CNN 10 11/2/2020 ~ 11/6/2020

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Monday, November 2, 2020

England is considering new COVID-19 lockdowns for the nation proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This comes after new rises in cases in that country, and the lockdown, which would not extend to other British divisions, would close all non-essential businesses. People would only be allowed to leave their houses for school, doctor visits, groceries, or outdoor exercise. This could be damaging to the British economy, and several other European countries have seen protests over lockdowns. Greece and Turkey experienced an earthquake on October 30th. It has killed many and injured hundreds more. The US elections process has changed over the years, and this year will bring more change. More people are voting early or by mail this year because of the pandemic - a full two-thirds of the total who voted in 2016. This year, we might not get election results right away because of the number of mail-in ballots. Each one has to be opened, checked, and counted by hand, and each state has its own regulations for doing this. Some states allow ballots to be opened early, while others allow ballots to come in even after polls close. Even after a winner is declared, Congress has to certify the vote count for the winner to officially be the next president. Yesterday morning, most states across the US switched back to standard time. Why do we do this? Daylight Savings Time was first implemented during World War I to make the most of the day, but since days are shorter during the winter months, we have to fall back to prevent waking up in the dark. Currently, all states except Arizona and Hawaii observe Daylight Saving.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The Presidential Election will end today, and both candidates were on the final leg of their campaign trail, visiting a few final states before voters make up their minds today. Also on the ballot are 35 Senate seats, all the seats in the House, along with gubernatorial and state legislature seats, not to mention countless ballot measures and local elections. To win the election, a presidential candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes. However, we may not get immediate results as usual. This is because many states will still be counting mail-in ballots, and many states allow any ballots postmarked before Election Day to be counted. So if the race is close, we could be in suspense for many more days. When a winner is projected, the loser customarily makes a concession call to the winner. However, this doesn't always stand. People have rescinded concessions when the race is close or a recount occurs. The process begins when people cast their ballots for president. They actually vote for electors who will reflect their decision, not directly for the president. All state-level disputes must be resolved by December 8th so electors can cast their ballots and send results to Congress. Congress will certify those votes on January 6th to make it official. However, if the governor of a state chooses not to certify the results, or the state legislature sends in a separate count, then Congress can decide which is right or decide on an entirely different result. If we still do not have a winner, then the Constitution states that the House will choose the president and the Senate the vice president. If for some reason, we do not have a leader to be sworn in on January 20th, then the Speaker of the House becomes the temporary president. Research has found that bad weather can have an impact on the number of votes cast in an election. Luckily, today's weather forecast is generally bright across the country. NASA has used radio waves to identify the sounds of extraterrestrial planets. Listen here.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

The election is close. 10 states were still counting votes as of last night, and the election hinged on their electoral votes. Joe Biden and Donald Trump both gave speeches to their supporters in the wee hours of the morning, former Vice President Biden urging them to be patient while President Trump falsely claimed victory. The electoral college exists in the US because the founding fathers were concerned that ordinary people did not have the intellect to be involved in politics. However, this makes it possible to win the election without necessarily having the majority of the popular vote, since each state has a different number of electors based on population. Although many plans have attempted to change the electoral college, proponents have argued that it allows smaller states to have a say in the election. Hurricane Eta made landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm; it was also slow-moving inflicting heavy damage and causing severe flooding in the poorest nation in Central America. It was the 28th named storm this hurricane season, tying the record set in 2005.

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Yesterday was Election Day, but no clear winner has been pronounced yet. When this show was produced, 6 states were still too close to call, including Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alaska (Update: Arizona has been called for Biden). It appeared that former Vice President Biden had around 253-264 electoral votes, depending on the source, and incumbent President Trump had 214. In Congress, most analysts said that the Democrats would remain in control of the House despite a few lost seats, and Republicans would remain the majority in the Senate by a few seats. Results are not expected to come in quickly this year for many reasons; among them the coronavirus, which caused many people to vote by mail, and President Trump's unfounded legal challenges to vote counts in many battleground states. Asteroid 16 Psyche is the subject of much discussion among scientists - it's a rock that may be made of iron and nickel. It's about the size of Massachusetts, and scientists estimate that it could be worth about $10,000 quadrillion! NASA is sending a probe there by 2022 to find out more. Scientists have discovered that a type of arachnid called the ogre-faced spider can hear. Using its web, it can hear insects from up to 6.5 feet away and catch them. Baarle-Hertog is a Belgian town - in the Netherlands. It's in an interlocking puzzle with Baarle-Nassau, a Dutch town, and Baarle has dozens of borders running through it. The borders were drawn in 1995, and it's been that way since. If you live in a house with a border going through it, you can even choose which country to live in!

Friday, November 6, 2020

In many states last night, the margin of victory for either candidate was just thousands of votes as they were still being counted. We still do not have clear results for Congress. Political analysts expected the Democrats to remain in control of the House with a few lost seats, and the Republicans to control the Senate despite one lost seat. Both presidential candidates expressed confidence in their current position. A Canadian study has found that kids who spend less time on screens and more time in activities are mentally healthier. They say that spending more than 2 hours on screens every day can lead to worse moods and that the effect is especially profound in girls. The US is losing lots of bee colonies, which pollinate about 1/3 of all crops worldwide. Many companies have attempted to remedy the situation, and one called Beeflow has developed a formula that they say improves the bees' performance and immune system. In their trials, they found that the bees could work longer and in colder conditions, while also producing larger crop yields. Although it doesn't solve all the problems, it is a step forward.