CNN 10 2/1/2021 ~ 2/5/2021

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Monday, February 1, 2021

The CDC has announced a new rule requiring all people to wear masks on public transportation and the places where people wait for public transportation in the United States. Masks can only be taken off to eat, drink, or take medicine and the rule doesn't apply for children under the age of two or people with disabilities making it hard for them to wear masks. The CDC says this will protect Americans and bolster confidence in travel. The hyperloop is a concept in which pods would travel via electromagnetic propulsion in a vacuum. Through this, these train-like pods can achieve speeds over 500 mph with no turbulence. It would be much faster than train or car, and though ticket prices would vary, they would be much cheaper than airplanes. Virgin Hyperloop plans to start commercial operations in 2030, and other companies like Hyperloop TT are working to the same goals. A storm system that is moving across the US is bringing a variety of weather conditions in different areas, from rain to snow. The type of weather you see depends on temperature in the atmosphere. If all the air that water droplets encounter is warm, you get rain. If it goes through a cold patch closer to the ground, then it doesn't get cold enough to be snow, but instead becomes freezing rain. Sleet happens when the precipitation goes through a small patch of warm air before going through freezing air again. Tomorrow, groundhogs across the US will attempt to predict the coming of spring. If they see their shadow, more winter, and if they don't, spring will come.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Myanmar's military has taken over the country again. It has done this in the past - it staged a military coup for decades until 2015, when they finally allowed democratic elections. The democratic party of a Nobel Prize winner won by a landslide at the polls and entered into a power-sharing agreement. In 2017, the country came under fire for its "genocide" of Rohingya Muslims, but the president defended the military's actions. More recently, the second civilian election resulted in a decimation of army-backed candidates, and the fragile power balance broke. Dozens of top elected officials have been arrested for what the military calls a rigged election, and a 1-year martial law has been declared. The whale shark is the biggest fish in the world, and it is also endangered. Due to human fishing and habitat destruction, their numbers have plummeted in the past 75 years. Researchers in Australia have developed software that tags whale sharks based on their unique spot pattern to track their behavior and movements. This will help preserve the most important sites for the future.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics are still scheduled to begin on July 23 of this year. If they are not held then, they will be canceled entirely, though both the Japanese Prime Minister and the head of the IOC have said that they must go on. Japan has instituted a state of emergency in 9 different areas to try to curb the spread of COVID-19 before the torch relay starting in March. Athletes will not be required to have a vaccination, but there will be guidelines set out very soon. Should they be unable to occur in Japan, the US state of Florida has expressed interest in sponsoring the games, citing its selection for major sporting events. In China, WHO officials are continuing to look into the origins of COVID-19, visiting an animal center this week to investigate the possibility of transfer from animals to humans. The golden monkeys in Yunnan are endangered. Habitat loss combined with hunting from nearby villages and natural predators has decreased the numbers of one of the few monkeys living in the mountains. Conservation groups have been using a combination of monitoring and training of the locals in order to protect this unique group.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

All 50 US states will experience freezing temperatures at some point in the next few days. A polar vortex, or a low-pressure air mass near the poles, will be sending freezing temperatures, resulting in snow and ice as far as Hawaii. Several states will see subzero Fahrenheit temperatures, so cold that you could get frostbite in just 30 minutes. Countries around the world are struggling with COVID-19 lockdowns, and with it comes the problem of schools. All the US states have seen school closures at some point, and now, some states are requiring in-person learning or allowing individual districts to decide. In communities with low virus spread, schools can safely reopen. EU countries have similarly varying measures.

