2026-09-28 -- control

#1 · news-in-context Feb 18, 2026

Within an 18-hour period in 1974, 13 states were hit by 148 tornadoes

From April 3-4, a tornado outbreak killed over 300 people and caused $600M in damage ($3.8B in 2024 dollars). The event revealed deficiencies in various technologies, including crude radar imaging and slow typewriter-based communication systems, which quickly bottlenecked and became outdated as tornado watches became tornado warnings.

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#2 · explainers Feb 3, 2026

A 2013 Supreme Court case weakened federal oversight of redistricting

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act's preclearance formula, reducing federal oversight of voting laws—including redistricting—and allowing changes to take effect without prior approval.

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#3 · longform Feb 3, 2026

This American Life explored Ohio's gerrymandering battle

In 2022, Ohio lawmakers repeatedly drew congressional districts that the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. This defiance violated a voter-approved reform intended to prohibit partisan gerrymandering.

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#4 · explainers Feb 27, 2026

Couple welcomes rare quadruplet daughters who are actually a set of twins

The four healthy girls were delivered by cesarean section and joined a larger family that includes their parents and a 2-year-old older brother. Without the use of fertility drugs, quadruplet births are rare, but the chances are even slimmer that they'll be sets of identical twins. Medical professionals say the odds are around one in a million.

itk Grandparents are ecstatic to learn they're getting a third set of twin grandbabies. own · sim 0.45 · keep 0.40 · score -1

#5 · curiosity Jul 8, 2026

Taylor Swift's relationship with Kansas City Chief's star Travis Kelce helped boost the NFL's popularity, especially among younger generations.

Consumer surveys revealed that 13% of Americans said Swift increased their interest in watching football, with that number reaching 24% for Gen Z respondents.

The first time Swift made an appearance at a Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2023, a merch company found that Kelce became one of the top five-selling NFL players that day, and saw "a nearly 400% spike in sales throughout [their] network of sites, including NFLShop.com."

itk Taylor Swift wins video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards; see full list of winner own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.33 · score -11

#6 · curiosity May 15, 2026

The 'Star Wars' series begins where George Lucas believed the story was most accessible

George Lucas originally conceived the "Star Wars" story as one long script, but recognized it was far too big for a single movie, so he broke each act into its own film. @2:19

"A New Hope" initially had appearances of characters who would appear in later "Star Wars" films, like Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu. @3:30

itk Jon Watts, the director behind three "Spider-Man" films from 2017-21, will lead the first sibling · sim 0.47 · keep 0.75 · score -1

#7 · experiences Oct 2, 2023

Small ways to improve your health today: an animated guide

What are some ways that you could start making a positive impact on your health today? This animated gallery overviews several health topics, including sleep and hydration, and offers ways to improve that aspect of your life.

Clicking on the...

etc Four ways to fix your attention span. (via YouTube) own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.53 · score -2

#8 · curiosity Jul 28, 2022

The funniest pet photos of 2022

Chess-playing cats, water-loving dogs, and happy horses are among the finalists of the 2022 Comedy Pet Photography Awards.

etc Dogs and cats are hooked on a new Netflix cartoon. sibling · sim 0.43 · keep 0.56 · score -1

#9 · curiosity Jul 22, 2026

See nine celebrities who adopted animals they met on set.

etc Dogs and cats are hooked on a new Netflix cartoon. own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.77 · score -2

#10 · news-in-context May 16, 2025

Hurricanes may kill 300 times more people than officially reported

A recent study suggests that, since 1930, more than 3.5 million people have died due to hurricanes. This incorporates the long-term effects of storms on people's health and economic well-being, contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year.

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#11 · explainers Feb 3, 2026

Can courts end partisan gerrymandering?

This podcast explored whether courts can rein in partisan map-drawing, focusing on North Carolina's 2023 redistricting battle, the Moore v. Harper case, and the controversial "independent state legislature" theory.

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#12 · longform Mar 12, 2026

Watch a North Carolina house collapse into the ocean

While the Outer Banks experiences beach erosion, rip currents and overwash from a nor’easter along the coast, a seaside house in Rodanthe collapsed Tuesday.

