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Climate Conference Ends with Few Results
December 15, 2019
The COP25 climate changes ended long after they were supposed to and achieved much less than organizers had hoped. Negotiators at the Madrid conference kept on trying to hammer out an agreement more than 40 hours past the planned deadline, but no further cooperation came on resolving details of targets and timetables. Singled out as being particularly unhelpful by representatives from other nations was the delegation from the U.S., one of the world's largest polluters. U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Agreement at the first available opportunity, which is Nov., 2020. U.S. negotiators in particular resisted committing to a plan of compensation for poor countries that suffered economically as a result of climate catastrophes. Australia, Brazil, China, and Saudi Arabia also came in for criticism from representatives of other countries. Discussions about another of the most contentious issues–how to govern a global carbon trading system–proved so problematic that about the only thing agreed on was to put it on the agenda for next year.
Alamo Dig Unearths Three Human Bodies
December 15, 2019
Archaeologists have found the remains of three people inside the Alamo, the site of an iconic battle between American and Mexican forces in 1836. Officials said that the remains, found in the Monks Burial Room and Nave in the Alamo Church, were thought to be that of an adult, an infant, and a young adult. None of the bodies have been moved, and further excavations are on hold. The excavations were being done in conjunction with the installation of moisture monitoring equipment and a project to document the foundations of the place.
LSU Quarterback Burrow Wins Heisman Trophy
December 15, 2019
LSU senior quarterback Joe Burrow has won the 2019 Heisman Trophy. The Ohio State transfer won going away, garnering 841 first-place votes and setting a record percentage in that category of 90.7. His overall points, 93.8, was also a record. Burrow's Louisiana State University Tigers are undefeated so far this season and are the top-ranked team in the season-ending four-team playoff. In his team's 13 victories, Burrow has amassed 48 touchdown passes and totaling 4,715 passing yards. (He has thrown only six interceptions.) Perhaps the highlight of his year so far was his team's 46–41 victory over perennial heavyweight Alabama, the first time that LSU had beaten the Crimson Tide in eight years. Overall, LSU has defeated five teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.
2020 Olympics National Stadium Finished after Redesign
December 14, 2019
Japan has completed its National Stadium, to be one of the showcases of the 2020 Olympics. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke during the small private opening ceremony of the stadium and applauded the efforts of those who built the stadium. Also speaking was Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who lauded the number of trees incorporated into the design. The construction of the stadium was redesigned after public outcry at the price tag of the original design. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will take place on July 24, 2020, at the stadium, which has a capacity of 68,000. In between the opening and closing ceremonies, the stadium will be the venue for athletics and soccer competitions.
Russia Banned Again from International Sports
December 9, 2019
Russia is banned from participating formally in the next two Olympics and other international sporting events, the World Anti-Doping Agency has announced. It's not just the Olympics, either (2020 in Japan, 2022 in Beijing). Russia cannot participate in international competition at all. That includes the Youth Olympic Games, the Paralympics, and even the 2022 FIFA World Cup (in Qatar), as well as any other major world sporting events whose participants are governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Russia cannot play host to any international sporting event or even apply to be such a host; as well, no official representing the Russian government or the Russian Olympic Committee can attend such events. The small but important technicality is that the Russian flag cannot fly at any such event, representing the Russian sports federation and the country of Russia. Athletes who hail from Russia can still compete if they are not found to have violated any WADA policies but would have to compete unattached to their country. This was the case during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongcheong, South Korea. At those Games, 168 athletes from Russia competed under the designation Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and the Olympic flag. Such athletes who won a medal saw the Olympic flag flying and the Olympic theme playing during the medal ceremony. This occurred in Pyongcheong, most notably when a team of Russian players won the gold medal in hockey.
