5: Points on a starfish’s giant, trunkless head. Yeah, you heard us. Researchers say a starfish isn’t a creature with five arms, but a five-pointed head. Or, as described by lead study author Laurent Formery, “just a head crawling along the seafloor.” Starfish are echinoderms, a group that contains other oddly shaped marine invertebrates like sea cucumbers and sand dollars.
$2.7B: The valuation of Shield AI following a $200m raise. This hardware/software startup makes self-flying systems for the US military and its allies. Per TechCrunch, its key offerings include Hivemind, an AI pilot software that enables drones and aircraft to operate autonomously without GPS, and V-Bat Teams, which lets a human operator control four or more drones at once.
$2.85m: The record-setting price of a Panama Canal transit slot. Daily, the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) auctions off reserved crossing times to the highest bidder — typically ~$900k, though previously as high as $2.6m last November. Due to drought, the PCA has capped the number of daily ship crossings, driving prices higher.
19: US states that have passed legislation to immediately switch to permanent daylight time if Congress ever allows it. Nine would switch to permanent standard time, and the argument over whether we’d be better off in permanent daylight time (what key lawmakers want) vs. permanent standard time (what health professionals want) is one reason why the nation is still debating instead of doing. Hope you enjoyed your extra hour this weekend regardless.
