New Gym Turns Workouts into Watts by: Addison Norman

New Gym Turns Workouts into Watts

Article by Ayesha Durgahee and Matthew Knight

Post by: Addison Norman

            A new free gym in the UK is now producing energy. Made by The Great Outdoor Gym Company, the gym harnesses energy when people use the exercise equipment. The exercise facility is located in a public city park in Hull, northeast England. The outdoor gym has already produced 40 kilowatts, but right now the gym only uses the electricity to cover the gyms lighting. The corporation hopes eventually the gym will put extra energy on a larger scale, like the national grid reducing the cost of electricity. The Great Outdoor Gym Company has more than 350 gyms around the UK, but this is the first that harnesses energy produced by humans.

            The gym is amazing not only does it get people active and strive to be healthy, but it is also helping the environment. I know my family already like to stay healthy by working out, but it would make it even better knowing you’re creating energy. The science of sustainability and technology are headed everywhere like the gym; it can even start powering it.  

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/world/europe/gym-workout-watts-electricity/index.html

The low-tech, high-design minesweeper By: Halle Van De Hey

The low-tech, high-design minesweeper

In this outstanding article George Webster of CNN talks about the new low tech minesweeper, created by Massoud Hassani. Hassani created this minesweeper because he grew up in an area where there were minesweepers everywhere. He made the minesweeper out of bamboo and biodegradable plastics to make it cheep and ok for the environment. It is composed of plungers that make it resemble a tumble weed. He designed the minesweeper so that it is big enough to withstand up to four explosions before it cannot be used anymore. Like anything put out into the world it is also getting a lot of criticism. People are saying it's not safe, it's not fool proof, and saying that it will cost too much. Hassani is aware of these problems and is actively working on ways to improve the design.

I think this is an amazing invention and with some changes in how it work I think this could be a great step in eliminating land mines all around the world. People like Hassani inspire me because they aspire to do anything they can to help others all around the world. I think that is a very admirable trait, and it is something I would like to show when I grow up. 

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/29/tech/innovation/mine-kafon-tumbleweed-minesweeper/index.html?c=europe&page=0

The "Real Life Benjamin Buttons"-Kennedi Mayes

A case of two brothers mentally aging backwards has been brought to the attention of the media recently. Matthew and Michael Clark are both middle aged English men who have been diagnosed with a terminal type of leukodystrophy, which is a very rare genetic disease that attacks very vital parts of the nervous system and brain. A few years ago, they were both fully functioning men with growing families. Now, they’re in the care of their parents and spend their days having childish fights and playing with toys as if they were 7 years old. Because of the fact that they live in England, their chances of being able to stop or slow down their deterioration are hindered due to the fact that they don’t have the same genetic institutions as the U.S., available to them.

It’s really sad that a disease this twisted exists. It would be the weirdest thing to see my dad acting like he was 5 years old. It’d make me sad to know that one day he may lose his self so much that he wouldn't even recognize me anymore. I hope some solution can be established to help this family, especially since they’re getting so much attention. For all of the families that live in the U.S. and have to face this disease and others similar to it, hopefully the problem can be caught in the early stages and reversed. Maybe this will spark researchers to dig deeper and try to find some kind of cure to this strange disease.

My Source:

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/real-benjamin-buttons-brothers-matthew-michael-clark-aging-193400085.html

Hundreds Flee Fire in Rocky Mountains by Sydney May

Sydney May

     On Saturday, December 1st, a fire blew from three miles away and started burning away in the Rocky Mountains. Winds of 70 miles per hour blew the Fern Lake Fire overnight to the Rockies, burning at least one cabin to ashes. 3,500 acres have been burned so far. According to a fire spokesman, this fire blew three miles in under thirty minutes. 1,100 phones, land or cell, were called to warn people to evacuate. About two-hundred people went to an evacuation center. So far, after a few months of burning, nobody has been injured or killed- just the land. This fire has been burning for two months, but it has just now gotten to Denver and the Rockies. What they really need is snow, as many of them were saying in the article. This article was written by Keith Coffman. I found it to be very informative and scary at the same time, as I have a few close friends living close to that location. It was written for all audiences, had no bias, and was an interesting read. I hope this fire lets up soon and that there continues to be no injuries.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/01/15601815-hundreds-flee-fire-in-rocky-mountain-national-park-outside-denver?lite

Eurostar Train on Fire in Channel Tunnel by Cruz Rendon

    
     Recently, there was a fire in the Channel Tunnel on the French side of Eurostar. The train was heading from Folkestone in England to Coquelles in France when one of the car transporters caught on fire and suspended traffic. No trains were in service during the time. Emergency came quickly and fortunately, no one was hurt.

The article was written by BBC. They bring all the latest news around the world and the headquarters are in the UK. It was written on November 29, 2012 at 11:15 Eastern Time. It was written quickly after the accident. I didn't know anything about this but now I know that Eurostar is the name of their transportation services (kind of like ours is DART). This was written to give anyone information. It's negative in the sense that there was a fire in the first place but the positive side is that everyone was safe. This article was written to give information on what's going on in the UK/France. The point is that there was a fire but everyone is safe. It's important because it told us about an accident. One of our relatives could have been on that train and we wouldn't have known if  no one told the news. Someone could have gotten hurt and no one would know so it's very relevant.

To read more go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20545637

HIV Rising In Greece by Lashaun Morgan

Summary: Greece has had a rise in the HIV infection in Athens,Greece. Most of the rise is happening among drug users. Since Greece is not doing so good financially, they have cut funding for drug treatment and health care. They are usually 10 to 14 infections a year in Greece, but they have shot up to 487 infections since October of this year. 1,049 infections have been recorded the first ten months of this year.The statics show that 487 got the infection from drug use, 256 were homosexual men, and 108 were heterosexual.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57556460/hiv-on-the-rise-in-financially-troubled-greece/

 

Source: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=dirty+needle&FORM=HDRSC2

Analysis: This article was written to inform people what is going on in the world. This article was made November 30 at 11:57 am. The article is trying to make citizen of Greece become aware of there actions. To see that they are making their government more in debt as they make stupid decisions. This  relates to are country because we are going through a financial crisis too, and I'm pretty sure we have had a rise in some kind of infections.

Continental Airlines Cleared of Criminal Responsibility by: Rachel Devine

            On November 29, a French appeals court decided that Continental Airlines was not criminally responsible for the Concorde crash in France. The crash occurred in 2000, and it killed a total of 113 people. In a 2010 ruling, the Continental Airlines crash was blamed on the company and one of the plane’s mechanics.  The appeals court upheld the findings of a lower court. They concluded that a strip of metal that had fallen off of the Continental jet was responsible for the crash. However, Continental still has civil responsibilities and has to pay a fine of 1 million euros.

            I’m glad that they figured out that the crash wasn’t intentional. I feel very bad for all the families that were affected by the crash.  Although this was all just a terrible accident, Continental Airlines must make sure something like this never happens again.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/29/world/europe/france-concorde-crash-ruling/index.html