125 Sunday STEM Links I Never Published

The 7 Sunday links emails turned out to be the most popular over the past year. Each email was a small collection of often odd but educational stories. This post includes 125 links that I saved but never got round to publishing in Sunday emails. Feel free to browse and have fun reading and learning about STEM topics. The Sunday emails links were meant to start readers on a fun journey exploring the article topic. And maybe more if the destination site is equally interesting.

Music for pets? It’s a profitable business. The woman who built a business around music for pets

https://media.hubspot.com/music-for-pets-its-a-profitable-business

You’re probably brushing your teeth with toxic metals

https://bgr.com/science/youre-probably-brushing-your-teeth-with-toxic-metals/

If you wish to make a toaster from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

https://www.scopeofwork.net/toaster-project/

How to Set Your Thermostat—According to Science

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/smart-thermostat-science

“Astronomy is Facing an Existential crisis,” Says Researcher Who Solved Radio Telescope Mystery

https://thedebrief.org/astronomy-is-facing-an-existential-crisis-says-researcher-who-solved-radio-telescope-mystery/

Is your internet being throttled? Here’s how to find out (and stop it)

https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-your-internet-being-throttled-heres-how-to-find-out-and-stop-it/

Decommissioned wind turbine blades recycled into asphalt for new roads

https://newatlas.com/environment/decommissioned-wind-turbine-blades-recycled-asphalt-roads/

11 Exciting Astronomical Events in 2025—and How to See Them

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/astronomical-events-2025-how-to-see-them

Earth’s Rotation Is Slowing Down, And It Could Explain Why We Have Oxygen

https://www.sciencealert.com/earths-rotation-is-slowing-down-and-it-could-explain-why-we-have-oxygen

Magnetic confinement advance promises 100 times more fusion power at half the cost

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-magnetic-confinement-advance-fusion-power.html

Why Is The Ocean Salty But Lakes Aren’t?

https://www.sciencing.com/1835938/why-ocean-salty-but-lakes-not

Why Belly Fat Expands With Age, and How to Target It

https://neurosciencenews.com/aging-belly-fat-neuroscience-28743/

How Meaning Takes Shape Before We Speak

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202504/how-meaning-takes-shape-before-we-speak

66 of the best Harvard University courses you can take online for free

https://mashable.com/article/free-harvard-courses-march-2025

How to Create a Recovery USB Drive to Fix Your Computer

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-create-a-recovery-usb-drive-to-fix-your-computer

AI Thinks It Cracked Kryptos. The Artist Behind It Says No Chance

https://www.wired.com/story/plaintext-kryptos-code-artificial-intelligence

Max Scherzer has many more thoughts on robot umps: ‘What problem are we really solving?’

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6177285/2025/03/05/max-scherzer-ball-strike-challenge-system/?source=user_shared_article

NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager Science Instruments to Extend Mission – NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/jpl/nasa-turns-off-2-voyager-science-instruments-to-extend-mission/

Early ancestral bottleneck could’ve spelled the end for modern humans

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999720

Researchers harness the sun to produce hydrogen gas from water

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-harness-sun-hydrogen-gas.html

AI Is Deciphering Ancient Inscriptions That Experts Have Struggled With for Centuries

https://www.zmescience.com/science/agriculture-science/ai-is-deciphering-ancient-inscriptions-that-experts-have-struggled-with-for-centuries

Five years on: The countries that never locked down for Covid-19

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250304-the-countries-that-never-locked-down-for-covid-19

How to Build Your Own AI Assistant

https://hbr.org/2025/03/how-to-build-your-own-ai-assistant

Advanced Error Handling in Python: Beyond Try-Except

https://www.kdnuggets.com/advanced-error-handling-in-python-beyond-try-except

NASA Successfully Acquires GPS Signals on Moon – NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-successfully-acquires-gps-signals-on-moon/

Alarm call as world’s trees slide towards extinction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24558g69mgo

Vast ancient Mayan city is found in a Mexican jungle — by accident

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ancient-mayan-city-found-mexico-jungle-campeche-rcna177762

Unwind and Watch This Misty New Zealand Sunrise From the Trail

https://www.backpacker.com/trips/adventure-travel/unwind-and-watch-this-misty-new-zealand-sunrise-from-the-trail/

Reckoning with generative AI’s uncanny valley | MIT Technology Review

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/24/1106110/reckoning-with-generative-ais-uncanny-valley

The Environmental Toll of a Single ChatGPT Query Is Absolutely Wild

https://futurism.com/the-byte/environment-openai-chatgpt

The Whistled Language of Greece and How it Could be Lost Forever

https://greekreporter.com/2023/11/08/whistled-greek-language

A Bear on Mars?

