Tuesday, July 12 top stories
It is Tuesday, July 12. Here are today’s top stories.
NASA shares images from James Webb Space Telescope
On Monday NASA and President Biden unveiled the first official image from the new James Webb Space Telescope.
It showed a cluster of galaxies in an area called SMACS 0723, which is about 4 billion light-years away from Earth. Because it is so distant, the photo is actually a snapshot from 13 billion years ago because it takes that long for light to travel from there to the telescope.
Today NASA shared several more images in a ceremony. One of the images showed what seemed to be an orange cloud filled with stars, which is a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula.
Another image showed Stephan’s Quintet, which is a grouping of five galaxies.
A third image shows a cloud of gas around a dying star in an area called the Southern Ring Nebula.
UN says world will reach 8 billion
The U.N. estimated that the world’s population will reach 8 billion this November and that India will overtake China as the country with the most people in it by next year.
The U.N. estimated that the world would reach 9.7 billion by 2050 with the majority of new humans coming from eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania.
Only half of GOP voters in poll want Trump in 2024
A New York Times / Siena College poll of 350 Republican voters found that only half of them wanted Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee during the 2024 presidential election.
About 25 percent of the respondents preferred Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor.
A smaller percentage said they wanted to see either Ted Cruz, Mike Pence, or Nikki Haley as the Republican nominee.
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
———
[Advertisement from Disaster Distress Helpline: After a disaster, you may be at risk for emotional distress. Warning signs can include feeling isolated, anxious, having trouble sleeping and more. If you or someone you know is Deaf or hard of hearing, the Disaster Distress Helpline offers a direct videophone option.
This free service for ASL users is answered 24/7 by trained crisis workers fluent in ASL and can be accessed using any videophone-enabled device and dialing 1-800-985-5990 or at disasterdistress.samhsa.gov.]
———
Euro and U.S. dollar now worth the same
CNN Business reported that for the “first time in 20 years, the exchange rate between the euro and the U.S. dollar has reached parity — meaning the two currencies are worth the same.”
The euro has seen its value decline about 12% since the start of the year.
A major factor is Russia’s war on Ukraine, as it’s brought on a massive, negative impact on energy sources available to the European Union because it used to be heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. The supply cut-offs have caused a crisis.
Omicron variant BA.5 now dominant in the U.S.
NPR reported that the CDC considers an omicron variant of Covid-19 called BA.5 to be the most dominant strain of the coronavirus in the country.
The BA.5 variant is causing people to become infected multiple times. A scientific expert told NPR that BA.5 is highly transmissible and seems to be able to sidestep immunity that people may have from prior infections and vaccinations.
NPR reported that so far, there is no evidence that BA.5 causes more serious illness. However, one area of concern is that those who become infected with the coronavirus multiple times may be at a higher risk of developing long-COVID symptoms.
There is a new booster shot that is specific towards omicron that may roll out this fall. In the meanwhile, health experts continue to recommend vaccinations, booster shots, and wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces.
Father of Parkland shooting victim interrupts Biden speech
On Monday, a father of one of the Parkland school shooting victims interrupted President Biden’s remarks at the White House about the passage of a new federal gun safety law.
The father’s name is Manuel Oliver. His son, Joaquin, was killed during the school shooting in 2018.
He shouted, “We’ve already gone through this for years and years!”
Biden responded by asking him to sit down. But he was escorted away.
The White House later said their hearts go out to Oliver and that Biden, who has met him before, agrees that we need to do more.
The new federal law aims to prevent those convicted of domestic violence and those who are considered a danger to themselves or others from purchasing guns.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/12/science/webb-telescope-images-nasa
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/12/james-web-space-telescope-photos-nasa-universe
https://apnews.com/article/china-united-nations-antonio-guterres-00f6ef38132fe988ceb3e7e143e1f033
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/12/us/politics/trump-approval-polling-2024.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/investing/euro-dollar-parity/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/11/1110804098/omicron-ba5-variant-covid-reinfections