Religious

The death of Jesus is by far the most well-known example of crucifixion. In ancient times, crucifixion was actually a fairly common form of punishment, but no physical remains from any crucifixion had been found. Then, in 1968, archaeologist Vassilios Tzaferis dug up a Jerusalem tomb that contained the bones of a man named Yehohanan who had been crucified. Examining Yehohanan’s bones revealed details about one of the Roman crucifixion methods. Both of his feet had been nailed together to the cross with a wooden plank, while his legs were bent to one side. His arm bones showed scratches where the nails had passed through. Both legs were badly fractured, most likely from a crushing blow meant to end his suffering and speed up his death. His bones have helped fill in gaps in the history of crucifixion. — Bible History Daily, 1/6/2026

Excavations of a cemetery in the ancient Roman town of Nida, located in a suburb of modern Frankfurt, Germany, have revealed the earliest evidence for Christianity north of the Alps. The discovery — a small silver foil with a Latin inscription — highlights both the rapid spread of the fledgling religion and also opens a window onto early Christian beliefs. — Bible History Daily, 1/6/2006

The Sarcophagus of Ramesses the Great: Over 3,200 years after Ramesses II’s death (r. 1279-1213 BCE), a significant part of his burial sarcophagus has been identified. Frédéric Payraudeau, a professor of Egyptology at Sorbonne University, suggested that an inscribed granite fragment found nearly 15 years ago probably once belonged to the outer coffin of one of Egypt’s most renowned rulers. — Bible History Daily, 1/6/2026

Wine has been a staple of the Mediterranean world long before Jesus’ era. Indeed, ancient texts, from Pliny to the Bible, frequently mention wine and its consumption. The New Testament references wine over two dozen times, from the wedding at Cana to the Last Supper, while the Hebrew Bible mentions it another 200 times. However, wine from the time of Jesus would have been quite different from what we find at the supermarket today. There is surprisingly much we still do not know about the Roman ancestor of our modern cabernets, pinots, and chardonnays, including what it tasted like. — Biblical
Archaeology Review, 12/30/2025

Social

Deaths in the U.S. are expected to surpass births in 2030; in September, the CBO estimated this could happen as early as 2031. The Congressional Budget Office also lowered its long-term forecast for U.S. population growth from 349 million this year to 364 million in 2056, after which the population will begin to decline. A year ago, the CBO predicted the U.S. would reach 372 million people in 30 years; in September, it lowered that forecast to 367 million. The slowdown reflects an aging population, decreasing fertility, and current immigration policies. — Wall Street Journal, 1/7/2026

March 11-14, 1888. Over 120 winters have passed since the so-called “Great White Hurricane,” but this massive storm still remains infamous. After a period of rainy but unseasonably warm weather, temperatures suddenly dropped, and fierce winds kicked up, covering the East Coast in snow and forming drifts up to 50 feet high. The storm paralyzed New York, Boston, and other major cities, blocking roads and knocking out telephone, telegraph, and rail services for several days. When the skies finally cleared, fires and flooding caused millions of dollars in damage. The disaster resulted in more than 400 deaths, including 200 in New York City alone. In the following decade, partly in response to the 1888 storm and the enormous gridlock it caused, New York and Boston started building the nation’s first underground subway systems. — History.com, December 2025

Researchers at Penn and the University of Michigan have created the world’s smallest fully programmable autonomous robots, packed with significant capabilities into a device smaller than a grain of salt. These tiny machines are barely visible to the naked eye, yet they can sense their environment, respond to it, and move in complex patterns. As detailed in a new paper in the journal Science Robotics, they operate on extremely small amounts of energy and derive power from light. The robots hold potential medical uses, such as accurately reporting local body temperatures or retrieving tissue from the base of a tooth for testing. Robots traveling inside our bodies (possibly injected) could even be powered by light, as some wavelengths can pass through human tissue. Ultrasound might also be effective. — Wall Street Journal, 1/8/2026

Astronomers analyzing data from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, have discovered the fastest-spinning asteroid ever recorded, with a diameter of over half a kilometer — a feat made possible exclusively by Rubin (an LSST camera). During the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory First Look event in June 2025, Rubin announced it had observed thousands of asteroids moving through our solar system, about 1,900 of which are confirmed as newly discovered. Among these, a team of astronomers identified 19 super and ultra-fast-rotating asteroids. One of these is the fastest-spinning asteroid larger than 500 meters (0.3 miles) ever found. — SLAC, 1/6/2026

