Some people have been debating whether the Japanese government should allow power companies to do over their operations of the nuclear power plants.

After the Tokyo Electric Power Co. disaster in 2011, the safety standards were back to square one. The Sendai nuclear power plant was the first power plant in the country to be given a go signal to restart its operations. The government hopes that this can put an end to the series of rate increase caused by ceased operations of nuclear power plants.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FECP) mentioned in a conference that the industry would ask for assistance from the public to ensure that all costs from operations are recovered. They would also like to introduce the “Contract for Difference” (CfD) scheme but they are a bit hesitant. The CfD scheme is almost similar to the one used in Japan which requires power companies to buy electricity at fixed prices. The Ministry of Economics, Trade, and Industry believes that this system would be fair for everyone. Power companies and the government have pointed out that generating electricity from nuclear plants would result in a decrease in cost. Through this, consumers can expect lower electricity bills.

Meanwhile, the standard CfD price of a nuclear power plant in England is expected to average ¥15.7 per kilowatt-hour which could double the current power rate. In fact, this is ¥.04 higher than the price at which power companies in Japan pay to get electricity supply generated by wind. This is expected to be the standard price for 35 years.

With almost a thousand new words that English speakers come up with every year, English is indeed a fast-growing language. Based on a study made by Global Language Monitor, there are around 5,400 new words created every year. However, what most people know is just the tip of the iceberg. In the past, Shakespeare contributed words to the English language. He used those words in his works, but no one had an idea if he made them up or combined existing words. To make a long story short, there are several writers who invented English words. Still, most people have no idea how words are created.

Some experts were able to find out how people create new words. According to them, the most common way is by adding a prefix or suffix to a word. Another way is by combining two words with different meanings. Also, there are words that can be changed from one class to another so that they can be used differently in sentences. The use of acronyms, initials, parts of some words to form another word can also be done. Additionally, onomatopoeia is the act of forming words by imitating sounds. The English language also borrowed foreign words to use. Moreover, some words were named after famous people or places around the world.

New words can be formed in various ways. These days, mixing up parts of two different words to form a new word is getting popular. By doing so, English will stay as a fast-growing language.

The day for announcing the winners finally came. The first prize in the piano competition was a chance to go on concert tours all over the world and 20,000 dollars. Nobu was one of the six finalists.

As everyone was waiting anxiously, the second-prize winner was announced. He is a South Korean pianist who is one of Nobu’s closest friends. The first-prize winner was from China. Nobu thought he did not win, but amazingly, there were two first-prize winners and Nobu’s name was called. He was thankful for the support of his family, friends, and teachers.

Nobu wanted to share the joy of music with others, so he wrote an elegy for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. He believes in the power of music and he would like to tell everyone to be stronger and never give up. Recently, Nobu joined some Fukushima junior high school students in recording the charity song “Hana wa Saku” to express their sorrow, courage, and hope for the future.

According to the World Health Organization, Australia ranks higher than the United States in the world health systems’ ranking. However, statistics show that not all Australians are healthy. In a recent study, Aboriginal Australians have more health problems than non-Aboriginal Australians.

The Europeans’ arrival in the 18th century was catastrophic because they took away Aboriginal land and brought diseases. Many Aboriginal Australians died because they had no immunity against the diseases. Since then, many Aboriginal Australians lived in poverty. Most of them are unemployed, so the government provides training to help them find jobs. However, some still live with low income and poor living conditions which results in spreading of diseases. In 2007, they launched a program to check the health of Aboriginal children. However, a family would lose its welfare payments should they stop sending their children for medical checks. Later on, they protested and quit the program. In 2008, the government started another program. Nurses visit and give expert advice to pregnant Aboriginal women regularly which helped the Aboriginal Australians understand the importance of health care more.

These days, the lives of the Aboriginal Australians are improving. Their aim for the future is to become equal members of the society.

In 1956, a group of scientists used the word “artificial intelligence” based on their idea of building machines that could explore human intelligence. AI has developed into three stages. First, computer programs that could play games and solve puzzles were developed. After that, researchers created “expert systems” which input expert knowledge into computers. Lastly, they developed machines with learning capabilities.

Nowadays, machines use “deep learning” which enables computer systems to identify objects, handle vast amounts of data, and create new work by copying patterns. AI also improved medical science. One example is Watson, an AI-powered computer system loaded with various medical information that could help doctors save lives.

AI has a lot of benefits but there are many concerns about it. First, AI could take away people’s jobs by replacing them. Second, AI might affect how people think by just simply observing people’s behavior online. Lastly, people are concerned that weapons would work without humans’ control. Also, a powerful superintelligence could endanger the entire civilization. For now, it is important to use AI in ethical ways to benefit humanity.

Dr. Kanto Tomoko was the first Japanese to join the non-government organization “Doctors Without Borders”, which was established in France in 1971. Since then, it has been helping injured and sick people all over the world.

Dr. Tomoko wanted to help people and experience various cultures in other places. She read about “Doctors Without Borders” and she found out that some of her friends had been helping people through the organization. So, she sent a letter to the organization to show that she was willing to join them. They approved her request and she was sent to Sri Lanka at the Madhu refugee camp where fighting was going on. There was only one small hospital with old equipment and little staff which was not enough for the refugees. Every day, they treated almost 150 people who spoke Tamil and could just answer simple questions. Sometimes, they also worked in a small camp which is eight kilometers away from Madhu. They even treated soldiers but only without their weapons. Most people recovered but many children were lost due to diseases. Not having enough food and water was also part of the problem. At night, they were sometimes not allowed to go out so, they had to listen to the radio to know if it was safe to go out or not.

Australia has one of the best medical systems in the world. However, not all Australians are healthy. In a study about Australians’ health, statistics show that Aboriginal Australians have more health problems than non-Aboriginal Australians.

The Europeans’ arrival in the 18th century was catastrophic. Many Aboriginal Australians died because they didn’t have immunity against diseases brought by the Europeans. The Europeans also took away some of their lands, so most of them lived in poverty. Until now, the Aboriginal population has difficulty adapting to modern life with high levels of unemployment and an average income of $280 a week less than the non-Aboriginal Australians. As a result, most of them have poor living conditions which lead to the spread of diseases. To improve the situation, the government made programs to train and provide jobs to Aboriginal Australians. In 2007, the Australian government began doing health checks for Aboriginal children with a condition that if the family would not send their children, they would lose their welfare payments from the government. However, they ended up not following it and protested against the condition. In 2008, they started a program in which nurses visit pregnant Aboriginal women regularly. The nurses gave expert advice and built a good relationship with their patients which helped Aboriginal Australians understand health care more.

Nowadays, Aboriginal Australians’ health and employment are slowly improving. In the future, their aim is to see themselves as equal members of their country’s society.