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#13 · explainers Sep 17, 2024

The MLB consist of 30 teams

The league is home to the National and American leagues, which include 780 active players. The MLB season is the longest in professional sports, with 162 games played during the regular season, typically from April through September, ending with the World Series championship in October.

itk Baseball regular season ends; wild-card round begins tomorrow, see postseason bracket own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.12 · score -2

#14 · curiosity May 15, 2026

Breaking down the many box office records 'Star Wars' has broken

The first "Star Wars" film made history in 1977 when it surpassed "Jaws," considered the first Hollywood blockbuster, for the highest-grossing movie of all time. But that's just the first in a long line of records that the franchise has broken in the decades since then, with impressive records set by films like "The Force Awakens," "Revenge of the Sith," and "The Last Jedi."

itk Jon Watts, the director behind three "Spider-Man" films from 2017-21, will lead the first own · sim 0.43 · keep 0.48 · score -3

#15 · curiosity Mar 17, 2026

The history of Anthropic began with a break from OpenAI over safety concerns.

Founded by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic envisioned guardrails in its AI products from the outset to minimize the potential risk for businesses considering using its Claude products.

The strategy has contributed to a tenfold increase in revenue over three consecutive years.
Anthropic's business customer base grew from under 1,000 to over 300,000 in just two years.

itk OpenAI pauses training of latest models for second time in three months amid multiple repo own · sim 0.43 · keep 0.49 · score -16

#16 · experiences Jan 14, 2026

Discover the 'American Serengeti' Lewis and Clark first recorded

This podcast traces the 19th-century exploration of the Great Plains' biodiversity—beginning with Lewis and Clark's wildlife cataloging and continuing through a century of documenting the Natural West's remarkable species and landscapes.

etc Take an audio tour of America's Wild West. own · sim 0.55 · keep 0.60 · score -1

#17 · curiosity Jan 2, 2025

Beanless 'coffee' is an eco-friendly alternative

As we consider the role of agriculture in climate change, many people are seeking alternatives to the most resource-hungry crops—coffee included. Are new synthetic alternatives the answer? Startups are exploring beanless “coffee” made in a variety of ways.

etc Iced coffee at interviews is the new intergenerational debate. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.60 · score -1

#18 · curiosity Sep 17, 2026

Coffee was put on trial in Mecca in 1511, and its eventual acceptance helped coffee spread beyond religious use and into the world's first public coffeehouses, which ultimately gave birth to the London Stock Exchange.

Coffee's earliest widespread use was religious, with Sufi mystics using it to stay awake through long nights of prayer and to sustain energetic, trance-like ceremonies.

The London Stock Exchange traces part of its history to Jonathan's Coffee House, where merchants gathered to trade stocks and shares.
Coffee beans aren't actually beans: Coffee trees produce a fruit called a coffee cherry, and the seeds inside are what we roast, grind, and call coffee beans.
Caffeine doesn’t give your body energy; it blocks adenosine, a chemical that builds up in your brain throughout the day and signals that you're tired.
Espresso was invented, in part, because people wanted coffee faster, so early 20th-century Italian machines used pressure to speed up brewing, allowing coffee to be served quickly in commercial establishments.
"Java" became slang for coffee because Dutch trading companies established coffee plantations on the Indonesian island of Java in search of alternatives to coffee sourced from Yemen and the Ottoman Empire.

etc Iced coffee at interviews is the new intergenerational debate. own · sim 0.40 · keep 0.57 · score -2

#19 · news-in-context Feb 3, 2026

Republicans launched a mid-decade redistricting push in 2025

Beginning in Texas, Republican-controlled legislatures in Missouri, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina moved to redraw maps before 2030—an uncommon mid-decade effort aimed at securing additional congressional seats.

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#20 · explainers Feb 3, 2026

Thousands of state voting changes have been federally blocked since the Voting Rights Act

Since 1965, federal oversight has blocked thousands of state-level voting changes—including redistricting plans—by requiring approval for measures that could affect minority representation, a process scaled back by the Supreme Court in 2013.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.45 · keep 0.19 · score -8

#21 · experiences Jan 30, 2026

Take a tour of the Museum of Natural History

Opened in 1910 on the Mall, the National Museum of Natural History is among the Smithsonian's oldest museums. Its scientists steward more than 148 million objects and specimens—making it the largest natural history collection on Earth.

