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The FCC has approved a test of Reflect Orbital's satellite-mounted mirror that can beam sunshine onto a 3-mile-wide patch of earth after dark. The company plans to turn night into day with 50,000 of these space lamps. The light would power solar farms, but experts claim the light would create many more problems than it solves, including disrupting circadian rhythms, distracting airline pilots, wreaking havoc on animal migration, and interfering with astronomical observatories. To counter the naysayers, the company claims the mirrors can also be used to provide light for one-time events and emergencies that might call for multiple satellites and a great deal of coordination. The light could speed construction projects and increase farm yields. The company plans to charge $5,000 per hour for contracts of at least 1,000 hours per year.
Congress has voted to keep Daylight Savings Time, which will henceforth be known only as..."Time." The Sunshine Protection Act still needs Senate approval. While politics plays out, the real impact will depend on where you live. Winter sunsets would shift to an hour later, but the sunrises in parts of the Midwest would push past 9am. States would not be able to opt out like Hawaii and Arizona do with the current Daylight Savings Time (the Navajo Nation still observes the time change to remain consistent with tribal lands extending into other states). Two observations about this change:
- How will we know it's time to change the batteries in our smoke detectors, and
- Those satellite mirrors are starting to sound more appealing for parts of the country!
But wait! There's more... We already tried this. Congress enacted permanent daylight time in 1974 and repealed it within the year after parents revolted over kids waiting for school buses in the dark. Sleep researchers still prefer standard time. Click here if you want to see what permanent daylight savings time would look like where you live.
The winner of the 2026 World Cup is...Ranch Dressing! The world has spoken, and they're angry that the United States has been keeping this creamy secret from them for decades. Fans from all over the globe have fallen in love with this Hidden Valley goodness. The salad sensation was sold to - of all companies - Clorox in 1972. Tourists have turned to smuggling so much out of the country that the TSA has issued a plea to at least not try to bring bottles through security in carry-on luggage.
While you’re tossing out that yogurt that's out of date by two days, Wattana Panich, a family-run restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand just keeps stirring the same pot of broth they’ve been stewing for over 52 years. The soup has been simmering in a 5-foot-wide pot since 1974 and is perhaps the world’s oldest perpetual stew. It has become a sort of cross between a precious heirloom and a giant, unmovable baby that's tended by three generations who “almost never take vacations” because of it.
Payment processor, Stripe, along with private equity firm, Advent International, have put in a $53 billion bid to buy PayPal. The deal includes $50 billion in committed bank financing through a syndicate of banks. Stripe and Advent would share equal ownership, so the plan - contrary to how PE firm usually work - is to keep PayPal intact instead of carving it up for parts. What would this deal mean for small businesses? If Stripe acquires PayPal, small businesses could benefit from a more seamless payment ecosystem that combines Stripe's processing platform with PayPal and Venmo's large customer base. In the near term, I'd expect competitive pricing and bundled services as the company works to attract merchants and satisfy regulators. The bigger concern is what happens over time. A single company controlling that much of the payments market gains more influence over fees, reserve requirements, and account policies. Competitors will likely push back with attractive alternatives, but the long-term trend is clear: fewer companies are controlling more of the infrastructure small businesses depend on.
Finding your "OFF" switch could be the key to living longer. There's a running meme among the Gen X and older crowd about how people used to look older. The focus is usually on television and movie celebrities from the 1970s and 80s. The debate about why older people today look younger than older people back then usually centers on hairstyles, sunscreen, and lifestyle habits like less smoking and drinking. A new study suggests that our pursuit of entertainment might actually be a reason older people don't look so old these days. Older adults in England who regularly visited cinemas, museums, and live theater aged more slowly, according to a study published last week. Their bodies measured biologically younger than peers who rarely went out. Frequent attendees averaged a physiological age of 66.9 years, versus 69.9 for infrequent ones, a gap near three years. The link held even after accounting for income, health, and lifestyle. Researchers tracked nearly 1,900 people and suspect stronger social bonds and lower stress drive the effect, which may rival regular exercise. One catch: slower-aging folks may simply have more energy to get out.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June was the best economic news in months. Inflation dropped from 4.2% to 3.5%, well below forecasts. Gasoline prices were down 9.7%. The relief, however, was short-lived. Renewed US strikes on Iran sent oil up $10 in 24 hours to $87 a barrel. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told Congress the central bank has "no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation" and stressed its independence from Trump's rate-cut demands. Analysts warn the July reading will "heat up again" as pump prices climb. The Fed meets in a couple of weeks, and it looks like rate cuts are off the table.
