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Driverless cars are vehicles that are self-driving and able to navigate the environment without requiring a human. They are also referred to as autonomous cars, robotic cars, and self-driving cars. In many places the cars that are permitted on public roadways are not fully autonomous and a human mus…

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First look inside Waymo's self-driving taxis

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Domino’s Pizza Hopes To Roll Out Self-Driving Delivery | TODAY

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Driving around on summer weekends or heading out on vacation, travelers often find themselves caught in a "phantom" traffic jam that defies explanation.

Well, just in time for road trip season, a National Science Foundation study reveals that having a single self-driving car on the road can reduce congestion by influencing the traffic flow of at least 20 human-controlled automobiles around it. In fact, simply using the cruise control systems that are installed in many everyday vehicles can put a dent in traffic snarls, a follow-up study in collaboration with Ford found.

"In some circumstances, adaptive cruise control is enough to mitigate some of the breaking traffic disturbances you would regularly see," said Raphael Stern, a graduate research assistant at Vanderbilt University and a lead researcher on the study.
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He said that these "phantom jams" are not actually mysterious at all. They are caused by people. As one driver hits the brakes or slows down, the vehicles behind them often make adjustments too aggressively. This sets off a chain reaction that eventually leads to congestion.

"Humans are not perfect at driving," said Daniel Work, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt, who led the study. "When traffic gets dense enough, small mistakes by one driver get amplified by the drivers behind them."

Self-driving features help by ensuring automobiles move at a constant speed.

"The idea is that the cars with self-driving features smooth out the flow by driving at the average speed," Work said. "Simply put, when the cars ahead are racing toward a traffic jam, you want to drive slightly slower."

Backed by the National Science Foundation, the researchers involved in the study began looking for opportunities to improve mobility systems in 2016.

The team rented 21 passenger vehicles including sedans, SUVs and trucks, then arranged them on a circular track along with one car that was fully self-driving enabled. A driver was behind the wheel of each.

"When all the vehicles were driven by humans, we would see these stop-and-go waves," Stern said. "But when we activated the autonomous vehicle, the stop-and-go waves stabilized."

The researchers officially published their findings in April.

Ford caught wind of it and wanted to add adaptive cruise control to the equation, partnering with the scientists to re-create the simulation using 36 random drivers, Ford vehicles and a closed test track.

The results: Vehicles using adaptive cruise control reduced the impact of a braking event smoother than those vehicles without the activated technology.

Stern said that even though the study was in a controlled environment, motorists can expect to see "tangible benefits" in everyday driving situations.

In addition to fewer traffic jams, having self-driving cars on the road can reduce the total fuel consumption of all the vehicles driving through phantom waves by 40 percent, the researchers said.

"It's not going to get you to your destination faster, but it will get you there with less fuel consumed, lower risk of accidents due to fewer braking events and presumably lower stress," Work said.

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How self-driving car or adaptive cruise control could ease traffic jams

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Driving around on summer weekends or heading out on vacation, travelers often find themselves caught in a "phantom" traffic jam that defies explanation. Well, just in time for road trip season, a National Science Foundation study reveals that having a single self-driving car on the road can reduce congestion by influencing the traffic flow of at least 20 human-controlled automobiles around it.

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Look, No Hands! Futuristic Driverless Cars Are All The Rage

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Look, No Hands! Futuristic Driverless Cars Are All The Rage has 1447 reviews and 0 ratings. Reviewer yugawtaproblem wrote: "This honestly looks kinda fun and scary at the same time"

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There may be 1 million reasons self-driving cars make sense

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A new report shows that adopting autonomous vehicles sooner rather than later could save an extraordinary number of lives.

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Newsela | Driverless car testing coming to California

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California will begin testing driverless cars

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Two experts weigh in on the pros and cons of driverless cars.

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The Great Straw Debate | Why People with Disabilities Need Plastic Straws

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Straw No More | Molly Steer | TEDxJCUCairns

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A movement to ban disposable plastic straws is sweeping the US after gaining traction in cities and countries across the world, finding widespread attention after Starbucks announced it would phase out disposable straws by 2020. However, according to disability rights advocates, banning disposable plastic straws, which were originally created as disability aides, presents unacceptable barriers for people with many disabilities. Aided by a widespread desire for meaningful environmental change and a viral video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nose, plastic straw bans have been celebrated by individuals, companies, and legislators as a positive and necessary move towards widespread environmental change. But do plastic straw bans really represent meaningful change-and if so, at what cost? According to those affected and a growing pool of evidence, plastic straw bans not only fail to accommodate people with various disabilities, they also fail to create the meaningful positive environmental change they claim to prioritize.

The Numbers

Straw bans have been framed by many as a necessary first step toward reducing rid of plastic waste, and even those who acknowledge the challenges plastic straw bans present to elderly and disabled individuals have framed straw bans as a choice between access and the environment. But it's important to consider the numbers when thinking about those impacts.

How much do disposable plastic straws really contribute to the world's plastic waste and overall pollution? According to a recent report by environmental group Better Alternatives Now (BAN), plastic straws and stirrers (grouped together in this report but not in all bans) comprised about 7% of plastic items found along the California coastline, by piece. Compared to plastic bags at 9% or plastic bottle caps at 17%, it's a not-insignificant chunk of plastic. However, when taken by weight, a report by Jambeck Research Group places plastic straws at only .03% of aggregate plastic in the oceans themselves, suggesting that straws' lightness and buoyancy lead them to end up overrepresented on the coastline.

Perhaps even more saliently, a recent survey by Ocean Cleanup estimated that nearly half of the plastic waste found in the oceans' largest garbage patch comes from fishing nets, primarily commercial ones. These numbers point to what disability rights advocates have said about straw bans: while the bans have enormous potential to harm the elderly and disabled, they bring about neither the dramatic reductions in plastic that curtailing activities of corporate polluters would effect, nor the smaller yet harmless reductions that bans on items like plastic balloons and plastic shopping bags bring about.

Also significant to note about the BAN report is that products labeled as biodegradable or compostable plastics are not, in fact, actually biodegradable in an earth or ocean environment. Many are moving toward biodegradable plastic straws as a substitute for current plastic models, but according to data, those not only do not come with any actual impact on ocean plastics, they also bring additional challenges of potentially fatal food allergies and reduced durability into the lives of disabled straw-users.

Another salient point many have made is that plastic conservation efforts have many other starting points that don't target accessibility aides. Plastic straws were chosen as a social media campaign), who have symbolic starting point by environmental advocacy group Lonely Whale (originator of the #stopsucking acknowledged in multiple interviews that straw bans present potential problems for people with disabilities. Lonely Whale did not respond to my request before press time-a statement from the group has been added to the end of this article*-but resources including the group's staff training .pdf clearly outline the need for acknowledging the complex issue straw bans present to disability rights.

Kim Sauder, a Toronto-based disability rights advocate and PhD student in Disability Studies, wants people to recognize that they aren't choosing between disability access and the environment. "That legitimizes the idea that a straw ban will achieve something. It ignores the reality that a straw ban won't do what legislators say it will. The 'conversation' they are starting really boils down to what people will accept as success and the harms they will justify in the name of that." According to Sauder, many who have pushed for straw bans appear to be totally okay with what even its biggest champions deem a symbolic victory against pollution, even when it comes at the very real expense of disability access.
Potential for Harm
While plastic straws have become a go-to for all types of customers in cafes, bars, and restaurants, they were originally invented as a disability aid and used in hospitals. Joseph B. Friedman created and sold the first disposable bendy straws as a tool to help reclined patients, as well as people with assorted other disabilities, drink easily from cups. Sold as the Flex-Straw, they were and still are an inexpensive, temperature-resistant, sturdy, and sanitary alternative to the reusable silicone feeding tubes which were in heavy rotation before their advent. They achieved mainstream popularity because the design was superior to existing alternatives for all people, not just people with disabilities.

As disability rights advocates have pointed out, all current substitutes fail to meet the same standard of universal design. Compostable alternatives lack the same sturdiness, making them too easy to chew through or choke on for people with limited jaw mobility and (in the case of paper straws) too flimsy for people with longer drinking periods. Reusable alternatives present problems too; not only would people with disabilities need to carry them around on top of other medical necessities, they're also difficult to wash, dangerously unsanitary if not properly washed, conduct heat and cold, and present cutting risks. With the current selections of alternatives on the market, if establishments don't have a stash of plastic straws in-house, they risk creating situations where people with specific disabilities either can't drink safely, or can't drink at all.

"Plastic bendy straws provide me with a basic needs that everyone else has access to," says Jae Kim, a straw-user and social work intern at Seattle's Arc of King County. "They became a part of me that I can't lose. Without them, I can't consume any liquids and it is the biggest, scariest concern I have."

Sauder argues that it's the responsibility of legislators and straw manufacturers to ensure that they create a truly viable alternative that works for all before banning the disposable plastic options that currently serve everyone's needs, pointing out that it shouldn't be on people with disabilities to lose essential access tools in order to support symbolic legislation. Kim wants non-disabled people to think about how that experience would feel. "How would your life look if you needed to go through barriers just to have a sip of water?"

Case Studies: Seattle, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara

Many governments implementing straw bans have built in disability exemptions, but those too can present serious problems if not worded correctly. In order to make sure that people who need plastic straws can access them, laws need to include clauses that specifically mandate keeping plastic straws in-house with signage to let people know about they're available, rather than simply exempting businesses who want to accommodate disabled patrons.

The first US city to pass straw ban legislation was Seattle, where the legislation passed with an disability exemption that was widely criticized for not being stronger. According to Seattle Disability Commission co-chair Shaun Bickley, Seattle Public Utilities failed to reach out to the Disability Commission for feedback prior to passing the legislation, and then passed a ban with an exemption that allowed-but did not require-businesses to serve flexible plastic straws to patrons with disabilities. Last week, in light of the many voices drawing attention to the issues with the exemption, they issued a statement to "food packaging and serviceware stakeholders" detailing the new legislation as well as emphasizing that "SPU provides the above listed exemption and also encourages food service businesses to keep a supply of flexible plastic straws available for customers with a physical or medical condition. We would appreciate if distributors and associations would inform your customers and members of this exemption and to share our encouragement that they maintain a supply of flexible plastic straws for this purpose."

San Francisco also passed straw ban legislation with a disability exemption stipulating that businesses are allowed to make exemptions for people who need them, rather than mandating that they accommodate people with disabilities. This was criticized by many in the disabled community because, as proven with countless ADA requirements, many businesses accommodate people with disabilities only when required by law. According to Supervisor Katy Tang, the legislation is currently being amended to include more specific language around disability access.

"Legislation does not typically spell out every detail for implementation. The intent behind our originally included a clause regarding the disabilities community is that restaurants/retailers would indeed need to have some plastic straws on hand for those who request them due to a medical reason," Tang told me via email. "The ADA is broad enough in that all places of public accommodation should be making reasonable efforts to accommodate those with disabilities in every way possible."

Much more extreme is the legislation introduced in Santa Barbara, which not only prohibits any business or individual from handing out plastic straws-including compostable plastic straws, which are the closest alternative for people who need to use straws due to disability-it actually punishes repeat offenders with heavy fines and jail time. For providers to get a disability exemption, they must apply to the city of Santa Barbara for an exemption due to "medical necessity," an extra step that makes it that much harder and more expensive for businesses to serve customers with disabilities. I have not been able to get comments from anyone involved in the Santa Barbara legislation.

Legislation aside, owner of Washington's One Cup Coffee Tonia Hume plans to make sure her patrons with disabilities have everything they need to have a positive experience. Hearing rumors of the impending straw ban, Hume swapped the plastic straws at her four locations for biodegradable plastic straws; once the ban passed, she learned of the issues people with various disabilities were expressing and is now committed to making sure they're able to access her space just as easily as before. "We had plastic straws that didn't bend before, so making the swap to compostable was no big deal," she said. Once she found out that bendy straws were crucial to many, she committed to making sure they're available in all locations at all times. "You want to be a place that's welcoming to everybody," she said.