Roman-era Egg Found Intact at U.K. Dig
December 9, 2019
Archaeologists in the United Kingdom found four hen's eggs that date to the Roman era, and one of them is intact. The dig was at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and the researchers were from Oxford. The recovery of the eggs resulted in the breaking of three of them, and the researchers reported a smell that they would have expected from eggs that were long past their use-by date. However, one of the eggs is not broken and will be the subject of further study. Edward Biddulph, senior project manager with Oxford Archaeology South, said that it was the only complete Roman egg known in the U.K. and that the egg and the basket might have been elements of an offering to Roman gods to during a religious ceremony.
U.N. Chief Sets Tone for Climate Conference with Dire Warning
December 2, 2019
The COP25 environmental awareness conference has begun in Madrid, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations once again issuing a dire warning for the leading nations of the world to get with the program. Antonio Guterres, the top U.N. official, had this to say, among other things, in the 
address that began the 11-day conference: "By the end of the coming decade we will be on one of two paths, one of which is sleepwalking past the point of no return." Guterres has been particularly critical of the G20 and other leading nations in recent days and weeks, charging them with ignoring their responsibilities to adhere the international agreement to which they agreed four years ago in the Paris Agreement. He said that the youth of the world, organizing ClimateStrike events in nearly every continent for many months, were showing more leadership than their adult counterparts.
Montgomery Statue Honors Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks
December 1, 2019
On Rosa Parks Day, the city of Montgomery, Ala., unveiled a statue to the civil rights pioneer. It was on Dec. 1, 1955 that the courageous and admittedly "very tired" Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. She was sitting the section designated for nonwhite people, but an overflow of white passengers prompted the bus driver to increase the size of the "whites only" section. According to the laws in Alabama at the time, the white man who wanted the seat that Parks was occupying was within his rights to have it and she was supposed to move. She refused, the driver called police, and she was arrested and jailed and paid a $14 fine. The statue is near the Rosa Parks Library and Museum and about 30 feet from the very spot where Parks boarded the bus on that day all those years ago. The city of Montgomery also unveiled four historic markers to commemorate the four plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Browder v. Gayle, which ruled the Montgomery bus segregation laws unconstitutional. Mary Louise Smith, one of the plaintiffs, was on hand for the ceremony, as was Fred Gray, the attorney who argued the Browder case and also defended Parks.
Long-lost Manuscript Has Corrections by Queen Elizabeth I
December 1, 2019
Queen Elizabeth I is the author of a newly discovered 16th-Century manuscript, a researcher has asserted. John-Mark Philo of the University of East Anglia was looking for manuscript translations of Tacitus, the well-known Roman historian, when he found what he says is such a translation written by Queen Elizabeth herself. Philo's evidence is twofold: The queen was the only known translator of Tacitus at that time, and the manuscript was of the same paper stock and features some of the hallmark's of the queen's writing.
Animal Cruelty Now a Federal Felony
November 24, 2019
Animal cruelty is now a federal felony, at least in part. That's the result of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate after being approved by a wide margin by the House of Representatives a few weeks beforehand. The bill toughens the terms of the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act to ban people from such activity in interstate of foreign commerce. In particular, the law proscribes harsh punishments, including both heavy fines and substantial prison terms, for anyone who causes "serious bodily injury" to animals. Illustrating the widespread bipartisan support for the bill, the main sponsors of the bill in each house were one Democrat and one Republican. All of the 50 states have laws that prevent cruelty against animals. The new federal law extends such protection to situations in which such activity crosses states lines or occurs in military bases or some airports, which technically have federal jurisdiction.
Bolivia to Have New Elections; Morales Refuses to Run
November 24, 2019
Peace is the new watchword in Bolivia, as the country looks ahead to new elections while mourning the dead whose lives were cut short in the political chaos that followed the resignation of the country's leader. Roadblocks have disappeared, as have clashes between supporters of ousted President Evo Morales and security forces. The interim president, Jeanine Añez , a member of the opposition, has signed into law a bill passed by the legislature that calls for a new election within the next few weeks. Punctuating the relative calm was a minute of silence observation, held in the city of Sacaba, where violence has been the most extensive. Nine people have died in that city in clashes with security forces.
