Studying engineering isn’t just about learning, it’s about using skills in the real world. But for biomechanical engineering students, it can be hard to get that real-world experience. However, students at the University of the District of Columbia are able to see how their schoolwork translates to helping people. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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Yetnebersh Nigussie lost her sight at the age of five, but she has not let her disability slow her down. A tireless advocate for people with disabilities in Africa, she has received prestigious prizes, including the Spirit of Helen Keller Award and the Alternative Nobel Prize. Yetnebersh Nigussie recently spoke to VOA’s Salem Solomon from our studios in New York. Here’s her story.
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The first American commercially built-and-operated crew spacecraft in eight years docked successfully Sunday at the International Space Station.
There was, however, no crew aboard the spacecraft, just a test dummy named Ripley, in a nod to the lead character in the Alien movies.
The docking was carried out autonomously by the Crew Dragon capsule, as the three astronauts on board the International Space Station watched.
The Space X Crew Dragon capsule lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Dragon brought supplies and test equipment to the space station where it will spend five days as astronauts conduct tests and inspect the Dragon’s cabin.
NASA has awarded millions of dollars to Space X and Boeing to design and operate a capsule to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil some time this year.
It is not immediately clear whether that goal will be reached.
Space X is entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company. Musk is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla.
Currently, America relies on Russia to launch astronauts to the space station.
Russia charges about $80 million per ticket.
0With the U.S. and China still negotiating a trade deal, and ongoing concerns in the U.S. about China’s technology goals, Silicon Valley is caught between two superpowers. Michelle Quinn reports.
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Striving to improve behavior at soccer matches, FIFA President Gianni Infantino sees women as role models for male players.
There is less simulation and time-wasting in the women’s game, according to Infantino, and it’s time for men to clean up their act to improve the image of soccer.
“The men’s game has developed incredibly, positively, but a few maybe side effects have unfortunately developed as well that we are fighting now,” Infantino said Saturday. “Let’s take the example of the women’s game.”
Infantino’s admiration for the conduct of female players stands in contrast to predecessor Sepp Blatter, who urged them to wear tighter kits to make the game more popular.
“Women are nicer than men, probably, generally,” Infantino said. “Sometimes we men feel that we need to show how strong we are, probably in the human nature, and this is reflected as well in some of the behavior in society in general but also on the football pitch.”
On field behavior
Infantino was speaking after the game’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board, discussed ways of improving on-field behavior at its annual meeting, including treatment of referees. Yellow and red cards for misconduct by team officials are now entered in the laws of the game after successful trials.
“When it comes to behavior,” Infantino said, “if there’s something to learn from the women’s game … it’s certainly this: This is much less time lost and wasted on simulations or on other situations we criticize in the men’s game. We are intervening now.”
Such as ensuring someone substituted “doesn’t greet all the players before going out (leaving the pitch) and so on — wasting time,” Infantino said. “All the things you don’t see in the women’s game.”
Diving has been reduced by the introduction of video review, Infantino said, while announcing his support for VAR at the June 7-July 7 Women’s World Cup in France. The decision will have to be ratified by the FIFA Council at a meeting in two weeks in Miami.
“Players now know that it’s not just sufficient to have a look where is the referee, so if he doesn’t see me I can simulate, because he or she will be caught,” Infantino said. “That’s why VAR automatically helps the fight against simulation and diving in a very efficient way.”
Handballs
To reduce controversies, the handball law has been adjusted.
Referees won’t necessarily have to decide if there was deliberate handling, but judge the outcome and whether an unfair advantage was obtained by gaining possession or control of the ball.
It won’t be an offense if the arm or hand is very close to the body but it will be if they are in an elevated position when the ball is handled. But even if a player accidentally handled while scoring, the goal would be ruled out.
Kicks and penalties
Disruptive behavior around free kicks should be reduced from June. The attacking team will not be allowed within 1 meter (yard) of the defensive wall in an attempt to stop players jostling and matches being delayed by the necessary intervention of referees.
In two changes affecting goalkeepers, goal kicks won’t have to leave the penalty area and only one foot will have to remain on the line when facing a penalty.
Substitutes
To speed up the game, players being substituted must leave the field at the nearest point rather than at the halfway line.
“It’s a fairly standard time-wasting tactic that when a manager wants to make a substitution, he can send a player to be substituted to the opposite end of the pitch,” said Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell, one of the eight IFAB members.
FIFA has four delegates and the British nations have the other four, with six votes required for a change to the laws which come into effect from June.
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A new dance style, born in Chicago, is recognized around the world. It’s called hiplet and combines hip-hop and ballet. Ksenia Turkova traveled to Chicago to meet the Godfather of hiplet, Homer Hans Bryant.
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Jason Cerda is a professional dancer and recording artist. He’s performed on stage with Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and other big-name musicians and now uses his expertise to teach young performers how to dance. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.
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Northern California is famous for many things, the sun, the surf, the wine, but it has also been infamous for its smog. Smog is a noxious collection of nitrogen and sulfur oxides, along with smoke and dirty particles, which all combine to form a foglike haze in the air. But some new technology is promising to turn a roof into an air cleaner. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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