CNN 10 5/10/2021 ~ 5/14/2021

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Monday, May 10, 2021

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

The price of fuel this time of year is higher than last year since people weren't traveling as much then. And it could get higher. The Colonial Pipeline company recently found out that it had been the target of a cyber attack. The virus in its system was a type of ransomware, which encrypts important data until a user pays a ransom, which can go into the hundreds of millions. The US government says the attack was carried out by a Russian group, and Colonial can choose whether or not it will pay the ransom, as it is a private company. Colonial has said that it shut down its systems quickly enough to prevent damage to its physical sites, and will have everything up and running again in the coming days. There is currently no impact on the gas supply, but there could be one if Colonial stays closed for a long time. Schools across the country are in a variety of reopening conditions. Some are almost 100% in person, while others are still mostly virtual. Many parents are anxious for their kids to go back to school, as students' wellness, as well as learning, are impacted by distanced learning. The winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the three prestigious horse races that constitute the Triple Crown, is Medina Spirit. But the horse's trainer has been accused of using an anti-inflammatory drug to assist the win, which may invalidate the Derby results and prevent the horse from racing at the remaining tournaments. More testing is still being conducted.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

The COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech is now approved for emergency use in teens ages 12-15. The FDA gave emergency authorization after clinical trials showed that the vaccine was just as effective in teens as adults, with similar side effects like some pain and mild illness. Some 40% of the US population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and vaccinating children will go a long way. In Japan, which still plans to hold the summer games as planned, vaccine hesitancy has led to just 1% of the population being vaccinated. In addition, the country is dealing with yet another outbreak, leading to an extension of its state of emergency. The IOC has determined that the games must go on, likely because it makes almost all of its revenue from the Olympics. China has a population problem. Although it has the largest one in the world, its growth rate is slowing. Chinese laws meant to deter the population from growing too fast have been too effective, and urban families have shied away from children in recent years. This poses a problem for China because it means that it will lack workers for the next generation of the labor form, stagnating its economic growth.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

The West Bank is an important religious site for Muslims and Jews, which has sparked new violence in an area known as Gaza. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have fired rockets and launched airstrikes against each other in the region killing dozens, and both say they will stop once the other side does so. International leaders are calling for both parties to cease the violence immediately. The cyberattack on the Colonial pipeline last week is causing gas shortages in several states. The company serves almost half of the East Coast, and it won't reopen for at least another few days. Miniwiz is a Taiwanese company trying to create buildings and products with recycled materials. It recently launched a new mobile recycling truck and fully mobile hospital wards with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friday, May 14, 2021

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza has a long history. The two sides have been locked in battle ever since Israel took over the West Bank territory in the 1960s under the premise that it was a security hole. The area is significant because it contains the holy city of Jerusalem and the burial sites of important religious figures. There have been several skirmishes and attempts at peace in the past, all of which have failed. The most recent conflict reportedly started with Palestinian missiles being shot into Israeli settlements, which they responded to with airstrikes, resulting in dozens of casualties. Colonial Pipeline is reportedly back up and running, but there are conflicting reports about whether or not the hackers were paid to return the data that they locked. Colonial says it was able to recover the most important data without paying the ransom, while another report says that it paid $5 million.

The Cuckoo's Egg

By Clifford Stoll

My thoughts: Many parts of this book are still very relevant today. Computers often seem secure, and we are frequently assured by manufacturers that they are, but small things, like guest accounts, easy to guess passwords, and other things can easily bring down a system. Clearly, cybersecurity still doesn't have very many safety nets; the field is evolving faster than the law, and it is the end user's burden to keep their systems secure.

    Back in the early days of electronics and the Internet, there weren't very many safety nets in the event of a hacking. In fact, the very word hacker originally meant "someone good and creative on a computer". So when Clifford Stoll, astronomer turned computer scientist noticed a 75 cent imbalance in the supercomputer accounts at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, he starting digging into it himself. He realized it wasn't just a simple accounting error by the software; no, a hacker was stealing supercomputer time and had inadvertently left behind a trail. For the next year, Stoll would follow this hacker through phone lines, computer bills, and all the way to Germany before he got to the bottom of the case.

    LBL labs isn't classified, but contains lots of information about various scientific topics. The hacker, though, is more interested in accessing the military's MILNET from LBL. From there, he worms his way through military computers, guessing obvious passwords like "guest" and gaining access to unprotected computers. He thinks nobody is noticing, but Clifford is silently tracking him, reporting to various government agencies. Unfortunately, there is no centralized system, and everyone tells him, we want information, but enforcement isn't in our jurisdicttion. When the hacker finally gets to stealing important information, the FBI steps in, and they are able to trace the phone lines from Oakland Tymnet, across the country, then the ocean, all the way to Hannover, Germany.

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.