Tokyo Olympics: A final roundup
A bronze in wrestling: Bajrang Punia took third place in the 65 kg freestyle category thanks to a stunning 8-0 victory—despite a knee injury. But he was not pleased with the outcome: “I am not happy. This is not the result I had set out to achieve. Winning an Olympic medal is no mean achievement, but I can’t jump with joy with a bronze.”
Missing out in golf: Aditi Ashok lost out on the bronze by a whisker—thanks to just one shot that made the difference between #3 and #4. Indian Express explains how it happened.
Other key Olympic results: Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan secured an Olympics medal hatrick by making it to the podium for 1,500m (bronze), 5,000m (gold) and the 10,000m (gold). Bruce Springsteen’s daughter, Jessica, won a team silver in the equestrian event. US athlete Allyson Felix won her seventh gold medal and 11th Olympic medal after the women's 400m sprint relay. She has more medals than any female athlete in Olympic history.
A pentathlon controversy: The German coach was expelled from the Olympics after she was seen punching a horse which was acting up—in an attempt to assist her player. See the moment below:
The closing ceremony: was stunning. Watch a snippet below:
Good related reads: The Hindu explains how the Indian women’s hockey team used pickle juice to avoid cramps. The best read on these amazing women: Sharda Ugra in ESPN on the journey from ‘betiyan’ to ‘badasses’. Indian Express looks at the controversy over super-fast shoes used in track & field—and outcry over ‘technological doping’. Quartz has an important read on how the Nigerian government totally destroyed its own athletes’ Olympics dreams. For a trip down history lane: The Wire looks back at the time when the Indian contingent refused to salute Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. BuzzFeed News rounds up the heartwarming moments of sportsmanship that embody the true Olympic spirit.
Whither foreign vaccines?
On Friday, the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine received emergency use approval. But no one knows when it will be actually available, with the company saying: “While we look forward to meeting our delivery commitments it is premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries.” The Print reports that the Indian government is in no mood to exempt Moderna and Pfizer from liability—for any side effects from their vaccines. This is currently the big sticking point that is holding up their distribution in India. The government hopes homemade vaccines will be sufficient to meet our inoculation goals. So it looks like we won’t have access to any of them anytime soon.
In other vaccine-related news:
- A new government study shows that mixing Covishield and Covaxin is perfectly safe—and may even boost efficacy. But results have not been peer-reviewed as yet.
- The government is also funding a big study in the UK to study the effectiveness of herb ‘Ashwagandha’ in fighting long haul Covid symptoms.
- Last not least, we were amused by this vid comparing vaccine and condom use.
The crazy fares to the UK
Economy-class tickets on Delhi-London flights of Vistara and Air India for August 26 were priced between Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh. The reason: a mad rush of students scrambling to make it to college on time. The other reason: a limit of 30 flights per week on that route. So we have limited supply plus pent-up demand released by the UK’s recent decision to take India off the red list—and allow Indian passengers into the country. Aviation authorities are now looking into the inflated fares—but don’t expect them to fall until the university rush eases. (The Telegraph)
The Gulf Stream is collapsing?
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is part of a large system of ocean currents including the Gulf Stream—which transports warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic. For years now, scientists have warned that its circulation is weakening—but they didn’t whether this was a natural change or signs of “destabilisation.” Now they do, and that difference is critical:
"Imagine a chair, which can be either shifted (with all four legs remaining on the ground) or tilted. Both change the position of the chair, but in the first case the stability of the chair won't be affected, while in the latter case there exists a critical point. If we tilt the chair just slightly further, it will fall down. My results suggest that what is happening to the AMOC is more likely to be a tilting than only a shifting, so the AMOC has moved toward the critical threshold at which it may collapse."
A collapse would have huge repercussions for weather around the world. Big point to remember: We don’t know if and when such a collapse would occur. We’re just worried about clear signs of instability. (CNN)
In equally disheartening news: The world’s largest tire dump in Kuwait City spans six acres and houses seven million rubber tires—and can be seen in space. And now, it’s on fire, and looks like this:
Two space things
One: Virgin Galactic—Richard Branson’s space tour bus—has almost doubled its prices, jacking them from $250,000 to $450,000 per seat. Also available: family packages if you want to book all six seats on the spacecraft. So will anyone pay these crazy prices? Virgin Galactic claims it already has 600 reservations while Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is approaching $100 million in ticket sales. Also see: our explainer on space tourism. (Wall Street Journal)
Two: Elon Musk has constructed the world’s tallest rocket by stacking a Starship second-stage rocket atop a Super Heavy booster vehicle. The 400-foot result—plus the orbital launch stand—is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza. OTOH, there is no evidence that the huge contraption can actually be launched. We’re mostly relieved that the final result doesn’t look anything like that other rocket—because no one is ready for the world’s tallest dildo. (Gizmodo)
Three studies of note
One: Researchers have discovered a series of genetic signals that determine when a woman will hit menopause. And theoretically, these signals can be manipulated to delay its onset. The discovery also allows doctors to inform women at risk of early menopause of their fertility window so they can make more informed decisions. (The Guardian)
Two: A new study shows that a new mother who is getting very little sleep can age incredibly quickly in the months after the baby is born:
“They found that one year after a birth, the mothers who had slept under seven hours a night six months earlier had aged significantly (three to seven years), and also had shorter telomeres in their white blood cells, which is associated with a bevy of diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease and earlier death… The women in the study logged as few as five hours, and more than half of the women in the study slept under seven hours at both six months and one year after birth.”
Fast Company has more on this alarming research.
Three: We all know that being depressed makes us prone to gaining weight. But new research shows that gaining weight can also make us more prone to being depressed:
“[F]or every 4.6 points on the body mass index (BMI) scale, the odds of depression rise by 50%. The result is that a woman 5ft 7in tall and weighing 10 stone [63.5 kg], with a healthy BMI of 21.9, would be at 50% greater risk of depression if she were to put on a little over two stone [12.7 kg], giving her a BMI of 26.5.”
One part of the problem is physiological—as gaining weight also puts us at risk for other health issues that can trigger depression. But the link is also partly psychological due to body-shaming: “Perceptions and stigma could cause individuals to associate negative health consequences with higher BMI and consequently report poorer mental health.” (Times UK)
Three things to see
One: On the other side of the world, Disney unveiled new details of its latest themed resort: the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel—slated to open early next year. It promises a fully immersive experience—which is a dream come true for Star Wars nerds. Also out of the world: The price tag. A starter cabin at the cruiser will cost two adults $4,809 for two nights. Yikes! The Verge has more details. See promo below:
Two: Snickers is in trouble in Spain for an ad that has been slammed as homophobic. Basically, a man goes from “effeminate” to “macho” after eating a bit of chocolate. The company has since apologised. Watch the ad below. (CNN)
Three: Disney+ Hotstar unveiled the first trailer for ‘The Empire’, an epic eight-episode series tracing the lives of the great Mughal emperors—based on the novels of Alex Rutherford. Filmed in India and Uzbekistan, it’s the platform’s most expensive production. (Variety)
