Looking at stars humans

This week, I watched the Netflix series Court of Gold (about the 2024 Olympics basketball tournament) and absolutely loved it! One episode made me reflect on how we perceive greatness. When we see the USA basketball team, we recognize the big names and star careers, often favoring the underdog instead. It’s easy to assume their lives are all about success, without looking deeper.

That’s why Kevin Durant’s moment struck me. One of the best players in the world, tears streaming down his face, speaking about how basketball unites people. He reflected on coming from a neighborhood where no one talked to each other, and how surreal it is to see fans worldwide watching their favorite players. Despite his success, he remains humble. And that’s what makes him special, just loving these things, appreciating the beauty of the game and its ability to connect people. Below you can see the moment.

It reminds me of how often we make snap judgments about people, assuming we know their stories based on surface-level impressions. But true understanding comes from curiosity: taking the time to ask, listen, and look beyond appearances. Besides the fact that this moment hit me emotionally, it also gave me a good feeling. It made a 'superstar' human. In a world that moves fast, pausing to seek deeper meaning can change how we see everything.

Looking up to the stars

After soccer training on Monday, I was walking home when I noticed something rare: the sky was unusually clear despite the glow of city lights. Among the countless stars, one stood out. A red star… or was it a red planet?

At home, my wife opened an app, and we confirmed it. We were looking at Mars! A small but thrilling discovery, enough to bring the entire family outside, standing in the garden, gazing upwards. It was a reminder of how much we miss simply because we don’t think to look. Or worse: because we can’t.

Light pollution often drowns out the stars, cutting us off from the vast universe above. We live surrounded by artificial light, rarely looking up, rarely wondering about what’s beyond. Just take a look at this image from the Light Pollution Map. The dark skies are disappearing.

And it’s not just city lights. There are now over 8,000 satellites orbiting Earth, increasingly filling the night sky. A few years ago, spotting one felt special, but now they streak across the darkness like artificial constellations.

Light pollution isn’t just about losing stars. It’s about losing curiosity, the instinct to explore beyond ourselves.

But even in the brightest cities, the universe finds a way to reach us. Just look at the incredible project Seeing Stars by the city of Leiden, where for one hour, the entire city switched off its lights to reveal the night sky in all its glory. We just have to remember to look up.

Non Plus Ultra

This week, I heard the phrase "Non Plus Ultra" on television, and it immediately stood out. I recognized it as the name of a restaurant in my province, but I had never given much thought to its meaning.

That curiosity led me to explore its origins, and what I found was fascinating.

The phrase comes from Latin and translates to "nothing further beyond." It was supposedly inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules, the ancient markers at the Strait of Gibraltar, warning sailors that they had reached the edge of the known world. It was a declaration of limits. A sign that beyond this point, there was only the vast and dangerous unknown. For centuries, it represented the belief that exploration had a boundary, that there was a final frontier no one should dare to cross.

But history has a way of redefining limits.

When explorers like Christopher Columbus and others proved there was indeed more beyond, Non Plus Ultra evolved from a warning into a challenge. Instead of symbolizing restriction, it became a phrase of ambition, now meaning "the ultimate" or "the pinnacle of excellence."

Today, we use it to describe something unparalleled; the highest standard of quality. That shift in meaning is a perfect metaphor for curiosity itself. What was once considered a boundary became an invitation to explore, to push beyond the known and discover something greater. Whether in history, science, or even something as simple as hearing a phrase on television, curiosity always leads us beyond.

What else?

• Huge water reservoir in space — “In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have detected the largest and farthest-known reservoir of water in the universe, located around 12 billion light-years from Earth. This interstellar treasure [..] contains [..]  140 trillion times the volume of all the water in Earth’s oceans combined.
• Shortest NBA player — The shortest player in NBA history blocked 39 shots. Muggsy Bogues, who stood at just 1.60 meters, played 14 seasons in the NBA and defied expectations by blocking 39 shots! Below is a photo of him next to Jordan!