Current Affairs
The constant changing world can overload you with so much information that it could make your head spin! That's why we're on the job. Anti-drug campaign on Youtube? The hunting of whales? It's all here in the Current Affairs section. Major and recent news reaches the paper, and luckily, the news team has it covered. Pluto has gone dwarf? This, and much more, will be found here, in the Current Affairs section.
- Co-Z
Whales Heading For The Japanese Dinner Table? - By: Meen The Iceland Government announced, on the 17th October, that the hunting of whales and the commercial distribution of whale meat could resume. Whalers there wasted no time - on Sunday they caught a Fin Whale, the second largest animal in the world. It was the most-hunted whale in the twentieth century, and has since become an endangered species. The scary thing is, eight more Fin Whales are allowed to be caught by Icelandic whalers before 31st August 2007. Thirty other whales, of different species, can also be legally killed and sold. This mostly consists of the Minke Whale, which is considerably smaller than the Fin Whale. This whale nearly suffered extinction in the 1960's, when Norwegian whale catching was at its highest.
Representatives of the UK's Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society predict that Iceland is planning large-scale exports. Although nobody can be sure, the obvious consumer would be Japan. Trade in whale meat between the two countries is legal, since both have an exemption under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) act. "Japan congratulates Iceland for taking this decision," says Hideki Moronuki of the Japanese Fisheries Agency.
Iceland's announcement may encourage other pro-whaling nations to pressure the International Whaling Commission into allowing the commercial hunting of whale.
Some readers will remember that recently a seven-tonne Northern Bottle-Nosed Whale accidentally swam up the Thames River in London. This whale remained in the news for several days - and attracted a large crowd intending to help the whale. The rescue operation to take it downstream failed and it eventually died, causing a general public sadness. So why are very little people bothered about the fact that commercial whaling is now allowed in Iceland?
Although the future of the international whale trade is unsure, we can conclude that it really does suck to be a whale near Iceland right now.
Credit: Encarta, MSN
Pluto ~ No Longer a Planet - By: Sir Snap
Pluto has been officially demoted from its status as a planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU), at a meeting in August 2006, voted on their first "official" definition of a planet. Based on this new definition, Pluto is no longer a planet. According to the IAU's definition, our Solar System has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In the new scheme, Pluto will be one of several "dwarf planets" in the Solar System; but "dwarf planets" are not considered true planets.
The controversy over Pluto's status as a planet has been brewing for years. Astronomers have long hypothesized the existence of a large class of icy objects, called Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), on the outer layers of our Solar System. The first KBO was discovered in the early 1990s. Scientists recognized that Pluto, which was discovered in 1930, was really "just" one of many KBOs. In terms of its composition and its orbit, Pluto is unlike the other eight planets; but is quite similar to other objects in the Kuiper Belt. Until 2003 Pluto was still the largest of the KBOs yet discovered. However, the discovery of 2003 UB313 in that year further called into question Pluto's status as a full-fledged planet.
There is still some controversy and disagreement amongst astronomers about the new definition of a "planet". We will have to wait and see whether the new definition "sticks" or not. For now, there are three official classes of objects in our Solar System: planets, dwarf planets, and small solar system bodies. Planets include the eight traditional planets from Mercury to Neptune, but no longer Pluto. Pluto is joined amongst the dwarf planets by 2003 UB313 and the large asteroid Ceres. Several other Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) will likely join the ranks of the dwarf planets, including Sedna and Quaoar. Small solar system bodies include most asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Pluto will no longer go down as a planet.
Credit: BBC News
YouTube-US Government Anti-Drug Campaign By: Tmbrown100
Credit: Youtube.com
YouTube is one of the fastest growing site's on the net, showing more then 1 million videos a day. Which allows any video to be uploaded and viewed by millions of people, the anti-establishment feel of many of the videos posted, makes the site popular among teenagers, who are the prime/future drug users. The Whitehouse has leaped on the chance of furthering their "War on drugs", which has been slightly overshadowed by the "War on terror".
If you type "marijuana" into YouTube, you will find hundreds of videos promoting its use, but the anti-drug videos are amongst them, competing for attention. A number of the videos use humour to put their message across, using slogans which will stay in your mind such as "High for a night, slow for a month". The advert which that slogan featured in, involved a martial artist, trying to break a beam of wood in half. He hit it on the edge instead of the centre, sending it flying into his head. Funny as it is, the message is still there.
This scheme has been greeted with some criticism, many people disregard these advertisements. The attitude that this does not concern me, I do not need to see or more importantly, understand the effects of these drugs. Also, the more rebellious among you believe that as the government say it is bad, it is therefore cool. Which in this case means that the government is promoting the use of illegal drugs.
Over the last 20 years government figures show a 30% drop in the regular use of illegal drugs, which is estimated at around 7 million fewer users. However teenage drug use has not fallen as rapidly, but it is slowly decreasing over time. Perhaps the government are doing something right after all?
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