Air and Space: NASA’s Most Important Mission, Long Delayed, Is Finally on Track

By Tony Reichhardt

    Most people believe that the probability of a truly dangerous asteroid hitting Earth is very small - and for a good reason. Over the past few decades, ground telescopes have identified over 95 percent of the asteroids in our atmosphere that are over a kilometer wide, and none of them are on course to hit Earth. Next year, a new spacecraft called DART will do a test drive to see if it can change an asteroid's course, should one be headed in our direction. However, this doesn't mean that we can rest easy.

    There are an estimated 25,000 smaller objects in orbit that are around 140 meters or larger. These could strike with enough impact to wipe out southern California. An asteroid half that size landed in Arizona 50,000 years ago and left the famous crater. In 2005, NASA was ordered to find at least 90% of objects this size, and the deadline was supposed to be 2020. But the project currently sits at just 40% finished and estimates show that it will take another 30 years to complete if it continues at this pace.

    One reason is that people don't seem to care about a threat so rare. Another is that NASA is having trouble figuring out which department should complete the task. While scientific asteroid missions have gotten plenty of funding, it's been harder to get the same for the so-called "planetary defense". A 2014 project was turned down by NASA. Fortunately, another project by the acronym NEO surveyor spacecraft has gotten funding and is on track for launch in 2026. Its infrared cameras should complete the project in the next ten years and pick up plenty of other small objects along the way.

Time: Feds Are Fed-Up with Trump-Era Meddling

By Philip Elliot

    Federal workers are often scapegoated by political leaders and pressured to meet their whims. It was already hard for the most spotlighted agencies, but their problems seem to have been only exacerbated by Trump's presidency.

    A recent poll on how federal employees felt about their jobs revealed a correlation - the less Trump knew about your job, the happier you were. Unsurprisingly, top-level cabinet departments like Homeland Security, Justice, and State, all had below-average happiness rankings. Even smaller agencies, like those that manage U.S. PR abroad and carry out budget management, ranked lower because of their frequent contact with the White House and its whims.

    This is important because unhappy agencies produce lower-quality work, resulting in more unnecessary spending and more people leaving their jobs.

Time: Post-White House Donald Trump Continues to Destroy Norms

By Philip Elliot

    Once a president leaves office, most generally settle down and stay out of politics. For example, no matter how far Obama stretched the truth during his administration, President Bush's office refused to comment on his successor. Often, former presidents even help out with current ones, knowing how hard the job is. Of course, that isn't to say they live like hermits - they do help family members run for office or support certain policies. But President Trump, like everything else he does, deviates from the norm.

    He recently held a rally in Cleveland where he perpetuated his lies about Biden stealing the Presidency, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the January 6th insurrection, and also railed against a Republican Ohio Representative who dared vote against him in the second impeachment.

    Now, Trump obviously no longer has the influence he did as a president. But polls show that the majority of Republicans still believe his lies, and there's no reason to think his behavior will change any time soon.

GHLC at JHU: Mr. Brigg Reilley

Video not currently available

Mr. Brigg Rielley presents on Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders:

Help people in troubled areas

Key rules:

1. Be neutral (especially in warzones)

2. Impartiality - see everyone who needs treatment (even if they are combatants)

3. Independence - act without government help to prevent government interference

MSF active in 72 countries

Responding to:

1. Armed conflict

    Cooperate with the person in charge - prevent conflict

    Have multiple vehicles

    Local drivers

2. Environmental disasters

    Be there early

    It disrupts existing efforts

3. Exclusion from healthcare

    Helping people who can't get help

4. Forced displacement

    Gangs

    Violence

    Things like people on US border

    Prevent trauma

5. Epidemics

    Vaccination

    Treatment

How MSF responds

1. Primary clinics

2. Mobile clinics - motorcycles, boats

    You are out all day, and it takes a while to get back - that means you treat as many as possible, even if there is untreatable, dangerously ill person

3. Hospital support

4. Surgery

5. Vaccination

6. Nutritional support

    Develop portable food packets

7. Maternal health

8. Water/sanitation

9. Prevention

10. Pre-developed kits that can be custom-ordered

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Connie Hoe

Video currently not available

Dr. Connie Hoe, MSW, PhD, Assistant Professor, International Health Department, Health Systems Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, presents on Industry Inference with Public Health Policies.

Industry Interference in Public Health Policy:

People involved in policy making

    Political elite

    The State

    Nonstate actors

    Advocacy groups

Companies like tobacco promote policies detrimental to health

Commercial determinants of health: strategies and approaches used by the private sector to promote products and choices that are detrimental to health

Dynamics of commercial determinants: drivers, channels, outcomes

WHO FCTC adopted a resolution to protect policies from tobacco companies

Tobacco industry tactics: good image, influence, legal challenges

Control tactics: scientific evidence, exposing tactics, advocacy, alliances

Case study: Phillippines

Low-income country, high tobacco and alcohol usage

Sin Tax Reform Law

    Indexed tobacco and alcohol taxes to inflation

    Incremental revenues earmarked for health

The Global Burden of Road Traffic Deaths

Drunk driving laws important - not many countries have them

More investments and lobbying necessary

National Geographic: What is a heat dome? Deadly hot weather descends on Pacific Northwest.

By Sarah Gibbens

    Residents across the Pacific Northwest are bracing for a heatwave as health warnings went up all across the region. It's the latest in what is an alarming trend of increasing temperatures. A heat dome is a high-pressure region in the atmosphere that traps heat over a certain area. Because of a La Niña weather pattern, waters this year in the eastern Pacific are cool, while those in the west are warmer. This creates dense, warm winds that go into the jet stream and end up over the U.S. West Coast. The current heat dome has already set record temperatures, and another one is predicted to occur in mid-July.

    Scientists say that climate change is one major factor in the increase in heat domes, not just in the U.S. but around the world, even in Russia's Arctic Circle. Especially in dry areas, heat waves can be self-perpetuating, because there are already droughts, which exacerbate heat even more.

    In areas with especially high temperatures, city officials are open public venues with cooling as designated cooling centers, where people without air conditioning at home can come to rest and cool off. Officials also say that the very young and old are at most risk, and people with neighbors who live alone should check on them.

National Geographic: ‘Dragon Man’ skull may be new species, shaking up human family tree

By Maya Wei-Haas

    In the 1930s, people in northeast China found a skull. But it wasn't just any old skull. It was massive, well preserved, with a mish-mash of different features. Obviously knowing that this was an important find, the person who found it tossed it down a well where it was recently rediscovered. Several studies have determined that it is the skull of a man who died around 146,000 years ago, and one has even claimed that it should be named its own species: Homo longi.

