Friday, Jan. 21 News Quiz of the Week: Volcanic Emergency

Novak Djokovic has won nine Australian Open titles. He had hoped to secure his 21st Grand Slam singles trophy in 2022, breaking the record he shares with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most in the history of men’s tennis.

Why was Djokovic out of the 2022 Australian Open?

The Australian government prevented the No. 1-ranked tennis player, Djokovic, from defending his Australian Open title after authorities revoked his visa for not being vaccinated against Covid-19, saying that ousting him was necessary to keep Australians safe. On Jan. 16, 2022, Djokovic was deported one day before the Melbourne tournament.

Microsoft announced on Jan. 18, 2022, it is buying “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush” maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion –  the biggest gaming industry deal in history. The purchase pushes Microsoft past Nintendo as the third-largest video game company by global revenue, behind Sony and Chinese tech giant Tencent.

The first appearance of Spider-Man’s black suit (which would eventually lead to the emergence of Venom) in a 1984 Spider-Man comic book page has been sold at auction on Jan. 13, 2022, for a record $3.36 million. The previous record-holder for an interior page of a U.S. comic book was art from a 1974 issue of The Incredible Hulk that featured the first appearance of Wolverine, auctioned at $657,250 in 2014.

Endometriosis is a disorder in which the tissue lining the uterus or womb exists outside the uterus, usually causing significant pain.

Did Amy Schumer make her endometriosis go away?

Amy Schumer, 40, shared on Instagram on Jan. 18, 2022, how she’s feeling after undergoing surgery for endometriosis (and also liposuction). “I feel good. Finally,” Schumer captioned two beachside images of her. Schumer revealed she had a hysterectomy and her appendix removed in Sept. 2022, after years of pain from endometriosis. At the time, she said, “All my lifelong pain explained and lifted out of my body.”

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai is a volcanic island, one of Tonga’s Polynesian archipelago of 176 islands. On Jan. 15, 2022, the underwater volcano erupted, causing a Pacific-wide tsunami of about 1 meter (3 feet) that smashed boats in New Zealand, caused an oil spill and two drownings in Peru, and coated Tonga with acidic (but not poisonous) ash. New Zealand and other nations came forward to get water and other supplies to Tonga as quickly as possible.

Jonah’s icefish is an antarctic deep water fish. The name Jonah refers to the Old Testament whale story, alluding to how this type of icefish was discovered (in the stomach of a whale). Icefish absorb the oxygen-rich Antarctic waters through their skin. They thrive in temperatures just above freezing temperatures with massive hearts and transparent blood because they lack hemoglobin and red blood cells.

What is the largest fish breeding colony ever discovered?

A breeding colony of Jonah’s icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) globally unprecedented in scale has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. In a paper published Jan. 13, 2022, in Current Biology, scientists estimated the colony of Jonah’s icefish stretches across 92 square miles (240 square km), totaling 60 million active nests — the largest fish breeding colony ever discovered.

“The Harder They Fall,” featuring Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, and LaKeith Stanfield, is a western produced for Netflix by Jay-Z (credited as Shawn Carter), based on real Black characters from the Old West. On Jan. 18, 2022, the film was nominated for 12 NAACP Image Awards, including for best picture. The two-hour awards show will be broadcast on BET on Feb. 26, 2022.

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons played the married couple in trouble in Fargo’s 2015 second season. By 2017, they were engaged in real life. The two now star alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Jane Campion’s 2022 Netflix movie “The Power of the Dog.” The film has earned Dunst Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG awards nominations. Dunst and Plemons, who have two children together, won their first Oscar nominations for this film in 2022. The couple married in early July 2022 in Jamaica.

A group of 102 millionaires and billionaires, who brand themselves as “patriotic millionaires,” signed a letter on Jan. 19, 2022, calling for “permanent wealth taxes on the richest to help reduce extreme inequality and raise revenue for sustained, long-term increases in public services like healthcare.”

Who are the patriotic millionaires?

The group includes Disney heiress Abigail Disney, Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist who made an almost $1bn fortune from an early bet on Amazon, and Gemma McGough, a British entrepreneur.

Screenshot: Pete Davidson on SNL / NBC

In a track released Jan. 14, 2022, titled “My Life Was Never Eazy,” Kanye West raps, “God saved me from that crash/ Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” Kim Kardashian’s estranged husband refers to the Saturday Night Live comic, who was dating Kardashian. The crash Ye mentions is, presumably, the 2002 car accident that left him with a broken jaw.

Jim Henson created Fraggle Rock, which aired for 96 episodes on HBO from 1983 to 1987.

Is Fraggle Rock rebooted in 2022?

“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock” is available from Jan. 21, 2022, on Apple TV+. Watch the trailer!

“How I Met Your Father” features Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall as “the mom” recounting the how-I-met-your-dad story to her unseen son. The younger version of Cattrall, Sophie, is played by Hilary Duff. “How I Met Your Father” premiered on Hulu on Jan. 18, 2022. Cattral famously doesn’t participate in the “Sex and the City” reboot, “…And Just Like That.”

Jim Carrey was born in Canada on Jan. 17, 1962 – which means he just turned 60 in 2022.

James Earl Jones was born in Mississippi on Jan. 17, 1931, making him 91 in 2022.

Does Jones still voice Star War’s Darth Vader?

The Ukrainian startup Respeecher worked with Jones on the 2022 Obi-Wan Kenobi series, using clips from his past performances. An AI “clone” of his voice was then layered over the sound of another actor reading the lines as Darth Vader.