The Sunday Blender

The Sunday Blender · Robots Run Faster Than Humans Now

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

I have a pretty good relationship with the security guards of my compound. Occasionally when I left the compound in my Tesla after a brief parking, they would just buzz-lift the parking lot bar and let me out without charging any daily fees, sparing both from the bureaucratic procedures. It was a nice gesture.

That changed today as a new “smart” parking system was installed recently.

My Tesla approached the bar and the monitor showed I should pay RMB30. The guard came over with a QR code on a piece of paper. I scanned it with my phone. The phone’s connection was acting up and the payment transaction didn’t seem to complete. Somehow the bar was lifted, so I drove through it. I realized this was an incomplete transaction and asked the guard what was going on. He said he thought I finished the payment so he manually buzz-lifted the bar. But now we’re stuck. If I leave, he would be in a hole of RMB30 in the system. I said, can you give me the QR code to scan for payment again? He said, no, you can’t. Your car already came out and the system doesn’t flag there is any pending payment of any car. Seeing the bar is still hanging high in the air, I said, let me try to go backward and approach the bar from inside again.

That sort of did the trick. I was not entirely sure. The guard gave me another QR code that seemed to allow me to transfer him the RMB30 without going through the official parking system. Anyway, I could make the payment and get out. We were both relieved, after this chaoic and confusing span of 5 minutes battling the system.

I’m sure in the future my exists from the compound’s parking lot will be mechanical and deterministic, but I still miss the good old days when my pals could just exercise their own human judgment without the machine getting in the way.

Machines are just cold.

Tech

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang went on the Dwarkesh Patel podcast this week and said something most Silicon Valley AI leaders won’t touch: the US should let Nvidia sell its AI chips to China. His case: blocking the sales won’t stop China from building AI — it just pushes Chinese companies to buy from Huawei instead, and Nvidia loses billions. He warned it would be “a horrible outcome” if DeepSeek, China’s hottest AI startup, trained its next model on Huawei’s Ascend 950PR chip instead of Nvidia’s. The podcast set off a firestorm online — but Nvidia has already taken a $4.5 billion hit this year from US export restrictions.

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup that shocked Silicon Valley last year with its low-cost R1 model, is raising outside money for the first time ever. The plan: at least $300 million at a $10 billion valuation. That’s quite unusual for DeepSeek because it has spent its whole life turning down investors — it was bankrolled entirely by its parent hedge fund, High-Flyer. Why the change? Building top AI models is getting really expensive. DeepSeek suffered a 7-hour crash last month, and needs cash for more chips, bigger data centers, and to pay its engineers enough so they don’t leave.

Global

A 2-year-old wolf named Neukgu burrowed under a fence at O-World zoo in Daejeon, South Korea on April 8 and vanished into the countryside, kicking off a nine-day nationwide hunt that had the whole country glued to the news. More than 300 firefighters, police, and soldiers searched for him using drones, thermal cameras, and even recordings of wolf howls. Authorities once lost him on thermal camera while swapping a drone battery. Police got roasted online for releasing an obviously AI-generated photo of a wolf. A crypto meme coin was launched in his honor. He was finally tranquilized and safely returned on April 17.

Songkran, the Thai New Year, is famous as the world’s biggest water fight — a three-day festival where people soak each other with water guns and buckets on the streets. But it also has a grim nickname: the “Seven Dangerous Days.” This year, from April 10 to 16, Thailand recorded 242 deaths and 1,242 road accidents across the country. Speeding and drunk driving were the top causes, and motorcycles were involved in 65% of crashes. Thai authorities run a huge annual safety campaign, but the tradition of celebrating with alcohol makes the roads especially dangerous.

Economy & Finance

A hacker just pulled off the biggest DeFi heist of 2026. On Saturday, someone tricked a crypto protocol called Kelp DAO into handing over $292 million worth of a token called rsETH. Then they took that stolen token to Aave, the biggest lending protocol in crypto, and used it as collateral to borrow another $236 million in real Ethereum. Think of it like forging a fake gold bar, walking into a pawn shop, and borrowing real cash against it. Panicked users yanked over $5.4 billion out of Aave in hours. The whole DeFi world is rethinking how safe cross-chain bridges really are.

photo credit by Brandonator

Allbirds, the eco-friendly wool sneaker brand that was a Silicon Valley staple in the 2010s and worn by every investment guy with a Patagonia vest, is quitting the shoe business and pivoting to AI. The struggling company announced it will sell its sneaker brand to a licensing firm for $39 million, raise $50 million from an investor, and rebrand as “NewBird AI.” The new plan: buy a bunch of GPU chips and rent out their computing power to AI companies. Wall Street loved it — the stock jumped over 500% in a day. Allbirds was once valued at $4 billion. `

Science

Over 100 humanoid robots raced alongside human runners in Beijing on Sunday in the world’s second humanoid robot half-marathon. The winner, a robot named Lightning built by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, finished the 21-kilometer course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds — faster than the current human world record of 57:20. Last year’s winning robot took over 2 hours and 40 minutes and kept falling over. This year, the robots had legs designed to mimic elite human runners, and even used liquid cooling borrowed from smartphones. Honor’s team swept all three podium spots, with Germany, France, and Brazil also competing.

Math

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Coachella is one of the world’s biggest music festivals, held every April in the California desert, where top pop stars, rappers, and DJs play to crowds of 125,000 a day. This year’s headliners included Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G, and Justin Bieber — and Bieber’s set left fans genuinely confused. In the middle of his show, the 32-year-old pop star sat down at a laptop, typed “baby” into YouTube, and sang along to his own old music video playing on the giant screen behind him — sometimes not singing at all. (The “Baby” video, released in 2010, has over 3.5 billion views.) Bieber was reportedly paid $10 million — the highest fee in Coachella history. Critics called it lazy; defenders called it a clever statement about nostalgia and internet culture. Katy Perry, watching from the crowd, joked: “Thank god he has YouTube Premium, I don’t wanna see no ads.”

Monocle, the British lifestyle magazine famous for covering design, travel, and good coffee, is coming to Shanghai for the first time. From April 25 to June 30, it’s opening a pop-up shop and café at the Jing An Kerry Centre, with furniture from Swiss brand USM and Shanghai-based Stellar Works. The magazine is also hosting its first-ever Entrepreneurs Live conference in China on April 29, bringing over 100 founders and business leaders together. Monocle was launched in 2007 by Canadian journalist Tyler Brûlé and is known for its thick glossy magazine, global city guides, and radio station broadcast from London.

British writer Michael Rosen just won the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing, often called the “Little Nobel Prize” for children’s books. Rosen, 80, is the author of the beloved We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and has written over 200 books for kids across his 50-year career. He also wrote Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, about the death of his son. You may also recognize his face from the internet — he’s the “Noice” meme guy, whose wonderfully expressive delivery of the word “nice” in a 2013 children’s poetry video went viral and has been turned into countless GIFs. Chinese illustrator Cai Gao won this year’s prize for illustration — the first Chinese artist ever to win it.

A song called “No Batidão” has been blasting out of TikTok for months. It’s by two producers, ZXKAI and slxughter, who released it in September 2025. The song is in Portuguese and just 1 minute 29 seconds long — a mashup of Brazilian funk and phonk, a style of music built around heavy, distorted beats. What really made it explode was a slowed-down version that became the soundtrack to a viral dance challenge, with TikTokers everywhere copying its body-wave and footwork moves. The slowed version alone has racked up over 84 million Spotify streams.

Depeche Mode, the English synth-pop band that helped invent the sound of modern electronic music, just teased a new round of 2026 tour dates, including stops in Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg. Formed in Basildon in 1980, the band’s moody, synth-driven hits like “Enjoy the Silence”, “Strangelove”, and “A Question of Time” shaped how pop music sounds today — you can hear their influence in artists like The Weeknd and Billie Eilish. Their 1990 album Violator is considered a masterpiece, and “Personal Jesus” was later famously covered by Johnny Cash.

Christopher Nolan, the director behind Interstellar and Inception, is making a movie version of The Odyssey — the 3,000-year-old Greek epic poem by Homer about the hero Odysseus, who spends 10 years trying to get home from the Trojan War while battling one-eyed giants, sea monsters, and angry gods. At CinemaCon 2026 — the Las Vegas trade show where Hollywood studios show off upcoming films to theater owners — Universal screened a scene of the Trojan Horse. It’s the first movie ever shot entirely on IMAX film cameras — a dream Nolan has chased since The Dark Knight in 2008, requiring IMAX to invent lighter, quieter cameras. Opens July 17, 2026.

Sports

[Badminton] Shi Yuqi, China’s world No. 2, won the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo on April 12, beating India’s 20-year-old Ayush Shetty 21-8, 21-10 in the final. It took him just 41 minutes. This was a title that had long eluded Shi — despite being the current world champion and having won nearly every other major tournament, including the All England Open and the BWF World Tour Finals. With this win, Shi is now just two trophies away from completing badminton’s “Super Grand Slam” — the full set of 9 most prestigious titles in the sport. The missing pieces? Asian Games singles gold and Olympic gold. His next shot comes at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games this September.

[Badminton] Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, one of the most decorated badminton players in history, announced his retirement on April 15 at age 32. Back injuries forced him out. Over his 16-year career, he won back-to-back Olympic gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, two World Championship titles, and spent 183 weeks at world No. 1 — the third-longest run of all time. Standing 6'4" with a giant wingspan, he redefined what a badminton player could do on court. Axelsen is also famous in China for speaking fluent Mandarin, which he began learning in 2014 to chat with his rivals and fans.

[Cycling] Paris-Roubaix, nicknamed “The Hell of the North,” is one of cycling’s oldest and most brutal races — a 258-kilometer one-day race in northern France that includes 55 kilometers of bone-rattling cobblestone roads. This year’s edition on April 12 was one of the most thrilling ever. Belgian rider Wout van Aert finally won his first Paris-Roubaix after 8 years of trying, out-sprinting world champion Tadej Pogačar in a two-man dash inside the famous Roubaix velodrome. Both men had punctures along the way. The race was the fastest ever, averaging 48.91 km/h. Van Aert dedicated the win to a teammate who died during the 2018 race.

[Golf] Rory McIlroy won the 2026 Masters at Augusta National on April 12, becoming just the fourth player ever to win golf’s most prestigious tournament two years in a row — joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods in the club. It wasn’t easy. McIlroy had a massive six-shot lead heading into the weekend, then blew it with a disastrous third round that left him tied for first. He steadied himself on Sunday, shot a final-round 71, and beat Scottie Scheffler by one stroke. The Masters is held at the same course every year, and is famous for its strict traditions — no cell phones allowed on the course, and egg salad sandwiches still cost $1.50.

[Soccer] Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid 4-3 in an epic Champions League quarter-final in Munich on April 15, knocking the 15-time European champions out of the tournament. It was one of the greatest games in recent memory — seven goals, a red card, and two last-minute strikes. Madrid’s 21-year-old Turkish star Arda Güler scored just 35 seconds in after Bayern’s goalkeeper made a disastrous mistake. Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé both found the net in a wild first half. But after Real’s Camavinga was sent off in the 86th minute, Luis Díaz scored at 89’ and Michael Olise added a stoppage-time gut-punch. Bayern now face defending champion PSG in the semifinals; Arsenal play Atlético Madrid in the other.

[Basketball] The Golden State Warriors, one of basketball’s great dynasties of the last decade, will not be in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. On Friday, the Phoenix Suns beat them 111-96 in the final play-in game, ending their season. Legendary guard Stephen Curry, now 38 years old, could only manage 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting — a far cry from the sharpshooter who won four championships and two MVPs. It’s the Warriors’ first playoff miss since 2021. Curry is widely credited with transforming how basketball is played — his deadly long-range shooting made the three-pointer a weapon, and today every team, from kids’ leagues to the pros, builds its offense around it.

[Running] Shanghai’s Moganshan mountains just hosted a brand-new race: Ultra-Trail Mogan, which debuted on April 10-12 as part of the UTMB World Series — the world’s most prestigious circuit for trail running, sometimes called the “Olympics of ultra-running.” Runners could pick from four distances: 20K, 50K, 100K, or a brutal 100-mile race that takes up to 32 hours to finish. The course winds through bamboo forests, tea terraces, and ancient stone paths. Moganshan gets its name from Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, a legendary couple from ancient China who, the story goes, forged the world’s greatest swords right here 2,500 years ago.

This Day in History

On April 19, 1985, “We Are the World” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, where millions were starving. On one night in January 1985, 46 of the biggest music stars in America crammed into a Los Angeles studio to record it. A sign on the door read: “Check your ego at the door.” One huge name was missing though: Prince. He refused to sing, instead offering to play a guitar solo. Producer Quincy Jones was not amused. Huey Lewis took his part. The song raised over $60 million for Africa and became one of the best-selling singles ever.

Art of the Week

Cai Gao, the 79-year-old Chinese illustrator who just won the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award, is known as “the grandmother of picture books” in China. Her most famous work is The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring, based on an ancient Chinese poem from the year 421 about a hidden utopia where people live in peace with nature. Cai blends classical Chinese ink painting, folk-art motifs, and impressionist colors into illustrations that feel both traditional and modern at once. She’s also illustrated Chinese legends like Hua Mulan and Meng Jiangnü. Her work has been so popular in Japan that two illustrations appeared in Japanese school textbooks.

Funny

Previous Issues

April 11, 2026, Build A Second Brain to Compound Knowledge Learning

April 05, 2026, To the Moon and Back

March 22, 2026, The Future of SaaS Companies and Knowledge Workers

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · Build A Second Brain to Compound Knowledge Learning

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

I’ve used many note-taking apps over the years, such as Evernote, Bear Note, Day One, Roam Research, Notion, and Obsidian. One criterion for me is that it must support the markdown format.

If it doesn’t support Markdown (like Evernote and Notion), it feels like wasting my time to write notes in those apps, as their data format is proprietary and very hard, if not impossible, to be exported to another platform.

The recent development in AI underscored the advantages of Markdown. It can be easily read by machine and men, on any platform. It is very easy to write. It doesn’t disrupt the flow of the mind.

Every issue of the Sunday Blender is written and edited in Markdown.

Tech

Obsidian is a note-taking app built on a simple idea: your notes are just plain text files stored on your own computer, not locked inside someone else’s cloud. Users organize thoughts, research, and ideas using links between notes, building what fans call a “second brain” — a personal knowledge base that grows over time. The app recently got a major endorsement when AI pioneer Andrej Karpathy — former AI director at Tesla and co-founder of OpenAI — revealed he uses Obsidian as the foundation for his personal research wiki, letting AI tools compile and organize hundreds of articles from his notes. Obsidian was founded during the COVID lockdown by two University of Waterloo alumni Shida Li and Erica Xu, who couldn’t find a note-taking tool they liked. The company announced this week that its engineering team is expanding — from three people to four. The Twitter post went viral, racking up over 2 million views, as the internet marveled at the math: a $350-million company, 1.5 million active users, 2,000+ community plugins, zero venture capital funding, and a total staff of seven (plus a cat). For comparison, competitor Notion has 1,200 employees.

New app submissions to Apple’s App Store jumped 84% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to a year ago, with roughly 235,800 new apps added in just three months. The boom reverses a years-long decline — submissions had actually dropped 48% between 2016 and 2024. The driving force: “vibe coding” tools like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, which let people with little or no programming experience build working apps using plain English. But the flood has created problems. Apple removed several vibe coding apps in March, and developers have reported longer review wait times. Apple says it still processes 90% of submissions within 48 hours.

AI company Anthropic — the maker of Claude — announced this week that its new model, Mythos, is so good at finding security flaws in software that it won’t be released to the public. In testing, Mythos autonomously discovered thousands of previously unknown vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser — bugs that had been missed by the world’s best human experts and millions of automated tests for decades. The most striking example: a 27-year-old flaw in OpenBSD, an operating system famous for its security. Just two data packets could crash any server running it. Mythos found the bug, confirmed it, and built the attack — all for under $50 in computing costs. One researcher said: “I’ve found more bugs in the last couple of weeks than in the rest of my life combined.” Rather than releasing Mythos publicly, Anthropic launched “Project Glasswing,” sharing it with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants to patch these flaws before hackers find them. Over 99% of the vulnerabilities remain unpatched.

Global

Nantucket is a small island about 50 kilometers off the coast of Massachusetts in the northeastern United States. Once the whaling capital of the world — it inspired Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby-Dick — the island is now known for its charming shingled cottages, cobblestone streets, and pristine beaches. It is one of America’s most exclusive summer destinations, where homes can sell for tens of millions of dollars. But the ocean is swallowing the land. Along Sconset Bluff on the island’s eastern shore, some homes have lost over 200 feet of ground to erosion — cliffs that once seemed permanent are crumbling into the sea, accelerated by rising sea levels and increasingly powerful storms. Some homeowners have spent millions physically moving their houses further inland. Others funded giant sand-filled tubes along the shoreline to slow the waves. A 2021 study found that by 2070, erosion and flooding could cause $3.4 billion in damage across the island each year. Nantucket is far from alone — coastlines around the world are facing the same threat.

Economy & Finance

Gas prices in the United States crossed $4 per gallon in early April for the first time since August 2022. As of April 8, the national average stood at around $4.16 — up about 26% compared to a year ago. Prices surged roughly 20% in just one month, driven by conflict in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes — has been repeatedly closed and reopened amid tense negotiations. Prices vary widely by state. California leads at $5.89 per gallon, while Oklahoma pays the least at $3.27. Analysts expect prices could climb further in the weeks ahead.