Friday, February 5, 2021

On Thursday, President Biden and his team laid out his administration's plans for foreign policy over the next four years. First, in regards to Russia, he said that they would be extending a deal that limits the nuclear weapons of both countries, but that there would be repercussions if Russia tried to interfere in the US or poisoned its own citizens. He also said that China was the biggest competitor to the US and addressed the military takeover in Burma, saying the military should return to democracy. He also said that the US would end support for the Yemeni rebels and decrease the number of refugees allowed into the US. A nor'easter is bringing snow and powerful waves to coastal areas in the northern US. Record-breaking snowfall is expected, and it may be surprising that each snowflake is different. All snowflakes have a general shape of six branches and are categorized into 8 subgroups. Each one has a slightly different pattern because they all fall through slightly different temperatures and humidities on their way to the ground.

CNN 10 1/25/2021 ~ 1/29/2021

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Monday, January 25, 2021

One year ago, on Friday, January 24, 2020, reports surfaced that a type of coronavirus was starting to circulate in Wuhan, China. The WHO said that day that the outbreak was not a public health emergency, which was changed six days later. The same day, the US CDC said people should avoid Wuhan, and a week after that, the Trump administration banned non-US citizens who had been in China within the last two weeks. At that point, less than 10 cases had been identified in the US, and that number has since exploded to 25 million. In Wuhan, the origin of the disease, the seafood market from which the virus is believed to have originated is bustling again. Though there is still pain and secrecy, the people of Wuhan say that they are resilient. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics were postponed and are now scheduled for July of this year. If they are not held then, they will be canceled, and the outlook is grim. There is a surge in COVID-19 cases across Japan, and although the IOC and Japanese Olympic Committee say that the games will go on, support from the populace is declining. 77% of Japanese think the games should not go on, and several anti-Olympics groups are saying that they would sacrifice lives. Of course, there is a lot on the line for Japan. The country spent over $25 billion in building and remodeling Tokyo, and the lack of tourism would hurt businesses preparing for extra tourist spending.

CNN 10 1/19/2021 ~ 1/22/2021

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Monday, January 18, 2021

Happy MLK Day!

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Ahead of President-elect Biden's inauguration and in the aftermath of the Capitol mob, security around the Capitol has been ramped up. A force of around 25,000 from various departments has been activated, and major buildings have unscalable fences topped with barbed wire around them. There have also been concerns of violence at state capitols, which are also getting extra security. There are hopes that the peak of this wave of COVID-19 is over. A few weeks ago, hospitals were recording as many as 132,000 cases per day, and that has come down to 124,000. There are concerns that a new strain of the disease may cause increases, but people who have recovered and those who receive the new vaccine will be immune. At around 60 or 70% immunity, something called herd immunity occurs. The majority of the population is immune, preventing further transmission. Both vaccines available in the US require two doses, but since the incoming Biden administration will release all of the doses right now, a second dose may not be available when the time comes. There is also no evidence that the vaccine prevents you from carrying the virus, so even if you are vaccinated, you should follow all safety guidelines around non-vaccinated people. Avalanches are often caused by humans, and they kill dozens every year in Colorado. Luckily, Maurice Wilkins had an avalanche airbag which saved him and allowed him to record an avalanche he inadvertently caused.

Animal Farm

By George Orwell

    The animals on Manor Farm work long hours with little food under Mr. Jones, who is often drunk. One day, Old Major, a prize boar who has lived to a long age, calls the animals together after dark. He tells them that their human overlords do no work while taking away the fruits of the animals' efforts. He says that he was dreamt of a future in which man does not interfere and animals work for themselves. He says that although he will not live to see the Rebellion, he knows that it will happen and that any two-legged creature should be feared. The animals learn a song called "Beasts of England", which speaks of the day when animals roam free.

    A short while later, after Old Major's death, Mr. Jones's men forget to feed the animals for the entire day and when they start to help themselves, take out their whips. Enraged, the animals rebel, establishing Animal Farm and 7 commandments by which all animals should abide. They ensure that no animal will ever become like a human. At first, all seems to go well. The pigs, being the smartest, take over the day to day operations with Snowball and Napoleon at the helm. The farm becomes much more efficient and the animals prosper, even defeating human attackers who attempt to retake the farm thanks to Snowball's brilliant tactics. The general human response is to pretend that the animals have become cannibals and the farm is disorderly.

