There’s a pretty funny article on CNN.com today – it turns out that the cost of the United States one-cent coin (a.k.a. the ‘penny’) has been rising for the last few years. It is currently 97.6% zinc & 2.4% copper, and since the price of “”https://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm">zinc is up 76% this year [and the price of] copper is up 68%," the penny currently costs 1.4 cents to make.

So Representative Jim Kolbe wants to implement the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation Act [COIN Act – clever, no?]. If passed, all “”https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/01/news/newsmakers/penny/index.htm">cash transactions ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents [would] be rounded down to the nearest 5 cents, while transactions ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents would round up. Credit and debit card transactions could still be valued to the nearest cent."

Two potential problems with this act? “”https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/01/news/newsmakers/penny/index.htm">Americans overwhelmingly want the penny … They also hate rounding."

Joshua

Joshua Finkelstein (Associate Editor, Nature)

Mouse trials show small gain from implanted human cells.

A company set to begin clinical trials of a stem-cell treatment for a fatal brain disease has announced that the treatment boosts survival in a mouse model.

Read the story here.