2026-10-24 -- control

#1 · news-in-context Mar 9, 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and rapidly spread worldwide in early 2020. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, leading to widespread lockdowns, travel restrictions, and economic disruptions.

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#2 · explainers Jan 17, 2024

Chimpanzees are dying from human colds

For some great apes, the threat of human-borne diseases outweighs poaching or habitat loss. This article details the danger of reverse zoonoses, which refers to diseases that spread from humans to animals.

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#3 · curiosity Aug 20, 2024

HIV originated in Central and West Africa from a virus in chimpanzees

Researchers believe the virus crossed from chimpanzees to humans through bushmeat practices in the early 20th century, with genetic studies suggesting the most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group, which is responsible for the global AIDS pandemic, emerged around 1910–1930 in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) in the Belgian Congo.

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#4 · explainers May 1, 2026

NYC congestion pricing a year in: traffic is down, transit is up

Manhattan's congestion pricing program has quietly become a success story. WNYC reporter Stephen Nessen examines why the original backlash to the concept has faded, how New Yorkers adjusted, and what the city's experience shares with similar policies in Stockholm and London.

itk New York City bans horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. sibling · sim 0.45 · keep 0.23 · score -6

#5 · curiosity Aug 12, 2026

New York City's carriage horses are at the center of a long-running debate over whether a centuries-old tradition still belongs in the country's largest city.

Despite their antiquated technology, horse carriages remain a popular tourist attraction in New York City, where 160 horses still pull carriages through Manhattan.

In summer 2026, a runaway horse killed Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist; Mahajan's death reignited a debate about the use of carriage horses in the city.
In the late 1800s, New York had somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 horses prowling its streets, pulling both carriages and horsecars, a more robust carriage that was often pulled by multiple horses.
In 1857, the city held an open landscape architecture design competition to create a place where city residents could escape the hundreds of thousands of horse (and their manure) that occupied the city's bustling streets—Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed a park in the middle of Manhattan, which would eventually be named Central Park.
Carriage horses today are draft horses that live in stables where individual stalls are just 60 square feet.

itk New York City bans horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. sibling · sim 0.69 · keep 0.47 · score -1

#6 · curiosity Aug 6, 2026

New York City's carriage horses are a holdover from a time when the city was home to hundreds of thousands of horses roaming its streets.

Dutch settlers brought horses to New York City (then New Amsterdam) to help transport goods and operate machinery.

Horse-drawn transportation appeared in Manhattan in the 1830s. By the 1860s, they were being used to pull fire-fighting vehicles and tools.
After it was founded in 1866, the New York City branch of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (better known as the ASPCA) began accusing the mistreatment of the horses.
The number of horses began decreasing in the early 20th century—declining from 128,000 in 1910 to 56,000 in 1920—thanks to the proliferation of motorized vehicles.

itk New York City bans horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. own · sim 0.61 · keep 0.47 · score -2

#7 · experiences Jun 20, 2022

Examining self-diagnosed synesthesia

A growing number of people on social media claim to have a perceptual condition that lets them smell colors, see music, or taste sounds. But do they really?

etc Some people think they're werewolves. It's a real medical condition. sibling · sim 0.41 · keep 0.54 · score -5

#8 · curiosity Dec 31, 2025

Rayleigh scattering of light gives the atmosphere its blue skies and red sunsets

Light is deflected from its original path by atmospheric particles, where bluer light is scattered more than other colors. When the sun is at its highest point in the sky, it travels through the thinnest part of the atmosphere, scattering some blue light across the sky. A greater atmospheric path length at sunset scatters more colors, leaving only red, yellow, and orange.

etc Why some sunsets are so much prettier than others. own · sim 0.46 · keep 0.68 · score -1

#9 · curiosity Jan 6, 2026

Aristophanes was put on trial for his satire

The ancient Greek's 426 BCE play "The Babylonians" criticized Athens' role in the Peloponnesian War. The politician Cleon accused the dramatist of being unpatriotic, but that didn't thwart Aristophanes. Two years later, Aristophanes premiered "The Knights," which mocked Cleon, leaving him working as a sausage seller outside the city.

etc Four ancient Greek comedies that are still funny today. own · sim 0.46 · keep 0.31 · score -1

#10 · news-in-context Oct 1, 2026

Bird Flu is spreading—what does that mean for us and other species?

