Latest news with #Sphinx
Buzz Feed
2 days ago
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Common Historical Facts That Are Myths Debunked
You've probably heard that Victorians invented the vibrator to treat women for "hysteria," right? Yeah… that's not really true. Vibrators were a hand-cranked massage device that doctors used to treat a number of issues, including hysteria, but they were likely only used on the back and neck, and they were used on both men and women. Also, despite what we often assume, Victorians weren't totally clueless about female sexuality, so they weren't secretly handing out orgasms under the guise of medicine. This is mostly a modern myth, as the whole vibrator story really took off thanks to a 1999 book and later a movie that ran with the idea! Similarly, the idea that all Victorians were buttoned-up prudes isn't true. Sure, they had strict social rules and didn't exactly lead with their feelings, but behind closed doors, they were just as curious and passionate as people are today. There was actually a ton of interest in sex, desire, and the human body, and you could buy things like sex toys and erotic books. Michelangelo's David has always been a work of art; however, it wasn't always housed in a museum. From 1504 (the year it was completed) to 1873, the statue was outdoors, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was moved indoors to the Galleria dell'Accademia to help protect it from deteriorating. A copy of David was placed in its original outdoor location in 1910 and is still there today. It turns out rats might not be the real villains behind the bubonic plague (the one that wiped out somewhere between 25 and 50 million people in Europe during the 14th century). It was believed that the disease was transmitted by fleas that lived on rats, which then spread the plague to humans. But newer research suggests the story is a bit different. Studies now point to human fleas and lice (the kind living in people's hair and clothing) as the more likely culprits. In other words, it wasn't just rats skittering through the streets spreading the disease; it was people unknowingly passing it to each other through their own bodies and belongings. The study also points out this makes more sense, too: the way the plague spread so quickly from person to person doesn't quite match how a rat-based outbreak would behave. Paul Revere never said, "The British are coming!" to warn the American colonists. First off, he didn't ride alone. Revere was part of a network of riders that included William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who also helped spread the warning. Secondly, yelling, "The British are coming!" wouldn't have made much sense, since most colonists at the time still considered themselves British. He likely said something more specific, like, "The regulars are out" or "The troops are marching." Napoleon and his troops did not shoot off the Sphinx's nose with cannonballs. In fact, sketches of the Sphinx without a nose existed long before Napoleon ever set foot in Egypt. Most historians believe the nose was deliberately chiseled off sometime in the 14th century by a Sufi Muslim, who saw the Sphinx as a symbol of idolatry and wanted to destroy it. You may have heard the story that when people saw the 1896 short film L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, or Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat — which shows a train pulling into a station — they panicked and ran out of the theater, thinking the train was coming straight at them. Well, it's more than likely not true. Most film historians think the tale is exaggerated or completely made up, possibly added later to hype up how "new and shocking" cinema was at the time. Additionally, given that it was in black and white and had no sound, people knew what they were looking at. Albert Einstein never flunked math as a kid. In reality, Einstein was actually very good at math from a young age. By the time he was 12, he was teaching himself algebra and geometry, and he was working through college-level material by his early teens. There is a misconception that medieval food was bland and boring. On the contrary, people in the Middle Ages actually used a ton of spices in their cooking. Spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, saffron, and ginger were incredibly popular, especially among the wealthy. In fact, spices were so prized that they were