Sports: Super Bowl LVIII to Be Played on Sunday
Kicking off at 6:30 p.m. on February 11 in Las Vegas, the Super Bowl LVIII will be a tight match between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, with the 49ers narrowly favored to win, according to USA Today. The 49ers will be looking to tie the NFL record for most Super Bowl wins (six), while the Chiefs are seeking to win their third Super Bowl title in five years. The halftime show will be headlined by Usher, songwriter of hit tracks like “Yeah!” and “DJ Got Us Falling in Love.” Additionally, according to CNN, this year’s Super Bowl is the most expensive ever with the tickets for the worst seating areas costing an exorbitant 7,000 dollars.
Technology: Big Tech CEOs Grilled in Congress Over Social Media’s Harms to Children
The United States Congress held a hearing at the end of January to question the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Discord, and X (formerly known as Twitter) respectively about the harm social media can do to children and adolescents. According to NBC News and CNN, senators from both sides of the political aisle questioned and attempted to obtain future commitments for greater protective measures from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, and TikTok CEO Shou Chew. These hearings followed the release of internal documents of various social media companies, such as layoffs in child safety assurance departments or Meta’s estimates that valued the average teenager’s life at 270 dollars.
Economy: Buying a House Is Increasingly Difficult for Younger People
According to CNN, adequate housing has become harder and harder to find for young people trying to start families, partially due to the fact that Baby Boomers are still holding onto their larger houses through retirement and partially because home price growth is outpacing the growth of salaries and wages. In an article by the Associated Press, the median home price nationwide was 389,000 dollars, which is unaffordable for many Millennials and Gen Z members trying to start families. As a result, the housing market has hit a 30-year low, with 2023 sales dipping 18.7 percent compared to 2022. However, many working in real estate are hopeful for a resurgence in the housing market, given that mortgage rates have begun to lower again.
World Politics: New Argentinian President Javier Milei Faces Difficulty Integrating Reforms
Argentinian President, Javier Milei, has integrated many new reforms since he was elected president in December of 2023. However, despite his efforts to help the country, many of his reforms have had negative consequences and many Argentinians are protesting his reforms. According to Stefano Pozzebon, a writer for CNN, Milei has also announced reforms to weaken labor protections, cutting regulations and government subsidies and allowing companies to hire and fire employees more quickly. The amount of financial aid given to workers when the agricultural harvest is not taking place has diminished completely, which has greatly impacted the quality of life of many.
Climate: Energy Industry Knew About Fossil Fuels’ Impact on the Climate as Early as 1954
Many newly found documents have proven that since 1954 the industry of fossil fuels has paid for much of the most fundamental science regarding climate change. One of the documents found was the preliminary research of Charles Keeling, a climate scientist who created the “Keeling Curve,” which tracks the increasing trend in the carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere. According to Oliver Milman, a writer for The Guardian, a coalition of oil and car manufacturing interests provided 13,814 dollars (about 158,000 dollars in today’s money) in measuring carbon dioxide levels across the western United States of America. In 1954, Samuel Epstein, a researcher at CalTech, wrote in a different document how the rate of photosynthesis and the rates of equilibrium with carbonate of the oceans could change considerably due to an increase in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might be truly significant to civilizations in the future.
Health: Scientists Can Tell How Fast You Age
By using a series of tests, scientists can now figure out your biological age, according to NPR. One of these measurements includes fat to lean mass ratio, which indicates strength, a key factor in determining longevity. Other tests focus on smell, to check olfactory function (a loss of which can signal cognitive decline), and retina scans along with eye imaging, which can often reveal unknown diseases are also conducted. In addition, a test called GrimAge is often used, which measures DNA methylation, in which methyl groups attach to our DNA in certain spots and accelerate the aging process. Scientists are now conducting a variety of experiments to find a solution, whether it be stress reduction or intermittent fasting, that will slow our aging.
