A Quick News Flash of the World Today
Sophia Fairweather
Multi STEM award winner, Founder of Key-Angels, and Author/Book contributor
Salutations! I am back with this months addition of " A Quick News Flash of the World Today." I hope you enjoy, and that you learn something new!! I will start with Cute and Entertaining stories, follow with Serious and Think-About stories, that aren't bad but stories to Think-About seriously. Then I will end with a fun story to lift the mood, and go back into the world refreshed and ready!!
Source: Here
Lets start with a story about mammals [ like puppies :] ] and a new things that has been discovered!! Written in the latest issue of?Science, a team led by?Michael Crair , the William Ziegler III Professor of Neuroscience, ophthalmology, and visual science at Yale. Describes waves of activity that emanate from the neonatal retina in mice before their eyes ever open. For context The retina is?the inner layer of the eye that receives light and turns it into visual messages that are sent to the brain. which after birth turns into more mature network of neural transmissions of visual stimuli to the brain!! “At eye opening, mammals are capable of pretty sophisticated behavior,” said Crair, senior author of the study, who is also vice provost for research at Yale.” But how do the circuits form that allow us to perceive motion and navigate the world? It turns out we are born capable of many of these behaviors, at least in rudimentary form.” Which I thought was pretty neat, and I thought it would be cool to share!!
Source: NEW ARC
For this next story, we have something else on animals but this time Wasps!! Dutch scientists have designed a new device to be used in keyhole surgery, and it’s inspired by the way parasitoid wasps lay their eggs. For some context on what keyhole surgery is; it's a?surgical method used to access the interior of the body through a small incision, which is a amazing alternative for open surgery. So a new technology to make this surgery safer and easier is exciting. A technology which will replace a not so efficient tool that can end up clogging because it uses suction. Which this new tool however have a problem with, because it uses friction, and less harsh almost pulling system!! Where the sides of this tiny tube go out, and in [ Here is a great example https://youtu.be/uOZlOXRf-JY .] So the next time you get a keyhole surgery you can thank a wasp, and the creation from good Ol' mother nature!!
Source: Youtube video
For the third story I going to share one about an amazing little boy, and how he amazed the people around him!! More than three years ago Lawson Lundberg was born prematurely, at a hospital in Portland, Oregon. A hospital where he had to spend several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, and doctors expected the boy to have significant delays in cognitive development. Despite not hearing more than two words during the first years of his life, Sara, Lawson’s mother witnessed a sudden change. “He seemed leaps-and-bounds ahead, learning shapes without us having to teach him, learning words we don’t even remember saying around him.” Sara adding a example by saying “Earlier this year, during the ice storm, we were without power for a few days and during that time he learned the names of countries and their capitals. It was then that we figured out he had somehow learned phonics on his own, which blew us away.” This goes to show that things aren't always what they seem, the premature birth might have had something to do with this quick ability to learn, that he has!!
Source: Sara Lundberg\GoodNewsNetwork
Now as we are on the last Cute and Entertaining stories, lets end on something off of animals, and look at the sky!! Astrophysicist Dan Wilkins when fixing his telescope on a supermassive blackhole at the center of the galaxy I Zwicky, noticed that there was something peculiar happening!! While looking at the normal X-rays being flung out of the Black hole, he saw flashes of X-rays that were smaller, and of different “colors.” Which doesn't make sense, but this happens because of the clouds of gas and dust that is continuously being pulled into the black hole, like water going down a drain, called a corona. The corona becomes heated to millions of degrees Kelvin as it spins around, creating disjointed magnetic fields that become “twisted into knots ,” which eventually snaps apart. This snapping creates a massive explosion of heat and energy, which spurts out X-rays called “flares” which can last for two and a half hours sometimes. But why is this relevant?? Well it was during a particular discharge of X-rays, that Wilkins observed from his telescope, the light reflecting off the gas on the opposite side of the black hole, which due to the bending of space and time around it, changed the properties and colors of the X-rays. If that is a lot, just go over it a few times and after a sec the pieces will come together!! I just thought this was a pretty neat story, and I was wondering how there could be color around a Black Hole!!
Source: Here
Now that we are at the end of the Cute and Entertaining stories, we go into Serious and Think-about stories!! That aren't bad but there things that are happening that we should pay attention to, and that can\could make impact!!
Source: Here
For the first Serious and Think-About story is one about the heatwave that many of us have experienced!! So because I didn't know much about how other places where affected, I looked up a pretty broad account of the heatwave from Aljazeera!! For Canada apparently the hottest that we have gotten is 49C or 121F on June 29 in Lytton BC, which is HOT!! USA had Furnace Creek in Death Valley [ The most accurate name I have come across in a while ] hit 126C or 52F, which is even Hotter, but what makes it more dangerous is its also hot at night. A problem Sarah Rogowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service comments on. “When you start getting those warm temperatures overnight combined with those high temperatures during the day, it really starts to build the effect,” Ms. Rogowski. “People aren’t able to cool off; it’s a lot harder to get relief.” For other areas that have been affected by the heat are;?On July 1, 2021, Omidiyeh, Iran, reached 51C or 123.8F, and not surprisingly several other countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, recorded temperatures higher than 50C or 112F, in June. Then for the winner of the hottest place is the Kuwaiti city of Nuwaiseeb which on the fateful day of June 22, recorded the highest temperature in the world so far this year, at 53.2C or 127.7F. I was very surprised when I read this, and I send my prayers to people, for instance, that are in Kuwaiti. Which has got to be pretty uncomfortable, and I hope they found ways to stay cool!!