Nature & Environment

Every spring, cherry blossoms (桜, sakura) sweep across Japan from south to north. This week, they reached peak bloom around Mount Fuji — about 7 to 10 days later than Tokyo, due to the higher elevation. At Lake Kawaguchiko, hundreds of cherry trees line the northern shore, their soft pink petals framing Japan’s most iconic mountain across still water. Nearby at Arakurayama Sengen Park, visitors climb 398 stone steps to see the famous view: a five-story red pagoda, cherry blossoms, and snow-capped Fuji all in one frame. At night, the trees are lit up with lanterns until 9 p.m. The season is breathtaking but brief — the blossoms last only about a week before the petals scatter in the wind, a moment the Japanese call sakura fubuki (桜吹雪) — cherry blossom blizzard.

Science

NASA’s Artemis II mission splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on the evening of April 10, ending a 10-day journey around the Moon. The four astronauts launched on April 1 and flew around the far side of the Moon on April 6, breaking the record for the farthest any human has ever traveled from Earth — 252,757 miles. It was the first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, and a mission of firsts: the crew included the first woman, first person of color, and first non-American to travel this far into space. Millions watched the splashdown live, including on Netflix. Next up: Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface.

Australian scientists have built the world’s first working quantum battery — a tiny device that stores energy using the strange rules of quantum physics instead of ordinary chemistry. The prototype is charged wirelessly by a laser. Its most remarkable property: unlike regular batteries, which take longer to charge as they get bigger, this quantum battery actually charges faster as more molecules are added to it. The molecules don’t act independently — they behave collectively through quantum effects. The device is still tiny and holds its charge for just nanoseconds. But the lead scientist compared it to the Wright brothers’ first flight: the plane barely flew, but it proved something revolutionary was possible.

Math

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico — the biggest World Cup ever, with 48 teams. The teams are split into 12 groups of 4. Each team plays 3 matches (one against every other team in the group). A win earns 3 points, a draw earns 1 point, and a loss earns 0. The top 2 teams in each group advance to the knockout round. The top 2 teams in each group advance to the knockout round. But here’s a new twist for 2026: the 8 best 3rd-place teams also go through, making a Round of 32.

Question 1: each group has 4 teams, and every team plays every other team once. How many total matches are played in one group?

Question 2: if a team has 2 wins and 1 loss, can it advance to the next round for certain?

What is the angle X?

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Easter weekend begins with Good Friday, which this year falls on April 3. It marks the day Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified. Two days later, Easter Sunday celebrates his resurrection — the most important event in Christianity. The date shifts each year, following an ancient formula tied to the first full moon after the spring equinox. Traditions vary widely. Many families attend church, share festive meals, and enjoy a long weekend. Children hunt for colored eggs and chocolate left by the “Easter Bunny” — customs rooted in older European spring fertility symbols rather than the Bible. In Britain, spiced fruit bread rolls called hot cross buns, marked with a white cross representing the crucifixion, are a beloved Good Friday tradition.

The Masters tournament is underway this week at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia — and if you attend, don’t bring your phone. Augusta is one of the last major sporting events on Earth where cell phones, cameras (on tournament days), laptops, and tablets are all banned. Fans — called “patrons” — must leave devices behind before entering. Free courtesy phones are available on the course for anyone who needs to make a call. The rule exists to keep everyone focused on the golf, not their screens. Violators are removed immediately — even former champion Mark Calcavecchia was escorted out by security guards this week for using his phone. In a world where almost every moment is filmed and shared, Augusta offers something increasingly rare: a place where thousands of people simply watch, listen, and enjoy what’s happening right in front of them, living the moment to the fullest.

Sports

[Cycling] Tadej Pogačar won the 2026 Tour of Flanders on April 5, tying the all-time record with his third title. The 278-kilometer race through Belgium’s rain-soaked countryside delivered the showdown fans had been promised: Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, and Wout van Aert — four of cycling’s biggest stars — battled through punishing cobblestone climbs all afternoon. But Pogačar was a class above. He launched a decisive solo attack on the final hilltop stretch, dropping van der Poel and crossing the finish line alone in Oudenaarde, 34 seconds clear. Evenepoel took third on his race debut; van Aert finished fourth.

[Soccer] Erling Haaland scored three goals in just 18 minutes as Manchester City demolished Liverpool 4–0 in the FA Cup quarterfinal on April 4. Liverpool actually started well and had early chances, but the match turned when Virgil van Dijk clumsily fouled Nico O’Reilly in the box. Haaland converted the penalty, then headed in a second just before halftime. Antoine Semenyo made it three early in the second half, and Haaland completed his hat-trick shortly after. To make things worse, Mohamed Salah — playing his first match since announcing he will leave Liverpool this summer — had a penalty saved. City advance to the semifinals for a record eighth straight year.

[Table Tennis] Chinese table tennis star Wang Chuqin, the current world number one, claimed his first-ever World Cup singles title on April 5 in Macao. The 25-year-old defeated Japan’s 18-year-old Sora Matsushima 4–3 in a gripping seven-game final that swung back and forth — Matsushima even led 3–2 before Wang fought back to take the last two games. Wang was the only Chinese men’s player to reach the quarterfinals, surviving tough matches all week. The title fills the last gap in his major trophy collection: he now holds the World Championship, Olympic gold (mixed doubles and team), and World Cup. Only an Olympic singles gold remains.

[Snooker] Chinese snooker star Zhao Xintong defeated world number one Judd Trump 10–3 on April 5 to win the Tour Championship in Manchester. The victory made Zhao the first player ever to sweep all three Players Series events — the World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship — in a single season. It was his sixth ranking title, and remarkably, he has never lost a final. Just two years ago, Zhao’s career was in doubt after a 20-month ban for a match-fixing investigation. Since returning to competition last season, the 29-year-old has been unstoppable — winning the 2025 World Championship to become Asia’s first world snooker champion. He now heads to the Crucible in Sheffield later this month to defend that title.

[NBA] The NBA’s two most dominant big men delivered an instant classic on April 4 when Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets edged Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs 136–134 in overtime. Jokić finished with 40 points, 13 assists, and zero turnovers — the first center in NBA history to hit those numbers in a single game. Wembanyama, just 22, answered with 34 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 blocks. The Spurs led by 11 in the fourth quarter, but Jokić took over down the stretch, sealing the win with his signature “Sombor Shuffle” fadeaway over Wembanyama’s 2.4-meter reach. The two MVP candidates meet again on the season’s final day, April 12 — and could face each other in the playoffs.

This Day in History

On April 11, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending three astronauts toward the Moon. It was supposed to be the third lunar landing mission. But 56 hours into the flight, an oxygen tank exploded, crippling the spacecraft’s power and life support systems. The crew radioed the now-famous words: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” They never reached the Moon. Instead, they squeezed into the tiny lunar module — designed for two, not three — and used it as a lifeboat for the long journey home. With Mission Control working around the clock, all three splashed down safely six days later. The mission became known as a “successful failure,” and was later made into a hit 1995 Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks, showcasing one of NASA’s finest moments.

Art of the Week

Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) was one of China’s most important modern painters. Born in Yixing, Jiangsu province — in the heart of the Jiangnan region — he studied art in Hangzhou before winning a government scholarship to study in Paris in 1947. When he returned to China, he spent his career blending what he had learned from Western styles like Impressionism and Fauvism with traditional Chinese ink-wash painting. His Jiangnan (“south of the river”) paintings are among his most beloved works. Using simple geometric shapes — white rectangles for whitewashed walls, dark lines for roof edges, dots of green and red for foliage — Wu captured the quiet beauty of waterside villages in southern China. His scenes feel both abstract and deeply familiar: still water reflecting clustered houses, a stone bridge arching over a canal, swallows darting between rooftops. He painted these towns again and again, stripping away detail until only rhythm and feeling remained.

Funny

Previous Issues

April 05, 2026, To the Moon and Back

March 22, 2026, The Future of SaaS Companies and Knowledge Workers

March 15, 2026, The Unstoppable Kimi

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · To the Moon and Back

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

📄 This week's newsletter is also available as a beautifully formatted PDF download - perfect for offline reading!

Read on Website

Editor’s Words

We’re back from the spring break!

Despite the petty fight between Anthropic and OpenClaw in the world of cutthroat AI competition, men still have a higher cause to race for - going to the Moon, turning the Moon into a second base for humanity, and making space travel a regular activity, if not a sport already.

On top of that, Messi and Ronaldo will have their last World Cup in June. This World Cup will be epic in every way. There is so much to look forward to in 2026.

By the way, it is almost impossible to get a decent-looking 2026 World Cup final match-up table on Google. You’d imagine this picture should be floating around everywhere, but no. The good ones are all behind digital walls by big tech platforms like Facebook and Instagram. WeChat has plenty good ones, but it’s not accessible to non-WeChat users, either.

On one hand, we tirelessly explore the physical boundary of human adventures. On the other hand, we shrewdly isolate ourselves in towering digital fortresses. Ironic, isn’t it?

Tech

Anthropic, the company behind the AI assistant Claude, accidentally published the full source code for its popular coding tool Claude Code. A debug file was mistakenly included in a routine software update pushed to npm, a public registry where developers download packages. Security researcher Chaofan Shou spotted it and posted the discovery on X, where it racked up over 21 million views within hours. The code — roughly 500,000 lines across 1,900 files — was quickly mirrored on GitHub and picked apart by thousands of developers. For a company valued at $380 billion and known for building some of the most capable AI on the planet, the cause was almost comically mundane: someone forgot to exclude a file from the build pipeline. Anthropic called it human error and said no customer data was exposed. It was the company’s second such leak in just over a year.

OpenAI announced it is shutting down Sora, its AI video generation app. When Sora first debuted in early 2024, its demo clips stunned the internet and made OpenAI look like the undisputed leader in AI video. But after launching as a standalone app in September 2025, it struggled: the tool was burning through roughly $1 million a day in compute costs while its user base collapsed from a peak of about 3.3 million monthly downloads to just over a million. CEO Sam Altman said the company needed to redirect resources toward its core AI models and coding tools. Meanwhile, ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0, Google’s Veo, and Runway have all surpassed it — and OpenAI is walking away from the field entirely.

When the US banned Huawei from using Google’s Android in 2019, the Chinese tech giant had no choice but to build its own operating system from scratch. Six years later, HarmonyOS now runs on over one billion devices — phones, tablets, watches, TVs, cars, and now laptops. Huawei recently launched HarmonyOS Next, a version built entirely in-house with zero Android code. PC shipments running HarmonyOS are forecast to grow tenfold this year, and analysts say the platform could surpass Google’s ChromeOS by 2027. Huawei claims its app ecosystem will match Android and iOS quality by this month. Whether HarmonyOS can break out of China and compete globally remains the big question — but the fact that it exists at all is one of the more remarkable comebacks in tech.

Global

Twelve years ago, San Francisco’s school district removed Algebra from middle school in the name of equity, hoping to close racial gaps in math achievement. It backfired. Eighth-grade math proficiency dropped from 51% to 40% district-wide, and proficiency among Black students fell from 11% to 4%. Enrollment in advanced high school math, including AP Calculus, also declined. Wealthier families simply hired tutors or enrolled their kids in private programs, widening the gap the policy was supposed to close. In 2024, 82% of San Francisco voters approved a nonbinding measure demanding algebra’s return. On March 24, the school board finally voted 4–3 to bring it back. As one parent group put it: “We’re the center of technological innovation in the United States, and we can’t teach our kids math?”

Economy & Finance

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation and a raise of up to $75 billion, which would make it the largest public offering in financial history. The filing comes two months after SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI company xAI in an all-stock deal valued at $1.25 trillion, merging rockets, Starlink satellite internet, the Grok AI model, and the X social media platform under one roof. A June listing on Nasdaq is reportedly the target. There’s one awkward detail: all eleven of xAI’s original co-founders have since left the company, and Musk has acknowledged the AI division is being “rebuilt from the foundations up.”

Nature & Environment

A humpback whale nicknamed Timmy has been stranded in Germany’s Baltic Sea since early March, and the story has gripped the entire country. The 12-to-15-meter whale likely wandered in while chasing herring and couldn’t find its way back to the Atlantic — a journey of several hundred kilometers through narrow straits. Rescuers tried everything: excavators dug escape channels, boats created waves to guide it, Greenpeace deployed teams. Twice the whale freed itself, only to get stuck again. It also had fishing net tangled in its mouth. On April 1, experts called off all rescue efforts, saying further intervention would only cause more suffering. The story became a national moment in Germany — millions followed every update, every small sign of hope. Sometimes the world stops to care about one lost whale, and that says something worth holding onto.

Science

On April 1, NASA’s Artemis II mission launched four astronauts toward the Moon — the first crewed lunar voyage since Apollo 17 in 1972. The road to launch was rough: the rocket suffered hydrogen fuel leaks during test countdowns in February, then a helium leak in the upper stage forced a rollback to the assembly building, pushing the launch from February to April. Hours after liftoff, the toilet malfunctioned — a jammed fan disabled urine collection for five hours, forcing the crew to resort to backup bags. They fixed it. The spacecraft is now en route to the Moon on a 10-day flyby mission, looping around the far side before returning to Earth. Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, will test docking with SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander in Earth orbit. The actual lunar landing is planned for Artemis IV in 2028, with roughly one landing per year after that.

While NASA’s Artemis II circles the Moon this week, China is quietly building its own path to a crewed lunar landing by 2030. The Chang’e-7 mission, set to launch later this year, will send an orbiter, a lander, and a mini-flying probe to the Moon’s south pole to scout for water ice and resources. A follow-up mission, Chang’e-8, planned for 2028, will test 3D printing on the lunar surface using local materials — a key step toward building a permanent base. China has already tested its new Mengzhou crew capsule and Lanyue lunar lander, and is constructing a launch pad at the Wenchang spaceport in Hainan. If successful, China would become only the second country ever to land humans on the Moon.

Math

In order to be born, you needed:

2 parents
2² = 4 grandparents
2³ = 8 great-grandparents
2⁴ = 16 second great-grandparents
2⁵ = 32 third great-grandparents
2⁶ = 64 fourth great-grandparents
2⁷ = 128 fifth great-grandparents
2⁸ = 256 sixth great-grandparents
2⁹ = 512 seventh great-grandparents
2¹⁰ = 1024 eighth great grandparents
2¹¹ = 2048 ninth great-grandparents

For you to be born today from 12 previous generations, you needed a total of 2¹² = 4096 ancestors over the last 400 years.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Apple turned 50 on April 1, and to celebrate, the company brought Sir Paul McCartney to perform a private concert for employees at Apple Park — the circular headquarters in Cupertino known as “The Spaceship.” McCartney played a 25-song set under the campus’s rainbow arches, covering Beatles classics like “Hey Jude,” “Let It Be,” and “Blackbird,” Wings hits like “Band on the Run,” and his signature pyrotechnics-laden “Live and Let Die.” Employees had to win a lottery just to get in. The choice of McCartney carried extra meaning: The Beatles founded Apple Corps in 1968, eight years before Steve Jobs started Apple Computer. The two Apples famously feuded over the name for decades, settling only in 2007 — just in time for the iPhone to change everything.

Ryan Gosling’s new movie Project Hail Mary — based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel about a schoolteacher launched into space to save Earth — has grossed $300 million worldwide, making it one of the year’s biggest hits. But one of its most talked-about moments has nothing to do with special effects. In a karaoke scene, actress Sandra Hüller belts out Harry Styles’ 2017 hit “Sign of the Times,” and the moment has become the emotional centerpiece of the film. Hüller picked the song herself from a playlist of goodbye songs, then realized the lyrics — “just stop your crying, have the time of your life, breaking through the atmosphere” — fit the story perfectly. She checked with her daughter first to make sure it was still cool. Gosling called it “the anthem of the film,” and even sang it to Styles when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

The video game Elden Ring — a massive open-world fantasy RPG that has sold over 30 million copies since 2022 — is getting a live-action movie. A24 is producing with director Alex Garland, the filmmaker behind Ex Machina and 28 Days Later. Garland pursued the project himself, writing a 160-page script on spec and flying to Japan to pitch the game’s creator Hidetaka Miyazaki in person. Set footage leaked this week on TikTok showing a Statue of Marika and stone ruins that fans say look pulled straight from the game. Filming reportedly starts next week in England. No release date yet, but expect 2027.

April 1 is April Fools’ Day — the one day a year when pranking people is not only acceptable but expected. Nobody knows exactly how it started. The most popular theory traces it to 1582, when France switched to the Gregorian calendar and moved New Year’s Day from late March to January 1. People slow to get the memo became the butt of jokes. In France, tricked people are called poisson d’avril (April fish). In Scotland, it’s a two-day affair — the second day is devoted entirely to butt-related pranks, called Taily Day. Even major corporations get in on it: Google, BMW, and Burger King have all run elaborate fake product launches on April 1.

Sports

[Motorbike] ZXMOTO, a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer founded in Chongqing just two years ago, made history on March 28–29 by winning both races in the World Supersport Championship at the Portimão circuit in Portugal. French rider Valentin Debise dominated on the ZXMOTO 820RR-RS, winning Race 1 by nearly four seconds and taking Race 2 in a tight finish. It was only the brand’s fourth race ever — and its first season competing at this level. The sport has long been dominated by Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Honda. What made it even more striking: the 820RR retails for about $6,000, a fraction of its European and Japanese rivals. But the real story is founder Zhang Xue. Born in 1987 in a village in Hunan province, he had only a junior high school education. At 16 he was repairing motorcycles. At 19 he chased a TV crew for over 100 kilometers in the rain just to get a chance to show off his riding. He raced until he ran out of money, then worked at factories, co-founded another brand called Kove, and finally started ZXMOTO in April 2024. Less than two years later, he was watching his bike win on a world stage, in tears.

[Soccer] The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11 across the US, Canada, and Mexico — the first World Cup with 48 teams, up from 32, the biggest expansion in the tournament’s history. Both Lionel Messi (38) and Cristiano Ronaldo (41) are expected to play in their record-tying sixth World Cup — likely the last for both legends. Meanwhile, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer Neymar, 34, may not even make the squad after two years of injuries. France’s Kylian Mbappé will lead Les Bleus in a group that includes Norway, back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, led by Manchester City’s towering striker Erling Haaland. Spain’s 18-year-old Lamine Yamal will make his World Cup debut as arguably the best player in the world. And Argentina will try to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brazil in 1962.

