On this day in 1618, Johannes Kepler confirmed his Third Law of Planetary Motion: The square of a planet’s orbital period (T²) is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit (a³). The modern Newtonian derivation: > Equating gravitational force to centripetal force > Substituting orbital velocity v = 2πr/T > Resulting in T² / r³ = 4π² / (GM) The log-log graph confirms the relationship holds for planets in our Solar System. A foundational law that bridged empirical observation with gravitational physics.

Historical founders of modern science who were theists These framed their science as reading "God's book of nature,". Isaac Newton — devout but heterodox (anti-Trinitarian); wrote more on theology than physics. Johannes Kepler — saw planetary laws as discovering the Creator's geometry. Galileo — held that scripture and nature can't truly conflict. Robert Boyle — father of modern chemistry; funded lectures defending Christianity. Michael Faraday & James Clerk Maxwell — both serious Christians (Faraday a Sandemanian). Gregor Mendel — Augustinian friar, founder of genetics. Georges Lemaître — Catholic priest who proposed the Big Bang. Blaise Pascal — mathematician; the Pensées and the famous "wager."

Maryna Viazovska (Ukraine/Switzerland) She solved the sphere-packing problem in 8 dimensions. What’s the densest way to pack identical spheres? In 8D, the E₈ lattice is optimal. Her proof used modular forms with Fourier analysis. (Kepler’s 3D version took 400 years!)

We know curiously little about the first female, Eve: > never heard from her > no data on her life > manufactured from man > was second > is to blame Eve is our foundational concept of a woman, yet she is not legible. Why? For 1,400 years, humanity was confused about planets too. When the ancient Greeks looked up to the sky, they saw some lights (stars) appeared fixed, while other lights (planets) moved erratically. They couldn’t understand why. From their vantage point, Mars would stop, reverse, loop backward, and then resume. Planets were bewildering, called "wanderers". To Greek physicians, the womb was also perplexing. They taught that the womb moved freely, a restless wanderer inside the body. They looked up at the sky, and at a woman, and concluded the same thing: they are erratic and wandering. To resolve this planetary madness, astronomers spent 1,400 years trying to understand. They used complicated models, overlaying circles onto circles (epicycles). Then, Copernicus and Kepler figured it out. Two insights solved over 1,400 years of bad explanations. It turns out the observed was not fixed, and the orbits were ellipses, not perfect circles. Our bewilderment about female health only means it is yet to be understood. There’s a reframe waiting to happen. In the fifth century BCE, Polykleitos sculpted the male body as a system of ideal mathematical proportion. Setting the historical trajectory for the “ideal” body. This passed through Vitruvius and then was immortalized by Da Vinci. This is how the default template of the human body was established. The male body was chosen because it held still, not because it was superior. It lacked the cyclical, "erratic", misunderstood shifts of the female body. Perhaps it's time for another reframe. In the next 90 days, Kate will become the most measured female in history. Three of her menstrual cycles (orbits) will be meticulously tracked. > 1,900 biomarkers tracked > 14.8 million data points > 100 tasks a day > 6-10 hours a day > 50+ devices > brain, taste, smell, and more > 3 menstrual cycles The effort will reveal new insight into female health, though that’s not really the primary objective here. Kate is trying to become legible. First to herself, and then to others.

KESLER EARNS A SPOT ON NCAA MIDFIELDERS TO WATCH LIST KANSAS CITY, MO – Lucy Kesler has been named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Midfielders to Watch list for the 2026 intercollegiate season. The American Fork, Utah native returns after a successful sophomore season for the Cougars. Playing in 22 games last season, she scored her first career brace against OSU and added three assists to her stat sheet. She was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team, the All-Big 12 First Team and the All-Midwest Region First Team. Following the season, she was honored as a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American. The lists are compiled and released by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college soccer leading up to the official start date for the regular season later this month. The lists include United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and All-Region players from 2025 who are scheduled to return for the 2026 season. Full details: 📸: @byusoccer_w @BYUphoto

Kelper upgrades $XFAB to "Buy" citing: - Melexis demand strengthening “week-after-week, day-after-day” (their lead customer). - AI giving XFAB a structural growth leg with SiC, GaN, and photonics offsetting auto cyclicality. - Scarce Western speciality foundries like $SILEX commanding higher multiples. "X-Fab remains the cheapest specialty foundry peer on every multiple, trading at 4.8x 2027 EV/EBITDA versus a peer median of 14.5x" I treat this as good signal for the core fundamentals improving like auto players. But in terms of unpriced long term growth vectors, I'm personally looking at XFAB from a different angle in terms of photonics growth with photonixfab. Given $NVDA as a potential key driver. But it's hard for traditional firms to price these types of active developments into valuation models until there's volume contracts.

Aaron Keller is back with a new Director’s Take! Learn more about the upcoming Quick Play Hacked experiments and how they’re helping the Overwatch Team explore bold ideas for the future ✨ 📖