Coming off of the heatwave lets talk about COVID!! Its been predicted and hypothesized that a fourth wave is going to arrive in Fall this year, and Ontario is setting up some traveling guidelines to help with staying safe and happy!! So far the guidelines that have been put out require that vaccine passports will soon be required to access non-essential services, such as gyms and restaurants. Quebec Premier Fran?ois Legault saying that the system will allow the province to avoid the widespread closures that have marked its pandemic response to date. Also saying in a Media briefing that "People who have made the effort to get their two doses must be able to live a somewhat normal life."?Prativa Baral, an epidemiologist,?chiming in slightly with concern over how the more contagious delta variant is now spreading in Quebec, so "We have to be strategic. It's time to do it now." I think its great that the Premier is coming up with plans and systems, to help the people of Quebec stay healthy and safe!! Plans which I hope make an impact and help lower the cases of COVID!!
Source: Getty Images
On another serious topic, child sexual abuse is a serious and concerning issue. In which the Apple company might be able to help end, using a tool designed to detected images of child sexual abuse, called “NeuralHash." How this tool works is; it will scan images before they are uploaded to iCloud, and if it finds a match, the image will be reviewed by a human. If child pornography is confirmed, the user's account will be disabled and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified. Separately, Apple also plans on scanning users' encrypted messages for sexually explicit content as a child safety measure. This is obviously a great things period, and there are some down sides. For instance this is a computer algorithm that looks for patterns so it can make mistakes, in fact Matthew Green, a cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University, warned that the system could easily be used to frame innocent people, by sending them seemingly innocuous images designed to trigger a match for child sexual abuse. “Researchers have been able to do this pretty easily,” he said referring to how the team was able to easily trick the algorithm system. There is also the concern about people privacy, because this system does scan what's going through, as its part of the process. So this technology would be doing good, however like anything there are a few concerns. But I encourage you to look into it yourself, and come up with a conclusion for yourself!!
Source: AP Kathy Willens
Now we are at the end of the Serious and Think-About stories, and for the last one is one about finding a refuge. Ottawa has opened a special immigration pathway to help interpreters and other Afghans who worked with?the Canadian military, to resettle in?Canada as government-assisted refugees. To be eligible you can be interpreters, cooks, drivers, cleaners and other workers, family members, also some Afghans who assisted Canadian journalists reporting on the war, are also eligible. However another thing you need to actually be eligible for the program, is to be living in Afghanistan. Which Former interpreters and their Canadian advocates say leaves out a number of workers, who already?have escaped to neighboring countries. For those people, returning to Afghanistan is an increasingly dangerous proposition. The resurgent Taliban reportedly?has been threatening Afghans who once worked alongside Canada, and its allies. Which really shows that the wording in the refuge plan created, is unfortunate for many people, and I really really hope that they are able to stay safe, and healthy
[ Again to learn more I suggest to look into it, and google about this.]
Source: Getty images
领英推荐
So now that we are at the end of the Cute and Entertaining stories, finished up the more Serious and Think-About stories, lets now finish up with a Fun story!! This one I take pride in, and that is the fact that the Edmonton's, Bordon park has this years "Canada’s Top Restroom," in a competition held by Cintas Canada!! A washroom which was chosen out of the five phenomenal restrooms that where left standing!! The " Top restroom" nominees were judged on its cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality, and unique design element!! I personally think this is a great little competition that brings in some fun competition across the cities of Canada that have been awarded the best washroom, and those that want this glamorize, and sparkling award!!
Source: Here
With that we are at the end, I hope you have learned something, or this has sparked knowledge or memory's that you already had!! Never-the-less things are constantly happening, so I encourage you to stay positive, of course keep learning new things, and keep trying new things!!
[ One of my favorite quote is " What could possibly go wrong!! :]"]
Cute and Entertaining stories:
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/yale-study-mammals-might-dream-about-the-world-before-born/ August 3 2021
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/how-a-wasp-inspired-a-new-tool-for-keyhole-surgery-delft/ August 3 2021
Serious and Think-About stories:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/1/interactive-mapping-hottest-temperatures-around-world August 6 2021
https://www.cp24.com/lifestyle/apple-to-scan-u-s-phones-for-images-of-child-abuse-1.5535981 August 7 2021
Fun Story:
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/an-edmonton-washroom-has-been-named-canada-s-best-restroom-1.5535966 August 8 2021
Photos:
https://youtu.be/uOZlOXRf-JY August 3 2021
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/07/XMM-Newton_sees_light_echo_from_behind_a_black_hole August 5 2021
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/10/21/winnti-group-skip2-0-microsoft-sql-server-backdoor/doorway/ August 5 2021
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-54982910 August 7 2021
Brilliant! What a great range of topics to pique interest in the world around us. Thank you Sophia Fairweather!