ExoMars Rover by Matthew Staniar

As our space travel advances, we are planning more and more different explorations. One of the most interesting being talked about lately is the expedition to Mars. The latest rover to be sent up to the red planet was a rover called the ExoMars Rover. This rover was launched on March 14, 2016, and is now coming close to its seven-month, one-way, 300 million mile journey.  

On October 16, the Schiaparelli Lander detached from the spacecraft and the lander is expected to land on the planet on the 19th of October. The spacecraft will then enter orbit around the planet. The lander is equipped with parachutes and boosters to give it a soft landing. This rover is expected to land near NASA’s 2004 rover, Opportunity.

After several days of exploration the rover will run out of battery power. While this rover is only a small step in the exploration of Mars, these tiny baby steps could lead to future discoveries.

Paris Heist of Kim Kardashian by Emma Limegrover

Has Kim Kardashian's expensive and luxurious way of life finally caught up to her? With over 84 million followers on Instagram and 48 million on Twitter, Kim kardashian has been posting many pictures of her fabulous life and incredible luxuries. Harmless, right? Wrong. Because of her recklessness while posting on social media she became a victim of a  horrifying robbery.

While taking a vacation in Paris for an exclusive fashion show, Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint by two or three men looking for the jewelry that Kim featured in her latest Instagram post, including a huge diamond ring given to her by her husband, Kanye West. According to the story Kim told the police, she was tied up, gagged, and put in the bathtub while the robbers took her things. She lost a total of 10 million dollars worth of jewelry and her phone.  At this point there is no security footage of the thieves.

Of course there have been speculations about what really happened that day. Some say that it was all a joke, or that Kim planned it. Some say it was the work of the Pink Panthers (a Siberian robbery collective).  Others are outraged that someone dared to cross the queen of social media. Probably the most outraged is Kim's husband, Kanye West. When the incident happened, West was in the middle of a concert in Detroit, from which he left to be with his wife. He rescheduled that concert and an upcoming one in Philadelphia to a later date.

Kim Kardashian says that she blames herself for the robbery, and refuses to let the $4 million ring be replaced by Kanye West. Karl Lagerfeld suggest that Kim should not be surprised about the robbery. He said, “You cannot display your wealth then be surprised that some people want to share it.” Though there were many jokes and insults towards kim, some people defended Kardashian on social media. For example James Corden tweeted, “People making jokes about @KimKardashian tonight would do well to remember that she’s a mother,a daughter,a wife,a friend.Be nice or shut up.” Or Chrissy Teagan who said, “Fame is interesting. Celebs are supposed to love you guys while also knowing you’d make a meme of our dead bodies to get retweets.” Then she added: “Please do not think that I think celebrities are special snowflakes. I just miss empathy, in general, for everyone.” Could this robbery just be a scam to boost Kim's popularity even further or an actual threat all celebs should be worried about? We may never know the full truth of the Kim K robbery of 2016.   

Ohio Revisits Executions by Ben Abel

Ohio, after three years with no executions, is restarting lethal injections with a new three-drug mixture.

The last time Ohio had an execution was in 2014 on the rapist and killer Dennis McGuire. They used two drugs: midazolam (a sedative) and hydromorphone (a painkiller). It took him twenty six minutes to die, and he appeared to be in pain for most of it. McGuire’s family later made a lawsuit against a drug company and the state government.

The new drugs are: rocuronium bromide (a paralytic) and potassium chloride, the one that stops the heart. To the disappointment of many experts, midazolam is the third drug used in the mixture. An assistant federal public defender named Allen Bohnert says: "Medical experts have said that using midazolam will not reduce the substantial risk that Ohio will subject an inmate to an unconstitutional, agonizing execution. The last time Ohio ignored the experts, it botched McGuire’s execution and suffocated him to death.”

Hopefully, this time it will work out better.

