Week #23 Articles {May 17, '21}
- The Bulletin Buzz
- May 17, 2021
- 16 min read
Articles Written By Ananya Nayar and Misaki Tomiyama, Website edited by Misaki Tomiyama
Articles-
Kids Articles-
Israel-Palestine Conflict Explained
Article By Ananya Nayar
In the past few months, an escalation of scary events has led to what the UN says may become a ‘full-scale war.’ The conflict has been going on for decades, today we are going to talk about the situation and the facts.
Muslims, Jews and Christians stayed in Jerusalem and lived in peace- these three religions share historic landmarks and places of worship. However, post-holocaust anti-semitism (hatred against the Jew community) grew, especially in the Western world. Due to this, many Jews ended up losing their homes in Europe, so they immigrated and became settlers in Palestine where the people there took many Jews in and gave them refuge. Years later and we are in the 19th century, here Anti-zionism began to grow and many Jews started to want a state for themselves. The British government and allies were filled with hatred and decided that to rid all the Jews from Europe they gave away Palestinian land to the European Jews without consulting the United Nations, Palestine and other Arab countries bordering Palestine.
The UN decided to split the land- however, one side was given many resources including transport, agriculture, money, technology etc whereas the Palestinians were left with much less. Over time, Palestinians were denied resources and were illegally evicted. The primary reason why people were after Palestine’s land was simply because of the oil production and supply- that country has more oil reserves than anywhere else in the world. So later, the Zionist movement switched their aim to the goal of occupying all inches of Palestine.
As you can see in this map below, Palestine became colonised by Israel. You may wonder how it even became this bad, well, Israel has international bonds with the US, UK and other countries that were part of the colonial era in the 16th century period. These countries can not tell Israel that they cannot occupy so much land because doing that it’s extremely hypocritical.
The circumstances have reached a point where Palestinians cannot leave the country or small towns and areas, access transport or medical help, they don't have voting rights or even clean water. They are being checked, evicted, monitored, and they have their necessities like food and water or houses restricted or of poor quality. This is also because, in October 2020, the Israeli court passed a bill that would legally allow Israeli Settlers to remove Palestinians from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Right now, 220,000+ Jews reside in the developed areas in Jerusalem whilst 350,000+ Palestinians are living in overcrowded, undeveloped neighbourhoods.
In the past two weeks, the situation has turned and become violent, with police forces bombing towns, mosques and more. Israeli forces have now injured over 1000 people and are denying medical personnel to those. Fires are being set in the Masjid al-Aqsa compound, attacks and bombing and shooting from both sides are happening. However, we cannot compare the use of government-funded military force with people’s defence.
For more information on the circumstances please visit our Instagram page and look at the guide about Palestine that shares posts and information.
Below are two links you can visit to donate, read about, or sign a petition.
How do Viruses Mutate?
Article By Misaki Tomiyama
You’ve probably heard the news about the mutations of the covid 19 viruses, and how they seem to be more dangerous. But do you know what mutations are and why they occur?
Well, a mutation of a virus occurs when there is a change to its genome. The genome is the set of instructions inside the virus, that is required for its function. Mutation occurs when the virus replicates while inside a host cell (the living cell that the virus has invaded), such as the human body, and when it replicates, the genome is copied, but a mistake in this process leads to the mutation. Almost all viruses mutate, but at different speeds and locations. Not all mutations of the virus have an impact, and in fact, it could even make the virus weaker. But when it makes it stronger, this causes a problem.
Several mutations have occurred In the SARS-CoV-2, which is the very virus that caused Covid-19. According to scientists, on average, the SARS-CoV-2 virus acquires two mutations per month. Some of the mutations created are harmful to the virus, and some get eliminated, however, others can be beneficial to the virus, and make it stronger and increase their capability of spreading. These now stronger viruses, now replicate throughout the body much faster than they previously did. This virus that has changed through mutation, and is a different form of the virus is called a variant. These variants are emerging rapidly around the world, as scientists believe the new variants have acquired a better ability to enter host cells and have a better ability to replicate. This process of replication is extremely dangerous, as if a person has been infected by the variant, they can replicate this virus and transmit it to more people. This is causing a huge concern for scientists and governments, as many countries are now experiencing another wave of pandemic.
