Heat Waves, Higgs Boson, Wimbledon and More! [Current Events Cheat Sheet]

By Garnet Henderson

Still nursing that patriotic post-Fourth of July headache? Here’s what you missed in the last week.

At Home

If you thought that the Supreme Court had the last word when they upheld the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, think again. Critics are looking to challenge yet another important part of the health care law, which allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26, requires insurance plans to cover preventative services, and requires that most Americans have health insurance, among many other things.

The record-breaking heat wave from the Midwest to the East Coast eased up this week, but only by a bit. A new wave of blistering temperatures is set to hit Western states in the coming week. The heat has caused at least 74 deaths across the country over the past two weeks.

By now, you’ve probably heard that scientists recently announced the discovery of a particle that appears to be the Higgs Boson. You might have heard it called the “God Particle,” but what is it, exactly? And how did they find it? Allow these rapping scientists to explain (seriously):

The World

Libyans came out to the polls for their first free national election in 60 years, and early vote counts show a liberal alliance in the lead.

Egypt’s new President, Mohamed Morsi, ordered the country’s Parliament to reconvene, challenging an earlier decision by military leaders.

Six U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, on a day when a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.

Ksenia Sobchak, known as “Russia’s Paris Hilton,” has taken a political turn and become a vocal member of Russia’s opposition, challenging the country’s totalitarian system. In the last month, she’s had her home searched and some of her money confiscated.

Sporty

Roger Federer won the men’s singles tournament at Wimbledon, capturing his seventh Wimbledon title. Serena Williams won the women’s singles title, but that wasn’t enough for her, and she won women’s doubles with sister Venus Williams later that same day!

Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin fell in the women’s Olympic gymnastics trials, effectively ending her career. She was uninjured, but the fall tanked her scores and dashed her hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics. Nastia took it like a champ though, tweeting, “Thank you to the 18,000 people that gave me a standing ovation tonight. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.”

Hot on the Web

Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new meme on the block! Actually, 60s Spiderman isn’t new, it’s just getting more and more popular by the day. Click through the gallery to see some awesome examples of what happens when you take awkward still shots from the old school Spiderman cartoon and toss them out into the world wide web.

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also loves cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice retweeted her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.