Bibliography

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/03/496407272/using-new-drug-cocktail-ohio-seeks-to-resume-death-penalty

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/10/03/ohio-ready-resume-executions-new-drug-combination/91465860/

Scientists Deliberately Crash Rosetta Spacecraft, Ending its Historic Mission By Milo Schmitt

Take a minute to close your eyes and imagine how you think a spacecraft would crash to its doom. Perhaps you imagined it flying into the surface of a planet or asteroid, obliterating it. Or maybe you thought of a huge explosion, sending parts flying out into space. Neither of these is what happened to the Rosetta, a spacecraft which has been orbiting a comet known as 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The Rosetta ended with a somewhat slow-motion crash. Scientists steered it into the comet at walking speed for what they called its “Grand Finale”. Although the Rosetta was not destroyed in the crash, its antenna was bent, causing it to lose contact with Earth forever. The European Space Agency, or the ESA, are the creators of Rosetta. They believe it crashed at 6:39 A.M. ET on Friday. Signals of the crash were received around 7:20 A.M. The scientists counted down through the Rosetta Twitter account, which you can view here.

Rosetta was launched March 4th, 2004, meaning it has been in space for 12 years. Its main purpose was to chase a comet orbiting around the sun to gain information about it. This picture was the last image taken by the Rosetta, when it was 51 meters above the comet. During its lifetime, Rosetta managed to spot the Philae spacecraft, the first probe to ever make a controlled landing on a comet.

Unfortunately, Philae bounced around in the process of landing shattering its solar panels. Not long after, the battery ran out and the Philae spacecraft lost contact with Earth forever in 2015. The two missions combined cost $1.57 Billion since they started in 1996. The past two years have been critical for Rosetta, as it first reached the comet in 2014. Matt Taylor, a member of the ESA, says that, “Planning for the mission began in the 1980s.” It took over 30 years for scientists to hit even a single target. Some have spent almost their entire life on it.

Many people can get very emotional about the end of a spacecraft’s mission, even if they don’t think they will. Many people on Twitter confessed to this, and it’s not surprising. Scientists tried their best not to get very sentimental. At the end of the mission, Rosetta’s twitter account sent the message “Mission complete” in a variety of different languages.

By Milo Schmitt               

Information gotten from cnn.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/health/rosetta-landing-comet-philae/) and npr.com (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/30/496042230/watch-rosetta-ends-mission-by-crashing-into-comet)

USA Today Slams Trump by Kueyoung Kim

USA Today, a newspaper that historically has never chosen one presidential candidate over the other, has announced that “Trump is ‘unfit for presidency’”.

This comes as Trump sparks controversy with his comments about former Miss Universe, calling her inapropriate names.

The USA Today Editorial Board stated that, “Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty.” They stated several reasons for this comment including that, “He speaks recklessly,” and, “He trafficks prejudice”.

This is bad for Mr. Trump as he is already down in polls, and he will probably dip more from this, and with the election so close, every point counts.

Planes Drop Bombs on Northern Aleppo by Kueyoung Kim

Bombs were dropped on UN truck taking aid to the citizens of Aleppo. The UN reported that the convoy was hit on Monday. This was reported as the Syrian military declared the end of a fragile ceasefire in Syria.

It was reported that at least 32 people were killed  and 12 UN aid trucks were destroyed. The UN announced that for the time being they would not send any more aid to Syria.

Originally, the Syrian military blamed the rebel group for trying to bring down the new ceasefire.

The US government said that they expected for Russia to clarify their position on the Syrian side of things. They also reported that Russia has a history of targeting aid convoys.

Think Twice About Declawing Your Cat by Asher Jones

Many people think that declawing a cat is just a quick fix like a manicure. Newsflash: it’s not. Declawing a cat is like chopping off the last knuckle of each of your fingers. The cat’s claw is attached to a bone in their paw so therefore if you want to declaw your cat, you have to cut off the bone also. It is a painful surgery and a painful recovery. Many cats have had changes in their behavior such as they bite more or they don’t use their litter box properly. One way that veterinarians remove the claw is that they use a sliding blade and they cut off the bone with the claw which also cuts through the pad. The pad is what allows the cat to walk comfortably like shoes. So when you take that out, they can’t walk comfortably.

Alternatives To Declawing Your Cat

If your cat keeps on clawing your furniture, then there are much better ways to solve that problem. You can use vinyl nail caps. Those are little caps to put on your cats claws. They are glued on and last about a month. The tricky bit is you have to trim your cat’s claws before you put the caps on. The cat will get used to the caps in a day or two.

