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An 80,000-year trip to the star next door: The Fermi Explorer Mission, a Seattle-area nonprofit founded by the team behind Redmond satellite venture Starcloud, unveiled plans to send a probe to Alpha Centauri, launching by the end of 2029 on a budget under $15 million and arriving around the year 82026.
- Why bother, when we’ll all be long gone? Co-founder Philip Johnston says he wants to draw attention to the physicist Enrico Fermi’s paradox: if the universe is full of intelligent life, we should have already met some from another world. One possible explanation is that nobody ever leaves home. Johnston would like to rule that out.
Headset settles with feds over COVID loan: Seattle cannabis analytics startup Headset agreed to pay more than $1 million over a 2021 pandemic relief loan the government said it was never eligible for, because marijuana is illegal under federal law. The case began with a whistleblower suit from Sidesolve, a firm that uses AI to comb public records for pandemic loan fraud. Headset, founded by three Leafly alumni, admitted no wrongdoing.
Juno Propulsion secures $1.2M NSF grant: The funding supports a two-year project with the University of Washington to advance Juno’s non-toxic, rotating detonation rocket engine — bringing the high-efficiency system closer to production ahead of a 2027 orbital test flight.
Amazon sued over ad pricing: State attorneys general and federal regulators have sued Amazon, alleging the tech giant deceptively inflated advertising prices by $20 billion through fake auction participants and hidden surcharges. Amazon denies the claims, arguing that its pricing structure reflects standard industry approaches and relies on ad relevance, boosting performance for advertisers.
Compass settles with NWMLS: The brokerage and Washington’s Northwest Multiple Listing Service ended a 16-month antitrust fight over how homes can be marketed before they hit the open market. Under the deal, sellers get a 21-day window to hold showings and take offers before a listing goes public.
A bobcat inside a home as seen on video captured by a Kirkland Police Department drone. (Kirkland Police Department Image)
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Cat burglar caught on drone video: Kirkland (Wash.) Police responding to a call of a possible intruder found a bobcat inside a home. An unmanned aircraft was deployed to monitor the animal and help corral it into a room before it was safely removed.
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