Human Influence or Natural Cycles? The Real Drivers of Climate Change
Earth’s climate has always changed. Ice ages came and went. Volcanoes cooled the planet for…
How Much Income Do You Need to Buy a Typical Home in Each Canadian Province?
How much income you need to buy a house in Canada depends on the province. A typical home in New Brunswick and a typical home in British Columbia are not the same purchase, and the mortgage stress test treats them that way. This page uses July 2026 typical-home (benchmark) prices, then estimates the gross household…
The Black Death: Origins, Spread, and Consequences
The Black Death was the first and deadliest wave of the second plague pandemic. In the late 1340s and early 1350s it spread from central Eurasia through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean into large parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. That is no…
The Water Cycle: How Water Moves Continuously Around Earth
The water cycle, also called the hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of Earth. The total amount of water on the planet has remained essentially constant for billions of years. What changes is its form and location. Water exists as liquid in oceans, rivers, lakes, and soil;…
How Stars Are Born, Live, and Die
A star spends its life in a contest between two forces. Gravity pulls its gas inward. Pressure pushes back—first from heat, then from nuclear fusion in the core. For most of the star’s life those forces stay in balance. Astronomers call that balance hydrostatic equilibrium. When the fuel runs out, the balance breaks. What happens…
Mini-Split Defrost Cycle: Why It Steams, Pauses Heat, and Shows “dF”
A mini-split that suddenly blows cooler air, goes quiet outside, or sends up a cloud of “smoke” in January is usually doing its job. In heating mode the outdoor coil is the cold part of the system. It pulls heat from outdoor air. When that coil is colder than freezing and the air is damp,…
NBA Fines Clippers $30 Million and Strips Five First-Round Picks After Salary-Cap Inquiry
The National Basketball Association announced on September 2 that the Los Angeles Clippers violated salary-cap circumvention rules in the league’s collective bargaining agreement and imposed penalties on the franchise, owner Steve Ballmer, two team executives, and forward Kawhi Leonard. According to the NBA, a summary report prepared by the law firm Wachtell Lipton found that…
New York City Bans Generative AI for Public School Students Through Eighth Grade
New York City will bar student use of generative artificial intelligence from 2-K through eighth grade for the 2026–27 school year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced on September 2. City officials said the one-year moratorium affects nearly 600,000 public school students, about two-thirds of enrollment. Reuters and CNN described it as…
Uber to Cut About 3,300 Jobs, or 10 Percent of Workforce, in Restructuring
Uber Technologies announced on September 2, 2026, that it will eliminate approximately 3,300 positions, representing about 10 percent of its global workforce. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the changes in a memo to employees. The company said the cuts aim to remove organizational layers, simplify team structures, and reduce complexity that accumulated during earlier growth….
U.S. and Iran Exchange Strikes After Monthlong Lull; Iran Says Wedding Was Hit
U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran at noon Eastern Time on September 1 and later said the wave of strikes had been completed. CENTCOM said the targets included air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites. CENTCOM said the strikes…
Jury Convicts Duane Davis of Murder in 1996 Killing of Tupac Shakur
A Las Vegas jury on Monday found Duane Keith Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 drive-by shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, 63, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, was convicted after roughly three hours of deliberations. Prosecutors argued he obtained the gun used in the shooting and directed…