Two Australians in Global Teacher Prize top 50

Two Australian educators have been named in the top 50 finalists for the
Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize for 2019.

Both teach at schools in Sydney, New South Wales. Peter Gurrier-Jones, from
The Hills School in Parramatta, and Yasodai Selvakumaran, from Rooty Hill
High School, were selected from over 10 000 nominations and applications
from 179 countries around the world.

The US $1 million prize, now in its fifth year, acknowledges one exceptional
teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the teaching profession. It
also seeks to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society.

Sunny Varkey, the founder of the Varkey Foundation and the Global Teacher
Prize, offered congratulations to the two Australian educators. ‘Congratulations
to Peter and Yasodai for reaching the final 50. I hope their stories inspire those
looking to enter the teaching profession and highlights the incredible work
teachers do all over the world every day.’

The top 50 shortlist has representatives from 39 countries. It will be whittled

down further to a top 10 early next year before the winner is announced at the
Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai on 24 March. The 2018 prize went
to Andria Zafirakou , an Art and Textiles teacher from Alperton Community
School in London.

Here’s a closer look at the Australian finalists for 2019.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 1

The US $1 million prize, now in its fifth year, acknowledges one exceptional teacher who has
made an outstanding contribution to the teaching profession. It also seeks to shine a spotlight on
the important role teachers play in society. Sunny Varkey, the founder of the Varkey Foundation
and the Global Teacher Prize, offered congratulations to the two Australian
educators. ‘Congratulations to Peter and Yasodai for reaching the final 50. 

I hope their stories inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and highlights the
incredible work teachers do all over the world every day. It will be whittled down further to a top
10 early next year before the winner is announced at the Global Education and Skills Forum in
Dubai on 24 March. The 2018 prize went to Andria Zafirakou, an Art and Textiles teacher from
Alperton Community School in London. 
 How to Make Your Future Habits Easy

While researching Atomic Habits, I came across a story that immediately struck me with its
simplicity and power. It was the story of Oswald Nuckols, an IT developer from Natchez,
Mississippi, and his simple strategy for making future habits easy.

Nuckols refers to the approach as “resetting the room.”

For instance, when he finishes watching television, he places the remote back on the TV stand,
arranges the pillows on the couch, and folds the blanket. When he leaves his car, he throws any
trash away. Whenever he takes a shower, he wipes down the toilet while the shower is warming
up. (As he notes, the “perfect time to clean the toilet is right before you wash yourself in the
shower anyway.”)
This might sound like he's just “cleaning up” but there is a key insight that makes his approach
different. The purpose of resetting each room is not simply to clean up after the last action, but to
prepare for the next action.

“When I walk into a room everything is in its right place,” Nuckols wrote. “Because I do this
every day in every room, stuff always stays in good shape . . . People think I work hard but I’m
actually really lazy. I’m just proactively lazy. It gives you so much time back.”

I have written previously about the power of the environment to shape your behavior. Resetting
the room is one way to put the power back in your own hands. Let's talk about how you can use
it.

The Power of Priming the Environment

Whenever you organize a space for its intended purpose, you are priming it to make the next
action easy. This is one of the most practical and simple ways to improve your habits.
For instance, my wife keeps a box of greeting cards that are presorted by occasion—birthday,
sympathy, wedding, graduation, and more. Whenever necessary, she grabs an appropriate card
and sends it off. She is incredibly good at remembering to send cards because she has reduced
the friction of doing so.

For years, I was the opposite. Someone would have a baby and I would think, “I should send a
card.” But then weeks would pass and by the time I remembered to pick one up at the store, it
was too late. The habit wasn’t easy.

There are many ways to prime your environment so it’s ready for immediate use. If you want to
cook a healthy breakfast, place the skillet on the stove, set the cooking spray on the counter, and
lay out any plates and utensils you’ll need the night before. When you wake up, making
breakfast will be easy.

Here are some more:

 Want to draw more? Put your pencils, pens, notebooks, and drawing tools on top of your
desk, within easy reach.

 Want to exercise? Set out your workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottle ahead
of time.

 Want to improve your diet? Chop up a ton of fruits and vegetables on weekends and pack
them in containers, so you have easy access to healthy, ready-to-eat options during the
week.

These are simple ways to make the good habit the path of least resistance.

The Path of Most Resistance

You can also invert this principle and prime the environment to make bad behaviors difficult.

If you find yourself watching too much television, for example, then unplug it after each use.
Only plug it back in if you can say out loud the name of the show you want to watch. (Which
prevents you from turning on Netflix and “just finding something” to watch.) This setup creates
just enough friction to prevent mindless viewing.

If that doesn’t do it, you can take it a step further. Unplug the television and take the batteries out
of the remote after each use, so it takes an extra ten seconds to turn it back on. And if you’re
really hard-core, move the television out of the living room and into a closet after each use. You
can be sure you’ll only take it out when you really want to watch something. The greater the
friction, the less likely the habit.

Whenever possible, I leave my phone in a different room until lunch. When it’s right next to me,
I’ll check it all morning for no reason at all. But when it is in another room, I rarely think about
it. And the friction is high enough that I won’t go get it without a reason. As a result, I get three
to four hours each morning when I can work without interruption.

If sticking your phone in another room doesn’t seem like enough, tell a friend or family member
to hide it from you for a few hours. Ask a coworker to keep it at their desk in the morning and
give it back to you at lunch.

It is remarkable how little friction is required to prevent bad behavior. When I hide beer in the
back of the fridge where I can’t see it, I drink less. When I delete social media apps from my
phone, it can be weeks before I download them again and log in.

These tricks are unlikely to curb a true addiction, but for many of us, a little bit of friction can be
the difference between sticking with a good habit or sliding into a bad one. Imagine the
cumulative impact of making dozens of these changes and living in an environment designed to
make the good behaviors easier and the bad behaviors harder.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 2

How to Make Your Future Habits Easy by James Clear | Behavioral Psychology, Habits This
article is an excerpt from Atomic Habits, my New York Times bestselling book.
Nuckols refers to the approach as “resetting the room.” For instance, when he finishes watching
television, he places the remote back on the TV stand, arranges the pillows on the couch, and
folds the blanket.

The purpose of resetting each room is not simply to clean up after the last action, but to prepare
for the next action.

Resetting the room is one way to put the power back in your own hands.

The Power of Priming the Environment Whenever you organize a space for its intended purpose,
you are priming it to make the next action easy.

The Path of Most Resistance You can also invert this principle and prime the environment to
make bad behaviors difficult. If you find yourself watching too much television, for example,
then unplug it after each use.

These tricks are unlikely to curb a true addiction, but for many of us, a little bit of friction can be
the difference between sticking with a good habit or sliding into a bad one.
 This croco-dolphin has it all
 

Most people associate the Jurassic Period with depictions of feathered monstersgallivanting
across the surface of Earth, establishing their claim as the dominant creatures of the planet. (And
perhaps also Jeff Goldblum’s finest, most shirtless onscreen performance.) But we ought not to
forget that the marine world was teeming with its own gargantuan beasts at the time. A 180
million-year-old fossil has led scientists to identify a new species of a marine crocodile
possessing a tail fin not unlike modern-day dolphins. The discovery, reported Thursday in the
journal PeerJ, ostensibly fills a missing link in the crocodile family’s evolutionary tree,
reconciling a gap where they branched out and either continued to evolve into bony-armored
creatures with limbs made for walking, or returned to the water to develop flippers and tail fins.

A Hungarian collector named Attila Fitos first found the fossil in question in the Gerecse
Mountains in 1996, and it’s sat in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest ever
since. The research team decided to name the new species preserved in that
fossil Magyarosuchus fitosi, in Fitos’s honor. That animal turns out to be an almost 16-foot long
behemoth with an incredibly large, pointed snout made for snatching prey, a tail fin to help it
swim, and body armor more closely associated with terrestrial reptiles. It’s thought to have been
one of the biggest coastal predators of its time.
The specimen, explains Mark Young, a paleontologist with the University of Edinburgh and a
coauthor of the new study, was previously classified as a teleosauridin the genus Steneosaurus.
The group spearheading the new study decided to conduct a more thorough examination of each
bone combined with a detailed phylogenetic analysis, where scientists infer evolutionary links
between related creatures based on similarities in their physical form. This close read of the bits
of bone led to the discovery of a peculiar vertebra that forms part of the tail fin—one that hadn’t
been identified before.
It was this vertebra that led to a reclassification of the specimen as metriorhynchoid: Jurassic to
Early Cretaceous-era crocs that eventually ditched their bony skins and evolved into dolphin-
and killer whale-like animals with flippers, tail fins, and huge salt glands in the skull.
“Only metriorhynchoids evolved a tail fin,” says Young. “No other group of crocodilians
did. Magyarosuchus fitosi is the oldest species in this lineage known to have had a tail fin.
What's interesting is that it had a fully developed set of bony armor along its back and on its
underside, which the later forms lost. It also has different dimensions of limb bones, so it's
unlikely to have had flippers. This suggests that the tail fin evolved before flippers appeared, and
before the bony armor was lost.”
According to Andrea Cau, a vertebrate paleontologist and blogger based at the Giovanni
Capellini Geological Museum in Italy who was not involved with the study, the discovery
of fitosi doesn’t just help researchers reconstruct how these types of reptiles adapted to a fully-
marine lifestyle. It also provides a better illustration of the geological history of
metriorhynchoids. “The fossil record from the Eastern Europe is much less well-known than it is
in other areas, like Western Europe, which is the best documented region for this extinct kind of
crocodiles,” Cau says. The new findings help illustrate how much the diversity of crocodyliforms
in this era fanned out.
Whether on the ground or in the water, Magyarosuchus fitosi looks like a it made for a
intimidating predator to stumble upon.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 3

The research team decided to name the new species preserved in that fossil Magyarosuchus
fitosi, in Fitos’s honor. It’s thought to have been one of the biggest coastal predators of its
time. The specimen, explains Mark Young, a paleontologist with the University of Edinburgh
and a coauthor of the new study, was previously classified as a teleosaurid in the genus
Steneosaurus. «No other group of crocodilians did. 

Magyarosuchus fitosi is the oldest species in this lineage known to have had a tail fin. This
suggests that the tail fin evolved before flippers appeared, and before the bony armor was
lost». According to Andrea Cau, a vertebrate paleontologist and blogger based at the Giovanni
Capellini Geological Museum in Italy who was not involved with the study, the discovery of
fitosi doesn’t just help researchers reconstruct how these types of reptiles adapted to a fully-
marine lifestyle. The new findings help illustrate how much the diversity of crocodyliforms in
this era fanned out. 
 Jakarta sinking fast: Experts
More than a quarter of Jakarta’s 661.52 square kilometers will be submerged by water in less
than a decade, as the sprawling capital will continue to sink rapidly if no significant measures are
taken to ensure the survival of the city, experts have warned.

Seawater could cover as much as 26.86 percent of Jakarta by 2025 and if this trend continues,
35.61 percent of the city will be completely submerged, according to a study by the geodesy
research division of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

“North Jakarta alone could be 90 percent underwater by 2050,” a member of the team Heri
Andreas told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The city’s looming submergence, according to the study, was not primarily caused by rising sea
levels but by the sinking of city itself. 

ITB’s research into land subsidence from 1925 to 2015 showed that significant land subsidence
began in 1975, with North Jakarta the worst affected area. Land in Marunda and Cilincing had
sunk 1.5 meters by 2015. Kelapa Gading has reportedly sunk by up to 2.4 m, while the worst
affected area, Pluit, has sunk up to 4 m.

Like many other global cities in the world, overuse of ground water has served as the leading
cause of Jakarta’s problem.

