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Bill Nye Warns Trump That Cutting NASA Budget by 23% Is a ‘Huge Mistake’: ‘The Word Science Is in the Constitution. That’s What Keeps the U.S. Ahead’

Bill Nye told NBC News that Donald Trump is making a “huge mistake” when it comes to a proposal to cut NASA’s budget by 23%, which was announced earlier this month amid national attention around NASA‘s Artemis II flyby moon mission.

“NASA is the best brand the U.S. has. People around the world recognize NASA,” Nye said. “The word science is in the Constitution. That’s what keeps the U.S. ahead. You cannot be a leader in space without being a leader in science. It’s just a mistake.”

The Trump administration previously tried to cut NASA’s $24.4 billion budget by 18% but was blocked by members of Congress, which approved the NASA budget in January. Nye said the first attempt was “dead on arrival” and “why it’s happened again is not clear,” although the timing around the Artemis II mission is suspicious.

“Objectively, this time, the President’s Budget Request is written — how would I describe — it’s much lazier… There are typos; they refer to 2026 instead of 2027, and they left out some language arbitrarily. It’s sort of cut and paste without paying attention,” Nye added about the new budget cut proposal.

Artemis II astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch set out on a 10-day mission around the moon earlier this month on NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The mission marked the furthest any space crew had traveled away from Earth and generated global headlines around the U.S. space program. Hollywood even joined the media blitz as “Project Hail Mary” star Ryan Gosling recorded a video message for the astronauts before they blasted off.

“We were all really lucky. We got to watch ‘Hail Mary’ when we were in quarantine [before launch],” Hansen later revealed when asked about what message he would give Gosling. “That was a real treat that they sent us a link to view that at home with our families, getting us ready to go on our own space adventure. I would just say to Ryan, art imitates science and vice versa, it seems. He did a great job in that movie. It’s wonderful to see people really leaning into those roles.”

Watch Nye’s interview with NBC news in the video below.

April 22, 2026
Tax-free bitcoin is back: How UK investors can avoid paying duty on crypto investments once more

Investors in the U.K. can once again hold cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in a tax-free vehicle after fintech startup Stratiphy received approval to offer them in a special class of individual savings account (ISA), according to a report by the Financial Times on Wednesday.

Stratiphy, a fintech platform that allows users to personalize their investment strategies, is offering both crypto ETNs and Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs), the wrapper authorized to invest in them, the FT reported.

ISAs allow users to save up to 20,000 pounds ($27,000) a year without paying income tax or capital gains tax on the returns. The two most common types are cash ISAs, which pay interest, and stocks and shares ISAs, which invest in equities and exchange-traded instruments.

At the end of February, the U.K.’s tax authority, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), classified crypto ETNs as instruments only available in IFISAs from the start of the current tax year on April 6.

This essentially made last year’s decision to lift the ban on retail users accessing crypto ETNs redundant because no mainstream investment platform offered IFISAs. The few that did had no plans to offer crypto products.

The decision drew criticism from some commentators, who said it risked making the U.K. an outlier among markets where exchange-traded products (ETPs) have made crypto investment available to a far broader base of retail investors.

Stratiphy will offer access to three ETNs provided by 21Shares: those covering bitcoin , ether (ETH) and one combining BTC and gold.

The London-based investment platform, which opened for business in August last year, manages 4 million pounds ($5.4 million) for 2,000 retail and corporate clients.

“We see a disproportionate level of interest in these [crypto] products,” CEO Daniel Gold said, according to the newspaper.

“It’s a really interesting way to diversify your portfolio. It’s a new asset class with low correlation to other asset classes.”

Stratiphy did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

April 22, 2026
HIVE, Keel push deeper into AI data centers with capital raise, asset sale

Mining firms HIVE Digital (HIVE) and Keel Infrastructure (KEEL) are doubling down on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, which continues the theme of a broader shift across the sector away from bitcoin mining exclusively.

HIVE raised $115 million through a zero interest convertible note offering, with proceeds earmarked for expanding its global data center footprint and GPU capacity, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

The company has increasingly leaned into Tier III data centers across Canada, Sweden and Paraguay, positioning them for both bitcoin mining, AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. The capital raise, paired with capped call protection to limit dilution, is aimed at accelerating that buildout.

Keel, meanwhile, is funding its transition by shrinking. The company completed the sale of its 70 MW Paraguay site for roughly $13 million, below initial expectations, citing deteriorating bitcoin mining economics. The move finalizes its exit from Latin America and follows its recent rebrand from Bitfarms to Keel Infrastructure.