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#22 · explainers Dec 7, 2022

Scientists increasingly can't predict what AI will do

Most AI systems are so-called "black box" models, where we only see inputs and outputs while the inner workings remain obscure. This piece, written prior to the launch of ChatGPT, cautions developers to know why and how a system produces its results, and not to sacrifice explainability for accuracy.

itk What would it take to build trustworthy AI? own · sim 0.55 · keep 0.26 · score -1

#23 · curiosity Sep 3, 2026

Cadaver dogs are helping archaeologists uncover decaying history

Archaeologists are increasingly relying on dogs to help find decaying bodies at burial sites, some of them up to thousands of years old. This is helping archaeologists to detect past remains without ever touching a shovel, which means there's less...

itk Archaeologists excavate the first intact human burials from Göbekli Tepe, the world's olde own · sim 0.49 · keep 0.56 · score -4

#24 · curiosity Oct 18, 2023

Mount Vesuvius' ancient Roman eruption may have literally boiled blood

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, sending ash and debris far and wide, burying several cities and the people inside them. This article details the various ways the blast killed those in Herculaneum. This seaside town was hit with the same ash and debris as Pompeii, and it was also hit by a wave of volcanic gases estimated to be more than 500° Fahrenheit, about 260° Celcius.

itk Mount Vesuvius' eruption helps scientists refine geochronology methods to more accurately own · sim 0.52 · keep 0.66 · score -1

#25 · experiences Jun 30, 2026

The 10 most amazing deep sea creatures

In this video, researchers from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium discuss the most fascinating deep sea creatures, and how they developed some of their strangest features.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.84 · score -7

#26 · curiosity Mar 12, 2026

Spiders may manipulate captured male fireflies into mimicking female mating signals

Rather than killing a male firefly captured in its web, the Araneus ventricosus spider bites into it, which researchers believe injects a venom that disrupts normal flashing behavior and produces a form of mimicry to attract additional males.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. own · sim 0.45 · keep 0.57 · score -1

#27 · curiosity Jul 14, 2026

Check out the 50 weirdest roadside attractions in the US, from Alabama's Unclaimed Baggae Center to Wyoming's Elkhorn Arch.

etc Take an audio tour of America's Wild West. sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.78 · score -10

#28 · news-in-context Feb 3, 2026

Track the unusual push for mid-decade redistricting across the US

The National Conference of State Legislatures maintains a live tracker showing where mid-decade congressional redistricting is underway, detailing which states are pursuing new maps, the legislative and constitutional methods being used, and how courts are responding as the 2026 elections approach.

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#29 · explainers Sep 6, 2022

How algorithmic redistricting works

Computational methods are convincing a number of judges that some state district maps are drawn illegally. Here's a simple overview of how it works.

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#30 · experiences Sep 3, 2026

As of 2023, there are about 1.1 billion objects stored in 73 of the world's largest natural history museums, but only about 16% of specimens are available in digital archives.

Of the 73 major institutions assessed in a joint study organized by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History, just 21 were located outside of North America and Europe, highlighting the impact of colonization on museum collections and the underrepresentation of polar, marine, and tropical regions.

Across the 73 natural history museums included in the study, the 1,147,934,687 objects are curated and managed by about 4,500 science staff and 4,000 volunteers, emphasizing the challenge of caring for specimens amid limited investment.
There are thought to be over 1,000 natural history museums and herbaria—collections of preserved plant specimens—worldwide, with many collecting specimens for more than three centuries.
Specimens in natural history museums allow researchers to study changes in biodiversity, climate, health, and other fields by tracking how wildlife has changed across Earth's history.

lead Science Museum Swan Song sibling · sim 0.51 · keep 0.25 · score -3

#31 · explainers Apr 3, 2026

A stock index is a group of companies clustered together, often providing a condensed snapshot of a market segment.

The top three indexes in the US are the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite.

