooked—this most unscientific journalist says: "Mr. Edison finds it necessary to insert a diaphragm in all forms of his apparatus, that being the mechanical contrivance employed by which sonorous vibrations are converted into variations of mechanical pressure, and by which variations in the conductivity of the carbon or other material is insured.... On the other hand, Mr. Hughes employs no diaphragm at all, the sonorous vibrations in his apparatus acting directly upon the conducting material or through whatever solid substance to which they may be attached." In this way throughout the offending article, the writer persistently robs Edison to magnify Hughes, giving credit to Mr. Hughes for exactly what he has suppressed from Mr. Prescott's book. To insist as he does, that, because Mr. Edison covers his carbon button with a rigid iron plate, in his very practical telephone, therefore a vibrating diaphragm is an essential feature of Mr. Edison's invention, is a very shallow quibble in the face of Mr. Edison's and Mr. Prescott's statements that the carbon button acts precisely the same in the absence of such covering, though not so strongly. Mr. Edison's laboratory records show a great variety of experiments in which the carbon was talked against without "any intervening mechanism." In a telephone for popular use, however, to be held in the hand, turned upside down, talked into, exposed to dust and the weather, it was obviously necessary to use some means for holding the carbon in place, and to prevent its sensitiveness from being destroyed by dirt and the moisture of the breath when in use. For this purpose a rigid iron partition seemed at once convenient and durable. It is not in any sense a "vibrating diaphragm." With a persistence worthy of a better cause, the writer returns to the point he seems especially anxious to enforce. Toward the end of the article he says: "In every instrument described by Mr. Edison the diaphragm is the ruling genie of the instrument. Professor Hughes, however, has through his great discovery been enabled to show that variations of resistance can be imparted to an electrical current not only without a diaphragm, but with very much better results when no such accessory is employed." Engineering The animus of all this is only too apparent. Altogether the article is the most dishonest piece of writing we have ever seen in a scientific periodical; and although the article appears in the editorial columns of , we prefer, for the honor of scientific journalism, to think that the management of that paper was not party to the rascally act. It is more credible that a gross imposition has been practiced by some trusted member of the staff, or by some contributor whose position seemed to justify the acceptance of his utterances without any attempt at their verification. It is well known here to whom, in London, at Mr. Edison's request, Mr. Prescott sent proofs of the matter abused, together with electros of the cuts used, in . Accordingly the burden of dishonor lies upon or between a prominent British official on the one hand, and on the other a journal which cannot afford to leave the matter unexplained. Whoever is hurt, we sincerely hope that the fair fame of scientific journalism for candor and honesty may come off unstained. Engineering Engineering Engineering A More Perfect Production. The highest skill in manufacture or in production of any kind is not yet the prevailing characteristic of American industry. Uniformity of production, of whatever kind, is of much greater importance than to attempt the manufacture of any grade for which the material or the tools, the machinery or the knowledge of the workmen is not fitted. The highest condition of product in any nation is to produce the finest or highest cost articles in the most perfect manner, and to have material and machinery adopted, and the skilled workmen, so as to be able to so produce economically. But until the master hand is satisfied of all the requisites for producing fine goods, he should confine production to the best his facilities will make in the most perfect, uniform manner. Samples of fine goods are shown all over the country every day, and were consumers or merchants sure that the product would be the same, there would be much less difficulty in introducing and more homemade goods used where now importations are depended upon. The Stevens crash mills import raw flax because it is to be had according to sample, perfectly classified, and saves the employment of skilled labor to assort and classify, and of purchasing a great deal not wanted. The manufacturers of edge tools and knives use imported steel because it is warranted and the warrant proves good, while the uncertainty of American steel is such that a knife will often crack in tempering and cause the loss of labor worth ten times the difference in the price of the steel. Samples of alpacas and other dress goods are shown in our jobbing houses fully equal to any imported goods, but the goods when received are quite often of various grades and imperfections of character. The imperfect or second quality productions find sale, but at a much lower price, and are to be found at second rate places, the imperfections slight and the goods perhaps generally quite as serviceable, but not absolutely so, and first class houses, catering to those who pay highest prices, cannot afford to have any other house carry better articles than they do. The use of perfect appliances and the best material and the employment of the highest skill are not yet the first step and an absolute necessity, as it should be, in America. The supply of such machinery, material, and labor can be had if those who propose to enter the production of first class articles will insist upon it, and if such supplies are appreciated by the payment of their higher value. The American standard of production is not the highest, and it can be materially elevated, and while, as at present, too many common articles are supplied, the leading manufacturers should turn to producing finer, the finest, and in smaller quantities, to take the place of many articles now imported, and to supply the new market which such productions will always create in any country. The Wool Product of the World. From an interesting article on the wool trade of the Pacific coast, published in a recent number of the San Francisco , we learn that the number of sheep in the world is now estimated at from four hundred and eighty-four to six hundred millions, of which the United States has about 36,000,000, and Great Britain the same number. From 1801 to 1875 the wool clip of Great Britain and Ireland increased from 94,000,000 to 325,000,000 pounds. That of France has increased almost as rapidly, though the wool is finer, as a rule, and hence the superiority of French cloths. Australia produces nearly as much wool as the parent country—Great Britain. The United States product increased from very little at the beginning of the century to about 200,000,000 pounds at the present time. Of this California has produced about one fourth, and the Pacific coast as a whole almost one third. If the ratio of growth shown in the past