Buzz
With the weekend upon us, it's a great time to reflect on the stories that captured attention over the last week. If you're up to speed on the big news, keep reading for those stories that may have flown under your radar.
Though it's often said that the dead remain silent, this week proved otherwise. News surrounding figures like Napoleon, Michael Jackson, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Columbus, and even Otzi the Iceman made headlines.
10. Stephen Hawking's Tribute Sent Into a Black Hole
On June 15, a memorial service was held for Professor Stephen Hawking, where his ashes were placed at Westminster Abbey beside Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. The European Space Agency (ESA) honored the renowned astrophysicist in a unique manner, beaming a musical tribute into a black hole around the same time. Hawking's groundbreaking research on black holes led to the discovery of thermal radiation now named after him.
The six-minute composition was created by Greek composer Vangelis. In addition to the music, the piece features Hawking’s iconic synthesized voice delivering a message of peace and hope.
The tribute was transmitted from the ESA ground station in Spain towards black hole 1A 0620-00, part of a binary system containing an orange dwarf star. The signal will reach its destination in approximately 3,500 years, at which point it will be forever trapped by the event horizon.
9. Michael Jackson’s Former Elephant Escapes Zoo
In the 1990s, Ali, the bull elephant, lived at Michael Jackson’s famous Neverland Ranch. After his apparent retirement in 1997, when he left the estate and was transferred to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in Florida, Ali made headlines again after escaping his enclosure and taking a casual stroll through the zoo.
However, calling it an “escape” might be an exaggeration. A gate was accidentally left open, and the adventurous elephant simply wandered out. He didn’t get far, though. Ali was found in the courtyard behind the elephant and giraffe barn, where his keepers swiftly enticed him back into his enclosure with some snacks. In less than 20 minutes, the smooth criminal was safely back in his pen, avoiding any run-ins with zoo guests.
8. New Record on a Penny Farthing
Mark Beaumont, a Scottish cyclist with numerous long-distance cycling records, including the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by bike, recently achieved a new milestone. He broke a 127-year-old British record for the longest distance traveled in one hour on a penny farthing.
In the early days of cycling, many designs caught people's attention, but the penny farthing stands out as the classic old-timey bicycle, with its oversized front wheel and much smaller rear wheel.
The previous British record, set in 1891 at the Herne Hill Velodrome in South London, was surpassed by Mark Beaumont, who cycled 35.3 kilometers (21.9 miles) in an hour. However, the Scottish cyclist fell short by 265 meters (870 feet) from breaking the world record, which was held by American rider William Rowe since 1886.
The 35-year-old athlete described riding the penny farthing as “one of the most off-the-wall challenges” he’d ever faced, though he didn't reveal whether he plans to take another shot at the world record in the future.
7. AI Challenges Humans in Debates
In 1997, IBM's Deep Blue computer made history by defeating chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Now, the company is once again making headlines with its new AI, which competed in a professional debate competition and managed to argue to a draw against champion debaters.
The AI, known as Project Debater, squared off against Noa Ovadia on the topic of publicly funded space exploration and Dan Zafrir on the value of telemedicine. The AI supported both positions but, like its human challengers, was not informed of the topics beforehand. Instead, it had access to a vast data bank of hundreds of millions of articles, which it used to craft its arguments and counterarguments.
The competition followed typical debate rules, with each debater delivering a four-minute opening statement, followed by a four-minute rebuttal and a two-minute closing statement. Judges unanimously agreed that Project Debater's delivery was not as smooth as that of the humans. At times, it would restate the same argument with different phrasing, change sentence structure mid-argument, or speak in an unnatural manner. However, the audience found the AI to be more persuasive in its second debate against Zafrir.
6. World Cup Rocks Mexico
The World Cup is in full swing, and it's already delivering plenty of unexpected moments for football fans. One of the biggest shocks came when Mexico defeated the perennial favorite, Germany, in their opening match. The celebrations in Mexico City were so loud and intense that they were believed to have caused two “artificial” earthquakes, as recorded by the Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Investigations (IIGEA).
Sensitive seismic sensors in the Mexican capital registered tremors just seconds after Hirving Lozano scored the only goal of the game. According to the IIGEA, these were triggered by football fans jumping in excitement. The news quickly spread across media outlets worldwide.
However, Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) stepped in with a rebuttal. They clarified that while two minor earthquakes did occur, they weren’t as close to each other as originally suggested. The first quake took place about an hour before the goal, and the second occurred half an hour later. Both were attributed to typical seismic activity in the Basin of Mexico, rather than the jumping fans.
The SSN pointed out that the false reading might have been caused by one or more people at the IIGEA seismological station jumping in celebration, inadvertently affecting the equipment.
5. Napoleon's Hat Sold at Auction
On June 18, the world marked 203 years since the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, signaled by the French emperor’s decisive loss at the Battle of Waterloo. To commemorate the event, auction house De Baecque sold a hat worn by Napoleon during the iconic battle for over $400,000.
Napoleon is still strongly linked to the bicorn hat, a style he favored wearing sideways to ensure he was easily recognizable. It is believed that he owned approximately 120 such hats, with about 12 in active use at any given time. Today, only 19 remain, most of which are housed in museums.