San Francisco's Wrecking Ball Coffee also that in light of the ban, they will now carry two types of straws, with a request that patrons use compostable straws unless they need plastic bendy straws. "We were always proud that we had compostable straws at WB, but when SF began discussing a plastic straw ban, we looked a little deeper," Wrecking Ball co-founder Trish Rothgeb told me by email. Hearing the voices of the disabled community, they added plastic bendy straws to their condiment bar. "It's not up to the baristas to police the situation. We can't assume we know a person's needs by looking at them. Will a kid get a straw because it's fun, when it's really not meant for them? Most probably, but it's a small price to pay for making sure every guest gets what they need without any judgement or extra work on their part."

What You Can Do

Whether you live in a place with a straw ban or not, there's a lot you can do, both for the environment and for people with disabilities that will be affected by straw bans.

If you live in an area with a straw ban and own, manage, or work in a business that serves beverages, make sure to keep a stash of plastic bendy straws for patrons with disabilities that need them-ideally right in the condiment area with adequate signage, like Wrecking Ball now does. If you live in an area that is pushing for a straw ban, contact your legislators and fight for a disability accommodation mandate, rather than just an exemption.

In addition, if you're a non-disabled person who wants to help the environment, do what you can to take personal responsibility for your own use of reusable and sustainable materials for as many of your daily activities as possible. "Are you cognitive of the environmental impact you may contribute in all aspects of life," asks organizer and Seattle Disability Commission chair Khazm Kogita. "How can you strive to minimize your footprint on the planet? At the same time, be aware that different people have different needs, and for some people, straws are an essential part of their daily living. Are your actions or decisions hindering other people's independence?"

Most of all, listen to people with disabilities when they raise issues and recognize that they understand their bodies and accessibility needs. Coffee shops have long been spaces where people congregate to challenge the status quo, and as such, they are uniquely equipped to make sure the fight against plastic waste prioritizes the needs of people with disabilities.

RJ Joseph (@RJ_Sproseph) is a Sprudge staff writer, publisher of Queer Cup, and coffee professional based in the Bay Area. Read more RJ Joseph on Sprudge Media Network.

Top image © dark_blade / Adobe Stock.

*Correction: An earlier version of this article unintentionally misrepresented Lonely Whale's position on disability rights in relation to the group's straw ban campaign. Sprudge regrets the error, and the paragraph in question has been updated. In addition, below please find a statement from Lonely Whale, received after this story was originally published:

Lonely Whale's movement For A #StrawlessOcean has worked to advocate for the needs of those in the disability community who require a straw to drink. We are committed to working with the disability community to ensure that voluntary adoption of our campaign is inclusive, to identify plastic straw alternatives that work for everyone, and to make these alternatives are readily available at any establishment. We believe that with thoughtful dialogue between environmental and disability communities we can address the growing plastic pollution crisis without compromising the needs of the disability community. We welcome the opportunity to speak further with those who represent the disability community at large to ensure any opportunity we have to advocate for more inclusive policy language proposed by cities, counties and states and voluntary change in response to our campaigns protect the accessibility rights for those within the disability community.

-statement from Lonely Whale.

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Straw Ban Or Straw Man? Why Plastic Straw Bans Aren't The Answer

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How the straw ban affects people with disabilities.

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Plastic straws aren't the only environmental contaminants missing the trash can, or, rather, the recycling bin.

As companies such as Starbucks move away from plastic straws, environmental advocates say these items aren't the worst litter offender.

"Straws are getting a lot of news, but on a volume basis, straws are literally ... a drop in a bucket," Noah Ullman, CMO of Keep America Beautiful, told USA TODAY.

The national nonprofit works with more than 600 community-based affiliates and organizations to end litter.

Plastic straws didn't even make it into the organization's top five most common forms of litter, according to the group's latest national study. Cigarette butts, paper, food wrappers, confections and napkins/tissues topped the list.

While some of these items might get into the environment by accident, experts say in most cases, people are to blame.

"The products themselves generally aren't bad in and of themselves," said Mark Dancy, president of Waste Zero, which leads hundreds of waste-reduction programs nationwide. "They become bad if you don't recycle them. The worst is if they become litter."

Here's what you should know about some of the most common items littering our nation:

Cigarette butts

Even though smoking rates are down nationally, tobacco trash is among the most frequently littered items in America, according to Keep America Beautiful. Cigarette butts are easy to toss on the ground, especially when ashtrays aren't nearby.

"Some people don't consider cigarette butts litter," said Angela Spears, communications specialist at Keep Florida Beautiful.

Spears said improperly discarded cigarette butts in Florida often end up in waterways, posing serious risks for marine life.

The Ocean Conservancy collected more than 2.4 million cigarette butts with plastic filters along the world's beaches and waterways, according to its 2018 report. That's enough cigarette butts to line the distance of five marathons.
More: Top 10 trash items found littering our beaches and waterways - and the weirdest
Texas Transportation Commissioner Jeff Austin III, also behind the Don't Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign, told USA TODAY cigarette butts are a repeat offender in his state, where more than $30 million a year is dedicated to trash collection along roadsides.

Most cigarette filters are made of a form of plastic that isn't biodegradeable. So, they can remain in the environment for months or years, and are known to start wildfires.

Cigarette butts recently sparked two wildfires at Lake Tahoe, local California station KCRA reports. In 2014, an improperly discarded cigarette ignited a fire that killed four people in a New Jersey motel.

Becky Lyons, COO of Keep America Beautiful, advises smokers to keep a portable ashtray with them.

Fast food wrappers and cups

Plastic, paper and styrofoam cups are a common find along California roadways. Mark Dinger with the California Department of Transportation said litter removal totaled about $67 million last year. Jagjiwan Grewal, acting chief of the stormwater program there, advises drivers to keep a small bag in the car for cups, wrappers and bags leftover from meals on the road.

"By doing a small due diligence, we can keep our roadways clean," Grewal said.

Plastic bags

Plastic bags, both empty and full of trash, are among some of the most prevalent pieces of litter in New York, according to the New York State Department of Transportation. The department reports collecting more than 73,000 bags of trash and other litter between April 2017 and March 2018.

Joseph Morrissey, a spokesperson for the department, encourages drivers to "keep trash inside their vehicles."

Plastic bags - actually, plastic of any kind - is also a huge problem in coastal areas such as Brevard County, Florida, where advocates report turtles, birds and sea mammals eating the litter, which can clog animals' digestive tracts, Spears said.

Food

Some don't realize that by tossing an apple core out the window, they are littering. While food might break down faster than plastics, Austin noted the act of leaving it outside of a trashcan is still considered illegal in many states, Texas included. Aside from making areas dirty, leftover food can also attract animals to busy roadways, which poses serious risks to the animals and motorists.
Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets
Other common litter offenders:

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Worst types of litter: Plastic straws not even in the top 5

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As Starbucks and others move ditch plastic straws, advocates say the straws aren't among the top five worst litter offenders. Here's what they said.

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Daniel Gilbert uses plastic straws to drink his coffee in the morning. For much of his life, the 25-year-old has carried them with him everywhere. He's had to, because all plastic straws aren't the same.

Gilbert needs them to be the right length, and they have to be able to handle hot temperatures. And many restaurants don't offer what he needs.

The Owensboro, Kentucky, resident was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes the muscles to progressively deteriorate. As his muscles weakened, it became harder for him to pick up something like a cup, so Gilbert began carrying straws when he reached his twenties.

One night, he left his straws at home while he was at a bar with his friends. Typically, he uses bendable ones to position the straw closer to his mouth. But all the bar had was plastic stirrers.

"I had to manage, but it took a lot of effort," he said. "It was really exhausting."

Gilbert and other people with disabilities fear that a growing effort to ban plastic straws will limit their accessibility at restaurants, on airplanes and at other service establishments.

Starbucks announced Monday that by 2020, it will phase out the use of all plastic straws in its cafes. This came a little more than a week after Seattle, the birthplace of the coffee giant, banned plastic straws and utensils from the city's restaurants, bars and food trucks.

American Airlines said Tuesday that it too will eliminate straws from its in-flight beverage service starting in November, replacing them with stir sticks. The announcement follows a similar move by Alaska Airlines.

The bans are meant to be a proactive step in easing the burden that plastic waste has on our environment. But they also may make life more complicated for people in the disabled community who rely on these tools.

Why plastic is better than alternative materials

Going without straws can mean struggling through the physical motion of putting a drink to a mouth, or leaking liquid into the lungs, or choking.

Emily Ladau, an activist and writer on disability issues, has Larsen syndrome, a disorder that affects the development of bones. Ladau is primarily affected in her lower body, so she does not rely on straws, but opts for them because it can be difficult to maneuver in a wheelchair and drink at the same time.

For people who need straws, materials other than plastic just don't do the job.

Paper? It dissolves, or you can bite through them. Metal? It can get too hot or too cold, and can even be painful for those with symptoms like jitters. Reusable straws can easily be forgotten at home.

"Other types of straws simply do not offer the combination of strength, flexibility, and safety that plastic straws do," Disability Rights Washington, a nonprofit with offices in Seattle, said in a letter it coauthored to the city.

Gilbert has tried to do his part to educate others on why plastic is the most efficient material, but he often gets told he's wrong.

"I'd be more than happy to use more environmentally friendly straws," he said. "(The disabled community) isn't trying to be anti-environment. We're just protecting disabled people."

Starbucks, when asked about steps they would take to accommodate the disabled, said in an email, "Customers are still able to get a straw - made from alternative materials - and we will work with the disability community to ensure we continue to meet their needs going forward."

It is unclear what those materials will be or if plastic straws would still be available.

The London Plane, a Seattle restaurant, started using compostable plastic straws before the ban, which may be an ideal compromise.

But Kate Melges, the plastics campaigner at environmental group Greenpeace USA, said those straws still pose a threat as they must be incinerated at high temperatures to be broken down, which causes air pollution.

"You can't just throw them in your garden," she said.

Why focus on straws?

The National Park Service estimates that Americans use 500 million "drinking straws" a day.

Melges, who monitors ocean pollution, told CNN that plastic straws make up a small percentage of the debris found in the oceans and other bodies of water.

On cleanups, she finds many more food wrappers and plastic bottles than straws. But she believes straws are a simpler problem to overcome.

"They're a relatively easy item to eliminate," she said. "They're not a necessity for every single person ... they're the first entry point into tackling plastic pollution."

What the Seattle ban means

In the Seattle ordinance, there is a yearlong exception for those with disabilities.

"The new director's rule provides a waiver for flexible plastic straws, which can be provided to customers who need such a straw due to medical or physical condition," City of Seattle spokeswoman Ellen Pepin-Cato told CNN.

Proof of a disability will not be necessary, Pepin-Cato said. However, the decision to provide plastic straws if needed is up to businesses.

"Requiring people with disabilities to treat a routine fast food trip as something that requires planning and supplies is an unplanned failure in equity," wrote Disability Rights Washington in its letter to the city.

Ladau, the disability activist, expressed similar concerns.

"Straw bans are a microcosm of the larger issue," she said. "Access needs are entirely ignored."

In other cities with straw bans, such as Miami Beach, Florida, there's no such exception. Miami Beach is, however, considering implementing a three-month educational program to get feedback from residents and businesses.

"The (Americans with Disabilities Act) was passed 28 years ago," Gilbert said. "There should be sweeping policies."

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Why banning plastic straws upsets people with disabilities | CNN

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Banning plastic straws is meant to be a proactive step in easing the burden that plastic waste has on our environment. But the bans may make life more complicated for people in the disabled community who rely on these tools.

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Newsela | Twizzlers: Restaurants consider alternatives to the plastic straw

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More restaurants are seeking environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic straws

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Plastic straws make up only about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of the ocean’s plastic waste: Our view

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Seattle has officially become the first major U.S. city to ban restaurants from giving plastic straws and utensils to customers in an effort to help the environment.

Since July 1, restaurants in the Emerald City are barred from providing customers plastic straws, cocktail picks or utensils unless someone specifically requests one. In that case, the customer should be given a compostable option, according to Seattle Public Utilities.

With 5,000 food service providers in the area, Seattle is the first major city in the U.S. to enact such a ban, KIRO-TV reported.

