Dr. Fauci Warns Americans To Take New Omicron Variant Seriously | NBC News

 💚 Cre: NBC News | Dr. Fauci Warns Americans To Take New Omicron Variant Seriously

Vocabulary:

a constellation of mutations | spike protein | transmissible | immune parameters | monoclonal antibodies | the convalescent serum and plasma | pop up | prudently | booster shot | diminution | edge | congregate situation | lag

Question:

1. What are they talking about?
2. Who is Dr.Anthony Fauci?
3. Is new omicron variant seriously? Why?
4. Where is it spreading rapidly?
5. How to mitigate against this new omicron variant?
6. How long to see the impact in terms of infection numbers from new variant?
7. Do they have enough information to make the determination about new omicron variant?

Transcript:

• Earlier I spoke to Dr.Anthony Fauci about the new variant and I began by asking what is so concerning about it.
• Well, it has a constellation of mutations around that spike protein which would be strongly indicative that this will be highly transmissible and might in fact escape. Some of the immune parameters such as monoclonal antibodies and the convalescent serum and plasma when people recover and likely even some protection from the antibodies that are induced by vaccinations so we're taking it very very seriously. It's spreading really quite rapidly in South Africa and then we're seeing cases popping up in countries around, particularly when there's been travel from south Africa or southern African countries to other places like Israel and places like that and for that reason, the president decided prudently to put the travel restriction on not only to South Africa but to seven other countries that border South Africa.
• Is what you're seeing right now the kind that keeps you up at night?
• You don't want to frighten the American public but when something occurs that you need to take it seriously. You take it seriously and you do whatever you can to mitigate against that. I mean I'm saying this absolutely clearly that if ever there was a reason for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and for those who have been vaccinated when your time comes up to go and get a booster shot because even though there may be some diminution and we don't know that in the protection against the vaccine certainly to be vaccinated, and boosted is always better than not to be so that's the first thing. The second thing is what the president has decided to do, he's taking it very seriously and that's the reason for the restrictions from travel from certain countries.
• You talk about the booster shots than the renewed importance of booster shots how much edge do they give you?
• The booster shots give you a very very important edge if you look at the level of these protective antibodies. Following the peak response after two doses and compare the level following the peak response after the third booster dose of an mRNA, it's multiple multiple times higher after the third shot of an mRNA
• How long after this weekend would you expect to see the impact in terms of infection numbers of this holiday?
• Well, whenever you have a congregate situation where people travel it's usually measured in a few weeks two to three weeks or more, when you're talking about infection it's about two weeks or so when you're talking about if anybody gets severe disease, it's always lagging indicator of hospitalization and death we hope that people when they travel they're careful so that we don't see a major spike.
• I don't want to put the words in your mouth but we are at a dangerous turn right now in this pandemic with this new variant
• Well, we have to be paying close attention and take it very seriously. I don't really want to go so far as to say we're at a dangerous turn. We don't have enough information to make that determination but what we can do is do everything we can to make sure we err on the side of safety and that's the reason why you're seeing the travel restriction and the renewed emphasis on getting people vaccinated and boosted.

How to make concrete green | Bill Gates

 💚 Cre: Bill Gates | How to make concrete green

1. Reading comprehension:

The world is expected to add more than two trillion square feet of new building space by 2060. That's the equivalent of adding another New York City every month for the next 40 years. Many of these buildings will be made using cement, a massive emitter of greenhouse gases. But a company in Canada discovered an innovative way to reduce cement's carbon footprint. (Bill Gates)

The effects of climate change are going to happen. We're seeing it every day. But this is a solvable problem. Our industry can decarbonize. Cement is the glue. It's the active ingredient in making concrete and is the product that we build a modern society with. (Rob Niven - CEO & Founder, Carbon Cure Technologies) 

People often ask, "What is the difference between cement and concrete?" Cement is really the chemistry behind concrete. The simple analogy would be if you're baking a cake, the flour would be the cement and the cake would be the concrete, the finished product. (Bob Haldrup - Senior Vice President, Irving Materials, Inc)

To make concrete, you dig up limestone from the ground and then you run that through a kiln. Each pound of limestone that you put into this kiln, one-half goes up into the atmosphere as CO2. Carbon Cure is a technology company helping concrete producers transition into the new low-carbon economy. We developed a technology that bolts onto an existing concrete plant. We're starting with a greenhouse gas, a harmful waste product and we're turning that into value.  We add a small amount of CO2 to react with the chemistry from cement that allows you to create a higher-strength concrete. Carbon utilization is not just some abstract idea. It's not just happening in the lab. It's happening in the real world. (Rob Niven) 

