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News Science

Meteorite Lands In Russia

Hundreds of people can walk by your front door every day.

The only time you may notice someone, however, is when they knock. Last week, the universe knocked on Earth’s door.

Thousands of asteroids and meteoroids streak pass planet Earth every year. Some of them enter Earth’s atmosphere where most of them simply burn up—those are called meteors. Any that land on Earth are called meteorites.

When a meteorite landed in the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia last Friday, the world took notice. That’s because it was a particularly large meteorite; one chunk was about the size of a van.

News

Belgium To Issue Chocolate-Flavoured Stamps

People who are sending mail from Belgium will soon have a special treat to add to their package—chocolate-flavoured stamps.

The country’s postal service, BPost, is issuing half a million stamps that smell and taste like chocolate. The glue on the stamp will taste like chocolate. The varnish on the picture will smell like cocoa.

Belgium is a country in western Europe. It’s known for many things, including being host to the headquarters of the European Union.

It’s also known for producing some of the most delicious chocolate in the world.

There will be five chocolate stamp designs that celebrate chocolate in a number of forms including chocolate spread and sprinkles.

Environment News Science

City Services Gearing Up To Battle Climate Change

Cities need to watch the weather closely in the future to make sure that city services are always in good working order, according to a new report being studied by the City of Toronto.

That’s because the changing climate–including severe weather and warmer temperatures–may affect cities’ infrastructure. In this case, “infrastructure” refers to services that support the city, such as roads, public transit and energy plants.

The report, requested by the Toronto Environment Office, summed up the past 10 years of serious weather events in and around Toronto.

In the last decade, several records were broken due to the weather. For instance, there was one day in which there was an unusually high demand for power during a very hot summer. This kind of high demand can put a strain on the city’s ability to provide power.

An all-time record 409 mm (millimetres) of rainfall was set at Trent University during this time. Four hundred and nine millimetres is equivalent to 14 billion litres of water in five hours.

Also, in the past 10 years, Toronto had its earliest ever official heat wave.

These kinds of weather events will likely continue and could affect the infrastructure of Toronto and other cities.

News

The Pope Steps Down

In a historic move, the Pope has resigned his position as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

He is the first pope to resign in 600 years.

Pope Benedict XVI (Benedict the 16th) announced his decision on Monday.

He said he has been losing strength and can no longer perform the tasks required of him. He is 85 years old.

News Science

Astronaut Chris Hadfield Debuts Song From Space

Before he left for the International Space Station, Hadfield wrote a song with singer Ed Robertson.

It’s called I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing?). ISS can also stand for “International Space Station,” which is fitting since the song is about what it’s like to leave the Earth and go into space.

Hadfield has done some incredible things during his time on the ISS. He has made his experience in space accessible to the people on Earth.

He has tweeted messages, conducted live media conferences, sent photos and kept people up-to-date on what the astronauts on the Space Station are doing.

What Hadfield is doing is unique. No astronaut has ever brought space so close to Earth before.

News Sports

Canada Shining At Winter Sports – Including “Slopestyle”

Downhill skier Erik Guay, from Mont Tremblant, Quebec, raced recently in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

The 3.3-kilometre course at Kitzbuehel is often referred to as “the Super Bowl of the ski season.”

Guay finished second, skiing just 0.13 seconds slower than the person who came in first. Because he came in second, Guay earned a spot on the “podium.” In skiing, “podiums” is an official statistic. It refers to coming in first, second or third.

Coming in second at Kitzbuehel earned Guay his 19th podium of his career. If he gets one more, he will be tied for the most podiums ever by a Canadian downhill skiier.

Guay is now preparing for the World Championships which take place on Feb. 10 in Austria.

Canada’s winter sports success continued in Aspen, Colorado at the Winter X Games.

News

Distribution Of Canadian Penny Ends

The penny has been dropped from Canada’s currency.

On Feb. 4, the Royal Canadian Mint stopped sending pennies to banks and businesses.

The government decided that pennies cost too much to make and distribute. They estimate the country will save about $11-million by eliminating the penny.

Without a one-cent coin, many business transactions will change.

The Canadian government told businesses they can “round” cash sales to the nearest five-cent mark.

Health News

New York City Bans Extra-Large Pop

Last fall, New York City banned the sale of extra-large servings of pop and other sugary drinks in restaurants and movie theatres.

They did it to help fight the problem of obesity in the city.

The ban, which is set to begin on March 12, 2013, was proposed by New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and approved by the New York City Board of Health in September 2012.

Under the new rule, businesses that have food-service licences – such as restaurants, theatres, delis, fast-food places, hot dog stands and sports stadiums – would not be allowed to sell pop in containers larger than 16 ounces.

People would still be able to buy supersized drinks at convenience stores, vending machines and some newsstands.

News Sports

The Baltimore Ravens Win The Super Bowl

The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl on Sunday, edging out the San Francisco 49ers.

The Super Bowl is professional football’s biggest and most important game.

Baltimore won 34 to 31.

Going into the Super Bowl, neither team was heavily favoured to win.

However, by half-time the score was 21 to 6 for the Ravens.

At the beginning of the second half there was an interesting play.

Jacoby Jones returned the opening kick-off for a 108-yard touchdown. It is tied for the longest kick-off return ever made.

News Politics

Rob Ford Wins His Legal Case, Remains As Toronto’s Mayor

Rob Ford has won his appeal and will remain as Toronto’s mayor.

Last November, Ford was removed from office – in other words, told by a judge that he could no longer be mayor.

The judge said Ford broke a “conflict of interest” law after he voted on an issue that he, himself was involved in. The judge said Ford must step down as mayor.

However, Ford appealed the judge’s decision. That means he asked the court to look over the case and reverse the decision.

Three judges from the Ontario Divisional Court did just that. They ruled that Ford never broke the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.