“Naruto” chronicles the journey of Naruto Uzumaki, a spirited young ninja with aspirations of becoming the Hokage, the esteemed leader of his ninja village. However, Naruto faces a significant obstacle—since birth, he harbors a powerful-tailed beast within him, which inadvertently destroys his village. Serialized in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014, “Naruto” has enjoyed immense popularity, selling over 250 million copies of the manga across 60 countries and territories. The franchise has expanded into various successful ventures, including an anime series that aired on networks such as Cartoon Network, Disney XD, and Adult Swim, as well as a widely acclaimed video game series. Although a release date hasn’t been set, the film will without a doubt make noise at the box office.

Electromagnetic Pulses (EMPs) are short bursts of intense electromagnetic energy. In the event one occurs, electronic devices are fried and communications are interrupted. On a scale large enough, power grids could be destroyed for months in an instant. Up until now, there have not been many solutions to defend against such an occurrence and/or attack. At Sandia National Laboratories, scientists have announced their success in creating a tiny device (diode) that blocks out any excess electricity, towards a device, within billionths of a second. The device operates at a record of 6,400 volts, but is only a fraction of the way towards their goal of operating at 20,000 volts. Though, implementation of the device, into current electronics, may be seen promptly in the near future.

What allowed the scientists to successfully create the diode, was the use of gallium nitride. This material is a semiconductor that can sustain high levels of voltage before eroding. With such properties, gallium nitride is a perfect candidate for creating the 20,000 volt diode. The only inhibitor in this process is the need for very thick layers of the material. Creating gallium nitride is achieved through a process called chemical vapor deposition. As scientists continue to improve this production model, they come closer to hitting the right thickness and accuracy of material. It should not be long before we see diodes that can operate at much higher voltages.

According to the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, the project has completed the startup phase. Since its conception in 2018, the EBP has amassed 5,000 scientists and staff throughout 22 different countries. Wasting no time, the project has already mapped out 200 genomes with hopes of reaching 3,000 by the end of 2022. Hitting 3,000 would put the EBP in an optimistic position to reach their phase 1 goals. Their main goal in this phase is to sequence the genomes of around 9,400 taxonomic families. From here, the EBP could pursue the next steps in reaching the final goal. 

Within the network of EBP, there have been numerous global efforts to map out the genomes of all species. A prime example of this is the Africa BioGenome Project. With a group of scientists from multiple African institutions, their goals are very similar to that of the EBP in nature. Though, as expected, the ABP (Africa BioGenome Project) focuses solely on their continent for the time being. As they continue to collect and share their data, the EBP will expand. Other projects involved in the EBP network include the United Kingdom-based Darwin Tree of Life Project and the Vertebrate Genome Project. All of these projects are being conducted in a global effort to improve the lives of humans, animals, vegetation and prevent the spread of illness. With genetic research creating some backlash as well as ethical implications, the EBP and International Scientific Committee have created standards for the conduction of research in respect to ethical, diverse, and social jurisdictions. The EBP continues to grow and will most likely see that expansion rise exponentially within the next few years.

Shanghai-based, AutoFlight, is looking to bring its airtaxi, ‘Prosperity I’, to European nations. More specifically, the company plans to set up in Augsburg, Germany. 

AutoFlight, founded by Yuneec’s Tian Yu, started as a research & development company regarding the production of future flight technologies. In recent years, the company has shifted focus towards the actual production of eVTOLs and airtaxis. Through complex engineering, they have been able to release three eVTOL aircrafts as well as begin mass production of their ‘V50 White Shark’ UAV. Now the company hopes to shift its location focus to that of Germany. 

Mark R. Henning, recently inducted employee of AutoFlight, stated in a press release: “We are bringing aircraft construction back to Augsburg, creating a high-tech location and jobs as we build drones and create a completely new market segment for airtaxis. What I really like about AutoFlight and ‘Prosperity I’ is the underlying simple concept. Simplicity translates into safety and efficiency.” 

Regarding safety, the eVTOL model is based on an earlier model, ‘V1500M’. This aircraft had completed multiple test flights last fall and is currently undergoing application for certification to sell within China. Based on the results of previous trials, the ‘Prosperity I’ should have no issues regarding safety of crew and passengers. Before being able to produce and sell in Germany though, AutoFlight must be certified. The process does not go directly through Germany. Rather the European Aviation Safety Association (EASA) must work with AutoFlight to approve the quality and logistics of the vehicles. With both AutoFlight and EASA’s commitment to safety and cooperation, this process should not falter. 

In addition to functional safety, AutoFlight is introducing an updated generation of air travel. Their vehicles do not require fuel to operate, but are powered by electricity. Typically planes and other aircraft release quite a bit of carbon into the atmosphere. If the industry can cut out fuel completely, there may be a significant change in respect to current climate change issues. Furthermore, regarding functional attributes, the ‘Prosperity I’ has ten propellers connected to ten electric motors. With the current model, the aircraft can reach speeds of 124 mph for 155 miles. These are just a few specs that have the potential to be upgraded with the release of future models. As AutoFlight makes its way into Augsburg and the continent of Europe, it may not be long before we see the international emergence of autonomous and human-manned airtaxis.

As COVID restrictions reached their peak, gyms and fitness centers across the globe were shut down for weeks and months on end. During this time (Late 2020-Early 2021), Peloton saw product sales soar through predictions. Additionally, subscriber count for the company rose sharply as many found themselves relying on their bikes and equipment to meet workout expectations. During this time, the stock price for Peloton started to increase greatly going from $80 per share to over $100 per share in just a matter of months. Along with the increase in price, is when we start to see the sale of a lot of stock. In November 2020, John Folely, CEO and co-founder of Peloton, sold $119 million worth of his stock. According to the documented 10b5-1 plan, the sale was for “personal financial management reasons”. Karen Boone, a member of Peloton’s board, cashed out $20 million last February. William Lynch, company president, sold over $72 million in stock during the same month. With so much of Peloton’s share being dumped, the question becomes was the share price drop a result of stock sales, or were stock sales a result of forecasted share price decreases?

Logic publicly announced his retirement from music less than a year ago. Not lasting nearly as long as people thought, he has returned with the official release of his brand new studio album called, “YS Collection Vol.1.” He decided to drop the album on June 25, 2021, while uploading a photo of the cover art to his Instagram saying, “We finally cleared songs from over ten years ago…The YS Collection is compiled of songs from the Young Sinatra mixtape series…Available everywhere Friday!” 

The Maryland rapper dropped this body of work just one week after notifying his audience about his comeback from retirement. The way he would go about the announcement was one to remember as he honored NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Logic published a press release to his social media platforms that stated, “The following statement was released today by Logic through his attorney Paul Rothenburg Partner of Rothenburg, Mohr & Binder, LLP located in NYC, in response to questions about his future career plans: ‘I’m back.’” Very much similar to Jordan’s more similar approach back in 1995, “I’m back.” 

Even though this long-awaited body of work contains only two features from Like and appropriately Frank Sinatra, it does include various flows and styles from Logic himself. With the entirety of the album being a decade old we hear a young Logic discuss a time in his life when he was first making himself present in the music industry. He was able to portray each individual song with a different message over top of a soothing yet confident beat, including sound production from 6ix, Lakim Bryant, C-sick, A Tribe Called Quest, Arthur Mcarthur, No ID, Sunny Norway, Graves, and Black Diamond. Judging by the title of the project, “YS Collection Vol.1,” it seems that this is not the last piece of music that we will see from Logic, since this is evidently only ‘Vol.1.’