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Floridas Everglades are teeming with gigantic, invasive snakes, but a fluffy, high-tech solution is poised to help. The state is turning to robotic stuffed rabbits to help trap invasive Burmese pythons, which are disrupting the states fragile wetland ecosystems and harming its native species by gobbling up food sources. Florida is regularly on the hunt for the pythons due to the threat they pose to the states furry fauna, much of which count as prey for the huge snakes. The University of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District developed the python-hunting tech this year, crafting remote-controlled, solar-powered stuffed rabbits that look and even smell like the real thing. The robo-rabbits also emit a realistic heat signature, sending the message to heat-sensing snakes in nearby swamps that dinner is served. Unbeknownst to the snakes, the robotic rabbits are also equipped with cameras that scan for pythons who have taken an interest in them. When one of the invasive snakes is spotted, an alert prompts the district to send out a special python removal agent to take care of business. Invasive pythons are one of the most destructive and harmful species in Americas Everglades, according to the South Florida Water Management District’s website. Their aggressive predation on native wildlife robs panthers, raptors, bobcats, and other native predators of their primary food sources. The python problem is so bad that the state hosts an annual hunt, known as the Florida Python Challenge. This year, the 10-day competition attracted 934 python hunters from 30 states around the country. Last month, the participants culled 294 invasive pythons, adding to the 1,400 removed since the contest first launched in 2013. A single competitor took home the $10,000 grand prize this summer by removing 60 Burmese pythonsquite a feat, considering that the huge nonvenomous snakes can reach between 6 and 9 feet long on average. Firearms arent allowed in the contest, so contestants manage to wrangle the snakes by hand.
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E-Commerce
Bitcoin has doubled its value and soared to mind-boggling highs in the last year, but the king of cryptocurrency stumbled a bit in late August. The digital coin dipped to a 30-day low around $108,000 on Friday, down from a record high of $124,457 mid-month. A few factors are likely at work in the coins dip. Why is Bitcoin dipping? Cryptocurrency traders have observed activity this week from a Bitcoin whale someone holding a huge position in a given coin that on its own might be enough to move markets. When a whale moves their assets around, the size of the trade can send a coin up or down and spook onlookers, who might be inclined to follow suit. Earlier this week, one whale sold 24,000 Bitcoin worth $2.7 billion in a single day. Another trader with a massive position in Bitcoin was just spotted buying up Ethereum, the cryptocurrency with the second highest market capitalization. When large positions flow out from Bitcoin and into Ethereum, it can send the former down and the latter up particularly if the broader crypto market chases the big movers. Beyond big trades and whale moves, cryptocurrency is affected by broader macroeconomic factors just like everything else. President Trumps reelection sent Bitcoin on a tear late last year, but high interest rates still temper interest in digital coins. If the Fed lowers interest rates and borrowing cash gets cheaper, money is likely to flow into riskier investments like Bitcoin. In a highly anticipated speech late last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that rate cuts could be on the way next month. Powell pointed to slowing economic growth in the first half of the year, but remains cautious over the effects of Trumps tariffs on the Feds quest to quell inflation. All of these factors influence traditional stocks and their chaotic counterpart, the cryptocurrency market. If Bitcoins late-summer slump seems foreboding, a glance at a price chart on a longer timeline should dispel any concerns: A year ago, BTC was trading for less than $60,000.
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E-Commerce
On Labor Day, hundreds of thousands of protesters are planning to demonstrate against the Trump administration and billionaires “taking over the U.S. government” in more than 1,000 nationwide rallies and events, according to May Day Strong, an advocacy organization organizing the protests. The day of action is scheduled to take place in all 50 states, including cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, New York City, and Columbus, Ohio. What protest is happening on Labor Day 2025? The Workers Over Billionaires protests are scheduled for Monday, September 1, in collaboration with a number of labor unions, community organizations, women’s rights groups, and concerned citizens, under the umbrella group May Day Strong. Some of those organizers include MoveOn, Women’s March, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Communications Workers of America, Indivisible, 50501, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, and Public Citizen. What is the Labor Day protest about? Building on the momentum of previous protests this yearincluding May Day, Good Trouble Lives On, and No Kingsthe Labor Day action is aimed at stopping the current administration’s “billionaire agenda,” which organizers say increasingly favors the ultrarich at the cost of working people and their families. “Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities,” according to the May Day Strong website. “Just like any bad boss, the way we stop the takeover is with collective action . . . working people rising up to stop the billionaire takeovernot just through the ballot box or the courts, but through building a bigger and stronger movement.” How many events are scheduled? More than 1,000 events are scheduled to take place across the United States, stretching from Alaska and Maine to Florida and Guam. An interactive map operated by the AFL-CIO includes a list of specific locations and other details. What’s next? May Day Strong said it plans to continue the movement that it launched on May 1, known as International Workers Day around the globe, when tens of thousands of people in all 50 states took part in protests against President Trump’s tariffs, Social Security and Medicare cuts, DOGE layoffs, and nationwide attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
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E-Commerce
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