Another option is if you have a kitten you can train them when they are young so they grow up knowing not to scratch at the furniture or you. If your cat is scratching you or others, then you can trim their nails once a week. But if you trim your cat’s claws when they are clawing at your furniture it won’t help because they will just want to sharpen their claws more.

Juno Probe by Anjali Vanamala

NASA’s Juno probe was launched in 2011 to orbit Jupiter. After a five-year-long trip it reached its final destination, Jupiter, in July of 2016. In all Juno will orbit Jupiter 37 times. Each orbit will take around 14 days to complete.  

The probe was named after the Roman goddess of marriage whose husband was Jupiter, the king of the gods. This is because in the myths Juno could see through the clouds to see her husband while other people couldn't.  The Juno probe is designed to see through the clouds of the planet Jupiter.  

The Juno probe has three large solar panels around its hexagonal shaped body. The panels are spread 66 feet overall because of how little sunlight the probe will get compared to the other probes we’ve sent out. They make around 450 watts of energy. The cells in these new panels are much more efficient and tolerant against radiation.  

The Juno has special features to help us learn more about Jupiter. It can measure the amount of water in its atmosphere. It maps its magnetic and gravitational fields. Juno can determine the mass of Jupiter's core. It will also take some of the ions and electrons while orbiting Jupiter to see why Jupiter has the brightest auroras of our solar system.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-juno-58.html

In 10 Years, Many of Us Could Be Using Self Driving Cars by Milo Schmitt

Ever wondered what it would be like to ride a self-driving car? Surprisingly, that thought might not be so far-fetched. Beginning Wednesday, a few of Uber’s self-driving cars hit the streets of Pittsburgh, PA. This is supposed to be an experiment to introduce this new technology to their passengers. A few Uber users were even sent an email Wednesday morning asking if they could test out the new self driving cars.

Anthony Levandowski, the head of Uber’s self-driving car team, says “For me this is really important, because that the most important things that computers are going to do in the next 10 years is drive cars.”

Uber gave a few reporters a chance to ride the new self driving cars before Wednesday. Liz Reid, a reporter at npr.com (National Public Radio), says that “The ride feels pretty much like a ride in any other car - with an extremely cautious driver.” According to Brian Fung, a reporter from The Chicago Tribune, says that these self driving cars work better than google’s in some ways. These include accelerating and braking like a real human.

The cars aren’t perfected yet, and something can still go wrong. For this reason, there are a pair of Uber drivers sitting in the two front seats of each car to ensure the passengers’ safety. If something goes wrong, they can go manual and steer away from danger.

Once the passengers are inside, they are greeted by a tablet, which displays information about the ride they will be taking. The app also asks if their seat belt is on and that the car can have a maximum of two riders at any given time.

The cars are still in their early stages, and riding them might not be as exciting as it sounds. Uber still doesn’t know how the vehicles will do in slippery winter conditions. It might be best not to rely on the automated cars for transporting the public until things like these are thoroughly tested. Until then, they can still have a pair of professional drivers in the front seat to take over if something goes wrong.

By Milo Schmitt

You can contact me at mts17@scasd.org

Information gotten from The Chicago Tribune and the National Public Radio (npr.com)

Studies on Mice in Space Help to Cure Bone Loss by Ben Abel

There are many dangers for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The zero gravity makes muscles and bones weaker and there are fifteen sunrises and sunsets in a twenty-four hour cycle, which greatly disturb sleep patterns. Special lights help with sleep and extreme exercise strengthens muscles despite zero gravity. However, despite all this, bone loss is still happening … or was.

Experiments with mice in space have found out new ways for preventing bone loss in humans, too. There was one experiment with a particular antibody that helps to block sclerostin (a natural protein that slows down the making of new bones), thus speeding up bone formation. It worked very well. Not only did it prevent any further bone loss, it healed any bone loss that had already happened. This is not just for astronauts, either. Anyone with naturally weak bones or osteoporosis (a disease that weakens bones) can use this, too. This is an important advance in technology.

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/feature/mice-studies-in-space-offer-clues-on-bone-loss