[Soccer] On March 31, Japan’s Samurai Blue beat England 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, with winger Kaoru Mitoma scoring the only goal. With that, Japan has now beaten seven of the eight nations that have ever won a World Cup — Uruguay, Argentina, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and England. Only Italy remains unchecked, but they have other problems: on the same day Japan was winning at Wembley, Italy lost to Bosnia & Herzegovina in a penalty shootout and failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third straight time — an unprecedented low for a four-time champion. Most of these Japan’s wins came in friendlies, but the Germany and Spain victories were at the 2022 World Cup, and the trend is unmistakable. Coach Hajime Moriyasu has said openly that Japan’s goal is to win the World Cup. Few are laughing anymore. Japan opens their 2026 campaign in Group F against the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden.

[Golf] The Masters tees off at Augusta National on April 9, but the biggest story isn’t on the course. Tiger Woods — 82 PGA Tour wins, 15 major titles, five green jackets, widely considered the greatest golfer ever — will not be there. On March 27, the 50-year-old was involved in a rollover crash near his Florida home and arrested for DUI (Driving Under Influence). Woods has since announced he is stepping away from golf to seek treatment. His body has been breaking down for years: a devastating car crash in 2021, a ruptured Achilles in 2025, seven back surgeries. His last Masters appearance in 2024 ended with his worst score ever as a professional, finishing last among all players who made the cut. He once held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 683 weeks. Today he is ranked 3,736th.

This Day in History

On April 5, 1974, a 26-year-old high school English teacher in Maine named Stephen King published his first novel, Carrie. He had written it on evenings and weekends, working on a secondhand typewriter in the laundry room of a trailer he shared with his wife and two small children. He actually threw the early draft in the trash — his wife Tabitha fished it out and told him to finish it. The book sold a million copies in its first year in paperback and launched one of the most prolific careers in literary history. King has since published over 60 novels and sold more than 350 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling authors of all time. If you’ve seen It, The Shining, Stand by Me, or The Shawshank Redemption — those are all Stephen King.

Art of the Week

In 1076, the Chinese poet Su Shi (苏轼) wrote Shuidiao Getou (水调歌头) during the Mid-Autumn Festival, gazing at a full Moon and missing his brother whom he hadn’t seen in years. The poem’s closing lines have become some of the most quoted in the Chinese language:

人有悲欢离合

月有阴晴圆缺

此事古难全

但愿人长久

千里共婵娟。

The great Chinese writer Lin Yutang (林语堂) translated them as:

But rare is perfect happiness

the moon does wax, the moon does wane

and so men meet and say goodbye

I only pray our life be long

and our souls together heavenward fly!

In Chinese literary tradition, the Moon has always been far more than an astronomical object. For centuries, poets and scholars have turned to it to express longing, solitude, reunion, and the passage of time — making it perhaps the most enduring symbol in all of Chinese literature.

Funny

Previous Issues

March 22, 2026, The Future of SaaS Companies and Knowledge Workers

March 15, 2026, The Unstoppable Kimi

March 07, 2026, Facing the Storm

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · The Future of SaaS Companies and Knowledge Workers

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

Spring break is coming next week. At a birthday party, parents chatted about travel plans. Some are going to Japan for one last ski trip of the season. Some are going to Southeast Asia. Some are going to check off major tourism destination of the bucket list, when the traffic will still be moderate during early April in China. It’s good to stay in the region where we don’t have to worry about missiles or drones flying over our heads.

I’ll be out of town with my family. The Sunday Blender will return on April 5th.

Tech

On March 16, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at a sold-out arena in San Jose for GTC 2026 — the tech world’s biggest AI gathering. His message was staggering: companies will spend $1 trillion buying Nvidia’s AI chips through 2027, double what he predicted just months ago. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly the entire GDP of Indonesia. Huang predicted that “every SaaS company will become an Agent-as-a-Service company” — meaning the software tools we use today, from spreadsheets to project managers, will be replaced by AI agents that do the work themselves instead of helping humans do it. Huang unveiled faster chips, smarter robots, and declared “the ChatGPT moment for autonomous driving is here,” with car makers like BYD, Nissan, and Hyundai building self-driving vehicles on Nvidia technology. The keynote ended with a chorus of Nvidia-powered robots singing on stage.

OpenClaw — the open-source AI agent people in China call “raising a lobster” — had a very public dust-up with Tencent this month. On March 11, Tencent launched SkillHub, which scraped over 13,000 skills from OpenClaw’s marketplace without asking, pushing creator Peter Steinberger’s server bill into five digits. Steinberger fired back on X: “They copy yet they don’t support the project in any way.” Tencent’s reply — claiming SkillHub was just a helpful “localized mirror” — struck many as corporate spin. But as the backlash went viral, Tencent moved fast: within five days, it became an official OpenClaw sponsor, providing free deployment servers across 17 Chinese cities. On March 22, Tencent launched a full WeChat integration QClaw, putting OpenClaw one tap away from over a billion users — turning a bitter rival into its biggest distribution partner in under two weeks.

On March 19, AI coding editor Cursor launched Composer 2, billing it as a major in-house breakthrough that beat Claude Opus 4.6 on coding benchmarks at one-tenth the price. Within hours, a developer spotted the model ID in API traffic: “kimi-k2p5-rl-0317-s515-fast” — pointing straight to Kimi K2.5, an open-source model from Beijing’s Moonshot AI. Elon Musk amplified the finding: “Yeah, it’s Kimi 2.5.” Cursor co-founder Aman Sanger admitted the omission: “It was a miss to not mention Kimi as the base model.” Moonshot AI responded gracefully: “Congratulations to the Cursor team. We’re proud that Kimi K2.5 provides the foundation.” The episode captures a new reality in AI: a $29 billion American coding tool’s flagship product runs on a Chinese open-source model, and the only reason anyone found out is because someone read the fine print.

OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy sparked a firestorm on March 15 with a weekend side project. He “vibe coded” an interactive heatmap scoring 342 U.S. occupations for AI exposure, using Bureau of Labor Statistics data and an AI model to rate each job from 0 (least affected by AI) to 10 (most likely to be reshaped by it) . The results covered 143 million employed workers and painted a stark picture: high-paying white-collar professions — software developers, financial analysts, copywriters — scored 8 or 9, while physical, hands-on jobs scored near zero. Construction laborers, roofers, painters, janitors, and ironworkers all scored just 1. Barbers, bartenders, nursing assistants, and massage therapists scored 2. the Jobs heatmap went viral: AI is reshaping office and screen-based work first, while jobs that require you to physically show up and use your hands remain the safest.

On March 21, Elon Musk officially launched “Terafab” — a vertically integrated chip fabrication project combining logic processing, memory, and advanced packaging under one roof. The facility will be built in Austin, Texas and jointly run by Tesla and SpaceX. Why build your own chip factory? Musk told investors that even the best-case supply from existing chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung won’t be enough for Tesla’s ambitions in self-driving cars, the Optimus humanoid robot, and xAI’s Grok supercomputers. The project carries an estimated cost of around $25 billion and targets production of 100 to 200 billion custom AI chips per year. At its target of one million wafer starts per month by 2030, Terafab would nearly match TSMC’s entire current global output — and TSMC spent decades and tens of billions of dollars building that capacity.

Global

It’s still technically spring, but Southern California feels like summer. A powerful high-pressure system has been pushing temperatures up to 35 degrees above average, shattering records across the region. Burbank hit 98°F, breaking a 1997 record. Idyllwild recorded its hottest March day ever. Woodland Hills saw its earliest-ever 100°F reading, and across four days, 40 daily high-temperature records were broken. San Francisco — a city better known for fog and chilly summers — flirted with nearly 90°F, its hottest March in over two decades. UC Merced climatologist John Abatzoglou called it “an event without precedent in the modern era,” following what NOAA confirmed was the warmest winter on record across a huge portion of the western U.S. The heat is also accelerating snowmelt across the Sierra Nevada, raising concerns about water supply and an earlier wildfire season.

Thirteen parents and a middleman were found guilty in a Hong Kong court of bribing a former administrator at an English Schools Foundation (ESF) international kindergarten to secure priority K1 admission for 12 children. The bribes totaled HK$1.1 million, ranging from HK$20,000 to HK$200,000 per family. The children had all passed their interviews but were placed at the bottom of the waiting list — the bribes bumped them to the front. What makes this case striking is the profile of those involved: these weren’t desperate outsiders — they were affluent, highly educated professionals who knew exactly how Hong Kong’s system works. And Hong Kong is a city famous for its rule of law, where the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) has a decades-long reputation for going after everyone equally, no matter how wealthy or connected. The judge said prison sentences were “inevitable.”

Economy & Finance

Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics has filed for a $610 million IPO on Shanghai’s STAR Market, marking one of China’s biggest onshore tech listings in years. Founded in 2016 by Wang Xingxing, the company rose to fame with affordable quadruped robots before pivoting hard into humanoids. Revenue surged 335% in 2025 to 1.71 billion yuan, with adjusted net profit rising nearly eightfold. Humanoid robots now account for over half of revenue, up from just 27.6% in 2024, driven by the consumer-friendly G1 model. Unitree delivered 5,500 humanoid units last year, claiming the top global spot. Proceeds will fund AI research, new products, and manufacturing expansion — positioning Unitree at the center of China’s embodied intelligence ambitions.

Honda reported its first annual loss in seven decades, announcing up to $15.7 billion in charges after canceling three electric vehicles that were planned for North America. The 0 Series SUV, Saloon, and Acura RSX EVs were scrapped before ever reaching the assembly line. What went wrong? A combination of U.S. tariffs, the reversal of federal EV tax credits, and fierce competition from Chinese EV makers forced Honda to rethink its electrification strategy entirely. Honda isn’t alone — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis have booked similar write-downs, bringing the industry total to about $67 billion. Honda is now pivoting toward hybrids, where its electrified lineup already accounts for over a third of sales, up from just 5% five years ago.

In 1990, a 27-year-old named Zhang Jindong opened a 200-square-meter air conditioning shop in Nanjing called Suning. Over three decades, he built it into China’s retail king — over 1,700 stores, a Fortune 500 company, and a personal fortune of 39.5 billion yuan. Then came catastrophic bets: a 20-billion-yuan gamble on Evergrande that went to zero, reckless expansion into sports, real estate, and e-commerce, and a price war with JD.com he couldn’t win. In early 2026, a Nanjing court finalized the restructuring of 38 Suning companies carrying 2,387 billion yuan in debt. Zhang surrendered everything — stocks, mansions, art collections — keeping only a 68-square-meter walk-up apartment, a social security card, and a health insurance card. Unlike many tycoons who hid assets or fled the country, Zhang chose to face his creditors and take full responsibility — a rare act in Chinese business that earned him respect even in defeat.

Nature & Environment

In mid-March 2026, a slow-moving Kona Low stalled northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, unleashing six days of torrential rain, wind gusts up to 135 mph, and catastrophic flooding across every major island. Honolulu shattered a 75-year-old rainfall record, while parts of Maui received 46 inches over five days. Over 130,000 customers lost power at the storm’s peak, and Governor Josh Green warned of potentially $1 billion in damage. The century-old Wahiawa Dam on Oahu rose to imminent failure risk as water levels surpassed the spillway, threatening 2,500 lives downstream. Investigations revealed owner Dole Food Co. had ignored decades of state warnings about the dam’s inadequate spillway, turning a weather disaster into a mounting infrastructure crisis.

Science

DNA is written in five chemical “letters” called nucleobases — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. Scientists announced on March 16 that all five have been found in rock samples from Ryugu, a near-Earth asteroid, about 900 meters wide, orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mars. They were collected by Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft during a six-year, 300-million-kilometer round trip. Because asteroids like Ryugu formed 4.6 billion years ago when the planets were being born, and have remained largely unchanged since, the discovery offers a window into the chemistry that existed at the dawn of our solar system. NASA found the same building blocks on asteroid Bennu, and they’ve turned up in meteorites that fell in France and Australia. This “does not mean that life existed on Ryugu,” lead author Toshiki Koga said. “Instead, their presence indicates that primitive asteroids could produce and preserve molecules important for the origin of life.” The implication is staggering: life on Earth may not have started here — it may have been delivered by rocks falling from space billions of years ago.

Math

What is the value of ?

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

The 98th Academy Awards on March 15 crowned One Battle After Another as Best Picture, but the night’s most lovable storyline belonged to songwriter Diane Warren. With her 17th consecutive loss in Best Original Song, Warren now holds the record for the most Oscar nominations without a competitive win. Warren is the powerhouse behind iconic hits like Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and Tony Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart” — songs that defined entire movie moments and topped charts worldwide. Warren took it in stride, declaring she’d rather have the title of “biggest loser ever” than a single win, posting: “Well at least I’m consistent!” A legend who proves showing up matters more than trophies.

Forty years after young warriors in constellation armor first captivated readers, creator Masami Kurumada has announced Saint Seiya: Tenkai-hen (“The Heavens Arc”), launching May 14, 2026 in Weekly Shonen Champion. The franchise, which first appeared in 1985 and has over 50 million copies in circulation, follows mystical Saints who wear sacred armor to protect the goddess Athena — a story built on friendship, sacrifice, and burning through impossible odds with sheer willpower. Now 72, Kurumada is finally delivering the heavenly realm storyline fans have waited decades for. Saint Seiya is one of the most popular anime of all time worldwide, especially in Europe and Latin America, where it rivals Dragon Ball Z — in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, it shaped an entire generation’s relationship with anime and manga.

Andy Weir — the author behind The Martian, the 2015 blockbuster starring Matt Damon — is back with Project Hail Mary, about a schoolteacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory and a mission to save Earth. The film hit theaters on March 20 starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The results are spectacular: it opened to $80.6 million domestically, the biggest launch of 2026 and the best opening ever for Amazon MGM Studios. Critics gave it a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, calling it “a near-miraculous fusion of smarts and heart.” It’s now the second-best opening for a non-franchise film ever, just behind Oppenheimer. The hero is a science teacher who uses biology, physics, and problem-solving to save humanity — and the alien friendship at the story’s center is one of the best in all of science fiction.

Sports

[Soccer] The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals are set, and they’re loaded. Barcelona demolished Newcastle 7-2 in the second leg (8-3 on aggregate), Bayern Munich crushed Atalanta 4-1 (10-2 on aggregate), and Liverpool steamrolled Galatasaray 4-0. Two English giants were sent home: Chelsea fell 0-3 to PSG (2-8 on aggregate), and Manchester City lost 1-2 to Real Madrid (1-5 on aggregate). The quarter-final matchups are now: Sporting CP vs Arsenal, Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Barcelona vs Atlético de Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain vs Liverpool — with first legs on April 7-8. The final is scheduled for May 30 at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. Barcelona and Bayern look devastating, Real Madrid are doing what they always do in this tournament, and Liverpool are quietly building a case as the most complete team left standing.

[Table Tennis] The German Tischtennis Bundesliga has been the strongest table tennis league in Europe since 1966, and Borussia Düsseldorf is its most dominant club — holders of a record 34 league titles and 12 Champions League trophies, more than any club in competition history. Saarbrücken has emerged as their chief rival, with the two meeting in four consecutive Bundesliga finals. Düsseldorf just announced the signing of Chinese superstar Fan Zhendong on a one-year contract for the 2026/27 season, sending shockwaves through European table tennis. The nine-time World Champion and former world number one for over 250 weeks will leave current club Saarbrücken, where he led the squad to the German Cup title in January. Saarbrücken expressed disappointment but gratitude, while Düsseldorf instantly becomes the Bundesliga and Champions League favorite heading into next season.

[Snooker] British snooker superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan made history on Friday with a break of 153 against Ryan Day at the 2026 World Open — the highest ever in professional snooker. In snooker, a “maximum” break is 147, but a rare free ball rule let O’Sullivan effectively create an extra red at the start of the frame, opening the door to surpass it. The achievement eclipses Jamie Burnett’s 148 from 2004, a record that stood for 22 years. At 50, O’Sullivan already holds records for most world titles (7, tied), most ranking titles (41), most maximum 147 breaks (17), and the fastest maximum — five minutes and eight seconds, unbeaten for 28 years. As fellow champion Neil Robertson put it: “The best ever and the best there ever will be.”

[[Baseball] On January 3, 2026, the U.S. military launched strikes across Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro in a predawn raid on his compound in Caracas. Ten weeks later, Venezuela’s baseball team arrived in Miami for the World Baseball Classic — in the backyard of 250,000 Venezuelan expatriates. Their first target: defending champion Japan, stacked with MLB superstars including four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The game opened with fireworks as Venezuela’s Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ohtani traded lead-off home runs in the first inning. Japan built a 5-2 lead, but their bullpen collapsed — Wilyer Abreu hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth, and the eight runs were the most Japan have ever conceded in a single WBC game. It was Japan’s worst-ever finish in tournament history. Venezuela then beat dark horse Italy in the semis before facing star-studded Team USA in the final. Bryce Harper hit a dramatic game-tying two-run homer in the eighth — but Venezuela answered in the ninth when Eugenio Suárez doubled in the winning run for a 3-2 victory. After the final out, the team sang their national anthem in tears on the center field stage, with thousands of Venezuelan fans weeping alongside them. This was Venezuela’s first WBC title and their first baseball world championship since 1945. For a country in political turmoil, it was a moment that transcended baseball.

This Day in History

On March 22, 1934, a new golf tournament teed off in Augusta, Georgia, USA — and quietly changed the sport forever. Founded by legendary amateur Bobby Jones on the site of a former plant nursery, Augusta National hosted what became the Masters — one of golf’s four major championships and the only one played at the same course every year. Today it’s golf’s most sacred ground: membership is invitation-only with no application process, and even three-time champion Gary Player was recently denied a tee time with his grandsons. Volunteers who work the full Masters week earn a rare reward — one round on “Appreciation Day.” For everyone else, Augusta remains a beautiful, tantalizing dream behind locked gates.

