The science of 'dad brain' plus giraffe calf meets dad for Father's Day on World Giraffe Day

Happy National Seashell Day, the Summer Solstice, World Giraffe Day, and Father's Day! I'm working my way backwards through all four, beginning with The Surprising Science of How Fatherhood Changes a Man's Brain | Father's Day Special | WION Pulse.

Think dad jokes are just a phase? Well MRI scans show that becoming a father literally alters a man's neurological blueprint. On Father's Day, we explore the incredible biological upgrade that transforms men into caregivers.

I couldn't resist some Father's Day science!

I'm combining Father's Day with World Giraffe Day by sharing Inside Edition's April The Giraffe's Baby Reunites With His Father from 2017.

Internet sensation April the Giraffe gave birth to her son, Tajiri, live online in front of millions of people this April. The baby giraffe met his father, Oliver, shortly after, but the two have not seen each other since. This week, at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, the three were reunited. It made for a wonderfully memorable moment and delighted fans all over the world.

Tajiri may be the star, but I'm going to wish Oliver a happy Father's Day and the entire family a happy World Giraffe Day!

Next, the reason both World Giraffe Day and National Seashell Day are today, the Summer Solstice. Watch WMAR-2 News' Science with Stevie: Summer Solstice.

The sun is ready for its big moment in the spotlight! Meteorologist Stevie Daniels talks about the summer solstice in this Science with Stevie segment!

Here's to Stevie becoming a mom next month so her viewers can wish her a happy Mother's Day next year!

I close with WSAZ NewsChannel 3's National Seashell Day.



June 20th is National Seashell Day.
It was last year and I normally celebrate it that day to avoid pile-ups like today's, but I wasn't feeling it. I'm also not feeling like turning today into the Sunday entertainment feature. I'll make up for it later in the week, when I plan on sharing a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins Friday. In the meantime, stay tuned for World Rainforest Day, Detroit-style Pizza Day, and the first of two World UFO Days. I love holidays!

2025 in weather and climate — L.A. fires, Hurricane Melissa, and one of three warmest years

Today's year-end retrospective is this year's version of '2024 becomes the world's hottest year on record, fueling extreme weather events,' the year in climate and weather. I open with The Weather Network's Year in Review: How Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters Transformed 2025.

Saphia Khambalia delivers this roundup of world weather events in 2025. From California's deadly wildfires to Jamaica's Hurricane Melissa and the massive earthquakes that shook Myanmar and Russia, 2025 was a year defined by extremes.

That's an impressive list of extreme weather and related natural disasters covering the globe.

The Weather Network has more in Year in Review: 2025’s Most Intense Caught-On-Camera Weather.

This compilation showcases some of the most dramatic and terrifying moments of 2025, capturing the raw power of nature. From massive floods and destructive landslides to powerful tornadoes and shocking avalanches, witness these unbelievable events as they were caught on camera around the world.

Yikes! Also, I couldn't resist.

Closer to home, NBC News reported Extreme weather slams parts of the U.S. throughout 2025.

From the fires in Los Angeles to tornado outbreaks in the South and Midwest, the U.S. experienced extreme and sometimes deadly weather in 2025. NBC News’ Angie Lassman details the historic events.

The U.S. may have escaped hurricane landfalls this year, but the country made up for it with the L.A. fires, floods, and tornado outbreaks. Those remind me of what I wrote last year.

Seeing this reminds me of the first two questions I ask my students while watching Chasing Ice.

1. Chasing Ice opens with a montage of natural disasters. Name three of them.

The three that come to mind are floods, fires, and droughts. All of those, along with dangerous heatwaves and stronger hurricanes and tropical cyclones, appear in this report. For what it's worth, those are also among the possible answers to a question I ask about Treasures of the Earth: Power: "What are the expected effects of global warming? List three examples."

Speaking of global warming/ climate change, WION reported 2025 Among Hottest Years Ever Recorded | WION Climate Tracker.

2025 was one of three hottest years on record, scientists say. Headlines from ABC News Live[.] Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. Climate change worsened by human behavior made 2025 one of the three hottest years on record, scientists said.

I'm closing by repeating something else I wrote last year.

First, welcome to the 400 ppm world. Second, are you scared enough by climate change? My readers should be.

