CNN 10 4/26/2021 ~ 4/30/2021

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Monday, April 26, 2021

On Wednesday, President Biden will be giving his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. The Constitution mandates that the President inform Congress about the state of the Union from time to time. Normally this is called the State of the Union address, but in their first year, Presidents aren't yet considered to be an authority on the state of the Union, so the speech is just an address to a joint session of Congress. Humans have always strived to reach into the heavens, and massive skyscrapers are just one of the most recent chapters in that story. The first one was "just" four school buses tall. Now, they are thousands of feet in height, utilizing all sorts of technology to prevent them from falling. With even newer innovations, these giants are also aiming to be more green.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

A new wave of coronavirus has risen up in India, and it is the largest spike in the world. For a week, the second-largest country in the world has seen over 300,000 cases per day. This has led to ICU bed shortages, and more critically, a shortage of air tanks in New Dehli. These are used to help the most severely ill patients breathe, and New Dehli does not make its own. The Indian government is promising help, and several other countries have pledged to send in reinforcements as well. Before World War I, more than 2 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman empire, or what is now Turkey. After the war, there were less than 500,000. Armenians claim that a genocide occurred during the war, while Turkey denies this and says just as many Ottomans died as Armenians. They also say that the death toll was actually around 300,000. This week, President Biden made history by officially recognizing the deaths as a genocide of Armenians. He is also the first president since Ronald Reagan to refer to the events as a genocide. The Hyperloop is a type of high-speed rail that uses magnetic propulsion to travel at extremely high speeds. Virgin Hyperloop's Hyperloop One successfully completed its first human test last year, and its founder hopes that the new technology will help people connect faster.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

The results of last year's US Census is out. This is important because the number of people in each state determines the number of seats they get in the House, as per the Constitution. 

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Yesterday, President Biden delivered his first Address to a Joint Session of Congress. Normally, you would hear of this event referred to as the State of the Union Address, but in his first year, the President isn't considered to be an authority on the State of the Union yet. This speech is usually a time for the President to remark on what he has done so far, as well as layout a plan for the coming years to try to garner Congressional support. Afterwards, a representative of the opposing party delivers a speech rebutting what the President has said. President Biden highlighted getting troops out of Afghanistan, the need for America to pull together, and his legislative agenda, such as his infrastructure plan.

Friday, April 30, 2021

The Olympic torch is now in Japan, and so are fresh doubts about the games. Japan is in the midst of another big outbreak, but the government is determined to hold the games. They have already determined that international fans will not be allowed, but it remains to be seen how many Japanese will be allowed to attend the games in person. Polls show that a majority of the Japanese population still feels that the games should not be held, even after a year. Another side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic may be a shortage of gasoline. This isn't because there isn't enough of it; there aren't enough drivers to get the gas to the places where it is needed. When the pandemic first hit, many drivers left, retired, or were otherwise out of work, while driving school shut down as well. All of this has contributed to the oncoming shortage. Russia and China are working on a new ISS, which as of now, costs more than a billion dollars to run every year. In the future, there are hopes it could be used as a base for Mars missions. 

CNN 10 4/18/2021 ~ 4/23/2021

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Monday, April 19, 2021

Colorado State University has released its forecast for this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to November. It is predicting a more active season, with 17 named storms predicted. Many people will remember last year's season, which saw 30 named storms, the most on record, so many that we ran out of names for them and had to use the Greek alphabet. NOAA will release its range of possible hurricanes in May. The Ingenuity helicopter that touched down on Mars with the Perseverance rover is set to attempt the first-ever flight on another planet today. It will be the latest in what has become a human craving for Mars. NASA's Mars program has cost billions, and it's drawing many skeptics. However, supports say that what is still unknown and the lingering possibility of life is worth the price tag.

