Hello everyone!
Some days are pretty weird. Today, I discovered that someone made a very lovely and funny animation of Brennan Lee Mulligan and me talking about flying in water. Also, people have very much enjoyed my Mola Mola video and the accompanying shirt (so much so that some part of me wants to launch a Mola Mola-centered fashion brand). And then there's reading various (mostly positive) reactions to the... I don't even know what to call it... data visualization code-based explainer thing I made to help explain what the heck is going on with colon cancer in young people.
That cool stuff is just sorta sitting there next to the topic of my video today, which was that, after many years of work, the Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone opened its doors seven days ago. While we were having a blast raising money during the Project for Awesome, women who previously may have simply died in childbirth went to the MCOE. Some mothers travelled for hours to reach the new hospital, some were transported by ambulance, and some came from nearby clinics as their deliveries turned complicated. And one young woman came in with a premature baby who was delivered at home and who was able to receive immediate care that would not have been available the day before.
This is something that this community has been working on for years. It's our biggest project yet, and I am so grateful to all of the people who helped make it possible. Simply by turning your attention toward it for this long, you are one of those people. But mostly I am grateful to the people actually doing that work. I'm glad to have something good to turn my attention toward, but the MCOE only exists because people turned their attention toward a real problem.
So good, y'all. So good.
Hank
You can always email us at [email protected]
This Week in Stuff
A trash collector’s dog was given a safety vest so she could match her human. (Instagram)
Rabbit Hole explained why office chairs have 5 legs. (YouTube)
The Burke Museum showed us what dinosaur skin looked like. (TikTok)
Tasting History ate like the builders of Stonehenge. (YouTube)
Someone used literal Apple Pay to buy their coffee. (TikTok)
The 2026 Project for Awesome ended with a grand total of $4,216,082.19! Thank you to everyone who participated. (projectforawesome.com)
Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]
What is the most common religious affiliation in each country?
Hannah Ritchie and Lucas Rodés-Guirao
Three-quarters of people worldwide say they are religious. But rates of religious identity can vary a lot across countries, and so do the particular religions people follow.
In the map, you can see the most common religious affiliation for each country. This can include the “unaffiliated” who do not identify with any specific religion. This data is sourced from the Pew Research Center and is based on how people describe their own identity, regardless of their particular practices or beliefs.
As you can see, Christianity is the most common across much of Europe, the Americas, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Islam is the most common across North Africa and the Middle East, while Hinduism and Buddhism dominate across much of South Asia.
In East Asian countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, the religiously unaffiliated are the biggest group. That doesn’t mean these populations hold no religious beliefs; they may still engage in activities that can be considered religious or spiritual, but they don’t describe themselves as belonging to any one in particular.
Our World in Data is a UK-based non-profit organization that publishes research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. You can find more of their data insights here. Want to receive even more Data Insights like this from Our World in Data directly in your inbox every few days? Sign up for their newsletter!
This Week at Complexly
In 2010, a NASA-backed study boldly announced that we’d found alien life right here on Earth. So where are all these aliens? In this episode of Crash Course Scientific Thinking, we search for the truth and learn how science is an ongoing quest for knowledge that double-checks itself through peer review.
Brain-eating amoebas sound scary. I mean, they eat your brain! That doesn’t mean you have to let them keep you up at night. These amoebas /are/ deadly, but there are a lot of reasons not to panic. Here’s why you should, and shouldn’t, be terrified.
Some Games to Play!
SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)
This Gubbins postcard was made by Gia. Send yours to [email protected]
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)
Poems About Community
Last week, we asked for poems about community. The Project for Awesome is a wonderful reminder of what we can accomplish together, so thank you for sending us your poetry and helping that feeling of community extend through this week.
Decrease World Suck with
Internet Shenanigans
Project for Awesome
We're here because we
want to make a difference
in a world of suck
Happy P4A!
Don't Forget to Be Awesome
All You Nerdfighters
An ode to my hometown’s cafes
The warm scent of coffee, the whoosh of the milk frother, the soft clink of mugs against saucers
Orders called out by the friendly barista behind the bar
Chalk dust floating from a board covered in menu items and local events
Laughter between friends and strangers alike
Healthy debates between the laughs
Muted conversations through laptop mics, just catching up or doing the work
Books being read, newspapers and websites being perused
Pens to paper, fingers to keyboards, writing the next novel, the next poem, the next dissertation
Patio tables to watch the world pass by while enjoying the sun or sky
Inclusive signs carefully hung in frames like paintings, welcoming all
Wholesome treats to soothe empty stomachs and inspire hungry minds and hearts
The way every table is filled with someone who feels safe, who feels like they belong
The way relationships begin or end or continue over lattes and scones
The way community thrives and hope lives and love lingers
Laughter at dinner
Tears shed when heart is heavy
Hope flows through held hands.
Moving cross country for the third time -
Home.
A terrifying undertaking,
More than worthwhile.
One friend, becomes two, becomes too many to count.
Wednesday nights, a show I hate,
People I love.
We watch the news, we cry.
We are together, we are safe.
We don’t know how to change this.
We have each other.
It has to be enough for now.
We find the strength to wake up,
The strength to fight.
Groups of people in places choosing to be near
Their many hands a mosaic make
Cemented in fellowship to witness joy and assuage fear
A journey together for together's sake
I know why the whale sings,
Imploring to the deep,
I know why the blackbird whistles,
As it rises from its sleep,
Many problems has the world,
But none belong to me,
For it isn't for man to fix the world,
But all humanity.
It's a brittle thing to be alone,
And stand against the dark,
But as a smaller part of a bigger whole,
We can make a deeper mark,
I know why the whale sings,
And what it does portend,
It calls out to the other whales,
To band together 'til the end.
People, villagers, helpers, revellers, look
For
Anyone bringing what you need to the party
Inspired by Hank’s Mola Mola video, we’d love to hear about something you think is amazing that may seem weird or silly to other people. Tell us why you love that thing, and why we should, too.
Send your actually amazing thing to [email protected].
