Welcome to The Headlines: A series that pairs perfectly with morning coffees and dull commutes. There’s a lot of interesting news happening today, so let’s get straight to the juicy stuff:
NASA Has Crashed a Spaceship Into an Asteroid
According to The Guardian, NASA launched a rocket today. Fortunately though, it didn’t contain any people. This is a good thing because it smacked right into the side of an asteroid.
NASA has dubbed this crash a Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The results from this collision will now be used to work out if we can change the trajectory of an asteroid. Such a piece of tech would be useful if a chungus asteroid was likely to hit Earth.
Naturally, NASA was very chuffed with the fact that their spacecraft hit the asteroid.
“We’re embarking on a new era of humankind,” exclaimed Dr Lori Glaze, NASA’s Planetary Science Director. “An era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourself from something like a dangerous, hazardous asteroid impact.”
“What an amazing thing. We’ve never had that capability before.”
Rats: It’s Probably Going to Rain Buckets Again
In some potentially dire news, a lot of Australians are in for a ton of rain over the next ten days. Nine News has recorded that this downpour is going to impact everywhere from Darwin to Victoria. Moreover, this update is worrisome for places like the Macquarie, Namoi, and Lachlan rivers, as major flooding is happening at these locations.
If you need to stay updated in regards to this situation, please go to the Bureau of Meteorology’s site and learn what your state or territory’s SES branch is saying.
ADHD May Be Added to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
The Age has outlined that some folks with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be getting a bit of much needed support. This is because our National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Minster, Bill Shorten, has flagged that such neurodivergent individuals may potentially get backed by the program.
“I have asked the agency to give me more advice about diagnosis with ADHD in terms of eligibility for NDIS,” stated Shorten.
“There are tens of thousands of people who are on the scheme who are diagnosed with autism as their primary condition. Neurodivergence is an area where the eligibility requirements are not always clear and they depend on individual circumstances.”
Related: “YES!” Paralympian Kurt Fearnley Is Now the Chair of the NDIA
Related: Comedian Em Rusciano on Her ADHD Diagnosis at the National Press Club — The Highlights
One Aussie Town Now Uses 60% Renewable Energy
Yackandandah, a small digs in Victoria, is killing the solar panel game. As per the ABC, this place now uses 60% renewables and is aiming to be 100% by 2024.
This is mostly thanks to a volunteer-run group called Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY). These people have raised money for solar panels and batteries for a whack of the town’s building. Everything from the fire brigade, to the kindergarten, to the swimming pool uses this tech.
Moreover, this group is not stopping there. “We have a plan in the next two years to install 400 additional residential solar and battery systems,” stated Matthew Charles-Jones, a founding member of TRY.
“Some of those will be businesses as well, but that’s the pathway we’ve got to get to 100%.”
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