Hi, I'm Scientific American Podcast Editor Steve Mursky, and here's a short piece from the September 2018

issue of the magazine in the section called Advances, Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science, Technology, and Medicine.

The article is called Quick Hits, and its rundown of some science and tech stories from around the globe compiled by editorial intern Maya Miller.

From China, a chemical that helped to create a hole in the ozone layer is reappearing.

An international investigation traced the resurgence of the banned

gas known as CFC 11 to factories in a town in the eastern province of Shandong.

From Chile, the National Congress of Chile passed a bill outlining plans to establish a ministry of science.

The goal is to invest more in research as part of a shift toward an economy of quote

knowledge and creativity end quote. From Iraqi Kurdistan

archaeologists found remnants of a city that dates back 4,800 years in the autonomous

Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Among the ruins were 92 clay tablets, some of which contained the city's name, Mardaman.

From Namibia, about 100 high school girls from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Swaziland joined girls

in Namibia for a two-week boot camp to learn how to write code and develop mobile apps.

They also got a crash course in basic sciences.

From Thailand, a pilot whale washed ashore. from Thailand's

A pilot whale washed ashore in Thailand's southern Suncla province

with nearly 18 pounds of plastic in its stomach.

The whale died two days later, renewing concerns about the amount of such waste humans have put into the world's waterways.

And from the U.S. a judge dismissed two environmental lawsuits against five of the world's largest oil companies.

During the trial, however, the company's representatives said they recognize and agree with the scientific consensus that humans have caused unprecedented climate changes.

That was quick hits by Maya Miller.

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