The issue was also highlighted by a study conducted by the University of Indonesia’s (UI) math
and sciences department. 

UI geophysicist Syamsu Rosid said that recently published 4D microgravity research of Jakarta’s
soil revealed an alarming rate of land subsidence, especially in North Jakarta. The method
registers land subsidence by recording the gravitational strength of an area over the course of
four years from 2014 to 2018.
“The research shows the most affected area is on Jakarta’s coast, as North Jakarta is sinking
approximately 11 centimeters per year because of human activities, especially over exploitation
of groundwater,” he told the Post, adding that it could affect the stability of buildings and
infrastructure in addition to increasing the risk of tidal flooding as the land was now under sea
level.

Jakarta’s piped-water service only covers 60 percent of the capital, according to data from
Jakarta tap water company PAM Jaya. That means the remaining 40 percent of the city relies on
groundwater.

Poorly enforced regulations have also led to excessive illegal groundwater use, and not only by
residents. Data from the Jakarta Industrial and Energy Agency show that 4,231 commercial
buildings, such as hotels and offices, in the city still use groundwater. 

Besides the uncontrolled usage of groundwater, land subsidence has also been aggravated by a
lack of green spaces, as concrete and asphalt prevents the absorption of water into the soil. As
Jakarta is crossed by 13 rivers, the city’s soil is also made up of alluvium, or sediment, deposited
by rivers, which is loose and susceptible to erosion.

“Looking at those factors, we really urge the city administration to reevaluate its spatial plan
(RTRW),” Syamsu said adding that all parties needed to follow the designated zones set in the
RTRW.

North Jakarta is home to 1,696,015 residents, according to 2015 population data. In addition to
being the area worst affected by land subsidence, it is also arguably the area where the
socioeconomic gap between residents is the most apparent in the city, with slums only a stone’s
throw away from elite gated communities like those in Pluit, Pantai Indah Kapuk and Kepala
Gading. The country’s busiest port Tanjung Priok, as well as the city’s industrial areas are also
located in North Jakarta. 

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan had said that the city administration and central government
had taken measures to prevent further land subsidence, including by continuing work on a sea
wall as part of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) in Jakarta Bay to
protect the city from tidal flooding. He also claimed the city had focused on expanding
infiltration wells to help the soil better absorb rainwater. 

Jakarta Industrial and Energy Agency acting head, Ricki Marojahan Mulia, said the agency had
built up to 1,333 infiltration wells throughout the city, although he did not elaborate on how
exactly expansion would continue given the city’s densely populated nature.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 4

Seawater could cover as much as 26.86 percent of Jakarta by 2025 and if this trend
continues, 35.61 percent of the city will be completely submerged, according to a study by the
geodesy research division of the Bandung Institute of Technology . «North Jakarta alone could
be 90 percent underwater by 2050,» a member of the team Heri Andreas told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday. Like many other global cities in the world, overuse of ground water has served as the
leading cause of Jakarta’s problem. UI geophysicist Syamsu Rosid said that recently published
4D microgravity research of Jakarta’s soil revealed an alarming rate of land
subsidence, especially in North Jakarta. 

The method registers land subsidence by recording the gravitational strength of an area over the
course of four years from 2014 to 2018. Jakarta’s piped-water service only covers 60 percent of
the capital, according to data from Jakarta tap water company PAM Jaya.Data from the Jakarta
Industrial and Energy Agency show that 4,231 commercial buildings,such as hotels and
offices, in the city still use groundwater. Besides the uncontrolled usage of groundwater, land
subsidence has also been aggravated by a lack of green spaces, as concrete and asphalt prevents
the absorption of water into soil. 
 These are the most common—and deadliest—allergies
Despite affecting some 50 million Americans, allergies aren’t super well understood. The sparks
that ignite your immune system can range from sunlight to onions, and symptoms of an attack
are just as varied. For that reason, we’re spending several weeks writing about allergies—what
they are, how they manifest, and how we can find relief. This is PopSci’s Allergic Reaction.
Given how confused we all seem about what the word “allergy” means, it’s not surprising that it
seems like suddenly everyone has one. But it’s not just our perception. Allergies are on the rise,
though no one is exactly sure by how much.
One analysis from 2017, using hospital admissions for anaphylaxis as a proxy, found that food
allergy rates had roughly doubled in the U.S. Climate change also seems to be making pollen
allergies worse, and worldwide it seems all kinds of allergies are up, but again, it’s not clear what
the actual numbers are.
Tracking allergies is tricky. Self-reported data is notoriously unreliable, but we also don’t have
access to private diagnostic data on individuals with the sniffles. The closest we get is the
NHANES (that’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), which asks a
representative sample of Americans about their health. It only goes out every few years, though,
and the fact that questions often get dropped or added makes it hard to look at trends over time.
But it is useful for snapshots. The 2005-2006 version asked specifically about various types of
allergies, which researchers analyzed and published in the Journal of Allergy of Clinical
Immunology. We used that data to create the graphs and maps below, showing just how
prevalent various types of allergies are. Or, at least, how prevalent they were in 2005-2006—
presumably the rates have increased a bit since then, but the general trends still hold.

Allergies also vary by geography somewhat, though this is true mostly for allergens that vary by
region. People who simply aren't exposed to rye plants probably won't experience rye allergies.

It’s harder still to get information on how deadly different allergies might be. We track fatalities
worldwide using ICD codes, which is an international standardized system for identifying
diagnoses and causes of death (it stands for the International Classification of Diseases, and
we’re on version 10). There are ICD-10 codes for anaphylaxis resulting from unspecific food,
peanuts, shellfish, other fish, fruits and vegetables, tree nuts and seeds, food additives, milk and
dairy products, eggs, and other food products (T78.00-T78.09). There are also many more codes
for medication reactions and deaths due to venom. Unfortunately, none of these are allowed as
primary causes of death, so you have to dig deeper into the data and look at secondary
codes. One group actually did this for the data from 1999 to 2010, and though they didn’t break
it down much by specific type of allergy, deaths from food-induced anaphylaxis were the least
common type of anaphylaxis death.
Reactions to medication are by far the deadliest, with a rate of 0.42 fatal cases of anaphylaxis per
million people. Food reaction come in at 0.04 per million, while venom kills 0.11 (“non-
specified” is the second-biggest, at 0.14).
That being said, it all depends on how you define “deadliest.” Many more people take
prescription medications than have potentially deadly allergies, so this is probably in part an
artifact of that imbalance—if millions of people are exposed to new drugs that they might be
allergic to every year, that’s a lot more opportunity to have an adverse reaction. Less than 10
percent of the population is allergic to peanuts, and even fewer have an anaphylactic response.
Across the years of the study, 149 people died of food allergies, while 370 died of venom-
induced anaphylaxis—those might be from bee stings, but they may also be from other
venomous creatures. Those both pale in comparison to the 1,408 people who died from
medication reactions, but when you compare it to the number of people who take medications
versus have serious allergies, the allergies will come out deadlier.
It may also be because Epi-Pens are now so ubiquitous. Though they’re still quite expensive,
most people in America with anaphylactic responses to food or insect stings carry one, and
they’re effective tools to allow you enough time to get to an emergency room where you can be
treated. Allergies may be on the rise, but they’re probably getting less deadly.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 5

Despite affecting some 50 million Americans, allergies aren’t super well understood. The sparks
that ignite your immune system can range from sunlight to onions, and symptoms of an attack
are just as varied. The 2005-2006 version asked specifically about various types of
allergies, which researchers analyzed and published in the Journal of Allergy of Clinical
Immunology. We used that data to create the graphs and maps below, showing just how
prevalent various types of allergies are. 
People who simply aren't exposed to rye plants probably won't experience rye allergies.

It’s harder still to get information on how deadly different allergies might be. We track fatalities
worldwide using ICD codes, which is an international standardized system for identifying
diagnoses and causes of death . There are ICD-10 codes for anaphylaxis resulting from
unspecific food, peanuts, shellfish, other fish, fruits and vegetables, tree nuts and seeds, food
additives, milk and dairy products, eggs, and other food products .One group actually did this for
the data from 1999 to 2010, and though they didn’t break it down much by specific type of
allergy, deaths from food-induced anaphylaxis were the least common type of anaphylaxis
death. 

Those both pale in comparison to the 1,408 people who died from medication reactions,but when
you compare it to the number of people who take medications versus have serious allergies, the
allergies will come out deadlier. Though they’re still quite expensive,most people in America
with anaphylactic responses to food or insect stings carry one,and they’re effective tools to allow
you enough time to get to an emergency room where you can be treated. Allergies may be on the
rise, but they’re probably getting less deadly
 Football: Wounded City ready to fight Liverpool, insists Kompany

MANCHESTER: Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany admitted the Premier League champions'
pride has been wounded by a recent shock run of three defeats in four Premier League games to fall
seven points behind league leaders Liverpool.

But ahead of the visit of Jurgen Klopp's men to the Etihad on Thursday, Kompany issued a
rallying cry to the City squad and fans to keep fighting to become the first side in a decade to
retain the Premier League.

"We shouldn't focus too much on points at the moment, we know if we can play to our potential
we are a good team," Kompany told City's website.

"Our pride has been hurt over the last few weeks but we have everything to play for and it
depends on us."

City bounced back from consecutive defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester with a 3-1 win at
Southampton to move back into second above Tottenham.

However, City have only won one of seven meetings with Liverpool during Pep Guardiola's
three seasons in charge.

Kompany, though, called on his side to avenge a painful Champions League quarter-final exit to
Liverpool last season.

"It's one of those key games you live for. Every living soul that comes into the stadium on
Thursday has to be ready to fight and give it to them," added the Belgian.

"And we should be able to pull everything out of the locker for that game."
SUMMARY: ARTICLE 6

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has urged his side to fight back in the Premier
League title race with Liverpool.

«We shouldn't focus too much on points at the moment, we know if we can play to our potential
we are a good team,» Kompany told City's website. «Our pride has been hurt over the last few
weeks but we have everything to play for and it depends on us». City bounced back from
consecutive defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester with a 3-1 win at Southampton to move back
into second above Tottenham. However, City have only won one of seven meetings with
Liverpool during Pep Guardiola's three seasons in charge. 

Kompany, though, called on his side to avenge a painful Champions League quarter-final exit to

Liverpool last season. « Every living soul that comes into the stadium on Thursday has to be
ready to fight and give it to them,» added the Belgian.«And we should be able to pull everything
out of the locker for that game». 
 Arsenal's Emery fined for kicking bottle at Brighton fan
REUTERS: Arsenal manager Unai Emery was fined 8,000 pounds on Monday but avoided a
touchline ban for kicking a plastic bottle at a Brighton and Hove Albion supporter, the English
Football Association (FA) said.

The Spanish coach immediately apologised to the supporter following the incident during the
closing moments of Arsenal's 1-1 Premier League draw at the Amex Stadium last Wednesday.

Emery admitted an FA improper conduct charge and accepted the standard penalty.

"I kicked it for me and it went near the supporters. I said my apologies ... I kicked it because it's
near me and not because of this intention," Emery had said following the incident.

Arsenal, who are fifth in the table following a 5-1 defeat by leaders Liverpool on Saturday, host
Fulham on Tuesday.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 7

Arsenal's Emery fined for kicking bottle at Brighton fan Arsenal manager Unai Emery was fined
8,000 pounds on Monday but avoided a touchline ban for kicking a plastic bottle at a Brighton
and Hove Albion supporter, the English Football Association said. 