“This is a clean exit from Latin America,” CEO Ben Gagnon said. “We are focused and committed to building the infrastructure backbone to support the AI economy in North America.”

Gagnon added that the proceeds effectively bring forward “two to three years” of expected cash flow, which will now be redeployed into Keel’s HPC and AI pipeline.

Shares of both companies have risen roughly 7%, following the announcements.

April 22, 2026
Diaper-wearing monkey tries to enter Michigan home

Odd News // 3 weeks ago

Virginia man’s before-bed routine leads to a $200,000 lottery prize

March 26 (UPI) — A Virginia man’s routine of playing online lottery games to relax after putting his kids to bed resulted in his winning a $200,000 jackpot.

April 22, 2026
Naomi Watts to Play Ballet Legend Margot Fonteyn in ‘Margot & Rudi’

Take that, Timothée!

Naomi Watts has signed on to play ballet legend Margot Fonteyn in Margot & Rudi, the new romantic drama from Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris director Anthony Fabian that is set in the world of Swinging Sixties ballet.

The film explores the iconic partnership between Fonteyn, a 42-year-old prima ballerina and Britain’s most famous dancer, and Rudolf Nureyev, the 23-year-old rebellious Soviet defector who became her partner on stage (and, it was rumored, off it as well).

Their explosive, undeniable on-stage chemistry sparked speculation, never confirmed and never fully denied, that their affection extended into their private lives. Fonteyn was married at the time, and Nureyev was openly gay, known for his long-term, volatile relationship with Danish dancer Erik Bruhn.

Alexandr Trush, principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballet, will play Nureyev. The Russian-speaking Ukrainian ballet star is known for his productions of Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, two iconic ballets that will also feature in the film.

“Growing up in Mexico City, watching Margot and Rudi’s performances in the cinema sparked my passion for stories that blend music, theater, and dance,” said Anthony Fabian. “Their love, defying barriers of culture, age, class, and sexuality, is romantic, unconventional, and thrilling—a love story like no other.”

Two-time Oscar-nominated Watts studied dance becoming an actress. The Mulholland Drive, 21 Grams and The Impossible star recently played Jackie Kennedy Onassis in FX’s Love Story and will be seen next alongside Luke Evans in The Housewife.

The Margot & Rudi cast includes Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight) and Harriet Walter (Succession). Fabian will direct from a script by Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris writer Olivia Hetreed.

Fabian will produce the film through his Elysian Films outfit, together with Hetreed at Sympathetic Ink, Mike Goodridge at Good Chaos and Chris Coen. Executive producers are Thom Mount, Jeffrey Berg and Andy Paterson.

WestEnd Films has boarded world sales on Margot & Rudi and will introduce the project to buyers at the Cannes film market next month.

April 22, 2026
YouTube Partners With SiriusXM on Audio Advertising For Podcasts and More

SiriusXM is teaming up with YouTube as the most popular podcasting platform looks for better ad measurement services across audio.

In a rare pact, SiriusXM will be the exclusive advertising partner for YouTube audio-first inventory in the U.S. YouTube is the most popular podcasting platform among users, while SiriusXM has the largest formal podcasting network by reach.

While YouTube is known for its video content, according to a study by SiriusXM and Edison Research, about 74 percent of U.S. users aged 13 and up consume YouTube audio or engage in listening-first behaviors on YouTube, amounting to 212 million monthly YouTube audio users. Per the study, 45 percent of U.S. consumers aged 13 and up watch videos with static visuals; 40 percent engage with podcasts; 47 percent consume spoken word content (talk, interviews, sports) and 48 percent listen while video is minimized or in the background.

The partnership, which begins this fall, will include ad sales on the audio versions of podcasts, music, talk shows and more.

“Audio is one of the most powerful mediums for listeners, creators, and advertisers alike, and at SiriusXM Media, we’re proud to be at the forefront helping brands harness that impact at scale,” said Scott Walker, SiriusXM’s Chief Advertising Revenue Officer. “By partnering with YouTube, a true leader in ad-supported content consumption, we’re uniting our unique skillset with their audience, creating an unparalleled opportunity for marketers and creators to grow their businesses.”

“YouTube has become a primary destination for audio-first content, where fans engage with their favorite podcasts, music, and creators,” said Romana Pawar, Senior Director of Product, YouTube Ads. “By partnering with SiriusXM Media, we are making it easier than ever for advertisers to tap into these high-attention moments.”

