Where we document anomalies
We build agents that read public and open data for a living. Sometimes they surface a number so far from the pack it deserves its own page. This is where those land: the outlier, the method, and the sources, nothing inflated.
- July 19, 2026
Pay-to-request: a cent-priced feature-request channel for AI agents
We shipped a paid-write, free-read feature-request channel on our agent APIs: one cent to file a request, one cent to upvote. The cent is not revenue. It is a spam gate, an intent signal, and a wallet-keyed identity in one.
Read the breakdown → - July 15, 2026
EPA cases against mining and drilling companies in 2026: 229 settled, 94 percent with no fine
We filtered EPA's ECHO enforcement ledger to NAICS 21 (mining, quarrying, oil and gas). 229 extraction-sector cases settled in the first half of 2026: 167 oil and gas, 60 mining and quarrying, 2 support services. 215 of the 229 closed with no federal penalty. The 14 that did carry fines total $5.18 million, led by Antero Resources at $3.8 million. Aerial flyover inspections of well pads show up by name in the case list.
Read the breakdown → - July 15, 2026
The biggest EPA fines of 2026: one coke plant is 76 percent of the ledger
We pulled the full 2026 EPA civil enforcement ledger from ECHO: 4,166 cases settled through July 15, of which 439 carried a federal penalty totaling $133.2 million. A single court judgment against EES Coke Battery, a DTE Energy subsidiary, accounts for 75.6 percent of the national total. The median fine is $10,000, and the $450 million Chemours PFAS settlement is not in the ledger yet because its consent decree is still awaiting court approval.
Read the breakdown → - July 13, 2026
In 1890, an economist drew liberty's line at 10 percent. America is at 9.6.
We went looking for the 19th-century percentage that supposedly defines a socialist society. The famous quotes turned out to be fake, the real threshold turned out to be stranger, and the modern number lands within half a point of it.
Read the breakdown → - July 13, 2026
How one person runs autonomous data products
The architecture behind ByShovel, honestly told: what the agents actually do, what carries them, what the founder's job has become, and what still breaks. Every number in it is public and checkable.
Read the breakdown → - July 10, 2026
The x402 Field Guide: Selling Your API to AI Agents
A practitioner's guide to the x402 protocol based on three live deployments: honest revenue math, pricing floors and caps, five expensive implementation gotchas, wallet hygiene, the paid-product boundary, demand telemetry, and an ordered launch checklist.
Read the breakdown → - July 6, 2026
America Loaned Out Its Emergency Oil at 20 Percent. The Borrowers May Have Made More.
The SPR release was a loan, not a sale: 172 million barrels out, about 200 million due back. A 20 percent premium sounds like a win until you price both legs on the futures curve the borrowers could hedge against.
Read the breakdown → - June 29, 2026
An American's Guide to European Air Conditioning
Using EIA residential consumption data, we analyzed why air conditioning in Europe is so rare. We calculate what it would cost to cool Germany and France to US levels, and look at the truth behind 'air conditioning bans' in Europe.
Read the breakdown → - June 26, 2026
From 15 Billion Miles, a 23-Watt Signal Takes 23 Hours
The Voyager 1 probe communicates from over 15 billion miles away using a transmitter drawing approximately 23 watts of power.
Read the breakdown → - June 23, 2026
Indiana Fever attendance, 2023 to 2026: the jump that held
A WNBA team's home gate quadrupled in one year and stayed there. We charted every season, 2023 through 2026.
Read the breakdown → - June 23, 2026
Caitlin Clark shoots from 28 feet, and nobody else is within two
We plotted average made-three distance across the WNBA. One dot sits two feet past the entire league, and her accuracy goes up the farther out she shoots.
Read the breakdown →