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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Just over four years ago, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rose before dawn to the delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early. Up before sunrise on July 8th, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic fashion one of the few comets visible to the unaided eye this century, an inner-Solar System intruder that has become known as the Great Comet of 2020. The resulting video detailed Comet NEOWISE from Italy rising over the Adriatic Sea. The featured time-lapse video combines over 240 images taken over 30 minutes. The comet was seen rising through a foreground of bright and undulating noctilucent clouds, and before a background of distant stars. Comet NEOWISE remained unexpectedly bright for over a month, with its ion and dust tails found to emanate from a nucleus spanning about five kilometers across. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod

Video by Paolo Girotti

Watch NASA's Astronomy Video of the Day

The Week in Review - The consequential news of the past seven days 

This week news was dominated by the widening Middle East conflict and its increasingly direct effects on the world economy. Threats to two critical shipping routes helped push oil above $100 a barrel, while renewed inflation complicated decisions facing central banks. Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine's economic infrastructure, BRICS sought a larger diplomatic role, and the rapid advance of artificial intelligence produced unusually strong warnings from some of the industry's own leaders.

TOP STORIES

The Middle East conflict expands beyond Iran. The U.S.-Iran confrontation widened as Iran warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf could become vulnerable to retaliation. Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi forces advanced in Yemen, increasing concern about shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. With the Strait of Hormuz already disrupted, instability around both waterways creates a potentially serious threat to global energy supplies and trade.

Oil climbs above $100 a barrel. Middle East supply concerns drove Brent crude sharply higher during the week, ending Friday above $104 and more than 8% higher for the week. U.S. diesel prices also reached record levels, increasing the likelihood that higher transportation and energy costs will spread into the broader economy.

Inflation increases pressure on the Federal Reserve. U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, strengthening expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates at its September meeting. The combination of persistent inflation, a relatively strong labor market and rising energy prices has made the Fed's policy decision increasingly difficult.

Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine's economy. Russian strikes increasingly targeted industrial, transportation and energy infrastructure. Ukraine says air attacks have caused close to $10 billion in infrastructure damage during 2026, while disruption of ports and export facilities is placing additional pressure on the country's economy.

BRICS seeks greater influence amid geopolitical divisions. Leaders gathered in New Delhi as the organization attempted to demonstrate a larger role in international affairs. The Middle East conflict tested unity within the expanded group, while China and India continued efforts to strengthen their relationship despite longstanding strategic differences.

UNITED STATES

Inflation returns to the center of economic policy. The week's most important domestic economic development was the August inflation report. Consumer prices increased 0.4% during the month, reinforcing concerns that inflation is proving more persistent than policymakers hoped. Coming after a relatively strong employment report, the figures substantially increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its September meeting.

The Middle East conflict is making the decision harder. Oil prices rose more than 8% during the week, while U.S. diesel prices reached record levels. Higher fuel costs affect far more than motorists. Tnsportation expenses eventually influence the cost of food, manufactured products, construction and many services.

The Federal Reserve therefore faces an uncomfortable problem. Keeping rates elevated—or raising them further—can slow economic activity and increase borrowing costs for households, businesses and the federal government. But allowing inflation to become entrenched could prove still more costly.

Financial markets reflected that uncertainty. Stocks struggled through much of the week while government-bond yields remained elevated, although Wall Street recovered strongly on Friday.

WORLD

Iran and the Middle East
The Middle East remained the week's most consequential international story, but attention expanded beyond the direct confrontation between the United States and Iran.

Iran warned that additional attacks on its assets could bring retaliation against energy infrastructure throughout the Gulf. U.S. and Iranian forces had exchanged attacks against shipping as the week began, adding another dimension to a conflict already affecting petroleum exports and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Diplomatic efforts continued. Oman has been attempting to develop an arrangement addressing navigation through Hormuz, but significant disagreements remain. Iran wants greater authority over passage through the strait, while Gulf governments remain wary of giving Tehran such leverage.

Events in Yemen added a second potential maritime crisis. Houthi advances increased concern about the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and ultimately the Suez Canal. The strategic significance is substantial: Hormuz is a principal route for Persian Gulf energy exports, while Bab el-Mandeb is critical to trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Saudi Arabia suffered another setback Saturday when it temporarily shut its East-West oil pipeline following an aerial attack. The pipeline had become particularly important because it offered an alternative route for Saudi petroleum while Gulf shipping remained disrupted.

