For this week’s YouTube selection, we bring you an investigation into the practice of weather modification and a look at how various arms of the US government responded to President Biden’s executive order about cryptocurrency from earlier this year. 

 

It’s been a longstanding human aim to control the weather, but it’s only recently that we’ve taken a technological approach to fulfilling it. Prior to that, we simply entreated one god or another to do it for us, but now we’re learning to play god ourselves. From showmen in the early 20th century burning chemicals to stimulate rain to governments shooting clouds with lasers in the 21st, we’ve come a long way from sacrificing the odd goat or two. 

 

What’s particularly intriguing is that it appears as though these technologies we’ve developed are actually very effective. That opens the door to all sorts of possibilities, both benign and otherwise. Back in 1974, many countries pledged to refrain from modifying the weather for warlike purposes, but there are now suspicions that some are no longer abiding by these terms. Weather modification is a huge but seemingly underreported subject, so we thought we’d take a break from the gloom of the crypto markets to shed some light on it for you.

 

Crypto concerns can’t be ignored for long though, because authorities in the United States appear to be gearing up for a big regulatory push against the industry. IN March this year, President Biden issued an executive order about cryptocurrency and the deadline for responses to it fell just a few weeks ago. The result is a report which reviews these responses and provides some important indications of what crypto regulations in the United States could one day look like. It’s required reading for anyone interested in crypto, whether US-based or otherwise, so we’ve summarised it for you in the second part of today’s episode.

 

We hope you enjoy the show.

 

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

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