President Trump may have just dramatically slashed the size of two national monuments in Utah, but America’s 59 national parks — as well as over 270 other national park sites — cannot be unilaterally downsized by Trump or any other president. 

The legal reason is simple and inarguable:

“National parks can only be established by Congress, and everyone agrees they can only be undone, if at all, by Congress,” Holly Doremus, a natural resources law expert at University of California, Berkeley, told Mashable in an email. 

More about National Parks, National Monument, President Trump, Environmental Protection, and Ryan Zinke
Source: Mashable | Trump shrank 2 national monuments by nearly 2 million acres. He can't do that to Yellowstone.

Four mulled wines, three gulps of eggnog, two hot buttered rums, and a partridge in a pear tree raging hangover. Sound familiar?

With so many festive winter libations sipped and sloshed around the holiday season, it’s only a matter of time before some tipsy guest accidentally knocks over a glass (or three) — unless you’re the proud owner of a set of Aura Glasses, that is.

Designed with your clumsy Aunt Brenda in mind, each piece of Aura Glass’ non-spill glassware pivots on a high-grade stainless steel ball to safeguard your drink from accidental spills. This patented design also promotes aeration, thus making it perfect for wine. As an added bonus, these glasses make for some fun mid-party entertainment, as they spin ’round and ’round with the mere touch of a finger. It’s a win-win-win, basically. Read more…

More about Holidays, Gifts, Holiday, Wine, and Wine Glass
Source: Mashable | Your clumsiest holiday party guest is no match for these non-spill wine glasses

Sizing up Bitcoin is a tall order. Even as the price of one bitcoin soared above $10,000, a debate raged over what, exactly, Bitcoin is: A digital store of value, a revolutionary payment platform, or the promise of a completely new, blockchain-based financial system. 

The truth is that Bitcoin is all of those things, but whether it’ll succeed as all three — or any of them — remains to be seen. 

Bitcoin’s price increased tenfold in 2017 and moved into the media mainstream. But for all the headlines and Bitcoin billionaires, the underlying technology mostly stood still. A significant (and highly controversial) upgrade of its software fell through. And the earlier, minor upgrade still isn’t widely used yet.  Read more…

More about Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Tech, and Sharing Economy
Source: Mashable | This was Bitcoin's big year, but where does it go from here?