The result is an increasingly interconnected regional conflict in which attacks far from the original battlefield can influence energy prices and commerce around the world.

Russia and Ukraine

The diplomatic movement of the previous week did not produce a meaningful reduction in fighting. Russia instead continued an intensive aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities and economic infrastructure. Kyiv has experienced nearly continuous attacks by faster jet-powered drones, while industrial facilities, transportation networks and export infrastructure have increasingly become targets.
On Saturday, Ukraine said Russia launched nearly 500 drones. Ten civilians were reported killed and dozens injured in attacks across several regions.

Ukraine estimates that Russian air attacks have caused close to $10 billion in infrastructure damage this year. Blocked ports and other disruptions are also threatening agricultural and steel exports that are critical to the country's economy.
Ukraine continued its own attacks against Russian industrial and military infrastructure.

The pattern demonstrates how the conflict is increasingly being fought on two levels. The armies remain engaged along a largely difficult-to-move front, while each side attempts to weaken the economic system that enables the other to continue fighting.
Diplomatic efforts have not disappeared, but negotiations remain uncertain and the military reality has changed little.

China and BRICS

The BRICS summit in New Delhi provided China, India and other members with an opportunity to argue for a larger role in international diplomacy and economic governance. The Middle East conflict presented an immediate test.

The expanded organization contains countries with sharply different interests, including Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Reaching common positions therefore requires balancing relationships that would rarely coexist within a conventional political alliance.
For China and India, the summit also provided another opportunity to improve their bilateral relationship.
The world's two most populous countries have experienced years of tension over their disputed Himalayan border and broader strategic competition. Their recent efforts to expand transportation, trade and diplomatic contacts therefore represent a significant, if still cautious, improvement.

China also continued to demonstrate the strength of its export sector during the week, particularly in technology-related products, even as weaker domestic demand remains a challenge for its economy.

Europe

Europe confronted the same inflationary pressures increasingly affecting the United States. Higher energy prices associated with the Middle East conflict have contributed to renewed inflation concerns, making monetary policy more difficult just as European economies contend with relatively weak growth.

Political uncertainty also remains elevated. Germany continues to absorb the consequences of the AfD's recent breakthrough in Saxony-Anhalt, while other European countries face growing support for parties challenging established political coalitions.
The combination of energy vulnerability, inflation, weak growth and political fragmentation is again demonstrating how developments outside Europe can quickly become domestic European problems.

ECONOMY & MARKETS - The week's economic story can be summarized as a chain:

Conflict → Energy → Inflation → Interest Rates

Oil prices climbed above $100 as markets assessed the possibility of prolonged disruption in the Middle East. That matters because petroleum is embedded throughout the global economy. It moves goods, powers industries, supports agriculture and contributes to the production of countless materials.
Higher energy prices therefore increase the possibility that inflation will remain elevated even when other price pressures begin to moderate. Central banks then face a difficult choice.
Higher interest rates can suppress inflation, but they also increase mortgage payments, business financing costs and government debt-service expenses. They make infrastructure, factories and energy projects more expensive to build. The consequences extend internationally because the world's major financial markets are connected. Higher U.S. rates can strengthen the dollar, influence capital flows and increase borrowing costs for governments and companies elsewhere.

The Middle East conflict has consequently evolved into something much larger than a regional military confrontation. It is increasingly becoming a global economic event.

TECHNOLOGY & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence produced a notable change in tone this week. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for AI companies to slow development of increasingly capable systems and proposed stronger independent evaluation, industry coordination and international cooperation.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also emphasized the potential dangers associated with advanced AI and said his company would not pursue an initial public offering this year.
The significance lies partly in who is issuing the warnings. These are not outside critics arguing that AI development should stop. They lead companies competing at the frontier of artificial intelligence and have enormous incentives to continue developing increasingly powerful systems. At the same time, investment continues at extraordinary scale.

Qualcomm announced a long-term agreement under which Amazon could purchase as much as $60 billion of AI data-center chips and related products. The agreement illustrates how rapidly competition is expanding beyond the companies that initially dominated AI computing.

