The unrelenting pace of pro soccer doesn’t allow much for the type of choreographed trick plays we see in stop-and-go sports like football and basketball. But when a stoppage in play does occur — usually on free kicks and corner kicks — teams aren’t averse to resorting to trickery in the hopes of exploiting the other side’s confusion.
Such was the case in this lower-level Brazilian matchup in which São Bento defeated São Paulo 2-0, thanks in part to a free kick that left even sophisticated soccer fans scratching their heads and wondering what just happened. The play takes place at 5:32 in the video below.
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Somewhat ironically, the play still required a near-perfect shot, suggesting that it may not have been any easier than a traditional free kick in the face of a wall of defenders. However, the actual shooter, Maicon Souza, was equal to the task, knocking a perfectly arcing shot into the back of the goal.
Despite the relative simplicity (made effective by perfect execution), the shot had even seasoned soccer fans scratching their heads, then applauding the ingenuity.
Of course, it’s one thing to draw it up on paper, it’s another thing entirely to find a player who can follow through on that kick with laser-beam accuracy. Still, when it all comes together, it’s a sight to behold.
There was a moment in human history when our entire existence may have desperately clung to a thousand or so people. A DNA-based study found that between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, our ancestors experienced a severe population crash.
This wasn’t humans dealing with a giant meteor like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. It was a much slower stretch during which humanity teetered on the brink of disappearing completely. This bottleneck in the human gene pool, comprising roughly 1,280 breeding individuals, lasted about 117,000 years.
Removing representation of a human population group. Photo credit: Canva
Human population levels plummet
According to Scientific American, the study analyzed modern human genomes to piece together what the early human population looked like. By constructing a complex family tree of genes from present-day humans, researchers were able to identify important evolutionary events.
During the Early-Middle Pleistocene, a period within the Ice Age, humans faced severe weather and intense glacial cycles. Most human ancestors may have died out, clearing the path for a new human species to take their place.
Focusing on Africa, the study showed that 813,000 years ago, human populations began to recover and grow again. With an estimated two-thirds of genetic diversity potentially lost, traits like brain size appear to have been among the important features that survived. “It represents a key period of time during the evolution of humans,” population geneticist and study co-author Ziqian Hao said. “So there are many important questions to be answered.”
What we know about evolution reveals a different story than a simple, continuous line of human improvement. Over time, genetic lines disappear—not dramatically all at once. It’s a slow and steady change, generation after generation.
Human existence isn’t inevitable. Species strength or technical advancement doesn’t guarantee the future or explain our past. It’s contingent on narrow, accidental circumstances. A 2021 study showed that human evolution is better seen as a continuous flow of incremental fragments over time. Categorizing people into races and groups oversimplifies human history.
A diverse group of wooden figures. Photo credit: Canva
What does the bottleneck study say about us?
The study reveals humanity didn’t simply decline; it nearly collapsed. With over 98% of our genetic diversity erased, entire branches of the human family tree permanently ceased to exist.
It’s quite possible that if even a few more of those genetic lines had ended, human history could have vanished with them. Most branches of life don’t continue. What we witness today reflects biological persistence and countless moments that could have gone another way.
A 2024 study conducted five billion simulations, revealing that as a species’ population shrinks, its risk of extinction rises. Even stable groups can quickly collapse if their numbers suddenly drop low enough.
A 2025 study found that small populations erode genetic diversity. Isolation increases inbreeding and elevates the risk of extinction. Once a lineage shrinks, recovery becomes vastly more challenging over time. Long-term survival is an exception, not the guiding rule.
Humanity likes to think of itself as the result of an incredibly unique progression. Perhaps studies like these suggest that we are actually what remains when everything else disappears. The reason any of us live today comes down to a small group of ancient outlasters: persevering individuals whose genetic lines are the building blocks of every human living today.
Matt Fiddes runs a multi-million dollar martial arts franchise in Britain. His family’s weekly budget runs around $2,058. He’d never really looked at a price tag before buying something.
