The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

By Suzanne Collins

Book 4 in series

Book 1! The Hunger Games

Book 2! Catching Fire

Book 3! Mockingjay

    64 years before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena in the 74th Hunger Games...young Coriolanus Snow is chosen to mentor the female tribute of District 12 in the 10th Hunger Games. The Games looked very different back then, with tributes in the same decrepit arena every year with a selection of weapons. This is the first time mentors are allowed. Coriolanus's father was a Capitol general who was killed by Rebels in the war, and his family is now nearly broke. Performing well as a mentor and winning the prize at the Academy is his only chance to make it to the University.

    Coriolanus decides that even though Dean Highbottom appears to have pranked him with the supposedly worst tribute, he will play it up as much as he can. He meets his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, when she gets off the train, and somehow ends up in a cage with the tributes, which gets him great publicity. Lucy Gray is an odd character. She is apparently in a traveling band that was confined to 12 by the Capitol after the war. She wears a rainbow dress and is an amazing singer, enrapturing the audiences at the zoo. (That's where tributes used to be kept). Coriolanus brings her food, and appears to be the only one building a relationship with his tribute.

National Geographic: Arctic summer sea ice could disappear as early as 2035

National Geographic: Arctic summer sea ice could disappear as early as 2035

By Alejandra Borunda

For years now, we have known that the Arctic ice as been disappearing rapidly. In the 1980's, summer ice covered an average to 3.8 million square miles. Now, that number has been reduced to just 2.8 million, having declined at about 27,000 square miles a year. In fact, a recent study found that as soon as 2035, the Arctic could become ice-less in the summer.

    The Arctic sees twice as much temperature increase as the rest of the planet, and climate change is also accelerating at the same time. This could affect everything. Ice shelves that protected the coast from erosion are gone, endangering many costal native villages. The cold of the Arctic compared to the heat of the equator also creates ocean and air circulation, and the white reflects the solar heat.

    This year, climate change caused an unprecedented heat wave in Siberia, sending temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. During this heat wave, Canada's last ice shelf melted. So when will there be no summer ice? We can use the Last Interglacial period to make an estimation. About 130,000 years ago, Arctic temperatures were around 7 degrees F above pre-industrial averages, with much higher sea levels. We have evidence that when ice first started to melt, the water eddies that formed absorbed heat, melting the remaining ice faster. Scientist Mario Guarino and her colleagues formed the model that predicted the 2035 date. This is much earlier than most models.

    So can we fix it? Even at record pace, it's probably too late to completely reverse the effects of climate change. But we can slow it, and prepare for the changed world.

Time: A New Global Depression Is Coming

Time: A New Global Depression Is Coming

By Ian Bremmer

As economies around the world tank, unemployment soars, and countries are rushing to produce working vaccines, many are trying to avoid what could be coming: a global depression. Many are hoping that when scientists find a vaccine, the world will simply rebound into what it once was, and life will go back to normal. But this won't be the case. Neither will the steady bounce-back of the 2008 economic recession. That's because a depression is much bigger. It is global, cuts deep into our lives, and is long lasting. "COVID-19 fears will bring lasting changes to public attitudes toward all activities that involve crowds of people and how we work on a daily basis; it will also permanently change America’s competitive position in the world and raise profound uncertainty about U.S.-China relations going forward."

    Today, the world is much more connected than it was in 2008. China has grown rapidly, and when it slows, everyone else does too. Social safety and healthcare providers are starting to feel the strain, and many will break. The Federal Reserve's June report said that this is the most severe downturn in economic activity since WWII, and that was before the most recent spike in coronavirus cases. Every time there is a new wave and we are forced to shut down again, more people will lose jobs. Even a vaccine won't be a cure all. Some will get it first, and others may choose not to get it at all.

    Governments will have to change they way they spend taxes, and temporary emergency measures won't be enough. These temporary bailouts and high hopes for a vaccine have kept stock markets afloat, but supply and demand have suffered major hits.

    So economic recovery will come in a series of short bursts. To make it faster, leaders could tell people to face reality, and team up globally to fight the virus. "Today’s lack of international leadership makes matters worse. If COVID-19 can teach world leaders the value of working together to avoid common catastrophes, future global emergencies will be that much easier to manage for the good of all. Unfortunately, that’s not the path we’re on."

TedEd: How to spot a counterfeit bill

A TedEd by Tien Nguyen

Out of every 10,000 US bills, 1 of them is counterfeit. Although that doesn't sound like much, it can add up to millions of dollars. It can cause a wide range of problems, from a few dollars out of your pocket to destabilizing national economies. But you can easily spot these fakes. The counterfeit detection pen is made of a solution of potassium iodide and elemental iodine. Real money is made of a mixture of cotton and linen threaded with tiny red and blue fibers. It is made by one secret company called Crane & Company which has been producing it since Paul Revere asked them to do it to fund the Revolutionary War. However, many counterfeits are made from printer paper strengthened with starch, which is what the pen detects. The starch is made of amylopectin and amylose molecules. Amylose is in a helical structure, which reacts with iodide and leaves a dark mark on the paper. If it is real, the mark will be bright yellow. Another way is using UV light. Since 1996, all bills have a polyester strip one millimeter wide. These will show the bill's value and USA on them in natural light, but shine under UV light. These work because the molecules absorb the amount of energy from UV light, then give off some as heat and the rest as light. There may also be visual clues. The portrait should be lifelike, the seal should have even sawtooth points, the border should be unbroken, and the serial number should be evenly spaced.