This week I read the article "Uber's Vision of Self-Driving Cars Begins to Blur". I found this article to be very interesting because I believe that self-driving cars are the future and think that within the next couple of decades manually driving a car may be obsolete. I think that this is an important technological advance that will improve the quality of life in the future. However, this article highlighted the dangers of this emerging technology. Self-driving cars are still in early development and have been related in many accidents, injuries, and even deaths. On the other hand, many of these self-driving car accidents have happened with safety drivers in the car. I believe that Uber should not shut down their research in self-driving cars and continue to push through the controversy. Many revolutionary inventions throughout out time faced controversy and kinks in the road. If self-driving cars can push through all of the present adversity then it can make a major impact on the quality of life in the future.
"Pope Will Visit a Changed Ireland. How Much Difference Can He Make?"
This article caught my attention because on top of the fact that I am Irish and Catholic, I was genuinely curious as to what this article could entail. Originally Ireland was the foundation for European Catholicism, "exporting priests around the world..." At the last papal visit in 1979 which was by John Paul the Second, divorce, abortion, and homosexual acts were all illegal. However now, their most recent papal visit by Pope Francis will be to the first European nation to legalize gay marriage and is looking to legalize abortion as well. This presented the question, what changes can Pope Francis make to Ireland, a nation that is basically the pioneer of the erosion of the church's authority westward?
Many people are excited for Pope Francis' arrival, regarding him as a "modern, bubbly character, people's man". Catherine Gilchrist, a pharmacist in Northern Ireland views Pope Francis with high hopes. '"The priests before, they were put on a pedestal and did things they shouldn't have done."' Therefore, while the people of Ireland are unsure of Pope Francis' motives, one fact can be assured, they have high regards and respect for him and hope he will instill some positive aspects on their nation unlike past popes.
"A Generation Grows Up in China Without Google, Facebook or Twitter"
For some time now, China has censored its peoples' freedom of
internet access and it is just wrong. Those living in China have a censorship towards internet platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and many others which gives them absolute no access to these sites. Although, those who've composed this censorship feel that this, "builds an alternate value system." Yuan also mentioned that these platforms are also unnecessary because the citizens do not demand for it. Despite the fact that the majority of people in China do not mind, there are a handful of inconveniences to this censorship. To begin, this action closes the opportunities for the younger generation to find inspiration, such as from those famous outside of China. For example, Wen Shengjian's who looks up to American rappers such as Drake and Kanye West cannot follow their same footsteps as a rapper because it, “wasn’t appropriate for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” In addition, no access to sites such as Google, or Twitter simply takes away the citizens's freedom of searching up information they'd like or need to and also expressing their thoughts online. Last but not least, China being the most populated country in the world, recently many students have been studying abroad. Without access to these sites beforehand many may find it difficult to adjust to when they are given the internet freedom.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/science/mars-liquid-alien-life.html
"A Large Body of Water on Mars Is Detected, Raising the Potential for Alien Life"
This article interested me the most since it was talking about the potential of Alien Life. I think that this is very cool and interesting since it can mean there is a possibility of aliens in the universe. I always thought that all sightings, philosophies, and myths about Aliens were all fake, but something about this article just makes it a little convincing that there might just someone else out there in the universe. I also am very interested to see if this finding can lead to a study that can focus on life on Mars. Will this discovery of a body of water, make it a possibility that people can soon live on Mars?
The article that interested me was "An extremely detailed map". This interested me the most about this article was trying to focus on one thing. What also stuck out to me was the map having so many colors , and that you can get distracted very easily. Also, how it can become a activity or a test to see how long you can focus and concentrate.
The article that interested me the most this week in the times is titled,”Finding It Hard to Focus? Maybe It’s Not Your Fault,” by Casey Schwartz. This article caught my attention because I, time and time again lose focus and get distracted. This article the author writes about the how tech companies are the ones to blame for having short attention spans and finding it had to focus.
These large tech companies such as Google and Facebook have done such an effective job at taking attention away from all other things and now they believe that it is important to give some attention back. The companies are implementing features on their platforms to attempt to limit and make you more aware of how long you are on their application. The companies have revealed that spending time on the internet is not a healthy habit and more of a pleasurable unwanted addiction. This helps me realize that I should spend less time using technology in order to stay focused longer.
