WEIRD FACTS
A cube of natural uranium from the German nuclear project. John T. Consoli, University of Maryland College Park, MD. – By Mike McRae 2026 Oct 06 – In the final weeks of the Second World War, a team of Germany’s most gifted scientists threw …
With deepening drought, worsened by El Niño, Panama Canal authorities cut the number of ships allowed to transit. Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images – By Steven Paton, Research Biologist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution Published: 2026 Sep 10 – El Niño is here, …
Oura started it all in 2015. https://ouraring.com/blog/history-of-oura(Oura) – By Howard Armitage 2026 Oct 02 – There was a time when intelligent rings were what your level-three wizard wore in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now Amazon will sell you one for less than a …
Women are taking a more active role in jihadi organizations. Syria Deeply/https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/syria – By Sara Harmouch, Research Fellow in Counterterrorism, George Washington University Published: 2026 Oct 01 – Khadra Essa, a Somali-born Dutch citizen operating in Syria under the name Umm Qaqa al-Somali, is …
Infecting female mosquitos with a common bacteria could stop them from reproducing. (Rollerblade/Canva) – By Emma Schneck 2026 Oct 01 – Earlier this summer, Google’s Debug program made headlines by applying to the EPA for permits to release droves of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes across …
Opioid epidemic has a new threat. (birgl/pixabay/Canva) – By Mike McRae 2026 Sep 29 – A synthetic opioid up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl is attracting attention as an emerging global threat, having been officially tied to more than 40 fatal overdoses over …
In the movie ‘War Games’ an AI plays a game with the real threat of triggering nuclear Armageddon. Courtesy of United Artists/Amazon MGM Studios – By Deven Desai, Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Associate Director for Law, Policy, and Ethics at the Machine …
AI has a concept of pain, and may hurt you to make it stop. (Shubham Dhage/Pexels/Canva) – By Mike McRae 2026 Sep 28 – A test of AI models has found that a handful will choose actions that harm the user if it makes …
DNA scaffolds could provide a novel way to run computers on low power. (Turgay Koca/berkay08/Canva) – By Mike McRae 2026 Sep 22 – Computing is a power-hungry resource in today’s world. By 2050, as much as 20% of the electricity consumed by the US …
Many Americans are turning to AI for spiritual guidance. Andrey Suslov/iStock via Getty Images Plus – By Morgan Shipley, Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality, Michigan State University Published: 2026 Sep 21 – People are turning to artificial intelligence for a seemingly unending variety …
