Sometimes — perhaps even oftentimes — a movie is so bad that it loops back around to being good. This film category is highly subjective (what’s good-bad to you might not be good-bad to someone else), but that hasn’t stopped The New York Times from dedicating an entire page of movie reviews to it. The latest pick: 2004’s National Treasure, starring Nicholas Cage. Read the feature and scroll through other good-bad picks to see if your favorites made it.
A Dog’s Love for Their Favorite Toy Can Be Addiction-Like, Study Finds
Alberto Menendez Cervero—Moment/Getty Images
Think your pup is addicted to Lamb Chop (or whatever toy seems to be calling their name lately)? That may not be an exaggeration. A recent study found some dogs are so attached to their favorite toy that it borders on an addiction-like level.
Building upon a previous study on the topic, researchers surveyed the owners of 1,692 dogs across 33 countries who scored their pets based on statements such as “When my dog plays with a ball/toy, it is difficult to stop him/her.” Turns out, some dogs can’t get enough of their favorite toys to the extent that they prioritize playtime over food, rest, and even their owner’s attention — and can display temporary withdrawal symptoms that are not unlike those of humans.
As for which breeds were most likely to show addiction-like behaviors toward their favorite toys, that would be shepherds, terriers, and retrievers, notably all working dogs. The researchers noted that while dogs exhibit similar addictive-like patterns to humans, this doesn’t mean they experience addiction in the same way. Nevertheless, don’t underestimate the bond between a dog and their favorite toy!
Together With Outskill
This Is Your Chance to Take Part in the Free Claude AI Mastery Workshop
Claude is arguably the most powerful tool of 2026. It’s been launching new features every week — Skills, Connectors, Cowork, vibe coding, and more. Yet few people know how to actually use it to its full potential.
Outskill’s expert mentors have condensed 800-plus hours of Claude research, articles, YouTube content, and real-world practice into a focused 16-hour curriculum. Join the 2-Day Claude AI Mastery Workshop this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. ET for a live, end-to-end deep dive into Claude, plus a handful of other AI tools, LLMs, and workflows.
Hello Haaland! World Cup Kicks Off New Generation of Baby Names in Peru
Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
The 2026 World Cup is over, but it has left quite a lasting mark on little ones, inspiring many a baby name in Peru.
According to Euro News, 468 newborns were registered with the name Haaland after Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, one of the stars of this year’s tournament. “Haaland is Peruvian too,” joked Ivan Torres, a spokesperson from Peru’s civil registry.
The soccer name trend doesn’t end there, as Torres noted that one newborn was simply named “Mundial” after the Spanish shorthand for the World Cup, per Televisión Panamericana. Lionel Messi is the namesake for 3,402 Peruvians (with 292 officially registered with his full name) and Cristiano Ronaldo for 1,185. But the most jaw-dropping stat is that a whopping 33,809 babies are named after the mononymous Brazilian soccer icon Neymar.
Inspired? See a list of other soccer-themed baby names.
Humanity
200 Hours of Kids and Family Content on Netflix Is Newly Available in ASL
MovieStillsDB
More inclusive content is ready for your Netflix queue. The streaming giant collaborated with accessibility and entertainment company SignUp Media to roll out more than 200 hours of ASL interpretation across 73 titles in its kids and family library, including Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Pokémon Horizons, and The Magic School Bus Rides Again.
Unlike closed captions that solely display written text, the new update (available to download as a free Chrome extension) features ASL interpreters signing in a pop-up window over streaming content.
For those who use sign language as their primary means of communication, the interpretation aims to better convey the essence of movies and TV shows. It’s also a way to connect with more kids, as research shows many Deaf children don’t read fluently until around age 12. Callie Foster, whose son Luca is Deaf, said in a statement shared with Nice News: “It’s been beautiful to watch him understand what he’s watching and enjoy it as a family … it’s probably going to give him a sense of belonging.”
SignUp Media Founder Mariella Satow added that collaborations like this are “just the beginning.” She said: “Hollywood is starting to understand that sign language isn’t an accommodation, it’s a language, and we’re building the infrastructure to deliver it.”
In Other News
El Salvador has eliminated trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness, as a public health problem (read more)
A NASA spacecraft woke up “in good health” from a 321-day hibernation, billions of miles from Earth (read more)
To ensure his hometown paper stayed under local leadership, a 25-year-old editor bought it himself (read more)
India debuted its first hydrogen-powered train built domestically, part of a larger effort to curb emissions (read more)
“No small feat for tiny feet”: A toad species was spotted at a Nevada preserve for the first time in decades (read more)
Something We Love
Knix SuperPlus Dream Short
Knix’s latest innovation is the ultimate period sleep solution. The SuperPlus Leakproof® Dream Short features a full front-to-back liner, designed to absorb heavy periods, postpartum flow, and overnight bladder leaks — completely replacing bulky overnight pads. The leakproof technology provides total peace of mind for your heaviest days. Plus, they come in inclusive sizes, from XS to 4XL.*
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Inspiring Story
A sweet peek into the past
When Becky Turner was perusing Google Maps as part of a TikTok trend, she came across an old image of her late golden retriever, Sonny, running in front of her childhood home in Connecticut. “Something about seeing a new photo of him that I didn’t know existed made him feel alive for a moment,” she said. See the wholesome pic.
Photo of the Day
Iso Ekle—Anadolu/Getty Images
That’s one way to cool off! No one’s safe from getting buckets of ice water dumped on them during “La Chiena,” a centuries-old festival in Campagna, a town near Salerno, Italy. The tradition started as a way to clean and cool the streets in the 1700s and has since turned into a splashy summer celebration that takes place every weekend from mid-July to mid-August.
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