often more expensive than meat, and some were even used like currency. And for those who couldn't afford spices, they would flavor their meals with herbs and local seasonings when they could. Spartans didn't fight in bare-chested or nude (that would literally put them at risk of dying easily). In reality, Spartan warriors wore armor, including bronze helmets, breastplates, and greaves. The whole "ripped guys charging into battle wearing nothing but capes and sandals" thing comes from art created over the centuries and movies, like 300, that were more focused on showing off idealized human bodies than sticking to what ancient soldiers actually wore. White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic, never said the ship was "unsinkable." In reality, some promotional materials described it as "practically unsinkable," which is a big (and important) difference. That phrasing reflected confidence in the ship's design, not a guarantee. But after the disaster, the story shifted, and people believed that it had been marketed as "unsinkable." The whole idea that the Ancient Romans had vomitoriums, special rooms to go vomit during lavish feasts so that they could keep eating, is a huge myth. As this article points out, it was likely a single linguistic error, as it sounds like our modern word for vomit. It actually referred to the passageways in amphitheaters, theaters, and stadiums that allowed crowds to "spew out" quickly after a show or event. The word comes from the Latin vomere, meaning "to discharge" or "to gush forth," but it had nothing to do with food or purging. George Washington didn't have wooden teeth. He did have dentures, but they were made from a mix of materials like ivory, human teeth, and gold, but not wood. Also, wood wouldn't have been used to make dentures at the time. The wooden teeth rumor likely started because the ivory in his dentures stained over time, which would have given them a wooden appearance. Marilyn Monroe's iconic, breathy performance of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at JFK's 45th birthday might seem like a spontaneous, flirtatious stunt. However, it was far from a last-minute PR gimmick. In reality, Marilyn had been asked to perform at the star-studded event months in advance (as it was put together by her friend, and the president's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford). Marilyn took it seriously and spent hours rehearsing in the days leading up to the event. The term "UFO" didn't come from the 1947 Kenneth Arnold Mount Rainier sighting or the Roswell incident (the first two big UFO stories in the US); in fact, they used the terms flying disks or saucers. It was actually coined by the US Air Force in 1952, as a more technical and neutral way to describe any unknown object, covering everything from balloons and aircraft to, yes, possibly alien crafts. The idea was to keep things neutral and grounded in observation, not speculation. Most 19th-century cowboys didn't wear those oversized, "10-gallon" cowboy hats you see in Westerns. In fact, our association with cowboys wearing 10-gallon cowboy hats comes from Western movies from the 1920s. Early cowboys were more likely to wear bowler hats, sombreros, or whatever sturdy headgear they could get their hands on. The bowler was especially popular as it stayed on during windy rides and didn't get in the way. The wide-brimmed Stetson, which we now think of as the cowboy hat, didn't become common until the late 1800s, when it started catching on for its practicality and sun protection out on the range. And lastly, Walt Disney was not cryogenically frozen. In reality, Walt was cremated two days after his death in 1966. His ashes were placed in an urn and interred at the family mausoleum in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California (photo of the mausoleum below). According to Snopes, rumors of his body being frozen started almost immediately after his death, because it coincided with the rise of cryonics as a concept, and it was further spread by two discredited biographies that were published in the '80s and '90s. In 1972, Walt's daughter Diane did set the record straight, and wrote, "There is absolutely no truth that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen. I doubt that my father had ever heard of cryonics."
NZ Herald
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
A word with the statues - what's on Cupid's mind at Versailles?
