Editor’s Notes

The return of The Sunday Blender after a long and hot summer was well received. Upon suggestions from several subscribers, I’ve added some additional features:

• You can now download the PDF version of this issue from the link in the email and on the web. It’s usually about 6-7 pages, two-column layout, Georgia font, with an old-school newspaper vibe. Our boy loves the smell of flipping through a newspaper on Sunday morning.
• There is a link in the email that directs you to the web URL of this issue.
• The website https://weekly.sundayblender.com is now accessible from ANY country in the world without a VPN, thanks to the use of an exquisite blockchain technology.

Please continue to share your suggestions and feedback to clayton.man@sundayblender.com. You can also send interesting news stories my way. I rely on a combination of Twitter and LLMs to curate stories (I use all major LLM tools, and claude.ai is the favorite for the month), but I can always use help from the community who shares the same passion for creating interesting news for kids.

Of course, the biggest help you can do for The Sunday Blender, is to share it with other parents. Thank you!

Tech

OpenAI released the largest study to date analyzing 1.5 million ChatGPT conversations across three years, revealing how the AI tool creates economic value. The study shows demographic gaps are shrinking, with gender disparities narrowing dramatically and adoption growing 4x faster in low-income countries. Three-quarters of conversations focus on practical guidance, information-seeking, and writing, with usage split into “Asking” (49%), “Doing” (40%), and “Expressing” categories. Non-work usage surged from 53% to 73% between June 2024-2025, indicating ChatGPT is becoming integral to daily life. The findings demonstrate ChatGPT functions more as an advisor than just a task-completion tool, supporting OpenAI’s belief that AI access should be treated as a basic right.

DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model just became the first large language model peer-reviewed and published in Nature magazine. It’s already the most popular model on Hugging Face with 10.9 million downloads. DeepSeek revealed that their R1 model achieves advanced reasoning through pure reinforcement learning without human-annotated demonstrations. The training cost was remarkably low at just $294,000 (plus $6 million for the base model), far below industry estimates of tens of millions. R1 uses automated trial-and-error reinforcement learning to reward correct answers, allowing the model to develop its own reasoning strategies like self-reflection and verification. DeepSeek denied training on OpenAI outputs, stating R1 didn’t copy reasoning examples from rival models. The model has “kick-started a revolution” in AI research, inspiring almost all 2025 LLM reinforcement learning work. Nature praised this as setting new transparency standards for the AI industry.

Anthropic’s Economic Index reveals uneven AI adoption patterns across geography and economy. Directive automation jumped from 27% to 39% of conversations in nine months, reaching 77% for enterprise customers. AI usage correlates strongly with wealth - California, Washington D.C., and Utah lead U.S. usage, while southern and Plains states lag behind. Globally, the U.S. dominates usage, with India second, followed by Brazil, Japan, and South Korea. Lower-income countries show higher automation rates versus augmentation. Computer and mathematical tasks comprise 36% of usage, but educational instruction rose from 9% to 12%. The findings suggest AI benefits are concentrating among wealthier regions and high-skill workers, potentially worsening economic inequalities without targeted policy interventions.

The All-In Summit 2025 was held September 7-10 in Los Angeles. The event was organized by the All-In Podcast hosts. The 2025 summit marked a decisive shift from 2024’s speculation to conviction. AI evolved from experimental apps to core infrastructure, with leaders from DeepMind, Tesla, and Eric Schmidt positioning AI as the ultimate accelerator for scientific discovery and productivity. Discussions moved from “if AI will matter” to “where profits will accrue” - focusing on edge AI, robotics integration, and domain-specific applications. Notable absences included Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon representatives, while Elon Musk appeared more focused and described Optimus as potentially “the most valuable product in history”. The $7,500-per-ticket event reflected industry consensus that disruption is inevitable - the only question being who captures the profit pools.

Meta’s Connect 2025 showcased the company’s vision for AI-powered smart glasses as the next computing platform. The flagship Meta Ray-Ban Display features a built-in lens display and revolutionary Neural Band wristband controller using electromyography to detect hand gestures for text input. Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 offers double battery life, 3K video recording, and conversation focus technology. Oakley Meta Vanguard targets athletes with fitness integration and automatic workout highlights. Hyperscape technology creates photorealistic VR replicas of real rooms. Zuckerberg positioned glasses as “personal superintelligence” vessels, representing Meta’s clearest post-smartphone strategy. However, the live AI demo embarrassingly failed during the keynote.

Huawei held its 10th annual Connect conference in Shanghai (September 18-20), themed “All Intelligence,” bringing together global tech leaders to showcase how AI is transforming everyday life and business. The headline announcement was Huawei Cloud’s new “super node” - a massive computing system that can scale from 384 to 8,192 powerful processors, supporting networks of up to 1 million processors for AI applications. This means faster, smarter apps and services for consumers - like AI that can predict when factory equipment will break (saving 20% inspection time) or help retailers match products to customers 40% better. Huawei also launched simplified AI tools for small businesses, making advanced technology “as accessible as water and electricity” so no company gets left behind in the digital revolution.