    The reason for all the commotion is its array of both modern and archaic features. The skull is squat and wide, and its one remaining tooth has three roots, which are all features commonly found in older fossils. However, it also has delicate cheekbones that are low on the face, which looks more like us. When researchers ran algorithms to try to give it a place on the hominins tree, the resulting location was closer to our own species, Homo sapiens, than the Neanderthals.

    Still, not all scientists agree that it warrants a new species. Some say that the odd characteristics are unique to the individual, or that it should be group under the Denisovans. Whatever the case is, the discovery shows that as we make more discoveries, evolutionary trees will only get more complicated.

Time: South Korean President Moon Jae-in Makes One Last Attempt to Heal His Homeland

By Charlie Campbell

    2018 was a year in which the Korean peninsula stepped back from the brink of war and entered into negotiations for the first time in years. After threats of "fire and fury" from Trump, South Korean President Moon Jae-in invited a North Korean delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and a total of 5 summits were held. However, after Singapore, progress stalled. Talks in Hanoi ended with no agreements, and things escalated pretty quickly from there, with Trump focusing more on domestic issues and North Korea once again becoming antagonistic. Because Moon is barred from serving more than one term, he knows that now is the time to act. Now, this picture has played out several times since the cease-fire of the Korean War: talks will stall, the sides will part, and any agreements will soon be ripped up by an incoming administration. In addition, North Korea has said it will only make concessions once sanctions are removed, which is a leverage point Washington is not willing to give up easily.

    So what will become of this last chance? Biden recently met up with Moon and the pair signed several new deals, as well as releasing a statement that they will continue to coordinate in matters concerning the DPRK. Considering that both Seoul and Washington have progressive leaders in office, it could also be an opportunity for North Korea, and they seem to have recognized this, the state-run media releasing a report that Kim Jong-un is preparing for dialogue.

    But even as President Moon looks to leave his legacy, it also seems to be deteriorating. A recent poll showed that his approval ratings are down, and his fixation on foreign affairs seems to have drawn supporters away. Many are concerned that he is trying too hard to be close to the North Korean dictator, and South Korea's vaccination rates are faltering.

    People have tried and failed for 3 decades to solve the issue. "That might, after all, be Moon’s true legacy—the grim realization that if he couldn’t fix things, perhaps nobody can."

National Geographic: Astronomers identify the stars where any aliens would have a view of Earth

By Nadia Drake

    The transit method has long been a common way to figure out where planets are. It identifies little blips that appear to move across the surface of a star, because those could be planets moving past the stars they orbit. But could aliens have identified us using the same method?

    Of course, the conditions would have to be right for this to occur. With the transit method, only planets that can be seen passing a start from the angle of another planet can be identified, leaving many others unnoticed. Researchers recently conducted a study to determine when certain planets would be able to see us. They concluded that in the 10,000 year period ranging from 5,000 years ago to 5,000 into the future, planets orbiting over 2,000 nearby stars could potentially have identified Earth, should there be living organisms there. They also estimated that around 29 planets are habitable and could have picked up stray radio signals from us.

    These planets are all in the Earth transit zone or the plane that is aligned with the Sun and Earth. These planets, if habited, could have seen us in the past, be looking at us now, or see us in the future. They could not only use radio waves that humans produce but, over the span of hundreds of thousands of years, see the composition of the atmosphere changing.

Time: How Republicans Have Packed the Courts for Years

By Jackie Calmes

    While the Republicans have been accusing Democrats of wanting to "pack" the Supreme Court, they have quietly been doing the same thing for years at all levels of the federal judiciary system. The most obvious effect of this is the 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court, which is set to see some challenges to past liberal rulings like abortion and same-sex marriage. While the Democratic Party is in control of the Senate now, Republicans have sworn to stop Biden nominees should they retake the majority in 2022 or 2024.

    The GOP, specifically Mitch McConnell, has sworn to stack the judiciary with as many conservatives as they can, because judges serve for life, while laws are more volatile. Democratic Presidents have left more than 100 vacant seats at various levels because most nominees were blocked by a Republican-held Senate. The most notable stiff-arming was seen in 2016, when McConnell refused a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, claiming that the next president should choose a nominee while forcing Amy Coney Barrett's hearing through the Senate just weeks before the election in 2020.

    During his presidency, Trump appointed nearly 300 judges to the federal bench, and 3 justices - only one of whom was legitimate. It seems that McConnell's strategy to "transform the federal judiciary" will only continue during the Biden years. He has pledged to block all Biden nominees in 2024 should he regain control of the Senate in 2022, and has yet to say anything about 2023.

National Geographic: Whales don’t spray water from their blowholes and other myths, debunked

By Melissa Hobson

    There are a variety of myths out there about whales, ranging from them blowing water from their blowholes to swallowing humans. However, most of these are wrong.

    Whales have hair: Though they don't look furry, whales actually have hair, and some are even born with whiskers that fall out because they serve no purpose underwater. Hair follicles are an evolutionary trait present in all whales since whales are mammals.

    Whales can't breathe underwater: Whales have lungs just like we do, and need to breathe in order to survive (though they do last much longer on one breath than we do). Their blowhole(s) are like our noses.

    Whales expel air from their blowholes: Whales breathe, and their blowholes serve as an air intake. When they surface, they blow air out, and the hot air from their lungs condenses when it collides with cold air outside. Water and other particles that were covering the blowhole are also expelled.

    Not all whales sing: You've probably heard about whale songs - predictable sequences of sound that travel through the ocean. However, only certain baleen whales exhibit this behavior. Toothed whales use echolocation, which emits high-pitched clicks to identify objects. 

    Whale sharks are not a type of whale: While whale sharks might be called whales and grow as large as one, they are a type of fish, not a mammal. Like all sharks, they are cold-blooded, have gills, and have a skeletal system comprised of cartilage. In addition, their fins move side to side, rather than up and down.

Air and Space: Life May Have Been More Likely to Originate on Mars Than on Earth

By Dirk Schulze-Makuch

    One question in astrobiology is whether life is likely to have arisen on Mars. A team of researchers led by Benton Clark from the Space Science Institute recently explored the question. They concluded that it was just as probable for life to have arisen on Mars as on Earth.

    There are four reasons for this conclusion. First, Mars probably received a lot more organic materials from asteroids and comets. Second, sulfur, an important biological element, is more common on Mars. Third, Mars had a head start in the biological process because the Earth was hit by a meteor between 20 to 100 million years after its creation, obliterating any biology. Finally, Mars experiences a lot of wet-dry and freeze-thaw cycles, which concentrates elements. These cycles, when exposed to air, would support the hydrothermal pond theory of life's origin. However, because only around 5% of Mars was covered by water, a deep ocean origin would make it unlikely for life to have started on Mars. Ultimately, the true origin of life on Earth has a lot of implications for the results of this study and the possibility of life on Mars.