"Plastic pollution is surpassing crisis levels in the world's oceans, and I'm proud Seattle is leading the way and setting an example for the nation by enacting a plastic straw ban," Mami Hara, the general manager of Seattle Public Utilities, told KOMO News.

The National Park Service estimates 500 million straws are used by Americans each day.

The Seattle ban actually began with an ordinance prohibiting one-time-use food service items in 2008, but the city has allowed exemptions on certain items every year since. For example, Styrofoam food packaging was banned in 2009, according to the Seattle Times. But because of the market, plastic utensils and straws have been exempted in Seattle's ban until now, the newspaper reported.
NEW YORK CITY IS LATEST TO CONSIDER BANNING PLASTIC STRAWS ALTOGETHER
Restaurants were encouraged to use up existing supplies of plastic straws and utensils before July. If that deadline could not be met, restaurants were asked to check in with Seattle Public Utilities to come up with a different schedule.

Aside from the ban, Seattle food service businesses are also required to use collection bins for compostables and recyclables, which went into effect in 2010.

Restaurants that do not comply with Seattle's regulations could face a $250 fine.
CALIFORNIA'S ENACTED AND POTENTIAL BANS, FROM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES TO PLASTIC BAGS
Duke Moscrip, founder and CEO of Duke's Seafood and Chowder, told KIRO that his restaurant switched to compostable straws and utensils about three years ago. Then, the products were "30 to 40 percent more expensive," he said.

"Now it's about 10 percent. But we did it anyway, just because it's the right thing to do," Moscrip said.

According to the Seattle Times, flexible plastic straws will be available for customers who need to use them for a medical reason.

Bon Appétit Management Company became the first U.S. food service company earlier this year to ban single-use plastic straws in its eateries, according to Greenpeace.

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Seattle bans plastic straws, utensils, becoming first major US city to do so

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Seattle has officially become the first major U.S. city to ban restaurants from giving plastic straws and utensils to customers in an effort to help the environment.

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49th and current Vice President of the United States

"The 360" shows you diverse perspectives on the day's top stories. What's happening:
The idea of banning plastic straws as a means to reduce pollution has become an unexpected flashpoint of political debate in recent years. The conversation was reignited Wednesday during CNN's climate town hall with Democratic presidential candidates when Sen. Kamala Harris said she's in favor of banning them.

"We do need to ban the plastic ones," Harris said, adding that the country should "encourage innovation" in finding alternatives.

Cities like San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., have prohibited the use of plastic straws. Several companies - including Disney, Starbucks and American Airlines - have announced plans to stop using them as well.
Why there's debate:
Supporters of straw bans say they are a simple step that can help reduce the massive amount of plastic waste in our oceans that can be harmful to marine life. Advocates also see the bans as a first step in a campaign to reduce single-use plastics and a means to compel consumers to think critically about the environmental impact of their buying decisions.

The bans have been criticized by environmentalists as coming up well short of what's needed to combat pollution, since straws make up only a tiny percentage of the detritus in the ocean. Focusing on small items like plastic straws, some argue, distracts us from addressing the more significant sources of pollution. "This is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants us to talk about," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said during Wednesday's town hall.

Others say the bans are discriminatory against people with certain disabilities, who may not be able to use alternatives like metal or paper straws.

The bans are seen by some on the right as a cause championed by overzealous progressives. Defiant use of plastic straws has become a popular political statement among prominent conservatives, including the president.
What's next:
The campaign to reduce plastic waste has begun to move beyond straws. A number of states have banned plastic shopping bags. Several major hotel companies have announced they will stop using individual shampoo bottles. California's state legislature is considering a series of bills that would phase out single-use plastics entirely by 2030.

Perspectives
Banning plastic straws would be a symbolic gesture toward a greener future.
"This isn't about straws, it's about whether Americans are willing to evolve into better stewards of the natural world - or instead treat that very idea with contempt." - Miyoko Sakashita, The Hill
Plastic straws make up a tiny percentage of the waste in the ocean.
"There's no doubt plastic pollution is a major environmental threat. But there's also no doubt straws barely contribute to the massive plastic blobs gathering in our oceans." - David Whitley, Orlando Sentinel
The bans discriminate against people with disabilities.
"People with a huge range of disabilities depend on plastic straws to access beverages and the very water they need to survive. ... For so many people with disabilities, something as mundane as a straw represents independence and freedom." - Karin Hitselberger, Washington Post
Making straws available only by request is a better solution.
"Making plastic straws available only upon request will make a massive dent in the amount of plastic waste restaurants across the country produce. It will also demonstrate to new activists and environmental consumers that their voices matter, and they have the power to push for even larger reductions in plastic waste." - Juliana Britto Schwartz, Newsweek
Outright bans unnecessarily turn the issue into a heated political flashpoint.
"Consumers are also more likely to accept change, whether it concerns light bulbs or straws, when the heavy hand of the Nanny State isn't involved. Government bans tend to generate hoarding, public backlash and culture war mutterings about having to pry straws from cold, dead lips. " - Editorial, USA Today
A straw ban is too small to have much impact.
"If we want to stop covering the Earth in discarded plastic trash before the end of the century, we're going to have to stop addressing the problem with minuscule, penny-ante policies." - Editorial, Los Angeles Times
Taxing plastics has been proved to effectively limit how much they're used.
"Economics offers a straightforward answer: instead of banning single-use plastics, the right strategy is to tax them. Taxes force people to pay - or in econ-speak, internalize - their own environmental costs. This tends to lead people to change their behavior." - Scott Duke Kominers, Bloomberg
Straw bans are part of a broken liberal environmental agenda.
"Paper straws that turn to mush before you can finish your drink are a perfect symbol for failed leftist ideas. A quick examination of the claims about plastic straws reveals the intellectual mush that's behind so many of the left's short-sighted and foolish nanny-state proposals." - Angela Logomasini, Washington Examiner
Arguing over straws lets the true polluters avoid accountability.
"[Elizabeth] Warren's response speaks to how the fossil fuel industry and other corporate giants are eager to shift the framing of subjects like lightbulbs and paper straws, in order to put the focus on consumer choice and deflect from the larger issue of reducing pollution." - Li Zhou, Vox
Is there a topic you'd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

Read more 360s
Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: Getty Images

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Supporters of straw bans say they are a simple step that can help reduce the massive amount of plastic waste in our oceans that can be harmful to marine life. The bans are seen by some on the right as a cause championed by overzealous progressives.

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Are trampoline parks safe? In Texas, jump at your own risk

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By Jacinda David, Owner, Just Bounce Trampoline
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stephen and Jacinda have been working as a successful duo since Just Bounce Trampoline Club opened its doors in 2004. They love to share the adventure that is trampoline with recreational and competitive athletes alike. They have coached several athletes to National Championship titles and International medals at Pan American Championships and World Age Group Championships in both Double Mini Trampoline and Individual Trampoline.

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17 Benefits of Trampoline Exercise - Just Bounce Trampoline Club

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Trampoline exercise helps to facilitate the body's natural detoxification mechanism. Rebounding is a unique form of exercise.

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Get fit and add some spring to your life! Kidzworld checks out the big bounces and high-flying flips from the world of trampoline. Check out this look at trampoline exercises and tricks for girls and kids.

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For the popular Jump 'n Glow sessions, which start every half hour from 8:00 pm onwards, kids need to be 48 inches. Toddler Time is for kids aged 2-6 to jump with adult caretakers. They don't have to worry about bigger kids bouncing into them or have to cope with loud music. On Mondays, the facility is open for kids with autism from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for a special session. Kids with disabilities are welcome at all open sessions, but this one is exclusively for them, with staff on hand who have experience in working with special needs children.

Where: 310 Michael drive, Syosset, NY 11791

When: Toddler time Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Phone: 516-762-1300

Cost: Jump 'n Glow - $22 for 60 minutes. Toddler Time: $15 for one toddler and one adult, each additional child $10. Check website for other times and sessions.

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For the popular Jump 'n Glow sessions, which start every half hour from 8:00 pm onwards, kids need to be 48 inches. Toddler Time is for kids aged 2-6 to jump with adult caretakers. They don't have to worry about bigger kids bouncing into them or have to cope with loud music.

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Some of my best memories from childhood involve a giant rectangular death trap in my backyard: my trampoline. I vividly remember the Christmas Santa dropped that sucker in our backyard, and my childhood was never the same.

We played crack the egg and begged my dad to double bounce us - and my dad is a big guy. We had no pads covering the springs, and certainly no net. And there were times when we dangerously flew off the trampoline, landing near concrete and fences in my backyard.

No parents sued us. No waivers were signed. No bones were broken. But we all survived to tell the tale.

Our trampoline was even complete with its rusty metal springs that luckily never gave any of us tetanus, but certainly kept us on high alert so that our tender legs didn't accidentally slip through (they so did) and sustain injury (luckily not too much).

For the past couple of years, we've been debating getting a trampoline because we know the risks. Just about everyone I know has a horror story from a trampoline incident. I have neighbors whose kids have broken their legs and relatives who broke elbows, but my husband and I went for it this year and got our kids a trampoline for Christmas. It was my idea, but I got my husband - the medical professional - to say yes anyway.

Trampolines are a risk for sure, but they are also just about a million times safer now than when I was a kid. I almost laugh at how dangerous they really were when I was growing up, and how ridiculously safe they are today comparatively.

But the American Academy of Pediatrics actually says that parents shouldn't own a trampoline at all. Yikes. According to their report, 98,000 injuries happen because of trampolines every year. But here's the thing: They also report that 50,000 kids go to the ER because of skateboards and scooter injuries every year. My kids have those too.

And according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2013 they reported that approximately 192,000 kids went to the ER for bicycle accidents. Should I take away the bicycles too? No, that would be just bonkers.

I know trampolines aren't "safe," but they are definitely safer than when I was a kid, and despite the risks, here's why we still went for it.

The Memories

This is the number one reason for me. I had hours of fun on that trampoline with neighbors and friends. We played, and jumped, and sometimes peed our pants from laughing so hard as we injured ourselves on rusty coils. We took catnaps in the sun and had gossip sessions about boys we liked. There were attempted sleepovers that usually ended with us sneaking in late at night, and I learned how to do my own little gymnastics routines out there. Sprinklers set up underneath during the summer months turned it into a slip 'n' slide, and it provided hours of endless free entertainment.

My Kids Aren't Staring at a Screen

Parents today are constantly battling screen time, and a trampoline is something that gets my kids outside and off the screens. It also attracts friends to come play in the neighborhood.

It's Exercise

Kids need exercise like they need water to drink and air to breathe, and a trampoline is a fun way to get physical exercise without my kids even realizing they are exercising.

We set up rules for jumping on our trampoline to help make it even safer. Our rules are pretty simple: We limit how many kids can be on at a time, and I also make sure that I'm watching while they jump. We make sure parents in our neighborhood give their permission before kids jump, because lawsuits and stuff. And with a net, pads, and mom watching, yes, accidents can still happen, but we could also lock them inside and not let them ride bikes either.

I worry so much as a parent, but the truth is, you can't live your life in fear. If parenting has taught me anything, this is it. And you certainly can't put those fears on your kids. Yes, our risks are greater by owning a trampoline, but our kids are having the time of their lives jumping on it, and I just don't see the harm in that, especially when there are numerous activities our kids could get injured from every day.

The ironic thing is, just two months after buying our kids a trampoline, my daughter broke her arm. And guess what? It was on a trampoline. The ironic part, though, is that it was at gymnastics, not in our own backyard.

So my point is this: You can't wrap your kids in bubble wrap. Although there are times that I'd really, really, like to consider how this could be done because I love my kids fiercely and have a 5-year-old who has no fear. But the memories they are going to have on that giant "death trap" in my backyard, are worth every penny. And possibly even a broken bone.

This article was originally published on

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I Know The Risks Of Trampolines. Here's Why We Got One Anyway.

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Some of my best memories from childhood involve a giant rectangular death trap in my backyard: my trampoline. I vividly remember the Christmas Santa dropped that sucker in our backyard, and my childhood was never the same. We played crack the egg and begged my dad to double bounce us - and my dad is a big guy.

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A recent injury suffered by a 3-year-old Florida boy while jumping at a trampoline park has sparked national attention on social media and raised questions about the safety of a common, seemingly harmless children's activity.