Gingerbread House Winner Is Mouth-watering Good
November 24, 2019
Gail Oliver of Johnson City, N.C., won top prize at the 27th National Gingerbread House Competition. Her creation was titled "The Water Hole!" She used ground gingerbread to make ginger clay in order to mold figures that included an alligator, a flamingo, a monkey, and a toucan. Among the nontraditional ingredients allowed were melted sugar and moving mechanical parts. Among the criteria that the judges used were appearance, difficulty, originality and creativity, precision, and theme. The judges also checked to make sure that each creation was edible. The Asheville, N.C., event took place at the Omni Grove Park Inn and featured 226 bakers from across America. Organizers handed out more than $25,000 in cash and prizes. Oliver won $5,000 for first prize.
Mummified Cats, Other Animals Found at Saqqara
November 24, 2019
Archaeologists revealed a recent find of mummified animals found at an ancient burial ground in Egypt. Among the animals given the mummification treatment were birds, cats, cobras, and crocodiles. Archaeologists found the mummified animals near the 204-foot-tall Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, a necropolis that was used in the earliest times of royal burials in Ancient Egypt. Saqqara, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was associated with the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis and was a buried ground for a few thousand years. Other pharaohs are buried there, some in pyramids.
Babe Ruth Rookie Card Sells for $110,000 at Auction
November 24, 2019
A rookie card of Babe Ruth, one of baseball's most famous names, sold for $110,000 at auction. Ruth debuted with the Boston Red Sox in 1916. A number of the cards were made at the time. Ruth, who began his career as a pitcher before transitioning to playing the field full-time, is shown in a pitching stance on the front of the card; an advertisement for a clothing store is on the back. Herpolsheimer's, a "Boys Fashion Shop" based in Grand Rapids, Mich., handed out the Ruth rookie cards in groups of 20 during a 10-week period. Anyone wanting a complete set would have had to go to the store multiple times in order to collect all cards in the set. An anonymous buyer from Northern California paid $110,612, according to Boston-based RR Auction, which handled the sales.
AI Helps Find 140 New Nazca Lines
November 18, 2019
Researchers have uncovered more than 140 new sand "pictures" in Nazca, Peru. Some of the figures appear to be humanoid. The geoglyphs are in the same area as the Nazca Lines, a large number of geometric and animal-like shapes about 250 miles south of Lima that can be discerned only from high up. The new figures ranged in length from 15 feet to 500 feet. Among the new shapes discovered, in part by using artificial intelligence, was a humanoid figure that looks like it is holding what might be a club. Human figures feature in another newly discovered figure, one that appears to be a two-headed snake that is about to consume what look to be human figures.
U.N. Envoy Offers Mediation in Bolivian Unrest
November 18, 2019
An official from the United Nations has offered that organization as a mediator between the two rival factions in Bolivia who are clashing in the wake of the resignation of the country's president. Jean Arnault, who last year was Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Colombia and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, has proposed that officials from the U.N. and the Catholic Church conduct negotiations between supporters of Evo Morales, the multiple-term president who resigned earlier in November, and Jeanine Añez, the interim president. Morales, the first indigenous leader in the country's history, is now in Mexico, which has accepted him in exile. He resigned last week and also removed the members of the electoral council who had overseen the disputed election.His supporters have taken to the streets of various Bolivian cities in recent days, barricading roads and getting involved in altercations with security forces. On some occasions, protesters brought weapons with them. Some protests have turned violent; two dozen people have been reported killed. Añez has promised new elections but has not set a timeframe for them. She has already reversed some of Morales's policies or decisions, including instructing officials from Venezuela to leave the country. Meanwhile, people across the country waited in long lines for food and cooking fuel.