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia25709-a-bear-on-mars

An Old Conjecture Falls, Making Spheres a Lot More Complicated | Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-old-conjecture-falls-making-spheres-a-lot-more-complicated-20230822/

You can take a two hour tour of Ancient Rome in its glory

https://gizmodo.com/simulated-tour-ancient-rome-flyover-zone-yorescape-1851004033

Hackers have found an insidious way to attack you with malware — don’t fall for this

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/hackers-have-found-an-insidious-way-to-attack-you-with-malware-dont-fall-for-this

Largest-ever global smartphone study reveals surprising use patterns

https://newatlas.com/science/largest-ever-global-smartphone-study-addiction

Stunning Codex Documenting Aztec Culture Now Fully Digitized

https://hyperallergic.com/855683/stunning-florentine-codex-documenting-aztec-culture-now-fully-digitized

NASA program appeals to public to crowdsource info about solar jets

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2023/11/09/nasa-solar-jet-hunter-program-restarted/7251699553448/

The Euclid Telescope Just Released Its First Images. They’re Incredible.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/telescopes/a45770087/euclid-telescope-first-images

Galileo’s observations of Jupiter changed how we view the Universe

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/apple-news-ingest/galileo-observations-of-jupiter

Cephalopods Have Passed a Cognitive Test Designed For Human Children

https://www.sciencealert.com/cephalopods-have-passed-a-cognitive-test-designed-for-human-children

These are 2023’s most common passwords – make sure yours isn’t on the list

https://bgr.com/tech/these-are-2023s-most-common-passwords-make-sure-yours-isnt-on-the-list/

Solar-Powered Device Produces Clean Water & Clean Fuel At The Same Time

https://newsreadeck.com/article/cleantechnica/solar-powered-device-produces-clean-water-clean-fuel-at-the-same-time/94a313e8f3137923c1acb6dee915b50a

Northern lights webcams: Watch the aurora borealis online for free

https://www.space.com/northern-lights-webcams-watch-aurora-online

The 3 Secrets Behind Ancient Maya’s Super Strong Architecture

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-3-secrets-behind-ancient-mayas-super-strong-architecture

Underwater Kites Buoying The Prospect Of More Tidal Power Generation | Hackaday

https://hackaday.com/2023/11/15/underwater-kites-buoying-the-prospect-of-more-tidal-power-generation/

Records reveal hidden history of female astronomers at Yerkes Observatory | University of Chicago News

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/records-reveal-hidden-history-female-astronomers-yerkes-observatory

Plastic Archeology

https://www.scopeofwork.net/plastic-archeology

The Entire Manuscript Collection of Geoffrey Chaucer Gets Digitized: A New Archive Features 25,000 Images of The Canterbury Tales & Other Illustrated Medieval Manuscripts

https://www.openculture.com/2023/11/the-entire-manuscript-collection-of-geoffrey-chaucer-gets-digitized.html

Self-healing concrete patches up cracks with dormant bacteria

https://newatlas.com/materials/self-healing-concrete-cracks-bacteria

The State of the Planet in 10 Numbers

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-state-of-the-planet-in-10-numbers

How long is a second?

https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/mathematics/how-long-is-a-second

This Sponge Pulls Gold from Electronic Waste

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-sponge-pulls-gold-from-electronic-waste

AI boom risks flooding planet with ‘millions of tonnes of e-waste’

https://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20241029-ai-boom-set-to-flood-planet-with-millions-of-tonnes-of-e-waste-nature

‘Found’ Dataset Reveals Lost Maya City Full of Pyramids and Plazas, Hiding in Plain Sight Beneath a Mexican Forest

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/found-dataset-reveals-lost-maya-city-hiding-in-plain-sight-beneath-a-mexican-forest-180985354

Claude AI was given access to Minecraft and it built a mansion with domes

https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/claude-was-given-access-to-minecraft-and-it-built-a-mansion-with-domes

3D printing buildings without cement

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/10/impact-printing-is-a-cement-free-alternative-to-3d-printed-structures

Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner’s Legacy

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/math-and-puzzle-fans-find-magic-in-martin-gardners-legacy

Ancient Cuneiform Tablets Become Readable With New Automatic Text Recognition Tool

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/298907/20231121/ancient-cuneiform-tablets-become-readable-new-automatic-text-recognition-tool.htm

Groundbreaking stainless “Super Steel” generates sustainable hydrogen production from seawater

https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/groundbreaking-stainless-super-steel-generates-sustainable-hydrogen-production-from-seawater

Water leaking into Earth’s core may have birthed a mysterious layer that churns out crystals

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/water-leaking-into-earths-core-may-have-birthed-a-mysterious-layer-that-churns-out-crystals

