Every Sunday, I share a few of my learnings, reflections, and curiosities from the week. Things I stumbled upon, things I questioned, things that made me look twice. It’s not about being right or complete… it’s about noticing, wondering, and learning out loud.

Thanks for reading. I hope it sparks something for you too.

When fiction sparks fire

I’ve been working my way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order of storyline. Yes, I’ll admit it: I’m that kind of geek. And somewhere between Tony Stark’s cave-built Iron Man suit and Wakanda’s shimmering tech, I stumbled into a parallel universe… one that’s not on Disney+, but on YouTube.

Hacksmith Industries.

These are the people who looked at Marvel’s impossible gadgets and asked: What if we actually built them? And then they tried.

Some of their creations sound like the daydreams of a 12-year-old scribbled in the margins of a math notebook:

• Captain America’s shield, forged and balanced so it can really be thrown—and yes, they’ve tested it against everything from glass panes to a car windshield.
• Thor’s Stormbreaker axe, heavy enough to feel mythic, sharp enough to split wood.
• A working exosuit(part Iron Man, part forklift) that lets a human lift hundreds of pounds as if it were nothing.
• A plasma lightsaber, (okay that’s Star Wars, but still cool!) a retractable blade that burns at 4,000 degrees Celsius. It hisses, it glows, it melts steel. (It also runs on a backpack fuel tank, because physics.)

Every video has the same rhythm: the initial spark of “Could we?” followed by the sweat and sparks of “Oh… maybe not,” then the stubborn iteration until something kind of works.

What makes Hacksmith compelling isn’t just the spectacle of comic-book props made real… it’s their curiosity. They begin with questions, not certainty: Could a shield ricochet like in the movies? How hot must plasma be to cut steel like a Jedi?

And when it doesn’t work (and it often doesn’t) they show that too. Shields dent. Motors burn out. Then they try again.

The real magic isn’t perfection, it’s persistence. They collapse the gap between fantasy and reality by embracing failure, turning the attempt itself into the show. Curiosity, after all, isn’t about answers. It’s about daring the question.

The story behind cacao

I always thought cacao was one thing: a bean, a pod, a tree. But this week I learned that what makes chocolate taste so good isn’t just the plant: it’s the microbes.

When pods are cracked open, wild yeasts rush to the sweet pulp, turning sugars into alcohol and heating the beans from within. Then bacteria arrive, converting alcohol into acids, breaking the beans down further and unlocking flavor. It’s a relay: one microbe group hands off compounds to the next, layering fruit, floral, and woody notes.

The article begain with a beautiful word: terroir. “Like wine and cheese, chocolate has terroir, a sense of the place it was grown.” I was immediately captivated by this word. It literally means “of the earth.” It suggests that flavor is a conversation between place and process, between climate and culture, between the visible tree and the invisible microbes. Terroir is the reminder that nothing we eat is ever just itself. It is always entangled with its environment: Colombian beans may whisper citrus, Madagascar sings in berry notes.

Each square of chocolate carries with it the memory of a landscape, the signature of air, soil, and microbes that can exist nowhere else.

Well… I am off to the supermarket now. I am hungry…

In another universe, Han Solo was Pacino

I learned today that the Coen Brothers first wanted Mel Gibson to play The Big Lebowski. Imagine that… no Jeff Bridges in his bathrobe, just Gibson mumbling “The Dude abides”? The thought made me wonder: what other great films almost looked completely different because of casting choices that never happened?

Here are some of the strangest “what ifs” from Hollywood:

• Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) – He had the job, but couldn’t get out of his TV contract for Magnum P.I.
• Al Pacino as Han Solo (Star Wars) – He turned it down because the script felt too confusing.
• Will Smith as Neo (The Matrix) – He passed, and Keanu Reeves entered cinematic immortality.
• Sean Connery as Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings) – He didn’t understand the script, so Ian McKellen picked up the staff.
• Molly Ringwald as Vivian (Pretty Woman) – She said no, and Julia Roberts’ career was made.
• Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone (The Godfather) – He thought an Italian should play the role, so Al Pacino stepped in.

It’s like peeking into a parallel cinema universe. Every great performance hangs on chance, timing, and one yes or no.