Añez
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Climate Change Drove Late Assyrian Empire Ebb and Flow: Study
November 14, 2019
Climate change helped contribute to the last rise and the eventual fall of the might Assyrian Empire, researchers say. The researchers collected samples from stalagmites in Kuna Ba cave, near Nineveh, the heart of the ancient Assyrian Empire. The researchers found that the last great rise of the Assyrians coincided with a period of unusually wet weather, during which crops would have flourished and created an environment in which an empire could maintain a stable populace. By contrast, the demise of the empire took place in a period of great drought, during which crops and, ultimately, people would have starved, creating conditions ripe for unrest.
Bolivian Interim President Seeks New Elections, Appeals for Calm
November 13, 2019
Bolivia's interim president, Jeanine Añez, tried to restore calm to a country wracked with political tension and violence in the wake of the resignation of President Evo Morales. Morales resigned last week amid allegations of voter irregularity. Añez, the Senate second vice-president, was first in the line of succession according to the country's constitution and on November 12 declared herself president. She said that the country would have new elections as soon as possible and urged calm, as reports surfaced of violent acts committed by Morales supporters in the wake of their leader's departure. The military stood behind her, stepping in to head off violent protests from Morales supporters. Adding to the confusion, lawmakers who belong to the Emboldened Movement for Socialism sought to use their two-thirds majority membership in parliament to pass resolutions declaring the departure of Morales and the elevation of Añez as unwarranted and illegal.
Teen Climate Activist Sailing back to Europe for Climate Conference
November 13, 2019
Famed climate activist Greta Thunberg has a ride home, thanks to a couple who are well-known on YouTube.
Thunberg, who had addressed the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September, and had traveled around the U.S. and Canada, was on her way to Chile, to attend the COP25 Climate Change Conference in Santiago. The U.N. decided the change venues for the December conference because of civil unrest in Chile. The new venue was announced as Madrid, in Spain. Thunberg, who refuses to fly in protest against carbon emissions, spoke out on Twitter for help. Answering were an Australian couple, Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu, who are sailing around the world with their baby, Lennon. Also onboard is professional yachtswoman Nikki Henderson.
Agreement Ends Chicago Teachers Strike
November 9, 2019
The Chicago teachers strike has ended, after a contentious two weeks punctuated by large marches, lengthy negotiations, and plenty of missed school study time and sports playoffs contests. School resumed Friday. In all, teachers were out of school for 11 schooldays. The $1.5 billion agreement hammered out by the city and the teachers union still needs approval from the 25,000 members of the union; a vote is expected soon. A contingent of 700 elected delegates issued a tentative acceptance of the agreement on Wednesday. The agreement stipulates that only five of the 11 days will be made up, tacked on to the end of the school year in June. Teachers will be paid for those five days but not the other six. The salary increase is 16 percent, to be phased in over five years. The city agreed to place a nurse and a social worker in every city public school within five years and to implement phased hiring of new staff for the neediest schools, with principals making the call on what type of staff is needed. Another concession won by the union was a guarantee of nap time for children in pre-kindergarten classes.
Bolivian President Morales Resigns, Calls for New Elections
November 10, 2019
Bolivians will have another chance to vote in presidential elections just a month after the last one, after their president has stepped down. The embattled President Evo Morales made the announcement after the 35-member Organization of American States (OAS) recommended that the results of the October 20 election be thrown out. The OAS report found evidence of voting irregularities in counting and computer systems. In particular, the report noted that vote counting was halted with 84 percent of the votes counted and Morales appearing to be heading to a runoff with his opponent, Carlos Mesa, and when the vote tallying resumed after a full day of delay, the result showed Morales with a 10-point victory. The country's electoral rules call for one candidate to get at least 50 percent of the vote or have a 10-percentage lead over the nearest opponent. Polls leading up to the election showed that Mesa and Morales were running neck-and-neck. Morales resigned and also removed the members of the electoral council who had overseen the disputed election.