Of all the methods humans have devised to prevent sea lions from eating salmon in the Columbia River basin, none have been effective for long. No matter the method, the result is usually the same: within weeks, or sometimes hours, the sea lions swim right back. So, in recent years, officials have made sealion removals more permanent, which means more deadly. Since 2020, the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as a handful of local tribes, have trapped and euthanized more than 200 sea lions in and around the Columbia River. Not everyone agrees that more kills are necessary. But at this point, all other options have failed. — The Atlantic, 1/7/2026

New federal dietary guidelines urge Americans to eat more protein and dairy. For the first time, it officially recommends avoiding highly processed foods. The updated advice is shown by an inverted pyramid, with proteins, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats — like avocados — grouped at the top. Whole grains are given less emphasis at the bottom. This graphic replaced the MyPlate visual introduced in 2011, which suggested roughly equal portions of grains and vegetables, smaller servings of protein and fruit, and a side of dairy. Importantly, the update moves away from limits on all fats, instead highlighting different types of fats. It also drops daily alcohol limits in favor of general advice to drink less and suggests that people can double their protein intake if they choose. — AP, 1/8/2026

Political

China’s population continued to decline, marking the fourth year in a row of decrease. The total population in 2025 was 1.404 billion, down by 3 million from the previous year. Additionally, the birth rate in 2025 — 5.63 per 1,000 people — is the lowest on record since 1949, the year Mao Zedong’s Communists overthrew the Nationalists and took control of China. Data prior to that, under the previous Nationalist government, were not available. China was once the world’s most populous country until 2023, when it was overtaken by its regional neighbor and occasional rival, India. — AP, 1/19/2026

Indonesia has ratified a new penal code, replacing a criminal law that had governed the country for over 80 years. Known as KUHP, it reintroduces penalties for insulting the president and state institutions. Under the revised code, having sexual relations outside of marriage can result in up to one year in prison, while cohabitation is punishable by six months. The code also reinstates a ban on insulting a sitting president or vice president, state institutions, and the national ideology, with each offense carrying penalties of up to three years in prison. Additionally, the new code expands an existing blasphemy law to include prison sentences of up to five years for deviations from the core teachings of Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions. — AP. 122026

From Archibald, Pennsylvania, to Page, Arizona, tech firms are looking to set up data centers in locations that sometimes aren’t zoned for such heavy industrial uses, within communities that had not planned for them. These massive data centers can utilize more energy than entire cities and draining local water supplies. Anger over the perceived trampling of communities by Silicon Valley has entered the national political conversation and could influence voters across the political spectrum. The industry has struggled to address these concerns. In Chandler, Arizona, former senator Kyrsten Sinema (I), co-founder of the AI Infrastructure Coalition, urged city officials to support a large proposed project or risk the federal government pushing it through without local input. The city council rejected the project unanimously. — Washington Post, 1/6/2026

Colombia’s resurging militias — groups with thousands of fighters that President Trump calls narcoterrorists for smuggling drugs into the U.S. — are overwhelming the country’s strained security forces with explosive-laden drones in attacks that have become more frequent and intense. Since April 2024, when these strikes began, the military reports about 400 drone attacks, resulting in 58 soldiers and police officers killed and nearly 300 wounded, according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro. — Wall Street Journal, 12/30/2025

Chinese research submarines traveled thousands of feet beneath the Arctic ice this summer, marking a technological breakthrough with significant military and commercial implications for the U.S. and its allies. U.S. national security officials say the Chinese undersea missions indicate a growing threat from China in the Arctic region, known as the High North. This year, Chinese military and research ships operated around Alaska’s Arctic waters in record numbers, the Department of Homeland Security reported in November. For China, gaining Arctic access could provide valuable data about natural resources under melting ice caps, significantly reduce shipping times, and bring nuclear-armed submarines closer to potential targets, including the U.S., according to Western marine strategists and military officials. — Wall Street Journal, 12/30/2025

China’s military held its largest-ever drills around Taiwan, involving air, navy, and missile units. Beijing stated the operation — called “Justice Mission 2025” — aims to prevent Taipei from pursuing formal independence and to deter foreign interference. The exercise followed a record US arms sale to Taiwan and remarks from Japanese leaders about potential defense commitments to the island. Chinese military aircraft and 28 naval and coast guard ships took part, with live-fire drills that simulated blockades and joint strikes. Taiwan mobilized rapid-response troops and reported that flights were canceled or rerouted for over 100,000 travelers. The island criticized the drills, saying they threaten regional stability. Taiwan is situated on important trade routes in the Western Pacific and produces about 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips. — 1440 News, 12/29/2025