On Tuesday, Kaitlin Hill shared in a Facebook post that her son broke his femur while bouncing on a trampoline at an indoor park in Tampa. "Every day is a struggle for his sweet 3 year old self as he adjusts to life in a hip spica cast for the next 6 weeks," she wrote.

In her post, which has been shared more than 260,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon, she said there are parks that promote the use of trampolines for toddlers, despite recommendations by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons not to allow children under the age of 6 to use them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics goes even further, advising against trampoline use for all children, saying that enclosures and padding may not prevent all injuries and can provide a false sense of security. However, if parents do allow children to use them, the group recommends constant adult supervision, avoiding somersaults and flips and restricting use to a single jumper at a time.

Young children are especially susceptible to trampoline injuries, according to Armin Tehrany, an orthopedic surgeon and founder of Manhattan Orthopedic Care.

"Their bones are still growing," he said. Tehrany cautions parents that a soft surface doesn't ensure safety because the mechanism of jumping on a trampoline - jumping to progressively higher heights and landing - puts a lot of stress on developing bones.

"The pressure they put themselves under puts them at high risk for fracture and other injuries," he said.

As trampoline parks grow in popularity, so do trampoline park-related injuries: Emergency room visits for trampoline park-related injuries shot up from 581 in 2010 to 6,932 in 2014, according to aPediatrics study released last year. That's more than a ten-fold increase.

Tehrany said he would like to see trampoline parks put up medical recommendations and safety guidelines so parents can make more informed decisions.

"It seems to the parents that it is perfectly safe, but it's not," he said.

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Trampolines: A safe, fun activity for your kids? Just the opposite, doctors say

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The recent injury of a young boy while jumping at a trampoline park has caught national attention and raised questions about the safety of a common, seemingly harmless children's activity.

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The popularity of trampoline parks is growing by leaps and bounds - along with injuries among their visitors, particularly young children.

Less than a decade ago, there were only three trampoline parks in the nation. Now there are roughly 800. While thousands of customers walk away from their visits unharmed, warnings about the largely unregulated industry are mounting.

Chelsea Zeolla, 12, was bouncing and doing flips at Flight Trampoline Park in Connecticut when she landed on her arm and broke it. She now bears a scar where doctors inserted a pin to help set her arm.

The facility's owner, Ralph Park, admits that the centers can be dangerous.

"You can break a bone. You can have a compound fracture," he said.

Park owns 11 trampoline parks. Visitors at each one are required to watch a safety video and sign a waiver before they take their first leap.

"Of course, we don't want to see any injury," he said. "We want to find out why that injury happened and again, we want to try to prevent injuries from happening."

Only nine states have regulations dealing with trampoline parks. Kids aren't the only ones getting hurt at the facilities.

In 2012, former Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain visited a trampoline center with his son - and ended up breaking his ankle so severely that he suffered severe from extreme blood loss.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of emergency room visits from trampoline park incidents have soared, from 581 in 2010, to 6,932 just four years later.

Attorney David Chazen represents six clients who he says were injured at a Sky Zone Trampoline Park. The youngest is 4-year-old Jeremiah Lang, who broke his leg when an older child bounced on top of him.

"Sky Zone has a policy that anybody who can walk can go on their trampolines," he said.

In a statement to NBC News, Sky Zone asserted that "the safety of our guests is our top priority."

"As with any physical activity or sport, there are inherent risks. We take several measures to reduce these risks and educate our guests about safety in our parks," the company said in its statement.

Chazen said injuries at trampoline parks can be devastating to children, and their parents.

"The parents feel tremendous guilt, because when they look at this in hindsight and they regret having allowed their children to go to Sky Zone," he said.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that trampolines not be used by children under six. The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, advises against trampolines for all children.

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How safe are trampoline parks? As their popularity soars, so do injuries

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The largely unregulated industry has yielded thousands of ER visits over the last several years.

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​Though it may be fun to jump and do somersaults on a trampoline, landing wrong can cause serious, permanent injuries. Injuries can occur even when a trampoline has a net and padding and parents are watching.

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Trampoline parks launch debate over safety

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Nationwide, almost 100,000 people go to emergency rooms each year for injuries due to trampoline accidents.

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The X Games is an extreme sports competition that is presented twice a year by ESPN, the sports television network. Athletes from around the world compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals, as well as money and prizes.

The X Games consists of two versions: a summer competition and a winter competition. The first summer games were held in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, in 1995. The winter competition was added two years later, at Big Bear Lake, California. Currently, the winter games are always held in Aspen, Colorado, and the summer games are always held in Los Angeles, California.

X Games events can vary from year to year, but generally consist of skiing, snowboarding, BMX biking, and skateboarding. Many X Games athletes compete in world championships. For example, Sarah Burke, from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, has been named one of the best freestyle skiers in the world. She is a three-time X Games gold medalist. Other X Games athletes represent their countries in the Olympics. Shaun White, who has won Olympic gold medals in snowboarding, is also an X Games athlete. White, a native of Southern California, has won X Games medals in both snowboarding (at the winter games) and skateboarding (at the summer games).

Winter Games

The Winter X Games is held in a snowy mountain environment and features winter sports such as snowboarding, skiing, and snowmobiling. Competitors in those sports face off in a variety of different ways.

In Skier-X (also called ski cross) and Snowboarder-X (also called boardercross), athletes do not race individually, the way they do in most sports competitions. Athletes in Skier-X and Snowboarder-X race head-to-head, going down the mountain four-at-a time. The courses feature a variety of terrain, including jumps, moguls, and bank turns. Ski cross was an Olympic sport for the first time in 2010, when the Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In a Winter X Games event called slopestyle, skiers or snowboarders individually choose their own route through a course with many of the same features and obstacles as Skier-X and Snowboarder-X. But instead of trying to get down the course as fast as possible, they use the features to perform tricks and are judged on how well they perform them. There are also competitions to see which athlete can perform the best trick or get the most air, or height, off a jump. Travis Rice, who learned to ski near his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a snowboarder who competes in slopestyle events.

The X Games snowmobiling competitions include Snocross, in which competitors race on snowmobiles around a track with steep jumps and obstacles. Snocross competitions are held outside the X Games, too, with the world championships held in Falun, Sweden.
Summer Games
The Summer X Games is held in a warm environment and includes competitions in skateboarding, BMX biking, motorcycling, rally car racing, and surfing.

Skateboarders compete in the half pipe, a hollow semi-circle made of concrete. Athletes skate up and down two opposing ramps and perform tricks when they reach the top. There is also a competition for the best trick and most air off a jump. In "street" competitions, skateboarders skate around a park of obstacles and perform tricks. Skateboarder Tony Hawk, from San Diego, California, is probably the best-known X Games athlete in the world. In addition to having an outstanding sports career, Hawk has a successful skateboarding video game series.

BMX bikers also compete on a half pipe and a street course. They also perform tricks. Anthony Napolitan of Youngstown, Ohio, for example, landed the first double-front flip on a bicycle at Summer X Games 15 in 2009.

Motorbike riders have similar events, along with a "supercross" race around a dirt obstacle course with steep jumps. Travis Pastrana, from Annapolis, Maryland, is one of the top motor sports athletes and competes for Team Puerto Rico in international competitions.

Athletes from around the world compete in the X Games. There have been X Games athletes from such countries as Brazil, Japan, Belgium, Australia, and Italy. In 2003, athletes from six different regions-the United States, Europe, Canada, South America, Asia and Australia-competed in the X Games Global Championships in winter and summer sports. The United States, Europe, and Australia placed first, second, and third.
XGE
X Games Environmentality (XGE) is a program to make X Games fans and viewers aware of environmental issues. The program promotes recycling and waste reduction. In addition to promoting recycling at events, X Games organizers use biodegradable cups, plates, and napkins. These materials are made from corn and potato waste. The paper used at the games is made from 100 percent post-consumer waste.

The X Games "Get Caught Recycling" program gives fans an added incentive to recycle. At the events, fans who are caught recycling are rewarded with tokens that can be used for goods and services.

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The X Games is an extreme sports competition that is presented twice a year by ESPN, the sports television network

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Smithsonian's National Zoo: We Save Species

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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

The N.C. Zoo is one of only two state-operated zoos in the country. While more than 60 percent of its operating budget comes from the state, all of its conservation, research and education programs - and even the animals exhibited at the park - are purchased with private funds raised by the North Carolina Zoological Society.

Karen Brown with the Zoo Society says the "Adopt an Animal" program features a list of animals that can be "adopted" for a year.

Those who "adopt" an animal get a certificate, a photo of the animal and a fact sheet about the species.

Funds raised through the program benefit the Zoo's Animal Enrichment Program, which allows the Zoo to pay for additional training for zookeepers as well as purchase treats for the animals.

Some of the most popular animals for "adoption" are the African elephant, the polar bear, the zebra, the giraffe and the chimpanzee.

For more information about "adopting" zoo animals, visit nczoo.com or call the Zoo Society at (336) 879-7250.

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NC Zoo's 'adoption' program benefits animals, zookeeper training

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The N.C. Zoo is one of only two state-operated zoos in the country. While more than 60 percent of its operating budget comes from the state, all of its conservation, research and education programs - and even the animals exhibited at the park - are purchased with private funds raised by the North Carolina Zoological [...]

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Real sanctuaries are safe, comfortable places for animals to live after they've been rescued from not-so-nice places like circuses or laboratories. People can sometimes visit these sanctuaries, which is an awesome way to learn about and see animals without supporting businesses that hurt them, like roadside zoos or wildlife parks. Roadside zoos and wildlife parks use animals to make money. It's confusing because they sometimes call themselves "sanctuaries" or "rescues" to bring in more customers, because they know that people don't want to visit roadside zoos, but they're being dishonest when they do that.

It's important not to get these horrible places confused with actual sanctuaries. But how can you tell the difference? It's easy! There are a few simple questions you can ask about a place to figure out whether it's helping or hurting animals the animals who live there.

You can find answers to these questions by browsing a facility's website and social media pages (your parents can help):

1. How are animals housed?

Real sanctuaries make sure that an animal's living space is as close to their natural habitat as possible. Animals should live with others of their own kind so they can have friends. It's mean to keep them all alone in small, dirty pens with concrete floors and nothing to do-and you should stay away from places like that.

2. What kinds of activities do the animals get to do?

The animals' living area should have lots of ways for them to play and enjoy themselves! For example, there should be a large structure for chimpanzees to climb on, water for bears to soak and splash in, and large fields for roaming and exploring. Animals need these things if they're going to be healthy, happy, and comfortable.

Animals should also live with others of the same species so they can communicate with each another easily and form relationships and groups. In many sanctuaries, the animals who already live there help teach the newcomers how to get back in touch with their natural instincts and enjoy life again.

3. How big is the facility?

Animals should be given enough space to explore, roam, climb, and forage. And a real sanctuary NEVER takes the animals out of the facility to show them off.

4. Are visitors allowed to touch or hold the animals?

True wild-animal sanctuaries (with big cats, bears, primates, or wolves) NEVER allow visitors to touch or hold the animals, even babies, and that includes taking photos with them. This would be scary for the animals and dangerous to the visitors, too!

5. Where did the animals come from?

The animals who live there probably came from a place where they were mistreated, so they have a sad and painful past. The staff will want to share each animal's story so that visitors can learn about the various places that hurt animals (like laboratories, circuses, and roadside zoos). Real sanctuaries provide animals with a permanent home for the rest of their life. They NEVER trade, borrow, or loan animals.

6. Does the facility breed animals?

Sanctuaries NEVER breed animals, meaning that they don't make any of the animals have babies. Places that do breed animals are using them to make money-that's not right, and that's not a sanctuary.

7. What is it like to visit a sanctuary?

Most sanctuaries only allow very limited visits. Usually a guide takes people on a small tour of the place and doesn't let them walk around by themselves.

8. Is it accredited?

True sanctuaries are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), a group that makes sure sanctuaries follow strict rules to protect the animals who live there, like the ones listed above.
*****
All living, feeling beings deserve a comfortable place to live where people aren't always staring at them. A true sanctuary puts the needs and wants of the animals first. So if you care about animals, NEVER visit a roadside zoo or a wildlife park, and explain to your friends and family why places like that are bad for animals!

