✈️ Airplanes, Activated

Image: Shakib Rahmani/AFP

🎖️ Why it’s important: CRAF activation allows the military to access commercial airplanes to support the ongoing evacuation of U.S. citizens and personnel, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan.

• The CRAF has only been activated two other times since its founding in 1951: 1) From August 1990 to May 1991 during the Persian Gulf War, and 2) from February 2002 to June 2003 during the Iraq War. (What is the Civil Reserve Air Fleet?)

📝 Details, details: The current activation is for 18 aircraft: three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines.

• The activated aircraft will not fly into Kabul’s airport. Instead, commercial airline pilots and crews will help transport thousands of Afghans arriving at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
• This will allow military aircraft to solely focus on operations in and out of Kabul.

🔭 Zoom out: There are up to 15,000 Americans and 50,000 to 60,000 Afghan allies who need to be evacuated, according to the Biden administration. An international effort has evacuated at least 28,000 people so far, not including the U.S. evacuation of nearly 8,000 people over the 24-hour period through early Sunday morning:

Image: Twitter

• As of yesterday morning, there were an estimated 18,500 people – including international workers, Afghan interpreters, and women now at risk under Taliban rule – at the Kabul airport awaiting flights, with another 2,000 at the gates waiting to get in. At least seven Afghans died in a panicked crush of people trying to enter the airport, the British military said Sunday.
• U.S. officials have said the Taliban agreed to permit U.S. citizens through their checkpoints to reach the airport. But Afghans, including holders of U.S. visas, have reportedly been blocked, harassed, and beaten by militant fighters searching for individuals who worked for the U.S. government or foreign organizations or had been affiliated with the ousted government.

From the Right: WSJ

From the Left: NBC News

Friday’s 360° View on the Situation in Afghanistan

🎁 DONUT Headline: Last Thursday, news broke that a new company controlled by online sports merchandise retailer Fanatics finalized a deal with both the MLB Players’ Association and the MLB for ​​the exclusive licenses to produce baseball cards.

Image: Caroline Brehman/Shutterstock

The measure, known as Prop 22, exempts gig companies from Assembly Bill No. 5 – a 2019 state law requiring drivers be hired as employees with health care, unemployment insurance, and other benefits.

• In November, nearly 59% of Californians voted in favor of Prop 22 after Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others spent over $200 million in its favor, making it the most expensive ballot measure in state history.

🤿 A deeper dive… In Friday’s ruling, Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch said Prop 22 "limits the power of a future Legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law," which is unconstitutional and makes the overall measure unenforceable.

• The ruling doesn’t mean gig companies need to immediately change their way of doing business, as Prop 22 will remain in place throughout the entire appeals process (which is expected to end up in the State Supreme Court).

🌎 Zoom out… Gig companies classifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees has been a topic of recent focus for regulators around the world. Uber was forced to grant its UK drivers employment status in March, and several gig companies have joined forces for a Prop 22-like ballot measure in Massachusetts next year.

• Opponents of the ‘gig economy’ argue the companies are skirting labor laws designed to ensure all workers receive proper compensation, including benefits such as health care and paid sick leave.
• Proponents contend a large majority of drivers don't wish to be made full employees due to the increased flexibility that comes with being an independent contractor.

🧭 Navigation Automation

Image: MIT News

Drone racers - those who compete by remotely navigating the flying, driverless vehicles around aerial courses - know that the faster a drone flies, the more unstable it becomes.

• At high speeds, the aerodynamics of the devices become too complicated to predict...until now.

Researchers in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics created an algorithm that combines simulations of a drone flying through a virtual obstacle course with data from the drone completing the same course in the real world.

• The result: drones trained with the algorithm could fly through a given obstacle course up to 20% faster than an untrained drone.

While it's beneficial to drone racers looking for a competitive edge, the practical application of the algorithm extends beyond sport - i.e, it could enable drones to more effectively and reliably carry out search and rescue operations in the future.

Keep reading.

Images: JustGiving

There’s nothing quite like sleeping in a tent under the stars and connecting with nature – for a little while, that is. After a few nights, most of us start dreaming of cozy mattresses and air-conditioned bedrooms.

• So how about 500 nights? Eleven-year-old Max Woosey began his backyard camp-out in early 2020 and is still going strong today.

Max’s neighbor Rick was fighting terminal cancer when he gave the pre-teen his old tent and told him simply to “have an adventure with it.”

• That’s when Max came up with an idea – he would begin sleeping outside as a way to raise funds to cover Rick’s hospice care.

Now, 500 nights later, Max has slept out through everything from winter snow storms to hot summer nights. He’s also far surpassed his original goal of £100,000, raising almost £700,000 for the local hospice center looking after Rick.

Keep reading.

Which of these is closest to the speed of sound on Earth?

A) 534 miles per hour
B) 692 miles per hour
C) 761 miles per hour
D) 813 miles per hour

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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C) 761 miles per hour

Caveat: The speed of sound varies depending on the temperature of the air through which the sound moves.

• On Earth, the speed of sound assuming an air temperature of 59ºF is about 761 MPH. (See for yourself.)