SOTA Robotics Robbery
By Daniel Lindhadt
The Ruth Asawa School Of The Arts robotics team, The SOTA Cyberdragons, was robbed of almost $11,000 worth of Robotics equipment. Last school year, the president of the robotics team left, which left a problem for them. They previously did all of their work in his garage and stored their equipment there. When he graduated, they needed a new workshop. Their solution was to use an empty room on the school property. This solution kept their equipment safe, but it had no electricity which made it hard to work on the robots and charge their equipment. They built a shed in the yard and strung an extension cable to the shed. The shed was not very secure, and the thieves were able to easily break the lock. The people who broke into the shed were caught but not charged. The team added four locks to the shed to keep their expensive equipment safe. Sadly, the next robbers broke through the wall of the shed to get to their equipment. They left the shed with over $10,000 worth of equipment including multiple computers which held hours of code on all of them. The police caught the second thief and he was arrested. He was charged but then released because he took only $8,000 worth of equipment. The SOTA Cyberdragons have set up a donation to get their money back, and they have successfully raised $16,000.
By Daniel Lindhadt
The Ruth Asawa School Of The Arts robotics team, The SOTA Cyberdragons, was robbed of almost $11,000 worth of Robotics equipment. Last school year, the president of the robotics team left, which left a problem for them. They previously did all of their work in his garage and stored their equipment there. When he graduated, they needed a new workshop. Their solution was to use an empty room on the school property. This solution kept their equipment safe, but it had no electricity which made it hard to work on the robots and charge their equipment. They built a shed in the yard and strung an extension cable to the shed. The shed was not very secure, and the thieves were able to easily break the lock. The people who broke into the shed were caught but not charged. The team added four locks to the shed to keep their expensive equipment safe. Sadly, the next robbers broke through the wall of the shed to get to their equipment. They left the shed with over $10,000 worth of equipment including multiple computers which held hours of code on all of them. The police caught the second thief and he was arrested. He was charged but then released because he took only $8,000 worth of equipment. The SOTA Cyberdragons have set up a donation to get their money back, and they have successfully raised $16,000.
Cowboy Pigeons in Las Vegas
By: Max Spertzel
Bobby Lee was walking into a Las Vegas grocery store when he noticed a few pigeons near the dumpster. They were not regular pigeons, they were wearing cowboy hats. One pigeon had a red hat, and one had a gray hat. Lee took a video of the pigeons and posted it. It received ten thousand shares and views. Other videos of these pigeons were posted with pigeons as far as Reno. One red hat pigeon was named Chuck Norris. One pigeon wearing a pink hat was named Calamity Jane. Mariah Hillman the co-founder of Lofty Hoops, a pigeon rescue in Las Vegas went out to search for these pigeons. She was able to catch Chuck Norris and Calamity Jane, but some of the other pigeons are still on the streets. Glue was used to get the hats on the pigeons. Hillman was concerned about the glue used on the pigeons. They had to work really hard to get the hats off the pigeons. If the rescuers had not removed the hats, the other option was to let it fall off when the pigeon lost its feathers. One scientist who studies pigeons said the pigeons will do fine with the hats and people can enjoy the video. He noted that the hats look very light. Whoever put the hats on made sure to not block the vision of the pigeons.
By: Max Spertzel
Bobby Lee was walking into a Las Vegas grocery store when he noticed a few pigeons near the dumpster. They were not regular pigeons, they were wearing cowboy hats. One pigeon had a red hat, and one had a gray hat. Lee took a video of the pigeons and posted it. It received ten thousand shares and views. Other videos of these pigeons were posted with pigeons as far as Reno. One red hat pigeon was named Chuck Norris. One pigeon wearing a pink hat was named Calamity Jane. Mariah Hillman the co-founder of Lofty Hoops, a pigeon rescue in Las Vegas went out to search for these pigeons. She was able to catch Chuck Norris and Calamity Jane, but some of the other pigeons are still on the streets. Glue was used to get the hats on the pigeons. Hillman was concerned about the glue used on the pigeons. They had to work really hard to get the hats off the pigeons. If the rescuers had not removed the hats, the other option was to let it fall off when the pigeon lost its feathers. One scientist who studies pigeons said the pigeons will do fine with the hats and people can enjoy the video. He noted that the hats look very light. Whoever put the hats on made sure to not block the vision of the pigeons.