There are different variants of Covid around the world such as the Indian variant. Officially knowns as B.1.617.2, it is one variant of the virus that has been considered as a ‘concern’ amongst public health bodies. There is another variant called the UK or Kent variant, or B.1.1.7, which is prevalent in the UK, with more than 200,000 confirmed cases. Other variants include the South Africa variant, B.1.351, which has spread to around 20 countries, and the Brazil variant, P.1, which has spread to around 10 countries.
Scientists are still trying to figure out more information regarding these variants and are trying to identify if they are more dangerous, or less dangerous to cause a more serious situation in countries. It has been identified, that just like the original virus, these variants put the elderly and people with underlying health conditions at most risk. Scientists are trying to tweak the vaccines to adapt them to the variants.
Nuclear Weapons- Peacemakers or Killing Devices?
Article By Ananya Nayar
In 1938, Nuclear Weapons were discovered. These devices are atomic bombs that release sudden, powerful energy. In 1945 the USA conducted its first nuclear test and later dropped two dangerous bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August of the same year.
During the second world war the production of these missiles continued and grew, with all countries involved in a race to create more powerful and dangerous tools in large numbers. Fear was the motivation to build such weapons. What we know from World War 2 is that the bombs killed millions of innocents and damaged loads of cities and countries, but we also know that they were used in each allies' attempt for peace. Although dropping dangerous weapons isn’t the answer to peace or truth it was an effort nonetheless. In this article, we’ll discuss whether these weapons were peacemakers or devices of destruction and fatality.
Nuclear weapons are ultimately the biggest, most powerful defence of the system and they have spared us from a conflict over the last fifty years.
On the other hand, there are many more disadvantages and reasons why nuclear weapons are bad that we can’t possibly ignore. First off, these bombs cause massive death and destruction when blasted, they cause long term issues to human health and they indirectly impact everyone’s lives as soon as it explodes. There are enough nuclear weapons worldwide to blow up our planet into smithereens tens of times.
We know that they’re a threat to humanity and the causes are unacceptable and disastrous. One itself can destroy a city to rubble, potentially kill millions, damage our environment with the gases and impact, and jeopardize the future of coming generations. It’s an understatement to say that they are precarious.
Another problem with nuclear bombs is that they cost a lot of money, billions of dollars are invested each year into developing stronger weapons even though we aren’t even in war right now. The amount of money worldwide supporting the manufacturing of these arms can cure world hunger, for example, or develop countries' infrastructure, health care system and more!
In the bigger picture, nuclear weapons cause disaster and there’s no avoiding them especially after the huge numbers of atomic bombs that have been manufactured around the world.
Why Are People So Obsessed With Mars?
Article By Misaki Tomiyama
Throughout these decades, Mars has become more than a red planet, but a symbol of hope for us humans. With the population growing and climate change aggravating, scientists and researchers worry that Earth will not be able to sustain all of us, and they believe one day that we might be able to live on Mars.
Mars is an interesting planet. The modern fascination with Mars began by Percival Lowell, who strongly believed that Mars had life. This lead to the spread of the idea, that Mars maybe had life and had the environment humans can live on. This lead to the notion that perhaps Mars was suitable for life, and the public perception, has encouraged astrologers to go to Mars, well send their rovers and spacecraft, to obtain more knowledge to determine whether it is actually suitable for life.
When people found out going to the moon was possible, many started to build great hope on Mars too. Mars is our closest neighbour, and the bright red colour has caught the eye of many people. The Martian, Total Recall, Mission to Mars, are all popular movies inspired by the idea of going to visit Mars. So, what can Mars do for us?