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Traci Wolbrink

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Dr. Traci Wolbrink, MD MPH, Associate Professor in Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School, is the founder and co-director of OPENPediatrics

OPENPediatrics: Online Learning for Global Health Professionals

Dr. Traci Wolbrink is a pediatrician who realized that many doctors in rural or underserved areas did not have sufficient training materials.

She had the idea of creating an open-source learning software like MIT Opencourseware to help them learn.

One constraint was that it had to be downloadable, somewhat like an app, and be passed along on a storage device.

The result was software that could be downloaded and give feedback on modules participants could complete, and if they were connected to the Internet, could also adapt to give them more feedback.

Air and Space: Why Alan Shepard Carried a Dollar Bill on His Mercury Flight

By Richard Jurek

    On May 5th, 1961, Alan Shephard made the first spaceflight by an American, and he took a dollar bill with him. It was the result of a PR screw-up by the Russians. After Yuri Gagarin made the first-ever spaceflight, they tried to get it certified by the FAI in Paris, which had validated aeronautics world records since 1905. But the FAI had very specific requirements, and one was witnesses. They had to prove the astronaut that landed and the astronaut that took off were one and the same. So they came up with a clever, sleek solution - Shepard would carry a dollar bill with him, and a present NAA official would write down its serial number beforehand. Once he landed, Shephard would radio the numbers back to the official to verify his identity. The same procedure has been used with Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

    Eventually, the bills were seen as having too much value, and were replaced with paper certificates. In fact, astronauts are now banned from taking any money with them to space.

TedEd: The benefits of a good night's sleep

A TedEd by Shai Marcu

When you have a big test or performance coming up, and you've been working for weeks, but you're still a little bit unsure, do you sleep or do you pull an all-nighter? It turns out that sleep is much more important, especially for memory, than we often think. Sleep is actually a key part of your brain's functions, including memory. During sleep, our brain goes through a restructuring in which neurological pathways are strengthened and weakened to help us remember things. Herman Ebbinghaus found in the 19th century that we usually forget about 40% of the things we learn in the first 20 minutes. We can prevent this loss by transferring short-term memories to long-term memory. A structure called the hippocampus helps with this, and its function was determined in the 1950s by Brenda Milner with a patient known as H.M. The patient's hippocampus was removed, their ability to form both long and short-term memories was impaired. However, they were still able to learn physical tasks through repetition. The hippocampus takes short-term memories from neurons and strengthens and forms new synaptic pathways to preserve these memories. Memories made in times of strong emotion are usually easier to remember. Sleep is another important part of memory, especially the 2 deepest stages, known as slow-wave and REM sleep. EEG readings taken during these times show high activity between the brainstem, hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex. So the saying "sleep on it" might really be effective after all.

National Geographic: The Delta variant is serious. Here’s why it's on the rise.

By Sanjay Mishra

    As vaccination rates in the U.S. continue to fall, new concerns are rising about a more dangerous variant of COVID-19 that came out of India - the Delta variant. It already accounts for the majority of U.K. cases last week and 6% of the total cases worldwide, leading to the postponement of reopenings in that country. It is 60% more transmissible than the first Alpha variant, which was also 40% more transmissible compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. It also seems to be more dangerous once a person is infected.

    The coronavirus mutates easily because its genetic information is in the form of RNA, which is prone to errors when copied. These random mutations can help a virus evade the immune system, make it weaker, or have no effect at all. In the case of the Delta variant, a series of genetic mistakes accumulated on the spike protein, which antibodies use to detect it. The mutations make it harder for antibodies to identify the virus and allow it to escape the immune system even after it is caught. Often, certain mutations that are beneficial to a virus evolve independently in many different areas around the globe and spread more quickly, with this mutation at location 681 quickly becoming more common.

    It also seems that this variant is also more resistant to vaccines. In the U.K., 31% of the patients with the Delta variant and needing critical care had at least one dose of a vaccine. With both doses, the Pfizer vaccine appeared to be around 88% effective, and AstraZeneca 60%. With one dose, they were just 51% and 33% effective. What has happened in the U.K. could happen in many other countries if people do not continue to be cautious. It is important that people not let down their guard.

TedEd: A brief history of toilets

A TedEd by Francis de los Reyes

In the days of the Roman Empire, people would go to communal bathrooms in order to talk and do their business. The waste would then drop down below into water pipelines. Though bathrooms today are a bit different, it is still an important invention. Most ancient texts describe some sort of advice about keeping waste away from water and shelter, and waste management began to take a more tangible form as early as 3000 BCE. As humans advanced, they formed squatting latrines in streets that connected to sewage, while houses in other areas each had their own toilets. These developments are key because untreated sewage is a breeding ground for a variety of diseases. During the Roman era, more sophisticated management systems were created that took sewage outside of city walls. In China, similar systems fed pigs and were sold as fertilizer. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe went through a dark age not only in general but of sanitization. People dumped waste into the streets and disease ran wild. But toward the end of the Middle Ages, conditions improved and most families had commode stools, or wooden boxes with lids, to do their business. In England, Sir John Harrington created the first modern flush toilet for Queen Elizabeth, and it largely follows the same mechanism we use today. In 1775, Alexander Cumming created an S-shaped bend in the pipes to retain water and keep out the smell, which was later improved to a U-bend by Thomas Crapper. Today, we also have wastewater management sites to ensure that the water released from toilets is clean and sanitary. But more than 4 billion people worldwide still lack a toilet or waste management.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

By Oliver Sacks

My thoughts: It was interesting that almost everyone with a disability had a different ability, often one that replaces their original capacities. Those who couldn't talk, drew. The woman with a low IQ could express herself eloquently. Another interesting thing is that even though Thompson and Jimmie were impacted similarly by their diseases, they had two very different coping mechanisms.

    Oliver Sacks, a neurologist details several odd cases that he has come across during his career. In Part 1, he begins by discussing the subject of neurological disorders. They have become rather sidelined in the medical field, as some sort of deficit that causes impairment. But he claims that this is not quite accurate, because patients often make up for deficits with enhancements in other parts of their brain. The patients he presents all have diseases that would be debilitating but are not because they have found workarounds with Dr. Sacks. For instance, Dr. P had become unable to distinguish faces from other objects; at one consultation with Dr. Sacks, he mistook his own wife for a hat. Jimmie G, who is stuck in the post-war era, unable to move on due to Korsakov's syndrome, and yet he has perfect recollection of everything he does remember. Christina, who loses her proprioception, or the innate ability almost everyone has to be able to tell where their body parts are. Similarly, the other patients had all lost some vital neural component that makes us, us, and most people take for granted. 