March National Holidays!
By: Mikey Dea
There are a total of 87 national holidays in March, and while they can’t all be described, there are surely some interesting ones that should be named! March harbors many food holidays, like national banana cream pie day, or national pound cake day. Don’t forget about National Cereal Day or National Potato Chip Day! Additionally, National Chocolate and Caramel Day and National Black Forest Cake Day! There are so many national holidays celebrating delicious food, and while you probably shouldn’t celebrate all of them, maybe you can celebrate one or two, and appreciate some of the underappreciated foods in the world. Maybe you’ll discover your new favorite food! Food holidays aren’t the only ones celebrated during March, there are some other fun days too! There are also some days where you just want to be happy, and some national holidays in March do just that! There’s national I Want You to be Happy Day, National be Heard Day, National Everything You Do is Right Day, and finally, National Let’s Laugh Day! Being happy is amazing, and the reason the United States has so many holidays to bring happiness is that we want to keep finding ways to appreciate everything we have, and just be joyful. Lastly, we can’t forget about the other holidays like International Women’s Day and National Puppy Day, and so many more! If you didn’t notice already, there are a lot of holidays, and that just means we have a lot to celebrate each and every day!
By: Mikey Dea
There are a total of 87 national holidays in March, and while they can’t all be described, there are surely some interesting ones that should be named! March harbors many food holidays, like national banana cream pie day, or national pound cake day. Don’t forget about National Cereal Day or National Potato Chip Day! Additionally, National Chocolate and Caramel Day and National Black Forest Cake Day! There are so many national holidays celebrating delicious food, and while you probably shouldn’t celebrate all of them, maybe you can celebrate one or two, and appreciate some of the underappreciated foods in the world. Maybe you’ll discover your new favorite food! Food holidays aren’t the only ones celebrated during March, there are some other fun days too! There are also some days where you just want to be happy, and some national holidays in March do just that! There’s national I Want You to be Happy Day, National be Heard Day, National Everything You Do is Right Day, and finally, National Let’s Laugh Day! Being happy is amazing, and the reason the United States has so many holidays to bring happiness is that we want to keep finding ways to appreciate everything we have, and just be joyful. Lastly, we can’t forget about the other holidays like International Women’s Day and National Puppy Day, and so many more! If you didn’t notice already, there are a lot of holidays, and that just means we have a lot to celebrate each and every day!
Curiosity Rover Brings Panorama of Mars
Keoni Liwanag
The Curiosity Rover, a NASA robotic vehicle on Mars, has been sending us pictures of the red planet ever since 2012. The latest image it sent was a 1.8 billion pixel panorama of a section of Mars, which Curiosity had been taking from Thanksgiving to December 1st. It was made from 1,000 photos that were assembled together to create the larger panorama picture. Curiosity landed on Mars inside the Gale Crater in August 2012 and has been on Mars for about 2,700 days. The rover took pictures of “Glen Torridon,” a region on the side of Mt. Sharp. Mt. Sharp is named after a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Another panorama Curiosity took included a picture of the rover itself, and it has 650 million pixels. It took its photos using a mast camera that is specifically built for panorama pictures of the surface, atmosphere, and the terrain in front of the rover. Another 1.3 billion pixel panorama was taken in 2013 when the rover was collecting rocks of the surface of Mars. Curiosity is the newest rover on Mars, but it is not the oldest rover. The title of the rover that was on Mars the longest goes to Opportunity, which arrived on Mars in 2004 and shut down in 2019. More rovers going to Mars soon. The next launch on July 17, 2020 will have a new rover land on Mars on February 18, 2021. Hopefully, more amazing photos will be sent back to Earth, and we learn more about one of our neighboring planets.