Financial

As of 2024, 25% of U.S. households had no regular income. Some states had higher proportions of no-income households than others: West Virginia, for example, had a nationwide high of 34% of households with no income. These states tend to have older populations, higher rates of disability, and lower median incomes overall. In such areas, a larger share of households rely on non-earned income sources or report no income during the survey period. — Personal Finance, 12/26/2026

The American Tort Reform Association, a lobbying group that supports caps on award damages and changes to civil liability laws, estimates that in 2024 attorneys spent over $541 million on out-of-home and outdoor advertising. This category includes billboards and advertising space on buses, subways, and other public areas. This represents an increase of $70 million compared to 2023 and nearly $200 million more than in 2022. Morgan & Morgan, the nation’s largest personal injury firm, reportedly spends an astonishing $350 million annually on marketing alone. According to the American Bar Association, there were 1.3 million practicing attorneys in the United States in 2024, which equates to one attorney for every 260 Americans. Although the number peaked at 1.352 million in 2019, this group has generally grown by about 1% each year since “If you do not advertise, you will get eaten by people like me,” says Brooke Goff, a personal injury attorney in Connecticut. — The Hustle newsletter, 12/12/2025

The practice of counterfeiting currency is as old as money itself. Throughout history, many have tried to make a living from this illegal activity with varying degrees of success. One of the earliest counterfeiters was also one of the luckiest. Going back to the 5th century during Emperor Justinian’s reign, the man known as Alexander the Barber was so skilled that he was eventually hired by the government to assist in their finance department. Before paper money was introduced, counterfeiters like the English couple Thomas and Anne Rogers shaved the edges off silver coins to reduce their weight. The pair met a gruesome end. After being convicted of treason, they were hanged, drawn, quartered, and burned alive, respectively. — PBS, 1/6/2026

In the future, powering AI will require up to 8,000% more energy than today. By 2030, data centers could use as much electricity as entire countries. But, Frontieras found a clean solution in an unlikely place: coal. Their patented system breaks down coal to produce clean fuels, fertilizer, and a coal substitute with clean carbon. This opens up an even bigger opportunity to change how coal is used worldwide. — 1440 News, Frontieras press release, 1/8/2026

Israel and the Middle East

For the first time since Israel’s founding, the annual population growth in 2025 is expected to fall below one percent, according to a report by an independent research institute based in Jerusalem. The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel estimated the increase at 0.9 percent. However, later figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed a rate of 1.1 percent, marking the lowest recorded figure. The Taub Center report noted only two other years since Israel’s establishment in 1948 when the annual population growth dipped below 1.5%: 1981, at 1.42%, and 1983, at 1.35%. Alex Weinreb attributed this trend to three factors: an increase in deaths due to more people reaching their 70s and 80s, negative migration figures, and a decline in the fertility rate — the number of births per woman. — Times of Israel, 12/31/2025

Solomon’s Temple is widely regarded as one of the most central and significant structures in the Hebrew Bible. However, an archaeological discovery indicates that during much of the First Temple period (c. 1000-586 BCE), Solomon’s Temple was not the only place of worship in Jerusalem. On the eastern slopes of the City of David, just a few hundred yards from the Temple Mount, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority assert they have uncovered a second temple. — Biblical Archaeology Review, 12/30/2025

An Assyrian Letter to the King of Judah: For the first time, a fragment of a cuneiform inscription from the First Temple period has been unearthed in Jerusalem. The inscription, believed to be part of a royal correspondence between Assyrian imperial authorities and Judah’s royal court, concerns a delayed payment, possibly a tax. This fits well with the historical context of Judah’s vassalage to the Assyrian Empire, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible. It offers a remarkable glimpse into the Assyrian administration of Judah. — BAR, 12/30/2025

Necho and Josiah at Megiddo: Although remembered in the Bible as one of Judah’s most pious rulers, King Josiah met a relatively untimely death, slain at Megiddo by Pharaoh Necho II. While Josiah’s death is documented in both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, no archaeological evidence has ever confirmed the story — until now. Archaeologists excavating at the Megiddo site in northern Israel suggest that new ceramic finds offer the first evidence of Egyptian forces and Greek mercenaries present in the city at the time of Josiah’s death. — BAR, 12/30/2025