Week #29 Articles {June 28 '21}
- The Bulletin Buzz
- Jun 28, 2021
- 11 min read
Articles by Ananya Nayar & Misaki Tomiyama. Website edited by Ananya Nayar.
Articles -
Kid's Articles-
Other-
Can Robots be Trusted?
Article by Ananya Nayar
Disclaimer: This is an opinionated article.
For decades, humans have strived and worked towards building Artificial Intelligence and creating robots- mechanical, man-made, programmed devices that is set out to work in the factories and do many of the jobs that us, humans, do today.
Deakin University’s expert in mechatronics, Dr Ben Horan said that 'we will see robots providing personal assistance, helping elderly people to get in and out of bed, for example.' He continued to say that ‘helping someone out of bed might not be the most complex task, but it does require physical strength that a robot can provide.'
Yes, robots can help us in our day to day lives- and perform complex or easy tasks. They are built with artificial intelligence, so they can solve puzzles or codes for example much faster than a human brain can. They are also built with strength and therefore can lift material much faster than humans, so are technically more efficient. Robots also don't have emotions, unlike humans. So robots won't be calling in late for work because they are unwell, they won't be talking to eachother etc, so the little things that make human workers human will be gone. This does make the production system more efficient, but in turn it's unemploying people. The automation is destroying a lot of low-skill, low wage jobs, and the new jobs being created need higher skills.
We already see robots and machines taking places of labourers in factories, and leaving the previously employed unemployed- which we all can agree on isn't benefiting the employment goal.
Robots can replace humans in certain tasks but don't entirely replace humans. Robots are built with artificial intelligence which allows them to converse, be incredibly intelligent and help humans, however they aren't built with sympathy, happiness, sadness, fear, uncertainty and other human emotions and it's likely that robots will never be able to have feelings or thoughts. In other words, they don't have humanity.
In a YouGov poll of the public for the British Science Association, about a third of survey respondents said AI will pose a threat to the long term survival of humanity.
Can humans benefit off the presence or robots though? Yes, we can to an extent. The robots eliminate dangerous jobs for humans because they can work in hazardous environments. AI would have a low error rate and have incredible precision, accuracy, and speed, resulting in efficient and fast work for humans. This may lead us to a robotic world but don't forget- the destruction, creation and movements or robots are pretty much dependent on humans.
Even Elon Musk said that AI is likely to overtake humans in the next five years. He said that artificial intelligence will be vastly smarter than humans and would overtake the human race by 2025. However, he assured us that everything won't become terrible and messy in five years.
Artificial Intelligence is also dangerous, if AI surpasses humanity in general intelligence and becomes "superintelligent", then it could become difficult or impossible for humans to control, and many fear that we may lose everything to robots simply because they can perform tasks with more efficiency than humans.
In conclusion, there are benefits and disadvantages of the presence of robots. However, the number of disadvantages is more than the benefits and the future of technology seems to lie in our hands. Robots are generic, humans are all unique and humanity is slowly drifting from what it was. The unemployment rates will soar and many fear that robots will seize control of the world and our jobs and homes.
Deforestation & Afforestation
Article by Ananya Nayar
Our human activities are resulting in the depletion of natural resources this very second, in this article- we’ll be talking about the harmful effects of deforestation.
The rapid rate of deforestation causes damage to our natural environment, forests, food chains and general wildlife. In order to fulfill the agricultural, commercial, industrial, residential and other needs we remove forests. Most of the earth was covered with forests just a century ago, however, now we don’t have many of them left.
If we cut down all our trees, the water cycle for one will be disturbed- and there won’t be enough trees to absorb the water in the soil which’ll cause soil erosion along with many floods and droughts.
The rate of climate change and global warming will accelerate as well since trees produce oxygen and with lesser trees the oxygen level in our atmosphere will decrease greatly. In turn, the carbon dioxide levels similarly increase which traps heat in our atmosphere.
The animals around us seek refuge in the tall trees of their forests, as we’ve seen with leopards and pandas etc, they wander into human-occupied areas after their habitat is removed and are killed by humans after wreaking havoc in cities or scaring villagers. It’s certain that these detrimental effects cannot be ignored so, to prevent deforestation we should begin with not wasting paper- if we use excess paper then the demand will go up and an increase in production will too which causes in trees getting cut. Population control can also help since the ore people, the more space which results in forest destruction to create cities.
Another semi-solution is afforestation, which refers to the planting of trees in barren land in order to create new forests. The difference between reforestation and afforestation is that reforestation builds onto an already existing forest, whereas afforestation creates a whole new forest.