prevails in the future, the day is not far distant when the Pacific coast will produce at least one half the wool produced in the United States, as not only California and Oregon, but also Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and New Mexico are well adapted to its production. The wool clip of Australia is about 284,000,000 pounds; that of Buenos Ayres and the river Plata, 222,500,000 pounds; other countries not previously given, 463,000,000 pounds. The total clip of the world last year was about 1,497,500,000 pounds, worth $150,000,000. This when scoured would yield about 852,000,000 pounds of clean wool. Journal of Commerce Street Main Joints. At the annual meeting of the New England Association of Gas Engineers, Mr. Thomas, of Williamsburg, made the following remarks on this subject: "In my early experience with the Williamsburg Gaslight Company, with which I became connected in the year 1854, I found pretty nearly all the street mains that were laid were connected with cement joints. While there is no doubt in my own mind that a joint can be made perfectly tight with cement, I much prefer the lead joint. Another thing to be taken into consideration to keep tight joints is that the mains should be laid a sufficient depth under the surface to protect them from the action of severe frosts. A great many of the mains were not more than 18 inches or 2 feet below the surface of the streets, and at this depth in our climate it is a matter of impossibility to keep joints tight, as the action of the frost in winter will displace the mains and cause the joints to leak. From the bad manner in which our mains were laid, and the cement joints leaking so much, we could not afford to turn gas on during the day. Had we done so we should not have had any to supply the city at night, and we were thus compelled to shut off the gas just as soon as there was any apology for daylight, and keep it shut off as late as possible in the evening. "With the most careful working in this manner, for a period of nine or twelve months, our losses from leakage amounted to about 52 to 55 per cent of the gas manufactured. A great part of this loss was caused by the cement joints leaking, and also a part due to the fact that the mains were not at sufficient depth under the surface to protect them from the action of the frost. As soon as we possibly could I went over the whole of our mains (there was about 17 miles in all), stripping them, cutting out the cement, and rejointing them with lead. In one season we got the loss from leakage down to 20 per cent, and this with the gas turned on during the 24 hours of the day. "One great objection to cement joints is the rigidity of them; in cases where pipes have been disturbed by other excavations and settled, I found in all cases that the mains were broken. In a leading main from our old works, with cement joints, the main, a 10-inch one, was broken entirely off and fractured lengthwise besides, by the upheaval of the ground from frost. In some of the same mains that we had rejointed with lead the mains were drawn apart, drawing the lead out, but with very little loss of gas, as the gasket being driven in tight prevented any great leakage. In cases of this kind the lead was easily driven back, and the joint made perfectly tight again. I have never in our city put in any street mains that I have not used lead in the joints, and in laying mains we always make them gas tight with the gasket used. "At the present time we have over 90 miles of street mains laid, and outside of our loss from street lamps (we get paid for three foot burners and they average about 3¼ foot) our loss from leakage will not exceed 6 per cent. We have suffered severe loss of gas from sewering in our city. In some cases where there are railroad tracks in the streets, the sewers have been run on both sides of the street, alongside and parallel with our pipes; these excavations are much deeper than our mains lie, and the earth is always filled in loosely and left to settle. "In cases of this kind, whole blocks of mains were dragged down, the pipe broken, and the joints partially pulled apart; at the same time the leakage from the joints was not so great, the gasket preventing the leakage. In laying street mains, what you want particularly to attend to, and especially in the East here, where you have colder weather than we have (we have not seen much winter until we came on here), is to get them down under the surface a sufficient depth to protect them from the frost. With us the least depth is 2 feet 9 inches under the surface of the street, and I am confident, could our mains remain in the ground as we put them down, our loss from leakage by them would be very small indeed. While, as I stated in the beginning, I have no doubt that a cement joint can be made tight, I can see no benefit in using cement for the purpose, as I consider lead far superior in accommodating itself to any upheaval or settling of the earth where the mains are laid down." Successful Shad Hatching. Professor J. W. Milner, who has charge of the shad hatching operations under the direction of the United States Fish Commissioner, Professor Baird, is now engaged in the preparation of the report of the work for the season just completed. Speaking of the work on the Atlantic seaboard, and the distribution of young fish, the report says that at the Salmon Creek Station, on Albemarle Sound, they obtained 12,730,000 eggs, and turned out 3,000,000 young fish. At the Havre de Grace Station 12,230,000 eggs were obtained, and 9,575,000 young fish were turned out. About 6,000,000 young shad have been distributed in the rivers emptying into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico during the season. The distribution of shad during the past season has been carried on on a much larger scale than in any previous year, and with great success. The restocking of the rivers of the Atlantic is only the work of a few years. New Use for Lemon Verbena. The well known fragrant garden favorite, the sweet-scented or lemon verbena ( ), seems to have other qualities to recommend it than those of the fragrance for which it is usually cultivated. The author of a recent work, entitled "Among the Spanish People," describes it as being systematically gathered in Spain, where it is regarded as a fine stomachic and cordial. It is used either in the form of a cold decoction, sweetened, or five or six leaves are put into a teacup, and hot tea poured upon them. The author says that the flavor of the tea thus prepared "is simply delicious, and no one who has drunk his Pekoe with it will ever again drink it without a sprig of lemon verbena." And he further states that if this be used one need "never suffer from flatulence, never be made nervous or old-maidish, never have cholera, diarrhea, or loss of appetite." Lippia citriodora About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Various (2013). Scientific American, Vol. XXXIX. No. 6. [New Series.], August 10, 1878. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19406/pg19406-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

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