Gen Z has a new (?) tech fascination that has rejected AI - and even screens. Polaroid has recoded their film's slow development and lack of editing as premium benefits, mindfulness, authenticity, pitting one unrepeatable print against an iPhone's vault of near-identical shots. Gen Z loves the simplicity and authenticity of a one-shot photo opportunity.
Depending on where you live, there may be more McDonald's restaurants in your city than there are in the whole of Africa. But why?
Still doing random drug testing? You may have good reason to, especially if your employees perform dangerous tasks, work with hazardous materials, or are responsible for the safety of others. But more and more these days, employers are choosing to ditch the testing - at least for marijuana. Companies like Citigroup and Home Depot are among this group. Quest Diagnostics reports 4.4% of urine tests came back positive for the substance last year, up from 3.9% in 2021. That might not look like much of an increase, but hair tests that can trace use over a longer period of time show employees are getting higher. A 2024 report of companies that did test for marijuana reported 44% of them also faced recruiting challenges. Choose your battles, folks!
Yeah, there's an app for that! Want to rent out your house? There's Airbnb. Want to rent out your car? There's Turo. Need to rent a baby crib? There's BabyQuip. Pretty much anything you have or need that doesn't get used on a consistent basis can be rented out using a specialized peer-to-peer platform. These platforms are merely providing ways to monetize those things we use to share for free or keep all to ourselves because we didn't know we could turn them into income streams.
And for the most part, we've been okay with the notion that our big, expensive purchases would only bring us pleasure for a short time each year. For example, Michigan of all places ranks 8th in the nation for pool installations with an estimated 283,000 residential pools. In case you've never been above Interstate 80, you might not be aware of how brutal Michigan's winters can be. Who'd want to invest in a pool up there? (New York has almost as many pools as Arizona, BTW.)
Peer-to-peer has finally made its way to these fixed assets (liabilities?) that you can't possibly use all the time. Even if you live in the sunbelt, your pool sits idle while you work. Why not turn it into a money-maker while you're out making money? Along comes Swimply to make that happen. Positioning themselves as "Airbnb for pools," the company is raising money and turning heads as part of the growing trend to Airbnb-ify everything.
Swimply has so far listed 15,000 pools in 125 cities across the US, Canada, and Australia. Rates for smaller residential pools range from $30-$80 per hour up to $200-$400 for more luxe locations. Some owners upcharge for allowing you to use their BBQ grill or outdoor kitchen.
In-ground pool installations average $65,000, then it takes another $3,000-$6,000 annually to maintain, so fractional rental is a sensible way to recoup that investment.
Peer-to-peer renting these days includes parking spaces, storage facilities, unused classrooms, RVs, clothing, and even a backyard for your dog to play in. Heck, you can even rent a friend for a day or a date to your cousin's wedding. This industry is expected to grow from $244.8 billion in 2025 to $752.8 billion in 2030.
When we were kids, we were told not to get into cars with strangers and to stay out of the neighbor's pool. But as the prescient sage, Cyndi Lauper, sang, "Money Changes Everything."
In case you thought it was just your workplace...employees Down Under are feeling pretty down. Nearly 80% of employees in Australia and New Zealand say they feel unengaged at work. Yes, 4 out of 5 people are adrift. Makes you wonder how close the US numbers are to the Aussies and Kiwis.
59% of US employees prefer a hybrid work option, and 32% prefer a fully remote work arrangement. Only 9% of employees prefer being in the office all week. 80% of hybrid workers say it would take perks like more time off, free food, and flexible work hours to draw them back to the office full-time. Why should employers care? Demanding employees return to the office without giving them a good reason makes them 27% more likely to seek out other employers who will either allow continued hybrid work or give them enough perks to justify RTO.
I know a 90-year-old who, for her 80th birthday, went skydiving. If you feel like life is passing you by, remember that age is just a number - well, mostly just a number. But it's never too late to start vibe coding. Rather than playing bridge or shuffleboard, some boomers are spending their retirement years on their computers and phones, building apps, learning AI, and launching businesses. Smartphone ownership among Americans over 50 climbed from 55% in 2016 to 90% in 2025, according to AARP Research, while AI usage nearly doubled, from 18% to 30%, between 2024 and 2025.
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