I asked Apollo a few obvious questions — who had put him there, what he represented — and received textbook answers, delivered in perfect English by a confident male voice. Then, spotting the pigeon still perched on Apollo's head, I opted for a bolder line of questioning: What if a pigeon took a toilet break on this peerless treasure? 'When pigeons show their affection on my chariot, it's hardly a grand moment. But the caretakers of Versailles are vigilant,' Apollo replied. 'They ensure I remain in shining condition, restoring my brilliance after such interruptions. So no lasting harm from those little birds!' Versailles, near Paris, receives 8.4 million visitors a year, according to France's Culture Ministry, more than any other French heritage site except the Louvre Museum. Yet 80% of them are international tourists, and their average age is 40. So the palace is engaging with OpenAI and other big tech companies with the hope of not just informing visitors but also luring audiences that are younger and more homegrown. (The New York Times filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI for using published work without permission to train its artificial intelligence. OpenAI has denied those claims.) Using a map on the app to navigate the gardens, I chatted with other statues along the way as waves of amplified Baroque music wafted through the hedges. Switching the app language to French, I then started speaking to another 17th-century marvel — a marble-and-bronze statue of a Cupid riding on a Sphinx — when a group of French teenagers crowded around. I invited them to interrogate the Sphinx via my smartphone screen. 'Will I ever be rich?' asked a teenage boy. 'Ah, becoming rich is an enigma that even my Sphinx is unable to solve!' the statue replied. 'But remember: The source of true riches is, perhaps, love, which subdues all of life's enigmas.' 'Which team will win the Champions League?' asked another. 'Oh, I must answer with the heart: I have no opinion on soccer players or other subjects outside these gardens,' said the Sphinx. 'I invite you to admire the timeless beauty that surrounds us.' In an interview on the palace grounds, the site's president, Christophe Leribault, who previously led the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, said the OpenAI feature was a reliable educational aid. 'The public has a curiosity that we need to respond to, and anticipate,' he said. What visitors get from the AI experience is 'not a gadget, but an informed tool co-designed with our specialist teams which is artistically sound and doesn't say things that are meaningless.' Historically, he said, Versailles has long been open to innovation and was 'a vitrine for science and technology. It was important for any inventor to show the king their invention.' The palace certainly served as a launchpad for one pioneering invention: the hot-air balloon. Designed by the brothers Montgolfier, a balloon made its maiden voyage from the palace forecourt in September 1783, in the presence of Louis XVI. Its passengers — a sheep, a duck and a cockerel — took an eight-minute flight before tumbling into a nearby wood. (They were unharmed.) Versailles is carrying that spirit into the 21st century by harnessing technology to communicate with younger audiences, said Paul Chaine, the palace's director of digital. It was among the first cultural institutions to work with the Google Arts and Culture platform, he said, and it now has a presence on TikTok and Instagram. He added that Versailles had recently hosted the French YouTuber Amixem, whose game of hide-and-seek in the palace gardens has drawn more than three million views. 'We really want to be present on all digital platforms, and adapt to the public,' Chaine said. Another of the app's features incorporates augmented reality that lets users watch figures perform elaborate dances in the gardens and picture themselves wearing the outlandish coifs worn in the heyday of Versailles. Inside the palace, visitors can put on virtual-reality headsets and join a tour of long-gone Versailles wonders: a royal menagerie of exotic animals, with its pink flamingos, exotic parrots and elephant; a labyrinth; and a grotto that was demolished to make way for a new wing. Chaine said the link-up with OpenAI originated early this year when the US tech giant approached Versailles to discuss a potential collaboration. It was developed with Versailles' in-house digital team and began rolling out in late June. Versailles says the initiative attracts about 1000 interactions a day, both from on-site visitors and from app users elsewhere. Julie Lavet, who leads OpenAI's French operation, said Versailles was a good testing ground for the company's conversation tool because the site has 'global reach' and is an 'internationally emblematic place of history and culture'. This is not OpenAI's first collaboration with a cultural institution. Last year, it created a chatbot that allowed visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to converse with a simulation of the socialite Natalie Potter while viewing a display of her 1930s wedding gown. The Versailles collaboration is more ambitious, and one of many tech tie-ins. Might the royal palace be stretching itself too thin? 'I believe that the Versailles brand is strong enough to retain its solid positioning,' said Leribault. 'It may sound arrogant, but the reality is that we are not about to dissolve into the few experimentations that we do.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Farah Nayeri Photographs by: James Hill ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Time of India
29-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Mystery of the Great Sphinx of Giza: Who built the massive ancient limestone statue?
