** Avalanche in the Dark**
The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has released its first scientific payload, and it’s a cosmos-shaking haul. Early data reveals exquisitely detailed maps of dark matter, distant galaxies and gravitational lensing, all captured with 100 times the precision of earlier surveys. With only a fraction of the sky mapped, scientists are already rethinking how the universe fits together.
** Inflation Is Not Just Prices**
John Cochrane breaks down a widespread misconception: rising prices of some goods do not equal inflation. Inflation is about the value of money, not just the cost of TVs or tariffs. Price shifts in specific sectors reflect changes in relative demand or supply, but overall inflation only happens when monetary or fiscal policy shifts the entire price level. Blaming inflation on greedy firms, tariffs or productivity gains misses the point. Without a move in the nominal anchor, there’s no lasting inflation.
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** The Protocol Behind Smarter AI Tools**
AI agents are getting more capable, but they still struggle to work across tools in a clean, unified way. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) aims to fix this by creating a shared standard for how AI interacts with external systems. MCP lets agents fetch data, run commands and chain actions across apps like Slack, Resend or Blender. Andreessen Horowitz explores how developers are already building with MCP, how marketplaces and hosting platforms are emerging, and why this protocol might become the control layer for the agent-powered web.