For a social experiment documented by the YouTube channel Only Human, the Fiddes family swapped lives with the Leamons (Andy, Kim, their two kids, and two dogs) who get by on $230 a week. Kim had a life-saving surgery after an accident and now lives with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. They lost their savings. Andy works alone to support the family.
On day one of the swap, Matt learned his weekly budget was $230. “That basically fills up the fuel tank of my car,” he said.
A man calculating his budget on his laptop. Photo credit: Canva
What followed was a week of grocery bills he had to think about, a neighborhood with nothing much in it, and night shifts, something he’d never worked in his life. His wife Moniqe cried when she heard about Kim’s condition from the Leamons’ friends.
By the end of the week, Matt had something to say that was harder to shrug off than the budget: “I feel guilty; no one should live like this.”
He also said the week brought his family closer together. The Fiddes left a gift behind for the Leamons when they returned home: a mobility scooter for Kim, so she could get around on her own.
The Leamons, meanwhile, spent the week in the Fiddes’ house taking their kids to a theme park and doing a little shopping experiencing, briefly, what it feels like when money isn’t a constant calculation.
One YouTube commenter put it plainly: “I feel this was a much-needed vacation for the poor family and a grounding experience for the rich family.” That’s about right.
Using an in-home HEPA purifier for one month spurs a small but significant improvement in brain function in adults age 40 and older. That’s the result of a new study we co-authored in the journal Scientific Reports.
We analyzed data from a study of 119 people ages 30 to 74 living in Somerville, Massachusetts. Somerville sits along Interstate 93 and Route 28, two major highways, resulting in relatively high levels of traffic-related air pollution. This makes it an especially good location for testing the health effects of air purifiers.
We randomly assigned participants to one of two groups. One used a HEPA air purifier for one month and then a sham air purifier – which looked and acted like the real thing but did not contain the air-cleaning filter – for one month, with a month-long break in between. The second group used the real and sham purifiers in reverse order.
After each month, participants took a test that measured different aspects of their mental capacity. The test probed people’s visual memory and motor speed skills by measuring how quickly they could draw lines between sequential numbers, and it tested executive function and mental flexibility by asking them to draw lines between alternating sequential numbers and letters.
We found that participants 40 years and older – about 42% of our sample – on average completed the section testing for mental flexibility and executive function 12% faster after using the HEPA purifier than after using the sham purifier. That was true even when we accounted for factors like differences in the amount of time participants spent indoors, with either filter, as well as how stressful they found the test.
This improvement may seem small, but it is similar to the cognitive benefits that people experience from increasing their daily exercise. While you may not experience a sudden increase in clarity from a 12% boost, preventing cognitive decline is vital for long-term well-being. Even small decreases in cognitive functioning may be associated with a higher risk of death.
Why it matters
Air pollution can negatively affect mental function after just a few hours of exposure. Studies show that air purifiers are effective at reducing particulates, but it’s unclear whether these reductions can prevent cognitive harm from ongoing pollution sources like traffic. Research has been especially lacking in people living near major sources of air pollution, such as highways.
Our study shows that HEPA air purifiers may offer meaningful health benefits under these circumstances.
What still isn’t known
Research shows that air pollution begins to affect cognitive function especially strongly around age 40. These effects may become increasingly prominent as people age.
HEPA air purifiers may therefore be especially beneficial for older adults. Our study did not explore this possibility, as fewer than 10 of our 119 participants were over the age of 60.
Also, our participants only used a HEPA air purifier for one month. It’s possible that longer durations of air purification may sustain or even increase the improvement in cognitive function we observed in our study.
We plan to study whether reducing particulate matter by using air purifiers is indeed protecting the brain’s white matter, and whether it could reverse some cognitive decline. We will explore that possibility by studying how levels of molecules called metabolites, which cells produce as they do their jobs, change in response to breathing polluted air and air cleaned by a HEPA filter.
