Stories from July 31, 2021

Air quality alert continues; cooler Sunday temps
The air quality alert due to Canadian wildfire smoke continues through Sunday and beyond. We have details of that, plus a look at temps for Sunday and the coming week.
Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases
Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday, as its theme park resorts again started asking visitors to wear masks indoors.
Perfectly impossible: Olympic gymnasts wrestle with the imperfect
No elite gymnast — not Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee, not six-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles — has received a perfect score since the sport moved off the “10” system to a new Code of Points in 2006.
Air quality FAQ: What you need to know about the smoky air across Minnesota
An air quality alert remains in effect for all of Minnesota through Tuesday, as what state officials call an “unprecedented” stretch of poor air quality continues to affect the region. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the smoky air.
Olympic firsts that happened in the first week of competition
This year's Olympic Games has been an event unlike any other before it. The ongoing pandemic has changed so much — but athletes still are blazing trails and making history.
A research vessel found SpongeBob lookalikes a mile under the ocean's surface
A photo of a real-life sponge and starfish hanging out together delighted the internet. One scientist acknowledged that the fuss is a bit silly — but he said he welcomes the attention, if it gets people thinking about the life that is dwelling in the world's oceans.
Smoky weekend: Air quality alert continues until Tuesday afternoon
An air quality alert covers all of Minnesota this weekend, due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. We have details of the smoky conditions, plus a look at temps this weekend and into next week.
This Utah adventure town wants to put the brakes on promoting itself
Tourists are visiting national parks and surrounding public lands in record numbers this summer, which is causing some overwhelmed national park gateway towns to rethink their promotion strategies.
Judge to decide: Was it 'unreasonable' to ship 81 million opioid pills to one small West Virginia city?
As a landmark federal opioid trial nears completion, West Virginia communities are demanding $2.5 billion in compensation. Drug firms say they acted responsibly in shipping millions of pills.
Monsters and magic run in the family in these 2 YA novels
“Six Crimson Cranes” and “The River Has Teeth” — two new July YA novels — both focus on monstrous mothers and folkloric family magic. But apart from that, they couldn't be more different.
Mayo Platform’s Halamka on new WHO ethics guidelines for AI in medicine
The guidelines say humans — not machines — should remain the decision-makers, the technology must do no harm and doctors must be transparent to help patients understand how it's being used.