Current Events



Seamstress with arm prosthesis working on sewing machine

A new device let a man sense temperature with his prosthetic hand

Source: ScienceNews

Researchers in Italy and Switzerland have developed a new device that makes it possible for a person with an amputation to sense temperature through their prosthetic hand. The technology is a major step toward prosthetic limbs that could restore a full range of senses, improving both the prosthesis’s usefulness and its acceptance by those who wear them.


NASA patch - Apollo 11 mission

Naming Apollo: Why NASA chooses Greek gods as names

Source: Astronomy.com

In 2019, NASA announced that the agency’s efforts to return to the Moon would be named the Artemis program. The goddess Artemis was heavily associated with the moon, and she’s also the twin of Apollo, whose name graced NASA’s first lunar missions in the 1960s. But why does NASA choose mythological names in the first place?



Beauty vlogger sharing makeup tutorial video on social media

‘Sephora kids’ and the booming business of beauty products for children

Source: BBC

There is currently a surging trend in young preteen girls buying expensive make-up and other beauty products. Some older shoppers are complaining that they are rude and messy while doing it. Others think kids that young should not be be so obsessed with beauty products to begin with. Regardless, it shows a changing trend in who the consumers for these products are. Talk in your class about the trend and politely debate why this is a good or bad thing.





Robots dressed in a business suits

People Are Increasingly Worried A.I. Will Make Daily Life Worse

Source: Wired

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is here to stay–and it is making its way into every part of our lives. With self-driving cars using A.I. to make split-second steering decisions, A.I. helping to sort job and college applications, and companies using A.I, to sway customer behavior, a lot of people are growing fearful of the technology. People used to fear monsters in the darkness, but in modern times, some of our scariest monsters are lines of code in a machine.


Low Angle view of the Colosseum Amphitheater in Rome against blue sky background.

These Chemists Cracked the Code to Long-Lasting Roman Concrete

Source: ScienceNews

Its formula long forgotten, the mystery of why Roman concrete remained strong over several millennia when more modern versions crumbled much faster has long baffled scientists and engineers. But now the secret of “self-healing” concrete has been rediscovered and it could lead to a construction revolution more than 2,000 years after it was first discovered.