Re-enacting America's Largest Slave Uprising
November 8, 2019
A group of determined volunteers donned period clothing, some marched and others rode horses, and all got into the spirit of historical re-enactment as about 500 people commemorated America's largest slave uprising with a 26-day march. Retracing the route taken by the 19th-Century slaves, the volunteers chanted "Freedom or Death" and other inspirational slogans as they walked along a levee on a two-day, 26-mile journey that began near La Place and ended in New Orleans. This time around, the idea was to celebrate the people who risked their lives in a desperate bid for freedom. Capping the journey was a celebration in New Orleans' Congo Square, in Louis Armstrong Park. Leading the re-enactment was a New York-based artist named Dread Scott (an echo of the famous slave whose lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court).
Venezuela Expels More Diplomats as Barter Proliferates
November 10, 2019
Venezuela has ordered the expulsion of El Salvador's diplomats, a day after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele expelled Venezuela's diplomatic representatives, bringing to 55 the number of countries that have rejected the embattled presidency of Nicolas Maduro. Bukele further said that he and his government would accept a diplomatic mission from Venezuela's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who appointed himself interim president earlier this year after the country's top legislative body deemed Maduro's 2018 re-election unofficial. Maduro succeeded longtime leader Hugo Chavez as president in 2012 and was elected again six years later.
Meanwhile, in the cities and towns, Venezuelans struggled to buy staples such as a food and gasoline. In fact, many motorists reported having to resort to barter, trading food for gasoline, because of a steep drop in the value and even the availability of the bolivar, the national currency.
Climate Change Study Required in Italian Schools
November 9, 2019
Italy has announced plans to require its students to study climate change and sustainable development, making it the first country in the world to do so. Beginning in September 2020, students in all levels of Italian public schools will study climate-change-related materials for 33 hours during the school year, or about one hour a week. Many teachers already address such topics, but the study of those topics will be a requirement, Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti announced. In addition, the Ministry said, teachers of other subjects–such as geography, mathematics, and physics–will be asked to include sustainable development ideas where possible.
More New Entrants into National Toy Hall of Fame
November 8, 2019
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U.S. Officially Starts Paris Climate Agreement Pullout
November 4, 2019
As promised, the U.S. Government has announced that it is withdrawing the nation from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that the U.S. had notified the United Nations. The U.S., along with 194 other countries, signed the climate agreement, committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions up to 28 percent by 2030. Part of the provisions put in by all of those countries was the ability to opt out. If a country wanted to do that, it had to wait four years from the date of the signing of the original agreement. And then, the exit process is not trigged until a further year after that. (Coincidentally or not, that date is one day after the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.) U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to pull out of the accord in 2017. So far, no other country has indicated that it will leave the Paris Agreement. The U.S. is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, trailing only China.
Stonehenge Builders Lived Just a Mile Away, Archaeologists Say
November 2, 2019
As it turns out, the people who built Stonehenge didn't live very far away. Archaeologists have found more than 70,000 stone tools at Blick Mead, a site just a mile away from the iconic stone circle monument in Wiltshire. Also known as Vespasian's Camp, the site predates the Romans and nearly 
everyone else, with settlements dating to about 6000 B.C. The settlement was at that time next to a river, which was on a large flood plain that would have been home to a large number of auruchs, a type of cattle that is now extinct. Among the finds at the dig have been aurochs skulls and bones, situated in a particular way, suggesting that they were placed there with a certain amount of reverence, if not part of a ceremony. Radar scans of underground layers of soil revealed a 30-foot-long structure that had the remains of cattle prints in it, another sign of the role that such animals played in the society of the people who settled there. Similar findings have been announced at Stonehenge itself.
Niagara Falls Scow Moves a Century after Running Aground
November 2, 2019
An iron boat that ran aground near Niagara Falls has finally moved, 101 years later. The 80-foot-long dumping scow on a dredging mission broke loose from a tugboat just above Horseshoe Falls on the afternoon of Aug. 6, 1918, and ran aground 600 feet from shore. The U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities rescued the two men onboard, who opened dumping doors before they left, which slowed the boat so it wouldn't be borne away by the current. On Halloween 2019, however, heavy weather and heavy current combined in moving the boat from its century-old moorings, flipping it on its side and moving it more than 160 feet downriver, closer to the edge of the falls.
