We will explore the interplay between thermodynamic cost, in terms of energy dissipated, and precision of a physical system whose only accessible information is a time series of discrete events. The analytical derivations - based on variational methods of large deviations - reveal universal bounds, extending beyond the thermodynamic uncertainty relation to diverse nonequilibrium driven systems and general time-asymmetric observables. Additionally, we will see how optimal precision saturating the bounds can be physically achieved and showcase practical applications. This includes distinguishing voluntary actions controlled by the sensorimotor cortex of rats and detecting coherence effects in atomic clocks.