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TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Quantumania

Look out, solid, liquid, and gas… there’s a new state of matter in town. 

Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled its new quantum computer chip, Majorana 1, and reported engineering a “new state of matter” while building it. 

Tech giants have spent decades developing quantum computers—machines capable of quickly solving complex problems that take traditional supercomputers millions of years to decipher (watch how it works). Now, Microsoft says it’s harnessed the previously-only-theorized-about “topological state” of matter to create particles capable of crunching quantum data better than today’s most capable machines. 

The breakthrough has scientists hopeful for advances in medicine, cybersecurity, AI, and the auto industry decades sooner than anticipated. 

In the meantime, Apple revealed its newest—and lowest-priced—phone Wednesday. The iPhone 16e features Apple Intelligence and will be available for $599 ($200 less than the standard iPhone 16). 

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE: 
Whether you’re thrilled or intimidated by new discoveries, live with joy and pursue holiness because believers already know how this story ends. Technology will never outsmart God or thwart his plan to renew and glorify all who are in Christ. 

“But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.” 
2 Peter 3:13-14 (CSB) (read full passage)

U.S. NEWS

IVF Order

Trump’s Sharpie is staying busy.  

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing his admin to make IVF more affordable, giving agencies 90 days to propose cost-cutting measures. The move follows last year’s Alabama Supreme Court ruling that classified embryos as children, making IVF a hot-button issue in the 2024 campaign. Trump promised the government or insurance would cover “all costs associated with IVF treatment” while campaigning.

Currently, only 15 states require insurers to cover some IVF costs; nationwide coverage could cost at least $7 billion annually. To fulfill his promise, Trump would need approval from Congress, where Republicans are divided over IVF funding and ethics. 

On Wednesday, Trump also signed an order directing federal departments to identify “all federally funded programs currently providing benefits” to illegal immigrants and take corrective action. 

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Verse to consider whether politicians let you down or have you celebrating… “My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I wither away like grass. But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; your fame endures to all generations.” 
Psalm 102:11–12 (CSB) (read full passage)

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POLITICS

DOGE Updates

Federal government efficiency efforts are receiving a… mixed response.

President Trump and Elon Musk are floating the idea of a “DOGE dividend,” with 20% of savings from the Department of Government Efficiency going straight into Americans’ pockets. 

The IRS may partially fund the payout, with tax collectors expected to face the largest single-agency layoff thus far. Over 6,500 probationary employees deemed not “critical to filing season” are reportedly being terminated by EOW. The administration also let go roughly 1,000 National Park workers and is reportedly working to rehire recently dismissed USDA officials involved in the federal bird flu response.

Republicans have been largely supportive of DOGE’s reported $55 billion in cuts, though some New York-area elephants are protesting a 20% cut to the World Trade Center Health Program’s workforce, which aids emergency workers suffering from 9/11-related illnesses. 

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CHOOSE HUMILITY
Big government changes can bring big emotions. Whether you’re losing a job or expecting a payday, remember compassion for your neighbors and trust the Lord with your future.

“Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.”
1 Peter 3:8–9 (CSB) (read full passage)

President Trump has declared New York “saved” after his administration announced Wednesday that it would end Manhattan’s congestion pricing—a $9 toll approved by the Biden administration meant to reduce traffic and air pollution in part of the Big Apple’s busiest borough. NY Governor Kathy Hochul (D) said she plans to challenge the order in court, saying “the [traffic] cameras are staying on.”
 

Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy are throwing intercontinental shade. From Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday, President Trump said Ukraine “should have never started” the war, and he later accused Zelenskyy of being a “dictator without elections” in an online post. (Ukraine’s been under martial law since Russia’s invasion, suspending elections.) Zelenskyy countered that Trump is living in a Russian "disinformation space.”
 

Nikola is pulling the plug. The EV semi-truck maker, once valued at $27 billion, announced it is filing for bankruptcy after years of financial chaos and recalls. Nikola’s founder was convicted of fraud in 2023 for staging a video of a truck rolling downhill to simulate driving and falsely claiming “billions and billions” of dollars in preorders.
 

Hamas returned four bodies to Israel yesterday in the first release of deceased hostages. At the handoff in Gaza, Hamas displayed anti-Israel messages alongside four coffins with hostages’ images: journalist Oded Lifshitz and the Bibas family (a mother, Shiri, and her two young children). But the body sent in Shiri’s place didn’t match any hostages’ identity, which Israel called “a violation of utmost severity.”
 

Luis Rubiales, a former football federation official (soccer, in American), was found guilty of sexual assault yesterday for kissing Spanish player Jenni Hermoso without her consent after the Women’s World Cup in 2023. Rubiales—who was sentenced to pay a €10,800 ($11,339 USD) fine—was acquitted of charges alleging he coerced Hermoso into publicly admitting the kiss was consensual.

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