Art of the Week

Around 1831, a 70-year-old Japanese artist created what has been called “possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art.” Katsushika Hokusai had spent decades in obscurity, changed his name over 30 times, and moved house 93 times. Just before his masterpiece, he’d suffered a stroke, lost his wife, and was nearly broke — writing: “No money, no clothing, barely enough to eat.” Then came The Great Wave off Kanagawa: a towering wall of water about to swallow three fishing boats, with sacred Mount Fuji sitting tiny and calm in the distance. The massive wave dwarfs the mountain through dramatic perspective — nature’s fury frozen in the instant before the crash. The composition fused Japanese and European techniques, and went on to inspire Van Gogh’s swirling skies, Monet’s landscapes, and Debussy’s La Mer. On his deathbed at 88, Hokusai reportedly said: “If only Heaven will give me just another ten years…” Proof that it’s never too late to make something the whole world remembers.

Funny

Previous Issues

March 15, 2026, The Unstoppable Kimi

March 07, 2026, Facing the Storm

March 01, 2026, The Making of a Hero

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The Sunday Blender · The Unstoppable Kimi

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

On Friday afternoon, I was driving to Qiantan, Shanghai to drop off my boy to a STEAM class. I don’t drive often. It felt good to take a ride out every now and then.

AMAP, the leading map service in China owned by tech giant Alibaba, gave me the usual directions from my iPhone in the Tesla. It was doing the usual “please turn right at the next junction” or “please keep going straight on this road for the next 1.2 km”, etc.

Then, suddenly and subtly, it said:

“According to your usual driving behavior, you might want to take the second lane on the right …”.

I was like, what?! How.do.you.know.THAT?

Obviously, now I think about it, this is pretty easy for Alibaba to do - it can record all my driving activities, including which lane I usually take and give me tailor-made advice.

But honestly, I wish it didn’t do that. The machine knows too much about me.

The trend is going the other way though. Kimi just became an $18 billion unicorn in record time, thanks to the worldwide phenomenon of OpenClaw, which allows everyone to delegate many daily tasks to AI agents, by giving intimate personal information to the machine. OpenClaw meetups or bonanza are spreading to major tech hub cities in China.

Are we going too far?

Tech

Nvidia is committing $26 billion over the next five years to build open-weight AI models — the largest investment in open-source AI development in history. Confirmed via SEC filings and reported by Wired, the move transforms the GPU giant from a pure chipmaker into a frontier AI lab. The timing is strategic: Chinese labs like DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen have dominated the open-model landscape while major U.S. players keep their best models proprietary. Nvidia has already released Nemotron 3 Super, a 128-billion-parameter model optimized for its hardware. America is back in the open-source AI race — and Jensen Huang is writing the check.

Beijing-based Moonshot AI, the Chinese AI foundation model company behind the open-source Kimi large language models, has become the fastest Chinese company ever to reach decacorn status — a valuation exceeding $10 billion — achieving the milestone in roughly two years, outpacing even ByteDance and Pinduoduo. And it’s not stopping there: the company is now seeking up to $1 billion in an expanded funding round that would value it at approximately $18 billion, more than quadrupling its valuation in just three months. Alibaba and Tencent are among the backers fueling the frenzy. The explosive growth was driven by the launch of Kimi Claw, powered by the K2.5 model — after which Moonshot’s monthly sales exceeded its total revenue for all of 2025. Founded in March 2023 by former Tsinghua professor Yang Zhilin, the company’s name was inspired by rock band Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon — Yang’s favorite album. From $300 million seed valuation to $18 billion in under three years: Moonshot is rewriting the rules of AI fundraising.

The gaming world’s biggest developer gathering, GDC (Game Developer Conference), took place in San Francisco from March 9-13. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a dark fantasy RPG from small French studio Sandfall Interactive, dominated the Game Developers Choice Awards with five wins including Game of the Year, Best Debut, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative, and Best Audio. The game is a loving evolution of the classic Japanese RPG genre with a distinctly French-inspired aesthetic — proof that a tiny debut studio can outshine industry giants. Meanwhile, NVIDIA and CD PROJEKT RED announced a collaboration to integrate a new RTX Mega Geometry foliage system into the massively anticipated The Witcher 4, promising path-traced environments with millions of detailed plants and trees — a glimpse of how next-gen games will look.

Global

Every spring, millions of people across India and around the world celebrate Holi — the Hindu Festival of Colours. This year it fell on March 3-4. Friends, families, and complete strangers take to the streets to throw brightly colored powders and splash colored water at each other in a joyful, messy, rainbow-hued free-for-all. Nobody is spared — not your neighbor, not your teacher, not even your grandma. The festival celebrates the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil. During Holi, differences in age and background melt away as everyone becomes equally drenched in pink, purple, yellow, and green. If you ever get the chance to experience it, wear white — it won’t stay white for long.

Imagine cycling across the sea on a 70-kilometer path that hops between six islands, crossing soaring suspension bridges with the sparkling Seto Inland Sea stretching out below you. That’s the Shimanami Kaido — Japan’s most famous cycling route, connecting Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture to Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. And right now is the perfect time to ride it: cherry blossoms typically bloom along the route in late March to early April, lining the island roads and bridge approaches in soft pink. The entire path is marked with a blue line painted on the road, so you literally just follow it — no getting lost. Along the way, expect fishing villages, citrus groves, fresh seafood lunches, and views that will make you forget to pedal.

On March 20, over 300 million people worldwide will celebrate Nowruz — the Persian New Year marking the first day of spring. With roots stretching back over 3,000 years to ancient Persia, it’s one of the oldest celebrations in human history. Nowruz is the biggest holiday of the year in Iran — but it’s also widely celebrated across Afghanistan, Central Asia, Kurdistan, Turkey, and Persian-speaking communities on every continent. Families set a special “Haft-Seen” table with seven symbolic items that all start with the letter “S” in Persian — including sprouted wheatgrass for rebirth, garlic for health, and vinegar for patience. Kids jump over bonfires in the days before Nowruz to symbolize leaving the old year’s darkness behind. The holiday ends thirteen days later with “Sizdah Bedar” — Nature Day — when the entire country heads outdoors for a massive nationwide picnic.

Economy & Finance

Dubai’s real estate market has been hammered by the US-Israeli-Iran war, with the DFM (Dubai Financial Market) Real Estate Index plunging roughly 30% since February 28 — falling from 16,140 to around 11,500, its lowest level since April 2025. The index had delivered extraordinary gains — 63% in 2024, 38% in 2023 — before war erased all 2025 and 2026 gains in just two weeks. Iranian retaliatory strikes hit UAE soil, damaging landmarks including the Burj Al Arab and Fairmont The Palm, shattering Dubai’s “safe haven” image. Industry insiders insist long-term fundamentals remain intact, but the psychological blow to investor confidence is undeniable. A seismic moment for the Gulf’s hottest property market.

Nature & Environment

A rare mountain lion standoff in San Francisco ended peacefully on January 27, after a 30-hour search involving multiple city and state agencies. The 77-pound, two-year-old male was spotted roaming the wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood near Lafayette Park, prompting emergency alerts and temporary closures of the park and a nearby school. Officials eventually found the cat hiding in a courtyard between two apartment buildings on California Street, where it was tranquilized and safely caged. The cougar was later released into the Santa Cruz Mountains, fitted with a GPS tracking collar. Experts say young mountain lions increasingly wander into the city after separating from their mothers, as shrinking habitat on the peninsula pushes them northward.

Every winter, hundreds of thousands of flamingos fly from Siberia and Central Asia to Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, turning India’s largest inland salt lake into a spectacular sea of pink. The birds feed on algae in the shallow, salty water — the same algae that gives flamingos their famous pink color. A January 2025 census counted over 100,000 migratory birds at the lake, a massive jump from just 7,000 the year before. Sambhar sits along the Central Asian Flyway — one of the world’s great bird migration highways. From October to March, so many flamingos pack the lake that it earns the nickname “India’s Pink Lake” — visible from satellite images, the sheer density of pink turning an entire landscape into something that looks more like another planet than Rajasthan.

Science

March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day — a celebration of π, the number that begins 3.14159… and never ends. Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, meaning every circle in the universe — from a pizza to a planet’s orbit — follows this exact same number. First calculated by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes over 2,000 years ago, it has since been computed to over 100 trillion digits without ever finding a pattern or an end. People celebrate by eating pie, holding digit-memorizing competitions, and geeking out over math. The world record for reciting pi from memory? 70,000 digits by India’s Rajveer Meena in 2015 — that took nearly 10 hours.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

What is the total weight in the last picture?

When conductor Teodor Currentzis cancelled his March 5–7 Rome concerts due to illness, pianist Yuja Wang (王羽佳) seized the moment — transforming a scheduling crisis into a landmark event. Returning to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia after a nine-year absence, Wang performed double duty: playing Barber’s Piano Concerto under substitute conductor Eric Jacobsen in the first half, then assuming the dual role of soloist and conductor for Prokofiev’s ferociously difficult Piano Concerto No. 2. Directing the orchestra from the keyboard in one of the repertoire’s most punishing scores, Wang delivered three nights of what Italian critics called a potentially legendary event.

Tencent’s tactical shooter Delta Force, developed by its Team Jade studio, has exploded into one of China’s biggest games ever. The game recently hit 30 million daily active players in China alone, rivaling global giants like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Players have spent over $300 million on the mobile version in just five months. Tencent has now launched a 24-team esports Pro League featuring China’s top gaming organizations, with a World Cup planned for later this year. The game’s success has prompted a major strategic shift at Tencent, with executives seeing a change in Chinese gamer tastes from mobile-first casual gaming toward PC and shooters — a category long dominated by Western studios. Delta Force may be the first Chinese-made shooter to seriously challenge that order.

Sports

[Racing] Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian sensation, claimed his first ever Formula 1 victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, becoming the second youngest race winner in the sport’s history — only Max Verstappen was younger when he first won. After becoming the youngest ever pole-sitter on Saturday — breaking Sebastian Vettel’s 2008 record — Antonelli briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton at the start but retook it before the end of lap two and was never headed again, finishing 5.5 seconds clear of teammate George Russell. He is also the first Italian to win an F1 race since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix — a twenty-year wait for the country that gave the world Ferrari. Hamilton completed the podium, taking his first Grand Prix rostrum for Ferrari. Antonelli only passed his regular driving test six weeks before his F1 debut, and Mercedes gave him a road car he can’t legally drive in Italy because it’s too powerful for new licence holders. Though he can win at 350km/h, he can’t drive himself home. Mercedes now hold a commanding 1-2 in the championship after just two races. A star is born.

[Rugby] The Six Nations Championship — Europe’s premier annual rugby union tournament featuring England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales — delivered high drama on its Super Saturday finale. Wales ended a 15-match losing streak spanning 1,099 days with a commanding 31-17 victory over Italy at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. The tournament, contested every spring since 2000 in its current six-team format (and dating back to 1883 as the Home Nations), remains one of rugby’s most storied competitions. Aaron Wainwright starred with two tries as Wales built an insurmountable 31-0 lead before Italy’s late consolation scores. A cathartic day for Welsh rugby.

[NCAA] Fourth-seeded Dayton pulled off a stunning 70-69 upset of top-seeded Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinal at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, delivering one of the wildest finishes of Championship Week. Three lead changes in the final 11 seconds told the story: Jacob Conner drilled a deep three to put Dayton ahead 68-66, then A-10 Player of the Year Robbie Avila answered with a clutch three of his own to reclaim the lead 69-68 for the Billikens (Saint Louis’ mascot) with 6.6 seconds left. On the final play, Jordan Derkack drove to the rim but his layup fell short — only for Amaël L’Etang to tip in the putback with 0.6 seconds remaining, sealing a 70-69 Dayton win. Pure March Madness.

[NBA] Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards on March 10, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 for the second-highest single-game total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 - both considered impossible to break. But the achievement sparked fierce debate. Adebayo’s 43 free-throw attempts set an all-time NBA record, and the Heat intentionally fouled the Wizards multiple times late in a blowout to create extra possessions. Adding to the controversy: Adebayo averages just 20.0 points per game this season — a solid center known more for defense and rebounding than elite scoring. For many fans, the spectacle encapsulates everything wrong with today’s NBA: a foul-baiting, free-throw-laden stat chase replacing the beautiful, flow-driven basketball that made legends like Kobe transcendent. When records are engineered rather than earned, the game loses a little of its soul.

[NBA] Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (“SGA”) broke a record held by Wilt Chamberlain for over six decades, scoring 20+ points for his 127th consecutive game in a 104-102 win over Boston Celtics on March 13. Yet even on his historic night, the controversy followed. Celtics star Jaylen Brown shouted “That’s not basketball!” after a foul call on SGA, and the reigning MVP has faced constant “free-throw merchant” chants on the road from fans who see his game — the foul-drawing, the arm extensions, the contact manipulation — as boring or mechanical. Undeniably dominant, yet polarizing — a historic week for the NBA record books that leaves fans debating not just who’s the best, but what kind of basketball they actually want to watch.

[Soccer] Federico Valverde struck the first hat-trick of his career as Real Madrid swept aside Manchester City 3-0 in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu. Right foot, left foot, volley — all three goals came within a devastating 22-minute first-half blitz, completing only the fifth first-half hat-trick in Champions League knockout history. With Mbappé, Bellingham, and Rodrygo all injured, Madrid needed someone to step up — and the Uruguayan midfielder delivered emphatically. Remarkably, the hat-trick was no one-off: Valverde has now scored five goals across three consecutive games, adding a last-gasp winner at Celta Vigo and a curling strike against Elche in Saturday’s 4-1 La Liga win. Not bad for a midfielder not known as a goalscorer.

[Badminton] Lin Chun-yi (林俊易) made history on March 9 by becoming the first Taiwanese player to win the men’s singles title at the All England Open, badminton’s oldest and most prestigious tournament, dating back to 1899. The 26-year-old left-hander defeated India’s Lakshya Sen 21-15, 22-20 in a grueling 57-minute final in Birmingham. After trailing 4-9 in the second game, Lin clawed back and converted his second match point, collapsing onto the court in celebration before tossing his jersey and racket to fans. It was a golden day for Taiwanese badminton overall — Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan (葉宏蔚/詹又蓁) also took the mixed doubles title, giving the island two crowns at a single All England for the first time.

[Cycling] Jonas Vingegaard has crushed the 2026 Paris-Nice field in his first race of the season, allaying any doubts about his ambitions after a difficult winter. The two-time Tour de France champion won two stages, including a devastating 20km solo attack on stage 5 that left even teammate Victor Campenaerts declaring “Jonas just destroyed everybody.” Heading into Sunday’s final stage around Nice, the Dane holds a commanding 3:22 lead over Dani Martínez — a margin almost unheard of in a race typically decided by seconds. After Tadej Pogačar swept the Giro-Tour double last year in historically dominant fashion, the cycling world wondered who could challenge the Slovenian in 2026. Vingegaard’s Paris-Nice demolition job is a compelling answer — the sport’s greatest rivalry isn’t over yet.

This Day in History

On March 15 in the year 3019 of the Third Age in Lord of the Rings, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields erupts outside Minas Tirith, the great city of Gondor, as the dark lord Sauron’s army smashes through its gates at dawn. All hope seems lost. Then, just as the sun rises, horns echo across the hills — the Riders of Rohan have arrived! In the battle that follows, brave Éowyn and the hobbit Merry do the impossible: they slay the Witch-king, whom no man can kill (Éowyn’s famous reply: “I am no man!”). King Théoden falls heroically, and Aragorn arrives with reinforcements to turn the tide against Sauron’s forces. Meanwhile, far away in Mordor, Frodo and Sam escape captivity and begin their final trek toward Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Three great battles rage simultaneously across Middle-earth on this single day. It’s basically the Lord of the Rings equivalent of the Avengers assembling — except Tolkien wrote it first!

Art of the Week

In 1949, Spanish artist Pablo Picasso drew a simple, beautiful lithograph of a white dove for the Paris World Peace Congress — and it became one of the most recognized symbols of peace in history. The story behind it is personal: Picasso’s father was a painter who loved pigeons, and young Pablo grew up sketching them as a boy in Málaga, Spain. His friend, the French poet Louis Aragon, chose the image for the congress poster, and it spread worldwide. Picasso later named his daughter “Paloma” — Spanish for “dove.” Today, with conflict raging across the Middle East, Picasso’s The Dove feels more relevant than ever. Sometimes the most powerful message comes not from words or weapons, but from a simple drawing of a bird carrying hope.

Funny

Previous Issues

March 07, 2026, Facing the Storm

March 01, 2026, The Making of a Hero

February 21, 2026, Celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse

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The Sunday Blender · Facing the Storm

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

My mother is a retired professor in translatology - the science of translation, interpreting, and localization. She has taught many students who have become English professors and teachers.

Right before the Lunar New Year, she received a greeting letter from her university congratulating that the book she wrote many years ago, “Chinese to English Translation Course Guide”, has been selected into the list of 38 national-level course guides for undergraduate study by the Ministry of Education of China.

This is heart-warming, a great recognition for my mother’s decades of work.

Though the timing is a bit ironic. Some universities have recently stopped teaching translatology. Translation was the first industry that got hit pretty hard when this wave of AI revolution arrived in late 2022 with the launch of chatGPT. Many in the industry think that machines can do translation better than humans.

That would start an endless debate, but maybe a more practical question is, how can we use AI’s power for translation to work for us?

The Sunday Blender is one such experiment. Many interesting stories are discovered originally in Chinese news media, and I just asked Claude to draft an English write-up.

Hope you enjoy this hybrid work of machine and man. You can forward this to another family with curious kids if you find it helpful. Thank you!

