🐤 Rings around the planet

🎨 Marred Monument: One of the nation’s most recognizable structures was closed this week after vandals splashed red paint on it and scrawled an obscenity across its base. The U.S. Park Police confirmed that a suspect was arrested in connection with the defacement of the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital.

⚔️ Putin’s Provocation: Months after authorizing an invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this week that he had partially mobilized military reservists to advance his military plan. Furthermore, he called out other world leaders and confirmed that he would be willing to use nuclear weapons if he felt it was necessary. As part of his ominous address, he proclaimed: “When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal. It’s not a bluff.”

📱 Apple Abroad: Although iPhones and other popular Apple products have long been manufactured in China, recent reports indicate that it would be diversifying that process over the next few years. Insiders predict that India will be responsible for producing about 5% of all iPhone 14 models by the end of this year — and about one-fourth of the company’s ubiquitous smartphones by 2025. Vietnam is set to manufacture about 20% of iPads and Apple Watches, 65% of AirPods, and 5% of MacBooks within the next three years.

🎰 Blocked Bets: Live streamers of all types have gravitated to the Twitch platform in recent years, including a wide range of gamblers. Beginning next month, however, the site will begin banning videos depicting any type of gambling — roulette, dice, slot machines, and more — that is not licensed in the United States or certain other jurisdictions. As the company explained in a statement, the move appears to come from ongoing efforts to circumvent rules against sharing links and referrals to prohibited gaming sites.

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers and ordinary folks like you and I have gotten a much closer look at the cosmos. Most recently, NASA has shared some compelling and awe-inspiring glimpses of the most distant planet in our solar system.

Neptune, which is larger than all but two other planets orbiting the sun, can be seen in all its glory thanks to the so-called near-infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope. According to the experts, it is this technology that gives the planet its bleached-out look.

Since Neptune’s methane-rich atmosphere is able to swallow all of the red and infrared light in its surrounding, all that’s left is the stark white outline shown in the latest images of the planet itself.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of these photos is the fact that the planet’s rings are visible in unmatched detail. Here’s what you need to know about this unique feature:

• The rings were last seen more than 30 years ago when the Voyager 2 space probe passed by Neptune.
• It is difficult, if not impossible, to see the rings with most telescopes because the planet is so bright that it outshines them.
• In addition to the rings, the Webb telescope identified evidence of dust and other smaller particles that orbit the planet.
• As scientist Heidi Hammel explained, “this is the first time we’ve seen them in infrared.”

But the massive rings are not the only reason for Neptune fans to be excited. The powerful telescope also sent back images of half of the 14 moons believed to circle the gaseous planet.

Few names in American literature carry as much weight as Ernest Hemingway. In addition to the published stories and novels for which fans know and love him, there are many hidden works that have never reached a wide audience. Thanks to an archive recently unveiled by Penn State University, however, the public can catch a glimpse of some one-of-a-kind artifacts that add a new dimension to the complex, troubled, and immensely talented writer.

The collection was long rumored to exist but it was just recently unearthed. All of the materials were found in a storage room at a bar — Sloppy Joe’s — in Key West, Florida, where Hemingway spent a lot of his time after he and his second wife parted ways. After he dropped off the boxes of personal effects in 1939, though, he never came back to pick it all up.

Now, the treasure trove is available for historians, scholars, and anyone interested in learning more about the novelist to view and study. While there are numerous photos, receipts, and other mementos included in the archive, a few pieces certainly stand out from the rest.

One short story includes his depiction of his contemporary, F. Scott Fitzgerald, as a young boxer.

An outline for another novel, tentatively titled “A New Slain Night,” is also among the pieces in the collection. In the notes, Hemingway references intense plotlines including a bank robbery and prison escape as part of what he dubbed a “picaresque novel for America.”

In a tragic example of foreshadowing, the writer’s belongings also included an essay about death and suicide that he wrote in 1926. Thirty-five years later, the writer fatally shot himself.

Most of us have become accustomed to living our lives largely online, with personal interactions and real-world events often taking a backseat to the immediacy and convenience of social media or virtual gatherings.

As a result, experts say the human race is becoming increasingly isolated, with potentially devastating consequences.

But does it affect us all equally?

There are several key factors that can contribute to the negative effects of social isolation, such as whether an individual is married and details about previous relationships. One apparently consistent trend, however, is that boys and young men are more at risk of the deleterious impact than girls and women.

The gender gap

Researchers set out to determine what role gender plays in this issue and relied on studies dating back to 1994 to provide the data they used. While more young men displayed signs of social isolation than young women, the disparity began to disappear as the ages increased. In fact, by the time the test subjects reached their 60s, it was women who seemed to be more disposed to isolation.

What’s causing all this isolation?

Although it’s easy to blame technology, this trend has been going on for many years. Experts have identified a number of external factors that can contribute to a person’s feelings of isolation regardless of gender or age. Education, physical health, and race are among the characteristics that researchers considered — but the unavoidable conclusion appears to be that we’re all vulnerable to isolation.

If you’re feeling all alone, it’s not just you. Try participating in group activities or volunteering and if you or someone you know is seriously struggling, please call 988 (in the United States) to reach a trained crisis counselor.