Keoni Liwanag
The Curiosity Rover, a NASA robotic vehicle on Mars, has been sending us pictures of the red planet ever since 2012. The latest image it sent was a 1.8 billion pixel panorama of a section of Mars, which Curiosity had been taking from Thanksgiving to December 1st. It was made from 1,000 photos that were assembled together to create the larger panorama picture. Curiosity landed on Mars inside the Gale Crater in August 2012 and has been on Mars for about 2,700 days. The rover took pictures of “Glen Torridon,” a region on the side of Mt. Sharp. Mt. Sharp is named after a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Another panorama Curiosity took included a picture of the rover itself, and it has 650 million pixels. It took its photos using a mast camera that is specifically built for panorama pictures of the surface, atmosphere, and the terrain in front of the rover. Another 1.3 billion pixel panorama was taken in 2013 when the rover was collecting rocks of the surface of Mars. Curiosity is the newest rover on Mars, but it is not the oldest rover. The title of the rover that was on Mars the longest goes to Opportunity, which arrived on Mars in 2004 and shut down in 2019. More rovers going to Mars soon. The next launch on July 17, 2020 will have a new rover land on Mars on February 18, 2021. Hopefully, more amazing photos will be sent back to Earth, and we learn more about one of our neighboring planets.
Scientists Discover a New Non-Oxygen Breathing Animal
By: Emma L.
All animals on Earth require oxygen to live. However, recently, scientists have discovered a new animal that does not require oxygen to live. Scientists “accidentally” discovered this animal when they were studying parasites. They found that the parasite has no mitochondrial genome. This parasite is called Henneguya salminicola. Henneguya salminicola is found mainly in fish and is a relative of jellyfish and coral. They sink their spores into the fish’s flesh and stay there until they kill off the fish, or the fish dies of natural or unnatural causes. Fish that have this parasite on them have a disease called, “tapioca disease.” A fish with this disease would have strange white blobs popping out of their flesh. What makes this parasite truly different from other non-breathing parasites is that this parasite does not use aerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is the process of using oxygen to create energy in the mitochondria. For example, a normal human cell in a human has mitochondria and uses it to create energy to stay alive. However, this parasite does not have mitochondria. This parasite uses a different kind of respiration system to stay alive; anaerobic respiration. Anaerobic oxygen takes place without oxygen, and yet still produces small amounts of energy. This questionable parasite is still a mystery for many scientists around the world.
By: Emma L.
All animals on Earth require oxygen to live. However, recently, scientists have discovered a new animal that does not require oxygen to live. Scientists “accidentally” discovered this animal when they were studying parasites. They found that the parasite has no mitochondrial genome. This parasite is called Henneguya salminicola. Henneguya salminicola is found mainly in fish and is a relative of jellyfish and coral. They sink their spores into the fish’s flesh and stay there until they kill off the fish, or the fish dies of natural or unnatural causes. Fish that have this parasite on them have a disease called, “tapioca disease.” A fish with this disease would have strange white blobs popping out of their flesh. What makes this parasite truly different from other non-breathing parasites is that this parasite does not use aerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is the process of using oxygen to create energy in the mitochondria. For example, a normal human cell in a human has mitochondria and uses it to create energy to stay alive. However, this parasite does not have mitochondria. This parasite uses a different kind of respiration system to stay alive; anaerobic respiration. Anaerobic oxygen takes place without oxygen, and yet still produces small amounts of energy. This questionable parasite is still a mystery for many scientists around the world.
“An Unusually Colored Animal” By: Jasmine Hong
Manta rays are usually dark brown, blue, or black on the top and white on the bottom. One ray, though, is not like this. Inspector Clouseau, named after a character from the Pink Panther movies, looks normal from above, but underneath, he is pink. So far, this manta ray is the only pink one recorded in the world. Inspector Clouseau, who is 3.3 meters long (11 feet), was first spotted in 2015, but has appeared roughly ten times since then. Recently, photographer Kristian Laine was diving off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Australia. She was photographing turtles, sharks, and rays when she spotted him. At first, she was confused and didn’t believe what she was seeing. Later, she saw a notice of a pink manta ray on a restaurant's notice board and realized that its patterns matched the ones of the manta she took a picture of. Despite having been seen only a few times, scientists from Project Manta have been trying to discover what causes Inspector Clouseau’s pink color. In 2016, they took a small biopsy to learn more. So far, they have ruled out the choice of diet. An example of food changing an animal’s color would be when flamingos eat shrimp and turn pink. Rather, scientists believe it has to do with different melanin, a dark skin pigment. It will remain a mystery, however, until we find out what causes the pink coloring.
