, week of
Sep. 25, 2023
1. END OF THE DVD ERA
On Friday, Netflix announced they will no longer offer the mail-order DVD service that launched the company 25 years ago. Netflix once mailed 1.2 million DVDs a week in its signature red envelopes, changing the way people watched movies at home, free from due dates and late fees that people ran into at local video rental stores. Fun fact: The first movie Netflix ever shipped was “Beetlejuice.” At its peak, Netflix was the US Postal Service’s fifth largest customer, offering one-day delivery to almost all of its customer base long before Amazon Prime got in the game. Even as the service prepared to shut down, Netflix was still mailing around 50,000 DVDs a week to a loyal base of around one million customers. In its announcement, Netflix invited the DVD customers to keep their last rentals. Stories like this highlight the way technology changes during our lifetimes. Think about the technology you use on a daily basis—watching TV, doing homework, talking to friends, playing games. How do you think that might change in the next ten years? How about fifty years? Write down your ideas and share them with your classmates.
2. WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT
India is taking a large step for gender equality. Their legislative branch of government, like ours, has two houses—an upper and lower house. The country passed a law that will require at least one-third of the seats in the lower house of Parliament, and in state legislatures, to be filled by women. It doesn’t apply to the upper house, but those members are chosen by the state legislatures, which will be affected by the new rule. While the rule won’t go into effect for India’s elections next year, it will eventually give women better representation in the country’s political process. Think about how this kind of rule would work in the United States. Do you think it’s a good thing to implement? Why or why not? Write down your thoughts and share them with your classmates.
3. AN IMPRESSIVE FIND
A woman who purchased a painting at a New Jersey thrift store for $4 in 2017 was shocked to find out that it was an original oil painting by a famous American illustrator. It was by N.C. Wyeth, who is best known for illustrating “Treasure Island” and “Robin Hood.” The buyer posted pictures of the painting and the signed label on the back of it on Facebook, where it drew the attention of an art expert, who examined it and told them who the artist was and where it came from—it was part of a four-image set Wyeth created for the book “Ramona,” published in 1939. The painting sold in an art auction last week for $191,000. If you were going to interview the person who bought the painting at the thrift store for an article about the story, write down some questions you would ask them.
4. A MISSING PLANE
Last week, a military pilot parachuted away from his fighter jet, falling more than 1,000 feet into a home’s backyard. He lost sight of the plane as he was falling and it took officials another day to find where it landed. Because of a safety feature that keeps the plane steady if a pilot’s hands are no longer on the controls, it kept flying for another 60 miles before crashing in a rural area of South Carolina. While planes are normally tracked with radar, another safety feature of the fighter jet erases its communications when a pilot ejects from the plane—to protect the pilot’s location if they were dropping into enemy territory—made it hard to find the plane as it continued to fly and finally crashed. Write a short article about the event and draw a picture or pictures to help illustrate your story.
5. A HEARTWARMING OPERATION
A 58-year-old Navy veteran was dying from heart failure and wasn’t eligible for a transplant because of other health problems. But surgeons found an opportunity to try to help him and advance medical research at the same time. They implanted a pig’s heart into the man, a procedure that’s only been done one other time—that man lived two months after the transplant. People’s immune systems usually attack animal-to-human organ transplants, but scientists have been working on genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more similar to humans. This would help with the shortage of human organs donated for transplant and could be lifesaving for thousands of people. Write a short article that summarizes the facts of this story and how it might help humans in the future.