CNN 10 1/11/2021 ~ 1/15/2021

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Monday, January 11, 2021

Over the weekend, dozens of people were arrested in relation to the riot at the Capitol last Wednesday. Many people were injured, and five deaths were reported, including a police officer and an Air Force veteran. The US Capitol Police Chief has resigned, along with the Sargeant at Arms of the House and Senate. House Democrats have said that they will bring forth articles of impeachment against President Trump because of his actions in inciting the mob. He has repeatedly said that the election was fraudulent, but dozens of lawsuits in various states have all concluded that there is not enough evidence for these claims. Of course, President-elect Biden is set to be inaugurated on January 20th (which President Trump will not attend), so it's still unclear if the impeachment process will go through. President Trump was also banned from Twitter and Facebook following Wednesday's events, though critics have said it restricts free speech. We have learned a lot about how COVID-19 spreads. It's transmitted through droplets that travel through the air when infected people sneeze. It can also be transmitted through contact with such people. They are also transported on airborne particles called aerosols. Masks can effectively prevent these droplets from getting into people's noses and mouths. When you are outdoors, 6 feet should be far enough away from someone to avoid breathing in particles. Indoors, there is less ventilation, so 10 feet is probably better. There is no evidence of transmission through surfaces, so wiping everything is unnecessary. Still, you should wash your hands and sanitize frequently touched areas. The polar vortex is a large, low-pressure air mass that is high up in the atmosphere around the North Pole. If weather conditions are right, one could descend into the northern US in the coming weeks. If you're caught in one, just remember to stay warm.

Time: Accusations of Bias, Racism Swirl Around Capitol Police After Mob Attack

By Kimberly Dozier and Melissa Chan

    When there are Black protestors, police have fired rubber bullets and beat people up. But when far-right extremists stormed the Capitol, they were completely unprepared.

"Both peaceful protest and civil unrest have lapped at the Capitol steps repeatedly over the decades, including three separate bombs set by various militant agitators. But not since British troops nearly burned the building to the ground in 1814 has it been so comprehensively violated as on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump exhorted an angry mob to march from the White House Ellipse down Constitution Ave. to the seat of U.S. legislative power."

    This was partly due to the complexity of the forces that secure the Capitol. The Capitol Police are supposed to do this, but there is also the D.C. Metro Police, which is not allowed onto Capitol grounds without consent from the Capitol Police, and the D.C. National Guard, which can only be deployed by the Secretary of the Army. The force of 2,300 has come under much scrutiny after it not only failed to secure the Capitol building but was much more lenient with white, violent protestors than peaceful Black protestors, despite the warning signs.

"The blowback has been swift. Senior lawmakers called for investigations into the failed response, and demanded those responsible be fired. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned Thursday...By that day’s end, the House and Senate Sergeants-at-Arms had agreed to leave too. Papathanasiou said the rank-and-file officers had done their duty, prioritizing 'lives over property, leading people to safety'; no lawmaker was injured in the melee. Their police union said officers were 'sickened by the tragic and avoidable events.'"

    Four Trump supporters and a police officer were killed. In demonstrations soon after George Floyd's death, more than 10,000 protestors were arrested, and many more were beaten and met with military-clad police. In contrast, just 80 people linked to the riot at the Capitol have been arrested so far, and a video was released of an officer leading a woman down the stairs. There have also been fewer police reports.

"More rioters should have been arrested on the spot, says former Washington D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey. But police experts say the agency’s failure to plan, which resulted in severely limited resources, made that impossible. 'When you’re in that kind of situation, making an arrest is difficult because then that requires you, the officer, to take that person into custody, and that takes you away from the scene,' says Chuck Wexler..."

     The police severely underestimated the magnitude and anger of the crowd, and in the security breach, electronics and papers were taken from Senate offices, which could end up as a national security threat. The Capitol Police has faced several lawsuits over the years for racism, but it's difficult to prove because it's a part of Congress and therefore exempt from a lot of public records.