The industry is therefore moving simultaneously in two directions: toward greater capability and investment, and toward greater concern about whether increasingly autonomous systems can be adequately controlled.

THE BIG PICTURE - Connecting Current Events September 13, 2026

The most consequential development of the week may not have occurred in Washington, Tehran, Moscow or Beijing.
It may have occurred on a map. Two narrow waterways—the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—demonstrated how remarkably dependent the modern world remains on geography.

Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea and carries a substantial share of the world's petroleum exports. Bab el-Mandeb connects the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and, through the Suez Canal, provides one of the principal maritime routes between Asia and Europe.
Instability around either matters. Instability around both at the same time matters much more. That helps explain why oil moved above $100 this week. But the consequences extend far beyond energy markets.
Oil powers transportation. Transportation moves food, manufactured goods and raw materials. Higher transportation costs eventually appear in the prices paid by businesses and households.

That leads directly to another major story of the week: inflation.
American consumer prices increased again in August, just as the Federal Reserve prepares to decide whether interest rates need to rise. The central bank cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz or prevent an attack on a Saudi pipeline. It can only respond to the inflationary consequences.

A military conflict thousands of miles away can therefore influence the interest rate on an American mortgage.
Russia and Ukraine illustrate the same interdependence from another direction. Their conflict increasingly involves attacks against ports, factories, transportation systems and energy infrastructure. Each side recognizes that modern military power ultimately depends upon economic power. Destroying the systems that produce revenue, move goods and sustain industry can matter almost as much as gaining territory.

BRICS represents an attempt to respond politically to this changing environment. Countries including China, India, Brazil, Iran and others want greater influence over the institutions and relationships governing international trade, finance and diplomacy. Yet their interests frequently diverge, demonstrating how difficult it is to construct alternatives to an international system built over many decades.

Artificial intelligence might appear disconnected from all of this. It isn't. 
AI requires enormous amounts of capital, electricity, semiconductors and physical infrastructure. Higher energy prices increase operating costs. Higher interest rates make data centers more expensive to finance. Geopolitical tensions influence where advanced chips can be manufactured and sold.
At the same time, AI executives themselves are increasingly asking whether another kind of dependence is being created—dependence on systems that may eventually become difficult to supervise.

There is a common thread.
For decades, technological progress and globalization allowed societies to build increasingly efficient systems. Energy could travel enormous distances. Goods could cross oceans cheaply. Capital could move almost instantly. Digital technology connected billions of people. Efficiency produced enormous benefits.
But efficiency often came from concentration: particular shipping routes, manufacturing centers, financial institutions, technologies and infrastructure became disproportionately important. The events of this week reveal the other side of that achievement.

The more interconnected a system becomes, the farther disruption can travel. A drone attack in the Middle East can influence oil prices in Europe. Oil prices can influence inflation in the United States. Inflation can influence interest rates. Interest rates can influence investment in artificial intelligence and virtually every other capital-intensive industry.

The individual headlines matter. But increasingly, the connections between them are the larger story.

 
© 2026–Present Kudos 365. All Rights Reserved.

Breil-Brigels. Lag da Breil. Reservoir with low water level.

Agnes Monkelbaan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Why Every Hobby Matters | Kudos365 Life Series

A hobby does not have to be impressive, productive, profitable, or even particularly useful. It only needs to be something we enjoy doing. That simple idea can be surprisingly easy to forget. Much of everyday life is organized around things that need to be accomplished. We work, maintain our homes, manage appointments, answer messages, pay bills, care for other people, and attend to a seemingly endless collection of small responsibilities. Even our free time can begin to feel scheduled and purposeful.

A hobby occupies a different kind of space. Whether someone enjoys gardening, woodworking, painting, photography, knitting, collecting, cooking, birdwatching, playing an instrument, restoring old furniture, solving puzzles, studying family history, or simply experimenting with something new, a hobby gives us permission to spend time on an activity primarily because we find it interesting.That may be one of the best reasons to have one.

Doing Something Because We Want To

Adults spend much of their lives doing things because there is a reason they must be done. Hobbies remind us that not everything requires an obligation or measurable outcome.

Consider someone who spends an afternoon building a model airplane. There may be no practical need for the finished model. Another person might spend months learning to identify local birds, even though knowing the difference between two similar species will never appear on a résumé. Someone else may grow tomatoes despite knowing perfectly well that tomatoes are readily available at the grocery store.