REUTERS: Arsenal manager Unai Emery was fined 8,000 pounds on Monday but avoided a
touchline ban for kicking a plastic bottle at a Brighton and Hove Albion supporter, the English
Football Association said.
The Spanish coach immediately apologised to the supporter following the incident during the
closing moments of Arsenal's 1-1 Premier League draw at the Amex Stadium last Wednesday.
Emery admitted an FA improper conduct charge and accepted the standard penalty.
«I kicked it for me and it went near the supporters. 
 Everton's Holgate seals West Brom loan switch
REUTERS: Everton defender Mason Holgate will join Championship (second tier) side West
Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season when the transfer window reopens on
Tuesday, the Premier League side announced on Monday.

The versatile 22-year-old can play as a centre back or a right back but has managed only five
league appearances this season, with Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma ahead of him in the pecking
order at 10th-placed Everton.

Holgate, who has 48 senior appearances for Everton since he signed from Barnsley in 2015, is
unavailable for West Brom's league clash at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday but could make his
debut in their FA Cup game against Wigan Athletic on Jan. 5.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 8

Everton's Holgate seals West Brom loan switch Everton defender Mason Holgate will join
Championship side West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season when the transfer
window reopens on Tuesday, the Premier League side announced on Monday. 

REUTERS: Everton defender Mason Holgate will join Championship side West Bromwich
Albion on loan until the end of the season when the transfer window reopens on Tuesday, the
Premier League side announced on Monday.
The versatile 22-year-old can play as a centre back or a right back but has managed only five
league appearances this season, with Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma ahead of him in the pecking
order at 10th-placed Everton.
Holgate, who has 48 senior appearances for Everton since he signed from Barnsley in 2015, is
unavailable for West Brom's league clash at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday but could make his
debut in their FA Cup game against Wigan Athletic on Jan. 5.
 NASA spaceship zooms toward distant Ultima Thule
TAMPA: A NASA spaceship is zooming toward the farthest, and quite possibly the oldest,
cosmic body ever photographed by humankind - a tiny, distant world called Ultima Thule - in the
hopes of learning more about how planets took shape.

The US space agency will ring in the New Year with a live online broadcast to mark the historic
flyby of the mysterious object located about 6.4 billion kilometres away in a dark and frigid
region of space known as the Kuiper Belt.

A solo track recorded by legendary Queen guitarist Brian May - who also holds an advanced
degree in astrophysics - will be released just after midnight to accompany a video simulation of
the flyby at 12.33am on Tuesday (1.33pm Singapore time), as NASA commentators describe the
close pass.

Real-time video of the actual flyby is impossible, since it takes more than six hours for a signal
sent from Earth to reach the spaceship, named New Horizons, and another six hours for the
response to arrive.

Hurtling through space at a speed of 32,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft aims to make its
closest approach within 2,200 miles of the surface of Ultima Thule.

Already, an image taken from 1.2 million miles away, while blurry, has intrigued scientists
because it appears to show an elongated blob, not a round space rock.

Even clearer images should be in hand over the next three days.

And judging by the latest tweet from Alan Stern, the lead planetary scientist on the New
Horizons mission, the excitement among team members is palpable.

"IT'S HAPPENING!! Flyby is upon us! @NewHorizons2015 is healthy and on course! The
farthest exploration of worlds in history!" he wrote on Saturday (Dec 29).
Stern told reporters on Monday that Ultima Thule is unique because it is a relic from the early
days of the solar system and could provide answers about the origins of other planets.

"The object is in such a deep freeze that it is perfectly preserved from its original formation," he
said.

"Everything we are going to learn about Ultima - from its composition to its geology to how it
was originally assembled, whether it has satellites and an atmosphere and those kinds of things
- are going to teach us about the original formation conditions of objects in the solar system,"
Stern added.

"I think that the kinds of things NASA is doing are the envy of the world."

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

Scientists are not sure what Ultima Thule looks like - whether it is round or oblong or even if it is
a single object or a cluster.

It was discovered in 2014 with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, and is believed to be 20-
30km in size.

Scientists decided to study it with New Horizons after the spaceship, which launched in 2006,
completed its main mission of flying by Pluto in 2015, returning the most detailed images ever
taken of the dwarf planet.

Seven instruments on board will record high-resolution images and gather data about its size and
composition.

The flyby will be fast, at a speed of 14 kilometres per second.

 NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is heading for a Jan 1 flyby of Ultima Thule, an icy
object in the Kuiper Belt on the outer limits of the solar system. (Graphic: AFP/Jonathan
WALTER)

Stern said the goal is to take images of Ultima that are three times the resolution the team had for
Pluto.

FRONTIER OF PLANETARY SCIENCE

Ultima Thule is named for a mythical, far-northern island in medieval literature and cartography,
according to NASA.

"Ultima Thule means 'beyond Thule' - beyond the borders of the known world - symbolising the
exploration of the distant Kuiper Belt and Kuiper Belt objects that New Horizons is performing,
something never before done," the US space agency said in a statement.

According to project scientist Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory,
humans didn't even know the Kuiper Belt - a vast ring of relics from the formation days of the
solar system - existed until the 1990s.

"This is the frontier of planetary science," said Weaver.

"We finally have reached the outskirts of the solar system, these things that have been there since
the beginning and have hardly changed - we think. We will find out."

Despite the partial US government shutdown, sparked by a feud over funding for a border wall
with Mexico between President Donald Trump and opposition Democrats, NASA administrator
Jim Bridenstine vowed that the US space agency would broadcast the flyby.

Normally, NASA TV and NASA's website would go dark during a government shutdown.
NASA will also provide updates about another spacecraft, called OSIRIS-REx, that will enter
orbit around the asteroid Bennu on New Year's Eve, Bridenstine said.

In an editorial in The New York Times, Stern recalled that December 2018 marks the 50th
anniversary of the first time humans ever explored another world, when US astronauts orbited
the Moon aboard Apollo 8.

"This week, New Horizons will continue in that legacy," Stern wrote.

"As you celebrate New Year's Day, cast an eye upward and think for a moment about the
amazing things our country and our species can do when we set our minds to it."

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 9

Even clearer images should be in hand over the next three days. «The object is in such a deep
freeze that it is perfectly preserved from its original formation,» he said. «I think that the kinds of
things NASA is doing are the envy of the world».

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

It was discovered in 2014 with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, and is believed to be 20-
30km in size. Seven instruments on board will record high-resolution images and gather data
about its size and composition. The flyby will be fast, at a speed of 14 kilometres per
second. Stern said the goal is to take images of Ultima that are three times the resolution the
team had for Pluto. 

FRONTIER OF PLANETARY SCIENCE

Ultima Thule is named for a mythical, far-northern island in medieval literature and

cartography, according to NASA. «We finally have reached the outskirts of the solar
system, these things that have been there since the beginning and have hardly changed - we
think. We will find out». «As you celebrate New Year's Day, cast an eye upward and think for a
moment about the amazing things our country and our species can do when we set our minds to
it». 
 China restarts video game approvals after months-long freeze
SHANGHAI: China on Saturday approved the release of 80 online video games after a freeze on
such approvals for most of the year.

However, the approved titles, listed on the website of the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television, did not include games from industry leader Tencent
Holdings Ltd.

China, the world's biggest gaming market, stopped approving new video games in March amid a
regulatory overhaul triggered by growing criticism of video games for being violent and
allegations that they were causing myopia as well as addiction among young users.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 10

China restarts video game approvals after months-long freeze China on Saturday approved the
release of 80 online video games after a freeze on such approvals for most of the year.

However, the approved titles, listed on the website of the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television, did not include games from industry leader Tencent
Holdings Ltd.
 US judge dismisses suit vs Google over facial recognition software
REUTERS: A lawsuit filed against Google by consumers who claimed the search engine's photo
sharing and storage service violated their privacy was dismissed on Saturday by a U.S. judge
who cited a lack of "concrete injuries."

U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang in Chicago granted a Google motion for summary judgment,
saying the court lacked "subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiffs have not suffered concrete
injuries."

The suit, filed in March 2016, alleged Alphabet Inc's Google violated Illinois state law by
collecting and storing biometric data from people's photographs using facial recognition software
without their permission through its Google Photos service.

Plaintiffs had sought more than US$5 million collectively for the "hundreds of thousands" of
state residents affected, according to court documents. Plaintiffs had asked the court for
US$5,000 for each intentional violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or
US$1,000 for every negligent violation, court documents said.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs as well as officials with Google could not immediately be reached to
comment. Google had argued in court documents that the plaintiffs were not entitled to money or
injunctive relief because they had suffered no harm.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 11

US judge dismisses suit vs Google over facial recognition software

A lawsuit filed against Google by consumers who claimed the search engine's photo sharing and
storage service violated their privacy was dismissed on Saturday by a U.S. judge who cited a
lack of «concrete injuries».

REUTERS: A lawsuit filed against Google by consumers who claimed the search engine's photo
sharing and storage service violated their privacy was dismissed on Saturday by a U.S. judge
who cited a lack of «concrete injuries»
The suit, filed in March 2016, alleged Alphabet Inc's Google violated Illinois state law by
collecting and storing biometric data from people's photographs using facial recognition software
without their permission through its Google Photos service.
Plaintiffs had sought more than US$5 million collectively for the «hundreds of thousands» of
state residents affected, according to court documents. 
 Smoking ban at all Malaysia eateries comes into effect on Jan 1
KUALA LUMPUR: The smoking ban at all food establishments in Malaysia, including those
outdoors, will come into effect at midnight on Tuesday (Jan 1). 

This is in line with the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations (Amendments) 2018, to protect
the public from exposure to cigarette smoke, said the Ministry of Health's director-general of
health Noor Hisham Abdullah. 

“The public are urged not to smoke in all eateries, whether air-conditioned or not. This includes
inside and outside the buildings where the eateries, restaurants and food courts are.

“The ban also covers food stalls and vehicles which provide tables and chairs for people to eat,
as well as restaurants on ships and trains,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Noor Hisham also reminded owners and operators of food premises to display no-smoking signs
clearly, and to remove ashtrays.

Anyone found guilty of smoking in banned areas can be fined up to RM10,000 (US$2,450) or
jailed up to two years.

Owners of food establishments who fail to display no-smoking signs can be fined up to RM3,000

or jailed up to six months. For providing smoking facilities, they can be fined up to RM5,000 or
jailed for up to one year.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 12

KUALA LUMPUR: The smoking ban at all food establishments in Malaysia, including those
outdoors, will come into effect at midnight on Tuesday .
This is in line with the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2018, to protect the public from
exposure to cigarette smoke, said the Ministry of Health's director-general of health Noor
Hisham Abdullah.
"The public are urged not to smoke in all eateries, whether air-conditioned or not. This includes
inside and outside the buildings where the eateries, restaurants and food courts are.
 HDL Cholesterol: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Iused to be thrilled that my blood level of HDL cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, was
high, the likely result of my devotion to daily physical activity. After all, HDL, for high-density
lipoprotein, acts like an arterial cleanser, removing cholesterol from blood vessels and preparing
it for removal outside the body.

An ample supply of HDL cholesterol in blood serum has long been linked to protection against
coronary heart disease and stroke, so what could be bad?

I now know that, as with many other good things in life, there can be too much of this usually
helpful protein. The best available evidence has shown that most of us would probably be best
off aiming for moderation with regard to serum levels of HDL.

A series of studies, large and small, in this country and abroad shows that the relationship of
HDL levels to heart disease and overall mortality forms a U-shaped curve: Too little and too
much of this blood lipid are, on average, associated with an elevated risk of heart disease, cancer
and premature death.

Although cardiologists can still only guess at why very high HDL levels may incur a health risk,
the findings reinforce the importance of focusing less on the “good” cholesterol and even more
on the “bad” – the level of LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol that is still too high in as
many as one-third of adults in this country.