Wednesday, April 201 2021

The US is seeing high rates of inflation. Inflation is when prices go up and your money isn't worth as much as it used to be. There are several reasons for this. First, COVID-19 caused people to stop going out, leading to them not buying goods, and grinding the economy to a general halt. Then, as vaccinations began and they started going back to normal life, there weren't enough of things that had gone out of demand, driving prices up. For example, the gas industry took a big hit last year but has recently seen price increases as people drive to work and school again. Another problem created by COVID-19 is waste. People are making a lot of it, everything from take-out boxes to PPE. PPE disposal created a lot of waste before the pandemic, but when it hit, hospitals suddenly needed a lot more of it. Recyclers don't like to take waste from hospitals because they could be contaminated, so they need to do more reusing.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Japan has introduced a controversial plan to dump some water into the Pacific Ocean. It's controversial because the water is radioactive. It's like that because it was used after the Fukushima nuclear power plant after an earthquake cut off the power supply there. Tons of water were used to prevent a nuclear meltdown. Japan plans to remove most harmful isotopes and chemicals from that water before releasing it into the sea. It would still contain the isotope tritium, but Japan says it has no impact on human health and that the levels are lower than international standards. Neighbors South Korea and China have expressed concern, and say that Japan needs to consult them before taking any action. The future of Chad's democracy has been cast into doubt as the country's elected leader dies in conflict. The president, who had recently been elected to his sixth term in office, was fighting against rebel forces with his army. He reportedly died of his wounds. A Tesla Model S crash is the subject of another investigation. The vehicle appeared to veer around a corner into some trees. Both passengers, who were in the back were killed. This brings into question Tesla's autopilot feature, which the company claims was not on, and is not intended to be a replacement for a human driver. New Zealand and Australia are implementing the idea of a travel bubble. Tourists from both countries would be allowed to go to select places, given that case numbers do not rise. This idea is especially compelling for countries that live on the tourism industry.

Friday, April 23, 2021

President Biden kicked off a virtual climate summit today with world leaders. He pledged that the US would continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which had seen reduced regulations under Trump. Though he did not outline any specific plans, he did say that high goals from the US would compel other countries to take similar actions. E-skin is a new industry that has been growing. It involves little patches that can be placed on skin to monitor movement or biosignals. This is an especially compelling technology for the elderly because their vital signs can be relayed to a special patch on their hand for easy access. A new Turkish design proposes an ambitious new hotel. It would be a floating island that would get most of its energy from turbines and rotate with the current.

CNN 10 4/12/2021 ~ 4/16/2021

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Monday, April 12, 2021

On the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the volcano La Soufrière has erupted. One dangerous effect of this is pyroclastic flows, which are mixtures of lava, ash, and gas that rush down the slopes and destroy everything in their path. Many homes have lost power, and dust in coating everything in the volcano's vicinity. The government there has already evacuated hundreds of people who could potentially be in danger. A US probe called OSIRIS-REx recently left the asteroid of Bennu. Its mission is to bring back samples of the dust and rock there, and upon its return, it would become the second satellite to ever do so. The full moon in April is called the Pink Moon. This signals the coming of one of the first flowers of spring, which is pink. The second moon in a month is called the Blue Moon, and the Harvest of Blood Moon is the one in October. One thing to note is that none of these moons actually change color. The Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany just set another world record. It already held the record for longest toy train track and that track just set the new record for the longest classical music medley played by a train.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

President Joe Biden has now reached 100 days in office, a day that is often used to see how productive a president has been. In his early days in office, Biden signed dozens of executive orders, most of which saw a reversal from Trump-era policies back to Obama. On day 51, he signed the latest $1.9 trillion stimulus package. On his 58th day, he reached his original goal of 100 million adults at least partially vaccinated, but he increased that to 200 million shortly before, and it is unclear as of now whether that has been met. The history of this assessment goes back to the time of FDR, who announced on his hundredth day that he had signed 15 bills into law. Since then, many presidents have held events to commemorate the day, such as speeches and formal receptions. However, some, like JFK, have said it is unreasonable to judge presidents by their first 100 days since it doesn't provide enough time for the leader to advance their agenda. Yesterday marked 40 years since the beginning of the space shuttle program, and even though the program was ended in 2011 with the explosion of Columbia, its iconic shape and legacy lives on. It was the first of its kind - an orbiter, a rocket, and an airplane that promised easier access to space and a delivery system that built the ISS. Also having built the Hubble Space Telescope, the 5 shuttles flew over 135 missions over their 30 years. And though not everything went as planned, with the notable failures of Challenger and Columbia, they have left an indelible mark.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

The police shooting of yet another Black man is rocking the state of Minnesota. On Sunday, Daunte Wright was stopped by police in Minneapolis because his car's license sticker had expired. During the arrest, they found that he had an outstanding warrant for carrying a pistol without a permit and running from police. They asked Wright to step out of the car, after which there appeared to be a scuffle when he reportedly tried to get back into his car. An officer then yelled "Taser!" several times in reference to a shock weapon that she was about to pull. However, she actually pulled out a gun instead, and the one-shot she fired killed Wright. Police say this was a tragic accident, while the Wrights' attorney said that it was a preventable incident. The officer involved and the Brooklyn Center police chief have resigned. Just miles away, the trial of the officer who killed George Floyd last summer was taking place. The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which until recently was cleared by the FDA for emergency use, has now been put on hold after rare brain blood clotting events have occurred in several people who received it. the cause is still unknown, and it is just 6 of 6.8 million people who have gotten the single shot, but the CDC and FDA are pausing distribution "out of an abundance of caution". US tensions with China are on the rise again. The Chinese military recently flew its planes in Taiwanese airspace, asserting its control over what it considers to be under its control. Both China and Taiwan say that they are sovereign over all China, and the US has agreed to help Taiwan in case of a military invasion. However, it has stopped short of acknowledging Taiwan's independence, something that crosses a red line for Beijing.

