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In case you haven’t been able to keep up with recent events, you’re in the right place. Click here to catch up on some of the latest and most significant happenings around the world. This list highlights some of the more bizarre stories.
This week saw some major developments in the natural world, with animal-related headlines taking center stage. We’ve got flying spiders, Alien wasps, expensive storks, and bears who love margaritas. On a cosmic note, we look at a fascinating baby photo and take a trip to explore Uranus. On Earth, we’ve set a new eating record and opened the Dildo Brewery.
10. What Collided With Uranus?
A recent study published in the Astrophysical Journal reveals that billions of years ago, a colossal object collided with Uranus, resulting in many of the distinctive traits that the ice giant still possesses today.
Uranus stands out among the planets in our solar system because it rotates on its side at a 98-degree tilt relative to its orbital plane. Its axis of rotation is nearly perpendicular to those of the other planets. Jacob Kegerreis, the lead author of the paper and a researcher at Durham University, suggests this unique feature resulted from a “cataclysmic” collision roughly four billion years ago that reshaped the planet’s trajectory.
Kegerreis and his team ran simulations to determine what kind of collision could account for Uranus’s unusual characteristics. In addition to its strange rotation, the planet does not appear to release more heat than it absorbs from the Sun, and its magnetic field is notably distorted.
Scientists believe that Uranus was struck by an object with one to three times the mass of Earth. This grazing impact likely tipped the planet onto its side, sending enough debris into space to form its rings and moons, while also trapping some of the heat inside the planet.
9. Dildo Brewery Opens Its Doors
A new brewery opened in Canada on July 1. While this alone may not seem particularly remarkable, the brewery’s name is what sets it apart—it’s named after the town it’s located in: Dildo.
Dildo is a small, unincorporated community on the island of Newfoundland. Naturally, the town’s unique name earned it some attention. Before the brewery’s grand opening, people speculated about the quirky beer names they might offer. However, co-owner Angela Reid explained that they decided to take the classy route, keeping most of the names refined.
The most attention-grabbing beer is undoubtedly the “Stout Dildo.” As the name suggests, it’s an Irish stout. Alongside it is “Blonde Root 80” (a nod to Route 80), an Irish Red brewed with beets named “Red Rocks Ale,” and “I’se Da Bye-PA” (an IPA with a playful name referencing the local folk song “I’se The B’y”).
8. Stork Leaves Charity With Large Bill
A Polish environmental charity was left with a massive phone bill after a GPS tracker placed on a stork went missing. The tracker was later found by someone who removed the SIM card, inserted it into their own phone, and made over 20 hours of calls.
Tagging animals is a common practice among environmentalists as it provides valuable data on migratory patterns and population sizes of various species. This is what the EcoLogic Group in Poland did to a white stork last year.
Initially, everything went smoothly. The bird traveled to North Africa, and the tracker remained attached for over 6,000 kilometers (3,700 mi) before losing connection somewhere in Sudan. It’s unclear whether the tracker fell off or was removed from the bird.
Whoever found the GPS device knew it contained a SIM card that could be extracted and used in cell phones. The individual then proceeded to rack up an enormous bill of $2,700.
7. Penis Study Ends Prematurely
In June, Professor Alicia Walker from Missouri State University made headlines when she announced her plans to study a possible link between penis size and self-esteem. Most notably, she revealed that she would be recruiting men to submit photos of their genitalia online. However, the study has now been halted due to an overwhelming public reaction that compromised its reliability.
Walker aimed to collect around 3,600 penis photos. To participate, men were required to fill out an online survey, measure themselves, and submit a photo as proof. A conversation with the professor was optional.
The response to Walker’s study was swift and enthusiastic. She reported receiving hundreds of emails daily from men eager to take part. The sheer volume of phone interviews made it increasingly difficult for Walker to gather meaningful data from each participant.
She was also forced to discard many submissions from men who either submitted joke answers or included humorous photos of their genitals. SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons were a particularly popular choice. Additionally, the study failed to produce a sufficiently diverse sample, as most men willing to share pictures tended to have above-average endowments. Professor Walker may attempt the study again at a later time, but for now, it is on hold.
6. Wasting Away In Margaritaville
On a scorching Friday afternoon, California resident Mark Hough was looking forward to a relaxing soak in his hot tub while sipping a refreshing margarita. However, his plans took an unexpected turn when a bear appeared in his backyard, possibly in search of a place to cool off. With little choice, Hough decided to go inside and film the bear as it enjoyed its time in his backyard at his expense.
The curious bear first hopped into the hot tub, splashing around and fiddling with the thermometer and chlorinator for a while. After a few minutes of fun, the bear climbed out, knocked over Hough’s margarita, and proceeded to drink the spilled cocktail.
The bear then capped off the afternoon with a nap in an oak tree. After waking up refreshed, it climbed down and sprinted down the street. That was the last Mark Hough saw of his uninvited guest.
5. Xenomorph Wasp Lays Chestburster Larvae
The chestburster moments from the Alien films are etched in the minds of moviegoers as some of the most shocking and iconic images in cinema history. But what if something like that were real? It turns out it is, thanks to the discovery of a parasitic wasp whose life cycle mirrors that of the terrifying movie creature.