Mars is potentially possible to live on, and the axis of Mars is similar to that of Earth’s. The soil on Mars can grow food and is able to sustain crops. This means that food can be grown to feed humans. There are also minerals on Mars, and mineral mining on Mars can be a potential economic reason to move to Mars. However, the main reason humans want to go to Mars because of the huge idea of colonisation, and the huge idea of humans living outside Earth. If the Earth gets completely destroyed, people can survive on Mars.
However, there is a lot of technology involved in the idea of going to Mars, and it is not so easy. Progress on this is relatively slow, as there is no competition- contrary to the space race, where the Soviet and the United States raced to get to the moon. Space exploration is important because it affects our lives, as many of the things we use, such as GPS, cordless gadgets, solar panels, have all used the knowledge obtained by space exploration.
Last week on Saturday, China has landed a spacecraft on Mars, called the Zhurong. It was a six-wheeled robot and is expected to stay in its lander for a few days to test before exploring Mars. The rover is expected to send back an image of the planet. This rover is expected to explore the Utopia Planitia, the icy region of Mars, formed by the impact of an asteroid around four million years ago. For 3 months, the rover will be exploring mars, collecting data from measuring its magnetic field, and study about the weathered martian rocks, which will be sent back to earth.
2021 Brits Summary
The Annual Brits Award Show was held last week on the 11th May in London. The Brits aim to celebrate outstanding British and International music- this year 4,000 people made up the audience and observed the performances and ceremony in the O2 Arena. The audience presence is part of the Government’s Events Research Programme - which is looking into ways of bringing back live events safely post-pandemic. 2,500 of the attendees are hero key workers who won tickets through a ballot.
Usually, the show occurs in February, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed to May.
The name ‘Brits’ was derived from ‘Britannia,’ or ‘Britain,’ and in the beginning, they were sponsored by the Britannia Music Club. Later, it became an acronym for ‘British Record Industry Trusts Show,’ and in 1989 they were officially renamed the Brits Awards.
The award winners are chosen through the number of votes they receive during the voting period. Now, let’s recap the performers, winners and outfits that were displayed during the prestigious event.
Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Celeste and many more artists appeared there. Singer Dua Lipa took home the Best Album Award for ‘Future Nostalgia,’ she also won Best British Female. The Best British Male was J Hus, Best British Group being Little Mix, Harry Styles's Watermelon Sugar won Best British Single. 19-year-old Billie Eilish received her award for International Female, and The Weeknd won his International Male prize. Taylor Swift also brought back her award for Global Icon!
Coldplay opened the ceremony and Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo, Elton John and more artists performed.
Rina Sawayama wore a flowy lilac couture gown.
Harry Styles dressed head-to-toe in a brown Gucci suit complete with flare pants!
18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo in a neon Dior dress. For her ‘Driver’s License’ performance she stunned us in a custom, jewelled, flowing, red Dior gown.
Dua Lipa rocked the red carpet in a custom, yellow, off-shoulder Vivienne Westwood dress.
Taylor Swift showed up in a two-piece silver set from Miu Miu.
Maisie Williams dominated the floor in a pastel blue, layered and pleated silk suit.
Olly Alexander wore this for his performance with Elton John styled by Nick Royal.
Keep in mind that these are only some of the dazzling looks exhibited by these talented artists!
Did You Know? May 17 is World Telecommunication and Information Society Day!
Article By Misaki Tomiyama
World Telecommunication and information society day is celebrated each year on the 17th of Mars to raise awareness about the possibilities of the Internet and communicating technologies, and how they can change our lives, and make them better, socially, economically and politically. One way to celebrate this international day is by using the hashtag #WTISD on social media. ICT has played a large role in our world, especially during the pandemic, and has enabled us to do so many things, and we should take a time to reflect and think about how the world of ICT is so important.
Kids Articles
Why is there a war in Afghanistan, and why is U.S. related?