Stay tuned for one more year-end retrospective of 2025 for New Year's Eve.

Science, peace, economics, and literature winners for Nobel Prize Day 2025

Happy Nobel Prize Day! I begin today's celebration with BBC News reporting Physics Nobel Prize awarded to three scientists for work on quantum computing.

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for their work on quantum mechanics that is paving the way for a new generation of very powerful computers.

"There is no advanced technology used today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, including mobile phones, cameras... and fibre optic cables," said the Nobel committee.

The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

The three winners will share prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor (£872,000).

Yay, three physicists from the University of California, even if they aren't from my undergraduate alma mater, UCLA!

Next, DW News reporting Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded "for the development of metal–organic frameworks".

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal–organic frameworks." The new type of molecular architecture developed by the group allows for "large cavities in which molecules can flow in and out. Researchers have used them to harvest water from desert air, extract pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide and store hydrogen," according to the award-giving body. Their research could provide solutions for combatting climate change.

"A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter. It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume," Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said during a press conference.

This looks like a very useful discovery. So does the next prize, Nobel Prize for medicine awarded to immune system researchers, as Al Jazeera English reported.

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their work on the functioning of the human immune system.
The award, announced by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute on Monday, will be presented to the trio in December for “their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body”.
The research “relates to how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute.
The prize of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.17m) is to be shared equally between Brunkow and Ramsdell, both 64, of the United States and Japan’s Sakaguchi, 74.
The king of Sweden will also present them with gold medals.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Stockholm.

This advancement could help me personally, as I am a cancer survivor and Type I diabetic, an autoimmune disease. May I live long enough for the science to advance enough to improve my condition.

Follow over the jump for the non-science prizes.

WION celebrates International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day! India's WION (World Is One News) uploaded a series of videos for today, beginning with International women's day 2024: Inventions by women that the world can't live without.

Women have always been skilled and inventive; they have just faced numerous obstacles in getting recognition and credit for their creations. Here is our tribute to some women who were not afraid to stand up for the respect and credit they rightfully deserved.

I knew that Hedy Lamarr invented the technology that made cell phones possible, but I didn't know that it also made Wi-Fi and Bluetooth possible as well. I did not know about the rest, although that photo of Margaret Wilcox looks much too recent for an inventor active in the 1890s. Still, it's the one that I find when I search for her name. There may be an attribution issue in the history of her portrait, but I'm not going to look for it today. Just the same, I learned a lot just from this video, and it's always a good day when I learn something new.

Follow over the jump for the rest of WION's videos for International Women's Day, which do double duty for Women's History Month.

NBC News, Reuters, and WION recap Black Friday and look ahead to Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday! I begin with a recap of Black Friday shopping compared to the sales anticipated today from NBC News reporting Cyber Monday countdown is on after slow start to brick-and-mortar sales.

With just hours until the busiest online shopping day of the year, consumers are readying for one more chance to find deep discounts. NBC News’ Brian Cheung has more on the countdown to Cyber Monday deals after a slow start to the season’s brick-and-mortar sales.

Sales up 2.5% over last year looks good until one hears that the increase is due to inflation, not more purchases. Sigh. As Reuters reported in US shoppers hold out for Cyber Monday bargains, consumers responded by holding out for better deals today.

Holiday shoppers in the US are seeking out the best deals and strategically nabbing the deepest discounts ahead of Cyber Monday, according to data from retailer websites aggregated by third parties.

"Discount chicken" — I like that better than WION calling it "discount diplomacy." I don't know if the idea of a game of chicken translates from the U.S. to India, even though we speak the same language. Watch Cyber monday to hit $12 billion as shoppers seize last-minute deals | World Business Watch | WION.

The holiday shopping season is in full swing in the U.S, and consumers are making headlines with their strategic pursuit of the best deals. Black friday saw a remarkable surge in online spending, hitting a staggering $16.4 billion in the U.S. We now gear up for the pinnacle of cyber monday, where a $12 billion e-commerce record is anticipated.

That would be a record, at least in nominal sales. Whether that would be a record in real retail sales remains to be seen.

The long holiday weekend concludes tomorrow with Giving Tuesday. Stay tuned.