    Part 2 discusses patients with Tourette's Syndrome, which is a little-understood disease among doctors. However, Sacks has found that it is much more common than it seems, and attributes this to the excessively clinical diagnostics used to identify Tourette's. The syndrome creates an excess of a certain mental process, which can be different for every person. He describes several different impacts, including those who try to equalize their altered minds and those who have "visions". William Thompson, for instance, loses his memory like Jimmie. However, instead of staying stuck in the past, he constantly makes up a new past to match the present, stuck in a permanent catch-up game. It can also produce tics, or moments when the afflicted person feels especially lively. One man, a gifted musician, found that these tics, if they occurred while he was playing, could give him bouts of musical genius.

    Part Three discusses neurological conditions that can give people "visions". There were also two women, who, as a result of temporal lobe seizures, heard music. However, they had two very different effects. One enjoyed the music, for it provided a window into her childhood years, and opted to continue hearing it until it naturally went away. The other found the repetitive nature of the music annoying and chose anti-convulsants. A young Indian girl developed a tumor which also caused her to have seizures combined with illusions, and Sacks shows how calmly she took in her new life.

    In the final section, he talks about the subject of intellectual disabilities. These people often have a different grasp of the world than most, and it stems from abilities that become enhanced in order to make up for the lack of others. For instance, one girl was able to express herself best through poetry and abstract thought, Martin A, who loved music and Bach in spite of his low IQ, and most shockingly, "The Twins". They had the ability to "see" numbers, even though they lacked a basic understanding of arithmetic. They loved numbers, and it was their one tie to the world. Sadly, this ability went away after they were separated. In the final chapter, Dr. Sacks leaves us with the story of José, who couldn't speak a single coherent word but had a remarkable creative ability with art. He was so good that he was refashioned into an artist of sorts, with a use in the world, rather than being considered a burden.

National Geographic: Humpback whales can’t swallow a human. Here’s why.

By Melissa Hobson

    On Friday, a lobster diver in Cape Cod was reportedly swallowed by a humpback whale while diving. He said he was in the animal's mouth for around 30 seconds before it spat him out. However, while a humpback could technically fit a human in its massive mouth, it is scientifically impossible for it to swallow one, as its throat is much too small, usually around the size of a human fist. There have been other reports of people being swallowed and spit out before, but all these people were likely simply temporarily "engulfed" in the whale's mouth as it was trying to feed. The only whale with a throat big enough to swallow humans (and larger organisms) is the sperm whale, but this organism generally lives down in the depths of the ocean, below where most humans are ever able to go.

    Whales generally fall into two categories in terms of what they eat. Toothed whales sperm whales can eat animals like fish and squid, while baleen whales have teeth-like baleen which helps them filter small organisms like krill out of the water. So there is no reason to be afraid of whales, especially because most people will never get close enough to one to be "swallowed". In fact, whales need more help from us. A variety of human activities has led to a population decline, with everything from hunting to boats causing problems.

TedEd: The sharks that hunt in forests

By Luka Seamus Wright

Most people don't imagine sharks hunting and living in trees. But marine forests cover 4.2 million square miles of the Earth, and many sharks live and find protection in the roots of mangroves, as well as hunt in seagrasses. They provide shelter to 35% of the world's shark population. Perhaps the most unique ecosystem is one created by the mangroves. Mangroves live both on land and at sea, and their unique roots house many animals. In order to live in this limbo, they have several adaptations. First, their seedlings develop in trees before dropping into the water in a semi-mature state and drifting to a location where they can take root. They use some form of skinny roots and prop roots to hold themselves above the water. These roots also have microscopic breathing pores that the mangroves use to take in oxygen and keep out saltwater. The roots often have filters for salt as well, while some species opt to store salt and excrete it. These trees form the foundation of ecosystems that house many organisms, as well as sharks. But grown, predatory sharks arent bad - they keep the numbers of other organisms in check so the ecosystem doesn't get overcrowded. Overfishing in recent years has placed many of these homes in peril, and humans need to fight in order to preserve them.

Time: Biden plans to put pressure on Putin in Geneva. Will it work?

By Ian Bremmer

    On June 16th, Russian President Vladimir will be meeting with President Joe Biden for the first time in his presidency after his meeting with G-7 world leaders. Russia, of course, was ousted from the G-7 after it annexed Crimea, so Putin will not be in Geneva in person. Outside of the meeting room, they will likely do their best to appear cordial, but the meeting itself will be anything but.

    While Russia is still a powerful country, China is now the largest adversary of the United States. It is growing larger both in terms of population and technological prowess while Russia still grapples with the fall of the Soviet Union. The former Warsaw Pact nations are slowly easing out of its grasp as its economy, still largely dependent on oil exports, tanked along with oil prices as supply outpaced demand.

    Russia is still a security threat, especially in areas concerning technology, with Russian hackers suspected to be behind the recent ransomware attacks of several US facilities. So what the discussion this week will likely be about it the US alleviating some sanctions on the Russian economy in exchange for minimal threats while it contends with China.

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Habibul Ahsan

Video currently not available

Dr. Habibul Ahsan, MD, Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor Director, Institute for Population and Precision Health at UChicago

Cancer and Precision Health:

- Institute for Population and Precision Health

    Epidemiology, early diagnosis and prevention

    Environmental health and genomics

    Cancer, CVD, diabetes, and respiratory disease

    COVID-19

Evolution of medicine

- Cancer is a growing public health threat

- Not enough funding

- Lower-income countries have higher mortality rates from cancer

Human health research study designs

    Laboratory-based mechanistic studies

    Observational

    Interventional

Small particulates are bad

Treatment is effective against things like arsenic and they are important

Key AI tools

-Supervised

    Artificial, convolutional, recurrent neural network

-Unsupervised

    Self-organizing maps, Boltzmann machine, auto-encoders

TedEd: How fast is the speed of thought?

By Seena Mathew

Imagine a scenario where an enemy has captured you and agrees to let you go if you win a contest. Your brain has been connected via one long neuron to a target. At some point, he will fire an arrow to the target, at which point you need to send a thought to the target before the arrow hits it. To determine if you can win, you need to know how fast your thought can move. 86 billion neurons make up your brain, and these cells have axons that move electrical signals along them. At the end, points called synapses transfer the signal to the dendrites of the next axon in the chain. The first part of figuring out your dilemma is finding out how long it takes to start an action potential (thought), then how fast it can travel down an axon. Based on how fast your knee jerk reaction takes, the average thought takes moves at around 240 km/h. But if an axon is wider or coated with a myelin sheath, it can travel faster, at around 432 km/h. These structures can also degrade with the onset of age. Since the arrow travels at 240 km/h, your thoughts could probably win the race. But you also need to know how long it takes for you to actually perceive the arrow, since you have to wait for the arrow to fire before sending your thought. Your eyes can see the arrow in about 13 milliseconds, but it will take another 200 milliseconds for your brain to process it, giving the arrow a head start of 13 meters. But because your thoughts are faster, they might just be fast enough to win the race.