Babe Ruth-signed Baseball Expected to Fetch $50,000 at Auction
November 3, 2019
A baseball signed by the one of the sport's most larger-than-life characters, Babe Ruth, is going up for auction. Ruth, who gained most fame by hitting 714 home runs during his career, began as a pitcher, playing for the Boston Red Sox and helping them win the World Series in 1915 and in 1918. (He was later traded to the Yankees, an event that triggered stories of the "Curse of the Bambino".) The ball is from that year's World Series and has 27 other autographs, including that of another Hall of Famer, Tris Speaker. Dick Hoblitzel, a former Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds first baseman who was Ruth's teammate in 1914–1918, had the ball, and his family has put the ball up for auction as part of the Fall 2019 Classic Auction by Leland's auction house. The Matawan, N.J.-based Leland's says that the Babe Ruth-signed baseball is expected to sell for at least $50,000.
New Brexit Deadline: January 2020
October 28, 2019
Brexit has a new deadline, and it's in 2020. The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union was originally scheduled to happen earlier this year, on March 29. Then, both the U.K. and the EU agreed to an extension, with a new deadline of April 12. Then, both sides agreed to another extension, October 31. Now, the new deadline is Jan. 31, 2010. The reason: The U.K. Parliament has still not agreed to any sort of deal regarding immigration, trade, and a myriad other details that would be thrown into open question if no details are ironed out.
Chicago Teachers Strike Stretches to Second Week
October 28, 2019
The Chicago teachers strike has reached an eighth day, with more than 300,000 students still missing out. Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union are no closer to reaching an agreement that would put teachers back into the classrooms of the nation's third-largest school system. Sources for both sides disagreed on the size of the money gap, with the union saying that the district needed to find another $38 million and the district saying that the what the union was asking for would require another $100 million. Both sides negotiated through the weekend, with Janice Jackson, the school district's chief executive officer, joining in for the first time.
$26 Million for Medieval Painting Found Hanging in French Kitchen
October 27, 2019
A painting hanging above an electrical appliance in a French kitchen has sold at auction for €24.2 million ($26.8 million). The 8-inch-by-11-inch painting is Christ Mocked, part of a series of eight scenes from the last days of Jesus that dates to the 1280s. The artist was Cimabue, who some art historians revere as influential in the development of Western painting. It was the first time that a work by the celebrated painter had been up for sale at auction.
Ocean Cleanup Company Turns to Rivers
October 28, 2019
Boyan Slat has set sights on a new target: the world's polluted rivers. The Dutch inventor who founded The Ocean Cleanup and launched a working plastic retrieval system into the depths of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has invented a device to pluck rubbish out of a river. The Interceptor is a solar-powered machine that floats down rivers, scooping up plastic waste as it goes, keeping that refuse from reaching the oceans. The machine guides the trash into an opening in the bow and then along a conveyor belt to a set of receptacles deep inside. The front of the machine is designed to keep obstacles like floating tree trunks from interfering with the waste collection. The modern technology element comes in the form of what happens next: The Interceptor is designed to send text messages, to organize collection of the plastic waste collected.
Chicago Teachers Strike Stretches to 5 Days
October 23, 2019
Chicago teachers are still on strike, five schooldays after rejecting the latest in a series of offers from city officials. About 25,000 educators marched through the city streets to City Hall, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot was delivering a budget proposal. Lightfoot was elected just a few months ago. In her first State of the City address, she unveiled a plan for how the city could address an $838 million budget deficit. The city budget is separate from the school district budget, but the shortfall does indicate that the city doesn't have extra revenue beyond what it has already offered.
Egypt Reveals 30 Well Preserved Coffins, Mummies
October 20, 2019
Egypt has revealed the largest find of coffins by a domestic team in nearly a century. Officials unveiled 30 coffins, dating to 3,000 years ago, and some of the coffins contained mummies. Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany said that the very well preserved remains were of 23 men, five women, and two children and that some of the men appeared to be priests. He said that they knew this because of hands painted on the coffin: closed fists for males and open hands for females. Also painted on the coffins were hieroglyphs, depictions of deities and of scenes from the Book of the Dead, and even the names of the some of the dead.
