Two Women Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry
Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer A. Doudna of the U.S. were dually-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry for discovering powerful new tools in genome editing. Only five women have received the award since its creation in 1901. The tool hopes to improve the quality of life for newborns and their families in terms of avoiding the hardships of genetic diseases.
According to the Epoch Times, this new tool, Crispr-Cas9, tinkers with a person’s molecular building blocks; however, this has raised concerns in the ethics of this advancement.
The technology has been dubbed ‘genetic scissors’, because of its ability to edit groups of genes. Genetic editing using this advancement could potentially allow for diseases to be taken out of a person’s DNA sequence.
No Patent Needed For Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine
Big name pharmaceutical company Moderna, released a statement on October 8, 2020 declaring that they will not be enforcing their patent on a COVID-19 vaccine. This is big news as this will allow for other companies that make ‘generic’ versions of the drug or vaccine for cheaper, able to produce an affordable vaccine for public use.
According to Moderna’s official statement, the company is poised to release its technologies to others in an effort to put an end to the ongoing pandemic.
Nobel Peace Prize in Economic Sciences for Innovation in Auctions
Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson of the U.S. jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in Economic Sciences for their insights in how various auction designs can enhance buyer/sellers’ success. Their insights have the ability to potentially help governments in gaining protective equipment in the midst of the pandemic, and ceasing price rises in the sales of such equipment.
According to the prize summary on the Nobel Peace Prize website, doctors Wilson and Milgrom made improvements to auction theory and created new auction formats.
Dan Gable Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
Wednesday, October 19, POTUS Donald Trump awarded legendary Olympic wrestler Dan Gable with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at his Iowa rally. Gable was recognized for his accomplishments across the sport of wrestling; three high school state championships, two NCAA Division 1 titles at Iowa State, a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics and a stellar career he led as a coach at the University of Iowa.
According to the Des Moines Register, Danny Olzta- Gable’s son-in-law sent a letter to a Senator, leading to Trump awarding Gable with the nation’s highest honor for a civilian.
World Record in 10K Set
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda set the world record for the Men’s 10,000 meter track race (6.2 Miles) in 26 minutes and 11 seconds, six seconds faster than the previous record set in 2005. The race held in Valencia, Spain, tested out new technology for racing, such as wavelight technology that uses colored lights on the inner rim of the track to target a specific pace.
According to Runner’s World magazine, Cheptegei had other runners pacing him through 5,200 meters, with 4,600 meters left, Cheptegei went on to pace himself.
This race marks the athlete’s third record this year, setting the 5,000 meter track record and the 5,000 meter road race record.
World Record in 5k Set
22-year-old Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia set the world record in the 5,000 meter track race (3.1 miles) in 14 minutes and six seconds, beating the previous record of 14:11 set in 2008. The same wavelight technology used in Joshua Cheptegei’s race was used in this 5,000 meter race. Gidey had pacers through the 3,000 meter mark, then ran the last 2,000 meters alone.
According to Runner’s World magazine, this was Gidey’s second race of the year, the first being another 5,000 meter race placing second behind Helen Obiri of Kenya.
Lakers Win the NBA Championships
In their seventh game, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat, making the 2020 championship the 17th title for the franchise. This was also the first title the team has won since 2010, a 10 year winning drought that pushed players in their practices.
According to USA Today, former power forward Byron Scott said winning this championship was a sigh of relief and joy, but special, as it was an honorary ode to the late Kobe Bryant- who unfortunately wasn’t there to see the Lakers come out of their losing streak.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for the players to celebrate as they normally would, but all the players found ways to enjoy the night, whilst sharing posts to their social media.
Facebook Bans Comments Denying the Holocaust
After continuous criticism from many, Facebook Inc. announced it will be removing all distortions and denials of the Holocaust, from all its platforms. Civil-rights organizations and Holocaust remembrance organizations were glad to see the announcement, following their unrelenting criticism of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg defending Holocaust deniers’ rights to freely express their opinions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg, who stated he is Jewish, has had trouble between standing for free expression and minimizing denials of the horrible acts of the Holocaust.
World Series Ticket Prices Plunge
Major League Baseball announced it will allow a limited number of fans at the playoff games. Starting prices for tickets were as low as 75 dollars, with the higher priced tickets around 450 dollars. These prices are still considered to be cheap compared to the normal price of tickets for last year’s playoffs (a base price of 165 dollars).
According to sportsnaut, the want to attend live sporting events amidst the pandemic is high, but only 29 percent of the maximum stadium seat capacity will be allowed at the MLB playoffs. These tickets sold out in 90 minutes.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers will be facing each other, and in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees will play.
Seniors At Antioch Community High School Take SAT
After delaying testing dates many times over the past year, Wednesday, October 14 marked the grand opportunity for the class of 2021. Teachers lined the sidewalk and positive messages were drawn on the pavement leading up to the main doors. While many students were ecstatic to finally get the SAT over with, this also led to feelings of unpreparedness.
“I was relieved to finally take the SAT because I need my score to apply to a few colleges,” ACHS senior Chloe Hampson said. “However, since we were supposed to take the test in April, I didn’t feel very prepared. I’ve been more worried about school work than remembering test strategies I learned in March.”
Now, the SAT is done and over with for most seniors, this will allow for sole focus to shift back onto completing the year strong.