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Peter Agre

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2003 Nobel Laureate Dr. Peter Agre, M.D.

Opening Doors Worldwide Through Science:

Dr. Agre reflects on his journey through public health, starting with malaria and ranging to diplomacy with foreign nations. He began his career in malaria, in African nations, trying to find a solution for the disease plaguing young children. 

He has also been to restrictive countries like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea to spread science and cure diseases. Like many of the other presenters at the conference, he says that relationship building is key, and that scientific conversation can reach across national borders.

National Geographic: Deep-sea shark bonanza seen off remote island chain

By Annie Roth

    There is very little known about bluntnose sixgill sharks. These animals, which have six gills instead of five, are considered "near threatened", but there is also currently not enough data to determine their population. That's why researchers with OceanX developed a submarine and modified spear guns to go down and tag the animals down at around 4,500 feet, where they usually live. Previously, they would have to be trapped, brought to the surface, then tagged, which was both traumatic for the shark and difficult for humans to do.

    Down in the ocean, researchers and seeing the sharks a lot more often and having more success tagging them. They hope that this will help them understand more about these little-known creatures. It is believed that though they spend the majority of their time in the depths where the water is colder, they come up to shallower areas in order to feed. This means that climate change and warmer oceans could have an impact on their population and feeding patterns since they cannot tolerate warmer waters.

TedEd: What happens when you have a concussion?

A TedEd by Clifford Robbins

Each year in the U.S., millions of athletes get concussions. A concussion occurs when the soft, fatty tissue of the brain receives a sudden jolt and bumps against the side of the hard skull. The brain is made up of tens of billions of neurons, which transfer electrical signals to communicate throughout the body via axons. Because these axons are long and thin, they are prone to breaking when collisions occur. This also releases toxins that kill other neurons nearby, causing more brain damage. This often results in problems with memory, mood, vision, sleep, and anxiety. Most of the time, sleep, rest, and a gradual return to activity heals most side effects of concussions. Sometimes, if people return to sports too quickly or don't rest, they can develop post-concussion syndrome, which has health implications years down the line. Researchers also found that frequent, small impacts can cause the brain to loose integrity in its axon bundles, leading to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can cause concussion-like symptoms along with dementia. This occurs due to a protein called tau, which is usually on microtubules supporting the axons. However, when impacted, they fall off and form clumps, impeding axon efficiency. Up 80% of concussions go undetected or unreported, and it's important to remember that our brains aren't invincible.

National Geographic: Will charging electric cars ever be as fast as pumping gas?

By Madeleine Stone

    One major obstacle to the adoption of electric vehicles is charging. Currently, they typically take around 30 minutes for an 80% charge, though this can vary with the size and charge rate of the battery. However, new lithium-ion and solid-state technologies being developed by companies could reduce those times to around 20 minutes.

    Current EV batteries are composed of lithium-ion cells that can store and release energy thousands of times. Each cell consists of a lithium cathode and a graphite anode with liquid electrolytes in the middle. When the battery is charged, lithium ions flow across the liquid from the cathode to the anode and fill up the graphite. The speed is determined by the rate at which ions flow across the liquid. But charging too fast can cause the battery to overheat, develop a lithium plate over the anode, or form dendrites that can cause the battery to explode. In fact, the capacity of the charging stations isn't the problem - the fastest chargers can already charge batteries at extremely high rates, but the batteries have limits on how quickly they can charge.

    One solution is alternative anode materials. Niobium, for instance, doesn't overheat or form lithium plates, but one downside is that it doesn't store as much energy per unit, making it infeasible for EVs for the time being. Another option is solid-state storage. These use solid electrolytes instead of liquid, preventing the possibility of fire, though these form dendrites at high charge rates. Both technologies are years in the future, but new research is bringing them ever closer.

    Once EVs have super-fast batteries, charging them will put a much larger strain on the electricity grid. If all of them are pulling 400 volts of energy at once, it will be hard to keep up, which is why most developers are opting to keep speeds at around 20 minute charging times. In addition, many people like to charge at their homes after work, when there is less strain on electricity, helping them reach full environmental potential.

TedEd: What makes muscles grow?

A TedEd by Jeffrey Siegel

There are over 600 muscles in our body that hold us together and allow us to move. Most people know that the way you treat them on a daily basis determines whether they grow or shrink. Muscles work by receiving electrical signals from the brain via neurons, which causes them to contract or loosen. If a task is harder, the brian puts more muscles to use. With most everyday tasks, your muscles experience easy loads. But when it encounters a difficult task, the muscles strain, causing microscopic damage. This might sound bad, but it's actually how muscles grow. Your immune system deploys cytokines to the damaged area to rebuild the muscle, causing that muscle to grow. When your muscles are not exposed to consistent strain, they shrink in a process called muscular atrophy. Putting your muscles in high tension, especially when they are lengthened (eccentric contraction) causes them to grow. In addition to exercise, muscles need rest and nutrition to grow. They need proteins you consume with your food, as well as hormones like testosterone that encourage growth. There are also genetic factors because some people have a more robust immune system to facilitate muscle growth.

Time: The G7 Wants to Save the World from Climate Change. But Are They Willing to Pay for It?

By Ciara Nugent

    As countries look to recover from COVID-19, and with leadership that cares about climate change in major countries, the G7 summit in Cornwall this weekend finally seems set for success. In May, the 7 countries in attendance agreed to end financing of overseas coal projects. Additionally, many are recognizing the geopolitical advantage of staving off climate change. Doing so could give them more power and create allies in developing countries. It also means that other countries, like China, may be more willing to cooperate.

    The summit is key because many countries are currently creating bills geared toward pandemic recovery. The policies created at the G7 could have an impact on the use of fossil fuels, and more importantly, how much wealthy countries will help smaller ones. Small, developing countries need the most energy, and the cheapest way to get that is fossil fuels. Because they have less money, this is the only choice unless larger countries offer financial aid for eco-friendly alternatives. Since larger countries are spending lots of money on their own recovery, help would likely come through corporate investments and subsidies.

    If fossil fuels are not ended, the changing climate will bring more and more natural disasters, as the US has already seen with hurricanes. Several countries are concerned that transitioning to renewable energy will cause shortages, but "IEA director Fatih Birol responded that countries were 'missing the point' on security. Though transitions to clean energy 'won’t succeed if they undermine the supplies of energy that billions of people rely on,' he wrote, 'A world ravaged by climate change from fossil fuel emissions won’t be secure.'"

