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How the cicada invasion is bringing people together
Kristi Shirley has been captivated by the army of cicadas marching up trees at a park near her home in southern Illinois.
“There’s nothing like it. It’s just like, wow, is this what we’re watching in front of our eyes?” Shirley said.
By now, you’ve probably seen the headlines: two groups of periodical cicadas are emerging at the same time for the first time in two centuries, with billions of the noisy bugs showing up in 16 U.S. states.
But biologist Gene Kritsky says there may be a deeper meaning to this insect invasion. The cicadas are coming together at a time when it’s all too easy to see what keeps people apart, as if nature is (once again) trying to capture our collective attention.
In April, large crowds gathered to watch the total eclipse of the sun. Earlier this month, millions of people marveled as the northern lights danced across the night sky. The two events were accurately predicted by astronomers.
“Now we’re seeing periodical cicadas coming out of the ground, predicted by entomologists. And at a time when people have lost faith in science, this shows that science works and we get it right,” Kritsky said.
These natural events offer a kind of shared experience for people to set aside their differences and come together to marvel at Mother Nature.
“I was at an eclipse party, and there were people there from all political persuasions and we didn’t talk politics. We watched the solar eclipse,” Kritsky said.
Now Kritsky has created an app called Cicada Safari to track where and when the bugs arrive. It’s bringing together people who find something special in the unique-looking insects — people like Shirley, who calls herself a “super user” of the app, and Blaine Rothauser, who struck up a conversation with Shirley about the cicadas just minutes after meeting her at the park near her home.
The power of the cicadas seemed to give these total strangers something to bond over. Instead of questions like ‘What you do?’, ‘What you believe in?’ or ‘Who you support?’, Krisky says that “what’s important is, are we all curious?”
And while it may often feel like people live in separate worlds, we actually share one.
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Spain arrests top police officer after over $21 million found at his home following record cocaine bust
Spain has arrested one of its top police officers after 20 million euros were found hidden in the walls of his house, as part of a probe into the country’s largest-ever cocaine bust.
Described as discreet and hard-working, Oscar Sanchez Gil was until recently the head of the fraud and anti-money laundering division of Spain’s National Police force in Madrid.
Officers arrested him last week along with 15 other people, including his romantic partner, a police source told AFP. The source did not name the romantic partner, who is also a police officer in the Madrid region.
During the raid, police found 20 million euros, or around $21.1 million, in cash hidden in the walls and ceilings of the couple’s home in Alcala de Henares, a town of around 195,000 inhabitants located some 18 miles east of the Spanish capital.
Officers also uncovered one million euros in his office, hidden in two locked cupboards, in bills of 50 to 500 euros, according to the police source.
The couple have been charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and membership in a criminal organization after last week appearing before a Madrid court, which remanded them in custody, a judicial source told AFP.
Spanish media said the arrests were linked to a cocaine seizure in Algeciras on October 14 from a container ship that had arrived from Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil, a drug-trafficking hub. The cocaine was hidden in crates of bananas. Fruit screens had been placed to hide the cocaine, police said in a news statement.
Police said the drug bust is the largest-ever haul of cocaine in Spain and “one of the largest seizures in the world”.
The container was destined for a Spanish importer based in the southeastern coastal town of Alicante “who had been receiving large quantities of fruit imported from Ecuador for years”, the authorities said. Spanish police said they cooperated with the National Police of Ecuador to intercept the shipment.
Spain, a main gateway into Europe for Latin American cocaine, has cracked down on drug shipments arriving from Latin America. Cocaine seizures at European ports have reached record levels, the head of Europol’s narcotics unit Robert Fay told the AFP.
Spain worked with counterparts in June to arrest 40 people in a years-long operation to bust a major drug smuggling ring. In July Spain participated in a takedown of a major network transporting Latin American cocaine into Europe by boat, which involved 50 arrests across eight countries. Twenty-six of the detainees were arrested in Spain.
President-Elect Donald Trump will nominate GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general, according to a social media post on his Truth Social account.
“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday.
Gaetz currently represents Florida’s 1st District in the House of Representatives, an office he’s held since 2017.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Mr. Trump said.
Responding to Trump’s announcement, Gaetz said, “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Gold investing hit an 11-year high in 2023 amid concerns over inflation and an increased need for safe-haven assets. And the price of the metal responded accordingly in 2024, breaking numerous price records in seemingly every month this year after starting January priced at $2,063.73 per ounce. The latest record saw gold surge past the $2,700 mark with anticipation high that it could exceed $3,000 per ounce, perhaps before the end of 2024.
For investors who thought gold’s price surge would continue unabated, however, November has proven otherwise. The price of the precious metal has dropped this month from record highs with the future price uncertain right now. To get a better idea about where gold could be heading, however, it helps to note how far the price has already dropped this month. That’s what we’ll break down below, noting why it may be a smart time for some to invest.
Invest in gold before the price rises again here now.
How far has gold’s price dropped in November?
The price of gold started November strong, coming in at $2,736.35 on November 1, according to historical price data from gold IRA company American Hartford Gold. While not quite at the $2,786.44 record it hit at the end of October, it was hovering around that point and widely expected to surpass it within days. But that’s not what happened. It dropped to $2,743.98 on November 5 and has been on a downward trend since, hitting $2,598.28 on November 12.
That price marks a 26% jump from where the metal started the year — but a 5% drop from where it started in November, erasing a good portion of the increase seen throughout 2024. That said, economic factors are constantly evolving and Wednesday brought news that could affect the price of gold yet again.
After dropping for most of 2024, inflation rose in October, according to a new report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now at 2.6%, the rate jumped by two-tenths of a point in the month, moving it more than half a percentage point above the Federal Reserve’s target 2% goal.
While not a great development for the broader economy, gold — as has been shown for much of the last two years — tends to perform well during inflationary periods. During these cycles, the metal often maintains and even increases in value, thus underlining its historic reputation as a reliable hedge against inflation. So, in theory, it’s possible that some of the gold price drop experienced in the first 13 days of November could be reversed once the latest inflation report has a chance to reverberate throughout the wider economy. Waiting to invest, then, could mean paying more versus acting now.
Don’t wait for that to happen. Get invested in gold online today.
The bottom line
The price of gold has been on a remarkable rise all year long but November has put a halt to that run as investors saw the price tumble by around 5% since the start of the month. That said, the price drop could be an indication of additional reductions to come — or it could be a temporary blip as the metal continues its march toward $3,000 per ounce. Only time will tell which theory is right. But with inflation on the rise again and a slightly lower entry point for beginner investors, now may be a smart time to invest in gold. Just be sure to keep your investment in check, as most experts advise limiting it to 10% or less of your broader portfolio.
Have more gold price questions? Learn more here now.