The rapid global spread of H5N1 bird flu—from remote Antarctic islands to US farms—shows how animal spillover, driven by human activity and ecological disruption, is accelerating pandemic risk across species long before sustained human transmission begins.

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#11 · explainers Aug 3, 2022

The evolution of the human brain

The human brain, in all its staggering complexity, is the product of millions of years of evolution. Read on to find out about brain size and intelligence, language and brain development, and more.

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#12 · explainers Jun 30, 2026

The 4% DNA difference between humans and chimps

On the genetic level, we're not all that different from chimps. But those small differences in DNA can have huge effects. This 11-minute video digs in to the topic.

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#13 · explainers Oct 22, 2026

French students blockaded schools to demand repairs and more teachers, just as France's borrowing costs hit a 24-year high.

High school students launched demonstrations in September 2026 to protest teacher shortages, underfunding, and deteriorating facilities.

Labor unions and farmers, angry over rising fuel and agricultural costs, joined the student marches, some of which turned to looting, arson, and vandalism.
A sell-off in French bonds pushed 10-year borrowing costs above 5%, a 24-year high, leaving less room to fund the school repairs and hiring protesters demand.
Interest payments on France’s debt, which, as of October 2026, is roughly 115% of its GDP, have climbed since the COVID-19 pandemic and now account for a growing share of the budget.

itk French officials deploy 70,000 law enforcement officers ahead of planned protests. sibling · sim 0.50 · score -1

#14 · curiosity Aug 6, 2026

SpaceX's Starlink is a satellite internet service that provides broadband internet by connecting users to satellites in low Earth orbit, which then communicate with ground stations connected to the internet.

Starlink involves ground terminals wirelessly connected to one of thousands of passing satellites orbiting approximately 550 kilometers (342 miles) above Earth's surface, with each satellite linked to nearby satellites via laser to ensure uninterrupted service as terminals transition between satellite connections.

As of 2026, Starlink is available across most of the Americas and Europe, Australia, Antarctica, and parts of Africa and Asia, with regulatory approval pending in several more nations, including Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Testing shows that latency from data transmission to and from Starlink satellites is about 30 milliseconds, which is sufficiently low to support video calling and some online gaming.

itk Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Starlink isn't fully functional, own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.45 · score -1

#15 · curiosity Oct 23, 2026

The real James Bond was a bird scientist whose name author Ian Fleming stumbled upon while developing his spy protagonist.

While working on what would become "Casino Royale," Fleming was reading "Birds of the West Indies" by ornithologist James Bond.

Fleming later said that the character was a "blunt instrument" and that he wanted a "blunt name" to match.
Jim Wright, author of "The Real James Bond," notes that "bird watcher" is British spy slang for a spy.
As Fleming's book series grew in popularity, the birdwatching Bond began to receive strange phone calls from fans looking for the fictional agent.
The real Bond was angry that Fleming had used his name without permission, but the two men eventually met for lunch and smoothed out their issues.

itk Final tests begin for the new James Bond. sibling · sim 0.46 · keep 0.78 · score -1

#16 · experiences Feb 20, 2026

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

etc Cost of raising a child in every US state. sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.66 · score -14

#17 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

In 2011, a mysterious illness spread around LeRoy, New York

A handful of girls were stricken with bizarre twitches, tics, and spasms — all apparently involuntary. Some believed the incident to be conversion disorder, an illness where emotional troubles have physical symptoms.

etc Some people think they're werewolves. It's a real medical condition. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.42 · score -3

#18 · curiosity Dec 18, 2023

America's best mountain towns

Thrillist compiled a list of the most well-rounded mountain towns in the US, from ski-friendly Park City, Utah, to austere desert hotspot Taos, New Mexico. Peruse this list for you next mountain adventure.

etc ... and a Virginia town was just named the best US suburb. sibling · sim 0.43 · keep 0.73 · score -4

#19 · news-in-context Oct 7, 2026

As of 2024, 37% of Americans do not believe in human evolution, saying God created humans as they currently exist within the past 10,000 years.

