Plug-In Balcony Solar Is Coming to the U.S.: What It Can and Can’t Do
In Germany, you can buy a couple of solar panels at a hardware store, hang them on your balcony railing,
Puzzle of the Day: What Does the Sun, Leaf and Raindrop Column Add Up To?
Three shapes, three row totals. What does the left column add up to?
This Week on Aglena: Oct. 12–18, 2026
This week on Aglena: the Great Moon Hoax, a Soviet bug with no battery, H-bombs on Greenland’s sea ice, a record El Niño, and more.
Best Digital Picture Frames (2026): Six Gift-Ready Picks Compared, From $60 to $299
Six digital picture frames compared for 2026, from a $60 Frameo to Aura’s 15-inch Walden: the Aura Carver, Aspen and Walden, Skylight Frame 2, and 10.1- and 15.6-inch Frameo frames.
Man-Bats on the Moon: How the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 Fooled New York
In 1835 the New York Sun reported that John Herschel had seen bat-winged people on the Moon. The story behind the Great Moon Hoax, and the optics that rule it out.
Four H-Bombs on the Sea Ice: How a B-52 Fire Exposed Greenland’s Nuclear Secret
A B-52 on a secret radar-watching mission caught fire over Greenland in 1968 and crashed with four H-bombs. What followed: a cleanup in the polar night, a hunt for a lost bomb core and a scandal in Denmark.
A Record El Niño Is Building in the Pacific. Here’s What It Could Mean for Winter in the U.S.
A record-strength El Niño is building in the Pacific. What NOAA’s forecasts say it could bring to the U.S. this winter, from Southern storms to a mild North.
The City Under the Ice: How a Secret Cold War Base Ended Up Rewriting Greenland’s Past
A nuclear-powered Army town carved into the Greenland ice, a secret missile plan, and a few jars of forgotten mud that rewrote the history of the ice sheet.
The Wobbling Plate Behind a Nobel Prize, and Why Feynman Got It Backward
A plate tossed in a Cornell cafeteria, a Nobel Prize, a famous mistake, and the same equation that makes the whole Earth wobble.
Puzzle of the Day: What Does the Triangle Weigh on the Hanging Mobile?
A level hanging mobile, two marked weights, two mystery shapes. What does the triangle weigh?
Best Stand Mixers (2026): Six Picks Compared, From a $63 Mini to KitchenAid and Bosch
Six stand mixers compared for 2026, from a compact mini to bread-kneading power: the KitchenAid Artisan and Classic, Cuisinart SM-50, Aucma 6.5-quart, Kitchen in the Box 3.2-quart, and Bosch Universal Plus.
The Gift That Listened: How a Soviet Bug With No Battery Spied on America’s Ambassador
A carved Great Seal hung in the U.S. ambassador’s Moscow residence for seven years with a passive bug inside. How Leon Theremin’s “Thing” worked, how it was found, and how it led to RFID.
The Compass Einstein Helped Build: How a Spinning Wheel Finds True North
A spinning wheel, gravity and the turning Earth: how the gyrocompass finds true north, and how a patent fight made Einstein its co-inventor.
The City That Jacked Itself Up: How Chicago Lifted Its Buildings Out of the Mud
To build America’s first comprehensive sewer system, 1850s Chicago raised its streets several feet and then jacked up its buildings to match, hotels, shops and half a city block, often with people still inside.
The Nut That Flipped in Orbit: The Dzhanibekov Effect and the Tennis Racket Theorem
A flipping nut on Salyut 7, a tumbling Explorer 1 and a tossed tennis racket all obey the same rule: of the three ways to spin a solid object, the middle one is unstable.
Puzzle of the Day: What Color Roof Does the Dog Live Under?
Three cottages on Maple Lane hide one unique arrangement of roofs, pets, and flowers. Six clues. One question: what color roof does the dog live under?
Best Air Fryers (2026): Six Picks Compared, From Compact Baskets to Countertop Ovens
Six air fryers compared for 2026, from compact baskets to countertop ovens: the Cosori TurboBlaze, Instant Pot Vortex Plus, Chefman 4-quart, Ninja DualZone, Cuisinart TOA-70, and Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro.
The Chess Machine That Fooled Kings: How the Mechanical Turk Tricked Europe for 84 Years
From Schönbrunn in 1770 to a Philadelphia fire in 1854, Kempelen’s chess-playing Turk looked like a thinking machine. It was a human master in a clever cabinet — and the ancestor of every AI demo that hides its operators.
Sand That Draws Geometry: How Chladni Made Sound Visible
Sprinkle sand on a metal plate, bow the edge, and watch geometry appear. How Ernst Chladni made sound visible — and started a fight over elastic math and rocks from space.
Galaxies Named After Things: From the Sombrero to the Cosmic Owl
From the Sombrero and the Whirlpool to the Mice and the Cosmic Owl: the galaxies nicknamed after everyday objects and creatures, and why.
Why China and the US Are Racing to Shackleton Crater at the Moon’s South Pole
Shackleton crater pairs permanent shadow and likely ice with peaks of near-constant sunlight. Here’s why the US and China both want to reach the lunar south pole first, and where Artemis and Chang’e stand as of October 2026.