The Design Museum in London has announced the winners of the 2020 Beazley Designs of the Year, honouring see-saws connecting children on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, improvised brick arches created by Hong Kong protesters and vegan burgers. The Beazley awards don’t only consider aesthetics and user experience. They look at the bigger picture … Continue reading “Design as Activism Honoured in Beazley Awards”
Captain Sir Tom Moore, the WWII veteran who raised British spirits during lockdown 1 with his sponsored walk to raise funds for the NHS before his 100th birthday, died in hospital on 2 February. “Captain Tom”, as he soon became known, became the positive role model people really needed during the pandemic. He had originally … Continue reading “The Last Post for Captain Tom”
Amidst all the chaos in Washington, D.C. on 6 January, as Congress tried to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win, a quieter but possibly just as revolutionary election event was taking place in the deep South. In Georgia’s runoff Senate elections, both seats were won by Democrats, giving Biden a tiny but working majority in Congress. … Continue reading “Georgia on their Minds”
Australia started the new year with a change in its national anthem designed to be more inclusive of all Australians. On 31 December, Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the change of a single word that is heavy with significance. The words of “Advance Australia Fair” included the line “For we are young and free”. … Continue reading “Change in Australia’s National Anthem to Reflect Indigenous Heritage”
Not all the scientists researching a Covid vaccine or cure are professionals working in labs. Anika Chebrolu, 14, from Texas, has been named America’s Top Young Scientist 2020 for finding a compound that could bind to the distinctive spike protein in the SARS-Cov-2 virus and potentially inhibit its ability to infect human cells. Anika is … Continue reading “Teen Scientist Looking for a Covid Cure”
It’s the traditional time of year for dictionary publishers to announce their “word of the year”. In a year dominated by the pandemic, Oxford Dictionaries decided to choose several, whereas Collins chose “lockdown” from a shortlist dominated by the health emergency. Merriam Webster in the States went with the word “pandemic” itself. Frequently-used words this … Continue reading “2020: A Year in Language”
Many countries in Europe have instituted lockdowns with the aim of reducing coronavirus transmissions enough to allow their populations to have a semblance of a normal Christmas. In the U.S., the problem of family get-togethers is a whole month earlier, with Thanksgiving, which falls this year on Thursday 26 November. With COVID-19 infections spiking all … Continue reading “Thanksgiving Despite Coronavirus”
After four days of tense waiting, demonstrations and threats of legal challenge, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris emerged as the next President and Vice-President of the United States on Saturday 7 November. In the absence of a national election body, it was the media organisation Associated Press which called wins for the Democratic ticket in … Continue reading “Finally…. a Result”
Until the recent past, the electoral college was barely mentioned in descriptions of the U.S. Presidential electoral system. But then came the 2000 election, when George W. Bush lost the popular vote, but won the majority of electoral college votes. And 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a 3 million margin, but … Continue reading “Explaining the Electoral College”
Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the Supreme Court replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg on 27 October, barely a week before the presidential election. After Justice Ginsburg’s death on 18 September, the nomination of a new Justice became a political battle. Justice Ginsburg was one of the four Democratic-nominated Justices out of the nine … Continue reading “Supreme Court Confirmation Rushed Through”
