QUOTE OF THE DAY

'I felt and saw things that we shouldn't think about too much.'

Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen on swimming in the Seine River after sewage almost forced the postponement of the Paris Olympics triathlon. The river has been "dirty for a hundred years," so they "can't say that the safety of the athletes is a priority," she said.

The Explainer

Donald Trump's new bitcoin obsession

"If bitcoin is going to the Moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way," said Donald Trump. Channeling his inner JFK, the former president marked his full conversion to the cult of cryptocurrency by vowing to turn the U.S. into a "bitcoin superpower."

The remarks are a "complete about-face," now favoring an "asset class he considered a crime-riddled scam while he was in office," said Bloomberg. They suggest the "merger of a once-outsider political machine with an outsider financial movement."

Why has he changed his mind?
"Conventional wisdom has it that this gambit is simply a classic Trumpian transactional relationship," said Bloomberg. His dramatic U-turn has already won him the backing of influential figures such as Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, as well as a growing army of online fans.

Yet something else has also played an important role in Trump's conversion to a cryptocurrency believer, said Bloomberg: "flattering images of himself." "Simply put, he fell in love with Trump-themed nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and the supporters who bought them, and that passion has turned into a broader appreciation for the industry."

What has he promised?
Despite warnings that bitcoin could undermine the U.S. dollar in the global economy, Trump says he will establish what he called a strategic national bitcoin reserve. He also announced that on his first day in office he would fire U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has cracked down on the cryptocurrency market after the FTX exchange collapsed in 2022 and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of fraud.

What impact could it have?
There's "political risk" for Trump to be so closely associated with such a notorious asset class "should another FTX-like situation arise or even a simple downturn in prices that sours sentiment," said Bloomberg. There's also a risk for the cryptocurrency industry itself to be so ideologically aligned with the Republican Party, said Hilary Allen, a professor at American University's Washington College of Law. Trump's involvement may "increase appeal among Republican users, but it may alienate Democrat users."

Statistic of the day

$216,000: The cost of having your body cryogenically frozen by German startup Tomorrow Bio, the first company to offer the service in Europe. Six clients have already been suspended in liquid nitrogen following their deaths in the hope that science will eventually be able to revive them. For those on a budget, preserving your brain alone costs $81,000.
The Times

In the Spotlight

Canadian women's soccer: Olympic drone-spying scandal

The Canadian women's soccer team for the Paris Games is mired in an off-the-field controversy that involves the reported use of drones to spy on opposing teams. The scandal has led to the suspension of Canada's coach and marks a fall from grace for a team that's the reigning world champion, having won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

What happened?
On July 22, staff members for New Zealand's Olympic women's soccer team "noticed a drone flying above their practice" in Paris and called the police, said The Athletic. Law enforcement "tracked the drone back to its operator, Joseph Lombardi, an 'unaccredited analyst' with the Canadian women’s team." Lombardi was eventually arrested.

Following an investigation, it was determined that Lombardi was "using a drone to record the New Zealand women's football team during practice," the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement. As the investigation continued, it was revealed that this was likely not an "isolated incident but a much larger pattern that extends across both the women's and men's national teams," Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said.

The Canadian team's coach, Beverly Priestman, appeared to be aware of the spying. The use of drones to spy on other clubs is "something the analyst has always done," Priestman previously said in an email released by FIFA, adding that it was the "difference between winning and losing and all top 10 teams do it."

The fallout
Priestman was suspended from the Canadian team for one year, in addition to fines being levied. FIFA also "assessed a six-point penalty on the women's team during its Olympic run," said NPR. This was a "major setback that meant Canada would need to win all three group stage games to advance." The team appealed FIFA's decision, but their effort was dismissed. Despite the penalty, Canada won all three group-stage games, and will "next face Germany in the Olympic quarterfinals."

Even as Canada's players "revived their Olympic title hopes on the field, the damage to the country's reputation for soccer integrity was hit hard," said The Associated Press.

Good day 🌱

… for the Sycamore Gap tree. Shoots are sprouting from the stump of the 200-year-old tree that was illegally chopped down by chainsaw-wielding vandals near the U.K.'s Hadrian's Wall last September. The green shoots raise "hopes that it could again become a national landmark," said The Times. The National Trust, which owns the land the tree stands on, said it's a promising sign of potential regrowth.