April 22, 2026
3 things to watch in Thunder-Suns Game 2

Jalen Williams did it all in Game 1, finishing with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and a block in 29 minutes.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns by 35 points in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 5-for-18 from the field.

One has to wonder if it could have gone even worse for the Suns, for whom it was both their fourth-worst offensive game (84 points on 93 possessions) and their seventh-worst defensive game (119 on 92) of the season.

As good as the Thunder are, the Suns have no choice but to feel like it can get better.

Here are some things to watch for in Game 2 on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) …

1. Can Williams play like that again?

The Thunder were a better defensive team this season than they were last season. But they saw the league’s seventh biggest drop in offensive efficiency, largely because Jalen Williams missed 49 games and wasn’t quite as good when he did play. Both his 3-point percentage (29.9%) and his mid-range field-goal percentage (37.3%) were the worst marks of his four-year career.

But in Game 1, Williams looked like his best self, tallying 22 points (on 9-for-15 shooting), seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block in just 29 minutes.

His jumper looked smooth, both off the catch and off the dribble.

And though the Thunder were playing at home, he packed his bag …

The Thunder still scored just 25 points on 25 offensive possessions in Williams’ 11 minutes on the floor without Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday.

The offense was ridiculously efficient otherwise, and the defense was great in those minutes, so it didn’t matter. But one of Williams’ primary jobs is to keep the offense afloat when the reigning Kia MVP goes to the bench.

The most important thing about this series may be the play of Williams and how that affects the Thunder’s chance of repeating.

2. Get the ball to the weak side

The strengths of the Thunder’s top-ranked defense are forcing turnovers and protecting the rim. But if you can get past the ball pressure and bend the defense, good shots can be had on the weak side of the floor.

The Suns got some open weak-side 3-point attempts in Game 1.

Midway through the first quarter, Phoenix came out of a timeout, got Jalen Green going downhill, and he found Dillon Brooks wide open in the left corner …

After a timeout early in the second, a similar action got Jordan Goodwin an open and in-rhythm look from the left wing. The Suns got some good shots, but they also left some open shooters waiting for the ball.

Here’s Devin Booker shooting a contested shot in a crowd with two unguarded Suns (one of them a 41% 3-point shooter) on the weak side of the floor …

Good things happened when the Suns got the ball to the weak side, even if the weak-side player didn’t shoot it. Early in the third quarter, Booker attacked baseline and found Royce O’Neale in the right corner. The Thunder rotated, but O’Neale skipped the ball to Green for a wide-open 3 on the other side …

The Thunder defense is awesome, and there were some possessions on Sunday where they covered everything. But there were also times when the Suns missed open shots or open shooters.

The Suns took 39 (47%) of their 83 shots from 3-point range in Game 1, and that rate probably needs to be higher for them to have a chance in any particular game. More 3-pointers lead to more variance and a better chance for the underdog.

That doesn’t mean they should be chucking as soon as they cross mid-court, but they should seek those weak-side 3s that the Thunder will yield.

3. Why Allen can help Suns

The shooter that the Thunder were most willing to leave open was Ryan Dunn, the Suns’ reserve wing who shot 33% from 3-point range this season, including just 26% on 3s above the break (not in the corners).

Here’s Dunn wiiiiide open in the right corner after Booker drew two to the ball and passed it to O’Neale at the top of the key …

Here’s the thing: O’Neale didn’t immediately make the swing pass to Dunn. Instead, he thought about shooting from six feet beyond the arc before Alex Caruso closed out. O’Neale then put the ball on the floor and finally passed it to Dunn after driving into the paint.

But Dunn didn’t really want to shoot it anyway. He shoveled the ball to Green and was open again when he got it back, but drove into the paint himself and was stripped by Cason Wallace …

Dunn was 0-for-3 from 3-point range in his 25 minutes off the bench on Sunday, mostly ignored by the Thunder and sometimes ignored by his own teammates.

It would be nice if the Suns could replace Dunn with Grayson Allen, who missed Game 1 with a hamstring issue and was listed as questionable on the initial injury report for Game 2. Allen is a career 40% shooter from beyond the arc and would obviously be a huge boost to the Phoenix offense.

Like Allen, Mark Williams (left foot stress reaction) missed Game 1 and was listed as questionable for Game 2.

He can’t help with the 3-point shooting, but he would help on the glass, with Game 1 having been the Thunder’s sixth-best offensive rebounding game of the season. The Suns need to win the possession game, and that means rebounding better and not committing 11 more turnovers than the champs.