"On Friday, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators announced their intention to investigate the failure of security on Wednesday at the Capitol. But Dr. Michael K. Fauntroy, who teaches political science at Howard University, says it will take action against those Capitol Police officers who were seen helping or hobnobbing with the rioters — instead of stopping them — to win back the trust of the Black community. 'Not just firing, but prosecution,' he says. Then again, Fauntroy says there wasn’t much trust to begin with. 'I don’t know of any Black person who would be surprised at seeing what they saw, the double standard with which Black people in America live.'"

National Geographic: How quickly can Congress impeach a president? Here’s how it could work.

By Erin Blakemore

    In the aftermath of the Capitol riot, lawmakers attempted to find a way to hold President Trump accountable. Democrats have suggested impeachment and even implied that they are drafting articles for impeachment. But why would Congress try to impeach a president with just weeks left in his term, and how would it work?

"Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states that the president shall be removed from office after being impeached for treason, bribery, or 'other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.' That removal takes place in two distinct parts: impeachment, which is conducted by the House of Representatives, and a trial in the Senate. In order to remove a president from office, two-thirds of the senators must vote to convict."

Time: What Trump wrought

By Molly Ball

    In a last-ditch effort to twist election results, President Trump incited a mob of his supporters on January 6th, causing them to break into the US Capitol as a joint session of Congress certified Joe Biden's victory.

    For 4 years, the Republican party has endured Trump because of his massive support base, either working themselves into his inner circle or finding some way to justify his actions.

"In the final weeks of his term, Trump ran amok. He vowed to ruin the careers of GOP officials who would not go along with his baseless election claims. He vetoed the annual military budget. He sided with Democrats by demanding $2,000 stimulus checks the GOP would not support. He painted the Georgia Senate races as rigged, prompting supporters to urge a ballot boycott. He urged 'patriots' to descend on D.C. for a final showdown at the Capitol."

National Geographic: The 1876 election was the most divisive in U.S. history. Here’s how Congress responded.

By Erin Blakemore

    As Congress gears up to certify electoral votes on January 6th, several Republicans from both houses have said that they will challenge counts from certain states, citing "widespread voter fraud". Many have given the example of 1876, when allegations of fraud from both parties led to political mayhem.

    In 1876, the Civil War was over, and the Republican-controlled government quickly passed laws limiting former Confederates and giving Blacks more freedom during a period called the Reconstruction. Because of this, they were overwhelmingly supported by the new Black voting population, which also elected several African Americans to Congress. The Southern white voters, who largely supported the anti-Reconstruction Democratic party, didn't like this and began to start trying to disenfranchise Black voters in the 1870s.

   

Time: Congressional Republicans Won't Overturn Biden's Win. But Their Objections Are Still Dangerous

By Alana Abramson

    Tomorrow, both chambers of Congress will convene to count the states' electoral votes and certify Joe Biden as the winner of the election. However, this year will be different. President Trump has refused to concede, and dozens of Republican lawmakers have said that there will be objections, although it's highly improbable that it will change the outcome.

"Most of the Republicans who plan to challenge the outcome have said their intention is to air allegations of rampant voter fraud. But those claims are not supported by evidence. Trump’s own Administration deemed the election the most secure in U.S. history. And since Election Day, Trump’s legal team has lost nearly all of its challenges to election results in court, with judges widely rejecting their allegations."

National Geographic: What vaccines mean for the return of travel

By Johanna Read

    As several companies announced vaccines toward the end of 2020, hope returned for regular travel in 2021. Still, there is anxiety over the potential of catching COVID-19. Most people said that they wouldn't be doing any extra traveling, and many said that they are still concerned about exposure.

