Charles Darwin's daughter had an unusual hobby: Hunting phallic mushrooms More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. A well-known tale says Henrietta Darwin (left), or Aunt Etty, as family called her once burned phallic-shaped mushrooms to protect the "morals of the maids. But is the story really true? Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . On a warm autumn day in the early 1900s, Henrietta Darwin, Charles Darwin's eldest daughter, marched into the woods near her house on the outskirts of Gomshall, a rural English village about 30 miles southwest of London. Armed with a basket and a stick, her keen eyes scanned the damp, leafy undergrowth. At last, she smelled a rotten odor, and directed her gaze to the stench. There, a few feet away, she spotted her enemy: the stinkhorn mushroom. With its elongated shape protruding from the ground, the penis-shaped fungus oozed with a slime that smelled like carrion . She dug it up, took it home, and burned it before anyone could see it. The unsightly mushroom could have corrupted her maids' morals, or even their health. At least, that was the excuse she told her young niece Gwen Raverat, with a twinkle in her eye. A fascinating woman in her own right, Henrietta Darwin was one of Charles Darwin's 10 children. Although Raverat paints an interesting picture of Henrietta's mushroom-hunting passion in her memoir, Henrietta's father, the famous naturalist and author of deeply valued his daughter as a collaborator on some of his most important works. Born in 1843, Henrietta was Darwin's third daughter and the first to survive early childhood. As a young woman, she was raised in a household of curiosity and scientific engagement, and likely due to her father's work on evolutionary theory, she wrestled with questions of free will, God, and the possibility of eternal life. This book was the first of Darwin's works to apply his theory of evolution to the human species. For her efforts, Darwin wrote to her in 1870: "You have done me real service; but by Jove, how hard you must have worked, and how thoroughly you have mastered my MS [manuscript]," he wrote. "All this is as clear as daylight." Public Domain He also wrote to her again in 1871, after had been published: "Several reviewers speak of the lucid, vigorous style, & c.

Phone cluster computing turns old smartphones into low-carbon data center servers. Google says UC San Diego plans to launch a 2,000 Pixel phone data center in Fall 2026.

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Why Do Some Soccer Players Cut the Heels Off Their Cleats? An image of Portugal forward Pedro Neto's cleats at the World Cup has reignited a practice among some soccer players: modifying their cleats to relieve heel discomfort. During this year's World Cup, one very peculiar image caught the attention of fans and commentators: Portuguese forward Pedro Neto played a match with the back of his cleats cut off, right above the heel. The modification was intended to relieve pressure on a particularly sensitive area of his foot. Although the image went viral, it's not new.

The $28 Million Mistake That Inspired Estonia's AI "Fuckup Finder" Now Estonia is using AI to spot legal errors before they become law--and to automate more of the state. Estonia's AI embarrassment began with a single wrong phrase. In December, the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, passed changes to the country's Gambling Tax Act meant to lower the tax rate on remote gambling. But the wording of the law referred only to "skill games" for that year, not games of chance or remote gambling. Estonia's entire gambling industry is worth around €300 million ($343 million), and its online gambling market is one of the fastest growing in the EU.

Russia tries to jam Musk's Starlink systems to counter Ukrainian drones Service members of the Sparta company of the 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment Luftwaffe of the Ukrainian Armed Forces prepare a Zozulia midstrike drone for a flight while they work at a position near a front line in an undisclosed location in southern Ukraine. ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine - Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian "midstrike" drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots said. Kyiv's development of "midstrike" drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometers behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war in Ukraine. In a concerted midstrike campaign this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, fuel storage facilities, air-defense installations and command centers, disrupting Russian forces' logistics and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea. But Russia is now developing many ways to try to counter the midrange strikes, four drone commanders and pilots told a Reuters crew that visited Ukraine's 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment at work in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Messi and Ronaldo Are Building Tech Portfolios. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are betting on AI, health tech, and startups. Mohamed Salah is taking a more traditional route beyond football. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mohamed Salah have spent the past two decades defining one of soccer's greatest eras. Now, as the 2026 FIFA World Cup marks Ronaldo's final appearance at the tournament and another defining moment in the careers of Messi and Salah, they're also preparing for life beyond the pitch.

Experiments in using AI to build AI show that the future doesn't just belong to the frontier labs. These days, the frontier AI labs are all racing to build self-improving models . Some believe it's the surest route to superintelligence --as AI improves itself in a mind-melting loop, the thinking goes, it will eventually surpass human comprehension (and perhaps even control). That's all well and good, but I have a newsletter to produce. I wondered if recursive self-improvement might also be useful for me.

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Technology Aviation Airbus wants to build world's first hydrogen fuel jet engine Commercial hydrogen planes could take off by 2035. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Unlike jet fuel, hydrogen fuel's primary byproduct is water vapor. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .