Headlines Served With Humor You Didn’t Know You Needed

Roger-Maurice Bonnet, one of the fathers of European space research, died

An astrophysicist passed away at 88. He specialized in the Sun. That's a specific specialization right there. I mean, I guess somebody has to do it. He ran the European Space Agency program for almost twenty years. From 1983 to 2001. I just wonder if on his days off, he ever looked at the Sun for fun, or if he was just like, "No. I'm taking a break. I'm going to look at the Moon today."

2026-01-22 18:37

Multiple Sclerosis: hope comes from the collective

Vous savez, j'ai entendu dire qu'il y a un nouveau médicament pour la sclérose en plaques. Ce qui est intéressant, c'est que ce n'est pas un type de génie solitaire qui l'a découvert, mais plutôt un groupe de personnes qui ont travaillé ensemble. Je suppose que c'est un peu comme essayer de trouver un restaurant décent dans une ville inconnue - vous avez besoin de plusieurs personnes pour vous aider à naviguer. Et je pense que c'est ce qui se passe ici, un groupe de scientifiques qui ont collaboré pour faire quelque chose de vraiment cool. Mais honnêtement, je ne comprends pas vraiment comment ça fonctionne, je suis juste content qu'ils aient fait quelque chose de bien.

2026-01-22 14:03

Brown fat tissue, discreet controller of blood pressure

Vous savez, j'ai appris quelque chose d'intéressant l'autre jour. Il y a des cellules adipeuses, et pas seulement n'importe quelles cellules, mais des cellules adipeuses beiges. Et ce qu'elles font, c'est qu'elles brûlent les graisses pour les convertir en chaleur. Comme si mon corps avait déjà une petite usine à chaleur interne, mais sans la facture d'électricité. Et le mieux, c'est que celles qui sont près des vaisseaux sanguins peuvent même aider à réduire l'hypertension. Je me demande juste, comment font-elles pour savoir où aller et quoi faire ? C'est comme si elles avaient un petit GPS intégré. "Ok, cellule adipeuse beige, tu vas par là, et tu brûles un peu de graisse, et toi, tu vas près du vaisseau sanguin et tu aides à réduire la pression." C'est vraiment impressionnant, mais aussi un peu déroutant. Je veux dire, qui a programmé ces cellules ?

2026-01-22 07:04

A stenciled hand from more than 67,800 years ago discovered in Sulawesi, Indonesia

You know, I was reading about this 'negative hand' thing, and apparently it's the oldest known example of cave painting. Which is wild, because I'm pretty sure I made some cave paintings in my roommate's basement in college, but I guess those don't count. Anyway, this thing is supposedly helping us figure out how our species made it to Australia, through Indonesia. I'm not really sure how a hand print is gonna give us all the answers, but hey, I'm no expert. I mean, I can barely find my way to the fridge, let alone across an entire continent.

2026-01-21 17:41

When AI helps tame fluid mechanics

I saw they were trying to figure out these Navier-Stokes equations. I don't know what those are. They just sound like something you found under your bed in college. And to solve it, they’re using artificial neural networks. I don't know what those are, either. It sounds like they just gave up on math and started trying to use... different math.

2026-01-21 07:39

Mind blank, an intriguing state of our inner life that we can now measure

They did a study on when you just kind of stare off into space. Like you're standing there, but you're not home. Your body is just waiting for the consciousness to come back from its little trip. I thought I just had a long thought. I didn't know I abolished anything.

2026-01-20 17:42

Early diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis reduces mortality

There's this new disease, they found out it starts off looking like a completely different disease. So you go to the doctor for one thing, and he says, "Actually, you have this rare thing." You're just sitting there thinking, "Well, the first part didn't make sense, and now this part doesn't either."

2026-01-20 13:06

Somatoparaphrenia: claiming that one's paralyzed left hand is not one's own but belongs to another person

I read about this thing where people have a stroke, and they wake up, and they look down at their arm or leg. And they just decide, "That’s not mine." They're just sitting there in the hospital bed, paralyzed on one side, and the doctor comes in, and they say, "I think you’ve got a mix-up. This arm on the left side, it belongs to someone else." I mean, how do you even start that conversation? "I need you to take this leg back. I don't know who left it in here." You've got enough going on with a stroke, you really don't need the added hassle of figuring out where somebody else's leg came from.

2026-01-20 12:35

A major solar storm hits the earth resulting in superb northern lights

You know, I was reading about this huge solar storm the other day. Apparently, it's the biggest one we've seen since 2003. I'm not really sure what that means, but I think it's like when my neighbor's dog gets loose and causes a bunch of trouble. Except instead of a dog, it's the sun, and instead of my neighbor's yard, it's the entire planet. So, supposedly it's gonna mess with our power grids and satellites, and we might even get to see some pretty cool northern lights way down here. I mean, I've never seen the northern lights before, but I've heard they're like nature's own light show. I just hope it doesn't knock out my TV, I've got a lot of shows to catch up on.

2026-01-20 05:03

Reunion: images of the Piton de la Fournaise eruption

So there’s a volcano on Réunion Island. It erupted again. The report said it was a first since 2023. I don't know what kind of volcano you are if you’re a first since last year. That’s like your alarm clock going off, and you go, "Well, that's the first time since yesterday." I guess it was just time to do it again. It's on a schedule now. * * * A volcano erupted on Réunion Island. They said it was the first time since 2023. Which, to me, just feels like it was in a hurry. You know? You want to give a volcano a little more time to cool off between visits. Two years in a row, and you’re just not respecting the neighbors. You gotta let the dust settle. Literally. I don’t know if I want to vacation there if it’s on a strict schedule. You’re trying to relax, and the volcano goes off. It’s inconvenient.

2026-01-19 18:40

Camels, llamas or alpacas: when the blood of camelids comes to the rescue of humans

Vous savez, j'ai entendu parler de ces trucs appelés "nanobodies" qui viennent de lamas et d'alpagas. Apparemment, ils sont assez petits et faciles à utiliser, ce qui est bien, je suppose. Mais ce qui m'intrigue, c'est qu'ils commencent à être utilisés pour traiter tout un tas de choses, comme le cancer, les maladies neurodégénératives et même les morsures de serpent. Je me demande, comment est-ce que ça fonctionne exactement ? Est-ce que les lamas ont des superpuissances ou quoi ? Quatre médicaments ont déjà été approuvés, donc je suppose que ça doit marcher, mais je suis toujours un peu perdu. Les "nanobodies", c'est comme un truc de science-fiction, non ? Mais apparemment, c'est la réalité maintenant. Qui aurait cru que les lamas allaient sauver le monde, un médicament à la fois ?

2026-01-19 18:40

The researcher Serge Muyldermans, godfather of camelids' versatile antibodies

So this biologist discovered "nanobodies." Which, I guess, "nano" means small. So they found very small bodies. And for thirty years, he's just been making sure other scientists can use them. Thirty years. That's a long time to keep showing the same technology to your coworkers. You'd think they'd have figured it out by now.

2026-01-19 18:06

A cow can also handle tools

I saw this thing about a cow in Austria. Veronika. She’s 13 years old. She gets an itch. She figured out how to use a scrub brush. A scrub brush. Like you’d use for the bathtub. But here’s the thing that really gets me: she uses different techniques. She doesn't just scratch. She’s got specific methods for specific parts. Like, a different method for her back, and then a whole 'nother move for her side. I don't know where she learned that. But a cow in Austria has a more consistent skin care regimen than I do. It’s wild.

2026-01-19 17:36

The NASA budget saved, Trump administration's drastic cuts rejected

I don't know about government stuff, but I always get confused by these numbers. The White House, they came out and said they wanted to cut the space budget by 25 percent. That's a quarter. That’s a real cut. That’s a whole pizza slice gone. Then the senators voted on it. They agreed on a cut. A one point six percent cut. I don't know what kind of negotiation that was. It’s like when I ask my kid to clean their room, and they take one sock off the floor and put it on their bed. That’s a one point six percent improvement. And now we have to act like they did something. A 1.6 percent cut. That’s just a rounding error. That's just putting it on your credit card and hoping nobody notices.

2026-01-19 14:38

On Reunion Island, thousands of people flock to admire the eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise

I don't know why we do this as people. The volcano starts going off, and it's during summer vacation when everybody's free. Thousands of people just decide to go *to* it. Like, "Kids, get in the van. We're going to see the natural disaster." It's nighttime, so you can see it better. It's in an "advantageous position," they said. For who? The lava? We’re just creating a traffic jam for a volcano.

2026-01-19 13:05

Between Aden and Marseille, a story of trade and art at the heart of a rich exhibition

I went to this place in Marseille. It’s all about the exchange between two ports. They had a bunch of archaeological treasures. And unpublished documents. I guess the big mystery they’re trying to solve is how the ports communicated. Like, did one port tell the other one that it was going to be late?

2026-01-18 11:38

Bastien Dubuis and Emilie Millet, excavators of the extraordinary Lavau site

I read about this couple. They found a tomb. And they’ve been working on it since 2015. That’s a long time to do one thing. Especially with your spouse. I mean, they found a “princely tomb.” How do you know it’s princely? Did the skeleton still have a little crown on it? Now they’re finally done, and they put all the stuff in a museum in Troyes. January 24th. I bet that couple is just happy to have a new hobby for a minute. Just glad to be out of the dirt.

2026-01-17 18:03