These findings, among others, are prompting doctors to rethink their approach to patients who
may have an elevated risk of developing a heart attack, stroke or other life-threatening
cardiovascular problem.

“High cholesterol treatment is not one-size-fits-all,” Dr C. Michael Valentine, president of the

American College of Cardiology, said last month about new guidelines issued by his
organisation and the American Heart Association. The guidelines emphasize the importance of
personalised care, not cookie-cutter prescriptions based solely on blood test results.
Since the last such guidelines were issued in 2013, Valentine said, “We’ve learned even more
about new treatment options and which patients may benefit from them.” Experts have also
learned that in most cases, it is not necessary for cholesterol tests to be done only after an
overnight fast, which should be a relief for both patients and their doctors.

When patients are found to have high cholesterol, the new guidelines state that it is not enough to
take only traditional risk factors like smoking and high levels of blood pressure and blood sugar
into account in deciding whom to treat and with what.

Everyone with high cholesterol may not need drug therapy to lower this harmful blood fat. In
fact, unless LDL levels are astronomically high or the person has known heart disease, treatment
should not begin with a drug but with lifestyle: a heart-healthy diet, physical exercise and, if
needed, weight loss. Only when these fail to lower cholesterol should drug treatment be
considered, the guidelines state.

Furthermore, the organisations recommended that in addition to traditional cardiac risk factors,
others that should be taken into account include family history, ethnic background and disorders
like metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory conditions, early menopause and
even pregnancy-related high blood pressure.

If a doctor is still uncertain about which patients warrant a drug remedy to lower cholesterol, the
new guidelines suggest getting a coronary artery calcium score, obtained via a specialised X-ray
scan that measures calcium-containing plaque in the arteries that feed the heart.

START CHOLESTEROL SCREENING EARLY

Nor should people wait until midlife to worry about their risk of heart disease. The new
guidelines emphasise that cardiovascular disease develops over the course of a lifetime; an
elevated level of cholesterol at any age has a cumulative effect that gradually increases cardiac
risk. Accordingly, the guidelines suggest that cholesterol screening in children as young as two is
appropriate when there is a family history of heart disease or elevated cholesterol.
For other children, cholesterol measurements might be done between ages nine and 11 and again
between 17 and 21, the guidelines suggest. Although there are as yet no specific drug
recommendations to treat children and young adults who have high cholesterol, following a
heart-healthy lifestyle from early childhood on can lower a person’s lifetime risk of heart disease
and stroke.

“Having high cholesterol at any age increases that risk significantly,” Dr. Ivor Benjamin,
president of the American Heart Association, said. “That’s why it’s so important that even at a
young age, people follow a heart-healthy lifestyle and understand and maintain healthy
cholesterol levels.”

Which raises the question, “What is a healthy level of both HDL and LDL cholesterol?” The
answer depends on your family history and what else might be wrong with you.

Dr. Marc Allard-Ratick of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta who studied the link
between HDL cholesterol levels and the risk of having a heart attack or dying of cardiovascular
disease, told me that having an HDL level between 40 and 60 milligrams per deciliter of blood
serum represents the “sweet spot, at the bottom of a U-shaped curve,” where the health risk is
lowest.

Having high cholesterol at any age increases the risk of heart disease and stroke significantly

He said having “a very low HDL level – below 30 milligrams – is a marker that you’re not doing
well,” and a level above 70 milligrams can be an added risk for people who already have heart
disease or an increased likelihood of developing it.

“HDL may not function as well in people who are unhealthy, people with cardiovascular
disease,” he said. “HDL is a much more complex marker of cardiovascular disease risk than
LDL; we don’t know how helpful or harmful it is long-term.”

Thus, until more is known about how HDL functions at high levels, he and other experts
recommend a better-safe-than-sorry approach, avoiding efforts to raise HDL cholesterol with
drugs to levels above 60 or 70 milligrams, especially for people already known to have
cardiovascular disease.

“In our study of 5,500 high-risk patients, there was a positive association with all-cause mortality
in people with HDL levels of 80 or above,” Allard-Ratick said.

However, the level of LDL cholesterol tells a different story. This is the substance that deposits
plaque on the walls of arteries, plaque that can eventually precipitate a heart attack or stroke.

“With LDL, there is no sweet spot,” Allard-Ratick said. “The higher it is, the worse you’re
doing."

Current recommendations call for LDL cholesterol levels to be under 100 milligrams per
deciliter of blood serum for people who are otherwise healthy, and under 70 milligrams for those
who already have heart disease or are at high risk of developing it.S

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 13

As with many other good things in life, this usually helpful protein is best in moderation.

I now know that, as with many other good things in life, there can be too much of this usually
helpful protein. 

These findings, among others, are prompting doctors to rethink their approach to patients who
may have an elevated risk of developing a heart attack, stroke or other life-threatening
cardiovascular problem.

High cholesterol treatment is not one-size-fits-all

When patients are found to have high cholesterol, the new guidelines state that it is not enough to
take only traditional risk factors like smoking and high levels of blood pressure and blood sugar
into account in deciding whom to treat and with what.
START CHOLESTEROL SCREENING EARLY

Nor should people wait until midlife to worry about their risk of heart disease. 

Having high cholesterol at any age increases that risk significantly, Dr. Ivor Benjamin, president
of the American Heart Association, said. 

Having high cholesterol at any age increases the risk of heart disease and stroke significantly

He said having «a very low HDL level – below 30 milligrams – is a marker that you’re not doing
well,» and a level above 70 milligrams can be an added risk for people who already have heart
disease or an increased likelihood of developing it.
 Netflix poaches CFO from Activision Blizzard: Source
REUTERS: Netflix is expected to announce in the next few days that it has poached media
finance veteran Spencer Neumann from Activision Blizzard to be its chief financial officer, a
source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Neumann will start at Netflix in early 2019, the source said.

Earlier on Monday, Activision Blizzard said in a regulatory filing that it intended to fire
Neumann for an unspecified reason.

Neumann has served in a variety of finance roles including at Walt Disney. He replaces David
Wells, who in August said he planned to step down after 14 years at the streaming media giant.

The source said Netflix, which is making more of its own films and series, would like its next
CFO to be based in Los Angeles with a focus on production finance. Wells is based northern
California.

Activision in its regulatory filing said that it intended to terminate Neumann "for cause unrelated
to the company's financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures". It said that Neumann
had been placed on paid leave.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 14

REUTERS: Netflix is expected to announce in the next few days that it has poached media
finance veteran Spencer Neumann from Activision Blizzard to be its chief financial officer, a
source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Neumann will start at Netflix in early 2019, the source said.
Earlier on Monday, Activision Blizzard said in a regulatory filing that it intended to fire
Neumann for an unspecified reason.
Read invented by Teads Neumann has served in a variety of finance roles including at Walt
Disney. He replaces David Wells, who in August said he planned to step down after 14 years at
the streaming media giant.
 Another deadline extension for Hyflux to fulfil Tuaspring agreement with
Maybank

SINGAPORE: Hyflux has been given more time, yet again, to execute an agreement with
secured lender Maybank regarding the divestment of its single largest asset.

Marking the fourth deadline extension for the embattled water treatment firm, it now has up to
and including Jan 31, 2019, to conclude a binding agreement with a successful bidder or investor
for the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Plant, according to a filing to the Singapore
Exchange (SGX) on Monday (Dec 31). The previous deadline agreed by both parties was Dec
28.
The SGX filing added that terms of agreement with Maybank continue to apply in the meantime,
which includes the creditor’s right to terminate the collaboration agreement if the new deadline is
breached.

Hyflux, which is undergoing a court-supervised debt restructuring, was first given until Oct 15 to
secure a buyer for the Tuaspring plant. It later received a two-week extension until Oct 29,
followed by a second postponement to Nov 29 and a third delay to Dec 28.
The debt-laden firm was initially looking to divest its billion-dollar desalination and power plant
at book value to help repay creditors.

However, since receiving a S$530 million lifeline from two Indonesian investors, Hyflux said it
is no longer actively pursuing a voluntary sale of Tuaspring.
According to its website with a frequently asked questions section about the ongoing
reorganisation process, the company said it is now working with SM Investments – the
consortium comprising Indonesia’s Salim Group and Medco Group – to engage Maybank on this
matter. 

Hyflux, seen as one of Singapore’s most successful business stories but which has since fallen
from grace, will have its next case management conference on Jan 14. 
It has also said that it will be holding the second round of town hall meetings with holders of its
notes, perpetual securities and preference shares on Jan 18.
SUMMARY: ARTICLE 15

SINGAPORE: Hyflux has been given more time, yet again, to execute an agreement with
secured lender Maybank regarding the divestment of its single largest asset. 
Marking the fourth deadline extension for the embattled water treatment firm, it now has up to
and including Jan 31, 2019, to conclude a binding agreement with a successful bidder or investor
for the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Plant, according to a filing to the Singapore
Exchange on Monday . The previous deadline agreed by both parties was Dec 28. 
The SGX filing added that terms of agreement with Maybank continue to apply in the
meantime, which includes the creditor’s right to terminate the collaboration agreement if the new
deadline is breached. 
Hyflux, which is undergoing a court-supervised debt restructuring, was first given until Oct 15 to
secure a buyer for the Tuaspring plant. It later received a two-week extension until Oct
29, followed by a second postponement to Nov 29 and a third delay to Dec 28. 
The debt-laden firm was initially looking to divest its billion-dollar desalination and power plant
at book value to help repay creditors. 
However, since receiving a S$530 million lifeline from two Indonesian investors, Hyflux said it
is no longer actively pursuing a voluntary sale of Tuaspring. 
Advertisement
According to its website with a frequently asked questions section about the ongoing
reorganisation process, the company said it is now working with SM Investments – the
consortium comprising Indonesia’s Salim Group and Medco Group – to engage Maybank on this
matter. 
Hyflux, seen as one of Singapore’s most successful business stories but which has since fallen
from grace, will have its next case management conference on Jan 14. 
It has also said that it will be holding the second round of town hall meetings with holders of its
notes, perpetual securities and preference shares on Jan 18. 
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/another-deadline-extension-for-
hyflux-to-fulfil-tuaspring-11075630«.
 Canada Goose's first China store draws eager crowds despite diplomatic
headwinds
BEIJING: Large crowds have flocked to Canada Goose's new outdoor wear store in downtown
Beijing, its first in mainland China, since its opening on Friday, despite sub-freezing
temperatures and a chill in bilateral ties.

A long line of shoppers swaddled in thick winter coats were queuing outside the two-storey store
on Monday afternoon, with waiting times for a quick peek at Canada Goose's 9,000 yuan
(US$1,300) parkas requiring an hour or more.

Canada Goose staff were seen walking up and down the queue asking shoppers which product
they were after and then telling them whether or not they had that in stock.

Ties between China and Canada have turned frosty since the arrest of a top Chinese executive in
Vancouver at the request of the United States in December and the subsequent arrest of two
Canadians on suspicion of endangering state security.

Canada Goose opened its Beijing store about two weeks later than initially planned. It has made
no connection between the delay and the heightened tensions between the two governments,
saying earlier this month that the postponement was due to construction work.

On Monday, construction workers were still seen on scaffolding in a cordoned-off area on one
side of the store.

The Toronto-listed parka maker has made no mention of the Beijing store opening on its Chinese
social media platforms, although the store in Beijing's swanky Sanlitun district is now listed on
the company's global website.

"It's been popular for ages but Beijing didn't have one, only Hong Kong. So everyone's come to
see it," said Long Hua, 32, lining up outside the store door with a friend.

Canada Goose did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
A buoyant sales outlook for mainland China has been shaken in recent weeks by some caustic
posts on Chinese social media calling for the boycott of Canada Goose products following
Canada's arrest of Huawei Technologies Co's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.