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Tara Kirk Sell

Recording not currently publicly available

Dr. Tara Kirk Sell, Ph.D., Senior Scholar at the JHU Center for Health Security, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering

Responding to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Misinformation:

Factors:

- Confidence

- Complacency

- Convenience

Infodemic:

Misinformation - information that is false in the scientific context of the time, often the result of ignorance and poor understanding

    - False cures

    - Mischaracterizing disease/cure

    - Scapegoating

    - Conspiracies

Disinformation - purposely created and disseminated falsehoods

Ways to check:

- Assess source credibility

- Review other content from the source

- Verify with other sources

- Be wary of emotion-invoking

- Understand your biases

Critical needs:

- Maintaining and building trust

- Engaging with identity

- Communicating uncertainty

Plan for action:

- Intervene against false and damaging content

- Promote and ensure dissemination of true information

- Increase the public's resilience to false information

- Inter-sector collaboration

Responding to people who believe false information:

- Respect

- Connect on values

- Talk about tactics

- Discuss alternatives

- Encourage verification

- Provide true information

When you come across false information:

- Don't repeat

- Report

- Limit engagement

- Provide true information

Building vaccine trust

- Understand, engage, trust

- Communication, motivate, nudges, patience

Building vaccine trust:

- Understand

- Engage

- Trust

- Communication

- Motivate

- Nudges

- Patience

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Amesh Adalja

Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, MD, Senior Scholar at The JHU Center for Health Security

The Center for Health Security:

- Goals

    Pandemic preparedness and response programs

    Awareness among leaders

    Connections between experts and the government

- Health security is a diverse field

- US woefully underprepared and guidelines ignored (Clade X experiment)

- Characteristics of pandemic pathogens

    Efficient transmission

    Moderate fatality

    Contagious during the incubation period

    Mild illness

    Immunologically naive population

    No vaccine

    Evasion of immune response

- Vaccination platforms

    Vaccines key to preventing disease

    "Prototype" vaccines can help (mRNA and DNA vaccines - rapid development)

- At-home diagnostics

- Interface of public health and primary care

    Public health is underresourced

    Can be augmented with primary care

    

GHLC at JHU: Dr. Thomas C. Quinn

Dr. Thomas C. Quinnn, MD, MSc, is the Director of Global Health at JHU and Associate Director for International Research at NIAID.

My Journey into the World of Global Health

- First mentor, George B. Craig, Jr. got him into malaria

- Second mentor, King K Holmes

- Mentor relationship is important - forms a lifelong bond

- Went out to Africa to investigate AIDS

    It was originally thought to only be in homosexual men but quickly spread to the rest of the population

- Met lots of people - relationships are really important!

- HIV becomes a huge problem in developing countries

- Term global health becomes prevalent as HIV/AIDS starts spreading

- Health is now an important foreign policy issue

- Social inequality/demographics are important

- Climate change causes natural disasters - harms health

National Geographic: There’s a new ocean now—can you name all 5?

By Sarah Gibbens

    On World Oceans Day, National Geographic cartographers officially acknowledged the Southern Ocean, the world's fifth ocean. There has long been a debate over whether the region around Antarctica has enough unique features to warrant its own name. The ocean is rimmed by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) at around 60 degrees south latitude and encircles the Antarctic continent while touching three others.

    The ACC first formed when Antarctica separated from South America 34 million years ago and the current facilitates the movement of water around the southern end of the Earth. The waters there are colder and less salty than the more northern areas. It extends from the ocean floor to the surface, allowing it to transport the most water out of any current, and because its cold, dense waters bury carbon in the ocean, it has important environmental impacts as well. Warming of the current in recent years has also led to faster melting of the Antarctic shelf.

    The ocean holds a variety of unique creatures and ecosystems like whales, krill, seabirds, and fish. Industrial fishing has had a major impact on many of these animals, increasing the importance of recognizing the Southern Ocean and making sure more people are educated.

TedEd: How tsunamis work

By Alex Gendler

Tsunamis are often called "tidal waves", but this is a misnomer. They are not caused by the pull of the moon, but rather by energy moving through the water, just like with regular waves. The reason they are bigger is that the source and strength of energy are different. Rather than being moved by wind, which can only produce so much power, tsunamis are caused by massive tremors underground, such as earthquakes and volcanos. When this force makes its way to the surface, it causes a massive spike in the water which then crashes down and sends energy in all directions. The waves seem normal in open oceans, but when they get to shallow water, the energy is compressed and this brings the tsunami up high over the water. Even with innovations like flood walls and channels, tsunamis can cause damage up to a mile inland and destroy everything in their path. The best thing to do in case of a tsunami is to get out of its way (i.e. high up or out of range).

The New Yorker: An Ode to the No-Hitter

By Paul Ellie

    Over the past 150 years of Major League Baseball, the no-hitter has been a rarity, a pinnacle of achievement for a pitcher, second only to a perfect game. However, no-hitters have become much more common in recent years, especially this season. There are a number of reasons for this, starting with statistics. Pitchers now know everything about their batters from analysis of thousands of swings, the defense can shift more accurately, and hitters are aiming more and more for home runs, which also means more strikeouts due to bigger swings. Also, the league itself deadened the ball to keep the ball inside the park more and produce more plays.

    This has many people concerned that the sport will lose fans because, by definition, a no-hitter is a lack of action. No one reaches a base off a hit. The only way runners get on is via walks and errors.

    But there is also an element of suspense. As a pitcher gets into the final innings of a no-hitter, it gets harder to switch to a different channel or station. Will a hitter get a single through the gap? Will a fielder make a mistake that is recorded as a hit? And of course, a good outing makes managers rethink how they play. Baseball has become so statistically oriented that pitchers are throwing fewer and fewer innings to save their arms, to throw off batters, to adjust for left-handed players. But when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter, it's hard to justify taking them out of the game. So a no-hitter forces players and coaches to look away from the analytics and go back to the traditional ways of play.

Ted Lasso Season 1

Episode 1

Ted Lasso, American football coach, is hired to coach Premier League team AFC Richmond by its new owner, the recently divorced Rebecca Welton. When he arrives at his first press conference, it's quite clear that he has no knowledge of football (soccer), and the loyal fanbase is outraged. Granted, the team was mediocre with its previous manager, but no one expects any improvement out of Lasso, except, it seems, Welton herself. However, it is revealed in a side conversation that she actually wants to destroy Richmond. Her cheating husband was the previous owner, and the team was his pride and joy. Lasso's first meeting with his players does not go well. Most of them hate him, and Roy Kent, the veteran on the team, even calls him some bad names. When he gets home, Ted calls home, and it is revealed that he is going through some relationship issues with his wife.