Article by Misaki Tomiyama
Have you heard of the September 11 attacks, or the 9 11 attacks? They were attacks on the 11th of September, 2001 in the United States, by airlines, where 19 terrorists who were a member of the Islamist group, committed suicide attacks and flew their planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon (important buildings of the United States.) This attack killed around 3000 people, and Osama Bin Laden, who was the head of an Islamist terror group, al-Qaeda, was the person who ordered this attack (according to investigations)
A month after the attacks, the U.S. asked the Taliban (a political and religious group in Afghanistan) to hand in Bin Laden, since they were protecting him. The Taliban refused, so the U.S. decided to launch airstrikes against Afghanistan. More countries joined the war, and later, the Taliban was removed from power. They moved to Southern Afghanistan and across the border to Pakistan. The number of US soldiers in Afghanistan grew because the U.S. was putting in more money. The number of armed groups has been shrinking, however, and there were 4000 troops last December.
This war is very expensive, and according to the US Department of Defense, until 2019, the U.S. has spent $778 billion on their military, and also another $44 billion on projects to build buildings and fix them, and a total of $822 billion. Many people believe that it was more expensive because more money might have been used for military equipment.
Since 2001, more than 2300 US soldiers have lost their lives, and more than 20,660 have been injured. Around 45,000 Afghan security forces have been killed, and nearly 111,000 people living in Afghanistan, have been killed or injured because of the war.
In February 2021, Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban and has said all the American military will be taken out by May 1, 2021. President Biden however, said that the May deadline would be difficult to meet amid the covid situation, and has changed the deadline to September 11, which is also the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US in 2001.
Plasma Donations and How do they Work
Article By Ananya Nayar
During this pandemic, you’ve probably heard people talk about donating plasma to help those infected with CoronaVirus, but have you ever thought about what plasma is and how it benefits patients? If not- this article is for you.
Plasma is a yellowish liquid component of blood that is left after red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells and other cellular components are extracted. It makes up 55% of our blood and contains proteins, salts, enzymes, waters, antibodies and more.
Donating plasma is similar to giving blood- when we have our blood tests a needle is placed into a vein in your arm and from that some blood is extracted into a syringe. A certain amount of blood is drawn, then with the medical performance, the plasma is separated from the red blood cells. Next, those parts of your blood that now do not have plasma are returned to your bloodstream along with a solution that will help your body obtain plasma again.
There are an estimated 500 proteins in the plasma of our blood, and 150 of these proteins can be used to diagnose or treat disease- in our case Covid. Plasma donors must have had the virus during a certain period so that their antibodies have built up, for example, 40 days after testing positive the donor would have an adequate number of antibodies, however, plasma therapy may not work on every person suffering. You may be wondering, what are antibodies?
Well, antibodies are Y-shaped, specialised proteins that get your immune system to work faster. They bind to your body’s foreign invaders like parasites, infection, bacteria etc.
So, when someone has a serious case of Covid, doctors inject plasma into their system to help the patient’s body fight the virus. As I said, the plasma carries antibodies which will also help someone else immune system work better to battle their sickness.
Animal Testing
Article By Ananya Nayar
We use lotions, makeup, SPF, toothpaste, eye drops, medicines and more products from the drugstore every day. However, before the product is sold, the people making it have to test it and make sure the products are safe and won’t harm us. Many brands often use animals to test their creams and powders, because why not? Right? The animals are living things like us.
Wrong. If we are testing the possibly unsafe products on other living creatures like ourselves then why can’t we try them on other humans? Well, of course, nobody is going to volunteer to potentially damage their skin. So, some scientists working in makeup and skincare brands test on animals without the creatures saying yes or consenting.
During the tests, a live animal is forced to undergo something very likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. The effects are extremely scary on animals and they can seriously damage themselves! The experiments deliberately harm the creatures and are most often killed at the end of the test.
For producers to test their products they may inject or force-feed animals harmful substances with acids and chemicals that may damage their internal organs. Scientists may perform surgery to remove particular organs or put new ones in animals which usually causes them to die. Animals get scared like we would and become depressed or anxious all the time.
