Time: The Defining Year

Time: The Defining Year

By Justin Worland

2020 is a pivotal year for climate change. Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, the global temperature has risen 1.1%. Experts warn that if it crosses the 2% threshold, the gradual climate change we have been seeing will speed up, having disastrous consequences. But the pandemic has slowed emissions and the economy, and that gives us a chance. We could urge companies that are being bailed out to invest in greener methods, or we could create coal fueled power plants to stimulate the economy - thus sealing our fate. 

    President Trump isn’t helping. In April, when oil prices tanked, he called executives together and promised to save them, which he did.

Air and Space: Secret Mission for an Old MiG

Air and Space: Secret Mission for an Old MiG

By Craig Mellow

    The Russian MiG-31 fighter is an obsolete plane that hasn’t flown in years. It was mainly used to track down US spy planes during the Cold War. More recently, it has been repurposed to be able to carry the Kinzhal hypersonic missile to help Russia get back into the arms race. But its most intriguing factor comes from a leaked image of it carrying a missile even bigger than the half ton Kinzhal. Observers have speculated that it could be used to knock low-earth-orbit satellites out of the sky.

    So why is Russia using the -31? It is big. It weighs 42,000 kilograms and an attain speeds of up to Mach 2.4. It does this by traveling high up in the atmosphere to reduce air resistance. Back in the day, it carried up to 4 missiles and earned the name “Foxhound” from its NATO opponents.

 

The New Yorker: How Pandemics Wreak Havoc - And Open Minds

The New Yorker: How Pandemics Wreak Havoc - And Open Minds

By Lawrence Wright

    The plague at the end of the Middle Ages brought along destruction - but also the Renaissance. So will the COVID-19 pandemic do the same? Lawerence Wright spoke with a retired Italian professor about the similarities between the pandemics. Gianna Pomata described the Middle Ages during the Black Death. Italy was broken up into a series of city states ruled by feudalism. However, medicine wasn’t very good. People believed that heavenly bodies, such as God, had sent the plague as a punishment. It swept through much of Russia and Asia before hitting Italy, and it left severe devastation in its wake. Many conspiracy theories popped up, such as the belief that toilets prevented the plague, and doctors didn’t help much either. Some tried their best to have fun, while others sheltered in place, like in Decameron’s story.