![Significant Digits [19/10/19-25/10/19]](https://www.thereckoner.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/76773173_491731134757573_533250666886332416_n-1280x640.jpg)
Illustration: Lucy Qi
4 More Years
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A scandal-filled campaign finally culminated in Monday’s federal election, where the Liberals won a total of 157 seats to earn a minority government and extend Justin Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister of Canada for another 4 years. The Conservatives won 121 seats, up from the 99 that they won four years ago, and will form the official opposition. Although they have 36 fewer seats than the Liberals, they won the greatest number of votes with 34.4% of the popular vote. More surprising was the resurgence of the nationalist Bloc Quebecois, lead by Yves-François Blanchet, which won 32 seats in the federal election, compared to 10 in 2015, and regained its official party status. Also of note is Jody Wilson-Raybould, who ran and won as an independent candidate in the Vancouver Granville riding after resigning from Trudeau’s cabinet earlier this year following the SNC-Lavalin affair. Trudeau’s cabinet will be sworn in on November 20, 2019. [Global News] [By Janet Chen]
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9 Countries
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On Wednesday, Zambia reported its first case of polio since 1995, bringing the total number of African countries currently battling polio outbreaks to 9. The case was found on the border between Zambia and Congo, which has reported 37 cases so far this year. The epidemic can be linked back to the polio vaccine, which contains a live virus that can mutate, in extremely rare cases, to cause new outbreaks. Amongst the three types of polio, two have been eradicated–type 2 in 2015, and type 3 earlier this week. However, even though global polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, when the global effort to eradicate polio was declared, the virus still maintains a presence in parts of Africa and south Asia. [CBC] [By Janet Chen]
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4th in the world
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Bianaca Andreescu has officially made Canadian tennis history… again. From Mississauga, Ontario, this 19-year old tennis superstar has jumped to the 4th place spot on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour. She is the first Canadian to reach this high of a ranking, beating her old record of 5th, which tied with Eugenie Bouchard back in 2014. And after a 17-match win streak recently broken, only greater things are expected to come from this upcoming US Open champion. [CBC][By David Walji]
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5 New Islands
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Imagine you’re a university undergrad in St Petersburg. You’re busy looking at satellite images for a research paper when you identify 5 unknown land masses in the middle of the Arctic—that aren’t on any map. This was the situation Marina Muganova found herself in, an engineering student at the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy. Now these 5 new land masses in the Arctic were originally found in 2014 but were covered by glaciers. However, with a little help from global warming, these glaciers have melted, leaving the land masses exposed. The islands range from as small as 30 to well over 54 000 square meters. In fact, the Northern Fleet Hydrographic Service has said that there are plants and algae flourishing on the islands and even large land animals—maybe even a bear. These new islands have not been the first, and will almost most definitely not be the last, as scientists have now recorded the average temperature in the Arctic region to be over 5 degrees Celsius warmer. 5 degrees to match the 5 new islands—was it worth it? [National Post][By David Walji]
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30 Years
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Lebanon is in the midst of a social revolution. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Lebanese cities to protest the regressive status quo, set in place 30 years ago at the conclusion of the Lebanese Civil War. Though Prime Minister Saad Harari has announced a package of reforms to appease the protestors, and demanded his coalition partners to fall in line, demonstrators don’t think it’s enough. The public blames their elite for a struggling economy, corruption, and perpetually delayed reforms. This revolt has brought a rarely-seen unity to Lebanon’s diverse sects, where Lebanese of all backgrounds are standing against the mismanagement of their country by their leaders. [CBC][By Xingming Xu]
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830 Pesos
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Protestors took to the streets in Santiago, Chile, in Early October against a metro fare hike from 800 to 830 pesos ($1.13 to $1.16 CDN). Though Chile has since dropped the increase in price, the country has been gripped by a nationwide movement against social and economic inequality in Chile. While US-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet has been gone since 1990, his disastrous, US-approved economic policies have outlived him. The Chilean people suffer from low wages, poor public services, and high prices for basic, privatized amenities, including water. In an effort to defuse the ongoing crisis, President Sebastián Piñera has vowed to reform the country, although the 18 killed civilians and the tanks rolling through Santiago as of October 24 make his efforts seem less convincing. [Al Jazeera][By Xingming Xu]