Shares of Canada Goose have fallen about 37 percent in Toronto trading since Meng's detention
and the ensuing strains between the two countries.

Meng, also the daughter of Huawei's founder, faces U.S. allegations that she misled
multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S.
sanctions.

Meng has said she is innocent.

The stakes are high for the maker of high-end goose-down coats, which enjoy significant brand
recognition in China's big cities.

Chinese customers account for more than a third of spending on luxury products worldwide, and
are increasingly shopping in their home market rather than on overseas trips.

Earlier this year, Canada Goose opened its first store in Hong Kong.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 16

Sign of Canadian luxury parka maker Canada Goose is pictured at its newly opened flagship
store in A sign of Canadian luxury parka maker Canada Goose is pictured at its newly opened
flagship store in Sanlitun area of Beijing, China December 31, 2018. Canada Goose's first China
store draws eager crowds despite diplomatic headwinds Large crowds have flocked to Canada
Goose's new outdoor wear store in downtown Beijing, its first in mainland China, since its
opening on Friday, despite sub-freezing temperatures and a chill in bilateral ties. 31 Dec 2018
06:31PM Share this content Bookmark BEIJING: Large crowds have
 All the ways daylight saving time screws with you
Only a narrow band of people are really that affected by daylight saving. But gosh darn it, we
will complain about it loudly every year.
The annual switch to daylight saving time (DST) is the hour that launched a thousand angry
articles. And honestly, this is one of the few events that actually warrants them. DST, in addition
to not actually being invented by America’s favorite founding father Benjamin Franklin, is
mostly a terrible idea. It has several origins, two of which can be traced back to doddering old
white dudes whose leisurely lives meant they were collecting bugs and golfing in the evening.
They didn’t understand why more people weren’t appreciating the out-of-doors, and so
introduced the idea of shifting the daylight hours, basically in order to fit their own daily
routines.
DST eventually gained widespread appeal (if you can really call it that) in 1916, when it was a
useful way to conserve wartime coal—having more daylight hours in the evening meant people
used less energy heating their houses. In the next couple of years, many other countries followed
suit.
Most countries in Asia and Africa still don’t follow DST, and many nations in the far north of
the world don’t bother—their daylight hours shift so much over the course of a year that it’s not
worth it.
The whole thing started as a way to save energy, but it’s mostly stuck around (at least in the
U.S.) because sporting goods manufacturers and retail stores lobby for it. Americans go out, play
more sports, and buy more stuff when there are more daylight hours after school and work.
In fact, studies suggest we don’t really save energy with DST anymore—if we do, it’s by a
margin of less than one percent. We also now know that the sudden shift in our internal clocks
gives us all kinds of health issues in the days following. Our bodies change radically over the
course of a day based on how much light we see and how much sleep we get. Even an hour’s
shift in rest time and daylight hours screws everything up slightly. When that effect is shared
across the billion-or-so people who have to reckon with DST, you can find some pretty
intriguing correlations.
More deadly car crashes

The single hour of lost sleep in the switch to DST increases the fatal crash rate in the U.S. by a
calculated 5.4 to 7.6 percent for a full six days following the transition. By one researcher’s
estimate, that’s 302 more deaths over ten years.

Increased workplace injuries

Sleep deprivation only increases the rate of workplace injuries by 5.7 percent on the Monday
after the switch. But the real effect is in days of work lost to those injuries: 2,649 in total, for an
increase in 67.6 percent. In the fall, when we get a bonus hour of sleep instead of losing shut-eye,
there’s no known injury increase.

Stock markets do slightly worse

All those probably-already-sleep-deprived-and-now-even-more-so traders on the floor of the

New York Stock Exchange perform ever-so-slightly worse on the Monday after DST. NASDAQ
closes, on average, about 0.3 points lower. It’s worth noting that there’s actually a dip on every
Monday, on average, though it’s smaller. Everyone’s least favorite weekday often closes 0.1
points lower than other trading days.

More heart attacks

Disrupting your sleep cycle upsets your autonomic nervous system. You make slightly more
proinflammatory molecules and you’re more stressed overall. This all adds up to a 24 percent
increase in heart attacks on the Monday after DST goes into effect. One study also found that the
fall change, in which we get an hour more of sleep, produced a 21 percent decrease in heart
attacks on the Tuesday after.

Legal sentences are longer

Like judges who are hungry, sleep-deprived legal minds tend to be harsher on their defendants.
Sentences are a very slight 5 percent longer when handed down on the day after DST.

More miscarriages for women doing IVF

In the weeks following the shift to DST, more women undergoing in vitro fertilization have
miscarriages. The study that found the difference—which mostly held true for those who had a
previous miscarriage—was small, but researchers think the effect of disrupting circadian rhythms
does change fertility a bit. It’s not clear whether that’s because stress and sleep deprivation
change fertility directly, or because of some hormonal change from shifting sleep cycles.

BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE...

Though you have to wake up in a slightly darker world, the upside to DST is that you get a bit
more daylight in the evening. And those precious minutes in the sunlight after work and school
have a positive effect.

Increased outdoor time (and less TV)

Americans spend, on average, about two hours a day watching television and less than half an
hour outside. By looking at data from the American Time Use Survey, researchers estimated that
DST shifts those habits a bit. Of course the weather is getting warmer, but you can see an
immediate shift (not gradual, like you’d expect from evolving weather). We spend a full 30
minutes more outside doing “recreational activities,” and a more modest 9 fewer minutes
watching TV. Apparently nothing can keep us from our stories.

Less crime

Daylight prevents crime for the very simple reason that most criminals don’t want to be seen.
Darkness provides a cover. And so, when we shift the daylight hours slightly later, we see a 7
percent decrease in robberies overall. That’s not a lot, but it’s more pronounced—about 20
percent—during evening hours, since plenty of robberies still take place in the middle of the day
and are unaffected by DST.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 17

The annual switch to daylight saving time is the hour that launched a thousand angry
articles. DST, in addition to not actually being invented by America’s favorite founding father
Benjamin Franklin, is mostly a terrible idea. In the next couple of years, many other countries
followed suit. Even an hour’s shift in rest time and daylight hours screws everything up slightly. 

Increased workplace injuries

In the fall, when we get a bonus hour of sleep instead of losing shut-eye, there’s no known injury
increase.

More heart attacks

Disrupting your sleep cycle upsets your autonomic nervous system. You make slightly more
proinflammatory molecules and you’re more stressed overall.

Legal sentences are longer

Like judges who are hungry, sleep-deprived legal minds tend to be harsher on their
defendants. Sentences are a very slight 5 percent longer when handed down on the day after
DST.

More miscarriages for women doing IVF

In the weeks following the shift to DST, more women undergoing in vitro fertilization have
miscarriages. It’s not clear whether that’s because stress and sleep deprivation change fertility
directly, or because of some hormonal change from shifting sleep cycles. Though you have to
wake up in a slightly darker world, the upside to DST is that you get a bit more daylight in the
evening. And those precious minutes in the sunlight after work and school have a positive effect. 

Increased outdoor time

Americans spend, on average, about two hours a day watching television and less than half an
hour outside. By looking at data from the American Time Use Survey, researchers estimated that
DST shifts those habits a bit. Of course the weather is getting warmer, but you can see an
immediate shift . We spend a full 30 minutes more outside doing «recreational activities,» and a
more modest 9 fewer minutes watching TV. 
 How to get comets, animals, math problems, and more named after you

What’s in a name? Quite a lot actually! We name all kinds of thing in nature, from new species
to comets and of course, new inventions. But what does it take to get one of those new things
named after you? There are a few different ways to put your name down in the history books,
along with scientists and inventors. Which way will you choose?

Discover Something

If you like comets, or math, and you really want something named after you, you’re in luck. Put
in a lot of work to find an undiscovered comet, or invent a new mathematical proof, and presto!
You can choose to have that item or idea named after yourself.
But this doesn’t work across all areas of science. When it comes to things like asteroids or new
species, even if you discover it, you can’t name it after yourself. In those cases, you can still
name your discovery—you just have to name it after someone else! Your pet, your mom, or even
your favorite singer. Which brings us to the next way to get something scientific named after
you: become really well-known.

Get Famous

Fame has its perks. One of which is that scientists love naming things after their favorite, (or
sometimes least favorite) celebrities. That can be other scientists, but also politicians like Barack
Obama, TV stars like David Attenborough and plenty of musicians.
Don’t forget! If you’re naming something living, it's traditional to change the name into a two-
part name that at least sounds Latin. This goes back to a Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus who
invented this naming system. Here are some handy guidelines you can use to latin-ize your
chosen name.

Invent Something

There’s a lot of stuff already out there in the world that already has a name. If you can’t find
something new to have your name, why not make it yourself?
Great inventions like the petri dish or the diesel engine were actually named after their inventors.
Creating something new is a great way to have your name go down in history.
This doesn’t always work. Sometimes you might discover or invent something and someone
else’s name gets attached to it, either because they’re better known or their version becomes
more popular. Sadly, this happens more often than you might think.

Pay Money

Then, there’s always cold hard cash. If you don’t want to rely on luck or toil for years in pursuit
of a namesake, there are a few ways you can name a species or even a robot-discovered math
theorum after yourself. You just have to pay up! It might not be the most fun way to do things,
but it is one way to get your name in scientific lights, and it might help support research
expeditions.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 18

We name all kinds of thing in nature, from new species to comets and of course, new
inventions. There are a few different ways to put your name down in the history books,along
with scientists and inventors.

If you like comets, or math, and you really want something named after you, you’re in luck. You
can choose to have that item or idea named after yourself.

Get Famous

One of which is that scientists love naming things after their favorite, celebrities. That can be
other scientists, but also politicians like Barack Obama, TV stars like David Attenborough and
plenty of musicians. If you’re naming something living, it's traditional to change the name into a
two-part name that at least sounds Latin. This goes back to a Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus
who invented this naming system. 

Here are some handy guidelines you can use to latin-ize your chosen name. 

Invent Something
Great inventions like the petri dish or the diesel engine were actually named after their
inventors. Creating something new is a great way to have your name go down in
history.Sometimes you might discover or invent something and someone else’s name gets
attached to it, either because they’re better known or their version becomes more
popular. Sadly, this happens more often than you might think. 