Methods like such are practiced in order to combat the carbon emission, global warming, soil erosion, pollution etc. Afforestation is mostly required to bring back the balance in nature, and if NGO’s, government agencies and authority is involved it’ll be not long before we can bring more forests to polluted areas.
Afforestation is required more than we know. Through afforestation, we can get ample and even excess supply of timber, fruit, fodder and more which helps in crop production. Moreover, afforestation will result in better retention of water which prevents droughts.
Similarly, afforestation will help in protecting the crops from excessive wind and sunlight. In other words, it will shield the crops from damage and help in better production. Above all, the planting of trees is always beneficial. There is no harm in planting more and more trees since they will help in maintaining a good ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
How Meditation Can Help You
Article by Ananya Nayar
Meditation is an artful practice where you focus your mind and body on one particular thing to train attention and awareness along with developing a clear, stable and balanced mind. It isn’t to become a new person or a better person, it’s simply to clear your mind and develop perspective.
Now, there are many types of meditation including mantra meditation, focused meditation and many more.
Scientists have recently understood that mindfulness meditation is beneficial for all parts of your body.
It’s good for our hearts and can help ease blood pressure and reduces chances of heart disease, heart attack and can make you relaxed and not tense. Many people with hypertension have been told to submit to a mindfulness program to relax their hearts and minds. Research tells us that meditating may increase respiratory sinus arrhythmia, the natural variations in heart rate that happen when we breathe that indicate better heart health and an increased chance of surviving a heart attack.
This also benefits your physical health as you can exercise for longer amounts of time without feeling a loss of breath or with a healthier mind you feed yourself food that makes you happy.
It changes your brain as meditation introduces a heightened sense of awareness and attention. This can relieve stress to an extent and manage anxiety along with improving memory. One study found that meditating for just 13 minutes daily enhanced attention and memory after 8 weeks. Neurons, the information processing cells in your brain, connect to make neural pathways, which are responsible for your thoughts, sensations, feelings and actions.
After 4 weeks 88% of beginner meditators felt like they have developed their sense of patience and felt calmer and at ease. This was with doing the same amount of stressful work as they did before beginning their mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness meditation focuses on building a sense of awareness and appreciating little things around you, such as how your food tastes or what the natural sounds around you are.
Along with this, anxiety and depression symptoms along with the disorder itself are eased and patients have described that they are feeling an improvement in themselves.
Kid’s Corner: Overpopulation Effects
Article by Ananya Nayar
Overpopulation refers to a large human population that is too big to be supported by the environment for too long- it leads to poverty, water shortage, disease and so many more undesirable things. Last year, our global population was growing at a rate of around 1.05% per year. The current average population increase is estimated at 81 million people per year.
Overpopulation isn’t great, the first harmful effect of overpopulation is a large-scale degradation of our natural environment. Our environment only has enough trees, water, food and land to support a certain number of people, therefore when there are too many people for limited resources there is a strain and issues such as deforestation, pollution, water scarcity and flu arise- putting people or parts of our planet at risk.
In developing countries specifically, overpopulation creates tension since some parties or communities may have the power or advantage to obtain required things like food. The conflict appears and governments and people begin to quarrel often.
Next, there is limited housing and infrastructure to support so many people- there begin to be far too many people cramped in small spaces in villages and towns and disease begins to grow with unhygienic facilities and lesser healthcare. To fuel the fire, malnutrition and starvation or dehydration are problems in many people- and it’s hard to fight a virus or disease when your body is lacking nutrition. So, when there are scarce resources, these viruses will be on the rise.
Another large issue that can’t be ignored is unemployment which leads to poverty, low GDP and income per persona. There are more people than job opportunities- so people seek refuge or money and crimes like theft and more occur.
It’s certainly hard to break the circle of overpopulation, however, it can be done. Limiting the number of children as per a family’s income and resources is important- similarly, it’s vital to increase the number of resources.
Better education can implement social change and curb population through education. It’s also essential to empower minorities and women so they can break out of poverty.
It’s never too late to make a change- a small one or a huge one like combating overpopulation.
Kid’s Corner: The Four Tennis Grand Slams
Article by Ananya Nayar
The 4 biggest tennis grand slams Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and last but not least the Australian Open. They represent the ‘seasons’ of tennis almost, they occur every year and are held in different spots of the world; New York, London, Melbourne and Paris- each championship also has their own type of court. For example- the U.S Open is played on a hard, acrylic surface, Wimbledon on grass, Australian Open played on hard court and the French Open on clay. Each tournament has a different court which changes the speed of the ball and allows other players to thrive as well.