The S&P 500 and DJIA are bellwether indexes, meaning they're created with the top companies across the economy and provide a snapshot of those companies’ performances.
Indexes themselves can’t be invested in, but index funds, which recreate the companies listed in an index, provide investors with a way to track the broader market.

itk US stock markets finish Friday up (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.9%, Nasdaq +0.5%), fueled by a dr sibling · sim 0.48 · keep 0.40 · score -2

#32 · curiosity Apr 29, 2025

Some US states are now revising their happy hour bans

While states like Massachusetts started banning happy hour in the 1980s as an anti-overconsumption measure, not every state has kept these bans intact. This article dives into the arguments for and against revising the happy hour ban in Massachusetts, the first state to institute such a ban.

itk Ban on some Canadian alcohol goes into effect at midnight tonight sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.11 · score -1

#33 · curiosity Apr 29, 2025

Happy hour is banned in Ireland

For a country famous for drinking a lot of alcohol, it might seem surprising that happy hours are banned in Ireland. But that reputation is exactly why the country banned happy hours in the first place—a 2010 report found that alcohol use in Ireland had doubled between the 1970s and the early 2000s. Read this article to learn more.

itk Ban on some Canadian alcohol goes into effect at midnight tonight own · sim 0.42 · keep 0.45 · score -2

#34 · experiences Mar 5, 2026

A free archive of firsthand historical documents from explorers of America

Maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the American Journeys collection contains more than 18,000 pages of primary source documents—journals, letters, maps, and accounts written between roughly 1000 CE and the early 1800s. These include eyewitness records of the Norse arrival in North America, Spanish conquistador expeditions, and the Lewis and Clark journey. Browse this list of highlights where pages from the original texts are specified (clicking a link opens a PDF).

etc Take an audio tour of America's Wild West. sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.46 · score -3

#35 · curiosity Feb 6, 2026

The deep-sea fangtooth has the largest teeth of any marine species relative to body size

From transparent fish to the heaviest worms on the planet, these seven creepy creatures lurk in the deep sea. Learn all about them and the unique traits that help them survive and hunt.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.73 · score -2

#36 · curiosity May 16, 2025

Scientists create the first CRISPR-modified spider to enhance its silk proteins

A research group at the University of Bayreuth used CRISPR-Cas9 to genetically modify spiders to produce glowing red silk. Spider silk is five times stronger than steel by weight, and this research paves the way for developing new silk functionalities.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.43 · keep 0.34 · score -3

#37 · news-in-context Feb 3, 2026

In 2025, Democratic-led states moved to counter with their own redistricting plans

In response to Republican mid-decade redistricting efforts, Democratic leaders in California, New York, Illinois, and Maryland signaled plans to revisit their own congressional maps.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.47 · keep 0.06 · score -4

#38 · explainers Feb 3, 2026

Redistricting reshapes political boundaries, usually once a decade after the census

Every 10 years, states redraw congressional and legislative districts based on census data to ensure equal population. Legislatures usually control the process, though some states use independent commissions to curb partisan influence.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.31 · score -14

#39 · experiences Apr 8, 2025

A virtual tour of Philadelphia’s American Revolution Museum

Philadelphia’s Old City hosts one of the largest museums on the American Revolution. This virtual tour allows you to view the museum’s exhibits as if you were there by zooming in on descriptions, browsing images, and learning about artifacts, portraits, and more.

lead Science Museum Swan Song sibling · sim 0.47 · keep 0.61 · score -4

#40 · explainers May 29, 2026

In 2018, Apple became the world's first publicly traded trillion-dollar company

The valuation was made possible by Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1997, who implemented a simplification strategy by cutting the majority of Apple's existing product line. His promotion of Jony Ive to SVP of industrial design would help popularize Apple through colorful products and marketing.

itk Jury finds Apple owes more than $5.7B in damages for unintentional patent infringement aro own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.21 · score -5

#41 · curiosity Oct 22, 2025

Who were the Cambridge Five

Recruited in the 1930s, the Cambridge Five infiltrated British intelligence and leaked secrets to the Soviets for decades, shaping WWII and the Cold War.

itk Five men arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity outside RAF Fairford, a British airba sibling · sim 0.41 · keep 0.75 · score -1

#42 · curiosity Feb 27, 2026

Siblings surprise their parents with a recreation of a 1980s childhood photo

The three sisters and one brother recreated a professional photo taken of them in classic 1980s garb. They captured a TikTok of their parents' hilarious reactions that went viral.

itk Grandparents are ecstatic to learn they're getting a third set of twin grandbabies. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.39 · score -2

#43 · experiences Jun 30, 2026

Listen to a podcast about the eerie side of national parks

Although the National Park System is a relatively recent invention, the lands it includes have been around since the dawn of time and, as a result, have accumulated some interesting folklore. This podcast walks you through some of the best legends about the parks.

etc Take an audio tour of America's Wild West. own · sim 0.43 · keep 0.78 · score -4

#44 · curiosity Aug 4, 2026

Spiders can make up to seven types of silk, with some able to withstand twice the force of ultra-high-strength steel of the same mass and length before breaking.