Pay Money

If you don’t want to rely on luck or toil for years in pursuit of a namesake, there are a few ways
you can name a species or even a robot-discovered math theorum after yourself.
 If the Earth is spinning, why can’t I feel it?
Congratulations: you’re currently spinning at about 1,000 miles an hour without even trying!
That’s how fast the Earth has to turn to make a complete rotation every day. So why can’t you
feel it? Your stomach goes all topsy-turvy when you spin around on a merry-go-round, and that’s
a lot slower than 1,000 miles per hour.
You can’t feel yourself spinning on Earth for the same reason that you can’t feel yourself moving
while you’re on a train. That’s because Earth and the train are both what physicists call “frames
of reference.” Frames of reference are kind of like perspectives. A person standing on a train has
one perspective—one frame of reference—and a person standing on a station platform has
another.
If you were standing on the station platform, you would clearly see the surface was standing still
while the train whizzed by. But from the inside, you’d feel like you were standing still while the
world moved by. From either frame of reference, you feel like you’re the one staying still.
Onboard the train, the world moves. Standing on the platform, the train moves.
The same is true of Earth and space, but at bigger scales. From inside the Earth’s frame of
reference, we can’t tell that we’re spinning. But if we viewed Earth from the frame of reference
of space, we would be able to see the twirling instantly.
And just like passengers seated on a train, we don’t have any clues—like wind rushing through
our hair—to make us realize how fast we’re going. The air inside the train (and the atmosphere
that surrounds our planet) moves along at the same speed we do.
There is one important difference between a train and Earth. When a train slows down or speeds
up, we can feel the resulting force on our bodies. That’s because of a basic law of physics: force
= mass * acceleration. Your body is the mass, and when acceleration is zero—when the train is
moving at a constant speed—there’s no force on your body. You can’t feel it. But when the train
changes speed by either accelerating or decelerating, there’s a force (and if you’re standing up, it
might just manage to knock you over).
Since most trains don’t zip around without ever changing speed, we can actually tell we're in
motion quite often. The Earth doesn’t ever slow down or speed up. But if it did, oh boy would
we feel it! And it would be the same sensation that you get on a slowing train.
Fortunately, our planet isn’t going to suddenly slow down or speed up like that, which means we
won’t ever get that feeling that tells us we’re moving.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t observe the Earth spinning from right here on the ground. The
Sun and Moon rise in the east and set in the west because of the direction we’re rotating in. If
you set up a video camera pointed at the night sky, you’ll be able to see the stars moving, too.
From our frame of reference, it looks like those objects are sliding past us. Remember: that’s just
how we see it. From the Sun’s point of view, we’re all spinning in circles.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 19

You can’t feel yourself spinning on Earth for the same reason that you can’t feel yourself moving
while you’re on a train. From either frame of reference, you feel like you’re the one staying
still. The same is true of Earth and space, but at bigger scales. From inside the Earth’s frame of
reference, we can’t tell that we’re spinning. 

But if we viewed Earth from the frame of reference of space, we would be able to see the
twirling instantly. When a train slows down or speeds up, we can feel the resulting force on our
bodies. The Earth doesn’t ever slow down or speed up. And it would be the same sensation that
you get on a slowing train. 

If you set up a video camera pointed at the night sky, you’ll be able to see the stars
moving, too. From our frame of reference, it looks like those objects are sliding past us.From the
Sun’s point of view, we’re all spinning in circles. 
 Meet the very good dogs who hunt down invasive species

Lily is a golden retriever from Georgia. Seamus is a border collie from Montana. Together, they
are leading a Working Dogs for Conservation team to eradicate an invasive weed from Mount
Sentinel in Missoula, Montana.
Before the team of dogs took over, humans were doing a mediocre job of controlling dyer’s
woad, a knee-high, light green weed native to southeastern Russia. The problem lay with how
people usually identify the plant—by its distinctive yellow flower, which lights up roadsides
across the southwestern U.S. The golden blossoms might be pleasant on the side of the highway,
but dyer’s woad crowds out native plants from Arizona to Wyoming. “They displace multiple
species within the native plant community,” says Jane Mangold, a professor of land resources
and environmental science at Montana State University, via email. “A general loss in
biodiversity ensues.”
But by the time the bloom is easily visible, it's already too late; the dyer’s woad has reproduced.
That’s where the dogs come in. In 2011, Seamus and Lily made their first forays into the
Montana brush, sniffing out the offending weeds. They were able to point out hundreds of plants
that humans missed. The dogs kept coming back, since dyer’s woad can last up for years in the
soil. This season, they found only four plants, according to Pete Coppolillo, executive director of
Working Dogs for Conservation. They've nearly eradicated the tricky weed.
Dogs can definitely locate substances with their noses that humans can’t. We train them to sniff
out cancer, bombs, drugs and even the flu. The conservation dogs can find kit foxes in the San
Joaquin Valley, gunpowder in Zambia, invasive brook trout and mussels in Montana and a cattle-
killing bacteria in Yellowstone.
But none of this is surprising, because of course dogs have the advantage when it comes to
sniffing out invaders. In a side by side comparison, dogs would beat their weak primate best
friends at a smelling contest every time—right?
Wrong. “From a scientific point of view, there’s not a lot of evidence of how sensitive the dog's
nose is,” says Matthias Laska, a professor of zoology at Linköping University. Scientists have
tested only 15 scents on both dogs and humans, depositing tinier and tinier amounts of each until
they found exactly how much each species could detect. Humans were actually better at smelling
five of them. “This statement that dogs are the undisputed super noses of the universe is simply
not true,” says Laska.
Dogs perceive the world differently than we do, and rely on their olfactory sense more. They use
their noses to identify each other and navigate through the world—humans do not usually go
around sniffing each other. Dogs devote more of their mental resources to their sense of smell,
according to Alexandra Horowitz, a psychology professor at Barnard College, in her book Inside
of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. Their olfactory bulb takes up about an eighth of
their brains, a larger percentage than our visual cortex takes up in ours. However, in a Nature
Neurosciencestudy both species did an equally accurate job of following the trail of a desirable
scent through a field, though the dog tracked a dead pheasant and humans followed chocolate
essential oils. Both the pups and undergraduates became better trackers with practice.
And the working canines do practice. The Working Dogs for Conservation screens 1,000 shelter
animals for every one dog they put into training. Then half of them fail out of pup smell school.
The best dogs are energetic and highly motivated by their toys, says Coppolillo.
Scientists have never made dogs sniff the air for illegal bushmeat or marijuana while standing on
their hind legs, human-style. But perhaps they would be able to detect these scents, and many
more, under human behavioral restraints.
“If we consider that every item has an odor, then, given dogs' olfactory acuity, we can expect that
dogs could be trained to tell us when they detect pretty much anything,” says Horowitz via email.
But researchers have also never forced humans to track hundreds of smells through airports,
highways and the Serengeti. Until they do, we don’t know the full extent of the Lily and
Seamus’s smelling super powers. . . or that of Homo sapiens.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 20

Together, they are leading a Working Dogs for Conservation team to eradicate an invasive weed
from Mount Sentinel in Missoula, Montana. They were able to point out hundreds of plants that
humans missed. The dogs kept coming back, since dyer’s woad can last up for years in the
soil. This season, they found only four plants, according to Pete Coppolillo,executive director of
Working Dogs for Conservation. 

They've nearly eradicated the tricky weed. We train them to sniff out cancer, bombs,drugs and
even the flu. The conservation dogs can find kit foxes in the San Joaquin Valley,gunpowder in
Zambia, invasive brook trout and mussels in Montana and a cattle-killing bacteria in
Yellowstone. But none of this is surprising, because of course dogs have the advantage when it
comes to sniffing out invaders. 

Humans were actually better at smelling five of them. Until they do, we don’t know the full
extent of the Lily and Seamus’s smelling super powers. 
 Pluto is way cooler than it should be, and now we might know why
It was a lazy, hazy, crazy day on Pluto when a spacecraft from Earth flew by at a blistering speed
of 31,000 miles per hour two years ago.
New Horizons took a bunch of snapshots, made some quick measurements of Pluto’s
atmosphere, and sent them all back here, giving planetary scientists their first up-close look of
the distant dwarf planet.
One of the more bizarre things they found was that the haze in Pluto’s atmosphere was much
thicker than our previous peeks indicated. The icy hunk of rock also had an atmosphere much
cooler than earlier estimates, topping out at -333.4 ºF (more than 50 degrees colder than
expected, even for something about 40 times further from the Sun than Earth is).
Now, a study published in Nature links those two atmospheric observations. A computer model
developed by University of California Santa Cruz planetary scientist Xi Zhang and colleagues
shows the haze of tiny droplets in the upper atmosphere is likely scattering light from the Sun,
preventing heat from reaching the planet below.
"It's been a mystery since we first got the temperature data from New Horizons," Zhang, said in a
statement. "Pluto is the first planetary body we know of where the atmospheric energy budget is
dominated by solid-phase haze particles instead of by gases."
We see hazy skies on Earth too from time to time, whenever solid particles get suspended in the
air—from water-based fogs, to ash and soot from fires, to the toxic droplets that make up a thick
smog. But on Earth, the overall temperature of the planet is dominated by the distribution of
gases in our atmosphere. On Pluto, the authors suggest, haze might be more influential.
This haze appears to be made up of large hydrocarbon droplets, created high in the
atmosphere when ultraviolet light from the Sun strips electrons from particles of methane and
nitrogen gas. The reaction helps form solid bits of hydrocarbon. But what gets created up there
must still come down. Pulled back to the surface by gravity, the hydrocarbons start to bond
together, eventually creating a thick haze. It doesn’t completely block sunlight, but rather
absorbs and re-scatters it, theoretically warming up part of the atmosphere while keeping most of
Pluto frigid below.
We know that particles can reflect light from the Sun here on Earth. We’ve seen it happen after
volcanos erupt, putting sun-scattering aerosols into the atmosphere. Some people even propose
mimicking this phenomenon to alleviate the effects of climate change. But our planet isn’t
dominated by that process, or at least it hasn’t been for a few billion years.
If Pluto’s atmosphere is very different from ours and from that of other nearby planets, it could
help scientists expand their understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. But right now,
an accompanying paper [paywalled] points out, this is just a good guess based on data from New
Horizons and a sophisticated computer model, not direct observations of the haze's composition.
There are other theories floating around to explain Pluto's cool temperatures, including blaming
the frigid air on gases in the atmosphere. Luckily, the authors will get a chance to test their
notions when the James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2019. That observatory can detect
infrared light, which the hazy Plutonian atmosphere would be positively glowing with as it
scattered sunlight. The researchers just have to wait and see if the light from the telescope
validates their bright idea.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 20

It was a lazy, hazy, crazy day on Pluto when a spacecraft from Earth flew by at a blistering speed
of 31,000 miles per hour two years ago. The icy hunk of rock also had an atmosphere much
cooler than earlier estimates, topping out at -333.4 F . «Pluto is the first planetary body we know
of where the atmospheric energy budget is dominated by solid-phase haze particles instead of by
gases». This haze appears to be made up of large hydrocarbon droplets, created high in the
atmosphere when ultraviolet light from the Sun strips electrons from particles of methane and
nitrogen gas. 

It doesn’t completely block sunlight, but rather absorbs and re-scatters it, theoretically warming
up part of the atmosphere while keeping most of Pluto frigid below. We know that particles can
reflect light from the Sun here on Earth. We’ve seen it happen after volcanos erupt, putting sun-
scattering aerosols into the atmosphere. Some people even propose mimicking this phenomenon
to alleviate the effects of climate change. 

But our planet isn’t dominated by that process, or at least it hasn’t been for a few billion years. If
Pluto’s atmosphere is very different from ours and from that of other nearby planets, it could
help scientists expand their understanding of exoplanet atmospheres.The researchers just have to
wait and see if the light from the telescope validates their bright idea. 
 The lake is basic. The slippery, scuba-diving fly that lives there is not.
There was a salty lake that swallowed a fly. I do know why it swallowed the fly, and rest
assured, neither the lake nor the fly is going to die any sooner as a result.
California’s Mono Lake is three times saltier than the Pacific ocean, and is incredibly basic.
Chemically speaking, that is. It's on the opposite end of the pH scale from acids. The lake is
filled with alkaline bases that give the water a soapy feel.
Some people have even gone so far as to wash their clothes in the water, taking advantage of the
built-in suds to remove dust from their clothes or oil from their hands without resorting to soap.
The strange chemistry of the 760,000-year-old lake is so hostile that no fish swim beneath the
surface, leaving algae to flourish down below.
Into this fish-free gap in the food web squirmed the alkali fly. The briny, slick surface hid
abundant food, but boasted no predators. So the alkali fly evolved to dive in at an incredibly
sharp angle, wander around in the drink, and then pop back up, dry as a California desert.
An alkali fly diving under water, and carrying a silvery pocket of air around it.