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8 Ways to Tell a REAL Sanctuary From a Roadside Zoo | PETA Kids

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Roadside zoo or animal sanctuary? This list will explain the difference-so you can figure out if a place is hurting or helping animals.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Bei Bei (bay-bay) the giant panda is now over 60 pounds-and growing! But he wasn't always so giant. The one-year-old cub, which lives at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., was about the size of a stick of butter when he was born. Cared for by zookeepers and his mom, Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), Bei Bei has spent the last several months going through a major growth spurt.

At birth Bei Bei was blind, furless, and weighed less than a third of a pound. Within 48 hours, white fur began to grow on parts of his wrinkly skin. Two weeks later, dark fur started cover the rest of his body.

Up until then, Bei Bei's mom had been cuddling with the infant almost nonstop to keep him toasty. But Bei Bei's new coat kept him warm enough to allow Mei Xhang to slip out of her den for food breaks. Mei Xhang was never gone for long though. Whenever Bei Bei called out, she quickly returned to nuzzle or nurse the infant.

Bei Bei is now in basic training, learning to come when keepers call to him. Next he'll master standing, lying down, presenting his paws, and opening his mouth on command-all actions that will make it easier for veterinarians and zookeepers to give Bei Bei checkups.

Before long the cub will stop drinking his mother's milk and eat nothing but bamboo. But even as he grows, he'll stay with his mom for another two years. By the time he's four years old, Bei Bei will weigh about 250 pounds. At that point he'll move to a panda reserve in China, where he'll enter a breeding program to help his species survive. No wonder this panda is such a big deal!
Text from "Exclusive: Watch Bei Bei the Zoo Panda Cub Grow Up" by Jennifer S. Holland for National Geographic News, adapted by Allyson Shaw, NG Staff

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See pictures and read about Bei Bei the giant panda cub on National Geographic Kids.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. AZA represents more than 235 facilities in the United States and overseas, which collectively draw more than 200 million visitors every year. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums meet the highest standards in animal care and welfare and provide a fun, safe, and educational family experience. In addition, they dedicate millions of dollars annually to support scientific research, conservation, and education programs.

Leaders in Animal Care and Welfare

AZA is the independent accrediting organization for the best zoos and the best aquariums in America and the world, assuring the public that when they visit an AZA-accredited facility, it meets the highest standards for animal care and welfare. Less than 10 percent of the 2,800 wildlife exhibitors licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act meet the more comprehensive standards of AZA accreditation. The highly trained professionals at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums provide excellent care for more than 800,000 animals, making them the leading experts in animal care and welfare. Learn more about our accreditation standards.

Leaders in Conservation

Conservation is a priority for AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and a key part of their mission to save species from extinction. Every year, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums spend $230 million on field conservation alone, supporting projects benefitting more than 800 species in 130 countries. To date, the AZA Conservation Grants Fund has provided $7.7 million in support for 400+ projects worldwide. Read more about AZA's conservation initiatives.

AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are leaders in the protection of threatened and endangered species. Through AZA SAFE: Saving Animals from Extinction, the entire AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium community is focusing our conservation science, wildlife expertise, and outreach to millions of annual visitors on saving species in the wild. The AZA Species Survival Plan® (SSP) program is a cooperative animal management, breeding, and conservation effort that works to ensure genetically diverse, self-sustaining populations of more than 500 species of animals.

Leaders in Conservation Education

As centers for conservation, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums provide the public with essential connections to the natural world. More than 50 million visitors to AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are children, making accredited zoos and aquariums essential to science and environmental education. AZA-accredited facilities train 40,000 teachers every year, supporting state science curricula with teaching materials and hands-on opportunities for students who might otherwise have no first-hand experience with wildlife. In fact, there is growing evidence that aquariums and zoos are highly effective at teaching people about science and connecting them to the natural world. Read more about our education programs.

Leaders in Professional Excellence

AZA is dedicated to providing our members with the resources they need to be the best in our profession. AZA facilitates cooperative animal care and conservation programs, hosts two conferences a year, offers numerous networking and professional development opportunities, and much more. Learn more about the benefits of AZA membership.

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About Us | Association of Zoos & Aquariums

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Members of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums provide for more than 800,000 animals in more than 100 countries. Learn more about AZA and our mission to provide animal care resources, opportunities to engage with wildlife conservation, and industry standards for member zoos and aquariums.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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How do you feel about keeping animals in zoos? Read both sides of the argument to help you decide.

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Back to Animals

A zoo can be an awesome place to see animals first hand and learn about what they eat, their habits, environment, and all sorts of other interesting facts about animals. Another name for a zoo is zoological garden.

Today zoos are becoming better and better places for animals. In the past some zoos were somewhat cruel to animals. Placing animals in environments they were not suited for and often not keeping the animal's best interest in mind. However, today many zoos do wonderful work in animal research and take great care of their animals.

Photo by Ducksters

Some good things that many Zoos do today include:

Acting as sanctuaries for endangered animals. They provide a safe environment for animals that are being threatened by changes in the environment. Often zoos will work to breed and maintain endangered animal populations. Sometime animals are nearly extinct in the wild and the only place they survive is in zoos.

Education on wildlife. Zoos provide a great opportunity for us to learn more about creatures from distant lands.

Research on wildlife and how we can help animals survive radical changes. Zoos do veterinary medicine research as well.

Today's modern zoos house animals in enclosures that are similar to the animal's natural habitat. This can include buildings made for nocturnal animals where they are bright at night, so the animals can sleep, and dark during the day, so zoo visitors can see the animals moving about. Also, climates are controlled in some zoo enclosures for animals like penguins and polar bears. Many zoos have great open spaces as well where animals may graze together. Some zoos have an area where you can take a mini-safari or ride around in a truck or bus to hopefully see the animals up close.

Perhaps the most famous zoo is the San Diego Zoo in Southern California. Many modern zoo practices were pioneered at the San Diego Zoo. The largest zoo in number of animals is the Bronx Zoo with over 6000 animals. The largest zoo in land size is the North Carolina Zoo with 535 acres.

Photo by Ducksters

Seeing an elephant, giraffe, lion, polar bear, penguins, seals, or other incredible creatures at the zoo can be an amazing experience. Be sure to check out your local zoo and get the opportunity to see some awesome animals and learn more about nature.

Another great place to see animals, similar to a zoo, is at an aquarium. Most states have an aquarium where they display all sorts of fish and some sea mammals.More on endangered species:
Amphibians in Danger
Endangered Animals
How Animals Become Extinct
Wildlife Conservation
Zoos

Back to Animals

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Learn about the zoo. History and types of zoological gardens. List of Zoos with interesting animals.

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Newsela | PRO/CON: Are U.S. recycling programs too costly?

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Newsela | Inventor shows off his "Interceptor" machine to clean the world's rivers

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Young Dutch inventor has a device that will help clean the world's rivers of plastic.

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Newsela | These tiny, plastic-munching caterpillars can clean up our world - but there's a catch

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Researchers at Brandon University found that waxworms are able to "metabolize polyethylene at unprecedented rates." But it's not all good news.

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Newsela | Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestlé named top plastic polluters for third year in a row

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Companies accused of "zero progress" on reducing plastic waste, with Coca-Cola ranked No. 1 for most littered products.

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Newsela | Opinion: Turn on the taps! Bottled water industry is bad for the Earth

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Bottled water is a big business that depletes aquifers, harms ecosystems and adds to the garbage disposal problem. Plus, tests show bottled water is no healthier than tap water.

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Is your kid obsessed with becoming the next X Games star, Olympic medalist, or YouTube stuntman? Young kids often have no fear when it comes to taking risks, but are extreme sports like dirt bike riding and bungee jumping dangerous for kids?
Related: Sports Safety Tips for Your Child
Though traditional sports like football, basketball, and hockey aren't exactly going out of style, the world of extreme sports is growing in popularity. Kids and adults alike are participating in increasing numbers in these risky-if not sometimes downright dangerous-sports. But why?

From skateboarding and snowboarding to BMX biking and rock climbing, pop culture and social media have collided to amp up physical activity and make super-sized stunts seem like the norm. Long gone are the days when peer pressure from classmates, neighbors or older sibs drove younger children to drop into a half-pipe or launch their bike off a crazy incline.

Today's kiddos are also influenced by...well, influencers. YouTube stars, TikTok creators, and even Olympic athletes have turned extreme sports from something that only the wildest child would attempt to everyday activities.

If your littles are begging to do extreme sports and you're totally new to these types of activities, read on for more info on the risks, benefits, times to encourage your kiddo, and when to flat out say a big 'ol, " NO."

Extreme Sports Growing More Popular with Kids

Some kids are happier riding their skateboards than dealing with the structure of soccer practice. Others like cruising around on their BMX bikes until their legs just quit, surfing themselves silly, or spending the entire weekend learning new tricks on their inline skates.

Of course, young kids are also attracted to extreme sports because they're cool. And who doesn't like being on the cutting edge? Snowboarding, the bad-boy little brother of skiing, was legitimized by sports traditionalists when it became an official Olympic event at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Fast-forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were actually held in 2021 thanks to the pandemic) and skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing became legit gold, silver, and bronze events!

Studies Show Fewer Kids Are Joining School Sports Teams

Have the days of dribbling a ball down a court or passing a puck gone the way of the dinosaurs? According to stats from Project Play, in 2021 the most popular youth sports for children ages six through 12 were bicycling, basketball, and baseball. Even though more than 5.2 million children biked in 2021, this was a significant change from way back in 2008.

The Project Play statistics show that only 18 percent of children reported bicycling in 2021, while a whopping 27.7 percent got active on two wheels in 2008.

Basketball team play dropped from 16.6 percent to 14.5 percent participation and baseball from 16.5 percent to 12.6 percent between 2008 and 2021. The number of children playing other popular team sports, such as soccer, tackle football, and flag football, also dropped during the same time frame.

Basketball is Less Popular But Bicycling is Big with Teens

The same downward trends didn't happen for teen participation in all traditional sports. Bicycling participation grew from 16.8 percent to 21 percent between 2008 and 2021 and baseball play rose from 8.2 percent to 9.5 percent.

What could account for the overall downward trend in team and individual youth sports play? There isn't one reason. But some of the possible explanations include an increasingly competitive climate, the high cost of intensive travel sports (such as hockey), or interest in other activities -such as extreme sports.

Dangerous Sports: Kids in BMX, Climbing, and Bungee Jumping?!

We spoke to Paul Vail, 29, a BMX freestyle bike rider for more than 14 years to learn more about the kinds of extreme sports kids are trying.

Vail says that when it comes to extreme sports, "Today's kids who've been riding skateboards or BMX bikes since they were 12-year-olds will become the parents who say, 'Yes, skateboarding, bike riding -- perfectly acceptable sports for my kid to do. And don't tell me they have to play football or be on the basketball team to be accepted, because that's no longer true.'"

Vail balks at the term "extreme sports." "People have been skydiving, skiing, riding bikes, doing tricks, and taking jumps forever. I think the extreme sports label is a gimmick. I like the term 'alternative sports'."

Extreme or not, it's important to encourage kids to express themselves physically, whether their athletic tastes are trendy or traditional. Both solo and team-oriented sports can build self-confidence, relieve stress, and promote physical fitness -- all of which are vital to growing kids and adults alike.

Kids in "alternative" sports are expressive, highly skilled athletes. And sports like rock climbing, snowboarding, inline skating, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing, and mountain biking (to name just a few), require significant technical ability as well as strength and endurance. Plus, alternative sports can help your kids develop positive qualities like discipline, persistence, and determination.

Kids in Ski Jumping or Snowboarding

BMX, skateboarding, and bungee jumping aren't the only extreme sports kids flock to. Even though ski jumping might seem like a new adventurous activity, it made its Olympic debut way back in 1924.

Of course, this doesn't mean kiddos were climbing up mountains, whooshing down slopes, and flying into the air on two skis a century ago. While this soaring sport isn't exactly new, its youth appeal has spiked in recent years. According to Women's Ski Jumping USA, five to eight years old is the age average for ski jumpers to start the sport!