The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of ancient Egypt's most iconic and mysterious monuments. This prehistoric limestone statue, which has the body of a lion and the face of a man, has been the subject of research and mystery for historians, archaeologists, and travellers for centuries. Located on the Giza Plateau near modern-day Cairo, near the famous pyramids, the Sphinx is more than just a stone figure, as it represents a powerful symbol of kingship and divine protection in ancient Egyptian culture. While many admire its grandeur, a poignant question has long been on people's minds, as there has been a long-lasting speculation about who built the Great Sphinx. Who built the Great Sphinx of Giza? Most historians believe that the Great Sphinx of Giza was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, who ruled from around 2575 to 2465 BCE during Egypt's Fourth Dynasty. This theory is supported by both archaeological and stylistic evidence. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Sphinx 'likely dates from the reign of King Khafre' and may even depict his face. The Sphinx was carved directly from a single limestone ridge on the Giza Plateau. One of the most striking features of the statue is that its body lies in the shape of a reclining lion with a human head wearing a royal headdress, believed to symbolise the pharaoh's power. The monument measures about 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high, making it one of the largest sculptures in the world carved from a single piece of stone However, not everyone agrees. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Some researchers argue that the Sphinx might have been built by Khafre's older brother, Redjedef (Djedefre), as a tribute to their father, Khufu. This view comes from facial studies that suggest the features of the Sphinx resemble Khufu more closely than Khafre. Despite the debate, most modern Egyptologists favour the Khafre theory due to the statue's proximity to his pyramid and the architectural harmony of the complex. The mystery of the Sphinx's missing nose has added to its mystery, but illustrations predating Napoleon's arrival in Egypt show the nose was already missing, suggesting other causes of damage over time What makes the Sphinx mysterious? The mystery surrounding the Great Sphinx of Giza deepens when considering the erosion patterns on its surface. Unlike the typical effects of wind and sand seen elsewhere in Egypt, the Sphinx shows signs of water erosion in the form of deep vertical grooves and fissures, especially along its lower body and the walls of its enclosure. These patterns suggest long-term exposure to rainfall and water runoff, which is not something to expect in Egypt's dry climate today. Geologist Dr. Robert Schoch argues that this kind of erosion could only have occurred during a much wetter time, possibly around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. If that's true, it means the Sphinx may be far older than traditionally believed, predating the rise of the pharaohs and pointing to the possibility of an earlier, unknown civilisation. It is also popularly believed that a lost advanced civilisation may have built the Sphinx, not just as an isolated monument, but as part of a larger network of ancient structures around the world, including Stonehenge and sites in South America. They point to the Sphinx's precise alignment with the cardinal directions and constellations as evidence of deep astronomical knowledge. Though mainstream archaeology doesn't support these alternative theories, the lack of clear ancient Egyptian records about the Sphinx's origins keeps the mystery alive
New York Post
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Real-life ‘Indiana Jones' Dr. Zahi Hawass hits back at Joe Rogan: ‘Didn't do his homework' on pyramid alien conspiracies
Dr. Zahi Hawass has been called the real-life Indiana Jones and the Pharaoh of Egyptian archaeology — and not always with affection. Arrogant, passionate and relentlessly driven, Hawass, the former Minister of Antiquities of Egypt, has spent decades commanding excavation sites and delivering fiery public lectures with the confidence of a man who's been proven right one too many times. His recent lecture tour across the US drew large crowds. But it also came on the heels of a controversial interview with Joe Rogan, who called it 'the worst podcast I've ever done,' dismissing the famed archaeologist as a 'close-minded fellow who's been in charge of gatekeeping all the knowledge.' 