The value is in the experience itself.

Hobbies create a small territory in life where curiosity can determine what happens next. We can follow an interest simply because it catches our attention. We can spend an hour doing something without needing to explain why the hour was worthwhile. In a culture that frequently emphasizes efficiency, that freedom has value of its own.

Being a Beginner Again

One of the pleasures of a hobby is that it allows us to be inexperienced. As adults, we often become accustomed to operating within areas where we already know what we are doing. Beginning something new reverses that. The first loaf of bread may be oddly shaped. The first drawing may bear little resemblance to the subject. The first attempt at playing a song may involve considerably more enthusiasm than melody. That is part of the experience.

A hobby gives us a relatively forgiving place to learn through trial and error. We discover that improvement usually comes gradually. We make mistakes, adjust, try again, and occasionally surprise ourselves.

There is something refreshing about becoming a novice voluntarily.

It also keeps curiosity active. Once we begin exploring almost any subject, it tends to reveal more depth than we expected. Gardening can lead to an interest in soil, weather, insects, native plants, and seasonal cycles. Photography can change the way we notice light, architecture, expressions, and landscapes. Cooking can open doors to geography, history, family traditions, and unfamiliar cultures.

The hobby may begin with a simple activity and gradually become a doorway into a much larger world.

Progress Without Pressure

Hobbies also give us an opportunity to experience progress on our own terms.

There is satisfaction in realizing that something once difficult has become easier. A person learning guitar eventually changes chords without thinking about every finger. A gardener begins recognizing what different plants need. Someone learning another language suddenly understands a sentence that would once have been incomprehensible.

These are small accomplishments, but they belong entirely to the person pursuing them. There does not have to be a competition. There may be no deadline and no performance review. Nobody has to assign a grade. The pace can be our own.
That matters because hobbies do not need to become another source of pressure. The person who enjoys taking photographs does not have to become a professional photographer. Someone who loves baking does not need to open a bakery. A runner does not have to enter a race, and a person who enjoys writing does not have to publish a book.

Sometimes an activity becomes less enjoyable when we begin asking it to justify itself through achievement. A hobby can simply remain a hobby.

Making Room for Attention

Many hobbies require us to pay attention to what is directly in front of us. A puzzle asks us to examine patterns. Woodworking requires attention to measurements and materials. Gardening brings our focus to plants, soil, and weather. Painting asks us to notice shape and color. Cooking directs attention toward ingredients, timing, texture, and taste.

For a while, the wider collection of unfinished tasks and distractions moves into the background. This does not mean that hobbies make problems disappear. They simply give our attention somewhere constructive and enjoyable to go.
That distinction is important. A good hobby does not necessarily require us to escape everyday life. Often it helps us engage more fully with a particular part of it.

Someone walking through a neighborhood with a camera may begin noticing architectural details passed hundreds of times before. A person interested in birds may suddenly become aware of how many species visit an ordinary backyard. Someone studying local history may discover that familiar streets have stories stretching back generations.

Interests can make ordinary surroundings more interesting because they teach us what to notice.

Hobbies Can Connect Us

Although hobbies can be wonderfully solitary, they can also create natural connections between people.
Shared interests give strangers something immediate to talk about. Gardeners exchange plants and advice. Readers recommend books. Amateur musicians play together. Collectors trade information. Cooks exchange recipes. People interested in genealogy compare research methods and discoveries.

The conversation begins with the activity, but it does not always stay there. Hobbies can also connect generations. A grandparent teaching a child to fish, sew, bake, garden, repair something, or play a card game is sharing more than a pastime. Knowledge, stories, habits, and traditions often travel alongside the activity.

Sometimes a hobby becomes part of a family's history precisely because someone took the time to pass it along. Other hobbies create communities among people who might otherwise have little reason to meet. A neighborhood walking group, community garden, book club, amateur theater company, woodworking group, photography club, or volunteer historical society can bring together people of different ages and backgrounds around a common interest.
The hobby provides the introduction. Friendship may follow.

The Hobby You Already Have Counts

It is easy to imagine that a "real" hobby must involve equipment, lessons, collections, or some recognizable skill. That definition is unnecessarily narrow. Reading can be a hobby. Walking can be a hobby. Watching classic films, learning about history, listening carefully to music, doing crossword puzzles, caring for houseplants, exploring new recipes, visiting museums, identifying stars, or keeping a journal can all qualify.

