CURIOSITY NEVER RETIRES
Welcome to "Granny & Paw Learn Stuff"! We are a pair of very curious grandparents on a mission to explore the world around us and share our discoveries with the next generazioni. Inspired by the insatiable curiosity of Leonardo da Vinci, we made a pact decades ago to never stop learning.
Whether it's unraveling the mysteries of nature, diving into history's greatest innovations, marveling at the world of artificial intelligence, or the beauty of everyday things, we are constantly in awe of the wonders that surround us. And now, we're positively thrilled to invite our family and friends along on our journey of learning.
We’ve always tried to do our best to pass on our passion for curiosity to our children and anyone else who shares our love of discovery. Now it’s the grandkids who are our focus and this is for them. You are welcome to join us as we celebrate the power of asking questions, pursuing knowledge, and embracing the amazing in the ordinary. Let's learn stuff, together! - Granny & Paw
THE MOST RECENT STUFF
2026 • WEEK 29 • JUly 12 -JulY 18
THE ONE THING THAT TRAVELS FASTER THAN LIGH
What Happened:
An international team of physicists has confirmed something predicted fifty years ago but never proven: darkness can move faster than light. Inside a spiraling beam of light, tiny points of absolute darkness (places where the wave cancels itself out perfectly) can be tracked darting through the beam at speeds exceeding the speed of light. The team, led by Professor Ido Kaminer at the Technion in Israel, built a microscope fast enough to catch these dark points in the act, and published their findings this year. On average, the dark points moved at about 1.04 times the speed of light. Nearly 30 percent exceeded it by more.
Why It Matters:
Before you worry that Einstein has been proven wrong, here's the part that makes you smile: the dark points carry no mass, no energy, and no information, so they were never on his list of things the rule applied to. Darkness found a loophole. Not by breaking physics, but by not being subject to it in the first place. And the microscopy techniques developed to catch these vanishing points may open up entirely new ways to observe the fastest and most elusive moments in nature. But the part worth carrying home is simpler: darkness is faster than light. It always was. We just had to build something delicate enough to watch. — Granny & Paw with thanks to Uncle John for sending us this news. After she read it, Granny said, “The reason light is slower is because God is in it.” — Granny & Paw
Source:
Scientific American / Nature, "What's Faster Than Light? Darkness," 2026.
Read the article here: if you have a subscription: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-faster-than-light-darkness/ Read it here if you don’t: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-faster-than-light-darkness/
READ THE 2026 NOTEBOOK SO FAR
From the curious minds of Granny and Paw, we hope you've been inspired to embrace your own sense of wonder and never stop learning. Remember, the world is full of amazing discoveries, just waiting to be made. So keep asking questions, stay curious, and come on back and visit us any time on this enduring adventure of lifelong learning.
Yours in curiosity,
—Granny & Paw