Tech

Apple did something different this week — no keynote, no livestream. Instead, it rolled out products over several days, saving the star for last: the MacBook Neo, its most affordable laptop ever at $599. Powered by an iPhone chip and available in four fun colors, it’s Apple’s first real play at the budget market. The week also brought the iPhone 17e with an A19 chip, faster MacBook Air and Pro models, a refreshed iPad Air, and two new Studio Displays. Apple even accidentally leaked the MacBook Neo’s name early — a rare slip for the famously secretive company.

AI needs a lot of electricity — and people are starting to feel it in their power bills. On March 4, seven of the world’s biggest tech companies — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI — signed a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” at the White House, promising to build or buy their own power supply for AI data centers instead of relying on local electricity grids. AI data centers currently consume about 4% to 6% of U.S. electricity but are projected to reach as high as 12% by 2028. The race to secure power is already underway: Microsoft has signed a $1.6 billion deal to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island, Meta locked in 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power from Illinois, and Amazon is buying nearly 2 gigawatts from a Pennsylvania nuclear plant. One thing is becoming clear: the AI race isn’t just about who builds the smartest model — it’s about who can keep the lights on.

On March 2, Anthropic’s popular AI assistant Claude went down for nearly three hours, and something funny happened — millions of software engineers suddenly couldn’t do their jobs. Many developers have become so used to AI helping them write code that when Claude disappeared, they were stuck. Social media filled with jokes about programmers forgetting how to code on their own. The outage was caused by “unprecedented demand” — too many people trying to use Claude at once after it shot to the top of the App Store. It was a reminder of how quickly we’ve come to depend on AI tools, and how lost we can feel when they’re taken away — even for the people who build technology for a living.

Just a year after China’s DeepSeek shook up the American AI scene, the favor is being returned. OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger and recently acquired by OpenAI, has sparked an intense development frenzy across China’s tech sector. Unlike chatbots that just talk, OpenClaw actually does things — managing emails, browsing the web, and automating tasks on your computer. Chinese AI companies like MiniMax and Moonshot AI are racing to offer their own cloud-based versions, a booming side hustle has emerged around on-site installation services charging 500 yuan a visit, and developer meetups in Beijing are drawing crowds of 300. Could this be AI’s iPhone 4 moment — the point where it stops being a novelty and starts becoming part of everyday life?

Alibaba’s Qwen team released its Qwen 3.5 model family in February and March 2026, and it immediately shook up the AI landscape. The small model series — spanning 0.8B, 2B, 4B, and 9B parameters — was designed from the ground up for efficiency rather than distilled from larger models, using a clever design that squeezes maximum intelligence out of minimal computing power. The 9B variant scored 70.1 on visual reasoning benchmarks, outperforming cloud-based models from Google and OpenAI. Community members reported the 2B model running smoothly on iPhones at 30–50 tokens per second. For a growing number of developers and hobbyists, running capable AI on personal devices is starting to feel like a real option.

Global

The 350-kilometer railway connecting Budapest and Belgrade is set to fully open in March 2026, capping off a decade of planning and construction. The modernized line will cut travel time between the two capitals from a grueling eight hours to roughly three and a quarter hours, with trains reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h on the Serbian section. The project is a flagship piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to link the Chinese-operated Port of Piraeus in Greece with Central Europe. Freight traffic on the Hungarian section launched in late February, with passenger services expected to follow shortly after.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a video of himself tasting the chain’s new Big Arch burger — and it backfired spectacularly. Speaking in monotone, he repeatedly called it a “product,” and when he finally took a bite, it was tiny. The internet had a field day. Burger King then posted a clip of its president Tom Curtis, taking a massive bite out of a Whopper, wearing a “Flame Grilling Since 1954” apron and working the kitchen — a sharp contrast to Kempczinski’s boardroom vibe. Wendy’s president then jumped in too, filming himself eating an entire burger. Who knew a single bite — or lack thereof — could start a fast-food war?

Between 1508 and 1512, Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, producing one of the most celebrated works of art in history. The ceiling features nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, including the iconic Creation of Adam. He later returned to paint the Last Judgment on the altar wall, completing it in 1541 — a dramatic scene depicting the second coming of Christ. But over the centuries, the millions who came to admire his work left something behind. Tiny particles from human perspiration reacted with the plaster walls, forming a white film that gradually dulled the fresco’s vibrant colors. With five to six million visitors passing through each year, Vatican restorers are now carefully cleaning the buildup — using special paper and purified water to gently lift the residue away, revealing Michelangelo’s original colors for the first time in 30 years. The work is expected to be completed by early April.

Economy & Finance

Shanghai-based MiniMax made history earlier this year as the largest IPO among AI foundation model companies when it listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January. On March 2, it released its first-ever earnings report — what analysts called “the AI industry’s first open book.” Revenue hit $79 million in 2025, up 159% year over year, with over 70% coming from international markets. The company has served 236 million users across 200 countries. A four-year-old startup with just 428 employees, MiniMax’s market cap now sits at around HK$227 billion (~$29 billion) — already approaching that of Baidu, a tech giant that took over two decades to build.

American payment technology company Block just reported strong fourth-quarter results, with gross profit up 24% year over year. And yet, CEO Jack Dorsey cut more than 4,000 employees, nearly half its global workforce, taking it from over 10,000 down to just under 6,000. This wasn’t a panic move — it was a bet. Dorsey argued that AI tools and smaller, flatter teams are fundamentally changing how companies operate, and he chose to act now rather than make repeated rounds of cuts as the shift plays out. He went further, predicting most companies will eventually do the same. Whether he’s right or premature, the message is clear: the age of agentic AI is rewriting how businesses think about headcount.

Nature & Environment

Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth — so dry that NASA uses it to test its Mars rovers. But beneath its barren surface, life is thriving. An international team of scientists discovered surprisingly diverse communities of nematodes — tiny worms invisible to the naked eye — living in the desert’s soil. The team collected hundreds of soil samples and found 36 different groups of nematodes across sand dunes, salt flats, mountain zones, and fog-fed oases. In the harshest zones, many of these worms reproduce without needing a mate — a clever survival trick. Even in the most extreme places, life finds a way.

Science

The United Nations released a report on Friday showing that international patent applications in digital communications and semiconductors surged in 2025, driven by the global rush to invest in artificial intelligence. China topped the world rankings with 73,718 filings, a 5.3% increase from the year before, followed by the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Germany. Patents are like official claims on new inventions — when someone comes up with something new, they file a patent to protect the idea. U.S. patent filings continued to slide for the third straight year, while China’s Huawei held its spot as the world’s top corporate filer since 2017.

Deep beneath the hills of southern China, 700 meters underground, sits one of the most ambitious science experiments on Earth. The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory — or JUNO — is the world’s largest transparent spherical detector, built to study neutrinos, tiny “ghost particles” that pass through everything, including you, by the trillions every second. The project cost around 2.7 billion yuan and brings together over 700 scientists from 74 institutions across 17 countries — with about 40% of the team coming from outside China. In just 59 days of operation, JUNO measured two key properties of neutrinos with greater precision than the previous 50 years of experiments combined. It’s a powerful reminder that the biggest questions about our universe can only be answered when countries work together.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

March 4 marked World Obesity Day, and this year’s theme — “8 Billion Reasons to Act on Obesity” — hit close to home, especially for kids. Childhood obesity rates among school-aged children have surged from 4% in 1975 to nearly 20% in 2022, with the steepest rises in lower-income countries. By 2035, half the world’s population — around 4 billion people — is projected to be living with overweight or obesity. Small habits make a big difference — drinking more water instead of sugary drinks, staying active for at least 30 minutes a day, eating more fruits and vegetables, and cutting back on screen time. Your body will thank you later.

China’s short drama industry hit new heights this Lunar New Year. During the Spring Festival window, short dramas racked up 8.67 billion views, with AI-generated comic dramas accounting for nearly 30% of the total. Among those, AI “hyper-realistic” dramas — featuring lifelike digital actors instead of real ones — contributed over 80% of AI comic drama views. One title, produced by a three-person team in just five days, crossed 200 million views in 29 hours. With production costs expected to drop from over a million yuan to as low as 100,000, industry insiders are calling 2026 the breakout year for AI-generated dramas.

When Formula 1, Disney, and Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster team up, you get something wild. The 2026 Circuit Collection features eight styles of sunglasses that reinterpret the structural language of racing cars through Gentle Monster’s unique design lens. The standout F1-Wing 4 takes its shape directly from the front wings and air ducts of an F1 car, with sharp wraparound frames that look like they belong on the starting grid. Three of the eight designs are inspired by Disney’s Mickey and Friends, blending playfulness with full-throttle mechanical energy. Pop-ups in Seoul and Shanghai will feature a monumental Mickey Mouse sculpture standing next to an actual F1 car. Racing aesthetics have never looked this cool off the track.

Sports

[NBA] LeBron James added another chapter to his legendary career on Thursday, March 6, 2025, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals made in NBA history. James hit a turnaround 12-foot jumper over Denver’s Zeke Nnaji with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, giving him 15,838 career field goals. Abdul-Jabbar had held the record since retiring in 1989 — nearly 37 years. The milestone came during his remarkable 23rd season in the league. James already holds the all-time scoring record, having passed Abdul-Jabbar for that mark back in February 2023. The record-breaking night was bittersweet, though — the Lakers still lost 120-113 to the Nuggets, with James also leaving the game with a sore left elbow.

[NBA] Luka Doncic put on an absolute masterclass Friday night, erupting for 44 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists in just three quarters as the Lakers cruised past the Pacers 128–117. He drilled seven three-pointers on 14-of-25 shooting before sitting out the entire fourth quarter. With LeBron James resting, Doncic carried the offensive load from the jump, and the performance marked his 10th 40-point game of the season — making him only the fourth Laker to reach that milestone, joining Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West. He also leads the NBA in 40-point games this season, surpassing Anthony Edwards. Doncic is playing at a level this season that puts him in the company of legends — and he’s making it look effortless.

[Soccer] Barcelona came agonizingly close to pulling off a miracle. Trailing 4-0 from the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Atletico Madrid, Barça stormed out at Camp Nou and delivered one of their best performances of the season. 18-year-old Marc Bernal scored twice and Raphinha converted a penalty to make it 3-0 on the night — just one goal short of forcing extra time. Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso made several crucial saves, and Lamine Yamal curled a late strike just past the far post in the dying seconds. Atletico held on to advance 4-3 on aggregate, reaching the Copa del Rey final for the first time in 13 years.

[Tennis] Venus Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Together with her younger sister Serena, the two dominated women’s tennis for over two decades, winning a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles. Now 45, Venus never officially retired — but she took a 16-month break due to health issues before returning to the tour last July, where she won her comeback match in Washington D.C. Since that lone win, however, things have been rough. Her first-round loss at Indian Wells this week extended her losing streak to eight consecutive matches. In 2026, she’s 0-5, falling in the opening round at every tournament entered. At 45, with nothing left to prove, Venus Williams keeps showing up, just for the love of the game.

This Day in History

On March 7, 1082, the famous Chinese poet Su Dongpo was out walking with friends when a sudden rainstorm hit. Everyone panicked — but not Su Dongpo. He strolled calmly through the rain, singing and tapping his bamboo walking stick. When the sun came out, he wrote a poem called “Calming Wind and Waves” (定风波), about how rain and sunshine are really no different — what matters is how you face the storm. At the time, Su Dongpo was living in exile after being punished for criticizing the government through his poetry. He was so poor he divided his savings into daily portions hung on a string. Yet he found joy in simple things — farming, cooking, and writing some of China’s greatest poems. Nearly a thousand years later, his words still inspire millions across Asia. The image of Su Dongpo smiling in the rain has been painted again and again by artists through the centuries, and the poem is memorized by schoolchildren across China to this day. His message? Don’t let life’s storms get you down.

Art of the Week

Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, Casablanca is set during World War II in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca — a real-life crossroads where refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe gathered, hoping to secure passage to freedom in the Americas. It’s in this desperate, uncertain setting that Rick, an American café owner played by Humphrey Bogart, reunites with Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman. What unfolds is a story about sacrifice, doing the right thing, and putting something bigger than yourself ahead of your own happiness. The black-and-white cinematography, iconic music, unforgettable dialogue, and a supporting cast that included actual war refugees give the film an emotional weight that still hits hard — so much so that in some cities, watching it on Valentine’s Day has become a tradition.

Funny

Kid: Mom, what does “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” mean?

Mom: It means if you’re on your Apple phone all day, you can kiss that PhD goodbye.

Previous Issues

March 01, 2026, The Making of a Hero

February 21, 2026, Celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse

January 31, 2026, The Dawn of Machine-to-Machine Society

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · The Making of a Hero

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Editor’s Words

Children are a very ephemeral species.

When they meet each other again on Monday in school after a long holiday, they don’t say “hey, how was your vacation, and where did you go?”

As they leave school on Friday afternoon, they don’t ask “what’s your plan for the weekend?”

They just hang and play. They live in the present, however for a fleeting moment that might be.

At the same time, all the AI tools in the world try very hard to make sure adults don’t forget anything. We’re always haunted by our memory from the past and anxiety into the future.

My mother-in-law graduated from Shanghai High School (SHS) many years ago. See if you can find the clue in this issue that references SHS. It still shines ever more brightly.

Can you feel how hard I try to tell the audience what’s going on in the world without saying what’s going on in the world? You feel me?

If you do, share this issue with a friend. This issue is a personal favorite.

Tech

Chinese AI models have stormed to dominance on OpenRouter, the world’s largest LLM (large language model) API aggregation platform. As of late February 2026, Chinese models account for 61% of total token consumption, with the top three spots all held by Chinese labs. MiniMax M2.5 leads with 2.45 trillion tokens consumed in a single week — a 197% surge followed by Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2.5 and Zhipu AI’s GLM-5. The catalyst? Programming tasks have grown from 11% to over 50% of all token consumption on OpenRouter, with agentic workflows now generating the majority of output tokens — a shift turbocharged by AI assistant OpenClaw’s viral explosion in early 2026, which brought autonomous multi-step AI agents to hundreds of thousands of developers practically overnight. At 10–20x cheaper than Western counterparts like Claude Opus 4.6, Chinese open-weight models are tailor-made for these token-hungry agent loops. **Andreessen Horowitz estimates roughly 80% of startups using open-source AI stacks now run Chinese models.

Anthropic’s Claude rocketed from #131 on Apple’s US App Store in late January to #1 by March 1 — leapfrogging ChatGPT and Gemini for the first time ever. The surge wasn’t just headlines. Free signups jumped 60% since January; daily registrations tripled since November, breaking all-time records every day last week. Paying subscribers more than doubled this year. Claude Code became the most widely adopted coding agent across startups and enterprises. Its state-of-the-art model Opus 4.6 took the top spot on both Artificial Analysis benchmarks and Arena.ai blind tests. Katy Perry posted a heart over her Pro subscription.

Global

After 144 years of construction, Barcelona’s Sagrada Família reached a historic milestone on February 20, 2026, when the upper arm of the cross on the Tower of Jesus Christ was installed, completing the external works of the basilica’s central tower Vatican News. Standing at 172.5 meters, it is now the world’s tallest church, surpassing Ulm Minster in Germany. The basilica was designed by Antoni Gaudí, widely regarded as one of the greatest architects of all time, who transformed a neo-Gothic design into a masterpiece of Barcelona’s famously ornate, nature-inspired architectural style after taking over the project in 1883. The structural completion marks the end of one of architecture’s most extraordinary sagas.

The Middle East’s skies went dark this weekend. After joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, at least eight countries — Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE — closed their airspace, shutting down some of the world’s busiest aviation corridors. More than 1,800 flights were cancelled on Saturday alone, with Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad — carriers that collectively move around 90,000 passengers daily through Gulf hubs — all suspending operations. Iran’s retaliatory strikes hit Dubai International Airport, forcing evacuations, while drone strikes damaged airports in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. With Russian airspace already closed from the Ukraine war, Europe-Asia traffic that had rerouted through the Middle East now has nowhere left to go. As of Sunday, disruptions are entering their second day with no end in sight.

President Trump’s record-length State of the Union address on February 24, 2026 produced its most powerful moment when he turned to honor a centenarian war hero. Retired Navy Captain Royce Williams, 100 years old, received the Medal of Honor for a 1952 Korean War dogfight in which he engaged seven Soviet MiG-15s alone for 35 minutes (the longest dogfight in US Navy history), shot down four, and survived 263 bullet holes to his aircraft in blizzard conditions. The mission was classified for over fifty years — he couldn’t even tell his wife. As a military aide carried the medal down the House gallery stairs, First Lady Melania Trump placed it around his neck. The entire chamber — both sides — rose for a standing ovation lasting more than three minutes. Williams is the last living Korean War Medal of Honor recipient.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Ruskan was a 26-year-old former KPMG accountant on his very first rescue mission when catastrophe struck. On July 4, 2025, the Guadalupe River surged from 3 feet to nearly 30, devastating Camp Mystic — an all-girls summer camp in Texas Hill Country with over 700 campers. His helicopter crew made a calculated call: leave the rookie on the ground alone while the chopper airlifted the first children out. For three hours — no radio, no cell service, no backup — Ruskan was the sole rescuer, triaging nearly 200 terrified girls. He bandaged wounds, carried barefoot children across jagged terrain, and organized extractions wave by wave, youngest first. He saved 165 lives. In a teary moment at the 2026 State of the Union, Trump reunited Ruskan with 11-year-old Milly Cate McClymond — one of the girls he carried to safety — for the first time since that day, then awarded him the Legion of Merit for extraordinary heroism.

