One Sentence News / May 24, 2024

One Sentence News

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.

China’s youth unemployment eased in April

Summary: New data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the jobless rate amongst the country’s 16-to-24-year-old demographic (excluding those enrolled in school) dropped to 14.7% in April, which is down from 15.3% in March.

Context: Youth unemployment has been a persistent problem in China for years, and it’s being seen as both a consequence of and contributor to the county’s relatively woeful economic figures, which lopsidedly improved a little bit last month, overall; the country’s government stopped publicly providing youth unemployment figures in June of last year after reporting 21.3% that month, but it started divulging these numbers again in January after changing their formula to exclude folks in that age-demo who were still in school—which is different from how many other wealthy nations do things, but seems to have lowered this figure enough that they feel comfortable reporting it, again.

—The Wall Street Journal

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The first crew launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is on hold indefinitely

Summary: A helium leak in the propulsion system of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has led to another delay in the craft’s launch, it’s most recent intended launch day, this upcoming Saturday, nixed, its launch now put on indefinite hold until they can find and fix the problem.

Context: There’s a chance the Starliner craft could launch as soon as next week, if they’re able to quickly and convincingly solve this new problem, which is just the most recent of several high-profile issues that have scrapped launches since 2019; if they can’t sort it out soon, there’s a chance the launch will be delayed until sometime in late summer; Boeing products, including several models of their airliners, have seen a slew of very public and embarrassing failures, of late, and the company has come under new scrutiny, and become the target of much criticism, for its alleged focus on market valuation and leadership compensation, rather than safety and innovation.

—Ars Technica

Microplastics found in every human testicle in study

Summary: A new study that looked at the composition of 23 testicles from the bodies of men who died between the ages of 16 and 88, those bodies preserved in 2016, and 47 testicles from neutered pet dogs, found microplastics in all the tested testes, and that the human testicles contained nearly three-times as much plastic as the dog testes.

Context: The most common microplastic found in these testicles was polyethylene, which is most commonly found in disposable plastic products like bags and water bottles, followed by PVC, which is found in pipes, credit cards, and cable insulation, among many other use-cases; this follows another, smaller 2023 study in China that found microplastics in human testes and semen samples, and recent research indicates that mice that were exposed to microplastics suffered reduced sperm count, abnormal sperm quality, and hormone disruptions, which supports—though doesn’t confirm—concerns that microplastics may be contributing to the notable decrease in human sperm count over the past several decades, that decrease correlated with a decrease in fertility numbers, and linked to other chemical products, like pesticides, as well.

—The Guardian

There’s a notable age-gap in which Americans are more likely to support Israel and which are more likely to support Palestinians, with young people more likely to favor the latter, and older folks (especially those 50-and-up) a lot more likely to support the former.

—Axios

51

Median age of MTV, a station that was previously (and famously) youth-focused, but which in recent decades has pivoted—like much of non-streaming television—to serve its predominantly older audiences.

—The Wall Street Journal

Trust Click

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