Good Afternoon! 🌞

Not all fathers are loud about their love. Some show it through steady hands, early mornings, last bites given away, and problems solved without a word. This Father’s Day, we’re pausing to honor the men who’ve stood tall — not just as dads, but as grandfathers, uncles, mentors, and father figures. The ones who showed up, stayed true, and shaped who we are in more ways than they’ll ever claim credit for.

Whether you're celebrating, remembering, or picking up the phone for a long-overdue call — today is about them.

And a special shoutout to our very own James, who’s celebrating his first Father’s Day this year. ☀️ 

Here’s to the fathers who made the hard days easier, the quiet sacrifices, and the values passed down without a lecture.

Happy Father’s Day! 🧔‍♂️ 

Innovation

Harvesting Clean Water from Air

Scientists at MIT have developed an origami-inspired device that can harvest clean drinking water from the air—without using electricity. The black, window-sized panel, created in response to the global water crisis affecting over 2.2 billion people, was tested in California’s Death Valley, where it captured moisture and produced drinkable water across a range of humidity levels. The system relies entirely on the natural temperature difference between night and day, avoiding the need for batteries, solar panels, or grid electricity. “We have built a meter-scale device that we hope to deploy in resource-limited regions, where even a solar cell is not very accessible,” said Xuanhe Zhao, PhD, professor of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at MIT.

The device uses a hydrogel that swells at night to absorb water vapor and releases it during the day as temperatures rise. The vapor condenses on the inner glass surface and is collected through simple tubing. “Now people can build it even larger, or make it into parallel panels, to supply drinking water to people and achieve real impact,” Zhao said. The hydrogel itself is a soft, porous substance made primarily of water and a microscopic polymer network. To prevent salt contamination—an issue with previous systems—MIT researchers added glycerol to stabilize the hydrogel’s salt content. The collected water had salt levels well below safe drinking thresholds.

The panel also features dome-shaped hydrogel cells, which resemble bubble wrap, to increase surface area and improve absorption. A polymer film on the outside of the chamber helps cool the glass and encourages condensation. When tested in November 2023, the device produced between 57 and 161.5 milliliters of water per day across humidity levels ranging from 21% to 88%, outperforming other technologies in dry conditions. “This is just a proof-of-concept design, and there are a lot of things we can optimize,” said Chang Liu, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor at the National University of Singapore. Researchers plan to run more tests in different climate zones, with the goal of creating an array of panels capable of supplying a household’s daily water needs. The findings appear in the journal Nature Water.

Culture

Attic Painting Sells for $7M

A long-forgotten painting by Dutch artist Frans Post has sold for $7 million at Sotheby’s—more than 25 years after it was discovered in the attic of a Connecticut barn. The canvas, titled View of Olinda, Brazil, with Ruins of the Jesuit Church, dates back to 1666 and is among the earliest European depictions of Dutch colonial Brazil. When Sotheby’s first acquired it, the image was so obscured by black grime that it was barely visible, yet it still sold for $2.2 million. After years in a private U.S. collection, the painting was restored by a New York conservator, revealing vivid details like clear skies, basket-carrying figures, and native animals.

“Of all the paintings we put up at Sotheby’s… probably 40% are dirty,” said George Wachter, chairman of Sotheby’s North and South America. “Is it worth pursuing? That’s the question I need to ask, and with the Post there was no question we were looking at something beyond.” Wachter had convinced collectors Tom and Jordan Saunders III to buy the painting in 1998, despite its obscured condition. Their leap of faith paid off when the piece set a new record for Post’s work—selling for $7 million just two minutes into the auction.

The painting’s value stems from its extreme rarity and historical significance. Post spent about eight years in Dutch-controlled northeast Brazil, making him one of the few European artists capable of accurately portraying South American landscapes, people, and wildlife. Fewer than eight canvases from this period are known to exist. View of Olinda exemplifies Post’s style, blending realism with decorative imagination: in the lower left corner, an armadillo, anteater, and alligator add an exotic touch to an otherwise pastoral scene.

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Environment

Winning the Lottery Thrice!

“Lucky” doesn’t quite capture the streak David Serkin is on. The Alberta-based cancer survivor and retiree has now won the lottery multiple times—most recently claiming his second $1 million prize in just three months. In August, Serkin won $500,000 through a LOTTO MAX game run by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, a windfall that let him take his wife on a dream trip to Hawaii. But that was only the beginning.

While filling up at a gas station, Serkin decided to try his luck again with the LOTTO 6/49 Gold Ball draw. “I saw the Gold Ball draw was getting close [to the final ball selection] and thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’” he said. Against odds of 1 in 33 million, he won another $1 million. “I went for coffee with the boys after I checked my ticket,” he recalled. “They asked to see it and said, ‘Not again?!’” His winning ticket was purchased at Shell Lethbridge on 2440 Fairway Plaza Road S in Lethbridge, Alberta.

According to the WCLC, Serkin’s wife is still in disbelief—but they’re savoring the moment. “I took my wife to Hawaii with the last win, and we had a great time,” he smiled. “Now, we’re going to Newfoundland!” Serkin, who’s been playing since LOTTO 6/49 launched in 1982, also won $250,000 about a decade ago—before his cancer diagnosis. He says he simply enjoys the ritual of buying and checking his tickets, a hobby that has paid off in ways he never imagined.

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Mind Stretchers

⁉️

I stand without walking,
I sleep without dreams.
I hold many lives,
And echo their schemes.
From roof to floor, I shelter all —
What am I?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

I capture truth, but never speak,
Hold your memories, yet I’m sleek.
I see without a single eye,
Freeze a moment as time flies by.
What am I? — a camera! Debbie Ettinger got this correct first!

The first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured