Lead-Tainted Water A Cause Of Concern For Flint Residents
Residents of Flint depend on Flint river water, but the corrosive nature of the river has broken down their pipes and lead have started to enter the supply. It has become a cause of concern as children are reported to have doubled the lead levels. State troopers and volunteers are supplying canned water and filters to the residents post the state of emergency being declared in the city by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Commenting on this a Flint resident lamented that despite paying for water bills they had to buy water. The water in Flint was declared unsafe in October last year. But reports have it that the state was aware of the situation since July.
Post the water switch in 2014 the interstate health study identified high lead levels in children. The residents were not informed about the alarming levels of lead in the water, and they were allowed to drink the water for two months. In this connect Governor Snyder went to Flint on Monday and apologized for the present condition. The governor’s words were not appealing to the residents as they found it hollow. A resident of Flint Elena Richardson said that she was worried about her children as the pediatrician informed her of contaminated water leading to skin rashes and mouth sores. She added that it is sad when nobody cares, especially because Synder doesn’t stay here informs Richardson.
Another resident of Flint Gladys Williams said, “We’re the walking dead. We just haven’t had the dirt thrown upon us yet.”
Moreover, Snyder while talking to the reporters said that the experts said that the high lead level is only seasonal. It was only on October 1 the lead levels were confirmed said the governor. The Federal Justice Department will be conducting an investigation into this affair.
The Power Beyond The Like Button In Facebook
Now there is some interesting news for Facebook buffs as they will have six new emotions to use very soon. While discussing the quarterly earnings report with analysts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not reveal much about the latest development. This new emotion now will give more than just the thumbs-up symbol that people normally click to register their like for a photo, video or comment. The six new emotions will include sad, wow, angry, haha, love and yay. Though, not much of the information on the emotions has been revealed by Zuckerberg.
The CEO sees this as a way to give people an opportunity to share their emotions better. He said, “We want people to be able to share all of the things that are meaningful to them, not just the things that are happy and that people are going to like when they see it,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday.” He added that these six choices would help people to express their thought effectively and give an opportunity to remain on the social networking site longer. The reactions are being tested in the Philippines, Chile, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Ireland, and Colombia. The new option will be offered to the world simultaneously, and there are so more refinements needed before it is done informed Zuckerberg.
Science Initiative For US – Israel Announced
Recently, a scholarship program for American students to study Sciences in Israel was announced. The leading real estate magnate and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman announced the above. It is the Zuckerman STEM leadership program that is taking things in a different way. It will be providing around $100 million and more scholarship opportunities. The program promises its contribution for the next 20 years. Funding for American graduates will be supplied diligently. They will be studying post-graduate researches in Israel. World renowned Israeli universities have led to many incredible discoveries.
Top most universities include Tel Aviv University, The Weizmann Institute Of Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion-Israel Institute Of Technology. The collaboration is necessary to enhance the cultural and technical heritage of a country. This program enables the American graduates to gain the best of opportunities from the top most Israeli institutes. The next generation of American and Israeli academicians will get a very good opportunity through this program. Zuckerman officially announced this initiative at the Harvard Club Of New York City.
Andrew Cuomo of Democratic Gov. attending the event said It is a great help for American students to learn and work alongside some of the leading researchers in Israel. Such programs can develop societies as a whole. This is anticipated by most people who have known about the program. The news conference was also attended by Ada Yonath, Eric Kandal, Aaron Ciechanover and Richard Axel. These are some of the best global noble laureates. Zuckerman is the chairman of Boston Properties. Alongside, he is also a publisher of the Daily New York news and US news.
It will be a significant step towards building healthy foreign relations as well. Exchange of American and Israeli expertise will pave the way for modern technologies to come. Science is a vast field to be explored. More the number of minds, more will be the productivity of research. Similar hopes are coming up with the program put up by Zuckerman. The funding is in the process, and the scholarship program is already drawing a lot of attention. It will also encourage many postgraduate aspirants to take their knowledge further.