Despite its historic significance, this particular hat wasn’t expected to fetch a high price due to its worn condition. The auction house initially estimated it would sell for under $50,000, but it ultimately went for more than $405,000. The successful bidder was an anonymous French collector of historical items.
In 2014, another similar hat, in better condition, was auctioned from Monaco’s royal collection. It was purchased by a South Korean collector for $2.4 million.
4. The Tools of the Iceman
Despite being over 5,300 years old, the world’s most famous iceman continues to offer us new insights. A team from the Department of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape in Florence, Italy, conducted a detailed study of the tools Otzi had with him on that fateful day when he was fatally struck by an archer. Their aim was to trace, as far as possible, the entire life cycle of each tool, from raw material to abandonment.
The tools they examined included a dagger, two arrowheads, an endscraper, borer, flake, and an antler retoucher. These tools suggested that Otzi was a man who preferred to stay on the move, as the stones used to craft them came from various regions of Trentino, many kilometers apart. The tools also displayed stylistic traits associated with both the Northern Italian and Swiss Horgen cultures.
The tools were clearly old and worn, showing signs of frequent sharpening. Most were nearing the end of their life, indicating that Otzi likely couldn’t find a new source of chert. While Otzi wasn't a master stoneworker, he demonstrated moderate skill in maintaining his tools. Some of them had been reshaped and sharpened shortly before his death. Additionally, based on the wear patterns on the tools, Otzi was right-handed.
3. Scientists Discover ‘Naked’ Primeval Life Form
A recent publication in the Royal Society introduces a newly identified ancient organism that may offer valuable insights into the origins of a long-extinct group of animals known as Chancelloriidae.
The chancelloriids emerged over half a billion years ago during the Cambrian explosion. However, all members of this family eventually went extinct, leaving their lineage to fade into an evolutionary dead end. These peculiar creatures were first discovered a century ago, yet their exact place in the evolutionary tree has remained elusive, as scientists have struggled to classify them.
A team of researchers from the Universities of Leicester and Oxford, along with the Chinese University of Yunnan, uncovered the fossil of a previously unknown chancelloriid. They named it Allonnia nuda, describing it as 'naked' because its remains could easily remain hidden in plain sight. The team further speculates that, due to its strange appearance, more specimens might be lying undiscovered in fossil collections around the world.
The chancelloriid had a tubular body, small spines scattered across its surface, and could grow up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. Its growth pattern hints at a possible connection to modern-day sponges. While scientists have long debated whether this group should be classified as sponges, others have dismissed the resemblance as mere coincidence. Dr. Tom Harvey, one of the study’s coauthors, believes this recent discovery bolsters the case for classifying them as sponges.
2. The Columbus Letter Mystery
A scandal is unfolding in the Vatican. The Apostolic Library recently recovered a significant letter written by Christopher Columbus over 500 years ago. However, Vatican officials were stunned to learn that the version they had was a forgery. With assistance from the US government, they managed to secure the original letter, but the mystery of who created the fake and how it was swapped with the authentic one remains unsolved.
In 1493, Columbus penned a letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, sharing his initial impressions of the Caribbean islands. The letter gained widespread attention, was translated into Latin, and circulated widely. Today, approximately 80 copies still exist, including one held by the Apostolic Library, which was printed in Rome in 1493 and donated to the Vatican in 1921.
The document was undoubtedly authentic. However, in 2011, an expert determined that the version currently held by the Apostolic Library was a forgery. The identity of the forger remains unknown.
After a seven-year investigation, Homeland Security discovered the original letter and returned it to the Vatican last week. A collector had purchased it “in good faith” from a New York dealer for $875,000 in 2004. It is unclear whether authorities are continuing the investigation, potentially looking into the initial sale to track down the forger.
1. Everybody Poops: Sloth Edition
Imagine experiencing the agony of childbirth every time you went to the bathroom, putting your life at risk. This is the reality for sloths. Biologist Rebecca Cliffe from Swansea University in Wales observed and documented this strange and dangerous ritual that sloths undergo each time they defecate.
Sloths have an incredibly slow metabolism, sometimes taking up to a month for food to fully digest. As a result, they only defecate once a week. Despite spending most of their time in trees, sloths always descend to the ground to relieve themselves, making them highly vulnerable to predators during this time.
Once on solid ground, the sloth performs a peculiar “poop dance” to create a small hole. What follows is a painful and strenuous process, as the constipated sloth can expel up to a third of its body weight. Cliffe noted that the sloth's stomach visibly shrank during the act. Once the task is completed, the sloth performs another dance to cover the hole before returning to its tree for another week.
The lingering question that remains for researchers is why the sloth goes through such an arduous and perilous process rather than simply defecating from the treetop. A theory proposed in 2014 suggested that it might be part of a sloth-moth symbiotic relationship. By defecating at the base of the tree, the sloth provides a spot for moths to lay their eggs, and in return, these moths live in the sloth’s fur, fertilizing the algae it uses for camouflage.
Cliffe, however, disagrees with this theory. She believes the behavior is more related to reproduction. Specifically, she thinks the sloth’s actions signal to other sloths that a potential mate is waiting up in the treetops.