The Australian Open is the first grand slam event of the year, it’s held mid-January for two weeks and features men and women single plays, doubles, mixed doubles along with wheelchair tennis. Initially the event was played on grass, like Wimbledon but in 1988 it switched to hard courts.
The French Open is also called Roland Garros, and takes place during the last two weeks of May in Paris. In 1925 it became one of the big four tournaments, and is played on a clay surface.
The Wimbledon Championship is the oldest of the four and is played on grass fields in London, England. It takes place during late June/early July. It’s also probably the most prestigious event and requires all players participating to wear white attire.
The U.S. Open is held in New York City, and takes place in late August. It also features divisions such as junior, senior and wheelchair tournaments. It’s played on hard courts however the US Open is played on DecoTurf while the Australian Open is played on Plexicushion, both acrylic-topped hard court surfaces.
A grand slam refers to when a competitive player wins all four major tournaments within the same calendar year. Here are some grand slam titles achievable-
Calendar-year Grand Slam: If a player wins consecutive titles in the same calendar year, the achievement is called a calendar-year Grand Slam, or Grand Slam for short.
Non-calendar year Grand Slam: If a player wins consecutive titles across two calendar years, the achievement is called a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
Career Grand Slam: A player can achieve a career Grand Slam by winning all four tournaments at any point during their career.
Golden Slam: In 1988, Steffi Graf made history when she achieved the first-ever “Golden Slam” by winning all four major titles in addition to an Olympic gold medal within the same year.
Book & Movie Reviews:
Reviewed by Ananya Nayar
Movie of the Week: Pelé: Birth of a Legend
I recently watched this movie with my family and I loved it. It’s based on the life of a real-life football star- Pelé. Basically, the story follows a young Brazilian boy who belongs to the lower class. He and his friends have a passion for football and play it around their village, often to the displease of their neighbours but they certainly are good at it. They are given the opportunity to play at a tournament and almost win, however, after the death of a friend the boy nicknamed ‘Pelé’ is forced to work with his father to clean toilets. In their breaks, he starts building his skills with his father, which inspires a father-son bond and gets scouted and trains in a football camp. He soon reaches international levels as the youngest player ever and inspires more players.
It was an incredibly real film and the music, actors and scenes made it come to life. They even touched upon topics like racism and casteism in Brazil and football. The main motivator is to be true to yourself and your values or what you believe in and it’s displayed a lot throughout the movie especially with the old technique of Capoeira which is a martial art that became manifested in Brazilian football.
It’s incredibly inspiring to not only young football players but actually to everyone. As I said, it teaches you to be true to yourself and never give up.
Age Recommendation: 7+
Rating out of Five Stars: 5/5
Book of the Week: The Girl who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
This novel is about a girl named Luna who is taken as a baby from her family in the Protectorate as part of a scary ritual that keeps the people fearful and compliant. Though the Elders circulate a story that an evil witch demands the annual sacrifice, they don't realize there's actually a good witch who saves and protects the babies. When Can rescues Luna, she accidentally feeds her moonbeams that "magic" her, so she decides to adopt and raise Luna in a family that includes a dragon and a wise bog monster? Luna learns to use her magical powers that are often unpredictable and unexpected, so Can puts her magic on hold with a spell until her 13th birthday. There are bits woven with the story of Luna’s mother who misses her daughter and more.
It’s got a great plot and is lovable. I loved it, it was unforgettable and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who loves fantasy fiction, adventure and magical twists. It was wonderfully written as well!
Age Recommendation- 9+
Rating out of 5 stars- 5/5
This Week in History
By Ananya Nayar
On the 23rd of June 2013, 34-year-old aerialist Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk a high wire across the Little Colorado River Gorge near Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. He didn’t wear a safety harness but he made the quarter-mile across on a 2-inch-thick steel cable, 1500 feet above the gorge. The previous year, he became the first to walk a tightrope over the Niagara falls as part of a circus act.
On June 25, 1876, Native American forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of General George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The U.S. Army troops had hoped to confine people to their reservations, however, the Sioux tribe members stood ground and overcame the foreign forces.
In 1948, on the 26th of June, U.S. and British pilots began delivering food and supplies by aeroplane to Berlin after the city was isolated by a Soviet Union blockade.
Post World War 2, Germany was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin was also split into four sectors, with the Allies taking the western part of the city and the Soviets the eastern. The government started to seize control of the city and cut off Berlin’s ties with the Western and Eastern land, this was to pressure the Allies to evacuate and as a result, the citizens were left without heat, food or water for periods of time. On the 26th of June 2015, same-sex marriage is also legalised nationwide across the United States. The Supreme court decided that same-sex couples will have the same rights as heterosexual couples under the law.
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