Episode 2

The next day, Ted brings Rebecca some biscuits in the morning to try to talk, which she refuses to do. But she does love the biscuits and tries to figure out where he got them. Rebecca doesn't like how amiable Ted is when she is trying to bring him down. She asks Higgins who the most influential person in the locker room is when she notices Ted talking to Keeley, Jamie's girlfriend. Ted then goes out to practice, where he learns about all the players. It seems Jamie Tartt is the new talent, while Roy is the aging senior. Sam Obisanya, a player from Kenya, seems to be struggling, so he decides to throw a birthday party for him the next day before the match against Crystal Palace. He also creates a new suggestion box for the locker room, but it only gets filled up with insults. Seeing that Jamie is very negative and rude, he asks Rebecca what might motivate him, and she sends him to Keeley. While Keeley and Ted are talking, Higgins, undercover, takes pictures that make them look intimate. The party does make Sam feel and play much better, but it hardly matters as Richmond is blown out by Crystal Palace. After the match, Trent Crimm, an influential reporter, talks to Jamie, who tells him that it's like a joke in the locker room, with cake and a party.

Episode 3

Rebecca is upset that the story on Keeley and Ted isn't in the morning tabloid, and demands to have it published as Ted walks in with more biscuits. When he comes down to the locker room, Nate, the kitman, tells him about a new play that he thought of and Ted agrees to try it. As he walks out to the pitch, Keeley intercepts him, telling him that a story about them was going to be published, but her friend managed to stop it for one day. They both hurry down to Rebecca's office to see if it can be stopped (even though Rebecca was the one who wanted it published in the first place). She tells them that she can speak to the owner of the Sun. Nate's new play works, but it uses Jamie as a decoy, and he is not happy. He and his friends start bullying him more than usual, and Roy is fed up. He tries to get Ted to do something, but Ted intentionally angers him by refusing, hoping to get Roy to take leadership, which he does.

It is revealed later that in return for not publishing the picture of him and Keeley, Ted has to do a profiling interview with Trent Crimm from the Independent. The next day, he comes to watch practice and learns that the new play was designed by Nate, the kitman, and is not impressed. After training, Ted takes Trent to a local school that recently won a junior championship, and Roy plays football with them before going home. For dinner, Trent and Ted get Indian food, which is simply too spicy for both of them. Before he leaves, Trent asks why Ted is coaching a sport he knows nothing about. He replies that just like Trent loves writing, he loves coaching. He reiterates that for him, sports isn't about winning or losing. It's about helping his players be the best they can be in all aspects of life. Crimm's final article does not paint a rosy picture. He is certain Richmond will be relegated, but somehow, he won't gloat when Lasso is fired. Something about the man makes him root for him.

Episode 5

Ted drops into Rebecca's office like usual but brings a heavy topic today. He tells her that he is having marital problems that were alluded to earlier in the series. He says his wife is sick of his constant optimism and that he came to England to give her space. Keeley, meanwhile, shows up at Jamie's house to find that he is already sleeping with someone else, completing their breakup. She does still agree to show up to his promo event later that day, where Rebecca offers her a publicity job. Ted's wife and son show up for a visit. You can tell that something is odd between him and Michelle (his wife), but they have a good time nonetheless. After the promo, Jamie is already trying to get Keeley back, but she rebuffs him. Roy tells her she made a good decision, upon which she asks if she needs to ask him before every decision. It looks like they are flirting, but it is hard to be sure. The next day, before the match, Ted finds Michelle crying and asks what is wrong. She says she no longer feels like the way she did at the beginning of their marriage, but she will keep trying. During the match, Jamie continues to display his self-centered ideas. He scores twice and begins pointing at himself, yelling "Me!" Ted is fed up and decides to bench him. In the second half, which just a minute to go, Sam scores with an assist from Roy, and Richmond wins the game. The crowd continues to call him a w*nker, but in a more admiring way. At the end of the episode, Ted talks to Michelle before she and their son return to the states. He tells her that he doesn't regret any part of their marriage, but now it is time to let her go. Like that, they agree to end their marriage.

Episode 6

Ted rushes into the office late, distraught about his divorce and unable to calm down. He also finds out that Manchester City, which is loaning Jamie to Richmond, is threatening to terminate the loan if he sits on the bench. In this state, he learns that Jaime won't be practicing because he is hurt, and when Ted talks to him, he responds in an offhanded manner. The normally calm coach blows up, angry that Jaime doesn't care about the team, and assigns him to menial tasks like setting up cones. At practice, a new player from Mexico, Dani Rojas, shows up to play in Jaime's spot, and he is good. So good, in fact, that Jaime is afraid that his spot might get taken. Unfortunately, Dani gets hurt later that day while he is practicing, and everyone realizes that he was in the treatment room before practice. Ted learns that the treatment room is considered cursed and gathers everyone at a pub. The landlady explains that in 1914, 400 young men were recruited for war in the treatment room under the premise of a soccer tryout. To break the curse, Ted tells everyone to bring something important for a sacrifice on the pitch at midnight. At midnight, players take turns discarding something important, with even Rebecca coming down to put a newspaper calling her "Old Rebecca" in the trash. In the end, Jamie shows up with his cleats, saying that his mom got him into football, but his dad called him soft whenever he didn't score. It explains his tough attitude, and the whole process brings the team together. After the ceremony, they find that Dani is indeed healthy again. Higgins and Ted reveal to Rebecca that he was actually healed hours ago, but they waited until after the ceremony to let the team know in order to have the bonding experience. Rebecca storms off, knowing that the team is a more coherent unit now. The next morning, Ted learns that Man. City recalled Jamie, and he storms into Rebecca's office, furious, and gives her the biscuits before storming out.

Episode 7

In the intro, Ted's wife asks him about the divorce papers her lawyer sent him. He promises to sign and send it back as soon as he can. Today is also Rebecca's first anniversary as a divorceé, and she and Keeley have made plans to go with the team to Liverpool to blow off some steam. In the locker room, Ted tries to get the team excited. He learns that they are dejected because Richmond hasn't beaten Everton in 60 years. At the hotel, Rebecca starts to get emotional about being alone, and Keeley comforts her. They also find out that Keeley is in an ad reel that pops up every time the TV is turned on. They make plans to get some champagne and then go out for dinner. Rebecca's best friend Flo Collins (Sassy), whom she hasn't seen in six months, comes in and turns out the be quite the personality, just like Keeley. When they go out, she tries to get her to hook up with a waiter. She also meets Ted in the lobby and the two take a liking for each other. In his room, Ted looks over the divorce papers but hesitates when Nate knocks on the door and delivers his thoughts on the team, which Ted had asked for earlier. Ted, on edge about his divorce, snaps at him. The next day, he apologizes to Nate and asks him to deliver the pregame speech, reading what he had written the night before. The team encourages him when he shrinks, and promptly gets roasted about their faults - all until Roy. Roy steps up and dares Nate to say something to his face. Nate tells him that he should let his anger go, because that is how he plays best, prompting him to rip up a bench and fire up the team. Richmond beat Everton for the first time in 60 years with the only goal coming from Roy. They all go out to celebrate by singing karaoke, and it turns out Rebecca is an amazing singer (Sassy signed her up for "Let It Go"). In the middle, Ted has a panic attack because of his divorce. Rebecca comes out and calms him down, after which he goes back to the hotel and finally signs the papers. Meanwhile, Sassy takes the team to a bar, while Roy and Keeley walk back to the hotel together. They start kissing until Roy suddenly stops and walks away, confusing her. At the end of the episode, Sassy randomly walks into Ted's room, making him confused (how did she find his room?!).