Nature & Environment

Jackie and Shadow, the beloved bald eagle pair, have captivated millions as stars of the Big Bear Bald Eagle Cam in Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains. Perched 145 feet high in a Jeffrey pine tree overlooking Big Bear Valley, this devoted couple symbolizes resilience and family bonds. Jackie, the experienced female, and Shadow, her loyal mate since 2018, share incubation duties, prey deliveries, and nest maintenance with endearing teamwork. They’ve raised eaglets like Sunny and Gizmo in past seasons, drawing global viewers to the 24/7 livestream. This season has been a rollercoaster. Jackie laid two eggs in late January — then ravens destroyed both while the couple was away. Fans were devastated. But Jackie’s hormones reset, and on February 24 she laid a brand new egg — the start of a second clutch. A second egg followed on February 28. Fans cheer their persistence amid habitat threats, celebrating this iconic duo’s grace, strength, and second-chance spirit in the wild.

Science

Harvard and Google spent a decade mapping a single cubic millimeter of human brain — half the size of a grain of rice — and found 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and 150 million synapses, all compressed into 1.4 petabytes of raw data. The imaging alone took 326 days: 5,000 tissue slices, each 30 nanometers thick, run through a $6 million electron microscope, then stitched into 3D by Google’s AI. The humbling math: the full human brain is one million times larger — mapping it at this resolution would produce roughly 1.4 zettabytes, approximately equal to all data generated on Earth in a single year. We are walking universes.

2024 MIT Putnam winners, as no public photo exists yet for 2025’s

The Putnam Competition is the most prestigious undergraduate mathematics contest in the world — a six-hour, twelve-problem exam so brutally difficult that the median score is typically 2 out of 120, and only five perfect scores have been recorded in its 86-year history. This year, 4,329 students from 487 institutions competed on December 6, 2025, with the top score reaching 110. MIT won the team title again — their tenth in twelve years — with four of five Putnam Fellows: Cheng Jiang, Luke Robitaille, Chunji Wang, and Zixiang Zhou. Jack Hu of the University of Chicago was the lone outsider in the top five. Chicago placed second, Harvard third, Stanford fourth, Caltech fifth. Jessica Wan of MIT won the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize Mathematical Association of America as top-scoring woman. Both Jiang and Wang graduated from Shanghai High School (SHS). MIT’s stranglehold on elite mathematics is now less a streak than a dynasty — the rest of the world is competing for second place.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

On February 16, 2026, American professional wrestler and boxer Logan Paul’s PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card sold at Goldin Auctions for a jaw-dropping $16.492 million, making it the most expensive trading card ever sold. Paul originally purchased the card for $5.275 million in 2021, netting a near 212% return on his investment. Only 39 Pikachu Illustrator cards were given out to illustration contest winners in 1998, and Paul’s was the only one graded a perfect 10. The record-breaking sale reflects the staggering cultural power of Pokémon, which has grossed over $100 billion to become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, surpassing even Disney. Guinness World Records officially confirmed the record on-site.

In a charming first-person piece for British magazine The Guardian, Swim Deep keyboardist and freelance writer James Balmont explores why mid-level British indie bands are finding massive, passionate audiences in China. Swim Deep’s biggest UK festival show drew 500 people — months later they played to 10,000 at Guangzhou’s Strawberry Music Festival, enjoying VIP treatment, luxury hotels, and fervent fan adoration. He attributes this boom to China’s growing appetite for grassroots British indie music, post-pandemic cultural openness, and easier visa access for UK artists. The cultural connections are wonderfully random — Sea Power broke through via the video game Disco Elysium, The KVB were told they resemble Chinese soap opera characters, and Galway’s NewDad went viral on Rednote for their album art.

The BRIT Awards — Britain’s biggest annual music ceremony, the UK’s answer to the Grammys — made history on February 28, 2026, leaving London for the first time in its 46-year existence, setting up at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena. Olivia Dean dominated the night, sweeping four awards — Album of the Year for The Art of Loving, Artist of the Year, Pop Act, and Song of the Year for her Sam Fender collaboration “Rein Me In”. Wolf Alice won Group of the Year, Lola Young took Breakthrough Artist, and Rosalía became the first Spanish-language artist to win International Artist. Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” made history as the first K-pop win at the BRITs. Ozzy Osbourne received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award with a tribute performance from Robbie Williams, and Harry Styles made his first public performance in three years.

Sports

[Marathon] At the 2026 Osaka Marathon, 23-year-old Hibiki Yoshida delivered one of the most thrilling marathon debuts in recent memory. The former Hakone Ekiden star surged ahead of pacemakers before 8km, pushing projected finish times deep into 2:03 territory — a staggering pace for a first-timer targeting the Japanese national record of 2:04. He passed halfway in 1:02:39 with stunning composure, but the marathon’s brutality struck after 25km. Compounding his troubles, he missed four of his first five drink bottles, and dehydration took its toll. He crossed the line in 2:09:33. This audacious feat is almost unheard of in marathons. In an era of cautious pacing and calculated splits, Yoshida threw the playbook out the window and delivered a pure tour de force — all guts, no fear, and the kind of reckless brilliance that makes legends.

[Ice Hockey] At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Team USA captured its first men’s ice hockey gold medal in 46 years, ending a drought stretching back to the legendary 1980 “Miracle on Ice” — when a scrappy squad of American college players stunned the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union 4–3 at the height of the Cold War, in what Sports Illustrated voted the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. This time, the miracle came courtesy of NHL stars. Jack Hughes scored one of the most dramatic goals in Olympic hockey history, netting the winner 1:41 into overtime to give the U.S. a 2-1 victory over Canada. Connor Hellebuyck was sensational in net, making 41 saves, including stopping all 14 shots he faced in the third period to force overtime. Remarkably, the U.S. also won gold in the women’s tournament, beating Canada in overtime as well — a historic sweep that cemented American dominance on Olympic ice.

[Cross-Country Skiing] Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo made history at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics by becoming the first athlete to win six gold medals at a single Winter Games, sweeping every men’s cross-country event he entered. His victory in the 50km mass start shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The 29-year-old now holds 11 career Olympic gold medals — the most of any Winter Olympian in history — and trails only Michael Phelps (23 golds) across all Olympic sports. His final race featured a Norwegian sweep of the podium, capping a dominant Games for Norway.

[Ski] Team China delivered its best-ever overseas Winter Olympics performance at Milano Cortina 2026, winning five golds, four silvers, and six bronzes — surpassing the previous record of 5-2-4 set at Vancouver 2010. Star freeskier Eileen Gu defended her halfpipe title and added two silver medals, becoming the most decorated freeskier in Olympic history. Snowboarder Su Yiming won slopestyle gold, while speed skater Ning Zhongyan upset favorite Jordan Stolz to claim the men’s 1,500m with a new Olympic record. In a remarkable family story, five-time Olympian Xu Mengtao defended her women’s aerials title, while her husband Wang Xindi won the men’s event — a rare married couple both winning individual golds at the same Games.

[Soccer] Der Klassiker, Germany’s premier soccer rivalry, pits Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund in a clash of titans that often shapes the Bundesliga title race. Known as the “German Clásico,” it pits Bavaria’s dominant powerhouse — famous for consistent supremacy, multiple Champions League triumphs, and stars like Harry Kane — against Dortmund’s passionate, youth-driven “Yellow Wall” supporters. In a thrilling Der Klassiker on Saturday, Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 at Signal Iduna Park, stretching their Bundesliga lead to a commanding 11 points. Nico Schlotterbeck headed Dortmund in front in the 26th minute, but Harry Kane leveled after halftime and then converted a penalty for his 30th league goal of the season. Just when Dortmund looked finished, Daniel Svensson’s stunning volley made it 2-2. But the drama wasn’t over — Joshua Kimmich sensationally volleyed home the winner in the 87th minute, breaking Dortmund hearts and all but sealing the title race for Vincent Kompany’s side.

[Soccer] Liverpool thrashed West Ham 5-2 at Anfield on Saturday in a display that showcased a remarkable set-piece turnaround. Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexis Mac Allister all scored from first-half corners, making Liverpool only the second team in Premier League history to net three set-piece goals in a single half. The result capped an extraordinary transformation: across their first 20 league matches, Liverpool scored just three set-piece goals — the fewest in the division. They have now scored nine in their past eight games, more than any competitor, making them the league’s most prolific set-piece side in 2026. West Ham fought back through Souček and Castellanos, but Gakpo and a Disasi own goal sealed a vital win in Liverpool’s push for Champions League qualification.

This Day in History

On March 1, 1872, US President Ulysses S. Grant did something no leader in history had ever done — he signed a law declaring that a piece of wild land belonged not to any person or company, but to everyone, forever. That land was Yellowstone, and it became the world’s first national park. Two million acres of geysers, hot springs, grizzly bears, and bison, protected by law in an era when America was busy conquering its frontier, not preserving it. The idea was radical: nature has value beyond what you can dig out of it or build on top of it. Today, over 4,000 national parks exist worldwide across more than 100 countries — every single one traces its lineage back to that one audacious signature 154 years ago today.

Art of the Week

Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí spent 43 years of his life on a single building — the Sagrada Família in Barcelona — and died in 1926 knowing he would never see it finished. He didn’t care. “My client is not in a hurry,” he said, meaning God. Gaudí didn’t design buildings the way other architects did. He studied trees, bones, and shells, then turned nature’s geometry into stone. His columns branch like forests. His rooftops ripple like ocean waves. Nothing is straight because, as he put it, “the straight line belongs to man, the curved line belongs to God.” A century after his death, his masterpiece was finally completed on February 20, 2026 — and it looks like nothing else on Earth, because Gaudí looked at the Earth itself for inspiration.

Funny

Previous Issues

February 21, 2026, Celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse

January 31, 2026, The Dawn of Machine-to-Machine Society

January 24, 2026, Destination: China - The Return of Western Rock Bands

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · Celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

📄 This week's newsletter is also available as a beautifully formatted PDF download - perfect for offline reading!

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Editor’s Words

Howdy! We’re back after a two-week break from school break during the Lunar New Year.

On the occasion of the Year of the Red Fire Horse, wishing you and your family a joyful New Year, happiness at home, and soaring success in your endeavors!

2026 seems to be a year like no other. Rules are being rewritten. Old paradigms are being dismantled. Jobs are being redefined.

Are you ready yet?

Tech

In a move that sent shockwaves through the AI community, OpenAI announced on February 15, 2026, that Peter Steinberger — the solo developer behind viral open-source agent framework OpenClaw — was joining the company to lead its next generation of personal agents. Originally launched in November 2025 as ClawdBot (later rebranded after a trademark dispute with Anthropic), OpenClaw exploded to 1.5 million active agents in just weeks. OpenClaw will move to an independent open-source foundation, but the hire signals a decisive industry shift — from AI that talks to AI that acts. The irony is that Anthropic handed OpenAI their biggest win of 2026. OpenClaw was built on Anthropic’s AI model Claude, named after Claude, and used Claude Opus as its default model — making Steinberger arguably Anthropic’s biggest unpaid evangelist. Then Anthropic’s legal team sent a trademark notice over the name “Clawdbot,” and as one writer put it: “Anthropic’s lawyers sent the letter. OpenAI sent the offer.”

New Delhi’s AI Impact Summit 2026 marked a historic shift in global AI governance — the first in the Bletchley-Seoul-Paris series to be hosted by a Global South nation. India positioned itself as a bridge between advanced economies and developing nations, pointing to its massive digital public infrastructure as a model for deploying AI at scale. Standout announcements included Google’s $15 billion AI infrastructure commitment to India, a new America-India fiber-optic connectivity initiative, and a $30 million AI for Science research fund. Indian AI lab Sarvam AI unveiled powerful new large language models built for Indian languages. Not all was harmonious, however — cameras caught an awkward moment when OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei visibly avoided holding hands during a group photo with Prime Minister Modi, a subtle reminder that the OpenClaw saga had left some tension between the two rival labs.

China’s most-watched television event, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, delivered a stunning statement of technological ambition this Lunar New Year. Four humanoid robotics startups — Unitree, Galbot, Noetix, and MagicLab — took center stage in performances that left last year’s handkerchief-twirling robots looking primitive. Highlights included over a dozen Unitree humanoids performing backflips, aerial spins, and a full kung fu routine alongside child martial artists wielding swords and nunchucks. The contrast with Tesla’s Optimus robot was hard to miss — Musk had just admitted on an earnings call that no Optimus robots were yet doing “useful work” in Tesla factories, even as he acknowledged China as his biggest competition, calling them “an ass-kicker next level.”

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, unleashed Seedance 2.0 on the world in February 2026 — and Hollywood immediately reached for its lawyers. The AI video model, capable of generating hyper-realistic cinematic clips from a simple text prompt, went viral within hours as users shared videos of Tom Cruise brawling with Brad Pitt, Donald Trump fighting kung fu masters, and Kanye West singing in Mandarin through a Chinese palace. Disney and Paramount fired off cease-and-desist letters, the Motion Picture Association declared it “mass copyright infringement,” and Deadpool screenwriter Rhett Reese delivered the line everyone in the industry was thinking: “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.”

Google DeepMind quietly dropped one of the most disruptive demos in gaming history when it rolled out Project Genie to Google AI Ultra subscribers in late January. Built on the Genie 3 world model, the tool lets anyone type a text prompt or upload a sketch and instantly explore a fully interactive 3D environment — no code, no game engine, no development team required. Users quickly generated knockoff versions of Zelda and GTA, video game stocks slid, and the internet declared the death of traditional game studios. Google itself was careful to say Genie is “not a game engine” — but the gaming industry wasn’t entirely convinced the distinction would matter for long.

Global

A football field-sized slab of snow broke loose near Castle Peak in California’s Sierra Nevada on February 17, killing nine backcountry skiers in the deadliest avalanche in the United States in 45 years. The group of 15 — eleven clients and four guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides — were on the final day of a three-day hut trip in the mountains north of Lake Tahoe when one skier shouted “avalanche” before the snow overtook them. Six survived, located by emergency beacons in whiteout conditions. Six of the victims were later identified as close friends — mothers and wives from the Bay Area — who had bonded over a shared love of the mountains. The six survivors — huddled in a makeshift tarp shelter, located by emergency beacons and iPhone SOS signals — had spent hours in gale-force winds waiting for rescue teams who could only travel the final two miles on skis.

Economy & Finance

When Hong Kong markets reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday, investors wasted no time. Shares of Zhipu — China’s first publicly listed large language model company — surged 43% on February 20, while rival MiniMax jumped 15%, pushing both companies’ market capitalizations past HK$300 billion. The gains capped a remarkable run: since their back-to-back IPOs in January, both stocks have risen more than fourfold. The rally reflects a broader investor rotation out of established internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent into pure-play AI startups, driven by new model releases, surging user growth, and intensifying conviction that China’s AI race has entered a new commercial phase.

Nature & Environment

California’s Highway 1 through Big Sur had barely celebrated its triumphant reopening when nature had other ideas. After a three-year closure due to the infamous Regent’s Slide — finally resolved 90 days ahead of schedule in January 2026 — the iconic coastal road was forced to close again on February 17 after powerful storms dumped over 30 inches of snow in the Sierra and unleashed rockslides and debris across a 45-mile stretch between Ragged Point and Big Sur. Caltrans crews scrambled to clear mud that had overtopped concrete barriers. In a memorable subplot, one impatient driver moved road closure barriers to sneak through — and promptly got stuck in a mudslide. The road finally reopened again on February 20.

For the first time, scientists have a complete picture of floating algae across every ocean on Earth — and the view is alarming. Led by researchers at the University of South Florida and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the landmark study used AI to analyze 1.2 million satellite images taken between 2003 and 2022, training a deep-learning model to detect algae blooms invisible to traditional methods. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal macroalgae blooms expanding at 13.4% per year in the tropical Atlantic and western Pacific, with the Indian Ocean seeing a three-to-four-fold increase. Scientists attribute the surge to ocean warming and agricultural nutrient runoff. In open water, algae support marine ecosystems — but once they reach coastlines, the decaying biomass devastates tourism, economies, and human health. The global ocean, researchers conclude, has undergone a fundamental shift: it now actively favors algae growth.

Science

Scientists have unveiled Spinosaurus Mirabilis, the first new Spinosaurus species discovered in over a century, unearthed from a remote fossil site in Niger’s central Sahara. Led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, the team found skulls from three individuals during a grueling 2022 expedition — guided into the desert by a local Tuareg man on a motorbike. The 40-foot, 5–7 ton predator sported a dramatic scimitar-shaped skull crest unlike anything seen before in its family. Crucially, the find was located up to 1,000 kilometers from the nearest ancient coastline, dealing a decisive blow to the theory that Spinosaurus was a fully aquatic swimmer — painting it instead as a wading “hell heron,” stalking fish from shallow inland rivers.

For the first time in more than half a century, humans are preparing to leave Earth orbit. NASA’s Artemis II mission — targeting launch no earlier than March 6 from Kennedy Space Center — will send four astronauts on a 10-day, 600,000-mile journey around the Moon and back. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen entered quarantine this week after a successful fueling rehearsal cleared the final major technical hurdle. The mission carries historic firsts: Glover will become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to venture beyond low Earth orbit. It won’t be a landing — but it will pave the way for Artemis III to finally return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Every Lunar New Year’s Eve, nearly a billion Chinese people sit down together. China’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala — running continuously since 1983 — is less a television program than a national ritual, pulling in hundreds of millions of viewers and reaching audiences from Shanghai penthouses to remote village homes. This year’s show, themed “Joy and Auspiciousness, Festive and Cheerful,” blended Silk Road dance and Peking opera with cutting-edge humanoid robots performing backflips and kung fu, threading ancient tradition alongside China’s technological ambitions. The 2026 edition was also the most international in the Gala’s 40-year history: John Legend performed “All of Me” before midnight, while Lionel Richie joined Jackie Chan at a sub-venue in Yiwu — China’s cosmopolitan trading capital — for a cross-cultural performance that felt like a deliberate East-meets-West handshake. For migrant workers separated from family, elderly grandparents, and tech-savvy youth alike, the Gala serves the same quiet purpose it always has: a shared moment that says, whatever divides us through the year, tonight we watch together.

