Energy

Nuclear plant goes from meltdown to Microsoft

This might just be the biggest comeback story in nuclear energy. Three Mile Island, the home to the worst nuclear accident in US history, will come back online by 2028 to bring power to Microsoft.

The owner of the Pennsylvania power plant, Constellation Energy, signed a two-decade power agreement with the tech giant. The only undamaged reactor at the plant will reportedly supply power to Microsoft, which needs more energy to fuel its rapid AI expansion.

Mega meltdown

One of the reactors at Three Mile Island suffered a coolant loop failure that led to the reactor core overheating in 1979, which resulted in a partial nuclear meltdown in the plant's second reactor.

The incident resulted in small quantities of radioactive gas and iodine escaping into the environment, but no injuries or deaths were reported. There were also no public health effects found as a result of the meltdown.

• The first reactor (the one Microsoft will use) was operational until 2019 when it was shut down for financial reasons.

• Negative publicity combined with competition from natural gas companies also contributed to the shutdown.

Since the reactors were shut down, big tech has increasingly been scouting nuclear energy, as it provides 24/7 clean energy and massive amounts of power.

Reactor resurgence

Nuclear energy has seen a surge in interest lately, not only from big tech, but from pretty much everyone.

Due to the electricity needs of EVs, domestic manufacturing, and particularly data centers servicing the power-hungry AI surge (which is expected to harvest 1.5% of global electricity by 2029), nuclear energy is looking even more appealing.

• Relaunching the unharmed reactor that was shuttered five years ago will cost Constellation $1.6 billion.

• Once the company gets approval from regulators and some new hardware, Constellation is hoping to have it operational for Microsoft to use by 2028.

  • The reactor should generate 835 megawatts, which is equivalent to the amount of energy needed to supply 700,000 homes with electricity.

Not to mention, the government has been giving subsidies for nuclear power, but Constellation stated that in order to minimize regulatory delays and begin restoration as soon as possible, it will not accept any.

Three Mile Island isn’t the only nuclear contract Microsoft has to power its AI needs either. The tech giant has another contract with the same company, Constellation, to power one of its data centers in Virginia.

Nuclear energy is a hot topic: Amazon also bought a data center in Pennsylvania that is fueled by nuclear energy. Plus, a nuclear power plant in Michigan is receiving almost $2 billion from the federal and state governments to restart operations.

P.S. Wondering why AI requires the same amount of power as 700,000 homes (or more)? Click here for a deep dive.

Business

Nike is in a downward spiral… can its new CEO save them?

When in doubt, fire your chief executive. Nike announced last week it was pulling its CEO, Jack Donahoe, and replacing him with a retired employee who’s been with the company for decades. Will it turn the business around?

Hopefully, since Bloomberg called Donahoe “The Man Who Made Nike Uncool” in a recent report about his shortcomings as the world’s leading sports brand’s CEO.

A respected replacement

Just the news that Nike was getting rid of its CEO sent the sneaker giant's stock up 10%, showing investors were clearly happy, but so were those who work at the company.

• Fast Company noted that employees were “jubilant,” and bottles of prosecco were showered all over the office, according to Bloomberg.

• Many employees even left work early on Thursday to celebrate.

No one could be happier to accept Donahoe’s replacement, longtime Nike veteran Elliot Hill, either. According to former Nike employees “praise of Hill is unanimous” and he is “very respected” within the company.

• The former creative global director, Scott Touidjine-Williams, noted that Hill was “one of the most outstanding C-suite executives” he’s ever worked with.

After all, the company lost $40 billion in market value with Donahoe at the helm, and with a highly respected replacement, things are looking good going forward. That being said, there is a lot of work to be done.

Downward spiral

After the announcement that he would become the company’s new CEO, Hill said “things haven’t been easy,” and there isn’t really a better way to say it:

• Before the leadership change, Nike's stock had dropped by almost 25% so far this year.

  • This was primarily due to the company’s stock plummeting 20% on June 28th alone, erasing $28 billion from its market cap after a dismal earning call.

• The earnings call was the culmination of years of restructuring where Nike focused on direct-to-consumer sales, pulling out of retailers while competitors took its shelf space.

• The sneaker giant also failed to give shoe enthusiasts enough to keep buying, struggling to innovate while rival companies took its business.

Fresh start: Now, when Hill returns on October 14, everyone is waiting for him to put shoe innovation and collaboration back at the forefront and to mend retailer ties. Most are expecting Hill to have a strong start, as he has established ties and a three-decade career at Nike to lean off of.