wiki ya Septemba 25, 2023 Netflix imesema kuwa haitoendelea kutoa huduma ya DVD ya mauzo ya barua ambayo ilianzisha kampuni hiyo miaka 25 iliyopita. Netflix ilituma DVD milioni 1.2 kwa wiki katika bahasha zake za rangi nyekundu, na kubadilisha njia ya watu kutazama filamu nyumbani, bila tarehe za mwisho na ada za kuchelewa ambazo watu walikutana nazo kwenye maduka ya kukodisha video. "Mfano: ""Beetlejuice"" ni filamu ya kwanza iliyotolewa na Netflix, ambayo ilikuwa mteja wa tano kwa ukubwa wa Huduma ya Posta ya Marekani, na kutoa utoaji wa siku moja kwa karibu wateja wake wote kabla ya Amazon Prime kuanza." Hata wakati huduma hiyo ilipokuwa ikijitayarisha kufungwa, Netflix ilikuwa bado ikituma DVD karibu 50,000 kwa wiki kwa msingi wa uaminifu wa wateja milioni moja. Katika tangazo lake, Netflix aliwaalika wateja wa DVD kuweka kukodisha yao ya mwisho. Hadithi kama hizi zinaonyesha jinsi teknolojia inavyobadilika wakati wa maisha yetu. Fikiria juu ya teknolojia unayotumia kila siku - kutazama televisheni, kufanya kazi za nyumbani, kuzungumza na marafiki, kucheza michezo. Unafikiri hilo linaweza kubadilikaje katika miaka kumi ijayo? Namna gani miaka hamsini? Andika mawazo yako na uwaambie wanafunzi wenzako. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Wanawake katika Serikali India inachukua hatua kubwa kwa usawa wa kijinsia. Tawi lao la kisheria la serikali, kama letu, lina nyumba mbili - nyumba ya juu na ya chini. Sheria hiyo inatoa sheria ya kwamba angalau thuluthi moja ya viti katika bunge la chini na katika bunge la majimbo vinapaswa kujazwa na wanawake. Haitumiki kwa baraza la juu, lakini wanachama hao huchaguliwa na bunge la jimbo, ambalo litaathiriwa na sheria mpya. Ingawa sheria hiyo haitakuwa na athari kwa ajili ya uchaguzi wa India mwaka ujao, hatimaye itawapa wanawake uwakilishi bora katika mchakato wa kisiasa wa nchi hiyo. Fikiria jinsi sheria ya aina hii ingefanya kazi nchini Marekani. Je, unafikiri ni jambo zuri kutekeleza? Kwa nini au kwa nini si? Andika mawazo yako na uwaambie wanafunzi wenzako. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Mwanamke mmoja aliyenunua mchoro katika duka la New Jersey kwa dola 4 alishtuka alipogundua kuwa ni mchoro wa awali wa mafuta uliochorwa na mchoraji maarufu wa Marekani. "Wyeth, ambaye anajulikana kwa kuchora ""Treasure Island"" na ""Robin Hood,"" aliandika picha za mchoro huo na lebo iliyoandikwa nyuma yake kwenye Facebook, ambapo ilivutia umakini wa mtaalam wa sanaa, ambaye aliuchunguza na kuwaambia ni nani msanii na ni wapi alitoka. ""Ilikuwa sehemu ya seti ya picha nne Wyeth iliyoundwa kwa kitabu ""Ramona"" ilichapishwa mwaka 1939.""" Picha hiyo iliuzwa kwa dola 191,500 katika mnada wa sanaa wiki iliyopita. Ikiwa ungependa kumhoji mtu aliyenunua mchoro huo kwenye duka la vitu vya zamani ili upate makala kuhusu hadithi hiyo, andika maswali fulani ambayo ungewauliza. 4. Uwe na uhakika Ndege ya kijeshi ya Marekani imeporomoka kwa kutumia parachuti kutoka kwenye ndege yake ya kivita, ikishuka kutoka umbali wa mita 1,000 hadi kwenye uwanja wa nyumbani. Ndege hiyo ilipotea macho yake wakati ilipokuwa ikishuka na ilichukua siku nyingine kwa maafisa kupata mahali ilipowasili. Kwa sababu ya kifaa cha usalama ambacho huhifadhi ndege ikiwa mikono ya rubani haipo tena kwenye udhibiti, ndege hiyo iliendelea kuruka kwa maili 60 kabla ya kuanguka katika eneo la mashambani la South Carolina. Wakati ndege ni kawaida kufuatiliwa na rada, kipengele kingine cha usalama wa ndege ya kivita kufuta mawasiliano yake wakati rubani ejects kutoka ndege - kulinda eneo la rubani kama walikuwa kushuka katika eneo la adui - alifanya ni vigumu kupata ndege kama iliendelea kuruka na hatimaye ajali. Andika makala fupi kuhusu tukio hilo na uchore picha au picha ili kusaidia kuelezea hadithi yako. 5. Uwe na mtazamo mzuri. Mzee wa jeshi la wanamaji mwenye umri wa miaka 58 alikuwa akifa kutokana na kushindwa kwa moyo na hakuwa na haki ya kupandikizwa kwa sababu ya matatizo mengine ya afya. Lakini madaktari wa upasuaji walipata fursa ya kujaribu kumsaidia na wakati huohuo kuendeleza utafiti wa kitiba. Waliweka moyo wa nguruwe ndani ya mwanamume huyo, utaratibu ambao umefanywa mara moja tu - mwanamume huyo aliishi miezi miwili baada ya kupandikizwa. Kwa kawaida mfumo wa kinga wa binadamu huathiri viungo vya mwili vinavyopandikizwa kutoka kwa mnyama hadi kwa binadamu, lakini wanasayansi wamekuwa wakifanya kazi ya kubadilisha chembe za urithi za nguruwe ili kufanya viungo vyao viwe sawa na vya binadamu. Hii itasaidia katika upungufu wa viungo vya binadamu vilivyotolewa kwa ajili ya kupandikiza na inaweza kuwa kuokoa maisha kwa maelfu ya watu. Andika makala fupi inayoelezea kwa ufupi mambo ya hakika ya hadithi hii na jinsi inavyoweza kuwasaidia wanadamu wakati ujao.