This Tuesday, a strange spherical object washed up on a beach in Japan.

A team of investigators X-rayed the metal orb and conducted a variety of other tests on it, but still have not figured out what the heck it is.

A Chinese spy balloon? An extraterrestrial vehicle of some sort?! Eh, probably not.

It's likely a buoy or something similarly prosaic.

But will that stop the Internet from proposing a range of outlandish possibilities (like: "It's definitely a dragon's egg!")? No...no it will not.

What a time to be alive.

As always, please forward IQNEWS to a friend if you're a fan!

Ever since the 5-day work week was established by Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, people have been pretty into the idea of a non-5-day work week (do people not like work?!).

A new, large-scale experiment suggests a 4-day grind is just plain better.

Researchers at Boston College investigated the effects of a shortened work week on 2,900 workers across 61 companies in the UK who agreed to trial the concept. And results showed a clear trend - 71% of workers said they were less burned out, 39% said they were less stressed, and 48% said they were more satisfied with their job.

Sleep and mental health were also positively impacted, and employees were far less likely to quit their jobs.

None of that is all that surprising, of course. But here's the kicker...

None of the 61 employers reported noticing any changes in revenue during the six-month, and some achieved growth they attributed to the new regimen! 92% said they'd continue to have employees work four days.

A truncated work week is not a new concept. Microsoft Japan, for instance, trialed a 4-day week in 2019 and saw productivity spike 40%. The shear scale of this trial, though, adds weight to the "pro" side of the argument.

As someone who personally subscribes to a 7-day work week (entrepreneurship is fun, I swear!), this data has forced me to reconsider my "grind level."

There's a halfway decent Twitter account called @1000lifehacks that puts out gems from time to time. This recent one I liked quite a bit...

"Look at life like it’s a giant progress bar. Everything you do is progress. Sent someone a meme? You progressed your relationship. Drew a doodle? You progressed your art skill. Took a bath? You progressed your mental health. Just keep progressing."

There's something powerful about reframing things we feel guilty about (procrastination, "spacing out," etc.) as progress. That said, get off your phone and go for a walk...

1. The second person in a conga line is always the person who starts it.
2. One of your eyes has blinked more times than the other.
3. There never was or will be world peace. Sad, but true.
4. Our bodies are 3D printers of cells and hair.
5. It’s safer to be an airport Uber driver since your passengers went thru TSA before getting in.

Jim Rohn: "Either you run the day, or the day runs you."

Today I learned that rusty objects don’t give you tetanus. A bacteria found in soil does. That’s why we associate a rusty nail found in soil with tetanus. A random rusty chair is just a random rusty chair. (more here)

gambit [ gam-bit ] - noun
any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage
The general's gambit did not pay off, and soon we were surrounded by enemy soldiers.

Q: Actor Nicolas Cage is the nephew of what famous director?
A: (see below next section)