The concrete industry has worked for years on sustainability and so now we're looking for new technology and Carbon Cure sequesters that CO2 into the concrete, locks it in forever. (Bob Haldrup)

Then you can actually lower the amount of cement in that concrete, it's really taken hold, and it's building real things that we can live in and drive on every single day with overpasses and roads, airports, aquariums, or it could even be tech campuses. Carbon Cure is on a mission to reduce 500 megatons of CO2 emissions per year. That is the equivalent of taking 100 million cars off the road or the equivalent of the CO2 reductions from 500 million acres of trees annually. (Rob Niven) 

We're finding in the marketplace, both with our customers and internally, people are proud to work for someplace that is taking care of the environment. (Bob Haldrup)

I'm doing it for my family. I'm doing it for my daughter. There's a real human toll to climate change, but absolutely the solutions are there. (Rob Niven) 

2. Listening & Speaking

3. Role-playing

4. Make your own talk with the below words:

Environmental Impacts of Concrete and its Solution | Civil Mentors

 💚 Cre: Civil Mentors | Environmental Impacts of Concrete and its Solution

1. Reading comprehension:

Growing concerns about the environment and climate change, in particular, have highlighted another major problem with concrete: After transportation and energy, cement production is the third biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions. That's partly because the process of making cement releases a lot of carbon dioxide, but also very importantly because of the enormous amount of cement and concrete used worldwide. 

Carbon dioxide is released in two quite different ways: 

First, because of the fossil fuel energy used during the manufacture of cement; 

Second, because cement is produced when calcium carbonate turns to calcium oxide, releasing carbon dioxide in the process. 

Concrete relies on cement, so it's anything but a sustainable material, which worries engineers, in particular because they tend to be very environmentally conscious. Since carbon dioxide is released in two ways during cement production, it follows that there are two ways of making more environmentally-friendly concrete. 

Historically, since the Industrial Revolution, much of humankind's energy has come from burning coal, which releases more greenhouse gases than other fuels, and traditionally cement kilns were coal-fired too. 

Switching them from coal to natural gas is one solution since gas releases less carbon dioxide for a given amount of energy. Making cement kilns more efficient reduces the total energy they need, which also reduces their carbon dioxide emissions. 

The other solution is to reduce the amount of cement in the concrete mixture by using recycled materials, such as fly ash from incinerators. 

Another exciting prospect is the development of concrete that doesn't use calcium carbonate at all. Instead, the carbonate is made by bubbling carbon dioxide from a power plant through seawater. This has an overall environmental benefit since it takes the harmful waste CO2 emissions from power plants and turns them into very useful concrete instead. It's a kind of carbon capture and storage. 

Another environmental drawback of concrete comes from its use of aggregates, which have to be quarried often from environmentally sensitive areas such as river valleys. Using recycled aggregates (including recycled concrete from old demolished buildings) is a possible solution here.

2. Listening & Speaking

3. Role-playing

1. What aspect of the construction industry affects the environment?
2. The cement manufacturing industry ranks in terms of carbon emissions?
3. Why have such a great amount? 
4. How is Carbon dioxide released?
5. Why do people know about the impact of cement production but still use it?
6. What fuel is used in the cement kiln?
7. Is there any way to minimize the CO2 during cement production?
8. Can we reduce the amount of cement in the concrete mixture by using recycled materials?
9. Another exciting prospect is the development of concrete that doesn't use calcium carbonate at all, how does it work?
10. What is the environmental drawback of concrete coming from its use of aggregates?

4. Make your own speech with the below words:

concerns, carbon dioxide, emission, enormous, fossil fuel, calcium carbonate, calcium oxide, sustainable, conscious, cement kiln, coal-fired, fly ash, incinerators, bubbling, power plant, drawback, river valleys

Personal Protective Equipment in Construction | Thestructuralworld

💚 Cre: Thestructuralworld | Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Construction