As of 2024, about 34% of Americans believe humans evolved from less advanced forms of life over millions of years, but that the process involved God.

From 1982 to 2024, the percentage of Americans who believe in human evolution without the involvement of God has increased from 9% to 24%.
Polling data suggests that individuals who do not believe in human evolution are more conservative, less educated, and more likely to attend weekly church services and to believe in creationism.

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#20 · explainers Jan 27, 2026

Up to 8% of the human genome consists of ancient viral DNA

Human endogenous retroviruses are remnants of infections that affected human primate ancestors millions of years ago and were passed on by infiltrating sperm and egg cells. Studies have shown that this DNA may play a role in immune responses and in placental formation.

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#21 · explainers May 29, 2026

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

More than 70% of all new infectious diseases originate in animals. Referred to as zoonotic diseases, these are diseases that originate in animals and occasionally spill over or jump from animals to humans.

Bats, mosquitoes, and primates have all been linked to spillover events.
As human populations push further into previously uninhabited wilderness, animal-human contact increases, and disease spillover is inevitable.

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#22 · explainers Nov 6, 2023

The floating homes of Holland

Floating communities like Schoonschip in Amsterdam are offering a novel approach to combat climate change-induced flooding. With sea levels rising and storms becoming more intense, these floating neighborhoods are providing a sustainable flood defense solution. Learn how they work here.

itk Climate activists install floating wetlands across a British harbor to revive wildlife pop sibling · sim 0.51 · keep 0.35 · score -1

#23 · curiosity Oct 21, 2026

Watch a former CIA deputy director rate spy gadgets from movies and television

Dawn Meyerriecks, former CIA deputy director of science and technology, examines the realism of gadgets, including James Bond's weaponized Aston Martin, climbing gloves from the Mission: Impossible franchise, and the briefcase and listening device from "The Americans."

itk Final tests begin for the new James Bond. own · sim 0.45 · keep 0.89 · score -2

#24 · curiosity Jan 20, 2026

Calvin Coolidge had many animals—including a White House raccoon

Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge adopted a raccoon named Rebecca, initially intended for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, she became a beloved pet, roaming the White House lawn with a handmade collar reading "White House Raccoon."

itk New York couple opens raccoon rehabilitation center, estimates they have saved more than 8 own · sim 0.47 · keep 0.86 · score -1

#25 · experiences Aug 12, 2026

Scientists can map Earth's shape and structure by measuring the ratios of certain particles arriving from different directions in space, as these ratios change with the density of the material particles travel through.

Neutrinos exist in three flavors—electron, muon, and tau—and spontaneously oscillate, or switch, between them as they travel through space, with the number of oscillations strongly dependent on the type of material they travel through.

Because some neutrinos only travel through Earth's atmosphere while others travel through the entirety or some portion of Earth's interior on their way to a detector, the ratio of detected neutrinos varies by detection angle.
By measuring the ratios of electron, muon, and tau neutrinos that take different paths through Earth's interior and comparing them with particle physics models that predict ratios based on the paths traveled, scientists can calculate how far Earth extends in every direction from the detector site, thereby validating that the Earth is an oblate spheroid.
Applying quantum mechanics to the different paths taken by the neutrinos as they travel through Earth's interior can reveal how density changes within the planet and validate models of its internal layers and composition.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.46 · keep 0.52 · score -3

#26 · curiosity May 1, 2026

Washington DC's streetcar network built the modern American suburb

Washington's first electric streetcar line launched in 1888, and real estate developers quickly built lines to open new neighborhoods. A 35-minute ride from Chevy Chase, Maryland, to downtown Washington transformed farmland into a suburb.

etc ... and a Virginia town was just named the best US suburb. own · sim 0.40 · keep 0.53 · score -5

#27 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

Explaining why the Earth wobbles

Astronomers going back to Hipparchus in the 2nd century BCE have noticed our planet has a distinct wobble. More recently, scientists have observed that the Earth is 26 miles wider at the equator than from pole to pole. The wobble results from our...