Thursday, April 15, 2021

The Biden administration recently announced its plan to remove all but a few strategically necessary troops from Afghanistan by September 11th of this year, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. These initiated the US involvement in Afghanistan because the government there had housed the terrorists who attacked America. The old government, known as the Taliban, was removed, and though the country is currently led by elected leaders, the Taliban still creates great unrest there, which is what is generating the bipartisan divide in Congress. For its part, the Biden administration says that right now, the conflict there has no foreseeable end and analysts believe it wants to focus on other threats like Russia and China. In another Middle Eastern country, Egypt, archaeologists have found an ancient city that they believe could be the biggest thing since King Tut's tomb. The city is mostly intact, with countless pieces of pottery, a full bakery, and even a mummy. In India, many farmers live close to wild animal reserves, and these animals often end up ruining crops, killing animals, and even humans. The nonprofit Wild Seve founded by Krithi Karanth is trying to change that dynamic. They provide more accessible relief to affected peoples.

Friday, April 16, 2021

The US has imposed new sanctions on Russia. They will prevent US banks from doing business with certain Russian banks and kick at least 10 diplomats out of the country's mission in Washington D.C. The Biden Administration says that some of the diplomats worked for Russian intelligence, and the US government also said that Russia had interfered in US elections. In addition, the country was accused of encouraging Afghans to harm US soldiers and allies in the region, all of which constitute a national security threat. All of these have been denied, and Russia says it will respond in the coming days. Heather Abbott was one of the hundreds who were injured at the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013, and one of just over a dozen who permanently lost a limb. Because her injury was so public, she was able to get help and afford a variety of prostheses that kept her moving and her life intact. However, these devices are far too expensive for most, so she started a foundation to help others get funding, and it has helped dozens to date. Scientists at MIT have mapped spider webs and used them to create music. They described it as eerie.

Tuesdays With Morrie

By Mitch Albom

My thoughts: It is important to connect with others, especially during time like this, when people are separated for extended periods of time. This book emphasizes the importance of human connection in a society that propels us to ignore all else for the sake of getting ahead.

    Morrie Schwartz was Mitch's old professor at Brandeis University. He taught sociology like no one else, and Mitch took every class he taught. During that time, he developed a close friendship with the professor and learned to look at life in a different way. Yet after graduating, he failed on his promise to keep in touch, and only remembered him after an ABC Nightline report on how Morrie had contracted ALS and was dying. The disease was weakening his muscles bit by bit until he could no longer breathe. Already he was mostly confined to his chair.

    By the time Mitch arrives at Morrie's house, he has been meeting with many, many people coming to see him, and he could have just been another visitor. But after all these years, Mitch is still Morrie's favorite student. While he is still alive, he wants to transfer everything he has learned, so that his unique experience and outlook will not be lost. They begin meeting on Tuesdays, just like back in the university days.

1984

By George Orwell

    In a dystopian world where a single party has taken over all of the information in the Oceanic sphere of power, Winston is a low-down Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth. There, contrary to its name, the past and present are continually altered to fit the current reality, such as what country Oceania is at war with, who is a traitor and who is not, etc. In fact, the Party even alters language in and of itself to Newspeak, where unnecessary words and meanings are purged to make the thought of freedom or anything the Party doesn't want impossible. Winston is what is called a thought criminal. He thinks unorthodox thoughts. For instance, he has grown tired of the endless telescreen broadcasts promoting war against either Eastasia or Eurasia and propaganda of Big Brother, the figurehead of the Party. He has bought a diary (a banned substance) and has begun to record his thoughts, his history. Of course, he knows that one day, the Thought Police will catch up to him, but until that point, he shall live in defiance.

    At work, he meets a kindred spirit in Julia. They both do not believe in the party's blatant lies, and get involved in an affair with each other. In the process, they both believe that by pretending to believe the Party and be a faithful member, they will somehow survive. They even meet a member of the fabled Brotherhood, an organization purportedly working against the Party and continually hated by them, who turns out to be a Party official.