“What Does It Mean To Be Human? Don’t Ask”
It is common knowledge that we humans consider ourselves to be the most superior species. We believe that we are , “special and important” and because this we rarely think of other beings outside our own species. Martha Nussbaum explains this when she says that wondering what it means to be human is a narcissistic question. We rarely think about what it means to be a bird or a fish because we are too self-involved with being human, and we are the most important species, so why should we bother wondering what it’s like being a fish because they are inferior. However, there is trouble with our superiority complex. Nussbaum cites Aristotle in her explanation; he believed that all species are equal that they have desires and they all strive to reproduce, a move to here and there to get what they want. She claims that humans feel that they govern over the Earth and never stop to consider other species. To back up her ideas, Nussbaum references other philosopher that plead for the end of harming animals for our own personal gain. Nussbaum call for an ethical revolution; to care about each different species, and work to destroy zoos and parks like Seaworld. To strive to preserve endangered animals and stop infringing on their homes with construction. To coexist amongst ourselves and animals.
This week I read the article "How Do You Want to Die?" by Sandeep Jauhar.This article is about heart disabled patients' agonizing decision.They have to choose to implant the machine to prolong their life or not.Most people might think that the former one is the cleverer idea.However, the machine couldn't prevent the insidious pump failier which is intolerably painful.This means that implanting of the machine prolong the patients' life but it also leads them to have a painful death.It depends on the situation which to choose, but most of the time, refusing the machine is the cleverer decision.It's because living longer actually is mentally painful and cruel.Someone might state back that, dying without achieving one's ambition is more mentally painful and regretful because without achieving it, reason for their existense disappears and the one's life will be meaningless.Therefor we should live longer.However, imagine yourself in the future when you became about 70 years old.You would have reached the retirement age and said good bye to your job which was your raison d'etre.Your monotonous life starts and you also starts to feel difficulty in moving a limb at will.It's clear that you will start to desire a peaceful life without any risk and a early and painless death.Moreover, Living longer leads to troble your children or neighborhood to take care of you longer.This is why nothing is worse than living longer than we need.For this reason, refusing the machine is clever idea.
Link to this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/world/europe/polar-bear-shot-cruise-s...
The article that interested me the most this week was an article entitled, "Polar Bear Shot and Killed After Attacking Cruise Ship Guard." In this article the author, Yonette Joseph, writes about the terrible thing that happened to a polar bear. Some guards were on land making sure that was secure, when a guard was caught by surprise and got a attacked by a polar bear and the guards response was to shoot it and it ended up killing the animal. Someone ended up posting this to Twitter and people had mixed feelings about this. Some people responded with that the guard had to protect himself in some way, therefore it was okay. But others say that the guard didn't have to shoot the polar bear and was completely unnecessary. The cruise ended up apologizing on Twitter saying that they regret what happened. But the thing that made people react the way they did, was the fact that polar bears are already going extinct. The number of polar bears are slowly going down. In the end i found this article very interesting because people need to be aware of these sort of things.
“Colorado Baker Sues Governor Over Dispute With Transgender Woman” is an article about a baker from Denver who has turned away members of the LGBTQ community. I have always found interesting when people are discriminatory towards others, where they are allowed to do so because of their privilege. Those who do have that privilege in life no matter what it is will never understand because they will never experience the same hate and discrimination. The baker, Jack Phillips claims that things like gender are “given by God” and “not determined by perceptions or feelings.” The woman who ordered the cake stated that she was not rejected until she mentioned the cake was to celebrate her transition. Two men in 2012 had ordered a wedding cake from this shop and were also rejected, along with several other gay couples. Phillips had sued his governor in regards to defend himself, and his actions. Where it was in question of whether or not he had violated anti-discrimination laws. The supreme court had voted his side, as it was his right to practice his religious beliefs. Everyone is faced with different types of diversity, whether how small they are. People who share different beliefs become friends because they like each other as human beings and are able to overlook insignificant details. So as a shop owner I believe that Jack Phillips does not have the right to turn away people, because, despite his personal beliefs, they had come to him for a cake.
The article I read this week was "Ronaldo joins Juventus, and Everybody Wins." This article interested me because I play soccer and I'm a huge fan. Even though Ronaldo isn't my favorite professional player, I do really enjoy watching him play. Ronaldo recently transferred from Spanish club Real Madrid to Italian club Juventus. This is huge news for this Serie A team. As said in the article, "Juventus's directors agreed to commit some $387 million to signing Ronaldo." He was signed because the club believes he will help help them win their third Champions League Title. Ronaldo has won 5 Champions Leagues in his career. While he is only 33 years old. In Ronaldo's first week joining the club, Juventus has gained four million instagram followers. From his join into the club, it has had so many positive effects for their team. Especially on the economic side. He could be the start of something for the club that is needed.
