Greetings from Indianapolis.

I visited my doctor recently, as I am wont to do, and I asked her what kind of exercise makes sense for me at the moment. (I have been nursing an injury.) "Go on a walk with your friends and talk about your problems," she told me. "That's the best thing you can do for your health."

So over the weekend, I took a six-mile, urban hike through Indianapolis with two friends. Our route connected two of Indianapolis's great parks—Holliday Park, where part of The Fault in Our Stars is set, and Marrott Park, which has sweeping views overlooking the White River. As we hiked in the bitter cold, we talked about our problems and the world's problems, and although my back was a bit sore the next day, I felt better on almost every level.

Here's to taking walks if you're able, and to talking with friends about your problems.

John

Over the past four decades, the global number of people dying from cancer each year has doubled. This can look like the world is losing its battle with cancer: people are more likely to develop it, and we’re getting no better at treating it. This isn’t true.

There are, of course, almost 4 billion more people in the world than in 1980. And many of those people are older. This matters a lot because cancer rates rise steeply with age.

The chart shows three different measures. Total deaths just count how many people died from cancer; this is the number that has doubled. Crude death rates, shown in yellow, adjust for population size; the increase shrinks from more than 100% to around 20%. Age-adjusted rates, shown in blue, also account for the fact that countries have older populations today; we can see that the fully age-adjusted rate has actually fallen by more than 20%.

It means that for the average person, the likelihood of dying from cancer in any given year is now lower than it was for someone of a similar age in the past. The world still has a long way to go in preventing and treating cancer, but it’s wrong to think that no progress has been made.

In a swirl of information, it can feel hard to tell which way is up. On the news, in our FYPs, and around our dinner tables, we’re confronted by scientific claims about our health, safety, and future. Even our own brains can form biases that lead us astray!

That’s why we’re bringing you Crash Course Scientific Thinking: a 7-episode miniseries that will help us keep our wits about us and make better decisions when we understand how science actually works.

We’ll pull back the curtain on peer review, consensus, what makes sources reliable (or not), and what “correlation doesn’t equal causation” actually means. Check out the course preview now!

In this special episode of Study Hall: College Journeys, the tables turn—Hank becomes the interviewee! He shares how his path from biochemistry major to environmental science grad student eventually led to a career in science communication, YouTube, and starting many, many new businesses.

enclose.horse (by Shivers)

SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)

Download Gubbins on iOS or Android!

If you post your results on social media, we’d love it if you post a link for folks to subscribe to “We’re Here” (https://werehere.beehiiv.com/subscribe)

The 2026 Project for Awesome (P4A) livestream will run from February 13th to 15th, less than ONE MONTH AWAY! P4A is Hank and John’s annual charity event, so join us in raising money and awareness of charities doing much-needed work in this world. In Hank's video today, he talks about what's changing and what's staying the same this year! You can find everything you need to know about what P4A is, key dates, and how to get involved on our revamped P4A website.

Last week, we asked what the best book you read in 2025 was. Thank you to everyone who sent us a title!

If you can, set aside time to take a walk. Walk with a friend and talk about your problems, or walk by yourself and take time to reflect. Send us a photo of something you notice while you’re out!

Send your walk photo to [email protected]