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Next week, a rare celestial event will take to the skies. On March 3, amateur astronomers will get to witness a blood moon and a worm moon all at once. According to Space.com, a blood moon occurs during a total lunar eclipse, as the Earth passes directly between the Sun and Moon and casts a shadow across the moon’s surface. The moon appears red due to the way the Earth’s atmosphere filters sunlight. “This effect, known as Rayleigh scattering, is the same reason that the sky takes on magnificent shades of red and orange around sunset,” the site explains. While different seasons often bring exciting astrological events, this one is exceptionally rare. According to NASA, a blood moon can only occur during the full moon phase. But the blood moon also coincides with March’s full worm moon, named for the time of year when the Earth begins to thaw (which the worms appreciate). When can I see the blood moon? The eclipse, which will be visible across most of the U.S., is set to begin at 3:33 a.m. EST on March 3. The eclipse won’t begin to enter totality until around 6:04 a.m. EST, reaching its “greatest point at 6:33 a.m. ET, just minutes before the Full Moon peak,” explains Almanac.com. Do I need to wear protective glasses? Luckily, you won’t need any special equipment to view the event. It’s safe to look directly at a lunar eclipse (unlike a solar eclipse, which you need to wear protective eyewear to safely view, minus during complete totality). Still, NASA says that, if you want an even better view, binoculars are a good idea. “For a more dramatic observing experience, seek a dark environment away from bright lights. Binoculars or a telescope can also enhance your view,” it explains. What other celestial events are coming up? After the dramatic show next week, the event will not take place again until New Years Eve 20282029. That means, if you’re hoping to catch the show, you better make sure you’re looking up. Especially because constellations may appear brighter, too, as the moon’s light is dimmed. But another exciting astrological event will take place just days later. Space.com says on March 8, a “conjunction” of Venus and Saturn will appear in the sky. While the planets are, in fact, very far apart, as Venus “passes one degree to the upper right of Saturn,” they’ll appear closer than ever from Earth.
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E-Commerce
The growing backlash to data centers, and the rising electricity bills that accompany them, has become difficult for politicians to ignore. President Donald Trump is now the latest to address the issue. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump announced what he called a ratepayer protection pledge, for which the White House will tell major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. We have an old grid, Trump said. It could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity thats needed. Under the agreement, tech companies can build their own power plants, which Trump says will protect community electricity prices from going up. In many cases, he added, prices of electricity will go down for the community, and very substantially down. Another empty promise? To climate experts, though, that pledge sounds like another empty promise from the president, just like his campaign vow to reduce Americans utility costs. One of Trumps key campaign promises was to slash Americans energy bills in half within the first year of his presidency. But in reality, electricity bills rose 13% nationally by the end of 2025, according to Climate Power, a climate advocacy organization. That hike hasnt been entirely because of the AI-driven data center boom. Bills rose in part because the Trump administration has canceled clean energy projects like wind and solar and instead made the country more dependent on foreign oil and fossil fuels. Those efforts will only exacerbate the energy costs associated with data centers. Wind and solar power are cheaper than coal and natural gas for utility-scale electricitybut as data centers demand more and more power, the country is building more natural gas power plants. If Trump and Republicans were serious about lowering costs, theyd focus on bringing more made in America clean energy onto the grid, Climate Power senior advisor Jesse Lee said in a statement following the State of the Union. Instead, theyre trying to ban it. Data centers becoming a political issue Trumps ratepayer protection pledge is the latest version of a data center solution that has been growing in popularity. As they face increased backlash, with communities opposing data center projects in their backyards, some tech companies like Anthropic have taken it upon themselves to promise to pay for their increased energy use. Politicians, on both sides of the aisle, are also increasingly calling for fixes. In November 2025, Abigail Spanberger won the Virginia governor’s race after focusing on rising electricity bills during her campaign. She specifically called out data centers, saying shell make sure they pay their own way and their fair share of their new electricity and transmission needs. More recently, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill this month to stop data centers from driving up energy costs by requiring them to have their own power sources. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders just this week went for a more extreme solution, calling for a moratorium on data center construction. Its not clear if these efforts will do anything to stem the rising costs for all the data centers already planned or in the works, thoughwhich would add a total of 93 GW of electricity demand to the grid by 2029. Already in response to that demand, proposals for new natural gas plants are soaring, tripling in 2025 compared to the year prior, according to nonprofit research organization Global Energy Monitor. The U.S. now has the most gas-fired power capacity in development (that includes projects that have been announced as well as those in preconstruction and/or construction), the nonprofit sayswith more than a third of that capacity slated to directly power data centers.