Like ski jumping, snowboarding is a winter-time extreme sport that has skyrocketed in popularity. Again, snowboarding became Olympic-official in 1998. Almost a decade later, in 2006, then-19-year-old Shaun White made his first bid for the gold. But White certainly wasn't the last teen to take this extreme sport up a level and put it center stage.

Seventeen-year-old Chloe Kim became the youngest women's Olympic halfpipe competitor to nab the gold in 2018 at the PyeongChang games. With role models like White and Kim to follow, a whole new generation is getting into the halfpipe!

Not only do today's kiddos follow these, and other top athletes, but during the Olympics, they can watch the extreme antics of snowboarders on YouTube, TikTok, and just about every other social media site.

Kids and Sport Injuries

How dangerous are extreme sports? As a parent, your child's safety is priority number one. And that's why you're not so sure about your kiddo's extreme activities. Even though extreme sports do often come with, as the name implies, extreme risks, these aren't the only athletics that can result in serious injuries.

According to Stanford Medicine Children's Health, each year over 3.5 million children (14 and under) are injured during sports play. This includes more than 775,000 kiddos who require ER treatment. The majority of the injuries requiring hospital-level care are the result of collisions, falls, overexertion (during informal recreational activities) or object-related impacts.

When it comes to the most injuries per sport, football takes the top spot-with nearly 215,000 five- to 14-year-olds treated in hospitals in one year. This number is higher than what you find with some extreme sports. But in general, more children play this type of traditional team sport than engage in extreme activity.

A 2015 study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine looked at the prevalence of head and neck injuries in extreme sports. The researchers found that between 2000 and 2011 there were more than four million total injuries from these types of activities (this includes adult injuries).

Over 11 percent of these were head and neck injuries. Of these head and neck injuries, the extreme sports with the highest number of incidents included skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and motocross.

Fear is probably the number-one reason many of us avoid taking risks. For athletes in extreme sports, conquering fear is part of the adventure of sport. When a skateboarder is practicing tricks on a 15-foot ramp (commonly called a half-pipe), or a mountain biker is flying down a rock-strewn single-track trail, and he makes a mistake and falls -- well, it's going to hurt a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

But the athletes we spoke to didn't complain about injuries. In fact, most have enjoyed relatively injury-free experiences in their sports. Brian Krause, a competitive skydiver for the U.S. Army's Golden Knights, has taken thousands of jumps out of airplanes without so much as a sprained ankle.

But Matt Donovan, a pro downhill mountain bike racer from Massachusetts, said that when he first got serious about racing, his season was "very injury-laden. I had two concussions, a separated shoulder, a broken hand, multiple cuts, and lacerations. And I cracked a rib."

There are two kinds of sports injuries:

1. Chronic Repetitive or Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries can cause stress fractures, muscle tears, or progressive bone deformities.

2. Acute Injuries

Acute sports injuries occur as a result of trauma from contact with a major force. Acute sports injuries include fractures, broken bones, dislocations, and more serious spinal and brain injuries.

Is It Wrong to Let Children Do Extreme Sports?

Should safety concerns stop your child from trying an extreme sport? There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. If your adventure-loving kiddo is all about skateboarding, snowboarding, parkour, BMX biking, or any other high-octane activity, you will need to think about:

Your Child's Age and Developmental Level

Is your child developmentally ready to handle the challenge? What is their skill level when it comes to basic coordination and athletic tasks like running, jumping, and balancing? Can you trust them to act responsibly, follow an instructor's directions, and wear safety equipment correctly?

Your Child's Motivation

Does your child want to become the next Tik Tok star? If your tween has dreams of easily twisting a BMX bike around in mid-air like their fave influencer or thinks videos of teens crashing their skateboards into just about anything and everything is hilarious, they may struggle to stay safe while engaging in an extreme sport.

The Instructor or Coach

Who will teach your child about the sport? A YouTube video or IG video are not a substitute for the real deal. Only a qualified instructor or professional should instruct your child.

The Safety Equipment

Do you know what safety equipment your child will need? Will they wear it? You may need to learn more about the equipment standards before you allow your child to participate in extreme activities.

What types of equipment do children need? The specific items depend on the sport. These could include a helmet, shoulder pads, shin pads, elbow pads, or wrist guards.

According to Seattle Children's Hospital, skiers and snowboarders should wear a helmet that meets ASTM, CEN, or Snell standards. Skateboarders should wear one that conforms to the ASTM F1492 standard. Children who ride bikes or scooters should wear a helmet that meets CPSC or Snell standards, knee pads, and elbow pads.

When is an extreme sport too extreme? If you don't feel comfortable with your child engaging in the activity or don't feel that they can follow safety directions, it's okay to just say no. Some sports are not age-appropriate for younger kids, and you should wait until they're a bit older to try them out.

It's also okay to talk to ask questions, talk to a pro, or take your time gathering facts, stats, and any other info about the adventurous activity! Learn more about extreme sports by taking our quiz here.

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Kids and Extreme Sports: Should They Be Allowed?

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Should kids do extreme sports? BMX riders, snowboarders and X Game stars weigh in on the benefits and risks of kids doing extreme sports.

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Newsela | Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestlé named top plastic polluters for third year in a row

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Companies accused of "zero progress" on reducing plastic waste, with Coca-Cola ranked No. 1 for most littered products.

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Who Its The Toughest Action Sports Athlete?

Who's the UGIEST of them all? Action Sport athletes are some of the most fearless, some might say crazy, humans on earth. They are driven by pure adrenaline, and the fact that they're risking life and limb on a daily basis only seems to fuel their fire. The unrelenting pursuit of progression leads these athletes to push the boundaries and test the limits of whať's possible, sometimes resulting in serious or fatal accidents. But you can only have ONE TRUE badass of the bunch and Krush set out to find who that is. WHAT'S THE PERCEPTION OUT THERE? WHICH ACTION SPORT HAS THE TOUGHEST ATHLETES? A recent 2012 survey of action sports athletes revealed that motocross athletes were perceived to be the toughest. *Respondents were asked to choose among the six sports listed below 32% 26.1% 18% MOTOCROSS SKATEBOARDING 11.8% SNOWBOARDING 7.7% BMX 4.4% SURFING FREESKIING #1 # 2 # 3 # 4 # 5 #6 WHERE'S THE RISK? NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS IN EACH SPORT THAT GET INJURED PREDICTION (Per 1,000 participants) *Per 1,000 surfing hours for surfing New school freestyle skiing, or "freeskiing", has only come onto the scene since the late 1990's. Being such a young sport, data is scarce when it comes to tracking injuries and risk and includes both freeskiing and alpine skiing. We predict that the injuries per thousand will be significantly higher in the coming years. 100 94.5 63 60 40 20 8.9 6.97 6.6 2.63 Freestyle Motocross BMX Skateboarder Snowboarder Surfer Freeskier MOST COMMON INJURY IN EACH SPORT SHOULDER INJURIES LACERATIONS AND ABRASIONS BLUNT CHEST AND ABDOMINAL TRAUMA WRIST INJURIES TORN LIGAMENTS ANKLE INJURIES THE BEST OF THE WORST INJURIES NOTABLE ATHLETES FROM EACH SPORT RATED ON THEIR INJURY LEVEL *The rating system is a cross reference between seriousness & frequency of injuries FREQUENCY OF INJURIES KEVIN PEARCE TRAVIS PASTRANA MIKE METZGER MAT HOFFMAN JACOB TRETTE DAVE MIRRA O BRIAN DEEGAN JAKE BROWN DANNY WAY TRAVIS RICE TANNER HALL less often FREQUENCY OF INJURIES more often ATHLETES TRAVIS PASTRANA: Has one of the most extensive injury rap sheets in the action sports industry, including a rare dislocated spinal injury. MAT HOFFMAN: Fell after clearing 23 feet in the air, rupturing his spleen. He was given 20 minutes to live. MIKE METZGER: Broken vertebrae in his back and neck, injured both collarbones, and lacerated his kidney training for X17. KEVIN PEARCE: Sustained a traumatic brain injury after hitting his head on the hard icy side of the halfpipe training for the Olympics. DAVE MIRRA: He is called the "Miracle Boy" because he survives so many serious accidents. BRIAN DEEGAN: Broke his hip, snapped his humerus in half, broke his wrists five times, compressed a vertebra in his back and blew up his kidney doing a backflip. JAKE BROWN: Brown spent three days in a hospital recovering from a broken wrist, a bleeding liver, a bruised lung and cracked vertebrae. JACOB TRETTE: Almost drowned after being trapped underwater by two 25-foot waves. Spent three days in an induced coma in the ICU. DANNY WAY: Has had 13 surgeries, including eight on his knee, along with four ACL reconstructions in the same knee. TANNER HALL: Broke both ankles in 2005, then suffered fractures to both tibial plateaus, and ACL tears in each knee in 2010. TRAVIS RICE: Travis ruptured his spleen and spent six days in intensive care. TAKEN TOO SOON HEROIC ATHLETES, WE HONOR AND REMEMBER ALWAYS KARGOLA (1983-2011) JIM (1978-2011) JEREMY LUSK JEFF (1982-2012) CR JOHNSON MCCONKEY CRAIG AARON ROBINSON MCNEIL SHANE KELLY (1966-2003) (1984-2009) SARAH BURKE Freestyle Motocross JOYEUX (1980-2005) (1983-2010) (1969-2009) Freestyle Motocross MILOSKY Freestyle Motocross (1983-2011) SION (1975-2011) MALIK Freeskier Freeskier Freeskier Snowboarder Snowboarder Surfer Surfer BY DRIN With all action sports comes a certain degree of risk and fear that isn't found in other sports. This risk, along with the reward, is what motivates these athletes day in and day out, and even though we give props to every single one of them... WE CAN ONLY HAVE ONE WINNER: MOTOCROSS frousHEST SOURCES http://www.nsaa.org/nsaa/press/facts-ski-snbd-safety.asp http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15133584 http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0515/p2007.html#afp20010515p2007-b13 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070102092203.htm http://www.sandersclinic.net/common_motoxinj.html http://www.orthonurse.org/portals/0/sports%20med%203.pdf https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-042612-120758/unrestricted/final.pdf http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/40/4/770.abstract http://vuir.vu.edu.au/712/ KRUSH K http://travispastrana.net/extra/injuries/ ptavispastre http://magazine.stack.com/Thelssue/Article/7775/OneonOne_With_Brian_Deegan. aspx http://sports.espn.go.com/action http://www.grindtv.com/athlete/jeremy-lusk/ http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2703-xtreme-sports-injuries# http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/17/news_pf/Sports/Extremely_painful.shtml http://skateboarding.transworld.net/1000077290/news/danny-way-hospitalized-at-mega-ramp-contest/ http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/4892-jacob-trette-released-from-hospital-after-induced-coma http://www.surfermag.com/features/malikrip/ "Survey Results: 300+ respondents surveyed nationwide through Krush media outlets less serious SERIOUSNESS OF THE INJURY more serious

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Who Its The Toughest Action Sports Athlete?

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The toughest action sports athletes based on public opinion and injury reports. What do you think? Do you agree?

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Do you like the excitement of extreme sports? If so, you might be an 'adrenaline junkie'. Find out more about white-water rafting and parkour in this video.

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Edible spoons are better than recycling.

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Overconfidence and a lack of training and a habit of not wearing safety gear, especially helmets, help cause more than 40,000 head and neck injuries nationally a year in sports like skateboarding.

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Since its inception, plastic enabled countless advances in our industry and way of the life. Created to be light, durable, chemically resistant, non-reactive to outside influences, and easy to manufacture, plastic was a perfect building material for countless articles that are used not only by ordinary users in their daily affairs but also in aeronautics, construction industry, electronics, packaging, transportation, energy conservation, scientific components and other.

Here are some of the most important benefits of using plastic:

Building and construction industry - From the moment famous Bakelite appeared in the first decade of 20th century, plastic became one of the most used building blocks of modern construction industry. This is only surpassed by packaging industry, which uses more plastic than construction industry. The most common uses for plastic in construction is in pipes, valves, bathroom units, flooring, siding, panels, insulation, plumbing fixtures, windows, doors, railings, glazing and gratings. They are used so much because of their awesome abilities to resist corrosion, natural elements and are also very light and easy to handle.