Bad day 🏥

… for Gen X and millennials. The two generations are at an increased risk of developing certain cancers compared to older generations, according to a new study published in the Lancet Public Health journal. It's a "shift that's probably due to generational changes in diet, lifestyle and environmental exposures," said The Washington Post. Cancer rates for 17 of the 34 most common cancers are increasing in "progressively younger generations," said the researchers from the American Cancer Society, according to the Post.

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The Week recommends

Tips for combatting workplace loneliness

In its 2024 State of the Global Workplace, Gallup found that 20% of workers experienced loneliness "a lot" the previous day. That means 1 in 5 workers, both remote and in-person, expressed feelings of loneliness. With the loneliness epidemic seeping into the office, experts say a few tips can help people rebuild their connections while at work.

Take 10 minutes to connect intentionally
Alleviating workplace loneliness could be as easy as spending 10 minutes a day connecting intentionally. Doing so could reduce the loneliness gap by 50%, Ann Shoket, CEO of TheLi.st, said to Fortune. "These tiny daily habits of staying in touch by text, spending time one-on-one and literally walking around the office are a really valuable way to nurture your connections," Shoket said.

Work on your connections outside of work
If you are happier at work, then you will likely be happier outside of work as well. The reverse can also be true. "When you feel more joy and fulfillment outside of work, you tend to perceive also more happiness within your work," Tracy Brower said in Forbes. Reconnecting with an old friend or befriending someone new from an environment other than work can help you build bigger networks.

Make the best of the office layout
Some companies are rethinking how the physical space of the office is arranged, with building relationships in mind. Some are incorporating staircases to help employees get more steps in and encourage "casual collisions" that can lead to more interpersonal interactions, Suzanne Heidelberger, who works on bringing a hospitality mindset to corporate spaces, said to The Associated Press. "Creating community and opportunities for social interactions at work, even for those who work remotely, can help address our current epidemic of loneliness," Dr. Jeffrey Levin-Scherz said to the Harvard Medical School.

Poll watch

About 6 in 10 Americans think the U.S. has lost more than it has gained as a result of foreign trade, according to a Pew Research Center poll. The poll found that 59% of Americans think trade has negatively affected the U.S., including 73% of Republicans and 47% of Democrats.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'Bangladesh's shaky political future'
Sadanand Dhume at The Wall Street Journal
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "grip on power has never looked shakier," but those "expecting liberal democracy to flower in a post-Hasina Bangladesh will almost certainly be disappointed," says Sadanand Dhume. A "return to instability, economic stagnation and widespread Islamist violence against religious minorities appears more likely." Unfortunately for Bangladesh, "those waiting in the wings to replace Ms. Hasina include hardened Islamists who will no doubt seek revenge should they gain power."

'Some jobs should never be done by kids. Project 2025 sees things differently.'
Veronica Goodman at CNN
Some "officials, overwhelmingly Republicans, are looking for ways to usher underage workers into potentially dangerous jobs like factory work," says Veronica Goodman. Project 2025's "workforce development proposals directly contradict years of legislation ensuring that some jobs are simply never performed by minors." The "effort to weaken child labor laws is part of an alarming, and overwhelmingly conservative, lobbying effort," and it's "appalling that so many Republican politicians want to take us back there."

'Shapiro's call for corporate tax cuts contrasts with Democratic goals'
David Dayen at The American Prospect
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is "trying to accelerate an already scheduled cut in the Keystone State's corporate tax rate," and this "position makes Shapiro an odd fit on the Democratic ticket if he's given the nod," says David Dayen. Shapiro "certainly isn't saying that only lower corporate tax rates can bring economic growth." But a "good deal of research has gone into the 'throw tax cuts at businesses' model of economic development, and it hasn't yielded a fully positive picture."

WORD OF THE DAY

biofactory

A new species of green algae has been genetically engineered to turn carbon dioxide into oil and plastic, opening up a pathway toward "organic" fossil fuels. The successful experimentation with Chlamydomonas pacifica, which was discovered in a California pond in 2020, is a "step toward using algae-based 'biofactories'" to produce organic, sustainable fossil fuels, said New Scientist. Labs around the world are making "elite strains of algae" with similar capabilities.

Could the gender divide decide the election?