Nuclear fusion energy breakthrough, FTX-Congress hearing, winter storm, public toilet flush: Tuesday’s news.
Scientists made a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy. Congress waded into the complex, mystifying world of cryptocurrency. And what happens when you flush a toilet with the lid up? It’s pretty gross.
👋 Hey! Laura Davis here. It’s Tuesday. Ready for the news? Let’s go.
But first: She wasn’t having it. 🙅♀️ How one Ohio woman busted up an online identity theft scheme. (See also: Is someone using your identity? How to protect yourself.)
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5 injured in Texas, blizzard warnings in 6 states as massive winter storm rocks nation
A massive winter storm roaring across the West dumped up to 4 feet of snow in parts of Nevada and Idaho, fueled blizzard warnings in six other states and spawned tornadoes that injured at least five people in the South. More than 25 million people were under dangerous weather watches and warnings Tuesday, and parts of Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Kansas were facing blizzard conditions – snow with winds of at least 35 mph, reducing visibilities to a quarter of a mile or less. The storm’s march across the nation could last through the weekend when parts of the northeast could be blasted with more than a foot of snow, forecasters warned. The latest updates.
📸 Photos: Winter storm blows across the US with blizzards, ice storms and tornadoes.
FTX CEO testifies to Congress; founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested
Congress dove into the intricate world of cryptocurrency Tuesday with a hearing on FTX, a newfangled company that found an old-fashioned way to lose billions of dollars, according to its CEO.
- Federal prosecutors unsealed an eight-count indictment Tuesday against a former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas on charges including wire fraud and misusing customer funds. Customers lost an estimated $8 billion and the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
- Charges against SBF: Bankman-Fried was indicted on eight charges, including defrauding customers and investors of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and violating campaign finance laws. Officials say they are pursuing other suspects.
- What the people are saying: “This is really old-fashioned embezzlement,” said John Ray III, who took over as CEO on Nov. 11, the day the company filed for bankruptcy. “This is just taking money from customers and using it for your own purpose.”
👉 Live coverage: How the alleged scam worked; Will FTX users get their money back? Learn more + follow our updates.
What everyone’s talking about
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‘An engineering marvel beyond belief’
It was 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility, about 50 miles east of San Francisco, when a major breakthrough was made. Using giant lasers to create heat and pressure like those found inside a star – enough to drive atoms together, California scientists achieved a major advance in fusion energy. It’s a technology that could potentially provide clean power in years to come. The hope is that in time, this process can be done cheaply enough to create power that is carbon-free without the creation of radioactive waste, which is the challenge with fusion’s more problematic sibling, nuclear fission. Here’s everything you need to know.
- She said it: “It’s a scientific milestone,” said Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “It’s also an engineering marvel beyond belief.”
Poll: Trump’s in trouble
As the former president is beleaguered by midterm losses and courtroom setbacks, Republican support for Donald Trump’s presidential bid in 2024 has cratered, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds. By 2-1, GOP and GOP-leaning voters now say they want Trump’s policies but a different standard-bearer to carry them. While 31% want the former president to run, 61% prefer some other Republican nominee who would continue the policies Trump has pursued. And they’ve got somebody in mind: By double digits, GOP voters prefer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the 2024 presidential nominee over Trump. The findings are a red flag for Trump, whose core support has been remarkably solid through firestorms over his personal behavior, provocative rhetoric, and most controversial actions in the White House. More findings from the poll.
Real quick
Gross new science experiment shines light on invisible plume of toilet germs
You’re probably never going to think about a toilet flush the same way again. University of Colorado Boulder engineers studying the spread of fecal pathogens and health hazards associated with flushing pointed laser lights at a lid-less public restroom toilet to illuminate rapidly spreading tiny water droplets. “We had expected these aerosol particles would just sort of float up, but they came out like a rocket,” said Professor John Crimaldi, lead author on the study and head of the Ecological Fluid Dynamics Lab at CU Boulder. Researchers hope the experiment will lead to improvements in plumbing design. See the video + read more.
Now, what have we learned, class? Flush and run away as fast as you… oh, wait, no. It’s this: Close the toilet lid before you flush. Please! 🤢
A break from the news
Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at [email protected] or follow along with her adventures – and misadventures – on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.
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