Fed Rates, Platypus Discovery, & RoboTennis

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Adam Rogers
March 19, 2026

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The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at 3.6% for the second straight meeting, projecting the Iran war will worsen inflation this year but still forecasting one rate cut in 2026. Gas prices hit a national average of $3.84 a gallon, up 92 cents in a month, pushing the Fed's year-end inflation forecast to 2.7%, up from December.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said higher oil prices will elevate inflation in the short term, but it is "too soon to know" the full economic impact. The Fed projects unemployment will hold at 4.4% and the economy will grow 2.4% this year, despite businesses shedding 92,000 jobs in February. Stocks tanked after the decision — the S&P 500 dropped 1.3%, the Nasdaq fell 1.4%, and the Dow lost 1.6%
Powell also said he has "no intention" of leaving before a DOJ investigation into Fed building renovations concludes. His term ends May 15; Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh as his replacement.

Two contentious Senate hearings yesterday put Trump administration officials on defense over the Iran war, immigration enforcement, and domestic intelligence operations.
DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin faced a hostile reception from committee chair Rand Paul, who questioned whether a man with "anger issues" should lead ICE and border patrol agents. Paul also flagged that the FBI found no record of classified foreign travel Mullin claims to have taken, threatening to cancel Thursday's confirmation vote. Mullin signaled potential policy shifts from predecessor Kristi Noem — committing to require judicial warrants before agents enter homes or businesses and ruling out DHS officers at polling places. He also walked back calling Minneapolis shooting victim Alex Pretti a "deranged individual."
Elsewhere, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard repeatedly deflected questions about whether she warned Trump that Iran would block the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. Democrats also pressed her on outdated intelligence that allegedly led to a missile strike killing 165 people at an Iranian elementary school.

Two centuries after scientists first struggled to classify the platypus — an egg-laying, venomous, electricity-sensing mammal that glows under ultraviolet light — the animal has added another biological mystery to its resume. A study published in Biology Letters found that platypus fur contains spherical, hollow melanosomes unlike anything found in any other vertebrate.
Melanosomes are cellular structures that produce and store pigment. Hollow melanosomes were previously known only in birds, where they create iridescent colors — but the platypus version is hollow like a bird's yet spherical, a combination found nowhere else in nature. The structures produce only brown, not the bright colors hollow melanosomes typically generate, and scientists cannot explain why they exist.
The hollow melanosomes are absent even in echidnas, the platypus's closest relative, deepening the mystery of how and why they evolved.

TSA sick calls have surged past 10% nationwide during the government shutdown, causing two-hour security lines and prompting warnings that some airports could be forced to close. (More)

A federal judge struck down Arkansas's law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms, a ruling that could set up a Supreme Court showdown. (More)

The US Postal Service wants to raise first-class stamp prices from 78 cents to as high as 95 cents, warning it could run out of cash within a year. (More)

President Trump pushed back his planned summit with China's Xi Jinping by five or six weeks, saying he needs Beijing's help reopening the Strait of Hormuz before the visit. (More)

A prominent pro-Kremlin lawyer with 90,000 followers stunned Russia's online sphere by publicly calling Putin a war criminal and demanding he resign and stand trial. (More)

Australia's federal watchdog found New South Wales police illegally used surveillance powers to monitor phones and computers of people suspected of minor crimes that carry no jail time. (More)

President Trump suspended the Jones Act for 60 days to let foreign tankers carry fuel between US ports, trying to stabilize oil prices as the Iran war pushes crude toward $107 a barrel. (More)

Meta is paying creators up to $3,000 a month to bring their TikTok and YouTube followings to Facebook, where the company has long struggled to attract top talent. (More)

Josh D'Amaro officially became Disney's CEO on Wednesday, succeeding Bob Iger. (More)

The WNBA and its players' union struck a verbal deal Wednesday, ending a drawn-out fight over salaries and revenue sharing that had threatened the upcoming season. (More)

The Hockey Hall of Fame is keeping the puck from Jack Hughes' Olympic gold-medal goal, saying it was donated by the International Hockey Federation and isn't Hughes' to claim. (More)

Lionel Messi scored his 900th career goal, finding the net in the seventh minute for Inter Miami against Nashville SC in the Concacaf Champions Cup. (More)

Archaeologists in Dijon, France, have now found five ancient Gaul skeletons buried upright in circular pits facing west, part of a cluster dating to around 300BC that scientists can't yet explain. (More)

MIT researchers found that biodegradable plastics require a team of bacteria to break down fully, with each species handling different chemical steps, pointing toward better recycling systems. (More)

Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in Americans under 50, with cases rising every year since 2013, according to a new American Cancer Society study. (More)

The art pieces museums consider to be their “Mona Lisa.”

Watch a robot play tennis with 96% accuracy.

A visual guide to how men and women spend their time in the US.

Man arrested in Thailand for climbing into hippo Moo Deng’s enclosure.

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