Global

Shanghai has surged in popularity among young South Koreans, overtaking Hong Kong and Tokyo as their preferred travel destination. Koreans have dubbed it the “night owl getaway” - a weekend city of shimmering towers, acclaimed cuisine and vibrant urban energy. The city welcomed 423,000 Korean arrivals through mid-August, a surge of 130.7% from last year, making them Shanghai’s largest foreign visitors. This boom follows China’s November 2024 announcement allowing Korean travelers visa-free entry for up to 30 days. Travel platform Klook reported Shanghai tour reservations jumped 88%, day tours by 549%, and mobility services by 538% during summer holidays, especially among solo travelers. Hotel searches by Koreans for Shanghai accommodation soared 240% year-on-year for the Chuseok holiday. The city’s architecture, food scene, coffee culture, and nightlife attract Korean millennials seeking accessible international experiences.

Andrew Cherng, born in 1948 in Yangzhou, China, immigrated to America and in 1973 opened Panda Inn with his father in Pasadena, California. In 1983, he launched Panda Express with wife Peggy, a Myanmar-born electrical engineer. Their fast-casual chain revolutionized American Chinese cuisine, growing to over 2,400 locations across shopping malls, universities, and airports. Panda Express became deeply embedded in American daily life, selling an estimated 90 million pounds of orange chicken annually. The couple built a $7.5 billion fortune and in September 2025, their Cherng Family Trust joined investor Tom Dundon’s group to purchase the NBA team Portland Trail Blazers for over $4 billion, making them the wealthiest investors in the ownership group.

A deadly sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama, Japan, has highlighted a critical infrastructure crisis in the country. The sinkhole, caused by a ruptured 42-year-old sewer pipe, swallowed a truck and its 74-year-old driver. This incident has raised widespread concern about Japan’s aging public works, much of which was built during its post-war economic boom and is now reaching or exceeding its 50-year lifespan. Experts warn that with over 40% of sewer pipes expected to be more than 50 years old in the next two decades, similar collapses could occur elsewhere in the country. In response, the government has ordered nationwide inspections of sewer systems and is planning a new resilience plan to accelerate repairs and upgrades.

Economy & Finance

Climate change is melting Arctic ice, creating previously unnavigable shipping routes and access to oil, gas, and mineral resources, sparking intense global competition for Arctic dominance through icebreaker ships. Russia leads with 47 icebreakers in service and 15 under construction, while Canada has only one functioning heavy icebreaker but is building two dozen new ones to double its fleet. Canada’s new CCGS Arpatuuq, a $2.4 billion heavy icebreaker launching in 2030, will be the first built partly in Canada in over 50 years, featuring “moon pools” for Arctic Ocean research and military surveillance. The U.S. wants to add 48 icebreakers to its current fleet of three, with $8.6 billion allocated for 17 vessels. Paradoxically, demand for icebreakers rises as sea ice declines, enabling year-round navigation in previously frozen corridors and increasing geopolitical competition for Arctic control.

Nature & Environment

This weekend features a rare planetary parade with Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune aligning in the morning sky before dawn. Saturn reaches opposition on September 21, appearing at its brightest and most detailed since 2010, fully illuminated and visible all night. A special highlight occurs September 19 with the crescent moon aligning with Venus and the bright star Regulus. This celestial event won’t happen again until 2028. Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible to the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune require binoculars or telescopes. Find an unobstructed eastern horizon for the best viewing experience.

Science

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured an enormous stellar jet stretching 8 light-years across in the nebula Sharpless 2-284, approximately twice the distance from our Sun to the nearest stars. The massive protostar powering these twin jets weighs about 10 times our Sun and is located 15,000 light-years away on the outskirts of the Milky Way. This discovery provides evidence that protostellar jets scale with stellar mass—the more massive the star, the larger the jets. The jets stream at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour, resembling a double-bladed lightsaber, offering insights into massive star formation processes.

Scientists discovered a mysterious gravitational shift deep within Earth that occurred between 2006-2008, nearly 2,900 kilometers down near the core-mantle boundary. The discovery was made using GRACE satellites that detected the anomaly centered off Africa’s Atlantic coast, peaking around 2007. Researchers believe it resulted from a mineral phase transition where perovskite transformed to post-perovskite, increasing rock density and causing structural changes. This suggests deep mantle processes can occur within just a few years rather than millions of years previously assumed. The event may have influenced Earth’s magnetic field, providing new insights into dynamic processes connecting Earth’s layers.

Lifestyle, Entertainment & Culture

The 2025 77th Emmy Awards, on September 14, were dominated by several standout shows and featured multiple historic wins. The Studio broke records with 13 total Emmy wins, the most ever for a first-year comedy series. Seth Rogen won four Emmys for the show, tying the record for most individual wins in one night. 15-year-old Owen Cooper became the youngest male acting winner in Emmy history for Adolescence. HBO and Netflix tied with 30 total wins each.