Specialized abdominal glands allow spiders to produce various silks for different purposes, including tough dragline silk for the spokes of a web, flexible flagelliform silk for the web's spiral to catch passing insects, and thick tubuliform silk to protect egg sacs.

Spider silk is composed of nanocrystals made of stacked amino acids, which provide durability, linked together by amorphous regions that resemble elastic cords, allowing the silk to stretch and absorb impacts.
For its thickness, silk from the Darwin's bark spider is about 10 times stronger than Kevlar.
Because spiders are cannibals, farming them for silk requires substantial space and resources, which balloons the cost, with one supplier in 2026 charging 50 times the price of gold per kilogram of natural silk.
Scientists have attempted to genetically modify various organisms with spider genes to produce silk, including E. coli, goats, and tobacco and potato plants, but the resulting products contain spider silk proteins rather than the silk structure itself, whose formation in spider abdomens remains an area of ongoing research.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.79 · score -4

#45 · curiosity Feb 13, 2025

Meet Cystisoma, the 7-inch crustacean with eyes for a head

In deep midwater, roughly 1,000 feet below the water's surface, completely transparent Cystisoma hide in plain sight from predators. Their retinas are splayed out thin across their disproportionately large eyes to avoid detection, and their entire bodies are transparent, difficult to see even as they are held in the palm of your hand. Learn more about the creatures here.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.41 · keep 0.60 · score -5

#46 · news-in-context Feb 3, 2026

Researchers found that 2020 redistricting tactics created safer districts and reduced competition

Studies of the 2020 redistricting cycle show that map-drawing strategies locked in predictable outcomes. The result was fewer competitive races, more incumbents shielded from challengers, and representatives less responsive to broader voter preferences.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.46 · keep 0.13 · score -6

#47 · explainers Feb 21, 2026

The Supreme Court limited federal judges' power to issue nationwide injunctions in 2025

In a 2025 decision arising from litigation over a presidential order on birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court held that individual federal judges may not nationwide block executive policies—curbing the use of sweeping injunctions and reshaping how constitutional challenges proceed through the courts.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.08 · score -17

#48 · news-in-context Feb 3, 2026

See the most oddly gerrymandered districts in the US

Based on input from redistricting experts and political scientists, this resource identifies and ranks the most extreme congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s, examining how map design, cracking, and packing reduce competition and distort representation across states.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem any_band · sim 0.46 · keep 0.40 · score -7

#49 · explainers Mar 4, 2026

Congress has unsuccessfully voted on war powers resolutions over Trump's military operations in Venezuela and Iran

After Trump ordered unilateral military operations in both Venezuela and Iran without congressional authorization, lawmakers from both parties introduced war powers resolutions to block further action. Each effort failed, with Republican majorities largely supporting the president.

itk President Donald Trump rejects Iranian offer to restart talks to reopen the Strait of Horm own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.06 · score -5

#50 · curiosity May 15, 2026

A deep dive into the long road to making 'Star Wars'

Roughly a third of Lucas' original dialogue for the film was rewritten by two "script doctors," professionals who punch up shoddy lines.

Tension with the crew and slow progress caused Lucas to feel like he was having a heart attack; he wasn't, but doctors told him that he was wrestling with abnormal amounts of anxiety.
The movie release was pushed from December 1976 to summer 1977 because of delays with special effects, something Lucas believe would doom the film at the box office.
"Star Wars" was not the most popular movie on its release weekend; the top spot belonged to "Smokey and the Bandit."

itk Jon Watts, the director behind three "Spider-Man" films from 2017-21, will lead the first sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.62 · score -4

#51 · curiosity May 15, 2026

How 'Star Wars' changed science fiction

The popularity of "Star Wars" effectively killed New Wave, a '60s and '70s science-fiction movement that focused less on faraway worlds and more on more sophisticated, literary narratives about characters' internal lives.

