Weekly News Recap: April 24, 2026

Weekly News Recap: April 24, 2026

Horses graze a field as the sun rises over a misty landscape near Fort Macleod, Alta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe Daylight Saving Time. -- Dave Berry

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: Sperm whales’ communication closely parallels human language, study finds (The Guardian) I am not that surprised. Very cool. "We may appear to have little in common with sperm whales – enormous, ocean-dwelling animals that last shared a common ancestor with humans more than 90 million years ago. But the whales’ vocalized communications are remarkably similar to our own, researchers have discovered."

  • Meet the Quantum Kid (Ars Technica) Love this kid. "Scientists are often advised to explain their work in terms that a child can understand—a task that is particularly challenging when it comes to such complex topics as quantum mechanics. It’s easier when the interviewer is an actual child, like 9-year-old Kai, aka the Quantum Kid. Kai and his mother, theoretical physicist and science communicator Katia Moskvitch, co-host The Quantum Kid podcast, which recently crossed the 100,000 subscriber mark and has been nominated for a Webby Award."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment neighbours saved a baby black bear (CBC) MAPLE RIDGE STORY "Kristina Whitlock tells The National about the moment she and her neighbours banded together to rescue an abandoned black bear cub in Maple Ridge, B.C."

  • Woman, 96, enlists 150-pound dog to plant spring flowers: She points, he digs (Yahoo Life) Ha! Having been the guardian for two Newfies, I can relate. Nice move Barbara! "Barbara Collins, 96, stands in her garden and points with her cane toward a patch of soil. 'And dig,' Collins commands the 150-pound Newfoundland beside her. The dog lowers his head and starts to dig with his paws exactly where she pointed. Collins plants a small bunch of pink flowers, then pats the soil into place with her hands. They repeat until all of her flowers - marigolds, Superbells, pansies and dianthus - are in the ground. When the backyard garden is finished, Collins strokes the dog’s ears."

  • Kamloops cat reunited with family after wandering 25 km from home over 59 days (Kelowna Now) KAMLOOPS STORY Welcome home Mike. " 'Collars and tags are important, but they can slip off. Permanent identification like a microchip stays with your pet for their whole life.' Mike and Nicole were reunited in December thanks to the cat's microchip. The heartwarming story that backs that claim up is of Mike, a cat who became lost after slipping out the door of his Kamloops home and vanishing [...] Despite all her efforts, her beloved cat remained missing until she got the call she had desperately been waiting for, 59 days after he disappeared. Mike had been found by a bylaw officer 25 kilometres away from home after crossing bridges and a river."

  • From sleeping lions to spitting snakes: a year in the life of London zoo vets (The Guardian) Fantastic photos! Thanks to ViTreo emeritus Mick Mulloy for sharing this with us. "How do you shift a sedated rhino? Can a dormouse be drugged? What happens to a lion with an unusually small ear canal? How does the world’s longest venomous snake respond to treatment? Not easily, was the answer to the final question, as Guardian photographer David Levene discovered during a year following intricate veterinary operations on some of the world’s most endangered animals."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Alberta government moving to adopt daylight time year-round (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Yay. "The Alberta government wants to eliminate seasonal clock changes by adopting daylight time all year. Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally said [...] that his government intends to eliminate spring and fall time changes and stick with daylight time, which leaves more light at the end of the day instead of the morning. 'It was time to stop talking about it and to take some action to get it done,' he told reporters at the legislature."

  2. Committee backs $190M Calgary playground funding plan (Livewire) CALGARY STORY Well done Calgary! "Calgary city councillors didn’t monkey around, putting their money where their park is by recommending $190 million over the next 10 years to ensure city playgrounds don’t become extinct. Councillors on the Infrastructure and Planning Committee (IPC) voted unanimously in favour of Option 4, which would ensure that 100 per cent of the city’s current 1,172 playgrounds stay intact."

  3. Saskatoon begins building 16‑foot‑tall Lego mosaic (CTV) SASKATOON STORY Cool. I recently visited the SPL to see this in person. "The construction of Saskatoon’s new downtown library isn’t the only thing being pieced together by the Saskatoon Public Library (SPL). Saturday marked the beginning of the library’s goal to create Saskatoon’s largest Lego mosaic."

  4. Homework? Delivered. Packaging? Unexpected. (ULethbridge) LETHBRIDGE STORY Ha! #Brilliant (and #Fun)."First-year University of Lethbridge student Joel Wegner jumped at the chance to take Dr. Kevin McGeough’s (BA ’96) Hebrew classes because he knew they weren’t offered every year. As a history major with his eye on an education degree, he thought knowing Hebrew words and grammar could come in handy in studying ancient documentation [...] Like all classes, Hebrew had several assignments, some of which were translations. 'It just so happened that for the first three weeks of doing assignments, I didn’t have a standard-size notebook,' he says. 'Each of them was written on different sizes of paper.' For one assignment, Wegner submitted his translation on cue cards because that’s all he had available. 'After like three assignments, Professor Kevin mentioned that I’d just been handing in my assignments always on a different size of paper,' he says. 'And then the idea kind of got in my head — I wonder how far I can push this. If he had said stop at any point, I would have, absolutely. But he kept receiving it quite well, and it started to be a bit entertaining for my classmates.' "