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. own · sim 0.56 · keep 0.71 · score -1

#28 · curiosity Feb 16, 2026

Wild chimpanzees have been spotted with leprosy lesions

In research published in 2021, scientists reported discovering cases of leprosy in wild chimpanzees from Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast—marking the first time the disease has been found in any nonhuman species in Africa. They confirmed that leprosy was the cause of the deformities by testing the animals' poop for the presence of the disease-causing bacteria.

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#29 · explainers Oct 9, 2025

Major genetic shifts in flu viruses can spark global pandemics

Antigenic shift happens when two different influenza viruses infect the same host and swap genetic material. The result is a brand-new subtype of influenza which, if easily spread among people, can trigger a worldwide pandemic.

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#30 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

Bonobos and chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives, sharing a last common ancestor that lived roughly seven million years ago.

Human evolution spans an evolutionary tree containing over 20 early human species called hominins, with Homo sapiens being the only such species still alive today.

Early hominins lived between 7 and 4.4 million years ago and had smaller canine teeth than those of modern Homo sapiens.
Australopithecines—hominins that lived between 4.4 and 1.4 million years ago—regularly walked on two legs, while the subsequent genus Homo had larger brains that enabled them to design sophisticated stone tools.
Fossil records suggest that the first hominin to migrate outside Africa was Homo erectus, about 2 million years ago, though Homo sapiens did not appear until about 300,000 years ago.

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#31 · explainers Nov 21, 2022

Founder of The Ocean Cleanup explains the case for cleaning oceans

Removing trash from the oceans not only saves wildlife, it may save human lives, too. The CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup explains how existing plastic pollution harms us and get harder to clean up over time.

itk Climate activists install floating wetlands across a British harbor to revive wildlife pop own · sim 0.45 · keep 0.45 · score -4

#32 · curiosity Jan 29, 2026

The business plan for Blue Ribbon Sports came from a Stanford assignment

Nike cofounder Phil Knight's original idea was to begin selling Japanese shoes, which were cheaper and just as light and durable as the leading German shoes from Adidas and Puma, at a lower price in the American market. His last assignment in business school at Stanford became the original business plan for Blue Ribbon Sports.

itk NBA point guard quietly cofounds an insoles company inspired by his own foot injuries; pro sibling · sim 0.48 · keep 0.60 · score -1

#33 · curiosity Jan 7, 2026

Many startups now have shoes-off policies

This website keeps track of startups with "no-shoes" offices so you can browse a list of barefoot companies—plus, see which of them are hiring.

itk NBA point guard quietly cofounds an insoles company inspired by his own foot injuries; pro own · sim 0.48 · keep 0.63 · score -2

#34 · experiences Feb 20, 2026

View a map of America's regional pizza styles

It may all be pizza, but it's not all the same. From California to New York and from Quad City-style to Old Forge, this interactive map of the US lets you see the country's different takes on the classic dish.

etc Midwest-style pizza is taking off nationwide. (No, not deep-dish.) sibling · sim 0.61 · keep 0.76 · score -1

#35 · curiosity Dec 10, 2025

Watch an amateur fly a 1902 Wright glider at the Kitty Hawk dunes

Billy Vaughan recreates the test flights of the Wright gliders in the exact location the brothers conducted them. He argues an October 1902 glider flight—not the December 1903 one—was the key innovative moment, implementing three-axis control. Host Baratunde rides a glider in perfect windy conditions in this re-creation.