Juul Bought Ad Space on Kids’ Networks By Justin Lin
Juul is an e-cigarette vape company that packages nicotine into tubes as cigarettes. In the tubes or “pods” there are also different flavors. Their headquarters is in San Francisco. Juul has stated that its e-cigarettes are for adults and not kids. However, Juul bought ad space on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and their ads are targeting kids and teens. In the ads, they use cartoons, memes, humor, and tricks to attract teens. Juul also used social media influencers and celebrities to sell and promote their products. There are even Juul ads on websites like cool math games. The Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey, filed a lawsuit against Juul. The number of teenagers that reported using e-cigarettes in the last thirty days has increased by almost 75 percent since 2017. This survey shows that many high schoolers are vaping, even at their schools. At St. Ignatius, there were “puff bars” and cartridges found in the bathrooms. Nicotine is very toxic and can raise your blood pressure. It increases adrenaline levels and heart rate. Vaping can cause long-term lung diseases and asthma. Like normal cigarettes, e-cigarettes are extremely addictive. Something that’s even worse, kids can buy cartridges that have more nicotine in them. E-cigarettes are becoming more and more popular especially with kids. Many kids who vape have never smoked regular cigarettes before. Some of the eighth graders have their opinions on vaping. Landon thinks it’s bad for kids because it is very addicting and can cause kids to get into actual cigarettes. Some kids think it’s cool and many people are insecure about it as well. Some companies try to target a younger audience by making flavors. Ian Endrina thinks that teenagers assume it's harmless, but they then become addicted. He thinks e-cigarettes should be made less available. Many teens think vaping is less harmful than smoking. Mrs. Wilson says that vaping is horrible, and it's creating a problem for kids around the world. “Vaping is basically smoking, and people should be made to pay more for them with lots of taxes on e-cigarettes.”
Warm Water Found Under Doomsday Glacier By Mikey Dea
Global warming strikes again! This time, Antarctica is affected. Scientists have identified warm water under the Thwaites Glacier. Just in case you don’t know, the Thwaites Glacier is a gigantic glacier in the western part of Antarctica. The Thwaites Glacier is about 74,000 square miles in size, which is about the size of the entire state of Florida! It is also the same size as Great Britain! Another reason why this Glacier is so famous is because it is one of the fastest melting glaciers in the world because of its vulnerability to climate change says the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The reason warm water under the enormous glacier is so bad is because this warm water could possibly speed up the melting process of the glacier. If a glacier of this size were to fully melt, the sea levels would surely rise and flood cities below the new sea level. Estimates say that if the entire glacier were to melt, the sea level would rise by two feet. Over the past 30 years, the rate at which the Thwaites was melting has doubled. The warm water under the glacier will certainly make that number rise more. The Thwaites alone already accounts for 4% of the sea level rise across the globe. Here in San Francisco we live right next to the ocean. Just think of what would happen to us if the entire thing melted!
Astronaut Christina Koch Returns to Earth By Justin Lin
Christina Koch is an engineer and an astronaut working for NASA. On March 24, 2019, she and her team launched for the International Space Station. Her mission gave scientists a new way on seeing how space affects women, and they would like to send women to the Moon soon and even Mars at a later time. NASA extended her mission, and she lived on the Space Station for 328 days which is the record for the longest spaceflight for a woman. She was just twelve days short of the longest record. During that time in space, she and Jessica Meir conducted the first all female spacewalk on October 18, 2019 where they installed new batteries. Both Koch and Meir were part of the NASA astronaut class of 2013. They understand that their spacewalk will go down in history, but they want to credit all the women that came before them. In total, Christina Koch spent 42 hours and 12 minutes outside of the ISSAlong with conducting the spacewalk, and she also participated in lots of research. One of the most important studies is the one on human life in space. As NASA is getting closer to sending people to the Moon and Mars, they will need to study more about how space travel affects human bodies. Christina Koch would like to go to Mars next because she wants to go even further into space and do more research for NASA.
