Why is today the shortest day of the year and what happened at 4.59PM?

Dec 21 2021

December 21st is an important day in the calendar year for a number of reasons, mainly because it is the day when we welcome the Winter season through the Winter Solstice.

As a result of this, December 21st is the shortest day of the year on the Northern Hemisphere and as a result, the longest night. As a result of this, Tuesday will have slightly less that 10 hours of day and around 14 hours of night after the sun rose a bit later than 7am and set slightly before 5pm. The Winter Solstice can happen over three days, between December 20th and December 23rd.

While this phenomenon welcomes the Winter Season in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere in countries like Argentina and Australia which are currently experiencing their longest day and shortest night of 2021.

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People in the EU may not be able to travel if 9 months pass from their vaccination

Dec 21 2021

On Tuesday December 21, the European Commission effected rules which make the European Union’s COVID-19 certificate travel valid for nine months from the completion of the primary vaccine schedule. This proposal follows the introduction of several travel requirements put into place by a number EU states in an attempt to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant.

The European Union’s Justice Commissioner Dider Reynders told Reuters that the Commission was against increasing requirements and was assessing relevant measures. This new rule will be binding in 27 EU member states as of February first and will those oblige EU states to welcome fully-vaccinated travellers with a valid vaccine pass in their respective territories while also being allowed to add further requirements if they deem fit.

Italy, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Latvia, Cyprus and Austria require fully-vaccinated individuals from other countries within the EU to present a negative COVID test on arrival, a precaution which some have argued damages the vaccine pass’s credibility.

What do you make of this measure?

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Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas’ is back at number one on the Billboard Hot 100

Dec 21 2021

For anyone who doesn’t enjoy Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’, we would suggest to take another crack at it because it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Christmas anthem has made a big return to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 100, making it ‘the first song in the chart’s history to have led in three distinct runs in the ranking.’

The fan favourite was first released as part of Carey’s ‘Merry Christmas’ album back in 1994 and went on to become a holiday classic, hitting the number one spot in December 2019 and again in December 2020.

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A post shared by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey)

The song is truly the gift that keeps on giving, with The Economist reporting that it had made Mariah Carey at least $60 million between its 1994 release and 2017, with the number bound to have risen by a considerable amount by now.

What do you think of the song?

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Malta ranked first in Europe in this WEIRD statistic revealed by Pornhub

Dec 21 2021

With 2021 finally coming to a close, media brands around the world have been posting their annual ‘Year in Review’ videos & data with everyone from Spotify to Bolt partaking in what has become a yearly tradition. Amongst other sites, Pornhub posted their 8th Year in Review, with Malta ranking 1st in a particularly peculiar statistic.

The adult website’s recap provided multiple colourful infographics with data compiled by in-house statisticians about the world’s consumption of that which the website provides. The article read that the adult content site’s top searches are influenced by pop culture and worldwide events and Malta’s mention may be proof of that.

When discussing particular events causing the site major traffic changes, Malta showed the biggest traffic drop in the world during the Eurovision 2021 finale with a whopping 34 per cent drop compared to the average day, with Iceland coming in second with a drop of 30 per cent. That just goes to show how seriously we take our Eurovision.

What do you make of this?

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