U.K. Seeks Further Delay as Brexit Deadline Looms
October 21, 2019
The Brexit countdown ticks on. It's 10 days until the deadline that the European Union has set for the United Kingdom to submit details on Brexit, the exit of the U.K. from the EU. The U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was in Europe last week for a meeting with European Union leaders; at that meeting, the leaders agreed to a deal that contained many specifics of that economic and political divorce. However, the deal is contingent on the U.K. Parliament's agreeing to the details; yet again on Saturday, Parliament didn't agree.
Wreck of Japanese Carrier Sunk at Midway Found
October 21, 2019
It's not just American ships that the famed research vessel RV Petrel is after in its searches under the sea. The team announced finding the wreckage of the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, one of four carriers that American force sunk during pivotal World War II Battle of Midway. Photos taken by the craft show guns and gun mounts on the ship, which rested 18,000 feet below the surface. The converted battleship saw action during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Rabaul, and the attack on Darwin, Australia.
Chicago Teachers Go on Strike
October 17, 2019
About 27,000 educators and members of the Chicago Teachers Union picketed schools around Chicago, starting at 6:30 a.m. Not attending school were the nearly 300,000 students who would normally report for learning in the U.S.'s third-largest school district. A full three-quarters of students across the city qualify free for lunch that is free or offered at a reduced price. As well, as large number of students eat more than one of their daily meals at school. To address this need, Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Janice Jackson said, schools would remain open to provide three meals a day. Teachers will not be at work, but administrative staff will. School buses will not be running, however.
Interactive Monopoly Game to Open in Hong Kong
October 17, 2019
Opening soon in Hong Kong is a real-life interactive entertainment area inspired by the board game Monopoly. The 20,000-square-foot attraction will open its doors on October 26 at The Peak Galleria, near some of the world's most expensive properties. First up for visitors will be an elevator ride to the secret home of Uncle Pennybags (Mr. Monopoly), the famous top-hat-wearing symbol of the game. After a brief tour of the residence (which contains, among other things, an oversized of the car token that has been the choice for millions of players through the years), visitors go through a neon-lit tunnel named Pass Go and end up in a town called Monopoly.
Unmanned Mayflower to Retrace Pilgrims' Voyage
October 16, 2019
Another, unmanned Mayflower will retrace its famous predecessor's route across the Atlantic to mark the 400th anniversary of the journey of the Pilgrims to the New World. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) will sail from Plymouth in the United Kingdom in September 2020 across the Atlantic to the United States. The plan is for the self-guided vessel to complete its journey in two weeks. The original Mayflower, carrying 102 English people in search of religious freedom, took two months, launching in September 1620 and reaching the eastern coast of North America in December of that year.
Louvre Leonardo Exhibit to Feature Vitruvian Man
October 16, 2019
The Vitruvian Man is going to France. The famed anatomical drawing by Leonardo, a combination of art and mathematics, will appear in next week's Louvre exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance Man's death. (He was born April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, and died on May 2,, 1519, in Amboise, France.) The exhibit opens October 24 at the Paris museum and runs through Feb. 24, 2020. "Vitruvian Man" will be on display until December 14. Italia Nostra, a heritage conversation group, had gone to court to stop the loan of the famous drawing on the grounds that it was too delicate to travel or be displayed publicly. The drawing, which Leonardo did about 1490, is ink on paper. Its usual home is a climate-controlled room at the Accademia Gallery in Venice that is not open to the public. An administrative court said that as long as the transportation and display efforts followed proper procedure, the Louvre could borrow the art work.
