海角大神

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2020
July
10
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

July 10, 2020
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Noelle Swan
Weekly Editor

Parents with young children likely know that Legos can be a lifesaver. But last week, the broader world got a glimpse of the magic of those tiny bricks when staff at the Maryland Zoo shared the heartwarming story of 鈥淟ego turtle.鈥�

The male Eastern box turtle had spent two years in the care of veterinary staff at the zoo after an employee found him in the park with a badly broken shell. After surgery, staff realized he would need help moving around while waiting for his shell to heal.听

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 make ,鈥� Garrett Fraess told The Washington Post. A veterinary student at the time, Mr. Fraess reached out to a friend and Lego enthusiast in Denmark for help making one. That Lego wheelchair turned out to be a crucial component of this turtle鈥檚 healing, and he was last week.

Around the country and the world, veterinarians and wildlife workers are finding creative ways to assist injured turtles and are calling on the public for help. Motorists are encouraged to for injured turtles. Even if their shells are badly broken, they can likely be saved with assistance. And if you happen to have an old bra with hook and eye clasps, rehab facilities for use in shell repairs.

This may seem like a lot of effort for one small creature, but with half of all turtle and tortoise species , every life counts.

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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

鈥楲aw School 101鈥�: How Supreme Court ended its term

( 7 min. read )

At a time of deep U.S. political polarization, the Supreme Court ended its term with two decisions that emphasized unifying basic principles: the importance of the rule of law, and the fact that it applies to everyone, including presidents.

By Henry Gass
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Patrick Semansky/AP
Tom Alexander holds a cross as he prays prior to rulings outside the Supreme Court in Washington, July 8, 2020. The court issued three rulings this term expanding religious liberty.

Religious liberty鈥檚 big week at the Supreme Court

( 7 min. read )

Religious liberty laws were passed in the 1990s to protect Native American religions. The Supreme Court has now ruled that they can be broadly applied to prioritize the rights of 海角大神s.

By Harry Bruinius and Henry Gass , reporting from New York; and Austin, Texas
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War in Libya? Why two US allies are on a collision course.

( 6 min. read )

A principle of President Trump鈥檚 foreign policy is to allow local players to resolve regional conflicts. But with U.S. allies Egypt and Turkey clashing in Libya, could a solution just be a phone call away?

By Taylor Luck , reporting from Amman, Jordan
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Dan Busey/The Decatur Daily/AP
Emily Williams, a third grade teacher, helps her daughter Lily, as her sons Braden (bottom left) and Landen complete a virtual assignment from school, at their home in Decatur, Alabama. on March 20, 2020. Parents have been wearing many hats during the pandemic.

鈥業 can鈥檛 keep this up much longer鈥�: Parents struggle with pandemic strain

( 7 min. read )

As the pandemic wears on, how can working parents keep juggling everything? Many are taking a problem-solving approach 鈥� carefully thinking through options, tapping into networks, and asking for flexibility at work.

By Chelsea Sheasley
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Sophie Hills/海角大神
Christina and Catelin traveled to the beach from Connecticut, where they鈥檝e been living for the past three months. They are from New York City. 鈥淭he Cape has been conducive鈥� to vacationing while social distancing, says Christina.

People flocking to Cape Cod 鈥� but for a different kind of vacation

( 6 min. read )

Americans鈥� time-honored vacation traditions are being tested as people pine for beaches, boats, and bowling alleys during a pandemic. One result is the rise of the away-from-home staycation.

By Sophie Hills , reporting from Chatham, Mass.
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The Monitor's View
NASA via AP/File
Engineers watch the first driving test for the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance in a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

On to Mars

( 3 min. read )

When you鈥檝e got troubles, nothing beats stepping back and getting a long-range perspective. In this case, from more than 30 million miles away.

This month three countries plan to send probes to explore Mars, the opening salvo in a space race to the red planet that looks as if it will continue for years to come. The Hope Probe 鈥� a project of the United Arab Emirates and the first effort of an Arab nation to visit another planet 鈥� is scheduled for launch July 15. China鈥檚 Tianwen-1 goes next, sometime between July 20 and July 25. It will be that country鈥檚 first visit to the planet.听

The United States, after several delays, plans its launch for July 30, its fifth mission to Mars.听

Russia and the European Union are expected to join this new Mars explorers鈥� club in a couple of years. India and Japan are planning trips after that.听

Mars beckons in part because it could answer a big question: Are humans alone in the universe? Over its history the planet has shown intriguing potential for life, including, at least at one time, the presence of water. If any life has ever existed there, how likely then is the possibility for life anywhere in a universe filled with uncounted planets?

Mars has long been a fascination 鈥� and an intriguing distraction 鈥� for humanity. As European relations grew tense and World War I approached a century ago, astronomer William Pickering peered through his telescope and described what he saw as changing weather systems on Mars, which he imaged as a vast wilderness.听

To Pickering, the planet was almost a refuge, 鈥渇ree of suffering and injustice and of difficulty,鈥� points out Sarah Stewart Johnson in her new book 鈥淭he Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World.鈥� It was a place 鈥渇ree from all of the horrible things that were happening in his world, on his planet.鈥�

But even as telescopic views improved, astronomers鈥� frustration grew: If only they could get a closer, better look. That finally happened in the last half-century as space probes began plunking the Martian surface, sending back data, including photos. The car-sized American rover Curiosity 鈥撎齨amed by then 12-year-old Clara Ma after a national essay competition 鈥撎齢as been wandering the planet since 2012, and continues to explore it.

For the United Arab Emirates and China, visiting Mars means gaining scientific stature back on Earth. For the U.S. it means maintaining its prominent role in space exploration. Each of the missions will advance human knowledge.听

The U.S. rover, named Perseverance, for example, will include a robotic helicopter that will test what it鈥檚 like to fly in the Martian atmosphere and, it is hoped, serve as a scout for the rover. Perseverance will also collect rock and soil samples that some future mission would be able to return to Earth.

This flurry of exploration sets the stage for the ultimate Mars endeavor: putting humans on the red planet. That goal remains a couple of decades away at least, U.S. researchers say.

But a visit to the moon by humans once seemed unthinkable. Now Mars is coming ever closer in thought.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board
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A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥� in its various forms 鈥� is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥� The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥� whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Breaking through limitations

( 4 min. read )

When a cyclist became discouraged and overwhelmed while training for a long-distance event, she turned to God for inspiration 鈥� which turned her attitude and experience around completely.

By Lindsey Roder
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A message of love

Ann Hermes/Staff
Among the cypress trees and sparsely populated coastline of Point Reyes National Seashore, the KPH Maritime Radio Receiving Station blends in well. Though the art deco building may seem quiet and long-forgotten, it emits a series of dits and dahs each Saturday 鈥� signals from the last remaining Morse code transmission station in North America. For the past 20 years, volunteers from the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS), in partnership with the National Park Service, have been restoring the equipment at the former Radio Corporation of America facility. These "radio squirrels" meet every Saturday to send out transmissions. The massive commercial machines require an endless amount of tinkering 鈥� an ongoing labor of love.

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( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for spending time with us today. Come back on Monday, when Ned Temko will explore how a look into the post-pandemic future offers reason, if not for unbridled optimism, at least for cautious hope. It鈥檚 the final installment of our听global series听鈥淣avigating uncertainty.鈥�听

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2020
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