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The family home of Celeste Rivas has become ground zero for a memorial honoring the 14-year-old found dismembered in the trunk of a Tesla linked to D4vd.

The vessel, which carries about 1,360 passengers, was reportedly empty when it traversed the strait.

The “Brady Bunch” home will soon be open for summer tours in Los Angeles after being officially recognized as part of history.

Beware of any politician who gleefully celebrates taxation like normal people would a sacred holiday. Unfortunately, it’s too late for us New Yorkers. Our city foolishly elected Zohran Mamdani, who promised big government and the “warmth of collectivism.” Zohran Mamdani gleefully announced a new tax for the wealthy in New York City. And in a...

The playoffs are a whole different animal.

Is America On The Verge Of A Nuclear Renaissance?

Authored by Duggan Flanakin via WattsUpWithThat.com,

It has been more than seven years since President Donald Trump signed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) into law – and it has taken all seven years (including four during the Biden Administration) for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue a final rule implementing its provisions.

Even the Washington Post admits that the new Part 53 rules, intended to reduce review times from decades to 18 months or less, will make President Trump’s goal of revitalizing the U.S. nuclear energy industry more competitive – “to everyone’s benefit,” says the Post.

The old NRC permitting review process was built around light-water-cooled reactors (like the Westinghouse AP1000) and included prescriptive safety requirements specific to those designs – not the advanced reactors of all sizes being planned and built today.

Many nuclear companies are designing reactors that use liquid metals (like molten salt) or gases as coolants, enabling them to operate at higher temperatures. These reactors are ultimately safer than the (still very safe) water-cooled reactors, as they rely on natural forces like gravity or convection rather than pumps and motors to automatically stop the reactor in case of an incident.

The NRC says its final rule responds to NEIMA by creating an alternative, technology-inclusive regulatory framework that can accommodate licensing of future commercial nuclear plants, including advanced reactor designs that may not employ light-water technology. The new rules will hopefully expedite permitting of small modular reactors, microreactors, and even full-size reactors already under development.

The NRC says its alternative requirements and implementing guidance incorporate technology-inclusive approaches and risk-informed and performance-based techniques to ensure an equivalent level of safety to that of operating commercial nuclear plants. Part 53 is designed to provide optionality and flexibility for licensing and regulating a variety of technologies and designs for commercial nuclear reactors.

Not everyone is convinced that an agency with a lifelong track record of thwarting nuclear reactor permits has fully reformed. Noting that the real timeframe for the Part 53 rules is decades (not just 7 years), nuclear energy advocate Steven Curtis says “It’s hard to imagine the NRC being objective enough to lessen the burden for licensing, even for safer SMRs. The NRC sees its mortality in simplifying their process, so what is their incentive?”

NANO Nuclear Energy CEO James Walker calls the new Part 53 rules “a bridge to fleet deployment,” in that it does not fully eliminate site-specific licensing, environmental review installation review, or lifecycle issues around refurbishment, refueling, decommissioning, and relocation,” all needed for the microreactor industry. The NRC is reportedly developing guidance and another round of rulemaking – suggesting that Part 53 is foundational, not final.

The proof of a reformed NRC, if indeed it is now eager to move permits forward, will soon be made evident. Previous Presidents waited in vain. Trump waited 7 years for Part 53 regulations; the real microreactor rules have yet to be formally proposed.

More evidence that the Trump Administration is serious about a nuclear energy revival comes from the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC), which announced last week that its Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed is now complete. This first-of-its-kind facility, located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), will enable the rapid development, testing, and demonstration of privately developed advanced nuclear reactors.

The Department of Energy says DOME is an actual 100-foot-tall dome that is 80 feet in diameter – large enough to provide a safe environment to test experimental reactor concepts and gather performance data for use in informing future commercial licensing applications. Its completion dovetails with the new Part 53 NRC rules – as the U.S. seeks to accelerate the development and demonstration of advanced nuclear technologies.

Built from the repurposed Experimental Breeder Reactor-II containment structure, DOME will help reactor developers accelerate testing timelines – saving money and reducing project risk – and hopefully deployment timelines.

These microreactors are designed to be factory-built and portable, able to be placed in remote communities or to respond to natural disasters but perhaps primarily to serve independent microgrids (such as data centers), field-level military operations, and even space travel.

DOME is the only test bed in the world specifically designed to host fueled microreactor experiments that can generate up to 20 megawatts of thermal energy that can be used as heat or converted to electric power. [This is comparable in size to the reactors that have powered America’s nuclear submarines ever since the USS Nautilus was deployed in 1954.]

DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors Dr. Rian Bahran says the DOME is a vital component of reestablishing U.S. leadership in advance nuclear technologies – yet one wonders how many decades ago such a facility could have been built. Nuclear submarines can operate for 20 to 30 years without refueling, whereas conventional subs need refueling several times a year.

Better late than never – the DOME has already started a scheduled year-long test of Radiant Industries’ Kaleidos Demonstration Unit, a microreactor that uses TRISO fuel and is cooled by helium to produce 1 MW of electrical power or 3.5 MWt of thermal power. The U.S. Air Force is but one entity awaiting authorization for deploying Kaleidos. Other companies are queuing up to test their designs in DOME.