Caltech

In an article published in PNAS, researchers from Caltech figured out how the flies manage the
trick, when so many of their buggy counterparts cannot cope with Mono Lake’s highly alkaline
water.
They found that like other flies, alkali have small hair-like structures and a coating that lets water
slip off their back. But unlike other flies (including kelp flies and fruit flies), these insects have
more ‘hairs’ and an even more water-repellent coating. The combination means that the flies can
trap a small bubble of air around them as they squiggle their way underwater.
The air bubble helps preserve the energy the fly expends getting past intense surface tension. The
insect must exert a force 18 times greater than its body weight to get under the water, but the
bubble helps them float back up to the surface with little effort.
"It's not that Mono Lake flies have evolved a new and unique way of remaining hydrophobic—
it's that they've amplified the normal tools that most insects use," biologist and co-author of the
paper Michael Dickinson says in a press release. "It's just a killer gig. There's nothing underwater
to eat you and you have all the food you want. You've just got to dive in perhaps the most
difficult water in which to stay dry on the planet. They figured it out, and so get to enjoy an
extremely unique life history. It's amazing how the evolution of such small-scale physical and
chemical changes can allow an animal to occupy an entirely new ecological niche.”
The flies might have it made underwater, but above the surface, they’re food for migratory
birds that flock to Mono lake, and their lake-borne larvae were an important food source for local
indigenous peoples.
Now the flies face even bigger threats from humans. From 1941 to 1982, the lake got saltier as
inputs of fresh water were to Los Angeles. The increased saltiness doesn't seem to have impacted
the ability of the flies to move around in water, but other research has shown that the change in
chemistry could affect their larvae.
Luckily, the rapidly increasing salinity is being mitigated by conservation efforts and heavy
California rains. But that's not all. As they were conducting this research, the authors noticed a
sheen of sunscreen coming off their skin into the lake, and wondered what the oil would do to
the flies. The results of lab tests, they wrote, were "catastrophic," trapping soaked flies
underwater and eventually drowning them. Fish oil had similar effects.
So if you find yourself at Mono lake slathered with sunscreen, spare a thought for the fly before
you plunge your body into the water. You might be ok with getting all wet, but if the fly can't
stay dry, it will die.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 21

I do know why it swallowed the fly, and rest assured, neither the lake nor the fly is going to die
any sooner as a result. The lake is filled with alkaline bases that give the water a soapy feel. The
strange chemistry of the 760,000-year-old lake is so hostile that no fish swim beneath the
surface, leaving algae to flourish down below. The briny, slick surface hid abundant food, but
boasted no predators. 

So the alkali fly evolved to dive in at an incredibly sharp angle, wander around in the drink,and
then pop back up, dry as a California desert. 

Heading underwater
An alkali fly diving under water, and carrying a silvery pocket of air around it.

Caltech

In an article published in PNAS, researchers from Caltech figured out how the flies manage the
trick, when so many of their buggy counterparts cannot cope with Mono Lake’s highly alkaline
water. They found that like other flies, alkali have small hair-like structures and a coating that
lets water slip off their back. But unlike other flies , these insects have more ‘hairs’ and an even
more water-repellent coating. The combination means that the flies can trap a small bubble of air
around them as they squiggle their way underwater. 

The air bubble helps preserve the energy the fly expends getting past intense surface tension. The
insect must exert a force 18 times greater than its body weight to get under the water, but the
bubble helps them float back up to the surface with little effort. « There's nothing underwater to
eat you and you have all the food you want. You've just got to dive in perhaps the most difficult
water in which to stay dry on the planet. 

They figured it out, and so get to enjoy an extremely unique life history. It's amazing how the
evolution of such small-scale physical and chemical changes can allow an animal to occupy an
entirely new ecological niche». The flies might have it made underwater, but above the
surface, they’re food for migratory birds that flock to Mono lake, and their lake-borne larvae
were an important food source for local indigenous peoples. Now the flies face even bigger
threats from humans. 

Luckily, the rapidly increasing salinity is being mitigated by conservation efforts and heavy
California rains. The results of lab tests, they wrote, were «catastrophic,» trapping soaked flies
underwater and eventually drowning them. Fish oil had similar effects. You might be ok with
getting all wet, but if the fly can't stay dry, it will die. 
 Is it actually healthy to stop eating red meat?
We all hear about how bad red meat is for both the planet’s health and our own. Planet-wise,
there’s no argument: The detrimental effects of greenhouse gases from livestock production on
the earth’s atmosphere can’t be overlooked. So, for the month of October, members of the
PopSci staff are abstaining from all forms of red meat (#NoRedOctober) for the sake of the
environment, and, by extension, for our own good. We have to live here, after all. It’s in our best
interest to minimize the cow farts.
The health implications of eating red meat are a little more nuanced. On the one hand, numerous
studies over the years have shown that an over consumption of red meat isn’t the greatest for our
bodies. The meat is often rich in fat and cholesterol, and an increase in both has been associated
with numerous health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Other studies have also found
that its consumption poses an increased risk for colorectal cancer, along with many other
lifestyle and genetic factors.
But the truth is, humans have been consuming red meat for a long, long time. In fact, scientists
have identified animal bone fossils from 2.6 million years ago that showed butchery marks made
by early humans. Our ancient ancestors were smart eaters: Red meat has a plethora of nutrients.
A serving of red meat contains a healthy dosing of protein as well as vital nutrients including
iron, vitamin B12, and zinc, among others. But it’s absolutely not true that red meat is the only
food that provides these nutrients. The key, says Leslie Bonci, a registered dietician and sports
nutritionist, is to be aware of what you are missing and fill in the blanks. “Things like zinc,
magnesium, and B vitamins are not unique to red meat, but they certainly are a major component
of them,” Bonci says. “If you give it up, then you are going to have to work harder and find lots
of other types of food items to be able to make up that difference.”
So if you never ate red meat again, and were extremely vigilant about your nutritional needs,
then you would be okay? Potentially, as long as you stay smart about what you eat instead. Bonci
says iron will be the biggest hurdle. “Red meat has a lot of iron in it. And it’s a readily available
source of iron.”
In fact, the iron found in red meat—what’s called heme iron—is arguably much easier to absorb
than iron found in plants, which is known as non-heme iron. That’s because non-heme, plant-
based iron requires acid for the body to absorb it. So unless you are pairing your plant iron with a
citrus fruit, you are probably not going to get much out of it. Heme iron found in red meat is
already in a form that can be absorbed. For this reason, red meat is often recommended as a good
way to increase your body’s iron stores if you have iron deficiency anemia.
There are also certain groups of people who are more prone to being iron deficient, including
individuals with heavier menstrual cycles, pregnant people, those who are lactating, and people
with certain gastrointestinal disorders, like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. There have
also been some case studies to suggest that certain individuals on acid suppressing drugs called
proton pump inhibitors for extended periods of time might be at an increased risk as well, though
much more research is needed to make any overall assertions.
While these groups of people need to be especially vigilant, Bonci says that anyone who chooses
to give up red meat needs to compensate their iron intake. She says any other dark meat will
contain easily absorbable iron as well, though often not quite as much as beef. She points out that
animal liver is always a big source of iron, though not a type of meat that everyone absolutely
loves. Organ meats in general are a great nutritious resource that many folks in the U.S. are
missing out on.
Other nutrients and vitamins found in red meat are also found in other meat products as well, and
in substantial amounts, so it’s easier to make up for those by turning to other forms of animal
protein. From a nutritional standpoint, Bonci says, as long as you are aware of what you are
giving up and you are compensating accordingly, you should be okay. “Anytime you take
something off the plate, you have to replace them. And that’s not what everybody remembers to
do.”

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 22

Is it actually healthy to stop eating red meat?

You'll have some vital nutrients to replace.

We have to live here, after all. It’s in our best interest to minimize the cow farts. The meat is
often rich in fat and cholesterol, and an increase in both has been associated with numerous
health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Other studies have also found that its
consumption poses an increased risk for colorectal cancer, along with many other lifestyle and
genetic factors. 

But the truth is, humans have been consuming red meat for a long, long time. In fact,scientists
have identified animal bone fossils from 2.6 million years ago that showed butchery marks made
by early humans. A serving of red meat contains a healthy dosing of protein as well as vital
nutrients including iron, vitamin B12, and zinc, among others. But it’s absolutely not true that
red meat is the only food that provides these nutrients. 

The key, says Leslie Bonci, a registered dietician and sports nutritionist, is to be aware of what
you are missing and fill in the blanks. «Things like zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins are not
unique to red meat, but they certainly are a major component of them,» Bonci says. 

Pixabay

Potentially, as long as you stay smart about what you eat instead. Bonci says iron will be the
biggest hurdle. That’s because non-heme, plant-based iron requires acid for the body to absorb
it. So unless you are pairing your plant iron with a citrus fruit, you are probably not going to get
much out of it. 

Heme iron found in red meat is already in a form that can be absorbed. For this reason,red meat
is often recommended as a good way to increase your body’s iron stores if you have iron
deficiency anemia. There are also certain groups of people who are more prone to being iron
deficient, including individuals with heavier menstrual cycles, pregnant people, those who are
lactating, and people with certain gastrointestinal disorders, like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative
colitis. While these groups of people need to be especially vigilant, Bonci says that anyone who
chooses to give up red meat needs to compensate their iron intake. 

She says any other dark meat will contain easily absorbable iron as well, though often not quite
as much as beef. «Anytime you take something off the plate, you have to replace them. 
 This is how eyeball tattoos are supposed to work

Sometimes white eyeballs just aren’t jazzy enough. Why? It’s honestly not clear, but hey: if you
want lime green instead, that's your business. Even if the inventor of the scleral tattoo—that's a
tattoo right on your dang eyeball—now says he wishes it were illegal, and that he thought people
would take the whole thing a lot more seriously. It's still your body, and you can get your
eyeballs dyed if you want. But you should probably take certain precautions if you don't want to
lose your ability to see.
Eyeball tattoos have caused permanent damage before, but the recent plight of a model who
wanted to dye her eyes purple (and ended up with massively swollen eyeballs—yes, eyeballs, not
just the skin around the eyes) has put the procedure in plenty of headlines today.
Against all odds, it is possible to safely tattoo the whites of ones eyes. Relatively speaking, that
is.
The trick is getting the needle inside a barely-millimeter-wide gap between two layers of the eye.
See, here’s what's going on inside a human eyeball:
Ink needs to get between the conjunctiva and the sclera, which are labeled 1 and 2 respectively
above. The sclera is the actual white bit, and the conjunctiva is a thin, clear layer directly atop. In
the body art community, there’s basically just one method of tattooing: injecting small volumes
of dye into the space between the two layers, and allowing that ink to spread in patches. It only
requires a few needle pricks—unlike a traditional tattoo, where the tip has to repeatedly pierce
the skin. Technically it would be possible to do that to an eyeball, but you'd mostly end up with a
lot of holes for the dye to leak out of. Sorry for that mental image.
Luna Cobra, the artist who first performed the injection method, has himself saidthat it’s not a
safe thing to do. Eyes are oh-so-easily infected and damaged, and it’s often difficult or
impossible to reverse the effects of such a procedure. And unlike skin tattoos, scleral ones are
injected in an almost surgical way. If the artist’s hand slips and the needle goes too far, or the ink
is too thick, or the amount of dye is too great, you could wind up with permanent damage almost
immediately. Most people with experience getting tattoos will tell you that you need to choose an
artist carefully for anything you’d put into your skin permanently. You definitely need to choose
wisely when you're asking someone to stick a needle in your eyeball.
A surgeon would really be the safest bet, and there are actually medically-sanctioned eye tattoos
out there in the world. Like any physical defect, people with congenital eye problems or damage
can suffer not just from the thing itself, but from the stigma of having a visible scar. A corneal
tattoo can’t repair vision, but it can dye discolored bits back to white. Ophthalmic surgeons do
those kinds of operations sometimes to improve patients' quality of life, though it’s not common.
Tattoo artists, on the other hand, have definitely not been trained to poke eyeballs with needles;
there’s no certification for corneal tattooing. All you can really go on is their experience and
reputation.
So please, if you’re considering getting an eyeball tattoo, just do one thing first. Google image
search “scleral tattoo gone wrong” and see if you can stomach the results. Everyone else should
go watch a video of a kitten getting surprised by a lizardor a puppy holding a balloon—after this
article, your eyes probably need a break.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 23

Tookapic

Eyeball tattoos have caused permanent damage before, but the recent plight of a model who
wanted to dye her eyes purple has put the procedure in plenty of headlines today.The trick is
getting the needle inside a barely-millimeter-wide gap between two layers of the eye.