This week I read the article U.S. Billionaire Gets Full Control of Arsenal, Buying out Russian Rival. This article caught my attention because I am a fan of the English Football Club and have been following news about the owner, Kroenke, for weeks. I read the article in order to get a more in-depth view at the situation that surrounds the club as getting full ownership of a football club can make or break the team with the amount of money allocated to player transfers. The article also caught my attention because the title states that the deal has already been completed for Kroenke to obtain full ownership although I had not yet heard that the deal had been finalized.
This week, I chose to read the article A Large Body of Water on Mars Is Detected, Raising the Potential for Alien Life, By: Kenneth Chang and Dennis Overbye. The reason I chose to read this article, was because space has always interested me, and the thought of alien life on Mars could be a extremely important discovery. In this article, it explains how a lake was found on Mars. According to the article, the scientists who had found this lake were not able to measure the thickness of it, but they were able to find that it is about 12 miles wide, and a mile deep. This is important because, water is essential to life, that we know of, and the discovery of it on Mars shows that Mars could possibly sustain life. An interesting thing that was said in the article, was that the temperatures of the are around the water were around -90 degrees fahrenheit. This is interesting because, the freezing point of water is around 30 degrees fahrenheit. This means that the water is rich in salts and minerals which stops the water from freezing. Some scientist think that the key to life on Mars may be underneath the surface. As it says in the article, that would keep whatever organisms that would live there safe from Mars’ radiation. Also, John Priscu and his team of scientist drilled in to a subsurface lake in Antarctica and were able to find microbes, and they were gathering energy off of rocks. So some scientists believe they could be doing the same underneath the surface in the lake on Mars.
This week I read the article about the Zombie Gene. First of all, the fact that Elephants aren’t prone to cancer surprised me. Most of people naturally believe that the more big the animal’s body is, the higher risk to become cancer. Because elephants have enormous body, many people might think that elephants easily become cancer. However there are number of datas that elephants get less cancer than humans! Recently, scientist in Chicago found out the reason why this strange things happens. It was because elephants have 20 copies of almighty gene called p53. I was inspired by the excellent way of p53’s work, and wondered the use of p53 in other places. If scientists investigate and analyze more about p53, it might be able to use it in humans’s body, and can cure cancers. I hope that this becomes true.
This week, I read an article called “Happy Meal Ad Is O.K. for Children, U.K. Regulator Says. Coco Pops Ad Isn’t.” because I am very interested in learning more about healthy lifestyles. I found this article to be very interesting because it displays what food companies do to persuade us consumers to buy their food, even if their food isn’t good for us. While I appreciate the U.K. making an effort to regulate their ads, I do not entirely understand why McDonald’s was able to keep on advertising their food; although McDonald’s has some healthier options on their menu, their food is still not the healthiest. On the other hand, I think that Coco Pops should be given some leeway just because they are attempting to incorporate whole grains into their food. Overall, I really enjoyed the reality of this article and how applicable it is to me.
This week I was interested in the article "The ‘Zombie Gene’ That May Protect Elephants From Cancer." This article really grabbed my attention because I basically grew up around elephants. My grandmother, who I am very close with, used to work at the zoo in our state and she specialized in pachyderms, specifically elephants and hippopotami. I've always have had a fondness for elephants, not so much the hippopotami though, they're pretty aggressive animals. Elephants, on the other hand, are such gentle, kind, and smart creatures. Though in my time growing up with these animals, I saw many of them sadly pass on due to diseases elephants are prone to, such as cancer. This article honestly made me feel a sort of contentment knowing that there is a possible gene that prevents these animals from getting sick. Not only is this gene preventing these gentle giants from getting sick, but it is also really peculiar and interesting. I have never heard of a "zombie gene" before I read this article and I personally think that it's pretty amazing how biological coding can be changed and mutated in different ways.
This week I read “Tensions between Turkey and U.S. Soar as Trump Orders New Sanctions” by Carlotta Gall and Jack Ewing. The title of this article grabbed my attention because of the numerous controversies involving President Trump, as well as the many differing opinions about his plans and actions. The article writes “Turkey’s currency, the lira, which traded at 4.7 to the dollar a month ago, weakened to 6.4 to the dollar on Friday - the first time ever that it took more than 6 lira to buy a dollar”, and it is all because of Trump and his ‘new sanctions’. Because of this and the deepening standoff between the two countries, Trump tweeted “our relations with Turkey are not good at this time”. While no deal has happened yet as Turkey has held out for further guarantees, Turkey is waiting for the lowering of a fine by the United States Treasury. All in all, this article definitely has many good points and is very informative on the recent deals/plans between Trump and other countries.