With the DOE envisioning nuclear megacities for such activities as uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication, at least four states have announced their willingness to serve as hosts even if managing high-level nuclear waste is part of the commitment.

Idaho and Tennessee have long-term experience in nuclear energy, while Utah and Nebraska are looking at the jobs and revenues to be gleaned from joining the nuclear community.

By contrast, Nevada has fought against managing nuclear waste and Texas and New Mexico have also objected to private interim nuclear waste storage (despite Texas’ push for nuclear energy development). 

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues its ban on reusing nuclear waste to power reactors designed to burn (and thus dramatically reduce the volume of) nuclear waste by 95% and dramatically lower the cost of nuclear energy generation while virtually eliminating the controversial issue of nuclear waste storage.

Of course, a major increase in the number of nuclear powerplants in the U.S. will necessitate a major increase in the supply of nuclear fuel – and there is good news on that front as well. Newly launched FluxPoint Energy announced it is developing what would be the first new uranium conversion facility in the U.S. in 70 years.

FluxPoint says its mission is to “establish a fully American, vertically integrated nuclear fuel capability – supporting energy independence, enabling advanced reactor development, and strengthening national security.” Development of the facility, which will convert uranium oxide (U3O8) into gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF6) that can be enriched in fissile uranium-235 for use as nuclear fuel, is “well under way.”

For that matter, these and other developments – and a reinvigorated nuclear energy industry – are signs that the U.S. is “well under way” to restoring its faith in a future and a renaissance already signified by the highly successful and warmly received Artemis II mission to the moon, another area of American excellence that was put into mothballs for decades.

Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow who writes on a wide variety of public policy issues.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 19:15

You won't have to spring much for a beauty bag refresh at Nordstrom right now.

You won't have to spring much for a beauty bag refresh at Nordstrom right now.

Do not trash those Dexter Lawrence No. 97 jerseys just yet.

It looks like Iran’s rulers have finally blinked — but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to weasel out of every promise they’re now making.

A classic bag to take on all your travels.

DENVER — There was a fight outside Coors Field on Friday afternoon. More specifically, a snowball fight — with a couple Dodgers fans enjoying an early-spring snow day at the Rockies’ home ballpark. Snow covered Coors Field ahead of the Dodgers-Rockies game Friday night. In the hours leading up to the start of a four-game...

LaMelo Ball is moving on from trip gate.

Google's Stake In SpaceX Could Be Worth $122 Billion At IPO

A long-held investment by Alphabet Inc. in SpaceX could become one of its most valuable bets if the rocket company moves ahead with a public listing, according to Bloomberg.

Regulatory filings indicate Google owned about 6.11% of SpaceX at the end of 2025. At a projected $2 trillion IPO valuation, that stake would be worth roughly $122 billion. After SpaceX’s merger with xAI, the holding is estimated to have diluted to around 5%, or about $100 billion at the same valuation.

The figures offer a clearer picture of Google’s position in SpaceX, which had previously been acknowledged without precise detail. Only Google and Elon Musk — who controls roughly 40% — were required to disclose holdings above 5%.

Bloomberg writes that SpaceX is targeting a potential June IPO and could raise as much as $75 billion, which would make it one of the largest listings ever. At that valuation, even a small fraction of ownership would translate into significant dollar value.

Early investors are positioned for outsized returns. Some analysts estimate that backers who entered as recently as 2021 could see gains of around 20 times their original investment.

Founded in 2002, SpaceX reached a $1 billion valuation within eight years, a relatively fast climb for a capital-intensive aerospace company.

Google first invested in 2015, joining Fidelity in a $1 billion funding round that valued SpaceX at $10 billion and gave the firms a combined 10% stake.

Ownership stakes have shifted over time due to dilution and secondary share sales. In 2020, Google held about 7.64% while Musk’s stake was around 47%. Early investor Founders Fund has since dropped below the 5% disclosure threshold.

Alphabet does not separately report its SpaceX holdings in earnings, though it has recorded sizable unrealized gains tied to private investments, including an $8 billion increase in early 2025 linked to SpaceX.

The IPO is expected to create significant liquidity for employees and insiders, potentially prompting departures as some cash out or pursue new ventures.

Board members and long-time investors also stand to benefit, underscoring the scale of wealth that could be generated by SpaceX’s anticipated debut.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 18:50

The Post's experts give their Knicks-Hawks predications.

That's one expensive breakup.

Feverish supporters at the “Build the Red Wall” event at Dream City Church in Phoenix shot down recent criticisms of the president  — including over the Iran war, record high oil prices and a controversial AI-generated image Trump posted Wednesday appearing to depict himself as Jesus Christ.

Bridges is on the receiving end of more criticism than anyone on the Knicks.

This is it. This is what we’ve all been biding our time for. This was why Knicks winning streaks and Knicks losing skids were each dismissed with equal fervor across the last six months. All during that time, I’ve had the impossible task of knocking the words of Tripper Harrison in “Meatballs” out of my...

Nicknamed the "Holy Hand," Schmidt starred for the Brazilian national team for nearly two decades, playing in five Olympics and four World Cups.