Packaging - Versatile, durable, flexible, rigid, and light plastic was embraced by packaging industry with both hands. By employing various manufacturing techniques plastic can be shaped and molded into any desirable form, have any color, or any physical property. Plastic transport containers are not unly used for household items such as shatterproof bottles and child resistant packages, but also in medicine (biohazard waste disposal, sensitive containers, transport molds that hold their cargo in firm grip), research, and countless other fields.

Transportation - Plastic is very popular material that is today part of all transport vehicles on the world. Because of its toughness, durability, lightness, and ease of coloring, plastic can be found in fenders, trunk lids, bumpers, housing for headlights and mirrors, hoods, doors, wheel covers, and many more other places. By introducing plastic, manufacturers were able to significantly reduce the weight of their cars, airplanes and other vehicles, enabling them to be much more power efficient and easier to service. Off course, smaller means of transportations such as bicycles, roller skates, kayaks, canoes, skateboards, snowboards, surfboards, motorcycles have managed to use all that plastic can offer us. In public transportation, plastic is used almost everywhere - seats, handholds, carpeting, interior panels, and sometimes even polycarbonate windows.

Electronic - Thermal and insulation properties of plastic made it ideal to become backbone of the electronic industry. Because modern plastic recipes will not change its form after they are heated, manufacturers use plastic regularly for circuit boards, chips, coffee makers, mixers, microwave ovens, hair dryers and even refrigerators.

Recycling - Recycling plastic saves money and energy, reduces the amount of plastic in the landfills or seas, reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are created during production of "virgin" plastic, and more.

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Plastic Benefits - The Advantages of Plastic

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Since its inception, plastic enabled countless advances in our industry and way of the life. Created to be light, durable, chemically resistant, non-reactive to outside influences, and easy to manufacture, plastic was a perfect building material for countless articles that are used not only by ordinary users in their daily affairs but also in aeronautics, construction industry, electronics, packaging, transportation, energy conservation, scientific components and other.

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One of the fastest most paramount growing trend in the world today is the proliferation and integration of extreme sports. This is a very important trend, and I am going to talk about the reason why the trend has emerged through brief history, pros and cons. My goal is to make sure that this trend is well-understood. Extreme sports are more popular among young people; we could say that the spectacular stunts used in these wild sports attract mostly younger generation. Most participants in these sports put their lives at risk, follow their idols steps. Psychologists realize that some people seem to have a strong craving for adrenaline rushes, where they get high off doing risky sports. In which these sports can include competitive and ...show more content...
in the meantime, people come up with higher safety techniques in which make people lack a feeling of danger in these wild sports, they decide to earn a new sort of experience, seek out danger and find newer risky stunts. (Williamson) One of the main reasons that we live in the era of extreme sports and why the trend is growing so fast is because of the internet and the platform that provides for easy dissemination of this information to social media through blogs, websites, and apps like Keek; it gained popularity in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Saudis started uploading videos of themselves drifting, sand surfing and doing other crazy activities, that made this trend grow more and more between people who are into this lifestyle. (Almalki). Internet has a big role of defining what extreme sports are and popularizing them. The activities gained more enthusiasts after the televised "X Games" and Olympics. (The History of Extreme Sports). Another reason why this trend has grown is because the personal benefits people see from practicing these sports. Some people believe that extreme sports help them to develop self-confidence, encourage their creativity, know their boundaries, their own physical abilities and know what to do in the event of an emergency. Ammon, who has completed a Tough Mudder says "A lot of it is you have to know yourself, your own personal limitations, and you have to be in the proper shape. You have to have

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One of the fastest most paramount growing trend in the world today is the proliferation and integration of extreme sports. This is a very important trend, and I am going to talk about the reason why the trend has emerged through brief history, pros and cons.

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Newsela | The Great Pacific Garbage Patch counts 1.8 trillion pieces of trash

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between California and Hawaii, is carrying almost 80,000 metric tons of plastic - 16 times what scientists thought.

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Brymer interviewed 15 extreme sports participants, 10 men and five women, in Australia, Europe and North America for the study. (The authors define extreme sports as "independent leisure activities in which a mismanaged mistake or accident would most likely result in death.") Three themes emerged: Extreme sports are invigorating, hard to describe and sometimes transcendent.

Invigorating: One mountaineer likened his sport to a "life altering powerful energy."

Hard to describe: "It's just three hours of AAAAAARRRRR (yells out)," said one skier.

Transcendent: A BASE jumper told the authors, "You do it because you are obviously hitting some sort of plane that you can't normally hit."

Daisher, too, has a unique way of explaining what he feels when he jumps.

"When you're into the 'gnar zone'" - and by that, he means gnarly, Daisher says - "that's when you just be, and you just forget about everything."

Daisher had just pulled off eight BASE jumps from the I. B. Perrine Bridge in his home of Idaho Falls, Idaho, on the day HowStuffWorks talked to him, with plans for 12 more that day. He and the participants in the study report that there is some carryover into their normal lives from their decidedly outside-of-normal activities. But the authors conclude that the real payoff is in the moment: "While benefits might transfer to everyday life, the essential element of the experience seems to be during the activity."

The most reaffirming part of the study may be this: For those involved in extreme sports and some of the Earth-shackled among us who may consider a fling on the wild side, it's worth it.

"[We should] move away from the notion that extreme sports are about risk and risk taking and therefore only open for a few people who have the required personality structure," Brymer says in his email, "to a more inclusive perspective that means everyone can get involved. In the end not everyone will want to be an extreme sports participant but adventure is very powerful and beneficial."

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Extreme Sports Athletes Crave the Reward, Not the Risk

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Brymer interviewed 15 extreme sports participants, 10 men and five women, in Australia, Europe and North America for the study. (The authors define extreme sports as "independent leisure activities in which a mismanaged mistake or accident would most likely result in death.") Three themes emerged: Extreme sports are invigorating, hard to describe and sometimes transcendent.

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Newsela | Legos lying around? Toy maker tests way to recycle bricks

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, wingsuit flying, big wave surfing, extreme skiing and solo rope-free climbing, when we think of someone who takes part in these extreme activities, we think of a risk-taker.

The type of person you might describe as a "deviant hedonist" or a "sensation-seeker", who is looking for an "adrenaline rush". And they are most likely to be young and male.

The problem with this stereotype of extreme sport participants, is that not only does it not always ring true, but it also means that extreme sports then become viewed in a way that makes them inaccessible to "normal people".

This view can be extremely damaging, especially given evidence - which emerged when I was researching a book on the subject - shows that extreme sports might actually be more accessible and have more of a positive impact than traditional, competitive sports.

Interviews I conducted with people between the ages of 30 and 70 who participate in extreme sports suggested they can help to create profound and positive life changes - both in the short term and longer term. So instead of just the fast-paced experiences often portrayed in short videos of extreme sports, in reality, participants describe a feeling of peace and tranquillity during the experience that reflects something similar to mindfulness.

Over the long term, these experiences support sustained well-being benefits including the realisation that emotions, such as fear, that are traditionally considered negative, do not have to constrain one's potential.

These reflections can often change people's everyday lives - they described no longer "being bored with life" and talked of having a "passion" for their sport. They also reported seeing other people and the planet in a much more positive way after taking up extreme sports.

Human potential

Participants from all sorts of extreme sports often describe extraordinary sensory experiences of the sort not usually available in everyday life. This is because during participation in an extreme sport, a person's ability to see, hear, and feel are all enhanced.

BASE jumpers, for example, talk about an enhanced capacity to see every nook and cranny, shade and colour of the rock even though they are travelling at 200 mph. Participants also describe an experience that feels like they are merging with the environment which invariably turns into a feeling of being profoundly part of nature.

This may be one reason why so many extreme sports athletes spend a great deal of energy and time working hard to educate and protect the natural environment - this glimpse into human potential acts as a learning opportunity for psychological health and well-being more generally.

The death risk

But of course when taking part in these types of activities a mismanaged mistake or accident can result in death. Perhaps this is why nonparticipants find it hard to understand why anyone would willingly undertake extreme sports - unless there is something "not normal" about "those types of people".

But this death risk is a large part of why participation in extreme sports requires considerable commitment, along with a great deal of hard work. Extreme sports are not for those interested in the quick rush, thrills or hedonism. In fact, people interested in the short-term hedonistic outcomes might be better finding another outlet. Participants in extreme sport have to have an incredible understanding of the environment that they participate in and if the conditions are not right - such as the wind in the wrong direction for BASE jumping - then they will walk away.

Extreme sports participants also possess a well-tuned knowledge of their own physical and psychological capacities and limitations. This is vitally important, because extreme sports are not the place to find out if you can or can't undertake an activity.

BASE jumpers do not start as BASE jumpers, just the same as big wave surfers slowly develop the skills. And solo rope-free climbers start with ropes on less difficult terrain. In most cases, the journey to extreme sports is often one of deliberate skill and knowledge development.

Sporting heroes

It is clear from my own research, that extreme sports have the capacity to shine a light on what it means to be human - and what human beings are capable of. But to realise this, as a society we need a cultural shift that accepts extreme sports as beneficial. Along with a change in view that recognises extreme sports participants as examples of what is possible in human performance.

But before you go out and find your latest BASE jumping club, the good news is that many of these benefits can be touched on through adventure sports more generally. This includes activities such as climbing, kayaking and mountaineering. Adventure sports do not have the downside of being constrained by tightly controlled fields as in football or cricket. And they are not focused on competition, winning and losing.

These sports are open to all and, like extreme sports, could help to encourage participation in physical activity - along with a great sense of well-being, and a deeper relationship with the natural environment. And if all of this can be achieved at the same time as having fun on the water, a rock-face or up a mountain, what's not to like?

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wingsuit flying, big wave surfing, extreme skiing and solo rope-free climbing, when we think of someone who takes part in these extreme activities, we think of a risk-taker. The type of person you might describe as a "deviant hedonist" or a "sensation-seeker", who is looking for an "adrenaline rush".

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/ CBS News

Extreme sports bring excitement, and are starting to draw big bucks.

But are the athletes putting too much on the line?

The daring participants say extreme sports are all about the thrill, the rush of adrenaline they get. They're climbing higher, jumping farther and moving faster, all in the name of personal glory.

Still, when things go wrong, they pay a heavy price.

Humans aren't supposed to fly, but Jeb Corliss comes pretty close.

His extreme exploits have a huge following. One video of him in action alone has gotten almost 9 million views.

Corliss hurt in stunt jump
Uncertainty clouds recovery of skiier Sarah Burke

On Monday, Corliss was seriously injured on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Moments after he stepped off a cliff -- a 3,500-foot drop -- he hit the wall, breaking both his legs. He had to be taken by helicopter to a hospital.

Only a day before that, another extreme athlete, ice climber John Roberts, died after a 60-foot fall in Colorado.

And last Tuesday, free-skier Sarah Burke was critically injured during a training run in Utah.

All of these athletes take risks and are at the leading edge of extreme sports -- a one-time bit player on the sports scene that has exploded in recent years, thanks in part to social media and TV coverage.

The extreme athletes known as "Birdmen" even attracted the attention of "60 Minutes" in 2010.

Sponsorships have helped extreme athletes soar to new heights. Corliss has eight sponsors, including camera company GoPro.

GoPro CEO Nick Woodman says what Corliss does is risky, but not nearly as risky as most people would think, because he's so good at it.

Corliss jumped without permission from South African authorities, a jump that not only put him in danger, but his rescuers, as well -- one of the many reasons why big brands tend to shy away.

"A lot of big brands, (and) rightly so, don't want to take that chance. You don't want to see blood spattered all over a logo that you've invested millions and millions of dollars in," says sports marketer Joe Favorito.

But, Favorito adds, athletes who are determined will find a way. "What they're trying to do is offset costs and take it to another level as, quote, a professional athlete," he said. "And people think, when you're associated with sponsors, that makes you a professional. Sometimes, it makes you become a little more risky."