Measuring less than 0.5 centimeters (0.2 inches), the wasp doesn't present a significant risk to humans. However, for a moth caterpillar, this wasp is undoubtedly one of the most frightening predators on Earth.
The wasp uses an impressively long ovipositor to inject its eggs into its host. Once inside, the larvae hatch and begin feasting on the caterpillar from within. When they've grown sufficiently, they burst out and undergo metamorphosis into adult wasps, completing the cycle.
The insect was given the name Dolichogenidea xenomorph as a tribute to the alien species featured in the Alien movie franchise. Discovered in Australia, it is one of three newly described species identified by researchers at the University of Adelaide. This wasp belongs to a category called parasitoids—parasites that ultimately kill their hosts during their life cycles.
4. A New World Record
Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut broke a new world record at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest by devouring 74 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in just 10 minutes.
Founded in 1916, this iconic event is held in Brooklyn each Fourth of July and is one of the flagship competitions of Major League Eating (MLE). Chestnut claimed his first Nathan’s eating contest victory in 2007 and has dominated every year since—except in 2015, when Matt 'Megatoad' Stonie triumphed. Chestnut has shattered the world record three times, eating 70, 72, and 74 HDB, respectively, in those years.
The event wasn't without its share of controversy. Initially, judges counted only 64 HDB for Chestnut, but they later realized they had overlooked an entire plate. Nevertheless, Chestnut would still have come out on top, as the runner-up managed a 'meager' 45 hot dogs. As the victor, Chestnut walked away with a $10,000 prize and the signature mustard-yellow championship belt from Major League Eating.
3. A Baby Picture That’s Out Of This World
Our current theory on how planets form just received some of the most compelling proof to date. For the first time, astronomers have successfully captured an image of a newborn planet in the process of being formed.
For years, scientists have believed that planets develop from protoplanetary disks—vast disks of debris that orbit new stars. However, it wasn't until a recent study led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and published in Astronomy & Astrophysics that this phenomenon was directly observed.
The image was captured using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument aboard the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. One of SPHERE’s standout features is its coronagraph, which allows the telescope to block out the intense light from a star, enabling the observation of much fainter objects around it.
The young exoplanet orbits a 10-million-year-old dwarf star named PDS 70, located about 370 light-years away from Earth. This newly discovered planet has been dubbed PDS 70b.
A separate study suggests that the newly formed planet is a gas giant, several times larger and more massive than Jupiter, with a cloudy atmosphere and surface temperatures reaching 1,093 degrees Celsius (2,000 °F). It orbits its parent star at 20 astronomical units, a similar distance to that between our Sun and Uranus.
2. Spiders Fly Using Electricity
More than 180 years ago, Charles Darwin embarked on his legendary journey aboard the HMS Beagle. Along the way, he encountered numerous natural phenomena that greatly influenced his ideas on evolution. However, one question eluded him—where were all the spiders coming from?
Darwin observed hundreds of spiders flying and landing on the Beagle while it was at sea, even during calm days. These spiders would then take off once again as if guided by some unseen force. Researchers from the University of Bristol now believe they have an explanation—electricity.
This phenomenon, known as 'ballooning,' occurs when spiders climb to a high vantage point, raise their abdomens, release strands of silk, and become airborne. They can travel as far as 1,600 kilometers (1,000 mi) across the sea. Previously, scientists believed the arachnids used their silk like sails, carried by the wind. However, new findings suggest that the spiders are actually drawn up by the electrostatic charge in the atmosphere.
The idea that electricity played a role was first suggested in Darwin’s time but wasn’t widely accepted. Recently, physicist Peter Gorham revived the theory. Researchers in Bristol advanced the idea further, demonstrating that spiders are capable of detecting electric fields with sensory hairs on their feet. They also observed that prior to ballooning, the spiders engage in unique behavior, including tiptoeing and raising their abdomens.
While this research doesn’t rule out wind’s involvement entirely—since the same sensors could detect wind speed and direction—it does show that electrostatic forces alone can enable spiders to fly.
1. Eating Nuts Can Improve Sperm Health
A recent study conducted by Rovira i Virgili University in Spain suggests that incorporating nuts into your diet may be a simple yet effective way to enhance the health of your semen.
The World Health Organization evaluates sperm health based on four factors: count, vitality, motility, and morphology. Consuming nuts appears to offer potential improvements in all these areas, to varying degrees.
In the study, 119 healthy men aged 18 to 35 were split into two groups. One group maintained their usual diet, while the other added 60 grams (2 oz) of nuts to their daily intake. The nut-enriched diet led to improvements in all four sperm parameters, with sperm count increasing by 14% and morphology improving by 1%.
This research comes at a time when sperm count has been on the decline in Western countries. Experts attribute this issue to pollution, smoking, and unhealthy eating habits. Approximately one in seven couples struggles with infertility, with male infertility being the cause in 40–50 percent of cases.
Some experts recommend exercising caution before everyone starts incorporating nuts into their daily diet. The men involved in the study were all healthy individuals without any history of fertility issues. Additionally, the research didn't consider other potential lifestyle changes they could have made to further enhance their sperm health. It may be premature to generalize these results to the broader population.