A hobby is not defined by how other people regard it. Nor does it have to last forever.

Interests change. The hobby that fascinated us at thirty may no longer interest us at sixty. Something abandoned years ago may unexpectedly become appealing again. We may have several hobbies at once or move from one to another as circumstances change. There is no requirement to remain loyal to an activity simply because we once enjoyed it.
Hobbies should have room to evolve along with us.

Finding One Without Turning It Into a Project

People sometimes say they would like a hobby but do not know what to choose. The search itself can become unnecessarily complicated. A useful starting point is simply to notice what repeatedly attracts your attention.

What subjects do you find yourself reading about? What activities did you enjoy years ago? What have you occasionally thought, "I'd like to try that someday"? What do other people do that makes you curious rather than merely impressed?

Then try something on a small scale. Borrow a book. Plant a few herbs instead of creating an entire garden. Take a walk with the intention of photographing five interesting things. Learn three chords rather than deciding to "learn guitar." Try one watercolor. Build one birdhouse. Cook one unfamiliar dish.

The goal is not to select the perfect lifelong hobby. It is to give curiosity somewhere to go. If the activity is enjoyable, continue. If it is not, try something else. Very little has been lost, and something has been learned.

Protecting the Pleasure of It

Perhaps the most important thing about a hobby is remembering why we started.Modern life makes it remarkably easy to compare ourselves with people who have been practicing an activity for years. Someone begins painting and immediately sees extraordinary paintings online. A new gardener encounters photographs of immaculate gardens. A beginning woodworker watches experts construct beautiful furniture.
Inspiration can quickly turn into comparison. But another person's skill does not diminish the pleasure available to a beginner.
The crooked birdhouse can still shelter a bird. The imperfect photograph can preserve a wonderful afternoon. The homegrown tomato does not care whether the garden belongs in a magazine. The song played haltingly on a piano can still be satisfying to the person who finally learned it.

Hobbies give us something increasingly rare: an activity whose value can be determined by the person doing it. We do not need to be the best at everything we enjoy. We do not even need to be particularly good at it.
A hobby matters because it gives part of our life back to curiosity, attention, creativity, learning, and simple enjoyment. It can introduce us to new people, deepen our appreciation of familiar places, teach us skills we never expected to acquire, or provide a quiet hour in which there is nothing more important than the thing directly in front of us.

And sometimes that is enough.

Publication Notice: This Life Series article is for general information and inspiration only. Readers should use their own judgment and consult an appropriate qualified professional when guidance specific to their circumstances is needed.

Life Series © 2026–Present Kudos365. All Rights Reserved. | M2.0.3 | CURRENT UGS

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Bright sunlight glints as long dark shadows mark this image of the surface of the Moon. It was taken on July 20, 1969, by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the lunar surface. Pictured is the mission's lunar module, the Eagle, and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin is unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the Solar Wind Composition Experiment. Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles streaming outward in the solar wind, catching a sample of material from the Sun itself. Along with 22 kilograms of moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar wind collector was returned for analysis in earthbound laboratories. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod

Ruins of the St. Olof Church at Sigtuna, north of Stockholm, Sweden

Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Welcome to Kudos365 Weekly History Challenge. Test your history  knowledge and see how many of the history questions you can answer correctly. A new updated History Challenge is released every Saturday.

Photo taken near Oxford, United Kingdom. By James Wainscoat on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Beautiful and bright spiral galaxy M83 lies some twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern tip of the very long constellation Hydra. Prominent spiral arms traced by dark dust lanes and blue star clusters lend this galaxy its popular name, the Southern Pinwheel. Still, reddish star forming regions that dot this cosmic pinwheel's spiral arms have suggested another nickname, the Thousand-Ruby Galaxy. A mere 40,000 light-years across, smaller than the Milky Way, M83 is a member of a group of galaxies that includes active galaxy Centaurus A. In fact, the core of M83 itself is bright at x-ray energies, showing a high concentration of neutron stars and black holes left from an intense burst of star formation. This sharp, groundbased telescopic view also features foreground Milky Way stars and distant background galaxies. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod

Photo by Aldo Zanetti