Quickies: Perspective on Iran, Presidential primaries, and lots of science…

This week, the headlines were dominated by military action between the United States and Iran. I am in no way qualified to begin to comment on these matters, but I do recommend an early episode of the NPR podcast Throughline on the history of US-Iranian relations. I have found Throughline’s deep dives into the history behind current events to be particularly enlightening over the past year.

In Presidential primary news, Julián Castro drops out of the race, a move which Ray Suarez of the Washington Post says means the race has lost “one of [the] most ardent champions” of those living with poverty. I haven’t covered US politics often here on this site, but I am particularly sad about his dropping out since he quickly won me over when I saw him speak at a small event here in New Hampshire.

Okay… now some fun stuff…

• The long awaited Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is being officially named the Vera C. Rubin Observatory after a trailblazing astronomer known for her work on galaxies and mentorship in the field. Via my colleague, Jeff!
• The worlds largest flower has bloomed in Indonesia, measuring FOUR FEET in diameter. This stinky, parasitic flower only blooms for about a week. Feed me, Seymour.
• What’s you comfort food? Mine is saag paneer, so I was ever so delighted when our very own Maria shared her mom’s recipe for it.

And now a bevy of cute animals for your weekend, once again with help by Muscadine in our Discord channel!

• Watch these Very Good Puppies train to become avalanche rescue dogs.
• Head on over to Twitter for a cat riding a pig and the perils of working out with your dog.

And the featured animal today is Luna! She’s a 3-year old hunk of love and the newest member of our household. I’ve updated Macey’s Instagram to include her and have been dumping adorable pictures of them there like there’s no tomorrow. Enjoy!

Have a story or cute animal to share? Join the conversation on Discord or reach us via our Contact Form.