If I were to envision myself going without some technology for a week, I would choose only one: my computer. I don’t have a lot of devices, and when I do go on tech, most of the time you’ll usually see me on my computer because the big screen makes it the easiest to use. So that leaves my X1 music player with AMAZING battery life, my phone with HORRIBLE battery life, and my iPad mini with okay battery life. So, you are probably thinking “Sophia, you still have three devices! This is soooo called cheating…” But, you still need to think about what I do actually need to use…
Matthew Whitaker only has to hear a song once to make it his own. At age 11, when most kids are playing on the playground, this gifted piano prodigy was playing on international stages, and now, at just 19 years old, he’s won more awards than most musicians get in a lifetime. Whitaker makes it look easy at the piano, but in life, he’s faced some very difficult challenges. He was born three months premature with severe health problems, including a disease that can lead to blindness, and doctors warned his parents that he might not live. Doctors were not able to save his sight, but Whitaker thrived, and soon…
Real-Life Heroes
Marvel’s Hero Project has one important goal: illuminating the many kids and teens that are making a difference. But how and why do they want to do it? Throughout the series, there are real kids and teens portrayed who use their real powers as forces for good in their communities, and Marvel has created web-based comic books to immortalize the honorees, giving each kid an alter ego with superpowers suited to their humanitarian mission, and the free comic books are on the company’s website, where readers can see the action panel-by-panel. Marvel has chosen to do this to support the young heroes’ missions of ingenuity, compassion, and dedication. Austin, Gitanjali,…
In Robots We Trust
“Siri, who’s considered the greatest football quarterback of all time?” People often ask smartphones questions like these and expect immediate—and correct—answers. A branch of research called Explainable AI (or XAI) examines how smart machines can be made more transparent and trustworthy to humans. The engineers built a clever anthropomorphic AI robot and taught it how to use its pliers-like gripper to mimic the movements of a human hand. To demonstrate for the robot, a volunteer wore a glove wired up with movement sensors that measured not only his hand positions but also the forces he used to open the bottle. Every position and movement of the volunteer’s hand was translated…
Ode to celery juice!!
Fresh, A mighty brew A medicinal tool From heavens above A sacred drink Preparing it Is not that gruelling But the smooth liquid Is deliciously fuelling An antidote To cure the World’s diseases!! Made from Glorious trunks Crispy, Stringy, Columns At the mercy Of razor-sharp knives A whir A buzz Finally done! A glossy Shimmering Green liquid A burst Of taste And a decrease In waist.
Unusual Words
Please read the following passage, noting the italicized words and phrases as you proceed. Alonso got a big burst of inspo on his vacay after he unplugged and lazed around all week-he decided to become a professional pickleball player. Alonso, you see, imagines himself looking swole on a bluebird day, stans everywhere, as he scores in a heart-stopper with absolutely no garbage time on the clock. His friends all think “how on-brand of him” to want to become a pickleball player, considering that he joined the circus last year (and look how that turned out). In all fairness, though, how could Alonso have known that he’d get a bad case of coulrophobia and that captive animals would be his pain point? Having a little trouble deciphering the italicized words and phrases? Then look…
Hearts of Our People
A pink and blue Osage Wedding Coat lined with images of historic moments. A woven green and copper egg made from the fibres of a threatened tree. These are just a few pieces of art featured in a new exhibit dedicated to celebrating the individual talents and cultures of Native American women. Historically, museums have presented pieces of Native American art as unknown examples of cultures, when the artworks were created by female artists from any number of different Nations-but now these artists are finally getting their time to shine. “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists” spans more than a thousand years of Indigenous women’s art, displaying the work…
Surprising Scholarships
There’s a lot of scholarships out there for college-bound students who can solve a geometric proof or score a touchdown. But not all scholarships are won by academics or athletics. Many organizations offer alternative and unusual ways to win scholarships, yielding a different way for students to achieve a scholarship. Duck noises are encouraged at the annual Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest. Named after champion duck callers Chick and Sophie Major, the contest awards scholarships to students that can use four different convincing duck calls in 90 seconds. The student deemed to have the most realistic duck calls of the year receives a $2,000 scholarship! Many scholarship…
Mushroom
For the rain violently poured And upwards birds could have not soared But the only thing that dared to show up Was a fungus with a head shaped like a cup
Saving Seeds of Cherokee Culture
Every kernel of Cherokee white eagle corn is a vital vestige of the past and a link to the Native American tribe’s future, along with other Cherokee heirloom crop varieties. These seeds are a key ingredient in the history and culture of their tribe, and on February 25, 2020, some were sent to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located in the frigid mainland of Norway. Why have the Cherokee tribe chosen to send the valuable seeds there? The first reason for doing so is because of the location that they sent the seeds to. The Svalbard vault was created to reduce the risk of essential crops becoming extinct as a…
