Video timeline: 0:00 Autonomous systems 0:40 The need for next-generation drones 1:49 Scaling up 4:07 Keeping up with China
It’s a race against the clock, as Beijing has militarized islands in the South China Sea, and President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Some experts are skeptical the U.S. military can work fast enough to meet its goals.
May 20, 2021: Israel and Gaza, House approves Capitol probe, Abortion in Texas, U.S travel changes, and South China Sea
1. Diplomatic moves towards a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gathered pace after President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation.
2. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to create an independent commission to probe the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by former President Donald Trump’s supporters. One in six Republicans defied party leaders’ attempts to block it.
3. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion bill that bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy and grants citizens the right to sue doctors who perform abortions past that point.
4. The Biden administration weighs changes to sweeping travel restrictions that bar much of the world’s population from coming to the United States.
5. China said a U.S. warship illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea and was expelled by its forces, an assertion the United States denies.
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, is a metropolitan area and special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta of the South China Sea.
Led by Ma Yansong, MAD Architects releases the design of the Wormhole Library, which sits on the coast in Haikou, Hainan Province in China. The sensuously curved pavilion appears to be a “wormhole” that transcends time and space.
Facing the South China Sea, the Wormhole Library is located in Century Park along the Haikou Bay coastline. The intimately scaled structure is cast of white concrete as a unit. The curved concrete walls not only serve as organic architectural structure, but also connect the ceiling, the ground and the walls together. Holes of varying sizes allow the architecture to breathe and meanwhile let natural light flood the interior. The grey spaces of the exterior corridors provide shady spots for passers-by to stop and rest.
It serves as a multi-functional building that allows visitors to read, enjoy views of the sea, and attend open-air performances, temporarily removing themselves from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The building is now under construction and will be completed in 2021.
Boomers Daily 