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Monday, December 6, 2021
In Indonesia, a volcanic explosion has left many people without homes, and many more covered in ash. The explosion occurred on the island of Java. The island is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area that sits along a fault line and sees intense volcanic activity. It accounts for the majority of volcanos around the world, most of which are underwater. As a result, the islands located on the ring of fire have frequent volcanic activity and tsunamis. The US has begun restricting travel to several southern African nations that have seen high numbers of cases of the Omicron variant, a new variant of COVID-19 that scientists still know little about. It has already started spreading in the US and other parts of the world, though Delta still remains the most dominant variant. Part of the problem may be that poor countries, which see the most mutations as a result of their poor safety measures, also don't have the money to sequence the virus efficiently. The labs that they have are constantly low on funding, so while massive labs in the UK are processing thousands of samples, they take months to process just a few, which allows variants to spread in the meantime. The last surviving member of the World War II paratrooper regiment known as the "Band of Brothers" recently passed away at the age of 99. He said that his most proud achievements from the war were his duty and bringing home the most men out of any platoon in his division.
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
The makings of a new space race are heating up between the US and China. Back in the mid-1900s, the first space race took place between the US and Russia; the latter initially appeared to have an advantage but the US ultimately won by being the first to land on the Moon. Since then, the US has been the leader in space technology, but China has been ramping up its development and top officials say that they could catch up soon. Other players in the modern arena include the UAE, India, and the European Space Agency. Grocery stores end up throwing a lot of food away when it starts to get close to the expiration date and people no longer want to buy it. They have tried many methods to get people to buy the produce, most of which is still edible, from price markdowns to repackaging. A new startup has created an app called FlashFood to try to alleviate this problem. They enable grocery stores to put up daily listings of food that is near expiration but still edible so that people can buy it for immediate use at steep discounts. To date, they say they have eliminated as much as 30 million pounds of waste.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The Biden administration recently announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled to begin in just a few months. This means that athletes will still be allowed to participate under the US flag, but there will not be an official diplomatic delegation from the US. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that a full boycott like the one seen under the Carter administration did not feel appropriate at the current time. The move comes as pressure from a flurry of human rights violation claims against Beijing are mounting; several other countries are also considering diplomatic boycotts. Yesterday was the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The surprise attack lasted just a few hours of the early morning but devastated more than a dozen ships along with thousands of sailors. It ended up launching the US into World War II and the eventual defeat of the Axis Powers. The President and First Lady participated in a wreath-laying ceremony and other memorials were held across the country.
Friday, December 10, 2021
The Chinese real estate corporation Evergrande has run into financial trouble. The once megacorporation grew during China's massive industrial expansion, taking advantage of the massive movement of the Chinese population into industrial centers. It also began to expand into other sectors, and its founder became the richest person in Asia in 2017. But this rapid expansion came with massive amounts of borrowing, amounting to over $300 billion dollars, and along with the pandemic's economic impact and the Communist government's crackdown on excessive borrowing, it could not keep up, leading to a recent default. The company reportedly sold several assets but is still deep in debt. If Evergrande does fail, it would be catastrophic not only for China, which has over 3/4 of its investments in real estate, but for the world at large because Evergrande has so many connections in so many sectors. People have been talking about robots and AI a lot recently, and a new one called Ameca recently made social media headlines. It can replicate human facial gestures to an exactitude where, if not for the metallic color, one might actually believe it to be human. And that's the application its creator hopes to see, to have it be able to greet people and talk to people who need help.
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