* * *

John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.

April 22, 2026
3 things to watch in Magic-Pistons Game 2

Cade Cunningham bore the brunt of Detroit’s scoring in Game 1. Will he get some help in Game 2?

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It’s odd how easily postseason history can crowd out recency bias, normally a powerful psychological trait that can anchor one’s thoughts and opinions.

Such is the urgency of the NBA Playoffs.

The Detroit Pistons might reasonably expect their hard work and demonstrated results – winning 60 games, snagging the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed – to resonate with fans and the basketball world beyond the disappointment of a single game at Little Caesars Arena.

That’s not how things go at this time of year. No sooner had the Pistons stumbled 112-101 to the Orlando Magic in the teams’ first-round series opener than the nail-biting and pearl-clutching began, sparking panic over Detroit’s looming elimination and inability to win a home playoff game again (the last one was in May 2008).

Starting 0-1 in a best-of-seven series and losing home-court advantage are to be avoided, whenever possible. But in the days since Sunday, you might have thought the Pistons were about to grab their fishing poles.

That anxiety existed outside the team way more than inside, fortunately. To J.B. Bickerstaff and his players, the Game 1 loss was nothing more than a feel-out game.

“They out-physical-ed us,” Detroit wing Ausar Thompson said. “We’re used to the playoff whistle now. We’ll come back, and we’ll do what we’ve got to do.”

Orlando, by contrast, hopes their performance Sunday has more legs than that. The Magic set the home team’s nervousness in motion and believe they can replicate it on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Initiating contact, packing the paint, and playing to their talents – which they often didn’t do in the regular season – all seem well within their control.

Here are three things to watch for in Game 2 …

1. Duren’s overdue series debut

Bad things happen when a 1-2 punch combination becomes a lonely 1. Guard Cade Cunningham (39 points) had to carry Detroit’s offense more than usual, and only so far, center Jalen Duren’s inside threat was mosty absent.

A finalist for the Kia Most Improved Player Award this season, the Pistons’ rugged big man was their second-leading scorer. He averaged 17.8 points, 11 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in four games against Orlando. But he was minus-21 in Game 1, contributing only eight points and seven rebounds.

The crowd around Duren inside had him trying to execute his offense in a closet.

“Anytime I had catches deep, they collapsed on me,” Duren told reporters Tuesday. “They were coming from everywhere. I did not get as many shot attempts [four] as I should have.”

Not good enough.

“For me, just being more aggressive, finding my spots and attacking more – I think I could have done a better job of that,” he said. “I just spent time watching the film over and over and over again, seeing where I wasn’t most effective.”

Duren wants to produce some different movies in Game 2.

2. Consistency from Carter

Orlando center Wendell Carter Jr. was an unsung star in Game 1, scoring 17 points on only nine shots while adding seven rebounds and five assists. He was a game-best plus-20, and he routinely moved the ball to the right people at the right times.

Rarely, though, does Carter back up such a game with a twin. He has averaged 8.8 points and 9.5 rebounds in his 13 career playoff appearances, with just one double-double.

With the Pistons geared to have Duren taking a higher profile, it will say a lot if it comes at the expense of his Orlando counterpart or not.

3. Scoring help for Cunningham

It wasn’t just Duren who failed to produce what Detroit needed in the opener. No one on its bench chipped in more than one field goal. It turned into a minimal scoring effort from reserves capable of so much more, including Caris LeVert (three points), Kevin Huerter (three), Isaiah Stewart (three), Javonte Green (three), Ron Holland II (two) and Daniss Jenkins, the guard who went 1-of-7, missing his six 3-pointers and posting a minus-11 while scoring six points.

The Pistons’ bench players scored 20 points in a combined 80 minutes on the floor. Orlando also got 20 from its reserves, but in about 64 minutes.

* * *

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

April 22, 2026
James Gray’s ‘Paper Tiger’ With Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller to Compete at Cannes as Neon Buys Film for North America (EXCLUSIVE)

After weeks of suspense, James Gray‘s anticipated next film “Paper Tiger” has joined the Palme d’Or race at the Cannes Film Festival. The gritty crime thriller, starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, will world premiere in competition, while Neon has secured North American rights, Variety has learned.

“Paper Tiger” follows two brothers as they try to achieve the American dream, only to become “entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true.” The film’s synopsis reads: “As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves and their family brutally terrorized by the Russian ‘Mafiya.’ Their bond begins to fray, and betrayal — once utterly unthinkable — now becomes all too possible.”

