New York Sues To Shut Down ‘Fraudulent’ Coinseed Crypto Platform

New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to shut down the cryptocurrency platform Coinseed for allegedly defrauding thousands of investors, including by charging hidden trading fees and selling “worthless” digital tokens. From a report: Attorney General Letitia James said Coinseed traded cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin without registering as a broker-dealer, and sold “CSD” tokens without authorization to raise money…

See Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky

Find out how to spot Sirius, the brightest star as seen from Earth. Learn the mythology behind this dazzling light and how it earned the nickname of the Dog Star. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/sirius-the-brightest-star…

The Empire State Building and Its Related Buildings Are Now Powered By Wind

The iconic Empire State Building that has crowned Midtown Manhattan since the early 1930s is now a game changer in American architecture in a different way: by becoming completely powered with renewable energy. The Hill reports: Announced on Wednesday, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) confirmed that it struck a three-year contract with Green Mountain Energy to power its entire commercial real…

Astronomers find signature of magnetar outbursts in nearby galaxies

Apart from black holes, magnetars may be the most extreme stars in the universe. With a diameter less than the length of Manhattan, they pack more mass than that of our sun, wield the largest magnetic field of any known object—more than 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet—and spin on their axes every few seconds. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-astronomers-signature-magnetar-outbursts-nearby.html…

New Train Hall Opens at Penn Station, Echoing Building’s Former Glory

The Moynihan Train Hall, with glass skylights and 92-foot-high ceilings, will open Jan. 1 as an area for Amtrak and Long Island Railroad riders. The New York Times: For more than half a century, New Yorkers have trudged through the crammed platforms, dark hallways and oppressively low ceilings of Pennsylvania Station, the busiest and perhaps most miserable train hub in North…

Owners of BitMEX, a Leading Bitcoin Exchange, Face Criminal Charges

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: American authorities brought criminal charges on Thursday against the owners of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency trading exchanges, BitMEX, accusing them of allowing the Hong Kong-based company to launder money and engage in other illegal transactions. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted the chief executive of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, and…

A New York Clock That Told Time Now Tells the Time Remaining

For more than 20 years, Metronome, which includes a 62-foot-wide 15-digit electronic clock that faces Union Square in Manhattan, has been one of the city’s most prominent and baffling public art projects. Its digital display once told the time in its own unique way, counting the hours, minutes and seconds (and fractions thereof) to and from midnight. But for years observers…

CEO of Cyber Fraud Startup NS8 Arrested By FBI, Facing Fraud Charges

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Forbes: The CEO of a startup that sold fraud prevention software is facing fraud charges after he was arrested Thursday by the FBI in Las Vegas. Adam Rogas, who abruptly resigned from NS8 earlier this month, is accused of misleading investors who poured in $123 million to his company earlier this year, a deal…

Greenland’s Ice Sheet has Melted to a Point of No Return

“Ice melting in Greenland contributes more than a millimeter rise to sea level every year,” reports CNN, adding that now “that’s likely to get worse.” And Forbes shares some context:
Last week, the world was given two more harsh reminders of what the future holds as residents of Italy’s Aosta valley were told to evacuate fearing that a huge portion of the…

Suspect Is Arrested In Grisly Killing of Tech CEO Fahim Saleh

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: The former personal assistant of a young tech entrepreneur found decapitated and dismembered in his Manhattan apartment was arrested early on Friday and was expected to be charged in the killing, according to three officials briefed on the matter. The entrepreneur, Fahim Saleh, 33, was discovered dead on Tuesday afternoon…