1. Reading comprehension:
In construction, different site personnel has their own responsibilities. These employees are working together to achieve a common goal which is to complete the construction project that they are involved in.  From blue-collar to white-collar job responsibilities, each had their own contribution to get the project done. Site construction involves vigorous activity. These activities are often prone to accidents, risks, and maybe hazard to the lives of the workers involved in a construction project. Nevertheless, the safety of each individual working in a construction environment is the primary priority to be achieved.
Just like safety in structural design is a must, work environmental protection should also be taken seriously. In doing so, each worker’s PPE or Personal Protective Equipment should be strictly implemented at the site at any cost at any given time. To satisfy PPE standards, each worker should wear proper construction attire to reduce or at least prevent and protect them against the safety risks to be able to achieve Health and Safety Environment throughout the course of the construction.
Here are the lists of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Construction that every construction personnel should observe:
1. Head Protection/Safety Helmets/Hard HatIn the construction worksites, there is a higher chance of possible head injury due to falling debris and other related accidents.  Site Engineers and all construction personnel involved in site activities should wear a safety helmet or hard hat before entering the worksite and it should be worn at all times. The safety helmets/hard hat shall meet the specifications contained in the technical guidelines issued by the Specialize Department in accordance with international standards- OSHA or ANSI z89.1 Safety helmets/hard hats should be inspected by the safety officer to ensure that it is safe and reliable to use. It should be free from cracks and the proper shock-absorbing lining of the helmet should be in good condition. 
2. Foot Protection/Safety Shoes
Safety shoes should be worn by all of the construction personnel at the worksite to protect their feet from possible injuries. The safety shoes to be used shall be determined according to potential hazards and according to the nature of work. It shall comply with the safety standard and specifications.  For worksite safety shoes with steel toe cap covering and steel sole should be considered, although an equivalent material is also acceptable as long as it follows the safety standards. If the personnel is working in electrical installation, non-contractive footwear shall be used. 
3. Protective Clothing/Reflected Vests
Every construction personnel should wear adequate and suitable protective clothing to protect them from possible hazards due to weather changes, electricity, impacts, and other risks. For Site Engineers a reflected vest is recommended to maintain visibility when doing site inspections and other site activities. 
4. Eyes and Face Protections
Construction employees shall be provided with eye and face protection equipment when their job had a potential risk of exposing the eyes and face from hazard. They are the machines operators, welder, bar bender, and the like. Those workers whose vision requires the use of medical spectacles shall be protected by eyeglasses with protected lenses, goggles that can be worn without disturbing their work activity. Eyes and face protection equipment shall be free from structural and optical defects. Just like other PPE, it should also pass the required safety standards. Check out the following eyes and face protections available from the market. 
5. Hand Protection
All personnel handling rough, sharp, and excessive coarse material such as reinforcement bars, rods, pre-cast concrete, toxic, electric, and hot materials shall be protected by safety gloves. The material of these hand protections shall be suitable against the hazard of doing such activities. Site employees shall be protected by the different types of gloves according to their job description. For example, chrome leather gloves should be used when handling sandblasting and other materials. Gloves that are made of fabrics are used for handling rough materials. Insulated rubber gloves should be used by electricians. The different types of safety gloves are available in the market. Refer to the images below for more.        
6. Hearing Protection
In the event that noise levels in the worksite are too much to handle, ear-protected gears are also needed by the site personnel. Ear protected hazard inserted into the ear in the form of a headset, foam earplug and earmuffs shall be in accordance with international safety standards. Plain cotton to be placed in the ear just to block construction noise is prohibited to use.
The following are the hearing protection equipment that is recommended by international standards available to the market. Select each for product details. 
7. Safety Belts/ Safety Harness
Site employees working at an elevated level to about 2m or more shall be provided by a safety harness or belts to protect them from accidental falls. Anchorage point of the safety harness shall be placed above the head of the worker and not less than 5 meters from the ground level. This point should be strong enough to carry a force of not less than 5000 pounds (2275kg). The material should be made of nylon or equivalent to at least 1cm thick. The hooks attached should be fitted with a double locking device that can be open only by pressing the two parts at the same time for safety purposes.
The approved material for safety belts/safety harnesses is available below. Select the photo for the full description. 
PPE is a very important aspect to look at in site construction. Observing the above lists of personal protected equipment is a must in the construction site and it should be strictly observed at all times. This is to avoid hazards caused by physical, mechanical, and chemical aspects to ensure for the construction team to create a safe and sound construction environment.

2. Listening & Speaking:

3. Make your own speech with the below words:

blue-collar, white-collar, vigorous activity, prone, be implemented, attire, comply, potential hazard, comply, steel toe cap covering, steel sole, non-contractive footwear, adequate, reflected vest, visibility, machine operator, welder, bar bender, medical spectacles, protected lenses, goggles, disturbing, optical defect, rough and excessive coarse material, toxic, chrome leather gloves, sandblasting, insulated rubber gloves, earplugs, earmuffs, anchorage point, an important aspect

Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic

💚Cre: National Geographic