"'Vaccine hesitancy is a critical obstacle to overcome,' says Dr. Tom Kenyon, the chief health officer of Project HOPE, a global health and humanitarian relief organization, and a former director at U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To get back to travel, the U.S. and the world need herd immunity, thought to be achieved when about 70 percent of the population has protective antibodies. Kenyon says, though, that '70 percent is an arbitrary figure, and there is no "off/on" switch with herd immunity.' Recent news about more transmissable strains of COVID-19 suggest that herd immunity might only come when 90 percent of citizens have antibodies."

CNN 10 1/4/2021 ~ 1/8/2021

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Happy New Year!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Congress passed a new stimulus package in December. Among its relief provisions are more checks to low-income individuals and families. Those who earned less than $75,000 in 2019 will get $600 and married couples who earned less than $150,000 will get $1,200. Several Democrats and President Trump pushed for $2,000, but many said that it wasn't the best way to help the economy. The whole package cost $900 billion, making it second only to the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March. It also funds additional government help to businesses, and COVID vaccine production and distribution. The vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna have been approved for emergency use by the FDA, and millions of shots have already been given to front-line workers and the most vulnerable. There have been some allergic reactions to some who have received it, and many people don't want to get it at all. Still, the existence of vaccines provides hope that the pandemic will soon be over. People around the world celebrated the new year, hoping that it would bring better tidings than 2020. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, currently worth nearly $33,000, have been steadily on the rise over the past year. Some believe that it will be the future of money, but even if it dies, the underlying framework is important. Blockchain is a public list of transactions. When two parties make a transaction, other mining computers work to decrypt something to certify that. Once that is completed, the transaction ends up on a public list that cannot be changed, preventing fraud. It could also remove banks, lowering transaction rates. Another potential use is for public records. Boston Dynamics recently released a video of all of its robots dancing to a tune to celebrate the new year, inciting reactions all across social media.

Air and Space: The Dawn of Transatlantic Flight

By John Fleischman

    On October 23, 1945, the first general transatlantic passenger flight was made from New York to London. It carried eleven other passengers including a governor and various press reporters, along with the cargo of envelopes that declared that they had been on the first commercial landplane flight overseas.

"Stamp collectors might have considered October 23, 1945 a day to remember, but 75 years later few recall the first scheduled transatlantic service via 'land plane' from New York to London...Everyone who has ever flown the Atlantic in economy class should have been invited to a big 75th anniversary party—except there was no party. It wasn’t cancelled because of COVID. It was never planned."

    Before that first DC-4, clippers carried luxury passengers in small groups. Henceforth, transatlantic travel would become commonplace, carrying millions of people. Unfortunately, this historic day was not celebrated.

The New Yorker: Can Democrats Win Georgia - and the Senate?

By Charles Bethea

    In 2014, the New Georgia Project was founded by Stacey Abrams, and its volunteers have assisted millions in getting to the polls. Along with a few groups like it, the New Georgia Project helped get Biden a victory in the red state.

    Early voting for the special election in the state ended on December 31st, and the organization planned to knock on a million doors before then.

"The incumbents, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, 'do not give a damn about the fact that Black folks are dying at an alarming clip in our state,' Ufot said...Health disparities are particularly stark in Georgia’s rural Black Belt, she noted, where the pandemic has taken a heavy toll. 'What an incredible holiday gift it would be to send Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate so they can go there to do the people’s work,' she added."

National Geographic: When the world reopens, will art museums still be there?

By Christine Spolar

    In March, museums across America closed as the stay-at-home orders set in.

"The year 2020 has been a time of crisis, innovation, anxiety, and introspection for all businesses, especially museums. Large galleries in cities with reliable international tourism found travel bans nearly ruinous to their business models. Smaller regional museums discovered a surprising upside as their institutions emerged as symbols of good, collaborative creativity in their communities."

    Some museums have become more popular for local residents as they come to museums for a hint of normalcy. Museums across the world have improved their digital and virtual assets. In the light of civil rights protests, some have closed down controversial exhibits, and the Baltimore Museum of Art has pledged to only accept works by female artists in the coming fiscal season.