etc How planes fly without air traffic control. (w/video) own · sim 0.41 · keep 0.79 · score -6

#36 · curiosity Jul 22, 2025

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

etc The case for not trying to be your best self. own · sim 0.43 · keep 0.28 · score -1

#37 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

The Paranthropus genus, our mysterious extinct cousins

In the last century, skull and jaw fragments have been discovered in East Africa suggesting an ancient hominin species lived, evolved, and died alongside humanity's ancestors. With large, broad skulls and strong jaws, the Paranthropus genus—which includes several related species—is an absorbing case of the effects of niche partitioning, where species coexist by adapting differently to the environment. Paranthropus died out and human ancestors endured. Find out why here.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.48 · keep 0.72 · score -10

#38 · explainers Aug 1, 2024

Increasing contact between humans and wild animals is driving zoonotic threats

Zoonotic diseases, which spread from animals to humans, present one of the most significant emerging threats worldwide. Scientists have identified around 200 viruses capable of infecting humans, and unfortunately, the number of such diseases are on the rise—at least 60% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist own · sim 0.48 · keep 0.58 · score -11

#39 · explainers Oct 6, 2026

Every virus is classified into 7 groups based on genetic differences

Viruses infecting humans have been named based on symptoms ("chickenpox") or the location or animal in which they were first discovered ("Bolivian Haemorrhagic Fever" and "Monkeypox"). For clarity among scientists and to reduce stigma, virologists classify the 15,000 known viruses (270 of which infect humans) by their basic genetic material.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.47 · keep 0.27 · score -12

#40 · explainers Apr 20, 2026

See how to make a baby with 3 parents, a process called mitochondrial replacement therapy.

This technique first led to a healthy child's birth in 2016 and aims to help parents avoid rare mitochondrial diseases passed from mother to child.

This reproductive approach is already legalized in the UK and Australia, but it is not legal in the United States.
Recent research suggests that faulty mitochondrial DNA may sometimes persist after this intervention, even if nearly all the mother's mitochondrial DNA is removed.

itk Utah woman who lost her uterus to cancer becomes a mother with the help of her mother-in-l own · sim 0.42 · keep 0.77 · score -3

#41 · curiosity Aug 6, 2026

In the late 1800s, New York City streets were covered with millions of pounds of horse manure thanks to a widespread horse-driven transportation industry.

In the 1860s, horsecars—railbound streetcars pulled by horses—were a popular form of transportation, alongside the more traditional horse-drawn carriages that had been around since the earlier part of the century.

By 1880, there were at least 150,000 horses in New York City, producing over a million pounds of manure every day, totaling over 100,000 tons every year.
The massive horse population also produced around 10 million gallons of urine annually.
There were "crossing sweepers" hired to clear excrement for pedestrians, but their work was often in vain; rain and wind could turn the streets into disgusting latrines.
Horse carcasses also littered the streets, breeding flies and spreading diseases.
The city responded by hiring a drainage engineer and passing new laws requiring owners to stable their horses overnight.

itk New York City bans horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. sibling · sim 0.53 · keep 0.69 · score -3

#42 · curiosity Aug 7, 2026

In the 1800s, the carcasses of the many horses that died transporting city residents were dumped in a bay in New York City.

The aptly named Dead Horse Bay, located just east of the Gerritsen Inlet Bay in Brooklyn, became the primary dumping ground for the horses that pulled carriages and tramcars in the city in the late 1800s.

The location was a matter of proximity—the horse rendering plants, where the carcasses were sent after they'd died (often on the city streets), were nearby.
Later, the city attempted to expand the land near Dead Horse Bay with garbage.
In 2020, the National Park Service closed the area indefinitely, citing radiological contamination.

itk New York City bans horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. sibling · sim 0.53 · keep 0.56 · score -4

#43 · experiences Aug 5, 2026

The geoid depicts what Earth would look like if not for tides and currents, given the planet's rotation and uneven gravitational field.

