My name is Coral Azusa.

Our mission is to bring you down the middle explanations of events taking place worldwide, and one event taking place right now in the United States is the arrival of new stimulus payments in the bank accounts and mailboxes of residents.

The cash is meant to help stimulate the economy when people spend it and to help those who have lost income because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It's part of a massive economic relief bill that President Donald Trump signed in late December.

Individuals who earned less than $75,000 in 2019 will receive payments of $600.

Married couples who earned less than 150,000 will receive payments of $1200.

There was a push by the president and some members of Congress to increase these payments.

But critics said giving out Mork cash wasn't the best way to help the economy recover from the pandemic.

The latest stimulus package cost the U.

S government $900 billion.

It's the second largest one ever behind the $2.2 trillion Cares Act, passed last March in addition to direct payments, the new spending bill includes MAWR government benefits for people who've lost their jobs, more money in available loans to small businesses.

MAWR grant money to help theaters and concert venues that have lost money without live events.

And more money to provide covert vaccines free of charge to those in need and to get those vaccines distributed across America.

Currently, vaccines from two different makers have been approved for emergency use.

One comes from the company's Pfizer and by on Tech.

The other is from the drugmaker Moderna.

Millions of shots have been given to Americans so far, with healthcare workers and nursing home residents getting priority for the first available injections.

There have been some side effects.

Several people in the United States and Britain have had dangerous allergic reactions to a coronavirus vaccine, and polls have shown that a significant number of people don't plan on getting one because of concerns that these shots aren't safe or necessary, as the vast majority of people who get infected with coronavirus survive it.

But many government and health care workers are hopeful that the vaccines will bring the world a step closer to getting back to normal after last year's pandemic, fireworks erupt over a now infamous city in China.

What a difference a year makes, especially in this place where the virus that would change the world was first detected.

The World Health Organization in China was informed on New Year's Eve in 2019 of a sickness spreading in Wuhan, a pneumonia with an unknown cause.

It would be an outbreak that would sweep the world a universal heartbreak.

That air so far killed more than 1.8 million people.

A year later, survivors in Wuhan turned to some time on a traditions like praying at this Buddhist temple for better luck this year and to close the door on an unthinkable year.

E hope that health takes priority.

I hope I become healthier and feel more safe and sound similar prayers around the world.

In India, priests performed the cleansing fire ritual overlooking the holy Ganges.

Others prepared for upcoming year by taking a renewing bath in rivers and in temples.

2020 was a challenging year for Lord off us.

But yes, it has taught us many lessons, like these brave souls underdressed for winter temperatures but perfectly suited for the yearly plunge into the Tiber River in Rome, or families on a mountain slope near Frankfurt, Germany, where shops and restaurants may be closed.

But the thrill of sledding that's something that can't be regulated.

There's a saying that time heals all wounds.

Here's to a collective wish from the world that 2021 is that remedy.

Zane Asher, CNN New York 12th Trivia.

Which of these currencies is currently worth more than the U.

S.

Dollar?

Australian dollar, Cayman Islands, dollar, Libyan dinar or Danish?

Krone off these options on Lee, the Cayman Islands dollar is worth mawr.

Each one is about a dollar.

19 US Bitcoin is also stronger.

One unit of that currency is currently worth almost 33,000 U.

S.

Dollars.

That's why it's often sold infractions.

Bitcoin has never been this valuable before.

When this type of digital money is exchanged between two online parties, there are no traditional banks involved.

There are no government regulations involved.

There's also not much to protect people who lose Bitcoin if they're scammed, for instance, its value has spiked and plunged in the past, but it's been on the up and up over the last year.

That's partly because of economic instability brought on by coronavirus.

It's partly because Mawr investors are accepting Bitcoin, the online payment company.

PayPal recently announced it would start accepting online currencies like it.

But whatever happens with Bitcoin itself, the technology behind it is gaining a foothold.

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum have been getting a lot of hype lately.

And while some investors believe that these coins could be the future of money, other experts believe that what's actually more valuable is the underlying technology it's known as Blockchain.

It's basically a public list of transactions, um, or transparent record.

You can think of this digital ledger like a game of dominoes.

The Blockchain is powered by a decentralized network of computers that all work on the same task.

No one owns the system.

Everyone helps run it.

Whenever a transaction is initiated between two computers, it has to be certified by another.

That makes it difficult for anyone to cheat.

For the sale.

To go through, a bunch of mining computers have to try and solve a cryptographic puzzle, sort of like a really complicated math problem.

Once one computer solves that puzzle, a record of the successful transaction gets added to the list for everyone to see all editions air permanent, so no one can delete or change the data.

You can only keep adding, you may be asking yourself What's so great about this glorified list?

Well, since the ledger can't be changed after the fact, getting away with fraud is a lot harder.

Blockchain advocates also argue that this technology cuts out the middleman by fulfilling the role of institutions like banks and government agencies.

This means MAWR direct access to your property, not to mention the possibility of much smaller transaction fees.

Sounds promising but doesn't live up to the hype.

The exchange of cryptocurrencies is a clear use case, but Blockchain could also be useful for other types of record keeping.

Let's say you're a farmer and you lose the D to your land in a fire or flood.

If the government lost your paperwork to, you may be out of luck.

But if you uploaded that d to the Blockchain, it's easy to prove that you own that land.

In fact, people are experimenting with Blockchain technology in a variety of places, from preventing voter fraud to storing health records toe authenticating memes on the Internet, even the very institutions Blockchain threatens to disrupt our exploring the technologies possibilities with companies like Bank of America investing in their own Blockchain tools.

But for right now, those experiments are still in the early stages, and it might be a while before we see the kind of crazy Blockchain takeover that the media is talking about.

Mm E se Susie Q.

Grizzly Bear and Madison I'll probably get some confused stares.

If I say waltz the Charleston and Gangnam style, the picture gets clearer.

And if I say the robot, a lot of folks will.

No, I'm talking about a 19 seventies era dance that seeing a sort of resurgence dancing robots with enough rhythm e o make someone tweet.

Great.

Now even robots have better moves than me.

E That spot.

The Boston Dynamics Robo dog You could buy for 74,500 bucks.

Look at that football.

From noted one Twitter user, that dog robot has come a long way way.

Theo Dance video, released by Boston Dynamics to celebrate a happier New Year inspired humans to imitate the robots way.

Okay, it's cool and creepy at the same time, we're doomed.

Even Elon Musk was impressed.

This is not C G I.

Instead of its usual work lifting boxes handler, the robot worked the dance floor after years of being shoved by researchers being dragged by the tail to test its doggedness.

Even Kit the robots got their kicks for a change.

Robots do the human as well as humans do.

The robot.

Jeannie Moos, CNN New YORK So do the robots call it the human?

Can they do the running robot?

They should probably avoid the car wash and stick to a safety dance like the electric slide, because if they ever get popped and locked up and grind their gears when they're not synchronized, they could break, dance and require a hammer to get back to their algorithm.

March is today's shout at school South Florida or Florence South.

It's South Florence High School in Florence, South Carolina.

Thank you for your comment at youtube dot com slash CNN.

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