Current Event Connection, Main

11 Things We Learned This Week

This week, we learned …

… the last speaker of Taushiro is exhausted. “Sometimes, I don’t care anymore.” Read of the week!

How are indigenous organizations creating social change in the Amazon?

 

… the caldera beneath Naples is more dangerous than Vesuvius and Etna combined.

The Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, is an active volcanic area including more than two dozen craters. “It’s much more dangerous than Vesuvius because we don’t know where the eruption will be. But people are more scared of Vesuvius because with Campi Flegrei you don’t see the cone, so there is not the same perception of danger,” says one expert.
Photograph by NASA

What is a caldera?

 

… how America moves its homeless.

Where do you think most homeless Americans live?
Map by National Geographic

How can biking across the U.S. raise awareness about homelessness?

 

… the strange, secret history of the Russian consulate in San Francisco.

The consulate of the Russian Federation was closed on August 31.
Photograph by Eugene Zelenko, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-4.0,3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0

What is a consulate?

 

… collapsing fisheries are threatening Costa Rica’s reputation for crime-free ecotourism.

While Costa Rica generally avoided Central America’s regional conflicts, many scientists think it failed to steer clear of a major global catastrophe: overfishing.
Photograph by Barry Peters, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-2.0

How is Costa Rica working to preserve its marine biodiversity?

 

… the collapse of the Soviet Union has led to the collapse of Russia’s centuries-old village culture.

“The rate of disappearance of our rural heritage is so high, that the present generation will be the last to know it firsthand,” says one Russian demographer.
Photograph by mobinovyc, courtesy Pixabay. Public domain.

How is Russia addressing its Soviet legacy?

 

… Jakarta, Indonesia, is the world’s fastest-sinking city.

The beautiful Jakarta skyline is slowly sinking beneath the sea.
Photograph by Robin Widjaja, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-4.0

Where is Jakarta?

 

… Estonia may be the world’s first digital republic.

A project known as e-Estonia is a governmental effort to transform the country from a state into a digital society.
Photograph courtesy e-Estonia Showroom, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-2.0

Do you think Estonia’s top-ranked school system is contributing to its digital citizenry?

 

… animals can be intersex.

blacktip A Taiwanese Pacific spadenose shark, related to this blacktip beauty at the Greensboro Science Center, “is the latest in a long lineage of gender-fluid, gender-bending, and even ‘trans’ animals to be documented by scientists.”
Photograph by Valerie, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0

How are our explorers working to save sharks with sanctuaries?

 

… these futuristic street lights use prisms, and no energy.

How are scientists using bioluminescence to mitigate our energy use?

 

… what the biggest education stories will be next year.

We will never not use this image when appropriate.
Photograph by Lynn Johnson, National Geographic

Be a part of your own education story—join the next cohort of National Geographic Certified Educators!

Leave a Reply