Accidents and Natural Disasters

The week wasn't particularly pleasant with misfortune playing a large role in many tragedies.

Accidents

We begin the week with the world looking on as it was feared nearly 700 people had drowned off the coast of Libya after a human smuggling vessel sunk with the only progress being the captain and his crew being arrested. The EU held an emergency meeting regarding the tragedy however the outcome has been criticized as been inadequate. Elsewhere in the world 7 people were reported dead and 17 trapped in a flooded coal mine in China.

Older tragedies made news with robot's at the Fukushima nuclear power plant capturing images of a strange green glow and even further back to one of histories most notorious accidents one of the remnants, a deckchair from the Titanic, was sold for $190,000.

Natural Disasters

Mother nature proved a destructive force earlier in the week with Tsunami warnings raised for Japan's southern Okinawa island after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the Easter Taiwan. Another earthquake, 6.3 magnitude, was recorded between Nelson and Kaikoura in New Zealand's south island. However nature wasn't done with the Calbuco volcano erupting and sending plumes of smoke and ash into the atmosphere in southern Chile forcing evacuations of surrounding areas.

On the biological front new warnings were raised after it was discovered that Ebola, now thought to be under control, could still be spread by sex with the CDC asking previous victims to abstain from sex. Good news also followed on the Ebola front when a monkey was cured with a new experimental drug along with more good news of a clinical trial coming to an end offering a malaria vaccine. Meanwhile in Iowa 5 million hens are to be euthanized after a bird flu outbreak. We end the week with man doing as much damage to nature with the deteriorating quality of air in China under more scrutiny over the last few months as the second largest economy continues to plow ahead but it's not alone with growing economy Delhi claiming the most polluted air.

Technologies Tantalizing Tomorrow

We delve this week into the world of Technology with security threats from hackers looming large and space calling out to the brave.

Fighting on the Digital Front

We begin the week with security after numerous stories of hackers surfaced this week ranging in severity of threat. If you thought being untethered and high in the sky would keep you safe a new report claims that hackers could hack into the aircraft's system via the planes own Wi-Fi, and you thought all you had to worry about was a guy stuck in the cargo hold of the plane. While the odds of a plane being hacked are low the number is increasing as a new report claims a 23% spike in cyber crimes with another study showing data breaches have stolen nearly 29 million US health records in 4 years.

One of the most famous hack of recent memory is that of Sony Entertainment who's documents can now be found in a searchable trove on Wikileaks and more worryingly is the fact that the software used to attack Sony Entertainment can be bought on the dark web for just $30,000 in bitcoin. Speaking of business, Google faces a new antitrust lawsuit in Europe after claims that Google prioritized it's own services over that of others. In the US the new net neutrality freedom is already coming under attack by broadband companies who are taking the fight to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Future and Fun

Focusing instead on bettering mankind's future we saw the first ever donut launched into space giving us even more reason to reach space. However, attempts to get into space took another knock when SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket just failed to land on the drone barge during a test flight earlier in the week. For those already in the heavens we saw footage of a space walk carried out earlier in the year on ISS while even further out in space the Curiosity rover found evidence of small amounts of water on Mars. On the topic of robots, a few of them are being used closer to home mapping radiation at the Fukushima power plant too dangerous for humans to map.

Finally we end this week where artificial intelligence is no match, natural stupidity. The week saw two puzzles fool the internet with Cheryl's Birthday math problem and a picture of a cat either walking up or down a flight of stairs, basically the blue and gold dress all over again.

Technology Getting Ahead of Us

This week we saw technology getting ahead of us in some cases quite literally with advances in medicine and taking us to Space.

(Mad) Science

We begin this week in science where we meet Surgeon Sergio Canavero who claims that full body/head transplants of humans could be just around the corner after years of similar attempts on animals. Sticking with the weird a recent scan of a statue from 1100 AD of a monk has revealed the mummified remains of what is to be believed Buddhist master Liuquan within the structure itself. If the idea of a transplanted body or keeping your own preserved within a statue doesn't appeal to you then there's always the option of eating healthy by doing it the scientific way of eating 3D printed snacks that grow their own fillings.

Digital Dealings

Back to the digital world we're confronted with a major security breach after it was discovered that Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo had installed malware called Superfish on various computers it sold. After revelations of the Superfish malware some took into their hands to express their displeasure when hacking group lizard squad took down the Lenovo website. Speaking of hacking, the FBI has set a record $3 million bounty for the capture of Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev who is believed to be behind the GameOver Zeus botnet. Lastly, the week wasn't all bad with the announcement that the internet would remain free after the FCC chief said he would vote for strong rules on Net Neutrality in the States.

Earth and Beyond

While there was progress in attempts to keep Earth healthy and green, such as the Eiffel Tower making use of wind turbines to generate it's own power, there was shocking news when it was revealed that the ruined Fukushima plant was leaking radiation at 70 times the normal rate.

Taking a break from it all and heading out into space we saw ISS prep for arrival of new commercial capsules expected in 2017 and making the best out of the situation ISS astronaut Butch Wilmore took probably the most epic selfie of all time. Finally we end with news that Russia will keep it's station modules in orbit when ISS goes out of service and has plans to use them to create it's own base, Death Star anyone?

Money, who's in control?

Money kept it's momentum even with government interventions, policies and preventative measures.

The people in charge

Russia's actions over Crimea have landed it in hot water with the international community who have only one hand to play... sanctions. According to the US State Department Russia was hit with "Real Economic Pain" over it's handling of Crimea. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) contacted investments firms with exposure to Russia to make sure they were properly managing risk. Initial sanctions were met with defiance with some under sanction threatening to take their business elsewhere.

The Federal Reserves chairman, Janet Yellen, hinted at raising rates shaking markets around the world.

The Justice Department reached a $1 billion settlement with Toyota over it's response to consumer concerns.

Taiwan students took over Taiwan's legislature over a trade deal with China which they fear gives mainland too much influence.

Retail Therapy

Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, has confirmed it will list in the United States aiming to rise $10billion.

Labelux, the owners of Jimmy Choo, said it may float the business for £1billion but is still in talks with investments banks.

An investigation into the recent suicide of fashion designer L'Wren Scott reveals her company was in debt of $6.5million.

Currencies

Mt.Gox managed to find 200,000 bitcoins valued at $116million in an old format digital wallet.

Bitcoin's have been used to purchase a $500,000 Villa in Bali in what is considered the largest Bitcoin purchase ever.

A new £1 coin was introduced to prevent counterfeiting and is set to be introduced in 2017.

General

Unskilled and destitute workers have become hiring targets for the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear plant as finding skilled labour becomes more difficult.

BP bids $41.6 million to return to drilling in the gulf after it's disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.