Thumbs down to…An open shooting in Austin, Texas, at one of their local Target stores. Authorities said that the shooting took place around 2:15 pm on Aug. 11. There were three people found dead and one injured. Two victims died at the scene, an adult and a child, while the third victim died on the way to the hospital. The suspect was a 32-year-old white man with mental issues. The police had to tase him to restrain him. It was said that he had allegedly stolen two vehicles and crashed one.
Thumbs down to… 39 missing children reported across the state between the dates of Aug. 1 to Aug.13. Authorities in Virginia stated that these cases do not connect to mass kidnappings, as suspected on social media, and that the number is not unusual. Police said that some of these are runaways and that most of these children return after being reported missing.
Thumbs down to…A school shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. The Catholic church, known as Annunciation Catholic Church, is connected to a school that was having a Catholic Mass when the shooter approached the building and fired through the church’s windows. The gunman was shooting towards the children and the worshippers. Two children were killed, and 17 people were injured. Fourteen of those injured were children. The shooter was also killed due to a self-inflicted gun shot behind the church.
Thumbs up to… Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation for their global phenomenon movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” This movie has already taken over the music charts and has been streamed by 33 million people in less than two months. Now this film has the highest charting soundtrack and is set to become the highest charting soundtrack for an animated film. This movie has become popular throughout the social media world, with people following the choreography of the movie and streaming the songs on music platforms.
Thumbs up to…A group of researchers who have come closer to the goal of helping people who haven’t been able to access the world of language. Recently, they have achieved decoding signals for people with “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” or ALS, to be able to understand what they are saying. The new study seemed to be making correct guesses when the patients imagined their words. Another new study called “BrainGate2” has also been successful. A participant named Casey Harrell successfully uses his brain machine to communicate with his friends and family.
Thumbs up to…Researchers in South Korea for finding a way to restore the sense of smell painlessly. A team of researchers from two Korean universities had asked volunteers with a good sense of smell if they could place a small antenna near their forehead. They found a way to utilize radio waves to directly target the part of the human brain that controls the sense of smell without causing patients any pain. The antenna would send radio waves to the part of the brain and the waves would reach smell related nerves of the brain. And after, they recorded the volunteers' brain signals and smell nerves, their findings showed that their method enhanced the sense of smell for over a week.