NFL Draft, Photosynthesis, and the Money that Buys Happiness

How the NFL Draft became a $100M event

The 2026 NFL Draft, held this year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, concluded yesterday. The event is the league's annual process for selecting eligible college players across seven rounds. What began as a small gathering in a Philadelphia hotel ballroom in 1936 has grown into one of the most-watched events in American sports.

Before 1936, players were free to sign with any team, which tended to favor stronger clubs. To level the playing field, the league instituted a draft in which teams selected players in inverse order of their previous-season finish. In 1980, ESPN began broadcasting the event, transforming it from a backroom transaction into a national television spectacle.

In 2010, the NFL moved the first round to a primetime slot, and viewership has more than doubled since. Today, the draft draws over 13 million viewers for Round 1 and is hosted in a different city each year, generating an estimated $100M in local economic impact for its host.

... Read what else we learned about the NFL here.

Also, check out ... 

> The final pick in the draft is jokingly referred to as "Mr. Irrelevant." (Watch)

> Some of the draft's most surprising moments. (Explore)

> Hosting the draft takes months of logistical planning behind the scenes. (Read)

> The brain science of NFL draft decision-making. (Learn)

In partnership with Babbel

New Season, New Language, New Outlook

"Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things." - Flora Lewis. If you’re like us, Spring means starting fresh—cleaning out your closet, tackling the basement organization project … but this year, why not try something different (read: that you won’t actually dread)? Something like learning a new language with Babbel.

With Babbel’s Get-Ready-To-Travel Sale, you can get 60% off a lifetime subscription, which includes unlimited access to 14 languages, award-winning instruction, bite-sized lessons, bingeable podcasts, and interactive speaking practice … all of which will help you start speaking a new tongue in as little as 3 weeks. Talk about a mouthful! 

With over 15 million users, Babbel isn’t just a trusted source for learning a new language—it’s a path to a beautiful new outlook on life, or (at the very least), a new outlook on the world. Get 60% off your lifetime subscription right here. 

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Photosynthesis, explained

Photosynthesis is a set of processes that plants, algae, and some bacteria use to convert light energy into chemical energy stored within organic compounds. The most common type—oxygenic photosynthesis—consumes carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and sugars such as glucose, the primary source of energy in cells. Photosynthesis has produced almost all of Earth's atmospheric oxygen, helps regulate the planet's carbon cycle, and supplies the energy that underlies most food chains (learn more).

Within cellular subunits called chloroplasts, photosynthesis primarily occurs in two stages. In light-dependent reactions, light is absorbed by chlorophyll and other pigments while water is decomposed to produce energy-carrying molecules and release oxygen (watch underwater example).

In the Calvin cycle, RuBisCO—the most abundant protein on Earth—attaches carbon dioxide to a molecule called RuBP to create two, three-carbon molecules. The energetic molecules from the previous stage are then consumed to produce the building blocks of sugars. RuBP is also regenerated to restart the cycle, which runs six times to yield one glucose molecule (watch explainer).

Although these processes are impaired by rising temperatures, drought, and microplastics, some plants have evolved adaptations to cope with challenging environments, including leaf structures that enhance RuBisCO efficiency. Meanwhile, research is ongoing to develop artificial photosynthesis systems and improve photosynthesis for greater crop yields.

... Explore more insights we discovered about Photosynthesis here.

Also, check out ... 

> The world's photosynthetic activity can be seen from space. (Watch)

> Nearly half the oxygen we breathe comes from plankton. (Read)

> A look at the bacteria that perform photosynthesis without using water. (Watch)

> What would it look like if humans could photosynthesize?  (Watch)

The history of US dominance in the Americas

The Monroe Doctrine is a US foreign policy principle asserting the United States' primacy in the Western Hemisphere. Introduced in President James Monroe's 1823 annual message to Congress and largely crafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, it originally warned European powers against interfering in the Americas (read core principles).

The doctrine was largely created in response to a wave of newly independent republics in Latin America, which the US sought to shield from recolonization by Spain and its European allies. Because the US lacked the military strength to back its own declaration, the British Royal Navy effectively upheld it for most of the 19th century, driven by its own interests in North and South America.

Over two centuries, presidents have expanded and reinterpreted the doctrine to fit the geopolitical context. Theodore Roosevelt used it to justify military interventions throughout Latin America, while Franklin Roosevelt later abandoned that approach with his Good Neighbor policy. During the Cold War, it was invoked to oppose Soviet influence in Cuba. In 2025, President Donald Trump announced a "Trump Corollary," vowing to reestablish US "dominance" across the hemisphere.

... Read our full write-up on the doctrine here.

Also, check out ... 

> Read an excerpt of the Monroe Doctrine from the president's address to Congress. (Read)

> The diplomat who implemented Monroe's policy introduced the poinsettia to the United States. (Read)

> European powers largely dismissed Monroe's declaration initially. (Read)
> The Soviet Union had a similar sphere of influence policy during the Cold War—the Brezhnev Doctrine. (Read)

In partnership with Babbel

3 Weeks for a Lifetime of Language

Picture this: It’s the end of summer and you’re revisiting your favorite travel moments. Among the list? The people you met and made friends with along the way … all thanks to the fact that you could speak with the locals! That’s right, future you is speaking conversationally after less than a month of learning, and it’s all thanks to Babbel.

Forget the vocab flashcards, Babbel’s approach is interactive and easy to make a habit. Babbel’s award-winning language lessons will have you speaking a new tongue in as little as 3 weeks, and you can get 60% off a lifetime subscription right now.

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Best of the Week

We added 332 resources this week to our knowledge collective—share your favorite link or outlet with us to see it featured here next week!

The Arizona man who protects Earth from space rocks. (Read)

How much money do you need to be happy? (Watch)

Every picture uploaded of a humpback whale tail contributes to their global story. (Interact)

How John D. Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire. (Read)

Mapping the world's 25 largest stock market exchanges. (View)

How VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, completely changed business. (Read)

What made Route 66 such a distinctive highway? (Read)

The deadliest fireworks accident in history was at Marie Antoinette's wedding. (Read)

The mustard weed that has prompted over 100,000 research papers. (Read)

"Moby-Dick" was inspired by a real whale named "Mocha Dick." (Read)

Why Nietzsche theorized that we live our lives over and over again. (Read)

The world's largest waterfall is in the ocean. (Read)

It can take 10 to 15 years and $1B to develop a new antibiotic. (Read)

What it's like to use a brain implant device on a daily basis. (Read)

What archaeology tells us about living in space. (Read)

Historybook: John Wilkes Booth killed 12 days after assassinating President Lincoln (1865); First lady Melania Trump born (1970); The worst nuclear disaster in history occurs in Chernobyl (1986); Lucille Ball dies (1989); Deadliest tornado in history kills 1,300 in Bangladesh (1989).