Although Earth is often imagined as spherical, geographic features, such as mountains and valleys, alter the distribution of mass and thus the gravity felt at different locations.

Variations in Earth's gravitational field across different locations affect the distribution of water, causing the sea level to be higher or lower than the global mean.
In the geoid visualization, fluctuations between Earth's smooth ellipsoidal model and its local sea levels are exaggerated by a factor of 10,000 for greater visibility.
Nonuniform distributions of mass in Earth's mantle, where material circulates in convection currents like bubbles in boiling water, contribute to variations in the geoid's surface.
The geoid model produced by NASA in 2026 was developed using data from more than a billion observations taken by 19 satellites over 15 years.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.46 · keep 0.66 · score -5

#44 · curiosity Oct 6, 2026

'I don't know what you can say about a day when you see four beautiful sunsets.'

Astronaut John Glenn (1921–2016)

etc Why some sunsets are so much prettier than others. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.48 · score -2

#45 · curiosity Jul 24, 2026

Aristotle discovered that Earth was spherical by observing the round shadow it cast on the moon during lunar eclipses and by noting that different constellations were visible from different latitudes.

In the flat Earth model, because the entire surface of each side of the planet faces the same direction, all individuals on that side would see identical night skies, which conflicts with recorded observations since at least the fourth century BCE.

Evidence for Earth being round includes ships gradually sinking as they move out to the horizon rather than disappearing abruptly, direct observations of the planet's curvature from planes and images from space, and measurements of the length of shadows cast by identical objects at different latitudes at the same time of day.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.52 · keep 0.40 · score -2

#46 · explainers May 24, 2022

Why human brains were bigger 3,000 years ago

Our modern civilisation may be the most advanced to ever exist on Earth, but around 100 generations ago, our ancestors had brains that were larger than our own.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.46 · keep 0.53 · score -13

#47 · explainers Apr 1, 2025

Why humans survived and smarter species did not

This interview with Joseph Henrich, a renowned professor of human evolutionary biology, unpacks human history. Henrich shares interesting information about why humans succeeded as a species (the answer isn't IQ), how cultural evolution works, why the human brain is shrinking, and how the Catholic Church played a role in the Industrial Revolution. Listen and watch for a deep dive into human evolution.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist own · sim 0.46 · keep 0.54 · score -15

#48 · curiosity Mar 23, 2023

The role of fire in the evolution of humanity's big brains

Roughly 1.5 million years ago, the brain size of our hominin ancestors exploded. To understand why, Richard Wrangham posited the cooking hypothesis, arguing the adoption of fire as a means to cook food had a lasting impact on our ability to digest...

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.46 · keep 0.58 · score -14

#49 · explainers Jul 27, 2023

Nonprofits strive to replant the Amazon and slow global warming

This article explores the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Rioterra in reforesting the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. Their goal is enormous: reforest an area twice the size of Germany, costing over 20 billion dollars. In order...

itk Climate activists install floating wetlands across a British harbor to revive wildlife pop sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.13 · score -5

#50 · curiosity Jan 13, 2026

Biologists believe over 5,000 coyotes inhabit LA as of 2025

Panic and fear of coyotes spread in the 1980s after the first recorded instance of a human killed by the animal in American history, but LA and Chicago residents today are learning to live alongside the animal. Research shows that coyotes can even benefit urban ecosystems by helping to control populations of geese and deer, and by improving songbird survival through preying on cats.

itk New York couple opens raccoon rehabilitation center, estimates they have saved more than 8 sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.23 · score -2

#51 · curiosity Nov 23, 2022

Ten thousand mink got loose in Ohio

Vandalism freed thousands of mink at a rural northwest Ohio farm, leaving an estimated 10,000 of the small carnivorous mammals unaccounted for, according to the local sheriff.

itk New York couple opens raccoon rehabilitation center, estimates they have saved more than 8 sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.06 · score -3

#52 · experiences Jun 30, 2026

The overview effect is a cognitive shift experienced when viewing Earth from space