Jmarchn

Ink needs to get between the conjunctiva and the sclera, which are labeled 1 and 2 respectively
above. The sclera is the actual white bit, and the conjunctiva is a thin, clear layer directly
atop. Luna Cobra, the artist who first performed the injection method, has himself said that it’s
not a safe thing to do. Eyes are oh-so-easily infected and damaged,and it’s often difficult or
impossible to reverse the effects of such a procedure. 

And unlike skin tattoos, scleral ones are injected in an almost surgical way. If the artist’s hand
slips and the needle goes too far, or the ink is too thick, or the amount of dye is too great, you
could wind up with permanent damage almost immediately. Most people with experience getting
tattoos will tell you that you need to choose an artist carefully for anything you’d put into your
skin permanently. You definitely need to choose wisely when you're asking someone to stick a
needle in your eyeball. 

Ophthalmic surgeons do those kinds of operations sometimes to improve patients' quality of

life, though it’s not common. So please, if you’re considering getting an eyeball tattoo,just do
one thing first. Google image search «scleral tattoo gone wrong» and see if you can stomach the
results. 
 NASA's future Mars robot will take the fastest pictures yet of the red planet
In less than three years, a robot larger than an SUV (that's a pretty big space bot) is going to blast
off from Earth and head towards Mars. The droid will gently parachute down onto the red
planet's surface, guided at the very end by a skycrane, which will bring it safely to the ground.
That's the plan anyway for Mars 2020. In addition to becoming the most modern piece of tech on
our neighbor planet, the new robot will also have more cameras than any rover to go before it.
It’s 23 cameras will outnumber Curiosity’s collection by six, Spirit’s and Opportunity’s each by
13, and Sojourner’s—the first rover—by 20. The eye upgrades, facilitated by advances in camera
engineering, will give researchers a clearer look at Mars, sure, but they will also help save time
and ease the grueling process of scheduling tasks on Mars from 33.9 million miles away.
Currently, to plan out a day's worth of work on Curiosity, it takes scientists at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) about eight hours to first process information gathered by the rover
the day before, plan out the next day’s tasks, engineer those projects, bundle them up in digital
instructions, and send more instructions back to Mars.
Engineers spend about a half hour to an hour alone processing the images that Curiosity sends
back, stitching together wide angle photos, or lining up stereo images that let humans—or rovers
—deduce information about depth from two-dimensional pictures.
“For things like driving or operating the arm, we take a picture with the left camera and a picture
with the right camera” Justin Maki, the imaging scientist for Mars 2020, says. “Then we match
up pixels between the two images to create a 3D image of the terrain. Because we have these
wider field of view lenses, we end up with better quality stereo terrain maps.”
Maki and his team's plan for the next mission is to compress the entire daily timeline down to
five hours, in part by taking advantage of the smaller, cheaper, and more powerful cameras on
the rover, which have a much wider field of view.
The wider field of view and high resolution means less time stitching together or processing
images, and more time working on the next day’s assignments for the rover, whether that’s
telling it to drive over to a rock, avoid an obstacle, or fire a laser.
“The shorter the timeline the more chances you get for ground-in-the-loop planning,” Maki says.
That means that there’s more room to accommodate the 40 minute delay in days between a day
on Mars and a day on Earth. It may not seem like much, but the delay can periodically throw
things out of whack when we’re talking interplanetary scales.
“Some days you come into work in the morning and the plan hasn’t finished executing yet on
Mars,” Maki says. That’s a problem, because researchers have to wait for the info to come in to
start their day. Delays—plus the eight hours needed to plan and program a day—mean
sometimes unpredictable hours, which can get exhausting, especially when expeditions are
extended and the team is five years into a two year mission, which is the case with Curiosity.
“When we first land we’ll work all through the night,” Maki says. “But that's hard to sustain
much beyond three months.”
A shorter, five hour window means that information can come in late to the JPL lab and
researchers can still turn around precisely calibrated instructions by the end of a normal working
day, which wouldn’t be possible without the wide-angle lenses on the camera taking precise
pictures of the surrounding environment, samples, and the rover itself.
Of course, in addition to providing detailed navigation aids, the large number of cameras also
means more amazing images for everyone back home as well. High-speed landing video
cameras, along with a specialized microphone, will capture the harrowing descent of the rover to
the surface. Yes, the engineers will see detailed footage of how the parachutes deploy in Mars’
atmosphere, but the rest of us will get a live-action remake of Seven Minutes of Terror—the
immensely popular NASA animation of Curiousity’s landing.
And, like other NASA missions, when information comes back from Mars 2020 mission, the
public will be able to follow along almost as soon as Maki and the other mission scientists get
the information.
“It's a really unique time in human history. Before, explorers would go off on a ship and
hopefully they would come back with some stories or maybe some drawings,” Maki says. “But
now anyone in the world can participate in our voyage in real time.”

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 24

An artist's impression of Mars 2020's mast cameras. In less than three years, a robot larger than
an SUV is going to blast off from Earth and head towards Mars. In addition to becoming the
most modern piece of tech on our neighbor planet, the new robot will also have more cameras
than any rover to go before it.
Currently, to plan out a day's worth of work on Curiosity, it takes scientists at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory about eight hours to first process information gathered by the rover the
day before, plan out the next day’s tasks, engineer those projects, bundle them up in digital
instructions, and send more instructions back to Mars. « Because we have these wider field of
view lenses, we end up with better quality stereo terrain maps». Maki and his team's plan for the
next mission is to compress the entire daily timeline down to five hours, in part by taking
advantage of the smaller, cheaper, and more powerful cameras on the rover, which have a much
wider field of view. That means that there’s more room to accommodate the 40 minute delay in
days between a day on Mars and a day on Earth. 

It may not seem like much, but the delay can periodically throw things out of whack when we’re
talking interplanetary scales. «Some days you come into work in the morning and the plan hasn’t
finished executing yet on Mars,» Maki says. That’s a problem, because researchers have to wait
for the info to come in to start their day. Of course, in addition to providing detailed navigation
aids, the large number of cameras also means more amazing images for everyone back home as
well. 

High-speed landing video cameras, along with a specialized microphone, will capture the

harrowing descent of the rover to the surface. 
 3 WAYS TO TREAT AN AIR CONDITIONER IN AVOIDING DISEASE
When you use a home air conditioner, do not forget to take care of on a regular basis. Because
when AC is not treated regularly and carefully, it will have a bad air and becomes a place to
spread the disease. The dirty AC can store a variety of viruses and bacteria that continuously
spread throughout the room. It also enters into the smell of the inhabitants. As a result, the
occupant will experience pain or repeated infections. The following treatments below should you
do in order to make AC work optimally and be durable.
 
Do not forget to turn off the AC
 
When traveling or in a space that is not used, do not forget to turn off AC. If the air is not too
hot, try to shut down about one or two hours a day. If necessary use a reminder or timer
contained in the AC facility. When the air conditioner is turned off, open the windows and doors
widely so that there is an air exchange.
 
Clean the AC regularly
 
Check the filter components on the air conditioning, at least once a month. A dirty air filter will
hinder the air circulation and being a comfortable place for germs, bacteria, and fungi. Bacteria
are what will flow to the evaporator coil (evaporator coil) and then spread back across the room.
The dirty AC components can affect the performance of the cooling system becomes more
severe, so it does not produce the maximum cold and wasteful.
 
Selective in use
 
Minimize the potential health problems with the use of air conditioning as selective as possible.
Because, if in the same room there is a family member which is sick, viruses and bacteria can be
spread through the air helped. So when a family member is sick with the flu, for example, try
using the AC to a minimum. This advice also applies if there is one family member who smoked
in the room or when the middle of the room and furniture cleaned.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 25

3 WAYS TO TREAT AN AIR CONDITIONER IN AVOIDING DISEASE When you usea hom
e air conditioner, do not forget to take care of on a regular basis.
Do not forget to turn off the AC When traveling or in a space that is not used, do not forget to tur
n off AC. If the air is not too hot, try to shut down about oneor two hours a day.

When the air conditioner is turned off, open the windows and doors widely sothat there is an air 
exchange.

Clean the AC regularly Check the filter components on the air conditioning, atleast once a month
.

A dirty air filter will hinder the air circulation and being a comfortable place forgerms, bacteria, 
and fungi.

Selective in use Minimize the potential health problems with the use of airconditioning as selecti
ve as possible.

Because, if in the same room there is a family member which is sick, virusesand bacteria can be s
pread through the air helped.
 HOW TO SOLVE EATING DIFFICULTY IN CHILDREN?
 
Eating difficulty is an issue that is so fundamental and often case to children. Sometimes, when a
child is so difficult to chew food invited to make us frustrated. Since then, usually we will try a
variety of ways like providing herbal appetite enhancers and hunting child’s favorite foods every
day. The matters the child eating disorder also intrigued our interest to make an article about tips
to overcome the difficult child to eat. Here are the details.
Serve meals with small portions
 
Maybe the kid does not like the size of your portions that so reluctant to eat the food there. Many
children are ilfeel after seeing a sizable portion. So, try to give a little so that they can eat faster
and do not get bored in spend food.
 
Get together with family
 
Do not let children eat alone and we need to create an atmosphere of togetherness when the child
was time to eat. For example, you and your husband are on the table then eat foods together.
With the atmosphere of togetherness, then the child’s appetite will occur slowly.
 
Provide healthy snacks
 
One of the things that concern by parents is the development of the child if he did not want to
eat. Of course, when children are fussy eaters then its growth will be stunted and not as friends.
One of the best ways to keep it is to try to give nutritional healthy snack. Give interesting snacks
such as nuts, dried fruits, and nutritious bread.
 
Variety of food and a nice appearance
 
Perhaps, he needs a variety of foods that your appetite he has incurred. For example, you could
give spinach on the first day, broccoli on the second day, and chicken-based dishes in the next
day. Variety of foods is a very important thing to prevent children from boredom and the desire
not to eat.
 
However, there is one more thing that could trigger a child’s appetite, which is an interesting
food dish. For example, you can cook carrots to form a star or a unique object. Children will be
attracted by the shape and believed to increase appetite. Hopefully, some difficulty eating kids
tips above can help you.

SUMMARY: ARTICLE 26

HOW TO SOLVE EATING DIFFICULTY IN CHILDREN? Eating difficulty is an issuethat is s
o fundamental and often case to children.

The matters the child eating disorder also intrigued our interest to make anarticle about tips to ov
ercome the difficult child to eat.

Serve meals with small portions Maybe the kid does not like the size of yourportions that so relu
ctant to eat the food there.

Try to give a little so that they can eat faster and do not get bored in spendfood.

Get together with family Do not let children eat alone and we need to create anatmosphere of tog
etherness when the child was time to eat.

Provide healthy snacks One of the things that concern by parents is thedevelopment of the child i
f he did not want to eat.

Variety of foods is a very important thing to prevent children from boredom andthe desire not to 
eat.