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

It is now almost time for Richmond to play its final game of the season against Manchester City, the Premier League reigning champions. Ted visits Rebecca before training and tells her that it is alright if she fires him, that he knows he isn't a football coach. She tells him that instead of despairing, he should cause chaos. Ted realizes that this is a brilliant idea and gathers his team together. He has them talk about all the trick plays (set pieces) that they have ever used and gets everyone to learn them. Jamie is currently in town, and he sees an interview that Ted gave where he talks about how great Jamie is and how he wishes the best for him. He thinks Ted is trying to play mind games on him, but everyone he talks to tells him that Ted genuinely cares. The fated day finally arrives, and everyone but Ted is pessimistic. They know how good Manchester City is (though Ted is mostly clueless), and Ted asks why they have no hope. It is then that he learns of the saying, "it's the hope that kills you". It is repeated throughout his day, and in the locker room, everyone is acting as though they have lost already. Ted tells them to get their heads up, that he believes that it is the lack of hope that kills you. He finishes by asking each and every player whether they believe in miracles. The match begins, and Richmond actually finishes 0-0 in the first half. In the second half, Man City gets a penalty kick, which they score on. Minutes later, Jamie comes in, about to score and essentially seal Richmond's coffin when Roy tackles him, suffering a career-ending injury in the process. All the fans present cheer for him as he leaves the pitch, and Keeley comes and meets him in the locker room. Back in the match, there are just minutes remaining in additional time when Richmond decides to run the "Lasso Special". It soon becomes clear that it is supposed to resemble American Football and completely confuse the opponent. It works brilliantly, allowing Sam and Dani to break away and score. But in all the commotion, everyone forgets the game is not over. In the end, it was the hope that killed them, because Jamie started the game, tore down the pitch, made the final pass to his teammate, who made the game-winning goal. After the game, Ted is going to the locker room when he sees Jamie in a room with his father, who is berating Jamie for making the pass and not showing off by making the goal himself. Ted tells his team that even though they lost, they gave everything they had on the pitch, and that they will fight back next season. He also sends Jamie a note commending him for making that pass.

TedEd: How one design flaw almost toppled a skyscraper

A TedEd by Alex Gendler

In 1978, Diane Hartley was writing her architectural thesis when she discovered something shocking. The Citicorp Center had a fatal flaw in its building plans that could cause it to tumble into a densely populated area. The flaw stemmed from the building's unique structure. The building site was partially occupied by a church, so it was supported by 4 columns. Because the church was at the corner of the block, those columns were also in the middle of each side of the building, rather than the corners. This worried many people, but the architect William LeMessurier used both a 400-ton mass damper and a V-shaped chevron exoskeleton to ensure the building met safety standards. However, the builders assumed that the building would be getting the most wind from the sides. What Hartley found was that because of the positioning of the base, the most stress would actually be on the corners of the building. LeMessurier had built the skyscraper with this in mind, but when he looked at the building plans again, he found that there had been a fatal change he hadn't been informed of. The joints of the exoskeleton were bolted rather than welded, decreasing structural integrity so much that a strong storm could bring it down. A secret plan was launched with the city to weld the joints at night. Construction was completed without the press knowing because it was completed in the midst of a strike. Only years later did magazines and Diane Hartley find out just how close the building had been to falling.

National Geographic: Are we there yet? What happens if the U.S. can't reach herd immunity

By Amy McKeever

    Even though herd immunity isn't necessarily the end of COVID-19 like many people assume, it is an important step toward making sure outbreaks are preventable and fewer in number. Herd immunity occurs once enough people are immune to a disease, either by vaccination or infection, that the virus can no longer find any hosts. This means that the transmission rate would be less than 1. Based on the transmission rate of around 3 to 4 during the early days of COVID, scientists estimated that around 60-70% vaccination would be required for herd immunity, though that number has since risen to 85% due to more dangerous variants. But many health officials in the U.S. are becoming more concerned that we may not reach that number due to a combination of slowing vaccination rates and increased hesitancy and false information.

    The Biden Administration and various state governments are working to try to get more people vaccinated, using tactics like offering free beer or lottery entries for full vaccination. But what happens if the U.S. can't reach herd immunity?

    The most important thing here is that a majority of the almost 50% of people vaccinated are 65 or older or otherwise compromised in the case that they contract the virus. Should they get it now, they are better protected, meaning that death rates will go down a lot, which is key in ending a pandemic. Even if pockets do continue to have outbreaks, they will be controlled, and likely won't cause major shutdowns. In fact, Israel was able to reopen at 54% vaccination with no major side effects.

The New Yorker: Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack?

By Adam Entous

    In 2016, U.S. officials in Cuba began to complain of a mysterious ailment that caused them to hear a cricket-like buzz or feel pressure on their skull. For many it resulted in subsequent migraines and health consequences, prompting the removal of U.S. officials and diplomats from Cuba. It became known as the Havana Syndrome and was largely ignored in the U.S. as a one-time event. However, later in the year, top White House and C.I.A agents also began to report cases. Still, the syndrome was a mostly cold case until it was reopened in 2020 as more cases emerged.

    Charles Kupperman and John Bolton were some of the few that were truly concerned. They had people they knew to be affected go to doctors, but nothing could be found that was wrong. The C.I.A and F.B.I still had no interest and took care of the cases they had internally. Finally, in 2020, the latest set of Trump Administration national security officials decided to take the mounting number of cases to the Pentagon.

    Top White House officials now believe that these issues were caused by Russia. They have a track record of experimenting with pulsed microwaves, which could be used to extract data either from individuals or electronics they carry. Several cases of the Havana Syndrome were recorded with Russian G.R.U intelligence personnel nearby. This isn't enough to fully incriminate Russia, but with a new administration, many believe that the culprit will soon be caught.