As humans, none of us would willingly want to experience the torture that the poor, innocent rabbits, fish, cats, cows, sheep, monkeys and many other breeds of animals go through, right? So why is it that animals are facing the brunt of it just because we want our expensive medicines?
Animal testing is cruel and it is against animal rights- not only are the poor beings abused but they are also taken out of their homes and moved to artificial, bright, cold laboratories. They are forced to breed and reproduce- which in turn will make them upset and scared.
Inside the laboratories, it is cold, sterile, and indoor. There are bright, unnatural lights. The animals are confined into small cages and can’t move because there’s less space and they are so sick with the medicines. For them, there is no life inside the laboratory at all, so, whenever you are buying a product (whether it’s medicine, makeup, creams etc) please check the packaging to make sure that the brand is cruelty-free- and that they do not test their substances on animals. Even better if they are vegan too because then you know for sure that no animals were harmed during the manufacturing process.
I’ve inserted a short youtube video for you to watch- it talks about Ralph, a rabbit who has barely seen nature because he’s been repeatedly tested on.
(Video for 10+, if you are 8-10, recommend watching with an adult or an older sibling)
Recycling and Its Benefits
Article By Misaki Tomiyama
You have probably heard of the 3Rs- Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. These three are extremely important terms to think of when throwing waste, and managing them. We need to be careful when deciding what to throw and what not to throw, or what you reuse, as it helps protect our planet and its natural resources. When we throw waste, around 40% of it ends up in landfills- which are places where our waste is thrown and buried underground. Landfills are not good for the environment though, as they release gasses called methane, which is not good for the environment. Also, there needs to be proper waste management to reduce air pollution and other environmental problems.
Among the three Rs, recycling is quite important, and we’ll be talking about that today. Recycling is the process of collecting used material to make new objects out of them, instead of throwing them away. Recycling is important, and it lessens the amount of waste we produce, and the government, schools and society often encourage us to recycle.
The world is becoming more and more populated, and because of this, more people use goods and produce waste. So, we need to have proper waste management, otherwise, diseases will spread, our world will be more polluted, and it will be very difficult to live in. Now that we know what recycling is, let’s talk about its advantages.
Firstly, recycling helps us conserve and protect our environment. Recycling can help in waste management- because by recycling, as mentioned before, we can decrease the amount of waste we produce. Waste management is collecting, transporting, processing and throwing away the waste produced by humans. This is important and necessary for protecting the environment.
When factories make products, they take natural resources out from the earth. Examples of this are mining and quarrying (quarrying is when people remove rock, sand, gravel or other useful minerals from the ground to use them to make products for construction etc). Some also harvest or produce crops by growing. However, if we recycle, we reduce the need to grow and harvest natural resources of the earth and lessens the damage we do to our environment. This is because fewer goods and products are bought (since we are recycling) and factories do not need to make so many products.
Another important benefit of recycling is that it saves a lot of energy. When factories make products, they use a lot of energy, such as electricity and fossil fuels. However, if companies make things out of recycled material, it is most likely that the amount of energy used will decrease a lot. For example, producing aluminium from recycled products uses 95% less energy than making it from scratch. Also, making paper from recycled material reduces energy usage by 40%. We can greatly save the energy we use by recycling, which can help us lead a better quality of life because by saving energy, we are reducing emissions as well.
It is not only the environment that gets protected by recycling, but also the social aspect of our society. Recycling can create more jobs and help with the problem of unemployment- which is when a person does not have a job and are not able to find one. According to a website, 50,000 jobs in the United Kingdom will be made if society recycles more than 70% of their waste. This happens because, in recycling, more people are needed for collecting and processing the waste.
Recycling is easy, so everyone can do it, including you. It doesn’t take time or effort, and you can simply recycle something by buying recycled products (products that are made out of recycled material) and throw away your waste in recycling bins. Our world is becoming more and more polluted, and the amount of waste we produce is very very high. Every one of us has to try to make a change, and this can simply be done by recycling.
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