On Thursday, Sept. 12, two private astronauts, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, conducted the first commercial spacewalk. This spacewalk will also test the new SpaceX Extravehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuits for further space-faring missions. Mission Pilot Scott Poteet and Medical Officer/Mission Specialist Anna Menon pilot Polaris to be on standby for any mishaps inside the spacecraft container.

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Jon Bon Jovi was filming a music video at the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville, Tennessee. During the filming, Bon Jovi noticed an unidentified woman in distress as she stood on the ledge of the bridge, showing signs that she might have been attempting to jump off the bridge and take her own life. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, it became known to the public that two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva—who work with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin—transferred millions of dollars to an American company that paid right-wing influencers, “for videos pushing narratives favorable to the Kremlin, U.S. prosecutors,” according to CBS news. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are both based in Moscow and have been charged with “conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act” after a New York indictment was unsealed. This came after there were numerous allegations that Russia may have been attempting to interfere in the United States 2024 election earlier in the year. 

On Nov. 5, 1856, the French steamship Le Lyonnais was lost forever when a maritime disaster took place, sending the ship to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Massachusetts. Decades later, a marine salvage crew found the wreck of Le Lyonnais about 200 miles off New Bedford, Massachusetts in late August of this year. The discovery of the steamship follows years of work to locate it and also represents a new beginning, said Jennifer Sellitti, a spokesperson for Atlantic Wreck Salvage. According to Sellitti, the next steps are to document the wreck site, map it, and determine what artifacts can be brought to the surface.

Earth Day has come and gone, and many on campus are thinking about ways to make themselves and their respective greenspaces more eco-friendly and anti-omission in the hopes of lowering their carbon footprint. What the masses don’t know is that these sustainable steps have only a minimal effect on the overall system. 

In the wake of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a wave of protests has erupted on college campuses throughout the United States, with students demanding their institutions sever all ties with Israel. Last week, I spoke with one of the spokespersons of the State Universities at New York Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (SUNY BDS) Steering Committee, a movement advocating for a SUNY-wide boycott of Israel, to discuss their goals and responses to criticism surrounding the movement. Below is our conversation:

President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday, Apr. 24, that could potentially ban TikTok, a popular social media platform among tech enthusiasts and the younger generations. According to CNN, TikTok has three options: sell the company in the next year, face a band in the US, or challenge the legislation in court. A Chinese-founded parent company, ByteDance, runs TikTok; “The law stipulates that ByteDance must sell its stake in TikTok in twelve months under the threat of being shut down,” explains NPR.

Parrots, along with the species related to them, are found to be the most intelligent birds in the world with about the intellect of a small child. In March 2024, researchers established that parrots can use technology, such as tablets, to further their brain power and induce mental stimulation. 

Nearly two years ago, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, allowing abortion rights and access to be decided on the state level. After the Supreme Court’s ruling, it was predicted that half of the states in America would instate laws that would restrict or even completely ban abortions, which has so far proven to be accurate. Recently, Arizona joined the ranks of these states with their plan to reinstate a ban originally created in 1864. 

College students may struggle to think beyond convenience in their daily lives due to their busy schedules, and this has led to an increase in unsustainability on campuses. ISB Global describes unsustainable behavior as doing commonplace tasks like picking up something from a vending machine, grabbing a drink from Starbucks, buying a new outfit online, or anything else in that general realm. In ‘doing what is the most convenient,’ there may be a participation in a global epidemic of, as ISB Global explains, “instant gratification and short-term convenience over long-term sustainability.” This, however, does not mean change cannot be made to offset these environmental footprints, especially with the resources available on the SUNY Geneseo campus.

On Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2024, Orenthal “O.J.” Simpson died of prostate cancer at the age of 76. Simpson led a life that was very prevalently in the public eye and made him one of the most famous individuals in America. According to The New York Times, “He was a Heisman Trophy winner and a star for the Buffalo Bills, and he made fortunes as a Hollywood actor and a commercial pitchman—he was the first black star of a national television advertising campaign. Then, in 1994, he was charged with the double murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.” 

Next Saturday, Apr. 20, will be recognized as an unofficial advent where many individuals will collectively celebrate and consume marijuana, a legal drug in New York and 24 other states for adults over 21 years old; It still, though, is illegal to have on any SUNY campus regardless of the possessor’s age. With the weekend approaching, it may be necessary to understand the potential risks associated with cannabis and to learn harm-reduction strategies to ensure wellness and safety.

At around 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 3, the east coast of Taiwan was abruptly shaken due to a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. As of now, it has been confirmed that at least nine people were killed and thousands have been injured. This is the first major earthquake in Taiwan since 1999, when an earthquake of a similar magnitude killed 2,400 people. 

After 50 years of operations, the last running coal plant in New England, Merrimack Station, is set to conclude all operations in 2028. On Mar. 28, Granite Shore Power—a New Hampshire-based company that “sells capacity and electricity to the ISO New England wholesale electricity market”—announced that they are advancing by shutting down any coal-fired generators at the Schiller Station in Portsmouth by 2025. 

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez presented the declaration “Dignitas Infinita” (Infinite Dignity) during a press conference at the Vatican on Monday, Apr. 8. The Vatican issued a document declaring “gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity” according to NBC News, “putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that reject God’s plan for human life.” According to reports, these statements were approved by Pope Francis on Mar. 25.