Robert Redford, the iconic actor and Oscar-winning director, died September 16, 2025, at age 89 at his Utah home. Known for classics like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men,” Redford became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1970s with his golden looks and charismatic screen presence. He won the Best Director Oscar for “Ordinary People” (1980) and founded the Sundance Institute, transforming independent cinema. A committed environmental activist, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. His cultural impact extends far beyond acting through championing independent filmmakers and environmental causes.

Sports

Jonas Vingegaarddelivered a masterclass on Stage 20’s merciless Bola del Mundo in Vuelta a Espana (Cycling Tournament of Spain), conquering the brutal 12.3-kilometer climb averaging 8.6% gradient. The final 3.2 kilometers were utterly savage at 12.2% average, with sections hitting 23% on the rough concrete track. These punishing slopes “pushed all riders to the limit,” but Vingegaard found another gear, dropping João Almeida to extend his lead to 1:16. Stage 21’s Madrid finale was cancelled due to protests. This triumph completes Vingegaard’s decorated Grand Tour collection, adding to his 2022 and 2023 Tour de France victories, cementing his legacy among cycling’s elite climbers.

Noah Lyles made history by winning his fourth consecutive men’s 200m world title at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships, joining Usain Bolt as the only athletes to achieve this feat. Lyles clocked 19.52 seconds to defeat compatriot Kenneth Bednarek (19.58) and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell (19.64). Despite a slow start from fifth position, Lyles unleashed his trademark closing speed after 150m to storm past the field. He had earlier set a world-leading time of 19.51 in the semifinals. The victory came after Lyles finished third in the 100m earlier in the championships, with the American already eyeing a fifth title in Beijing 2027. Notable absentee was 17-year-old Australian sensation Gout Gout, who failed to advance from the semifinals.

The 2025 Parafencing World Championships took place September 2-7 in Iksan, South Korea, featuring 240+ wheelchair fencers from 30 countries competing across épée, foil, and sabre in categories A, B, and C. China dominated with double gold in men’s and women’s team events, while Great Britain’s Dimitri Coutya claimed individual foil gold and Ukraine scored a stunning men’s team épée victory. Held at Iksan Stadium in the “heart of fencing” in South Korea, the event created an electric atmosphere with local community involvement. The championships served as a key milestone, occurring one year after Paris 2024 Paralympics and three years before LA 2028.

Chinese table tennis Olympic champion Fan Zhendong shocked the sporting world by joining German Bundesliga club FC Saarbrücken TT for 2025, his first foreign club signing. However, his debut was disappointing - he lost both matches, falling 3-2 to France’s Romain Ruiz and 3-1 to Germany’s Benedikt Duda as Saarbrücken lost 3-1 at home. Fan attributed the struggles to adaptation challenges, telling teammates “the tables, the balls, the players are different” from China. The setback comes after Fan withdrew from international ITTF events in December 2024 due to psychological strain and disagreement with tournament participation fines. Teammates remain confident “the real Fan Zhendong will be back”.

This Day in History

The Battle of the Sexes was an exhibition tennis match on September 20, 1973, between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs at Houston’s Astrodome. The 29-year-old King defeated the cocky 55-year-old Riggs in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-3) before 30,472 spectators and 90 million television viewers worldwide. Riggs had previously defeated Margaret Court and embraced his role as a male chauvinist, claiming “women belong in the kitchen”. King’s victory became a landmark moment for the women’s movement and remains the most-watched tennis match in history. The match brought unprecedented publicity to gender equality struggles. The event was depicted in a 2017 Hollywood movie starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.

Art of the Week

“Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth (1948) depicts a woman in a pink dress crawling across a vast, golden field toward a distant farmhouse. The woman is Christina Olson, Wyeth’s neighbor who suffered from polio and couldn’t walk. Rather than portraying disability with pity, Wyeth captures profound dignity and determination in her struggle across the landscape. The painting’s hyperrealistic style and muted palette create an atmosphere of isolation and longing. The expansive field symbolizes life’s challenges, while Christina’s position suggests both vulnerability and resilience. Located at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, it’s become one of America’s most iconic paintings—a haunting meditation on human perseverance, the relationship between people and landscape, and finding strength within physical limitations. The work exemplifies Wyeth’s ability to find extraordinary meaning in ordinary rural life.

Humor

“What’s your App Store password? I want to play Fortnite.”

Cartoon by Akeem Roberts, The New Yorker

Previous Issues

September 13, 2025, Good Old Apple Strikes Back

July 06, 2025, While Young Talents Trailblaze AI Frontier, Legendary Icons Write New Chapters

June 28, 2025, Flying Without Wings, Seeing Without Eyes, and Driving Without Humans

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. Send your suggestions and feedback to clayton.man@sundayblender.com, or tag The Sunday Blender on Twitter. I can use your help to make news interesting for kids, together.

Last modified on 2025-09-20