On February 17, as China rang in the Lunar New Year with robot acrobatics and billion-viewer galas, South Korea marked the same moment in characteristically quieter fashion. Seollal — Korea’s most cherished holiday — brought the country to a near-standstill across a three-day national break, as tens of millions made the annual pilgrimage back to hometowns clogged with the season’s legendary traffic. This year carried extra weight: 2026 is the Year of the Red Horse, a rare cycle that only arrives once every sixty years, combining the Horse’s natural fire — energy, ambition, restless forward motion — with the intensifying force of the red flame element. Families rose early to perform charye, the ancestral memorial rite, before sharing bowls of tteokguk and watching children bow deeply to elders in the sebae ritual.

Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny delivered a halftime show for the ages at Levi’s Stadium — the first ever headlined by a Latino solo artist and performed almost entirely in Spanish. Every generation has its defining halftime moment: Michael Jackson standing motionless for two minutes in 1993 until 130 million people collectively lost their minds; Prince playing guitar through a biblical rainstorm in 2007, performing “Purple Rain” as real rain poured down in one of sport’s most cinematic scenes. Bad Bunny’s contribution was different but equally seismic — a full-throated celebration of Puerto Rican culture on America’s biggest stage. Opening in an elaborate sugarcane field set, he waved the Puerto Rican flag and tore through hits alongside surprise guests Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and Pedro Pascal. The 128.2 million viewers made it the fourth most-watched halftime in history, and his Spanish-language single rocketed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 days later.

When YouTube star Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier, announced he was self-financing and self-distributing a sci-fi horror film adapted from a cult indie video game, Hollywood raised an eyebrow. Then Iron Lung opened on January 30, 2026, and the industry’s jaw dropped. The film — shot for just $3 million and marketed almost entirely through Markiplier’s 74 million YouTube followers — debuted at number one on Friday with $8.9 million, eventually finishing the weekend at $18.2 million, narrowly behind Sam Raimi’s big-budget Disney thriller Send Help. It has since crossed $43 million worldwide, earning over 14 times its budget. Markiplier reportedly keeps 50% of global box office receipts — a deal no studio would ever offer.

Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias” — IMDb (Internet Movie Database)’s undisputed greatest single TV episode for 13 years — has finally lost its perfect 10. The culprit? Its own fans. When HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms went viral for its stunning fifth episode, briefly touching a 10.0 rating, Breaking Bad loyalists flooded its page with one-star reviews to protect Heisenberg’s throne. Game of Thrones fans retaliated in kind, bombing “Ozymandias” until it dropped to 9.9. Both fandoms drew blood — and both lost. The real winner? Six Feet Under’s series finale, which quietly ascended to IMDb’s number one spot while the fanboy armies were busy fighting each other. History, it turns out, has a sense of humor: the exact same thing happened in 2008 between The Dark Knight and The Godfather — and The Shawshank Redemption claimed the top spot then too.

Sports

[Olympics] With just one day remaining before the closing ceremony, the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have delivered a historic medal race. Norway has dominated, claiming 17 gold medals — a new all-time Winter Games record, surpassing their own mark from Beijing 2022. The United States sits second overall with 27 medals, edging out host nation Italy in third. Team USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin captured slalom gold in a triumphant return, while China’s Ning Zhongyan stunned the speed skating world with an Olympic record in the 1500m. In a storybook moment, Brazil claimed their first-ever Winter Olympic gold. With the Games closing February 22, Norway leaves Milan having rewritten the record books.

[Olympics] Four years after finishing seventh in Beijing, 26-year-old Ning Zhongyan stood on top of the world in Milan. On February 19, the Chinese speed skater shattered the men’s 1500m Olympic record with a stunning time of 1:41.98 — more than a second faster than the previous mark — to claim gold ahead of pre-race favorite Jordan Stolz of the United States. It was the first Asian athlete to win Olympic gold in the event since the Winter Games began in 1924. Ning, who had already earned two bronzes at these Games, wept as he circled the ice draped in China’s flag. “It felt like there was a mountain in front of me,” he said afterward. “Today was the day I finally got over it.”

If you watched figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics and kept seeing the same tall, bald Frenchman in a different national team jacket every few minutes, you weren’t imagining things. Benoît Richaud, 38, a choreographer and coach based in Nice, became one of the unlikely stars of the Milan Games after cameras caught him switching jackets between consecutive skaters — once changing from Georgia to Canada in just 14 minutes. Richaud was working with 16 skaters from 13 countries, including athletes from the US, France, Canada, Mexico, and Georgia — all legally permitted under Olympic rules. “As soon as they step on the ice,” he said, “I’m already in their world.”

[NFL] The Seattle Seahawks claimed their second Super Bowl title on February 8, 2026, dismantling the New England Patriots 29–13 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The story of the night was quarterback Sam Darnold, once written off as one of the NFL’s biggest busts, who signed with Seattle and led them to the championship in a remarkable redemption arc. The real work, though, was done by his defense — Macdonald’s squad sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye six times and held New England scoreless through three quarters. Kenneth Walker III ran for 135 yards, and linebacker Uchenna Nwosu sealed it with a 45-yard pick-six late in the fourth.

[NBA] The NBA’s bold new format paid off in a big way at the 75th All-Star Game, held February 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. A three-team round-robin — USA Stars, USA Stripes, and Team World — replaced the traditional East vs. West matchup, and the result was the most competitive All-Star showcase in years. Victor Wembanyama set an electrifying tone for Team World, finishing with 33 points across two razor-thin losses. But Anthony Edwards was the night’s defining figure, scoring 32 points to lead the young-gun USA Stars to a 47-21 blowout win over the veteran-laden Stripes in the championship game, earning MVP honors and the Kobe Bryant Trophy.

[Soccer] Real Madrid’s Champions League playoff win at Benfica on February 17 was meant to be about a brilliant goal. Instead, it became another chapter in Vinícius Júnior’s exhausting fight against racism. Moments after curling a sublime finish past goalkeeper Trubin, the Brazilian accused Benfica’s young Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a monkey — covering his mouth with his shirt as he said it. The referee halted play for ten minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol as Madrid’s players briefly left the field. Prestianni denies it. Benfica’s manager, controversially, suggested Vinicius had provoked the incident. UEFA has opened a formal investigation. For Vinicius, it was his 18th racism complaint since 2022. The second leg is February 25 at the Bernabéu — a powder keg waiting to ignite.

This Day in History

In one of the Cold War’s most stunning diplomatic reversals, President Richard Nixon touched down in Beijing on February 21, 1972, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the People’s Republic of China. Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong at Zhongnanhai in a historic encounter that shattered more than two decades of American isolation policy toward communist China. The groundwork had been quietly laid the previous year, when the U.S. ping-pong team’s surprise visit to China — the famous “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” — signaled both nations’ readiness for a thaw. Nixon’s week-long visit ended with a landmark joint agreement that reopened relations between the two superpowers and reshaped the global balance of power against the Soviet Union.

Art of the Week

Few images are more synonymous with Chinese modern art than Xu Beihong’s horses. The early 20th-century master fused Chinese ink brushwork with Western anatomical precision, producing galloping stallions of extraordinary vitality — muscles taut, manes flying, hooves barely touching the ground. Where traditional Chinese painters rendered horses as symbols of imperial power, Xu transformed them into something more urgent: expressions of freedom, resilience, and national spirit during China’s turbulent years of war and occupation. His 1942 masterpiece Galloping Horse became an icon. Today his works command tens of millions at auction. The horse, for Xu Beihong, was never just an animal — it was a nation in motion.

Funny

Previous Issues

January 31, 2026, The Dawn of Machine-to-Machine Society

January 24, 2026, Destination: China - The Return of Western Rock Bands

January 17, 2026, The Attack of Robots, Elephant, Banksy, and Heat

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · The Dawn of Machine-to-Machine Society

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

📄 This week's newsletter is also available as a beautifully formatted PDF download - perfect for offline reading!

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Editor’s Words

This has been a crazy week. Everyone I know from crypto and AI or just tech in general is playing with Clawdbot. Friends who disappeared years ago resurfaced and texted me to exchange notes. This feels like a bigger impact than the chatGPT moment 2 years ago and even the DeepSeek moment a year ago. The hype certainly owns the air wave.

If anything, Clawdbot gave me a convenient excuse to replace the good old 2018 MacMini with an M4 Pro MacMini, toward the noble cause of creating my 24/7 AI assistant, making the world a better place, and finding the answer to the ultimate question in the universe.

While that mission takes a bit of time, I was able to use Clawdbot to slash 2 hours from the publication process of this Jan 31 issue of the Sunday Blender. In the past, I would have to glue myself to the keyboard and do a lot of copy-n-paste with claude.ai to do story summations. Despite the intellectual joy of rendering the world in a more positive and interesting lens, the process of putting together all the pieces is a drag. Zelda, my Clawdbot agent, wrote the summations for me with prompts I provided on Telegram. It handled the research and writing of all the 20+ stories.

We’ll take a break during the Spring Festival. Your Sunday Blender will return on Feb 14.

Tech

The Clawdbot phenomenon exploded in late January 2026 as an open-source, self-hosted AI agent that goes far beyond chatbots. It runs locally (often on dedicated hardware like Mac Minis), connects to messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage), and actually performs tasks — clearing inboxes, managing calendars, sending emails, booking flights, controlling devices, and more — with proactive notifications and persistent memory. Powered by models like Claude or local LLMs, it gained massive traction, amassing over 60,000 GitHub stars in days and sparking viral hype on X. The frenzy also triggered chaos — crypto scams, security warnings about exposed credentials, and even reports of surging hardware sales for Apple. It highlights the excitement and risks of truly agentic, always-on personal AI. Even hotter emerged Moltbook, a Reddit-style social network built exclusively for these AI agents (humans observe only). It lets OpenClaw agents post, comment, upvote, form communities, debate philosophy, share tips, and even coordinate — with over a million agents registered and explosive growth. Called “the most interesting place on the internet right now” by experts like Simon Willison, Moltbook highlights emergent agent societies, raising profound questions about autonomy, alignment, privacy, and the surreal dawn of machine-to-machine social worlds.

Arduino made big waves at CES 2026 in Las Vegas this January, showcasing their revolutionary UNO Q board that combines traditional Arduino simplicity with Qualcomm’s powerful processors. This new “dual-brain” system lets young makers create projects that were impossible before, from smart robots that recognize faces to voice-controlled home devices. The partnership with Qualcomm has also launched fresh development tools, including new libraries for the Nesso N1 IoT board and expanded Modulino sensor collections that make complex electronics projects easier to build. Students can now tackle advanced projects like machine learning and edge computing while keeping the familiar, beginner-friendly Arduino programming style.

In Hefei, China, the MAEXTRO Super Factory builds electric cars with an invisible partner — a “digital twin” that lives in the cloud. This virtual copy acts like a living brain for the factory, receiving 300,000 data points every second from cameras and sensors as robots assemble each vehicle. The twin watches, learns, and helps workers spot problems before they happen. Built by carmaker JAC and tech giant Huawei, this smart system uses artificial intelligence to constantly improve itself. Every car leaves the factory with two versions: one you can drive, and one that lives forever in the digital world.

On January 29, China announced plans to build a massive network of satellites that will process artificial intelligence in space. The company GuoXing Aerospace Technology has already put an AI model on its orbiting satellites, making it the first in the world to run advanced AI programs directly in orbit. These satellites can answer questions and solve problems without sending data back to Earth first. The company plans to launch 2,800 computing satellites by 2035 to create a space-based cloud computing system. This new technology could change how computers work by moving powerful processing into orbit.

Global

Brazil’s President Lula announced this week that Chinese citizens can now visit Brazil without needing a visa, making travel between the two countries much easier. This decision comes after China gave the same benefit to Brazilian visitors last year, creating a friendship exchange where both countries treat each other’s citizens the same way. The new rule allows Chinese tourists, students, and business people to stay in Brazil for up to 30 days without the paperwork that used to be required. This change will help more families visit each other, boost tourism, and strengthen the economic partnership between Brazil and China, two of the world’s largest countries that want to work together more closely.

YouTube star IShowSpeed just did something epic — he visited 20 African countries in one wild trip. The 19-year-old streamer, famous for his chaotic energy, didn’t just sightsee. He ate spicy local foods, danced with villagers, and even got his own Ghanaian passport after meeting the president. His videos racked up millions of views, but here’s the cool part: he actually connected with people. Instead of fancy hotels, he hung out in neighborhoods, played soccer with kids, and tried speaking local languages. Fans loved his genuine curiosity. Not bad for a guy who usually just screams at video games.

On December 21, 2025, the city of Hyderabad in India made history when over 2,300 computer programmers gathered at Malla Reddy University for “Agentathon 2025,” breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest AI agent coding event ever held. Organized by Google Developer Groups Hyderabad, this massive hackathon brought together thousands of developers who spent two days creating artificial intelligence programs called “agents” that could solve real-world problems for governments and businesses. This achievement marked Hyderabad’s first AI-related world record and helped establish the city as a major global center for artificial intelligence innovation and technology development.

In South Korea, gaming cafes called “PC bangs” are like community centers where friends gather to play computer games together, and League of Legends continues to rule them all. According to 2025 data, LoL captured 36 percent of all gaming time in these cafes, far ahead of any other game. Korean gaming culture thrives on teamwork and competition, with players meeting face-to-face to strategize and compete in this team-based battle game. The cafes offer high-speed internet and powerful computers that many families cannot afford at home. This dominance shows how some games become more than entertainment—they become social experiences that bring communities together, creating lasting friendships through shared digital adventures.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently completed a historic four-day visit to China, the first by a British leader in eight years. He brought over 60 business executives from major companies including HSBC bank, pharmaceutical giant GSK, aircraft maker Airbus, and luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover. This diplomatic mission aimed to strengthen trade relationships between the two countries, especially in finance, healthcare, clean energy, and manufacturing. When world leaders meet with business delegations, they work to create new opportunities for companies to sell products, share technology, and create jobs in both nations, demonstrating how international cooperation can benefit millions of people.

Economy & Finance

SpaceX is preparing for the biggest stock market debut in history this June 2025. Elon Musk’s rocket company plans to sell shares worth $50 billion, giving the entire company a value of $1.5 trillion – that’s more money than most countries have. This makes SpaceX worth more than Apple or Microsoft at their peaks. The timing isn’t random either – Musk wants to launch during a rare planetary alignment that happens near his birthday. If successful, this IPO will let regular people own pieces of the company that sends astronauts to space and plans Mars missions. Historic.

Silver’s price has surged over 50% in January 2026, reaching record highs near $115 per ounce, as demand soars across multiple industries. This precious metal isn’t just for jewelry and coins — silver is essential for smartphones, computers, and medical equipment because it conducts electricity better than any other metal. Its antimicrobial properties make it valuable for hospital devices and wound dressings, while the green energy boom drives demand for solar panels and electric vehicle components. This price surge reflects silver’s growing importance in our technology-driven world, affecting everything from gadget costs to renewable energy development.

Nature & Environment

Scientists predict climate change will significantly expand malaria’s reach across Africa by 2050, as warming temperatures allow disease-carrying mosquitoes to survive in new highland areas. According to recent research published in Nature, changing weather patterns could lead to 123 million additional malaria cases across the continent between 2024 and 2050. Countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda may see malaria spread to previously safe mountain regions where cooler temperatures once prevented transmission. Health organizations are preparing by developing new mosquito control methods, improving early warning systems, and strengthening healthcare systems in vulnerable areas to protect communities from this expanding threat.

Science

Google has awarded grants to twelve research teams using artificial intelligence to tackle major scientific challenges. These scientists are working on incredible projects like building AI scanners that can detect dangerous bacteria in under an hour instead of days, creating digital maps of plant diseases to help farmers grow stronger crops, and using AI to reduce methane emissions from cows by studying their gut bacteria. Other teams are mapping unknown molecules in food to make healthier diets, decoding the human genome’s mysteries to cure rare diseases, and developing carbon-capture materials using robot laboratories that work alongside human scientists.

Scientists in two Chinese cities, Hefei and Hangzhou, have become cosmic detectives working together to solve one of space’s biggest mysteries. Like partners searching for clues 300 kilometers apart, they’ve built the world’s first quantum sensor network to hunt for dark matter — invisible stuff that makes up over a quarter of our universe. Their special detectors work like super-sensitive detective tools, watching for tiny signals when Earth passes through dark matter clouds. Even though these invisible particles leave traces as faint as snowflakes in a crowded square, this detective duo hopes their teamwork will finally reveal the universe’s hidden secrets and help us understand how space really works.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Gaming fans are buzzing about 2026’s biggest console releases bringing new adventures to their favorite systems. Sony PlayStation leads with Marvel’s Wolverine, an action-packed superhero game where players slash through enemies as the famous X-Man mutant. Nintendo continues expanding their Switch 2 library with Super Mario Bros Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, featuring enhanced graphics and new levels in the Flower Kingdom that weren’t possible on the original console. Meanwhile, Copa City arrives on multiple platforms in March, offering players the chance to build and manage their own soccer empire with realistic team management and stadium construction.

Sports

Alex Honnold completed a free‑solo climb of Taipei 101, the 1,667‑foot‑tall skyscraper in Taiwan, on January 25, 2026. Using no ropes or nets, he reached the top in 1 hour and 30 minutes during Netflix’s live Skyscraper Live broadcast, which drew 6.2 million viewers. Honnold first scouted the building in September 2025, testing sections with ropes, and waited for perfect weather after rain delays. Known for his rope‑free ascent of El Capitan, he now pushes the boundaries of building climbs, demonstrating extreme athleticism on another global landmark.

China’s Under-23 men’s soccer team made history by reaching the final of the AFC U23 Asian Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking the first time in 22 years that any Chinese men’s national team has reached an international competition final. The young Chinese players defeated Vietnam 3-0 in the semifinals before facing defending champions Japan in the championship match. Although Japan won the final 4-0, China’s achievement sparked nationwide celebration and praise from sports officials who described it as “igniting new hope” for Chinese soccer. This breakthrough performance by the next generation of Chinese players represents a significant step forward for the country’s soccer development and has raised expectations for future international competitions.