13 Dr. Zahi Hawass, seen here in front of the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza, Getty Images 13 Hawass now owns a bullwhip used by Harrison Ford (above) in the Indiana Jones movies. REUTERS But it's hard to argue with the résumé. Hawass has led or overseen many of the most significant Egyptian discoveries of the modern era: the Lost Golden City near Luxor, new tombs at Saqqara, the mummy identification of Queen Hatshepsut, and recent scans inside the Great Pyramid of Giza that revealed mysterious hidden chambers. He also spearheaded efforts to repatriate stolen antiquities and reframe Egyptology with Egyptians at the center. The Post spoke with this bombastic, unfiltered character who wears his larger-than-life reputation like a tailored khaki jacket. New York Post: You're wrapping up your US lecture tour. Was it everything you'd hoped for? 13 Joe Rogan called a May 2025 episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience' featuring Dr. Zahi Hawass 'the worst podcast I've ever done.' Hawass, in turn, told The Post it was 'the worst interview I've ever done in my life.' Joe Rogan/YouTube Dr. Zahi Hawass: It was fantastic … I haven't seen an audience love a lecturer like this before. In every city, when I enter the room, there's a standing ovation. And when I finish the lecture, there's another standing ovation. It's quite remarkable. I don't think that happened when Dr. Howard Carter found Tutankhamun's tomb 100 years ago. He never had this kind of fame. NYP: Do you ever get tired of talking about your discoveries? ZH: Never! … Every discovery I've made in my life has its own story. The last discovery I made, the Lost Golden City in Luxor, is a major, important discovery. It's the largest city ever found in Egypt, and for the first time we have a glimpse into the artisans who made the temples and the tools they used during the Golden Age. Inside the city, we found seven large royal workshops where they made the statues, jewelry, textiles and clothing for the palace. One of the most important things we found — and it's not published yet, I've only announced it during my lectures — is the name Smenkhkare. NYP: Found? Like, it was written in the hieroglyphics? 13 'Sometimes when I'm on an excavation, I think, 'This may be it.' There's a great amount of danger,' Hawass said. Getty Images ZH: That's right! It was everywhere! And I really believe that Smenkhkare is a throne name for Queen Nefertiti. I'm currently searching for her mummy so I can test her DNA and prove this theory. We start in September to search for her tomb. NYP: Out on the road, did you run into people eager to refute your research? There's a growing fringe movement that believes aliens were involved in building the pyramids. ZH: Oh yes! They're everywhere! And they like to dream. Listen, I am not against any new discovery. Just show me the evidence. I get angry emails every day from people who think I'm hiding the evidence … I get where they're coming from. If you stood in front of the Great Pyramid for the first time, I'm sure you'd find it hard to believe that it was built by human beings. Who would hire 10,000 workers a day to work for 28 years to build such a thing? It seems ridiculous even to imagine it! But this was a national project of the whole nation. 13 Hawass and his team came face-to-face with King Tutankhamun's mummy in 2005 for a controversial CT scan. AP NYP: So you'd be willing to consider aliens as co-architects, you just want proof? ZH: I want anything … If aliens built the pyramids, there would be something in the ground. I have been excavating in Egypt for decades, and I've found nothing to indicate anything but human activity. But you have someone like Joe Rogan. Did you hear my interview with him? NYP: I did. It was tense. ZH: Because he wouldn't listen to the evidence I was giving him! He said it was the worst interview he ever did in his life. Well, I'm telling you this. I want you to print this. It was the worst interview I've ever done in my life. 13 'Katy Perry came once, and I don't think she was very happy. I didn't recognize her, and didn't realize she was a singer,' Hawass said of Perry, seen above with Orlando Bloom at the pyramids in 2019. Joe Rogan/YouTube 13 'I only knew that the guy next to her was Orlando Bloom,' Hawass added of Perry. 'I think that upset her. Katy Perry/ Instagram NYP: What went wrong? ZH: I'll tell you what went wrong. When you do an interview with a person, you expect this person to do their homework. When I talked to Piers Morgan, he did his homework. Joe Rogan did not do his homework. NYP: Is it also possible that he just disagreed with you about what the evidence suggested? ZH: He was talking about these Italians [who] found eight pillars 600 feet under the Khafre pyramid. [A group of researchers claimed this spring that they had discovered 'vertical cylinders' 2,000 feet below ground.] The techniques they used, Synthetic Aperture Radar tomography, can only show 15 meters under the ground, about 60 feet. It will never be able to show 600 feet. Never! 