A Psychologist Explains What ‘Mind-Reading’ AI Can Do To Us

https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2023/11/22/a-psychologist-explains-what-mind-reading-ai-can-do-to-us

Tyrian purple: The lost ancient pigment that was more valuable than gold

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231122-tyrian-purple-the-lost-ancient-pigment-that-was-more-valuable-than-gold

Momentous Discovery Shows Neanderthals Could Produce Human-Like Speech

https://www.sciencealert.com/momentous-discovery-shows-neanderthals-could-produce-human-like-speech

Cambridge map reveals 2,000 years of hidden history

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-67497550

4 Tips to Spot Misinformation on the Web | WIRED

https://www.wired.com/story/4-tips-spot-misinformation

Deep-diving robots checking for climate collapse in our oceans – BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-67359467

Covid Moonshot

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7201

https://drruth.substack.com/p/covid-news-and-more-111123

NASA’s new AI map tool can forecast exactly how climate change will transform your street

http://www.sciencefocus.com/news/new-nasa-ai-tool-maps-climate-change

Detroit’s road of the future will charge your car as you drive on it

https://www.fastcompany.com/90990095/detroits-road-of-the-future-will-charge-your-car-as-you-drive-on-it

Napoleon’s Kindle: Discover the Miniaturized Traveling Library That the Emperor Took on Military Campaigns

https://www.openculture.com/2023/11/napoleons-kindle.html

An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe

https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-easy-sounding-problem-yields-numbers-too-big-for-our-universe-20231204/

A ‘runaway star’ could save Earth from extinction a billion years from now. Here’s how. | Space

https://www.space.com/runaway-star-save-earth-from-extinction

The catchiest song of all time, according to science

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-catchiest-song-of-all-time-according-to-science

This Device Might Be England’s Oldest Dated Scientific Instrument

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/englands-oldest-known-scientific-instrument-is-for-sale-180983425

You Can Now Take an Immersive Virtual Tour of the Lascaux Cave Paintings

https://mymodernmet.com/lascaux-cave-paintings-virtual-tour/

You can now access Apple’s official diagnostics tool online for DIY repairs

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/you-can-now-access-apples-official-diagnostics-tool-online-for-diy-repairs

Name that whale! How AI aces animal spotting

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67649177

Scientists are working to save tiny ‘water monsters’ with medical superpowers: ‘Over 1,000 times more resistant to cancer than mammals’

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/axolotl-water-monsters-evolution-inhabit/

Watch a Japanese startup test a rocket engine that will run on cow-dung methane (video)

https://www.space.com/japanese-startup-biomethane-rocket-engine-test-video

Astronomers stunned by six-planet system frozen in time | Science | AAAS

https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-stunned-six-planet-system-frozen-time

Company unveils bladeless ‘honeycomb’ wind turbines — here’s how this super-efficient technology could let clean energy take another leap forward

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/honeycombs-solar-energy-panels-tiles/

Bizarre Fast Radio Burst Exhibits a Unique Signal Never Seen Before

https://www.sciencealert.com/bizarre-fast-radio-burst-exhibits-a-unique-signal-never-seen-before

The Dutch are riding their bikes on two new solar cycle paths

https://electrek.co/2023/12/18/dutch-riding-bikes-solar-cycle-paths/

Scientists Simulated Runaway Greenhouse Effect and It’s Horrifying

https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-simulated-runaway-greenhouse-effect

This small turbine can harness the power of passing cars

https://www.cnn.com/world/small-turbine-harness-power-of-passing-cars-scn-climate-spc-intl

Researchers have 20-minute “talk” with whale in the wild

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/video/researchers-have-20-minute-talk-with-whale-in-the-wild/

“Flying dragon” robot harnesses the “crazy hose” effect to fight fires

https://newatlas.com/drones/flying-dragon-firefighting-robot/

Insightful Animated Video Sums up 4.5 Billion Years of Earth’s History in 60 Minutes

https://mymodernmet.com/animated-earth-history-60-minutes/

Physics, AI and music all share a common thread. You just have to look closely enough

https://www.sciencefocus.com/apple-news-ingest/physics-ai-music-common

The Biggest Discoveries in Computer Science in 2023 | Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-biggest-discoveries-in-computer-science-in-2023-20231220/

We Just Got a Major Step Closer to Teleporting Images Using Only Light

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-just-got-a-major-step-closer-to-teleporting-images-using-only-light

10 Things Software Developers Should Learn about Learning

https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2024/1/278891-10-things-software-developers-should-learn-about-learning/fulltext

Eleven Kinds of Blue: Werner’s Pioneering 19th-Century Nomenclature of the Colors, Beloved by Darwin – The Marginalian

https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/02/06/werner-nomenclature-of-colours