Professional skier and base-jumper JT Holmes knows how dangerous extreme sports can be. He knew Burke, and watched his close friend, Shane McConkey, die after jumping off a 2,000 ft cliff. Holmes was also the subject of the Steve Kroft "60 Minutes" story on "Birdmen," and was a stunt man for the film "Transformers." Holmes insisted on "CBS This Morning" that he engages in extreme sports because they're "just good, clean fun." He admitted he thinks about the possibility the activities could kill him. "Certainly," Holmes said. "Every single jump, every single ski run, you have to be aware of the (possible) consequences and, if you're going to choose to put yourself in these perilous situations, you need to be prepared."

To see the entire interview, click on the video below.

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Jeff Glor

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Is your kid obsessed with becoming the next X Games star, Olympic medalist, or YouTube stuntman? Young kids often have no fear when it comes to taking risks, but are extreme sports like dirt bike riding and bungee jumping dangerous for kids?
Related: Sports Safety Tips for Your Child
Though traditional sports like football, basketball, and hockey aren't exactly going out of style, the world of extreme sports is growing in popularity. Kids and adults alike are participating in increasing numbers in these risky-if not sometimes downright dangerous-sports. But why?

From skateboarding and snowboarding to BMX biking and rock climbing, pop culture and social media have collided to amp up physical activity and make super-sized stunts seem like the norm. Long gone are the days when peer pressure from classmates, neighbors or older sibs drove younger children to drop into a half-pipe or launch their bike off a crazy incline.

Today's kiddos are also influenced by...well, influencers. YouTube stars, TikTok creators, and even Olympic athletes have turned extreme sports from something that only the wildest child would attempt to everyday activities.

If your littles are begging to do extreme sports and you're totally new to these types of activities, read on for more info on the risks, benefits, times to encourage your kiddo, and when to flat out say a big 'ol, " NO."

Extreme Sports Growing More Popular with Kids

Some kids are happier riding their skateboards than dealing with the structure of soccer practice. Others like cruising around on their BMX bikes until their legs just quit, surfing themselves silly, or spending the entire weekend learning new tricks on their inline skates.

Of course, young kids are also attracted to extreme sports because they're cool. And who doesn't like being on the cutting edge? Snowboarding, the bad-boy little brother of skiing, was legitimized by sports traditionalists when it became an official Olympic event at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Fast-forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were actually held in 2021 thanks to the pandemic) and skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing became legit gold, silver, and bronze events!

Studies Show Fewer Kids Are Joining School Sports Teams

Have the days of dribbling a ball down a court or passing a puck gone the way of the dinosaurs? According to stats from Project Play, in 2021 the most popular youth sports for children ages six through 12 were bicycling, basketball, and baseball. Even though more than 5.2 million children biked in 2021, this was a significant change from way back in 2008.

The Project Play statistics show that only 18 percent of children reported bicycling in 2021, while a whopping 27.7 percent got active on two wheels in 2008.

Basketball team play dropped from 16.6 percent to 14.5 percent participation and baseball from 16.5 percent to 12.6 percent between 2008 and 2021. The number of children playing other popular team sports, such as soccer, tackle football, and flag football, also dropped during the same time frame.

Basketball is Less Popular But Bicycling is Big with Teens

The same downward trends didn't happen for teen participation in all traditional sports. Bicycling participation grew from 16.8 percent to 21 percent between 2008 and 2021 and baseball play rose from 8.2 percent to 9.5 percent.

What could account for the overall downward trend in team and individual youth sports play? There isn't one reason. But some of the possible explanations include an increasingly competitive climate, the high cost of intensive travel sports (such as hockey), or interest in other activities -such as extreme sports.

Dangerous Sports: Kids in BMX, Climbing, and Bungee Jumping?!

We spoke to Paul Vail, 29, a BMX freestyle bike rider for more than 14 years to learn more about the kinds of extreme sports kids are trying.

Vail says that when it comes to extreme sports, "Today's kids who've been riding skateboards or BMX bikes since they were 12-year-olds will become the parents who say, 'Yes, skateboarding, bike riding -- perfectly acceptable sports for my kid to do. And don't tell me they have to play football or be on the basketball team to be accepted, because that's no longer true.'"

Vail balks at the term "extreme sports." "People have been skydiving, skiing, riding bikes, doing tricks, and taking jumps forever. I think the extreme sports label is a gimmick. I like the term 'alternative sports'."

Extreme or not, it's important to encourage kids to express themselves physically, whether their athletic tastes are trendy or traditional. Both solo and team-oriented sports can build self-confidence, relieve stress, and promote physical fitness -- all of which are vital to growing kids and adults alike.

Kids in "alternative" sports are expressive, highly skilled athletes. And sports like rock climbing, snowboarding, inline skating, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing, and mountain biking (to name just a few), require significant technical ability as well as strength and endurance. Plus, alternative sports can help your kids develop positive qualities like discipline, persistence, and determination.

Kids in Ski Jumping or Snowboarding

BMX, skateboarding, and bungee jumping aren't the only extreme sports kids flock to. Even though ski jumping might seem like a new adventurous activity, it made its Olympic debut way back in 1924.

Of course, this doesn't mean kiddos were climbing up mountains, whooshing down slopes, and flying into the air on two skis a century ago. While this soaring sport isn't exactly new, its youth appeal has spiked in recent years. According to Women's Ski Jumping USA, five to eight years old is the age average for ski jumpers to start the sport!

Like ski jumping, snowboarding is a winter-time extreme sport that has skyrocketed in popularity. Again, snowboarding became Olympic-official in 1998. Almost a decade later, in 2006, then-19-year-old Shaun White made his first bid for the gold. But White certainly wasn't the last teen to take this extreme sport up a level and put it center stage.

Seventeen-year-old Chloe Kim became the youngest women's Olympic halfpipe competitor to nab the gold in 2018 at the PyeongChang games. With role models like White and Kim to follow, a whole new generation is getting into the halfpipe!

Not only do today's kiddos follow these, and other top athletes, but during the Olympics, they can watch the extreme antics of snowboarders on YouTube, TikTok, and just about every other social media site.

Kids and Sport Injuries

How dangerous are extreme sports? As a parent, your child's safety is priority number one. And that's why you're not so sure about your kiddo's extreme activities. Even though extreme sports do often come with, as the name implies, extreme risks, these aren't the only athletics that can result in serious injuries.

According to Stanford Medicine Children's Health, each year over 3.5 million children (14 and under) are injured during sports play. This includes more than 775,000 kiddos who require ER treatment. The majority of the injuries requiring hospital-level care are the result of collisions, falls, overexertion (during informal recreational activities) or object-related impacts.

When it comes to the most injuries per sport, football takes the top spot-with nearly 215,000 five- to 14-year-olds treated in hospitals in one year. This number is higher than what you find with some extreme sports. But in general, more children play this type of traditional team sport than engage in extreme activity.

A 2015 study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine looked at the prevalence of head and neck injuries in extreme sports. The researchers found that between 2000 and 2011 there were more than four million total injuries from these types of activities (this includes adult injuries).

Over 11 percent of these were head and neck injuries. Of these head and neck injuries, the extreme sports with the highest number of incidents included skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and motocross.

Fear is probably the number-one reason many of us avoid taking risks. For athletes in extreme sports, conquering fear is part of the adventure of sport. When a skateboarder is practicing tricks on a 15-foot ramp (commonly called a half-pipe), or a mountain biker is flying down a rock-strewn single-track trail, and he makes a mistake and falls -- well, it's going to hurt a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

But the athletes we spoke to didn't complain about injuries. In fact, most have enjoyed relatively injury-free experiences in their sports. Brian Krause, a competitive skydiver for the U.S. Army's Golden Knights, has taken thousands of jumps out of airplanes without so much as a sprained ankle.

But Matt Donovan, a pro downhill mountain bike racer from Massachusetts, said that when he first got serious about racing, his season was "very injury-laden. I had two concussions, a separated shoulder, a broken hand, multiple cuts, and lacerations. And I cracked a rib."

There are two kinds of sports injuries:

1. Chronic Repetitive or Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries can cause stress fractures, muscle tears, or progressive bone deformities.

2. Acute Injuries

Acute sports injuries occur as a result of trauma from contact with a major force. Acute sports injuries include fractures, broken bones, dislocations, and more serious spinal and brain injuries.

Is It Wrong to Let Children Do Extreme Sports?

Should safety concerns stop your child from trying an extreme sport? There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. If your adventure-loving kiddo is all about skateboarding, snowboarding, parkour, BMX biking, or any other high-octane activity, you will need to think about:

Your Child's Age and Developmental Level

Is your child developmentally ready to handle the challenge? What is their skill level when it comes to basic coordination and athletic tasks like running, jumping, and balancing? Can you trust them to act responsibly, follow an instructor's directions, and wear safety equipment correctly?

Your Child's Motivation

Does your child want to become the next Tik Tok star? If your tween has dreams of easily twisting a BMX bike around in mid-air like their fave influencer or thinks videos of teens crashing their skateboards into just about anything and everything is hilarious, they may struggle to stay safe while engaging in an extreme sport.

The Instructor or Coach

Who will teach your child about the sport? A YouTube video or IG video are not a substitute for the real deal. Only a qualified instructor or professional should instruct your child.

The Safety Equipment

Do you know what safety equipment your child will need? Will they wear it? You may need to learn more about the equipment standards before you allow your child to participate in extreme activities.

What types of equipment do children need? The specific items depend on the sport. These could include a helmet, shoulder pads, shin pads, elbow pads, or wrist guards.

According to Seattle Children's Hospital, skiers and snowboarders should wear a helmet that meets ASTM, CEN, or Snell standards. Skateboarders should wear one that conforms to the ASTM F1492 standard. Children who ride bikes or scooters should wear a helmet that meets CPSC or Snell standards, knee pads, and elbow pads.

When is an extreme sport too extreme? If you don't feel comfortable with your child engaging in the activity or don't feel that they can follow safety directions, it's okay to just say no. Some sports are not age-appropriate for younger kids, and you should wait until they're a bit older to try them out.

It's also okay to talk to ask questions, talk to a pro, or take your time gathering facts, stats, and any other info about the adventurous activity! Learn more about extreme sports by taking our quiz here.

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Extreme Sports Facts

Check out our range of extreme sports facts.

Learn about the summer and winter X Games, different types of extreme sports, the surfaces and environments such as water, land, snow and air, as well as lots more interesting facts and information.

Extreme sports, sometimes called action sports or adventure sports, do not have an exact definition but are generally considered to be activities that are seen as having a high level of potential danger.

Extreme sports often involve high speeds, dangerous heights, the requirement for a high level of specialist technical skill, and highly specialized gear or equipment.

Success in extreme sports usually involves judging panels scoring athletes based on visual and technical criteria and completion of a 'trick'.

Height based extreme sports include Bungee jumping, skydiving, BASE jumping, paragliding and hang gliding.

Water based extreme sports include scuba diving, windsurfing, kitesurfing, wakeboarding surfing, whitewater kayaking and rafting.

Wheel based extreme sports include BMX, skateboarding, mountain biking, inline skating, rally car and motocross.

Winter based extreme sports include skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobile.

Cliff and cave based extreme sports include rock climbing, ice climbing, caving, free diving, mountaineering and cave diving.

The X Games are an annual extreme sports event, organized by the U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN. Participants compete to win gold, silver, and bronze medals along with prize money.

The first Summer X Games were held in 1995 in Newport, Rhode Island. The first Winter X Games were held in 1997 at Mountain Resort, Big Bear Lake, California.

X Games are typically held in the USA. The winter games are held in January or February and the summer games are usually held in August.

X Games have also been held in Asia since 1998 and Europe since 2010.

The X Games competitions often makes heroes of those athletes who are talented and brave enough to pull of a new and exciting 'trick' such as Tony Hawk's 900 in skateboarding, Travis Pastrana's double backflip in freestyle motocross, Heath Frisby's first snowmobile front flip or snowboarder Torstein Horgmo's triple flip.

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Extreme Sports Facts - Information About X Games, Action Sports & More

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Extreme Sports Facts Check out our range of extreme sports facts. Learn about the summer and winter X Games, different types of extreme sports, the surfaces and environments such as water, land, snow and air, as well as lots more interesting facts and information.

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