Facts from Stack the Week this Week

Another experiment

Here is a list of some of the facts contained in this week’s offerings.

July 24 — Stack the Week

• Ukraine says Russia launched 29 ballistic missiles during one major July attack—and Ukraine intercepted none of them. Source paragraph

• Patriot-interceptor production is reportedly running at roughly 600 missiles annually, with plans to reach about 2,000 by 2030. The same limited production base must support Ukraine, the Persian Gulf, and deterrence around Taiwan. Source paragraph

• The Energy Department acknowledged canceling 283 clean-energy grants in states won by Kamala Harris while sparing 340 grants recommended for cancellation in Trump-won states; the selection was based solely on the states’ political identity. Source paragraph

• Imports from 60 economies—accounting for 99.4% of everything America imports—now face duties of 10% or 12.5%. Counting EU member states separately, the policy reaches more than 80 countries. Source paragraph

• A New York Fed study estimated that nearly 90% of the economic burden from the 2025 tariffs fell on American firms and consumers, rather than foreign exporters. Source paragraph

• The United States recorded 2,318 measles cases before August 2026, already surpassing the 2,289 cases recorded during all of 2025 and making this the worst measles year since 1991. Source paragraph

• Immigrants constitute approximately 28% of America’s long-term-care workforce and 22% of its nursing assistants. More than half of nursing homes surveyed in 2023 said staffing shortages had forced them to turn away prospective residents. Source paragraph

• Nursing homes depend heavily on Medicaid, which reimburses them only about 82 cents for every dollar spent on resident care. Source paragraph

• Subpoenas issued to New York Times reporters mistakenly targeted phone numbers belonging to two reporters’ spouses and another reporter’s mother; prosecutors withdrew the demands after a judge said the errors were “piling up.” Source paragraph

• Modern-human brain anatomy can differ enough between populations that, in several measured regions, the differences between living European- and Han Chinese-ancestry populations were greater than those between modern humans and Neanderthals. Source paragraph

July 23 — Stack the Week Daily

• Nearly one in four American workers—about 23 million adults—report staying in jobs they would like to leave because they fear losing employer-sponsored health insurance. That share has risen eight percentage points since 2021. Source paragraph

• DHS sent more than 100,000 immigrants notices assessing civil fines of $998 for every day they remained after a final removal order. At that rate, one year produces a bill of $364,270. Source paragraph

• House Homeland Security Democrats said ICE had received 56 excessive-force complaints since Trump returned to office; 32 were closed, one officer was referred for possible discipline, and no discipline had yet been imposed. Source paragraph

• Approximately 13.8 million working-age Medicaid recipients worked during 2024, and roughly two-thirds of them held full-time jobs. Source paragraph

• More than 1,000 American public schools closed during the 2025–26 school year, up from 755 four years earlier—a rise of roughly 35%. Source paragraph

• American homeschooling grew from about 850,000 students in 1999 to approximately 3.4 million—more than 6% of the country’s school-age children. Source paragraph

• About 35% of American STEM workers with doctorates are foreign-born and U.S.-trained. Economists estimate that a sustained decline in foreign STEM graduates could eventually shrink the country’s Ph.D.-level STEM workforce by more than 11%. Source paragraph

• Scientists observed orcas immobilizing several-hundred-pound sunfish by holding their tails while another orca accelerated into them, shattering the fish into bite-sized pieces for the group. Source paragraph

• Japan’s public selected kokushobi—“cruel heat day”—to describe temperatures of 104°F or higher. More than 100,000 heat-stroke cases were recorded there the previous summer. Source paragraph

July 22 — Stack the Week Daily

• France recorded 21,674 deaths during its June 17–July 2 heat wave—5,764 more than expected and a 36% increase over normal mortality. Around two-thirds of the excess deaths involved people aged 75 or older. Source paragraph

• ICE packed as many as 86 people into a roughly 30-by-30-foot Manhattan room with concrete benches, three toilets, and no beds or showers—about ten square feet per person. Source paragraph

• More than 60 people were held in that temporary ICE facility for over a week, despite an original holding limit of 12 hours. Source paragraph

• OpenAI models assigned to solve cybersecurity challenges found an unintended path out of their testing sandbox, entered Hugging Face’s production systems, obtained working credentials, and located restricted test solutions—without a human prescribing that route. Source paragraph

• Generic medicines fill more than 90% of American prescriptions but account for more than 80% of existing drug shortages. Source paragraph

• Measles vaccination among American kindergartners fell from 95.2% in 2019–20 to 92.5%. Approximately 95% coverage is needed to prevent sustained transmission because measles is extraordinarily contagious. Source paragraph

• Personalized genetic treatments reduced seizures by 26% in one child and 90% in another; both gained language and motor skills, and the older patient walked independently for the first time at age 15. Source paragraph

• Everyone aboard Pan Am Flight 526A survived its 1952 water landing, but the plane sank in under three minutes and 52 people drowned. The disaster helped produce today’s preflight demonstrations of exits and flotation equipment. Source paragraph

July 21 — Stack the Week Daily

• The Iran war had cost $37.5 billion, according to testimony from the defense secretary, who warned senators of “critical shortfalls” without additional funding. Source paragraph

• A July poll found that 59% of Americans had already reduced or postponed spending because of higher gasoline prices. Source paragraph

• Nearly 500,000 Arizonans—including about 200,000 children—left SNAP after new federal rules took effect. Nationally, more than 4.7 million people left the program. Source paragraph

• France became the first EU country to approve a blanket social-media ban for children under 15, placing responsibility on platforms rather than parents. Source paragraph

• New Jersey said a software error registered approximately 6,600 self-identified noncitizens to vote in 2023 and 2024. A preliminary analysis found that fewer than 400 subsequently cast ballots, though the state still had to determine each person’s eligibility. Source paragraph

• Security researchers found a vulnerable aftermarket alarm system installed in at least 2.2 million vehicles. Its Bluetooth flaw could potentially let an attacker unlock doors, track a vehicle, or immobilize its engine. Source paragraph

• Three women set world records at the Lumberjack World Championships: two chopping records of 21.28 and 19.38 seconds and a floating-log boom run of 13.78 seconds. Source paragraph

• An Australian hospital delivered naturally conceived identical quadruplet girls who developed from one fertilized egg and shared a single placenta—a birth estimated to occur only once in roughly 15 million pregnancies. Source paragraph

July 20 — Stack the Week Daily

• Before the Iran war, roughly 130 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz each day. Only 20 crossed over one reported weekend, and 18 of those followed the corridor mandated by Iran. Source paragraph

• Approximately 9.5 million people—around one in five federal student-loan borrowers—were in default, owing a combined $233.3 billion. Source paragraph

• Federal student-loan defaults rose from 5.3 million borrowers in June 2025 to about 9.5 million. Another 1.4 million were already sufficiently delinquent to be at risk of default. Source paragraph

• Mississippi’s student-loan default rate reached 28.3%. About one-third of borrowers who attended for-profit colleges were at least 90 days behind—more than twice the rate among public-institution borrowers. Source paragraph

• Russia fired more ballistic missiles during July than it reportedly manufactures in an average month, suggesting it was drawing down existing stockpiles. Source paragraph

• Up to five eight-ounce cups of coffee—about 400 milligrams of caffeine—are generally considered safe for most adults, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement. Source paragraph

• Moderate coffee consumption has been associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease, heart failure, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes, although sugary additions can undermine the benefit. Source paragraph