Wednesday, Mar 4 2020

Dose Of News Useful Today

Thursday, March 5th

Life In Plastic, It’s Fantastic

Good morning. There’s a certain sense of pride that comes with the ability to keep house plants alive for an extended period of time. However, one California woman recently found out her pride had been misplaced after discovering that a plant she had carefully watered over the past two years was actually made out of plastic.

Daily Sprinkle

“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.”

– William James

Coronavirus: Causing Concern (U.S. Edition)

As of Wednesday night, cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been confirmed in sixteen different states as the illness continues to spread across the U.S.

A quick bit of context…
There have been at least 152 confirmed cases and 11 reported deaths in the U.S. For comparison:

SARS: 8 confirmed U.S. cases and no deaths.
Seasonal Flu: An estimated 32 million U.S. cases and 18,000 deaths this season.
Swine Flu (H1N1): An estimated 60.8 million U.S. cases and 12,469 deaths.

Here’s what happened in the U.S. yesterday:

Congress passed an $8.3 billion emergency funding bill with bipartisan support.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.
Three states reported their first case(s) of the sickness - Utah, Nebraska, and Texas.

Some friendly advice…
We’ve compiled some tips on how to:

Stock up on supplies and prepare your emergency kit.
Work from home while staying productive and sane.
Plan a trip during the outbreak.

Last but not least…
In addition to washing your hands or using hand sanitizer often, you may want to think about cleaning your phone. If you can’t find hand sanitizer anywhere, here’s how to make your own.

So… what are people saying?

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Bloomberg Ends Campaign

Michael Bloomberg ended his campaign and endorsed Joe Biden for the Democratic nominee Wednesday after having spent more than $500 million on the race. With the majority of the Super Tuesday delegates having been assigned, Biden holds an approximately 65 delegate lead over Sanders (you can find a full state-by-state delegate breakdown here).

More: Super Tuesday takeaways from the Right and Left.

LEFT CENTER → ABC News	RIGHT CENTER → New York Post

SCOTUS Holds Abortion Argument

The Supreme Court held an hour-long oral argument over a Louisiana law that would restrict women’s access to abortions in the state. The Court had previously ruled 5-3 against a similar Texas law in 2016.

LEFT CENTER → USA Today	RIGHT CENTER → Wall Street Journal (No $ needed)

Iran Tripled Uranium Stockpile

A UN atomic watchdog notified member countries that Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November. The current stockpile (1.1 tons) reportedly puts Iran within reach of the amount needed to create a nuclear weapon.

Unrelated watchdog news: The DOJ’s internal watchdog released a report saying the FBI failed to follow up on several cases that led to incidents of domestic terrorism.


NEUTRAL → Associated Press	NEUTRAL → The Republic

GM says OK to EVs

General Motors showed 11 new all-electric vehicles at its “EV Day” ceremony on Wednesday. The company also announced a pledge to invest $20 billion in its next generation of autonomous and all-electric vehicles through 2025.

Bond Responds

The release date for the latest James Bond movie, “No Time To Die,” has been moved from April to November in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The final Daniel Craig Bond film is the first to shift release dates due to the virus.

Meet Fleet

Twitter, known for its 280-character tweets, is now testing the ability for users to ‘fleet’ - a feature nearly identical to Snapchat stories. The new fleets cannot receive likes, replies, or retweets, and will disappear entirely after 24 hours.

A Slice of Life

When ordering a pizza, it’s usually the contents of the cardboard box that captures the customer’s attention. But one Amherst, NY restaurant found a way to use their deliveries to do some good.

Just Pizza & Wing Co. teamed up with a local animal shelter to feature snapshots of local adoptable dogs on the cover of each box - as a bonus, anyone who adopts a dog receives $50 in free pizza!

A Walk To Remember

Lennyn Lyons’ entire existence is a testament to her perseverance. The 17-month-old toddler from Florida has endured four brain surgeries and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy last August.

In an especially meaningful milestone, last month Lennyn succeeded in walking on her own two feet for the very first time, despite doctors predicting that she would never be able to do so without assistance.

Lap of Luxury

As some pet owners can attest, an animal with a persistent need for attention - while extremely cute - often gets in the way when work needs to be done.

One innovative couple came up with a novel solution for their hyper-affectionate cat - a fake lap, featuring sweatpants stuffed with a duvet cover, leading into a pair of empty shoes.

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GeneSight Testing… scientists have reportedly performed the first human trial of the gene-editing tool CRISPR in an attempt to treat an inherited form of blindness.

We(Don’t)Chat… Toronto-based research group Citizens Lab found that China’s most popular messaging app, WeChat, has censored keywords about the coronavirus since Jan. 1.

Brain Games… UK researchers have made a breakthrough that enables brain neurons to communicate with artificial neurons via the internet.

Dino DNA… a team of international researchers has discovered trace evidence of fossil DNA in the skull bones of a 75 million-year-old dinosaur.

Over the Moon

What planet within our solar system has the most moons?

A) Saturn
B) Neptune
C) Mars
D) Jupiter

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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Dose of Knowledge Answer

Saturn

In October 2019, a team of U.S. researchers discovered 20 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing its official count up to 82 - Jupiter ranks a close second, with 79 natural satellites.