CoronaVirus Outbreak: By: Nuri Tam
A new flu virus has been discovered in humans, and it’s spreading to many countries. The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China from a seafood market. The public started to learn about the coronavirus as it started spreading worldwide. More than 24,500 cases have been reported all over the world, but almost all of them are in China. The Philippines and Hong Kong have one death each. The coronavirus is highly contagious. If someone who has the virus sneezes or coughs near you, there is a high chance of getting the sickness. To prevent this virus from spreading to new places, airlines have canceled flights to and from China. The government has sealed off Wuhan province, and no one is allowed to leave the province. However, many people are visiting from different countries and therefore have been evacuated to their home countries. When travelers are coming to the U.S. from China, they have to go through a screening to ensure that they don’t have the illness. Currently they are being held at airforce bases in California and Texas for two weeks to be sure that they do not have the virus. Although this virus might not produce critical symptoms right away, it can quickly turn into a severe respiratory problem. The symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. These symptoms begin 2-14 days after getting the virus. The coronavirus has nearly killed 500 people, but thousands of people have recovered after getting it. Currently, there is no vaccine for this new sickness, but doctors are working hard to find the solution. It is important to remember that the chances of getting the virus are low here in San Francisco. People can only get the illness if they come in contact with someone who has the coronavirus.
Coronavirus Spreading By: Jasmine Hong
The coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, is a global epidemic. Started in Wuhan, China, it has spread to different parts of the world. The 2019 coronavirus is from a family of viruses that are usually found in different species of animals including bats, cats, camels, and cows. The 2019-nCoV is a zoonosis which means it can easily spread from animals to humans. SARS and MERS are other examples of viruses that started in animals and then crossed over into humans. As of February 11, 2020, over 43,000 people have been affected, and there are over one thousand people who have died. Luckily, it is said to have a fatality rate of only 2%, but it has also caused a travel lockdown affecting around 56 million people. In humans, the virus is spread through close contact (around 6 feet) when the infected person coughs or sneezes. The respiratory droplets from that may land on nearby people and can be inhaled to the lungs from there. Touching an object with 2019-nCoV on it and touching your face may also allow you to get the virus.
The way that the coronavirus is said to have started is from animal-person contact. This happens when the virus evolves from its current host to go to humans. In Wuhan, China, there is a large seafood and live animal market. Because most of the people who were affected were not in close proximity to animal markets, officials believe that it was a person to person contact. The particular animal thought to be responsible for the outbreak so far is the pangolin. It is an endangered mammal similar to an armadillo that is said to be the most trafficked animal on the planet. It is imported in Chinese markets for food and medicine. Scientists are researching to find the source of 2019-nCoV,and will hopefully get closer to finding a cure.
The way that the coronavirus is said to have started is from animal-person contact. This happens when the virus evolves from its current host to go to humans. In Wuhan, China, there is a large seafood and live animal market. Because most of the people who were affected were not in close proximity to animal markets, officials believe that it was a person to person contact. The particular animal thought to be responsible for the outbreak so far is the pangolin. It is an endangered mammal similar to an armadillo that is said to be the most trafficked animal on the planet. It is imported in Chinese markets for food and medicine. Scientists are researching to find the source of 2019-nCoV,and will hopefully get closer to finding a cure.
Xenobots: The First Living Robot Created From Stem Cells By: Emma Lau
Many of us have heard of robots. We think of robots as gears, wires, and metal. But, have you ever heard of a living robot? Xenobots are the world’s first supercomputer-living robots. The xenobot is named after the African-clawed frog, Xenopus Laevis. The reason for this is because the robot is entirely made up of frog stem cells. Scientists believe that they could use xenobots to transport drugs and medicine inside humans. Xenobots can mend themselves when torn, don’t require any food, and are incredibly tiny. To create xenobots, scientists scraped living cells from frog embryos. Then, a supercomputer reshaped the frog cells into a new shape; xenobots start to work on their own, using skin cells to bond and muscle cells to move. Many believe that xenobots could replace medical robots, because they are not harmful to the environment. Xenobots could also clean up microplastics, arteries, and radioactive waste. However, xenobots can only live for a short period of time. The robot may live for several weeks if the area around the xenobot has lots of nutrients,. If there are limited nutrients, the robot may only last a week. Besides transporting drugs and cleaning up waste, xenobots are considered the “key” to a healthier and less polluted world.