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E-Commerce
Gen Z still believes in true love, even if the pursuit looks a little different from their parents generation. Thats according to a new Tinder x Harris Poll white paper shared exclusively with Fast Company. The survey was conducted online in the U.S. on behalf of Match Group by the Harris Poll from September to October 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 2,500 single adults ages 18 to 79. Some 80% of Gen Z singles said they believe they’ll find true love, and 74% said they believe they’ll get married, compared to 57% and 43% of all singles, respectively. That might surprise some at a time when young people are reportedly having less sex, going out less, and facing more rejectionromantic or otherwisethan ever before. Rather than signaling a romance recession for Gen Z, these trends point to an inflection point in dating culture. Traditional relationship milestones are becoming outdated. Young adults are slowing down their pursuit of finding the one, owning a home, and having kids. For now, Gen Zers are prioritizing micro-commitments over milestones. Previous generations often moved through commitment in a few headline steps: Define the relationship, meet the family, move in, get engaged, Devyn Simone, Tinders resident relationship expert, tells Fast Company. Gen Z still wants the ceremonies eventually, but theyre building proof along the way through everyday behaviors, and a lot of those behaviors show up first online. That might look like being added to Close Friends, sending voice notes, or being introduced to the group chat. The soft launch has become a modern relationship milestone. Of the single Gen Z respondents surveyed by Tinder, 46% who use social media said they soft launch their relationships, while 37% said they hard launch their relationships, compared with 12% and 10% of single social media users over the age of 45. The ultimate green flag For those who have hard launched a relationship on social media, 81% believe its an important sign of commitment. Location sharing is another modern way to hard launch a relationship in the internet age. Whats important to understand is that these arent frivolous internet behaviors, says Simone. Theyre Gen Zs way of making connections tangible and visible while still pacing themselves. Throughout different stagesfrom first date to marriage, and sometimes divorcemany share their relationships candidly online in much the same way they would with a trusted confidant: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ick listsof instant turnoffs that end romantic interestare frequently crowdsourced online. Common offenses include being rude to service staff, or an inability to communicate or handle conflict, with 28% of Gen Z singles strongly agreeing that the ick is based on a lack of emotional competence or social skills, compared to just 17% of older singles. These social and emotional competencies have become more important for Gen Z than traditional compatibility markers like financial success or career achievement, according to Tinder. A boyfriend? In this economy? Gen Z expects romantic partners not only to have the skills to communicate but also the willingness to engage in those conversations. In a Tinder survey cited in the white paper, 56% said honest conversations matter, and those who dont meet the bare minimum are no longer being excused. Cynicism about heterosexual relationships is more widespread than ever. Only 55% of Gen Zers feel ready for romantic relationships right now, and 75% are not in a hurry to find a partner. Context matters. Gen Z is coming of age in a moment defined by economic uncertainty, shifting cultural norms around marriage and children, and a broader redefinition of what adulthood looks like, says Simone. Instead of making sweeping promises about forever, Gen Z tends to ask, Are we aligned right now? Are we building something that feels healthy? Rather than diving headfirst into a rental agreement, marriage, or any other kind of legally binding commitment, small milestones help build trust incrementally, reducing risk for a generation that has watched the social contract disintegrate before their eyes. That doesnt mean Gen Z is turning its back on connection. Quite the opposite: 33% of Gen Zers strongly agree that expanding their social network is important, compared to 20% of older singles. Maybe the real milestones were the friends we made along the way Instead of solely chasing romantic connections, Gen Z is also pursuing mentorship, community, and friendships that may or may not blossom into romance. For many Gen Z daters, connection might begin in group settings, shared interest spaces, or friend-of-a-friend dynamics, says Simone. What they need are tools that reflect how relationships actually unfold today: gradually, socially, and often in community. This has led Tinder and other dating apps to rethink how best to show up for Gen Z users, prioritizing micro-commitments over grand gestures. Tinder has recently introduced more casual modes for Gen Zers to meet each other, including its double-date feature and college mode, creating space for moments of connection without romantic pressure. Sometimes it begins with a follow, a voice note, a shared night out with friends, says Simone. “All these small signals that, over time, add up to something real.” Gen Zers arent giving up on romantic love. Theyre just going steady.
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E-Commerce
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