Learners Live

Did you Know?
Menu

MLB Will Use Robot Umpires in 2026

William Attardi on September 24, 2025

Robot umpires are getting called up to the big leagues next season. Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.  Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet or cap — and a team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards. Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge system | AP News

MLB’s Average Salary Tops $5 Million for First Time, AP Study Shows

William Attardi on April 3, 2025

The New York Mets, with Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million pay, led MLB for the third straight opening day with a $322.6 million payroll (down from their record high of $355.4 million in 2023), just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at $319.5 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64.9 million ended the Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest spender. Los Angeles’ payroll figure was held down by deferred payments. Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million salary was discounted to a present-day value of $28.2 million because it won’t be paid in full until 2035

Highest salaries per year in MLB for the 2025 season

Juan Soto (NYM)            $61,875,000

Zack Wheeler (Phi)         $42,000,000

Jacob deGrom (Tex)       $40,000,000

Aaron Judge (NYY)        $40,000,000

Anthony Rendon (LAA) $38,571,428

Carlos Correa (Min)       $37,333,333

Mike Trout (LAA)           $37,116,666

Gerrit Cole (NYY)          $36,000,000

Jose Altuve (Hou)            $33,000,000

Corey Seager (Tex)         $32,500,000

Source: MLB MLB’s average salary tops $5 million for first time, AP study shows | AP News

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.