Technology has improved our lives but also introduces new ways to defraud people.
The Imposter [Toronto Life] – “Shaun MacDonald was an ambitious tech innovator whose start-up was going to revolutionize the crypto economy. His wealthy investors had no idea that their charismatic founder was really Boaz Manor, a notorious Canadian white-collar criminal. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the truth.”
How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses [The Conversation] – “In 1872 the U.S. economy was growing as the young nation industrialized and expanded westward. Then in the autumn, a sudden shock paralyzed social and economic life. It was an energy crisis of sorts, but not a shortage of fossil fuels. Rather, the cause was a virus that spread among horses and mules from Canada to Central America.”
An Elderly Mathematician Hacked the Lottery for $26 Million [Entrepreneur’s Handbook] – “Each week his bets soared higher and higher. Some weeks, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. The game required you buy the tickets in person. So when a rolldown was coming, he and his wife split up into two cars and hit countless convenience stores across the state. The government, with its usual iceberg reaction time, didn’t notice anything strange. The Selbees continued this mission for a full decade without the state noticing. Eventually, a group of students at MIT noticed a flaw in the math too, and started buying up tickets.”
Of course MIT jumped in. 🙂 All kidding aside, there’s no “hacking involved.” It was just lottery designers being a little sloppy with their math. 🙂
OK this last one has nothing to do with month but is absolutely CRAZY – Toledo Zoo first to record biofluorescence in Tasmanian Devils [WTOL]:
The Toledo Zoo is excited to report the first documented case of biofluorescence in Tasmanian devils!
Biofluorescence refers to the phenomenon by which a living organism absorbs light and reemits it as a different color.
#ToledoZoo #Biofluorescence #TasmanianDevils pic.twitter.com/IxhXvHzqMl— Toledo Zoo (@ToledoZoo) December 5, 2020
A Tasmanian Devil’s eyes, ears AND snout are emitting a blue glow.
WHAT!?!?!?!?!??!