The Great Wall of China Is Coated in a Living Substance That Shields It From Harm

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-great-wall-of-china-is-coated-in-a-living-substance-that-shields-it-from-harm

The Revolutionary Plastic-Eating Boat Taking a Bite Out of Ocean Pollution

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/the-revolutionary-plastic-eating-boat-taking-a-bite-out-of-ocean-pollution/

Students develop revolutionary technology that allows you to power devices with just your fingertips — here’s how it works

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/finger-strip-electronics-solar-wind-energy/

AI made from living human brain cells performs speech recognition

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2407768-ai-made-from-living-human-brain-cells-performs-speech-recognition

Earliest ‘true’ saddle in east Asia discovered

https://phys.org/news/2023-12-earliest-true-saddle-east-asia.html

Why do people have wisdom teeth?

https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-have-wisdom-teeth-216148

Wild new NASA plasma tech reduces drag during hypersonic flight | Space

https://www.space.com/nasa-hypersonic-magnetohydrodynamic-control

Are Students’ Math Futures Being Unwittingly Set By Tracking? | EdSurge News

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-03-04-are-students-math-futures-being-unwittingly-set-by-tracking

Do Stars Outnumber the Sands of Earth’s Beaches? | Scientific American

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-stars-outnumber-the-sands-of-earths-beaches/

A Low-Cost, Scalable Way to Get More Women Into Tech | Stanford Graduate School of Business

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/low-cost-scalable-way-get-more-women-tech

Shields up: New ideas might make active shielding viable

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/shields-up-new-ideas-might-make-active-shielding-viable/

‘Missing’ houses offer a new perspective on Britain’s Roman period

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-houses-perspective-britain-roman-period.html

Why do trees need sunlight? An environmental scientist explains photosynthesis

https://theconversation.com/why-do-trees-need-sunlight-an-environmental-scientist-explains-photosynthesis-222972

Emissions hit a record high in 2023. Blame hydropower.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/07/1089585/hydropower-trouble-droughts/

New time crystal gets lifespan boost of 10 million times longer

https://newatlas.com/physics/new-time-crystal-10-million-times-longer-lifespan/

Scientists found a Stone Age megastructure submerged in the Baltic Sea | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/could-this-submerged-stone-age-wall-be-europes-oldest-megastructure

Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline’s chatbot | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/air-canada-must-honor-refund-policy-invented-by-airlines-chatbot/

Team describes how to produce ‘green’ steel from toxic red mud

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-team-green-steel-toxic-red.html

Jupiter’s Supervolcanic Moon Io Dazzles in Photos from NASA’s Close Flybys

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jupiters-supervolcanic-moon-io-dazzles-in-photos-from-nasas-close-flybys/

Humans Living in Cities Are Slowly Losing Their Ability to Digest Plants

https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-living-in-cities-are-slowly-losing-their-ability-to-digest-plants

Researchers gave AI an ‘inner monologue’ and it massively improved its performance

https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/researchers-gave-ai-an-inner-monologue-and-it-massively-improved-its-performance

Social inequities and citizen science can skew our view of the natural world

https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/social-inequities-and-citizen-science-can-skew-our-view-of-the-natural-world/

When Did Dogs Become Our Best Friends?

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/when-did-dogs-become-our-best-friends

Supervolcano Eruption Reveals What Could Have Driven Humans Out of Africa

https://www.sciencealert.com/supervolcano-eruption-reveals-what-could-have-driven-humans-out-of-africa

The World’s E-Waste Has Reached a Crisis Point

https://www.wired.com/story/e-waste-recycling-cant-keep-up-precious-metals/

7,000-Year-Old Neolithic Boats Were Incredibly Sophisticated And Surprisingly Modern

https://www.iflscience.com/7000-year-old-neolithic-boats-were-incredibly-sophisticated-and-surprisingly-modern-73468

This Guy Just Found a Faster Way to Multiply

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a29514208/faster-way-multiply/

A Secret Code May Have Been Hiding in Classical Music for 200 Years

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/04/beethoven-code-dynamics-manuscript/677964

How to Tie a Knot: The 21 Essential Knots You Need to Know

https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2012/02/essential-knots-how-tie-20-knots-will-keep-you-alive/

The fine art of human prompt engineering: How to talk to a person like ChatGPT

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/04/the-fine-art-of-human-prompt-engineering-how-to-talk-to-a-person-like-chatgpt/

How Wi-Fi sensing became usable tech | MIT Technology Review

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/27/1088154/wifi-sensing-tracking-movements/

If you’re wondering how I could find so many interesting STEM links, be sure to read My STEM/STEAM Resources and Tools post. It includes web browser bookmarks and an RSS feed file.

# # #