Gray is a longtime Cannes favorite and is particularly beloved in France. Over the years, he has brought five films to the Croisette – “Armageddon Time,” “The Immigrant,” “Two Lovers,” “We Own the Night” and “The Yards” — and he also served on the Cannes jury in 2009, when Isabelle Huppert presided.

His films have been handled by a wide range of U.S. distributors, from Miramax (“The Yards”) and Sony Pictures Classics (“We Own the Night,” “Two Lovers”) to Magnolia Pictures (“The Immigrant”), Amazon Studios (“The Lost City of Z”), 20th Century Fox (“Ad Astra”) and Focus Features (“Armageddon Time”).

“Paper Tiger” had been widely expected to make the cut when Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux unveiled the official selection on April 9, but was left off the initial lineup. Fremaux told Variety he was hopeful the film would be added at a later stage, describing it as “a wonderful film, a very James Gray film, very indie.”

“It’s the James Gray who has never stopped being himself,” Frémaux said, noting the project was “complicated to put together” and that “there are still some contractual issues to resolve.” He added, “I hope they’ll be settled very soon and that we’ll be able to announce the film.”

Gray will be one of the two American filmmakers competing at this year’s festival, alongside Ira Sachs’ “The Man I love” starring Rami Malek.

The casting reunites Johansson and Driver after 2019’s “Marriage Story,” for which they both earned Academy Award nominations.

It’s produced by Rodrigo Teixeira under his RT Features banner and Anthony Katagas for AK Productions alongside Raffaella Leone, Gary Farkas, Marco Perego, Carlo Salem and Andrea Bucko. Executive producers are Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Riccardo Maddalosso and Emily Salveson. French distribution will be handled by SND.

The “Paper Tiger” deal cements Neon’s huge presence on the Croisette this year. With “Paper Tiger,” Neon is behind six Palme d’Or contenders at this point, including Arthur Harari’s “The Unknown,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Sheep in the Box” and Na Hong-jin’s “Hope,” a Korean genre film starring Hwang Jung-min, Hoyeon, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. The distribution company already has a stellar track record at Cannes, having backed the past six Palme d’Or winners.

April 22, 2026
Hey Meta workers, are you getting paid for those keystrokes?

No longer content to subsume recognizable intellectual properties, the majority of the indexed internet and books (basically all of them), AI will apparently now begin devouring its own workforce.

A report in Reuters alleged that the keystrokes, mouse movements and clicks of Meta’s workforce are to be captured for the purposes of training AI — something the company’s communications department was happy to confirmed as accurate! In a cheery missive, a company spokesperson told Engadget that “If we’re building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them […] we’re launching an internal tool that will capture these kinds of inputs on certain applications to help us train our models.”

All this leads one to ask the obvious question: hey, what the fuck?

The nature of at-will employment in the United States is such that your boss basically never needs to explain why your job duties change, but it’s rarely so sweeping, so brazen or so unavoidably tied to the reminder that you are being surveilled at a frighteningly granular level. Gross!

Installing keyloggers on someone else’s computer in a non-work setting can often constitute a criminal offense (hello CFAA!) and it’s frankly weird we allow this sort of thing to happen in the workplace at all. But in this case, there’s at least some possibility this data may eventually be used to replace the exact people currently strongarmed into making those clicks and clacking those keys — or as a thin excuse to lay a lot of them off.

It’s not as though the data underpinning large language models is worthless. Ill-gotten information has been the subject of exorbitant settlements and many pending court cases with considerable sums riding on their eventual judgements. If Meta thought it could obtain this sort of data from its estimated 3.5 billion combined users instead of its comparably paltry body of employees without it immediately reading as the single most invasive chapter in a laughably long history of move fast, break things, and never admit to the mess, wouldn’t it just… do that? Technology has progressed so far, yet people continue to really hate feeling taken advantage of. And that sort of thing is still bad for business.

In a fragile economy floated by rampant self-dealing and the shifting moods of a few very rich weirdos, even the mere mention of AI’s relentless forward march to annihilate its own creators can make a shoe company’s stock pop, however briefly.

Maybe that’s why Meta was delighted to confirm the broad details of the Reuters story, yet declined multiple requests to comment on if workers can opt out of this surveillance, or if they are being compensated in any way for their data. I, for one, would still love to know!

Do you work at Meta and want to talk confidentially? I’m @amarae.60 on Signal.

April 22, 2026