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2nd Acquisition
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Amazon has made a second acquisition in the healthcare industry. After buying PillPack for US $753 million last year to enter the online pharmacy industry, it has bought Health Navigator, a small startup founded by emergency medicine doctor David Thompson. Health Navigator, an online symptom checker and triage tool, will be used as part of Amazon’s Amazon Care clinics, which are being piloted to provide virtual medical care to its employees. [CNBC][By Serena Poonawalla]
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1 Jail Complex Closing
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The Rikers Island jail complex, located in New York, is finally closing after 87 years. Infamous for its abundance of violence and brutal conditions, this jail has been home to stabbings, prisoners baking to death, beatings, and a lot of death in general. The City Council of New York City decided this issue needed to be addressed, and after a vote, the $8 billion plan to close the complex was approved on October 17. By 2026, four new, smaller jails will be built closer to the city’s main courthouses in place of Rikers. The crime rate in New York is already on a steady decline, and this move may be the push needed for City officials’ goal of only 3300 prisoners incarcerated daily. Hopefully, these reforms will prove to be worthwhile in the future. [The Guardian] [By Cynthia Wang]
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200 Seconds
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Quantum computing sounds like something out of science fiction—but it turns out it’s entirely real. On October 23, Google claimed that its quantum computer, named Sycamore, solved a nearly impossible problem. Sycamore generated a long list of random numbers and checked its values a million times in just 200 seconds; as a comparison, it would take the world’s best supercomputers about 10,000 years to solve the same calculation. Using the complicated concepts of quantum mechanics, Sycamore has 53 qubits that perform tasks about 1.5 trillion times faster than an average computer, which is how it managed this incredible feat. Although we are still far off from personal quantum computers, Google’s achievement is certainly a big step in the right direction. [Livescience] [By Cynthia Wang]
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39 Bodies Found in a Trailer
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The bodies of 39 people were found in a refrigerated shipping container by Essex Police in Waterglade Industrial Park outside of London. The victims, 31 men and 8 women, are all believed to be Chinese nationals. The 25 year old truck driver from Northern Ireland was arrested following the grim discovery on suspicion of murder. U.K. police have since arrested a man and a woman in Warrington, 30 km east of Liverpool on suspicion of human trafficking. For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach the U.K., stowed away in the back of trucks. In 2000, British customs officials found the bodies of 58 Chinese nationals who had suffocated after being crammed in a tomato truck in Dover, England. The Chinese Embassy in London said that it has sent a team to Essex and the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that police had not yet been able to verify the nationalities of the victims. [CBC] [By Umar Yousafzai]
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$1 trillion invested by 2040
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A recent report published by the International Energy Agency suggests offshore wind turbines have the potential to supply all of the world’s electricity. Following a close study, offshore wind is believed to have the ability to compete with top energy sources such as shale oil and gas. The report predicts up to $1 trillion could be invested in the industry by 2040 as new and improved technology allows for an increase in production and a drop in prices. As many countries try to reduce their carbon footprint, they have become interested in offshore wind turbines. For example, the EU’s growth in offshore wind capacity is expected to far outpace demand as offshore wind is poised to be the region’s largest source of electricity. Countries such as China, Canada and the U.S. have much potential with offshore wind turbines, given their vast coastlines. As climate change grows in severity, offshore wind power seems to be a sustainable and popular option for future energy production. [CNN] [By Anirudh Goel]
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15 Teenagers Suing the Government
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On October 25th, 2019, 15 teenager climate activists from all over the country met with each other – and with teen climate activist Greta Thunberg – for the first time on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery. The 15 Canadians announced that they were collectively suing the government of Canada, claiming that the nation has violated their rights by contributing to the greenhouse emissions that are warming our planet. These 15 teens are also demanding that the government of Canada come up with a solid plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ranging from the ages of 12 to 19, these teenagers say that they have “suffered specific individualized injuries” because of climate change, including asthma, mental health problems, and, in one teen’s case, Lyme Disease. This lawsuit is one of many similar cases that are occuring in the world – the United States and Denmark being key examples. The case is yet to be tested in court.[CBC][By Anushka Tripathi]
