The 2026 World Cup is shaping up to be quite different from previous tournaments. FIFA has introduced some new rules that could shake things up. For starters, the top two teams, Spain and Argentina, won't be able to face each other until the final. This is because they will be placed in different halves of the knockout bracket. This rule is designed to make sure the ...
In a surprising turn, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, known as the "drone guy, " has become a key player in the U. S. effort to end the Ukraine war. This 38-year-old Army veteran, who has no background in diplomacy, was tasked by President Trump to push Ukraine into peace talks. Driscoll's close friendship with Vice President JD Vance, his Yale Law School classmate, see...
The political scene in Washington, D. C. , is about to change. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has been in charge for over 10 years, has decided not to run again. This news is a big deal because it means a fresh face will be leading the city. Bowser, now 53, has seen both good and tough times during her time as mayor. The city has grown a lot, but it has also faced some se...
Dark matter remains one of the universe's biggest mysteries. It's invisible, yet scientists believe it makes up a huge part of galaxies. The idea is that to make sense of what we see in space, there must be a lot of unseen matter out there. We know it's there because of its gravitational pull, but seeing it directly has been a challenge. Recently, a Japanese scienti...
Martin Christiansen, now 53, has shed over 100 pounds, but his journey wasn't straightforward. For years, he struggled with his weight, especially during stressful times like finishing his Ph. D. He turned to food for comfort, often feeling hungry no matter how much he ate. At his heaviest, he weighed 386 pounds. He tried different things to lose weight. Running hel...
In China, the number of older adults is growing fast. This puts a lot of pressure on health services. But there's a problem. Many older adults don't take an active role in their own health. They might listen in classes. But they don't always make lasting changes. So, how can communities help? One way is to make older adults part of the solution. They can become heal...
Crypto holders are getting better deals on loans than people taking out mortgages or car loans. This is because of something called DeFi, or decentralized finance. DeFi lets people use their crypto as collateral to get loans, and the interest rates are lower than what you'd get from a bank. DeFi has been growing fast. In the second quarter of 2025, DeFi lending apps...
France is taking a stand against Shein, a popular fast-fashion online store. The French government is going to court to ask for a temporary shutdown of Shein's website in the country. This request comes after some questionable items were found on the site. It all started when France noticed that Shein was selling inappropriate things like childlike sex dolls and wea...
The tech world is buzzing with a major change that caught many off guard. The shift to TPUs, or Tensor Processing Units, is happening faster than anyone predicted. These specialized chips are designed to handle complex tasks that regular processors struggle with. They are becoming the go-to choice for many tech giants. But why the sudden interest? TPUs are incredibl...
Robots are improving at making plans, even when things get chaotic. Think about a robot trying to move through a room full of stuff. It needs to split big jobs into smaller, easier tasks. This is where something called hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) helps. HRL lets robots plan by setting smaller goals. But, it's not always smooth sailing. The robot's actio...