Astronauts regularly report profound realizations after seeing Earth from space for the first time, sometimes prompting significant philosophical changes, including a greater awareness of the interconnectedness and fragility of life.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.42 · keep 0.81 · score -11

#53 · curiosity Apr 8, 2026

Rising sea levels due to climate change may be slowing Earth's rotation

A 2024 PNAS study found that from 2000 to 2020, the length of a day increased at a rate of 1.33 milliseconds per century, an unprecedented amount in the 3.6 million years of day-length changes reconstructed from an analysis of benthic foraminifera fossils. Researchers suggest the slowing comes from changing ice sheets redistributing planetary mass.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.45 · keep 0.46 · score -6

#54 · curiosity Apr 30, 2026

Earth's core is about 2.5 years younger than its surface according to relativity

Due to differences in where objects are located within gravitational fields, time will run at different rates, which has major impacts on technology that relies on synchronization. For example, GPS satellites run about 38 microseconds faster every day than clocks on Earth's surface, resulting in GPS discrepancies of about six miles, were it not for software corrections.

etc Earth is getting rounder. Here's why. sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.80 · score -7

#55 · explainers Jun 30, 2026

How humans evolved from single-cell organisms

Humans have had a long history. 3.8 billion years in the making, to be precise. From the primordial puddle to the modern day, here's how humans have evolved from the first life.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.46 · keep 0.72 · score -16

#56 · explainers Apr 3, 2025

The messy story of humanity's genealogical past

For decades, scientists viewed the human fossil record and concluded Neanderthals, an early hominin, came before homo sapiens, or modern humans. The story became more complicated as technology advanced and ancient DNA samples were analyzed. This video breaks down the evidence, concluding the development of humanity was a lot messier than previously believed.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist own · sim 0.45 · keep 0.75 · score -18

#57 · curiosity Aug 20, 2024

Seven known types of coronaviruses have jumped from animals to humans

Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, belong to a large family of viruses characterized by their crown-like appearance under a microscope, due to spike proteins on their surface. While thousands are believed to exist in animals, only seven are known to have made the jump to humans.

lead Evolution's Viral Twist any_band · sim 0.45 · keep 0.23 · score -19

#58 · explainers May 11, 2023

How flooding the Dead Sea could help the climate

There are many dead zones in the world with low elevation and very little rainfall that provide little to no benefits to the ecosystem or climate. This digestible, thorough article explains how piping in nearby water to flood these areas could...

itk Climate activists install floating wetlands across a British harbor to revive wildlife pop sibling · sim 0.44 · keep 0.54 · score -6

#59 · curiosity Jun 30, 2026

A dive into some of the country's stranger Thanksgivings

How did a raccoon intended for the Thanksgiving dinner table end up a beloved presidential pet? History teacher Sharon McMahon's podcast "Here's Where It Gets Interesting" takes an episode to delve into some of the more unusual Thanksgivings at the White House, including the Great Cranberry Scare of 1959 and the story of Calvin Coolidge and his "first raccoon," Rebecca.

itk New York couple opens raccoon rehabilitation center, estimates they have saved more than 8 sibling · sim 0.40 · keep 0.73 · score -4

#60 · curiosity May 27, 2026

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

The doubling of fish populations in six weeks is an example of acoustic enrichment, where sounds attract marine life to facilitate the natural restoration of reefs.

When coral reefs bleach and degrade, the ecosystems fall apart, and younger fish swim elsewhere in search of food and habitats, dramatically reducing the sounds in the area.
In Jamaica, scientists and artists have assembled sculptures to which lab-grown coral fragments are attached, topped by speakers that play healthy reef sounds for 14 hours a day, in hopes of restoring the environment.

itk Climate activists install floating wetlands across a British harbor to revive wildlife pop sibling · sim 0.49 · keep 0.74 · score -2

Ancient Brain Virus, First Lady's Ceasefire, and Sauna Science