Surprising discoveries for the week of May 1: Bhutanese bitcoin, robot fertilization, vintage DNA guidelines

We’ve rounded up the most interesting discoveries from this week’s Quartz Daily Brief newsletters. Get the Daily Brief in your inbox every morning, for free! Each day includes a section with more surprising discoveries, along with a selection of important and interesting news from the global economy, curated by Quartz.

Bhutan is really into bitcoin

The Himalayan kingdom, famous for its “Gross National Happiness” (GNH) index, has quietly been mining the digital currency for years, using hydroelectric power from the runoff of ancient glaciers.

Little League umpires have had enough

In one New Jersey town, bullying the ump might just land you with the job of calling the shots for three games.

The first babies fertilized by a robot were born

A Sony PlayStation 5 controller was used to position a robotic needle that deposited a single sperm cell into each of 12 eggs.

Can you run a nation’s economy and have a side gig?

France’s finance minister got some flack this week for having enough time to write erotic novels. What’s mightier, the pen or economic turmoil?

DNA guidelines from the 70s are getting some new attention

Vintage guidelines on how to use and manipulate DNA might teach AI mavens a thing or two. Geneticists were at a similar crossroads back in 1975.