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The Federal Reserve announced a much-anticipated interest rate cut on Wednesday, reducing the benchmark rate by half a percentage point (50 basis points) from its highest level in 23 years. This move comes as the central bank responds to progress in controlling inflation and aims to ease borrowing costs.

The cut, the Fed’s first since March 2020, brings the federal funds rate down to a range of 4.75% to 5%. This is a larger than expected cut and the Fed said they expect to make another before the end of the year.

Since July 2023, interest rates had been set at a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest since 2001, while the Fed closely monitored economic data to assess whether inflation was moving toward its 2% target.

Recent months have shown encouraging signs that inflation is cooling, although it hasn’t fully reached the Fed’s goal yet. In August, inflation slowed to 2.5% annually, down from 2.9% in July, and significantly lower than the cycle’s peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

Now that the Fed is cutting rates, borrowing costs, including rates on home loans, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans should start to decrease.

Some rates, particularly mortgages, have already seen significant declines as the Fed indicated its plans for rate cuts. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate recently dropped to 6.20%, according to Freddie Mac, down from a peak of nearly 8% last October.

Other rates, such as those for personal loans, credit cards, and auto loans, are more directly linked to the Fed’s policy changes and are likely to decrease shortly after the Fed’s decision, according to Parthenon’s Gregory Daco.

A boy who was shot in the head as a baby and nearly died is preparing to walk a 5k for the hospital that saved his life.

Harry Studley was 18 months old in 2016 when a 24-year-old neighbor, while cleaning his air rifle, aimed it at the crying toddler, thinking it was unloaded. The pellet lodged in Harry’s brain, causing a displaced skull fracture, swelling, and bleeding.

Harry was given a one percent chance of survival but beat the odds. However, he still deals with epilepsy, partial blindness, weakness, and some cognitive challenges. Now nine, Harry and his father, Ed, will participate in the Grand Walk for the Grand Appeal on Sunday, September 15th, to raise money for Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in England.

The family has created a JustGiving page for donations.

The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured an image of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), proving it remains relevant despite the James Webb Telescope’s advanced infrared capabilities.

M33, located in the constellation Triangulum, is about half the size of the Milky Way and is the third-largest galaxy in the Local Group after Andromeda (M31) and the Milky Way. Known for its rapid star formation, M33 forms stars at a rate 10 times higher than Andromeda, thanks to its abundant gas, dust, and ionized hydrogen clouds (H-II regions). Interestingly, its well-ordered spiral arms show little evidence of interaction with other galaxies, suggesting its star formation isn’t driven by galactic collisions, as is common elsewhere. Instead, high-mass stars seem to form from molecular cloud collisions within M33.

The image reveals reddish clouds of ionized hydrogen and dark dust lanes. The graininess is due to swarms of stars—M33 is one of the few galaxies close enough for Hubble to resolve individual stars. Unlike most spiral galaxies, M33 lacks a central bulge or a supermassive black hole, making it a “pure disk galaxy,” a structure found in about 15-18% of galaxies.

Despite its current stability, M33 may collide with both Andromeda and the Milky Way in the future. This image is part of a survey aimed at refining theories on the interstellar medium, star formation, and stellar evolution.

If you want to see another fantastic image, check out this image from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Offshore wind turbine maintenance is about to improve with the new ‘Jack-up on Jack-up’ concept introduced by Danish naval engineering firm Knud E Hansen. This design creates a “virtual factory” around turbine blades, allowing technicians to work continuously, regardless of weather.

If successful, this concept could greatly enhance the efficiency and reliability of offshore turbine maintenance, pushing the industry towards more operational stability. The design centers around a four-legged platform with a 49.2-foot-wide (15-meter) work area that can be raised to the height of the nacelle (the housing at the top of the turbine). It also features a telescopic weather cover, which provides a controlled environment for technicians to work on blades in almost any weather, day or night.

Knud E Hansen highlights this as a key benefit, noting that traditional methods, reliant on favorable weather for vessel and rope access, often face delays. This new platform allows for a more dependable maintenance schedule, reducing turbine downtime and enabling continuous power production.

A standout feature of the ‘Jack-up on Jack-up’ design is its onboard workshop—a large, air-conditioned workspace at the platform’s rear. This allows technicians to perform complex repairs on-site, eliminating the need to transport damaged blades to shore. The platform also includes a “cherry picker” for easy access to the nacelle, streamlining repairs and reducing logistical challenges. It is designed to handle even the largest turbines, up to 20 megawatts, and operate in water depths of up to 262 feet (80 meters).

Capable of maintaining blades up to 426 feet (130 meters) long and replacing nacelles weighing up to 1,000 tons, this platform is built to meet the demands of current and future offshore turbines.

Ryan Donais, a construction manager from Toronto, started building tiny homes on wheels in July to address the city’s growing homelessness crisis, spurred on after his brother became homeless due to a long struggle with addiction.

Concerned about the rise of tent cities, Donais spent 100 hours developing a prototype and two months completing his first unit. Each home, made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic, includes basic amenities: a bed, desk, sink, and camping toilet.

His project, Tiny Tiny Homes, is now an official nonprofit, and he’s working on a second unit. The homes are insulated, weatherproof, solar-powered, and designed to offer temporary shelter with storage space for personal items. Donais stresses that these homes aren’t meant to be permanent solutions but a step toward permanent housing.

Donais is raising funds through GoFundMe to scale up production, with each unit costing about $5,000 to build. He’s also seeking material donations and a larger workspace to continue the project.