13 Hawass said he banned Beyoncé from the pyramids after an alleged scuffle between her bodyguard and a Hawass employee. Balkis Press/ABACA / Shutterstock And if these theories are correct, why have they never come to discuss it with us? Why did they decide to announce their discovery by publishing in a magazine where you have to pay a fee to publish? How does that make sense? NYP: What if Rogan was willing to tour the pyramids with you? ZH: Oh, absolutely. I told him as much. But he rejected my invitation. It's his problem now, because for him to see the pyramids without me is useless. He said on the podcast that he wanted to go with… what's his name, the guy in England? NYP: Graham Hancock. [Hancock, who hosted 'Ancient Apocalypse' on Netflix, believes the pyramids were built by a lost-to-time civilization some 12,000 years ago.] 13 'Intellectual, beautiful' Princess Diana was one of Hawass' favorite guests to show around the Pyramids of Giza. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images ZH: Hancock, right! He asked me to be on his Netflix show, but I'm not sure I want to do it. I also got a call from Piers Morgan's assistant, asking if I'd be available to do a show in November in Cairo, with me showing him some of my latest discoveries. I promise you, if we do it, we will beat Joe Rogan's ratings a hundred percent. NYP: You've been in the orbit of many celebrities and politicians over the years. Who surprised you most, for better or worse? ZH: I cannot forget Princess Diana. She was intellectual, beautiful, just incredible. NYP: Anybody you couldn't stand? 13 'When you close a tomb for 3,000 years, and this tomb has mummies in it, there are going to be germs. When you open this tomb, the germs have to come out,' Hawass said of so-called tomb curses. Getty Images ZH: Beyoncé came in 2008, and it did not end well. She was a very nice lady, but she had a very bad bodyguard. I have a camera lady who follows me during these tours, to record everything — and Beyonce's bodyguard … snatched the camera right out of her hand. I wouldn't stand for it! I told her and her bodyguard to get out, and banned her from the pyramids. Katy Perry came once, and I don't think she was very happy. I didn't recognize her, and didn't realize she was a singer. I only knew that the guy next to her was Orlando Bloom. I think that upset her. NYP: You're claimed to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones. Is that true? ZH: It's absolutely true. 13 Hawass led the team that discovered the mummified remains of Queen Hatsheput. AFP via Getty Images 13 Queen Hatsheput, depicted here as a seated statue from 1473-1458 B.C. Egypt, was one of Egypt's most storied pharaohs. UIG via Getty Images NYP: Like George Lucas said, 'Tell me about your life,' and then turned it into a script? ZH: Yes. That is entirely true. We had dinner in Cairo, and he jokingly told me that my hat is more famous than Harrison Ford's hat from the movie, and I reminded him that my hat is a real archaeological hat and Harrison's is a fake one. NYP: Have you ever watched one of the Indiana Jones movies and thought, 'Yep, that happened to me?' 13 Hawass has led or overseen many of the most significant Egyptian discoveries of the modern era, including the Lost Golden City near Luxor (above). art_of_line – ZH: Of course. All of them … I have seen some real danger. Sometimes when I'm on an excavation, I think, 'This may be it.' There's a great amount of danger. I've scaled ropes down into shafts that haven't been entered in thousands of years, and it isn't lost on me that this isn't entirely safe. I often think, 'Well, if this rope snaps, that's the end of me.' NYP: What about Pharaoh curses? The curse of Tutankhamun apparently killed a few archaeologists. ZH: This is the real story about the curse. When you close a tomb for 3,000 years, and this tomb has mummies in it, there are going to be germs. When you open this tomb, the germs have to come out. There's radiation! In the past, archaeologists would be in a hurry to look inside these tombs. And they would ingest all of this unhealthy air. I realized this just a few months ago, you need to let a new discovery breath. I found a sealed sarcophagus 60 feet under the ground, and when the workmen opened it, I waited for three hours until the bad air was released. And then I put my head inside to investigate. NYP: I'm surprised you haven't made a cameo in any of the Indiana Jones movies. ZH: Well, hopefully Harrison Ford and I will have our moment soon. Leslie Greif, a big Hollywood producer, wants me to do a show with Mr. Beast, but I told him I need Harrison Ford. Can you imagine that? Dr. Zahi Hawass and Mr. Harrison Ford revealing the secrets of the Great Pyramid together. Billions of people would tune in. Who wouldn't want to watch that?