California Schools to Have Later Start Times
October 13, 2019
California students will be able to start school later, the result of a bill passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The new law will take effect at the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year or at the end of a school's collective bargaining agreement (whichever of those is later). In the end, middle schools must start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools must start no earlier than 8.30 a.m. The stipulations are for required classes only; schools can still offer optional classes before the official start of the school day. As well, some rural schools are exempt. One estimate found that about half of the state's schools would have to change their start times once the new law takes effect.
Retired Law Professor Saied to Head Tunisian Government
October 13, 2019
The new President of Tunisia is Kais Saied, a law professor who was not part of the political establishment and ran an independent campaign. The national electoral commission reported that 72.71 percent of voters cast their votes for the 61-year-old Saied. It was a runaway win for the retired academic who promised to fight corruption and support moves to transfer some governmental power away from the federal apparatus. A regular television commentator, he was part of the committee who helped draft the country's new constitution, in 2014.
Leonardo's 500-year-old Bridge Crosses Digital Divide
October 13, 2019
In the same way that physicists keep proving hunches and predictions by Albert Einstein correct decades after his death, a group of researchers have proven workable a 500-year-old bridge design by Renaissance Man Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo, at the behest of Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, had in 1502 submitted a proposal for the design of a bridge to connect Istanbul (then Constantinople) to its neighboring city Galata, across a river estuary known as the Golden Horn. Leonardo didn't win that contract, but he did outline a bridge concept that, like many other things in his famous Notebooks, were ahead of their time. Leonardo's design called for a 918-foot-long bridge, which would have been the longest bridge in the world at that time. A bridge of such length would, using techniques in use at the time, have required supports in the form of semicircular arches and at least 10 piers, the researchers said. Leonardo, however, proposed one flattened arch, which would have been tall enough for a sailboat, mast and all, to sail through underneath. A group of researchers at MIT have built a model to prove that Leonardo's theory was correct.
ACT to Allow Retakes of Parts of Exam
October 9, 2019
Students wanting to retake the ACT will be able to focus on only certain parts, organizers of the college entrance exam have announced. Starting in 2020, students can sit the exam again but take only individual parts; at the moment, a student can resit the exam but has to take the entire test again. To reflect this change, organizers have introduced a "superscore," a composite score of each time that a student has attempted a certain part of the exam. Officials said that they were making the change in part because of reports that students who retook the exam scored worse on subsequent sittings.
5,000-year-old 'New York' Found in Israel
October 8, 2019
Archaeologists in Israel have found a very large city that dates to 5,000 years ago north of Tel Aviv. The city is one of the largest ever found in Israel. Surrounding the city was a detailed fortification wall, at times six feet high. In the city was a large temple, inside of which were burnt animal bones, and figurines with animal and human faces; outside the temple was a large courtyard, in which were a large stone basin that religious officials filled with ceremonial liquids. Also found in the city was a cemetery. As well, the findings include a systematic street and city design–divided between public and residential buildings–that suggest a sophisticated approach to settlement design, Antiquities Authority officials said. The city, which is 5,000 years old, at its height would have had a population of about 6,000 and, officials said, would have been "the Bronze Age new York."
Famed D-Day Recording Found in Basement
October 6, 2019
An original recording of a famous account of the D-Day landings is in the public arena again, after being discovered in a New York basement. George Hicks was the reporter who came under fire from German planes while he was on the USS Ancon, as part of the armada that stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The recording is 13 minutes of what Hicks observed as the invasion progressed. He is heard speaking calmly amid the chaos of war, his words competing for purchase over the roars of planes and guns and soldiers.
Ocean Plastic Cleanup Machine Records First Success
October 6, 2019
A giant refuse retrieval system has claimed its first victims: part of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit engineered by 25-year-old Boyan Slat, sent System 001/B out into the Pacific, in search of the hard-to-miss mass of garbage between California and Hawaii that at last estimate comprised more than 617,000 square miles of floating debris. The mechanism did its job, trapping within its nets a large selection of rubbish that would otherwise have had the potential to not only pollute the world's waterways but also endanger the world's marine life.
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Social Studies for Kids
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David White