Tupperware is going extinct… seriously

Okay, it might not be as dire as the illustration depicts but they’re still out of money. Last week, Tupperware Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a result of its struggles to remain relevant in a world dominated by e-commerce along with sales continuing to decline since the pandemic.

Tupperware has a long history: It quickly gained popularity in the mid-1900s with women who threw "Tupperware parties," however, its approach to sales hasn't changed much since then.

Much of Tupperware's growth was limited to its direct sales technique and even as internet sales surged and competitors' growth soared, it wasn't until 2022 that Tupperware began selling regularly through big-box stores like Amazon and Target.

Not iconic enough, apparently

One would think something iconic enough that everyone uses its name as a stand-in for products similar to it (like how Kleenex is to tissues) would be able to stand on its own two feet. That is not the case for the nearly 80-year-old brand:

• In its bankruptcy petition, the company said it was $1.2 billion in debt with only around $680 million in total assets.

Tupperware should be able to “protect its iconic brand” and restructure to fit the changing landscape of the container industry by declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its CEO, Laurie Ann Goldman said the process is needed to provide “essential flexibility.”

Going forward: Tupperware is hoping to find someone to buy them out, a task which should prove difficult with its large debt load and meager standing in retail stores.

Grab Bag

Mr. Beast finds himself in yet another controversy

The famous giveaway YouTuber has found himself in some hot water. Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, the uber-popular YouTube personality, is being hit with a lawsuit, along with Amazon, by contestants of the (supposedly) soon-to-be-released game show Beast Games.

The game show, which features “over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 prize, and many other world records,” according to Donaldson, is set to be the largest (in terms of contestants and prize pool) ever made.

Let the games begin

Five anonymous candidates are suing in a class-action complaint, claiming they were coerced into hazardous situations and denied pay while filming in Las Vegas. According to the lawsuit:

• Contestants were not provided medical care or breaks during filming and were barely fed.

• Multiple contestants were hospitalized during the filming of the show.

• Female participants reported sexual harassment throughout the filming of the show, which went unaddressed when brought up to producers.

This isn’t the first controversy: The YouTube mogul faced intense criticism this past week for releasing a competitor to Lunchables that purports to be "healthier" but is anything but that. He also dismissed an employee in July after they were accused of grooming children.

Additionally, last month, old tapes leaked of MrBeast spouting homophobic and racist obscenities. On one occasion, Donaldson was seen on video responding to a viewer who commented about “selling” black people, to which he said, “The most I would pay is probably 300.”

Welcome to the world of weird Nobel prizes

The only place where you get a medal for proving animals can breathe through their butts. Earlier this month at MIT, the annual Ig Nobel Prizes were given out, showcasing a somewhat satirical, yet thought-provoking scientific community.

The winners, who make “people laugh, then think" were members of the scientific community that tirelessly worked and studied to bring absurd findings and achievements to the (slightly) lesser-known Nobel Prizes.

Mind-blowing science

Although the awards aren’t affiliated with the Nobel Prizes, they do offer a bit more entertainment and excitement, if you ask me. To give you the general vibe, a posthumous peace award was given to B.F. Skinner in recognition of his research into the viability of guiding pigeons by placing them inside missiles. So, yeah.

Here are just some of the winners from this year:

• A group of Japanese scientists found that mammals are able to breathe through their anuses.

• A physics prize was given to a professor for his research on dead trout's capacity to swim.

• The botany prize was to Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita for their discovery that some real plants try to resemble the leaves of surrounding artificial plants.

The findings could be used seriously, too: The researchers that investigated animal butt breathing concluded that it might be a means of supplying critically ill patients with oxygen when they are unable to use artificial lungs or ventilators.

The prize money is insane: The winner of the Ig Nobel prize is actually given 10 trillion dollars… in Zimbabwean money. It goes for $22 on eBay, so it’s safe to say most of them are in it for the fun, which honestly makes it better.

Fast Facts

Rat Resistance: The nation's public health professionals gathered in NYC last week for the inaugural National Urban Rat Summit to explore methods for removing rodents from urban areas.

Snake Snatcher: A Florida man (the good kind) captured and killed 20 Burmese pythons from the Everglades to win the state's annual Python Challenge.

Shark Snack: Amazon is introducing an entrepreneur competition series modeled after Shark Tank, including a panel of celebrity judges such as Gwyneth Paltrow.

Burger Belly: FiveGuys apparently has the unhealthiest cheeseburgers, according to a digital primary care site. The food item scored 50 on the “unhealthiness score,” boasting almost 1000 calories and 27 grams of unsaturated fat.

Shotty Sheriff: A sheriff in an isolated part of Kentucky turned himself in and was subsequently charged with killing a local judge who was shot to death in his chambers.