  5. Chips vs. fries: I speak English fluently and yet I am always translating (CBC) CANADIAN STORY I am with you my friend. I have to do this all the time with my English friends. "In my mind, I hadn't said anything unusual. I'd spoken English — my first language, the language of my education, my career and my everyday thoughts. But the word I reached for and the word they expected were not the same, and in that gap, I became someone who needed help being understood. This has made me think about how my experience in Canada is framed — more than I expected — by language. I am a product of a strong ESL program. As a teacher, I wish more students had access to it. Food, for instance. How often I have struggled to understand menus or choose food because most of the words are unfamiliar. When people talk about candies and cookies, I have to remind myself that they are talking about sweets and biscuits. Pop or soda are soft drinks. Those french fries are chips."

  6. VIDEO: Nike backtracks after 'walkers tolerated' Boston Marathon ad draws outrage (CBC) #Oops "If you've ever been in a race, you know there's much more to it than speed. There are the unpredictable conditions like downpours that drench your shoes, heat that calcifies your sweat and frost that makes you question your life choices. There are steep hills and mental hurdles, aching knees and burning lungs — but in the end, there's the promised absolute euphoria of running, walking, crawling, or rolling across that finish line. Because of this, Nike is under fire for a sign it posted in a store along the route for the Boston Marathon, which is also a major marathon event for para athletes and adaptive runners."

  7. New animal species coming to Calgary Zoo this summer (CBC) CALGARY STORY #Cool "The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is welcoming a new species this summer as part of the first phase of its Imagine Asia destination, formerly known as Exploration Asia. Zoo officials said Monday the Sichuan takin, described as a cross between a goat, an antelope, a muskox and a moose, will be joining its new Asian Highlands area."

  8. U of A hits sour note with decision to remove venerable pipe organ from Convocation Hall (CBC) EDMONTON STORY Listening to this Organ inspired Stuart Davis to donate a $2.5 million organ to the Winspear Centre. "Some faculty members at the University of Alberta want the institution to reconsider a plan to remove the nearly 50-year old Casavant organ from Convocation Hall. The U of A said it is proceeding with a much-needed renewal of the performance space, which opened in 1915, to enhance accessibility, increase capacity and improve the experience for performers and audiences."

  9. VIDEO: John Fluevog received a kidney transplant. Now he's designed shoes to honour his donor (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY John, you are such cool dude. "Vancouver footwear designer John Fluevog has released two new shoes to raise money for the Kidney Foundation. It comes after he received a kidney transplant himself. The shoes are named after his donor, Patty Carmichael, and her husband Alan. Fluevog had been living with polycystic kidney disease for more than three decades before his condition worsened in 2025 — but Carmichael, a family friend, ended up being a match for his blood type and offered to donate her kidney."

  10. SAIT cutting at least 30 positions, citing declining enrolment (CBC) CALGARY STORY " 'Services and staffing have been reduced across Advancement, Communications, Marketing, the Lamb Learner Success Centre, Career Advancement Services, Student Engagement, Student Development & Counselling, Academic Advising, the Library and the Office of the Registrar,' states the email, written by vice-president of student affairs and external relations Heather Magotiaux."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. 10 weirdly effective nervous system regulation tricks that took me over 17 years to learn (In Fitness And In Health) I definitely talk tasks out loud and I eat pretty much the same breakfast every day.

  2. Your Nervous System Is the CEO of Your Health, and most people are sabotaging it (Eat Train Lead) Mine is too low...I am working on it.

  3. The Dark Psychology Trick Marcus Aurelius Used Every Night (That Therapists Now Charge $200/Hour For) (Stoic Minds) Recap your day...you will not regret it.

  4. The Shibumi Shift: Why I’m More Productive at 72 Than I Was at 45 (Illumnation) Subtraction.

  5. I’m a Neuroscientist & I Do These 3 Overlooked Exercises Daily to Age Better (In Fitness And In Health) I do try the standing on one leg exercise.

  6. AUDIO: This Nobel Prize–Winning Breakthrough Turns Air Into Drinking Water (Food & Wine) This is really world-changing.

  7. A Beginner’s Guide to Birding (The Art of Manliness) Ha, for the aging X-ers.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Mosaic makes large donation to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation (CJWW) SASKATOON STORY "Mosaic presented a $2-million cheque for Saskatchewan’s only maternal and children’s hospital located in Saskatoon. The Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation raises money for specialize equipment, innovative research and family-centred programs. The potash company has donated more than $12.5 million over the past two decades to the Foundation."

  2. Billionaire Michael Dell started his company in his University of Texas dorm room. Now, he’s betting on AI with a $750 million gift (Fortune) "Michael Dell is having one of his biggest philanthropic years yet, having announced a major gift to his alma mater on the heels of a $6.25 billion pledge to seed 'Trump Accounts.' "

  3. Toronto Zoo receives $1-million donation (CTV News) TORONTO STORY "Toronto Zoo receives $1-million donation to help it preserve genetic material belonging to endangered species."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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