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Unlocking 24/7 commodity markets with onchain efficiency
Unlocking 24/7 commodity markets with onchain efficiency originally appeared on TheStreet. Commodity derivatives are central to global markets, but the systems that support them are still built for yesterday's world. Exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) dominate a $20T global commodity derivatives market. Despite their scale, both continue to operate around fixed trading hours, rely on T+1 or T+2 settlement cycles, and silo margin across asset classes. These structural constraints slow down capital movement, limit responsiveness, and increase costs, particularly during periods of volatility. When the Keystone Pipeline in the US ruptured in April 2025, crude markets moved immediately. Most desks couldn't. Locked into legacy infrastructure, traders were forced to wait for markets to reopen, missing critical hedging windows. The problem isn't just timing, it's structural. High-frequency strategies face compounded drag: clearing fees as high as $24 per million notional, capital fragmented across asset classes, and multi-day clearing cycles that delay liquidity reuse. Traditional exchanges are still designed around intermediaries, rollovers, and batch processing, even with electronic access. Sphinx addresses this directly. It's a new infrastructure layer built for commodity traders who need continuous access, real-time clearing, unified margining, and lower execution costs, all within a regulated environment. The technology matters, but only because it enables something traders haven't had: a faster, cheaper, always-on venue. For firms trading across energy, metals, and agriculture, speed and capital efficiency matter more than protocol semantics. Sphinx is designed to deliver both. Built to support high-frequency execution and cross-asset risk management, the system offers the kind of infrastructure performance usually reserved for tier-one financial venues. Sphinx supports sub-100-ms latency and throughput exceeding 10,000 transactions per second. It integrates directly with FIX and OEMS pipelines, ensuring compatibility with existing trading infrastructure. No custom middleware. No fragmented interfaces. It also eliminates rollover costs by replacing expiring futures with perpetual swap instruments, contracts that mirror spot markets and adjust continuously via dynamic funding rates. This allows traders to maintain uninterrupted exposure without rebalancing every quarter. The architecture is modular and interoperable by design. It's built on the Cosmos SDK with IBC support to allow future cross-chain connectivity, but those are backend details. What matters is the outcome: trades clear faster, margin moves dynamically, and strategy deployment isn't bottlenecked by system constraints. Sphinx isn't the venue, it's the base layer. GCX, the first exchange built on Sphinx, runs as a regulated execution platform, inheriting the infrastructure benefits while operating under its compliance framework. Sphinx is optimized for how modern commodity markets move. Price dislocations don't wait for New York or London to open, and neither should the systems traders rely on to manage them. Sphinx introduces several key innovations that directly address capital velocity, execution latency, and collateral efficiency. Legacy exchanges operate on fixed schedules. Sphinx enables continuous access to global markets, with no session windows, no rollover gaps. Whether the move happens overnight or midweek in Asia, traders can execute and adjust exposure immediately. Traditional clearinghouses settle on T+1 or T+2 cycles, delaying liquidity reuse. Sphinx uses smart contracts to finalize trades in under 60 seconds, reducing counterparty risk and unlocking margin faster. For active desks, this shortens the capital cycle significantly. Most venues require separate collateral pools for each asset class. Sphinx introduces a single-margin framework across commodities. Positions in oil, metals, and grains are netted dynamically. Internal benchmarks show 30–50% less capital required to hold equivalent risk. Sphinx's matching engine supports institutional order flow, with latency under 100ms and throughput exceeding 10,000 TPS. Combined with FIX/OEMS integration, traders can route orders directly without custom adapters or bridges. Exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage fees add up, especially at volume. Sphinx removes intermediaries by automating settlement at the protocol layer. The estimated total cost reduction for high-frequency or large-volume users ranges between 70–90%, depending on strategy and turnover. None of these are bolt-on upgrades. They're embedded in how the system is architected, removing the constraints of legacy infrastructure and replacing them with programmable, capital-efficient alternatives. Regulatory clarity isn't a value-add; it's a prerequisite for institutional participation. Sphinx is built with this in mind. Every layer of the system, from user onboarding to settlement, is designed to align with the standards expected by banks, asset managers, and corporates operating under strict internal controls. KYC and AML are not retrofitted at the exchange level; they're enforced directly at the protocol level. Every participant is verified. Every transaction is audit-ready. The system also supports data localization and jurisdiction-specific compliance logic, enabling venues to meet local regulatory obligations without compromising global interoperability. GCX, the first exchange running on Sphinx, operates under a license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and is in the process of securing FCA registration in the UK. This provides the foundation required for institutions to route real capital through a new infrastructure layer with full regulatory accountability. Sphinx's distinction isn't that it integrates compliance. It's that compliance is part of the base design, structured, verifiable, and built to hold up under scrutiny. Derivatives markets continue to expand, but the systems supporting them haven't kept up. In the first half of 2024, BIS reported an 18% year-over-year increase in notional volumes for commodity-linked derivatives, driven largely by derivatives also rose, while interest rate contracts held steady. Yet, nearly all of this volume still clears through legacy platforms like the CME, ICE, and Eurex, venues designed decades ago around fixed trading windows, siloed margin systems, and batch-based settlement. CME and ICE together handle over 50% of global commodity derivatives volume. Yet despite their scale, these systems introduce friction at every layer: trades settle on T+1 or T+2 cycles, margin is siloed by asset class, and true 24/7 execution remains out of reach. These limitations weren't critical when volatility followed a regional clock. But that's no longer the case. Today's traders face overnight geopolitical shocks, unpredictable supply chain events, and macro shifts that happen across time zones. Waiting for New York or London to open isn't viable risk management. Nor is locking up excess capital across five separate clearing silos to hedge a cross-commodity portfolio. Cost pressures compound the issue. Exchange fees, brokerage spreads, and capital inefficiency add up, especially for desks executing at scale. A trading firm holding diversified commodity exposures on traditional venues can spend 3–4x more on margin and clearing than on a system that supports cross-asset netting and real-time settlement. Institutional behavior is already adjusting. Crypto-native trading firms and funds like Brevan Howard Digital, Jump, and GSR are exploring programmable infrastructure, not as a speculative bet, but as a way to trade faster, cheaper, and more globally. What they're pursuing isn't decentralization, it's an edge. Sphinx enters this moment with infrastructure that speaks directly to that need. Faster clearing. Unified margin. Execution that doesn't wait for a session to open. Greg Perrin, Co-Founder and CEO, is a distributed systems engineer with a background in energy, blockchain, and industrial IoT. Before Sphinx, he was CTO at TypeX, where he built flared-gas-powered mining infrastructure and led on-grid expansion to over 250MW. Shevaan Jayasinghe, Co-Founder and product lead, brings a decade of experience across institutional finance and digital asset infrastructure. At Goldman Sachs in London, he worked across analytics, equity financing, and business development. He later joined where he helped develop institutional-grade custody and prime brokerage tools for digital assets. Austin Durgee, Co-Founder and CMO, has led funding campaigns for crypto and startup projects, securing over $16M while building strong developer and investor relationships. He later joined TypeX, focusing on strategic marketing and sales in the Bitcoin mining and energy space. Now at Sphinx, Austin drives the go-to-market strategy and ecosystem growth, helping shape the next generation of decentralized infrastructure for energy and commodities trading. Most trading infrastructure wasn't built for the speed or complexity of today's commodity markets. Execution still follows outdated clearing windows, and capital is too often locked behind static margin requirements. Sphinx approaches this differently and you can review their infrastructure in detail here. Sphinx rethinks the mechanics of clearing, collateral, and access, not to make them digital, but to make them work in real-time. For desks managing cross-commodity exposure, the result is faster settlement, better capital deployment, and fewer operational bottlenecks, all within a regulatory framework that institutions can use. Unlocking 24/7 commodity markets with onchain efficiency first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 15, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