"Star Wars" led to a sci-fi gold rush in Hollywood, with movies like "Alien," "ET," "Tron," and "Blade Runner" greenlit as a result.
George Lucas believed people did not want dystopian science fiction, pointing to the failure of his debut film, "THX 1138," as proof.
Some sci-fi writers rejected the optimism of "Star Wars," desiring to present a grim future wracked by technology; this subgenre would later be called Cyber Punk.

itk Jon Watts, the director behind three "Spider-Man" films from 2017-21, will lead the first sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.76 · score -5

#52 · experiences Jun 30, 2026

Meet siphonophores, breathtaking jellyfish-like organisms

Siphonophores are colonial jelly-like creatures made up of specialized segments that work together as one. They're fairly unknown despite being a significant sea predator. Sink into their strange beauty with this video.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.84 · score -8

#53 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

Spinosaurus had the weirdest dinosaur tail of all time

A new fossil of one of the most unusual dinosaurs, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, suggests it was a swimming predator powered by a fin-like tail.

etc Scientists discover a three-lipped sea spider species. own · sim 0.40 · keep 0.85 · score -6

#54 · news-in-context Feb 27, 2026

Missouri had the fastest job growth rate in 2025

Between 2024 and 2025, Missouri had a 1.7% job growth rate—representing the percent increase in jobs in a particular state over the course of a year. North Carolina and South Carolina trailed Missouri with annual job growth rates of 1.5% and 1.3% respectively.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem sibling · sim 0.45 · keep 0.31 · score -10

#55 · curiosity Jan 30, 2026

Nearly 99% of the Smithsonian's specimens are hidden in high-security

At the National Museum of Natural History, nearly 99% of its 147 million specimens are stored in secure research collections rather than on display, where they are actively used for scientific work ranging from tracking invasive species to improving aviation safety.

lead Science Museum Swan Song any_band · sim 0.51 · keep 0.77 · score -2

#56 · curiosity Feb 8, 2026

The Missouri Compromise temporarily eased tensions over slavery's expansion

Passed in 1820, the Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state—maintaining the fragile balance between proslavery and antislavery states in Congress. It also banned slavery north of latitude 36°30′.

lead Missouri Map Mayhem any_band · sim 0.45 · keep 0.55 · score -9

#57 · explainers Mar 10, 2026

Watch Taylor Swift write a song

Taylor Swift is one of the most famous and successful entertainers of the modern era, whose music wins fans and Grammy awards, and secures billions of streams on Spotify. In this clip from the Netflix documentary Miss Americana, Taylor lets cameras film her in the process of writing a song.

itk Taylor Swift wins video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards; see full list of winner sibling · sim 0.50 · keep 0.71 · score -1

#58 · curiosity Jul 31, 2026

In 2026, a pilot program introduced two AI-powered humanoid robots to a San Diego charter school to increase engagement and academic gains, though some criticized the $500k purchase.

Prior to interacting with it, students most commonly used the word "creepy" to describe the robot, which can imitate some famous individuals to help students learn about them.

During one classroom observation, the robot was reported to have repeatedly interrupted students and spoken too quickly, prompting it to be asked to repeat itself three times.
One of the robots, Ameca, can assume the role of a teacher, wellness coach, college and career planner, and translator, but school officials have stated there is no plan to replace staff and that all information provided should be fact-checked.
Altus Schools, which serves students who need to recover credits after falling behind and claims the program is the world's first to examine physical AI for education, has stated that the robot does not store any data, with its memory erased after each interaction.

itk OpenAI pauses training of latest models for second time in three months amid multiple repo sibling · sim 0.41 · keep 0.17 · score -23

#59 · curiosity Dec 16, 2022

Teaching a robot to laugh

Researchers have designed a shared-laughter AI system that responds to human laughter in order to build a sense of empathy into dialogue. Learn how they did it with this explainer.

itk What would it take to build trustworthy AI? sibling · sim 0.43 · keep 0.59 · score -39

#60 · experiences Jul 28, 2026

Take a video tour of Wall Street's historic architecture, guided by a professional architect.

etc Take an audio tour of America's Wild West. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.70 · score -6

Early Nor'easter, Missouri Maps, and Attention Span Fixes