Super Bowl LX takes place on February 8, 2026, featuring the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, an MVP contender this season, will become one of the youngest quarterbacks ever to start a Super Bowl at just 23 years old. This marks New England’s first championship game appearance in seven years and their first opportunity to win a title since the Brady-Belichick era ended. The Seahawks, who earned six Pro Bowl selections this season, present a formidable challenge for the young Patriots squad.

Norwegian triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt recently set a new world record for VO2 Max, measuring 101.1ml/kg/min in controlled laboratory testing. VO2 Max measures how much oxygen your body can use during intense exercise - think of it as your engine’s maximum power output. The higher the number, the more efficiently your body can fuel your muscles during endurance activities like running, cycling, or swimming. Blummenfelt’s achievement surpassed the previous record of 97.5ml/kg/min, demonstrating the incredible athletic capacity that has helped him become one of the world’s top triathletes, including recent podium finishes at major Ironman championships.

This Day in History

On January 31, 1930, the 3M Company introduced Scotch tape, a transparent adhesive tape that would become a household essential. Engineer Richard Drew invented the clear cellulose tape to help people seal packages and mend torn items. The product arrived during the Great Depression, when many families could not afford to replace broken things. Scotch tape allowed people to repair books, windows, and household items instead of buying new ones. The name “Scotch” came from an early version of masking tape that a painter said was too stingy with adhesive. Today, 3M produces hundreds of tape varieties used worldwide.

Art of the Week

In 1565, during the “Little Ice Age,” Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted one of history’s most famous winter scenes. “The Hunters in the Snow” shows three tired hunters trudging home through deep snow with their dogs, while villagers below ice skate and tend fires. This painting is special because Bruegel captured real country life exactly as it was, not making it prettier like other artists. People love this masterpiece because it feels like stepping into a frozen world from 450 years ago, showing how families survived harsh winters through hunting and finding joy in simple everyday winter activities.

Funny

Previous Issues

January 24, 2026, Destination: China - The Return of Western Rock Bands

January 17, 2026, The Attack of Robots, Elephant, Banksy, and Heat

January 03, 2026, An Incredible Journey From Wuhan To Singapore

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends who might also find it interesting and refreshing, if not for themselves, at least for their kids.

The Sunday Blender · Destination: China - The Return of Western Rock Bands

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

📄 This week's newsletter is also available as a beautifully formatted PDF download - perfect for offline reading!

Read on Website

Editor’s Words

Check out the sports section of this issue. It’s got quite a variety.

If you have come this far, you must come from a family of readers in the pursuit of intellect and knowledge - a rare species in 2026. Congratulations!

Do you know of any other friend’s family who might also be in the same pursuit?

If you do, please forward the Sunday Blender to them, surprising them with the proof that the art of reading has not died, yet.

Thank you.

Tech

Google announced on January 21 that its AI assistant Gemini now offers free, full-length SAT practice exams — a direct challenge to the multibillion-dollar test prep industry. The SAT is a standardized test most American high schoolers take for college admissions, covering reading, writing, and math. Using content developed with The Princeton Review to mirror real exam conditions, Gemini scores each section after completion, identifies strengths and weaknesses, explains incorrect answers, and helps build a personalized study plan. With private tutors charging $135–155 per hour, the free tool could reshape how the nearly two million annual SAT takers prepare.

Turing Award winner Yann LeCun has launched Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, a Paris-based startup pursuing “world models” — AI systems that understand physics and simulate cause-and-effect rather than simply predicting text like large language models. LeCun, who left Meta in November 2025 after 12 years as Chief AI Scientist, serves as executive chairman, with former Nabla CEO Alex LeBrun running operations. The company is reportedly seeking US$586 million at a US$3.5 billion valuation before even launching. LeCun has long argued that scaling LLMs alone won’t achieve human-level AI, and believes world models can solve the hallucination problems inherent to current systems.

At Davos, Switzerland, this week, Anthropic (the developer of Claude AI) CEO Dario Amodei and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis appeared on stage together and found themselves agreeing on something uncomfortable: the disruption is coming faster than most realize. Amodei took the aggressive stance, predicting AI will replace most software engineering work within 6–12 months and reach “Nobel-level” scientific capability by 2027. Hassabis was more cautious, saying current systems are “nowhere near” AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and estimating a 50% chance of achieving it within 5–10 years, noting AI still needs “one or two more breakthroughs.” Both warned that half of white-collar jobs could vanish within five years.

Elon Musk made his first-ever Davos appearance this week, predicting AI will surpass individual human intelligence by the end of 2026 and exceed all of humanity’s collective brainpower within five years. Interviewed by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Musk forecast robots will eventually outnumber humans, with Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots going on sale to the public by the end of 2027 — initially for elder care in aging societies. He declared self-driving “essentially a solved problem,” with Tesla robotaxis expanding across the U.S. this year. Musk also called human aging “a very solvable problem” and warned that electricity — not chips — is now the limiting factor for AI growth.

Global

On January 17, over 300 athletes raced on handmade wooden skis wrapped in horse hide at the Ancient Fur Ski Race held at Jiangjunshan International Ski Resort in Altay, Xinjiang, China. The event celebrates the region’s claim as the birthplace of skiing — a 2005 discovery of rock paintings in nearby Handgait township depicts ancient hunters on fur-covered skis, estimated to be at least 12,000 years old. In 2015, skiing historians from 18 countries signed the Altay Declaration recognizing Altay as the world’s oldest skiing region. The traditional skis, still crafted by locals today, were even displayed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics museum.

Japan bid farewell to its last giant pandas this week as twin siblings Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei departed Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo for China on January 27. Born at the zoo in 2021, the pair had their final public viewing on January 25, with visitors limited to one-minute slots allocated by lottery — some days saw 24 applicants competing for each spot. Their departure marks the first time since 1972 that Japan has been without a panda, ending over 50 years of continuous panda presence that began when China gifted two pandas to commemorate the normalization of diplomatic ties. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara noted that pandas have “contributed to improving public sentiment” between the two nations.

Economy & Finance

Canada is breaking ranks with the United States on Chinese electric vehicles. During Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing last week, Canada agreed to slash its 100% tariff on Chinese EVs down to just 6.1%, opening the door for affordable electric cars from manufacturers like BYD. The deal caps imports at 49,000 vehicles annually, rising to 70,000 by 2030 — with over half expected to be priced under $24,500. In exchange, China will reduce tariffs on Canadian canola from 84% to 15%. The move marks a significant pivot away from U.S. trade policy, as Carney seeks to diversify Canada’s economy amid strained relations with Washington.

Nature & Environment

Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is experiencing what locals call a “snow apocalypse” — the heaviest snowfall in over 140 years. In December 2025, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky received 370mm of snow — more than three times the monthly average. Snow depth has reached 1.7 meters, with drifts up to 2.4 meters, burying cars and blocking building entrances up to the second floor. The surreal images of people tunneling out of their homes and entire streets vanishing under white have drawn comparisons to the 2004 Sci-Fi disaster blockbuster film The Day After Tomorrow. Schools and businesses are closed, roads remain impassable, and stores are running short on essentials as the remote region struggles to dig out.

Polar bear trackers are reporting encouraging news from Hudson Bay, Canada this January, with GPS data showing mothers and yearlings — including the popular “AAC Bear” — currently hunting seals deep on the sea ice during the sunless Arctic winter. However, researchers are also flagging a troubling development: some Arctic regions are experiencing an unusual “no-snow” crisis, with unseasonably warm temperatures leaving patches of ground completely bare. Scientists warn this is disorienting for local wildlife — polar bears rely on snow for denning, while Arctic foxes depend on their white winter coats for camouflage, now useless against the exposed dark terrain.

A major study released January 20 reveals that Antarctic penguins are breeding up to two weeks earlier than they did a decade ago. Researchers tracking Gentoo, Adélie, and Chinstrap penguins found that Gentoos are adapting so quickly they’re now out-competing the other species for prime nesting sites. But scientists warn this accelerated timeline could backfire: if baby penguins hatch before peak krill and plankton season, they may face food shortages during their most vulnerable weeks. The shift highlights how climate change is reshaping Antarctic ecosystems in complex ways, creating winners and losers even among closely related species.

Science

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore have created molecular devices that can switch roles on command — acting as memory, logic gates, processors, or artificial brain synapses depending on how they’re stimulated. The team built 17 specially designed ruthenium-based molecules that reorganize their electrons and ions dynamically, allowing a single device to store information, compute with it, or even learn and unlearn. “With the right molecular chemistry, a single device can store information, compute with it, or even learn and unlearn,” said lead researcher Pallavi Gaur. The breakthrough could lead to AI hardware that physically encodes intelligence into the material itself—computers that learn the way brains do.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, observed on the third Monday of January, honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., America’s most influential civil rights leader. Born January 15, 1929, King championed nonviolent resistance to end racial segregation, delivering his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington. Following his assassination in 1968, a campaign for a federal holiday began, finally signed into law by President Reagan in 1983. The holiday, first celebrated nationwide in 1986, is also designated as a National Day of Service — encouraging Americans to volunteer and embody King’s vision of the “Beloved Community”. This concept, central to King’s philosophy, described an achievable society transformed by justice, equality, and unconditional love — where poverty is eliminated, racial harmony prevails, conflicts are resolved through dialogue, and former enemies become friends through understanding.

The vampire epic Sinners dominated the 2026 Oscar nominations, earning a record-breaking 16 nominations — the most in Academy history, surpassing the 14 held by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016). The film, starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, scored nominations across major categories, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor — Jordan’s first Oscar nomination. Following behind were One Battle After Another with 13 nominations, and Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value with nine each. Sinners marks the fifth collaboration between director Ryan Coogler and Jordan, following Fruitvale Station, Creed, and both Black Panther films.

Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring will travel to Japan this summer in a rare international loan. The 17th-century masterpiece, often called the “Mona Lisa of the North,” will be displayed at Osaka’s Nakanoshima Museum of Art from August 21 to September 27 while its home, the Mauritshuis in The Hague, closes for renovations. The painting almost never leaves the Netherlands — its last international trip was a 2012–2014 world tour that drew 1.2 million visitors in Japan alone. Mauritshuis director Martine Gosselink noted this may be “the very last time” the work travels to Japan, making it a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

After years of limited access following the pandemic, international rock acts are heading back to mainland China. The Pixies bring their 40th anniversary tour to Shanghai’s VAS LIVE venue in May 2026, while Mac DeMarco, Behemoth, and Oneohtrix Point Never are also confirmed for 2026 dates. This follows a broader thaw: Kanye West’s surprise 2024 Hainan concerts signaled Beijing’s renewed openness to foreign performers. China’s live music market generated nearly US$8 billion in ticket revenue in 2024, and expanded visa-free policies for dozens of countries are making touring logistics easier. For bands like Suede — who have a cult following since their 2014 MIDI Festival appearances — China represents both nostalgia and a massive untapped market hungry for live rock.

Sports

[Fencing] Hong Kong’s men’s foil team struck gold at the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) World Cup in Paris this January, staging a thrilling comeback against the United States in the final. Trailing 4-10 early on, the squad — featuring two-time Olympic champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long and reigning world champion Ryan Choi Chun-yin — rallied to win 45-38, with Choi delivering a decisive 5-0 final bout. It marks Hong Kong’s second World Cup team gold, following their 2024 home victory. The triumph continues the city’s fencing renaissance sparked by Cheung and Paris Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong, who retired after last summer’s Games. Hong Kong will host the 2026 World Fencing Championships in July.

[Pickleball] Pickleball superstar Anna Leigh Waters is off to a blazing start in 2026. The 18-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, just became the first pickleball athlete to sign with Nike, joining the brand’s elite global roster after her previous Fila deal expired. Days later, she backed up the hype at the PPA Masters in Palm Springs, claiming her record-extending 40th career Triple Crown by sweeping singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles. Waters, who holds the world No. 1 ranking in all three disciplines, lost just five games across the entire tournament. With 181 career gold medals and landmark deals with Nike and Franklin paddles, she’s cementing her status as the undisputed face of pickleball.

[Rubik’s Cube] The Rubik’s Cube world has been shattered — literally in seconds. On January 11, 2026, China’s Xuanyi Geng set a new 3x3 World Record Average of 3.84 seconds at the Beijing Winter event, breaking the once-mythical “sub-4 second” barrier that cubers long considered the holy grail. He surpassed the previous 3.90-second mark held by child prodigy Yiheng Wang, and during the round posted a jaw-dropping 3.37-second counting solve. Geng also holds the single-solve world record at 3.05 seconds (set April 2025), with many believing a sub-3 second solve is imminent. Meanwhile, blindfolded cubing saw its own breakthrough: Stanley Chapel from USA shattered the 2-minute barrier for 5x5 Blindfolded with a time of 1:58.59 — one of the most mentally demanding feats in speedcubing.

[Yo-Yo] Japan’s Hajime Miura has cemented his status as a yo-yo legend, claiming his eighth world championship title at the World Yo-Yo Contest 2025 in Prague. At just 22 years old, he’s now the second most decorated yo-yo player in history — trailing only Shinji Saito’s 13 titles. Miura competes in 3A, a style where players control two yo-yos at the same time, one in each hand. His jaw-dropping three-minute routine marked a triumphant comeback after finishing fourth last year. The contest drew over 300 competitors from 43 countries. Miura has dominated the scene since winning his first world title in 2014 at age 10.

[Snooker] Chinese snooker made history at the Championship League in Leicester this week as three players delivered perfect 147 breaks within two days. On January 21-22, Xiao Guodong, Wu Yize, and reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong each cleared the table flawlessly during Group 6 matches. For Wu and Zhao, these were career-first maximums, while Xiao notched his third. The trio’s display pushed the season’s 147 tally to a record-breaking 21 — smashing the previous high of 15. Remarkably, Chinese players have now contributed more than a third of those 21 maximums this season, underscoring the country’s growing dominance in professional snooker.

[Soccer] Arsenal sit atop the UK’s Premier League with a commanding seven-point lead after 22 matches — their biggest advantage at this stage in club history. Mikel Arteta’s side ended 2025 leading both the league and Champions League group phase, going unbeaten in October with six wins and zero goals conceded. Their dominance rests on elite defending (Gabriel-Saliba partnership), set-piece mastery (14 league goals from dead balls, highest percentage ever for a potential champion), and improved depth following £250 million in summer signings including Martin Zubimendi. After three consecutive runner-up finishes, Arsenal finally look like a team that won’t collapse — chasing their first title since 2004.

[Soccer] Real Madrid have endured a chaotic few weeks. After losing the Supercopa de España final 3-2 to Barcelona on January 11, the club sacked Xabi Alonso just 233 days into his tenure, citing “mutual agreement” — though sources indicate it was a dismissal following reports of player unrest, particularly with Vinícius Júnior. Former right-back Álvaro Arbeloa was promoted from the reserve team to replace him. His debut went disastrously: a 3-2 Copa del Rey exit to second-division Albacete. But Arbeloa bounced back emphatically, thrashing Monaco 6-1 in the Champions League on January 20, with Mbappé scoring twice against his former club. Madrid sit second in La Liga, four points behind Barcelona.

[NBA] The Oklahoma City Thunder (37-8) have emerged as the league’s dominant force, holding a commanding six-game lead atop the Western Conference over the surprising San Antonio Spurs. Out East, the Detroit Pistons (32-11) are the story of the season — a shocking turnaround from perennial lottery team to conference leaders, ahead of the defending champion Celtics and resurgent Knicks. Individually, Luka Dončić is scorching nets at 33.5 points per game to lead all scorers, while Nikola Jokić continues his nightly triple-double pursuit, pacing the league in both rebounds (12.2) and assists (11.0). “The Joker”’s all-around dominance makes him the early MVP frontrunner.

[NBA] The NBA unveiled a groundbreaking format for the 75th All-Star Game: USA vs. World. For the first time, two American teams will face one international squad in a round-robin tournament at LA’s Intuit Dome on February 15. Luka Dončić (Slovenia) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) led fan voting, headlining a stacked World team alongside Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), and Victor Wembanyama (France). The USA starters feature Stephen Curry, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown. Notably absent: LeBron James missed the starting lineup for the first time since his 2003-04 rookie season, ending a 22-year streak. Reserves will be announced February 1.

This Day in History

On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold flakes in the American River while building a sawmill for John Sutter in Coloma, California. Though Sutter tried to keep the find secret, word spread rapidly. By 1849, some 300,000 prospectors — dubbed “forty-niners” — flooded into California from across the U.S. and the world. The Gold Rush transformed San Francisco from a tiny settlement into a booming city and accelerated California’s path to statehood in 1850. It reshaped the American economy, spurred westward migration, and devastated Native American communities. Ironically, neither Marshall nor Sutter profited — both died in poverty. As of 2026, California would rank as the 5th largest economy in the world, trailing only the United States, China, and Germany.

Art of the Week

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a small oil painting created around 1665 by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. It depicts an unknown young woman in an exotic blue and gold turban, glancing over her shoulder with parted lips and a luminous pearl earring catching the light. What makes it extraordinary is Vermeer’s mastery of light — the way the pearl gleams, the soft glow on her skin, and the mysterious dark background that makes her seem to emerge from shadow. Her ambiguous expression has drawn comparisons to the Mona Lisa. The painting was virtually unknown until the 1990s, when it became a global icon after inspiring a bestselling novel and Hollywood film starring Scarlett Johansson.

Funny

Wife: You’re not buying new books, are you?

Husband: Absolutely not. These books were published years ago.

Previous Issues

January 17, 2026, The Attack of Robots, Elephant, Banksy, and Heat

January 03, 2026, An Incredible Journey From Wuhan To Singapore

December 27, 2025, The Age of One-Person Billion Dollar Company

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