All posts tagged: fat

Fat Bear Week 2026 rolls out a bracket that’s bigger than ever : NPR

Fat Bear Week 2026 rolls out a bracket that’s bigger than ever : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A mother bear and two cubs in Brooks River, where brown bears living in Katmai National Park and Preserve are entered into a tournament celebrating bears that have put on pounds to survive the winter. C. Loberg/NPS hide caption toggle caption C. Loberg/NPS The brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, famous for embiggening themselves by feasting on salmon in the park’s scenic Brooks River, are ready for their annual closeup. The 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket came out on Friday, kicking off a competition to determine which bear has worked hardest to pack on pounds for hibernation. Officials say fans should look out for signs of a generational shift, reflecting the vitality of Katmai’s ecosystem. And this year’s bracket features 16 bears, up from 12 in recent years. “There are more cubs at Brooks Camp this year than have been seen in a long time,” Park Superintendent Mark Sturm said in a news release. “A new generation of fat bears is taking shape, and they’re off to a strong start,” Sturm …

The Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket is here and chunkier than ever

The Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket is here and chunkier than ever

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s almost time! The official Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket has landed, and this year’s competition will see 16 adult brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Alaska go head-to-head in the bracket-style online competition.  In group one are the mother bears, including: Bear #132, a first-timer, and her three spring cubs Bear #284 (Electra) and her two cubs, a bear with a long lineage at Katmai Bear #806 and her mixed age cubs Bear #901 and her spring cub In group two are the single adult females, including:  Bear #909, a resilient mama bear who lost two of her cubs this season Bear #428, the descendant of a former Fat Bear Week champion Bear #128 Grazer Bear #131, a 9-year-old bear who was once nicknamed Marshmallow for her light-brown appearance Bear #910, a member of a history-making blended bear family who has drawn the attention and affections of fellow Fat Bear Week contenders Bucky and Walker In group 3, we have the sub-adult bears: And finally, in group four, the behemoth adult male bears: In addition …

Big boy Chunk returns ahead of Fat Bear Week 2026

Big boy Chunk returns ahead of Fat Bear Week 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

The 2025 Fat Bear Week champion is back and ready to rumble (or at least eat a lot of fish). Bear #32, better known as Chunk, returned to view this week on the explore.org live cameras stationed throughout Katmai National Park in Alaska. With the kickoff of Fat Bear Week 2026 slated for Friday, his timing couldn’t be better. Chunk reigned supreme in 2025, racking up 96,350 votes—30,000 more than second place finisher, Bear 856. Chunk is a fan favorite for his hefty size (estimated at more than 1,200 pounds) and distinct look. In addition to his narrow-set eyes, dark brown fur, large muzzle scar, and prominent brow ridge, Chunk also has misaligned the jaw. In 2025, he emerged from slumber and made an appearance at Brooks River with a noticeably broken jaw that rangers guessed was a result of a fight with another bear. “Chunk proved immediately adaptable,” explore.org explained. “He adjusted his behavior to avoid most direct confrontations with other large male bears. He quickly learned to eat salmon without the full use …

Fat Bear Week kicks off September 22

Fat Bear Week kicks off September 22

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. The salmon? Eaten. The days? Shorter. The bears? Fatter.  After spending the summer eating the fatty pink salmon swimming through Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, it’s time to celebrate the park’s iconic brown bears (Ursus arctos). Fat Bear Week begins on Tuesday, September 22, and here is everything you need to know.  What is Fat Bear Week? Think March Madness, just without the basketball and significantly more bears. Fat Bear Week is a single-elimination tournament, where bear enthusiasts from around the world can vote online for their favorite chunky bear. After each round, the bear with the most votes advances until the winner is announced on September 29. According to the Katmai Conservancy, the event began as a one-day event in …

History-making mother bear could be big Fat Bear Week 2026 contender

History-making mother bear could be big Fat Bear Week 2026 contender

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. We are mere weeks away from Fat Bear Week 2026, but the brown bears (Ursus arctos) gorging on salmon at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska are already showing off that beautiful bulk. Based on a recent video posted by explore.org, Bear #910 might be a major contender for this year’s competition. Bear #910 is a female brown bear that was first spotted in 2019 at Katmai’s Brooks River. She is about 10.5-years-old, has large, blonde, floppy ears, which can help viewers pick her out of the crowd on the live cam set up in the park.  Bear #910 is also a particularly unique mother bear. Between mid-August and October 2022, she adopted her sister Bear #909’s 2.5-year-old female yearling cub (a …

Meet the inaugural winner of Fat Marmot Week : NPR

Meet the inaugural winner of Fat Marmot Week : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The first ever Fat Marmot Week ends on August 30, 2026. Eric Philips hide caption toggle caption Eric Philips Annnnd there’s a winner in the first-ever Fat Marmot Week! The competition was among eight yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado vying to gain the most weight before winter hibernation. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory’s Marmot Project hosted Fat Marmot Week as a way to hype up these cat-sized alpine rodents, in the face of cuts to research funding. Yellow-bellied marmots hibernate to survive the snowy high-mountain winters. They curl up, lower their body temperatures, and slow their breathing. They spend more than half the year like this, relying on their stored fat. Thus: Fat Marmot Week. Marmot enthusiasts were encouraged to cheer on Dawn, G, Dan’s Hat, Citroen, Open Kite, 1, Dandelion, and Stonehenge as they spent the month of August bulking up. Weekend Edition had the honor of exclusively announcing the popular vote winner — the marmot that the public crowned as the fattest of them all. Congratulations to Dawn! Your chunky champion is a father …

How to Lose Body Fat the Smart Way

How to Lose Body Fat the Smart Way

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cardio is not always king Most people assume cardio is the fat loss king, while weights are made for bricking on size. The research tells a different story. A 2025 study of 304 men and women placed on a 500 calorie deficit compared strength training, aerobic exercise, and zero exercise programs over roughly five months. The strength training group achieved the greatest absolute fat loss across almost every measure. And crucially, it was the only group that actually built lean muscle. “Most people misunderstand how fat loss works,” says Enaz. “Cardio doesn’t directly burn body fat in any special way; all exercise contributes to energy expenditure. It’s total energy balance over time that drives fat loss.” The difference is that muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning it consumes calories even at rest. Burn more of it, and you’ll lose more weight, even when you’re resting. The bottom line, though, is that diet alone can absolutely drive fat loss. “A 500 calorie daily deficit through food only will yield around 0.5kg of fat loss per week,” …

Vote for your favorite chonky rodent during Fat Marmot Week

Vote for your favorite chonky rodent during Fat Marmot Week

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. Summer is a time for transformation. The long days, warm weather, and outdoor adventures provide the perfect opportunity for people to embrace a tanner, fitter, and more relaxed version of themselves. It’s a season of change for yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer), too—except for these large ground squirrels get unbelievably fat, and their lives literally depend on it.  Now, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) Marmot Project is spreading knowledge about this species’ annual weight gain with Fat Marmot Week. Just like Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska’s annual Fat Bear Week, participants in the online event can vote for their favorite round rodent from Monday, August 24, through Friday, August 28. The competing marmots are identified via non-toxic fur dye, and include …

New Fat Bear Week children’s book turns Katmai’s famous bears into wrestlers

New Fat Bear Week children’s book turns Katmai’s famous bears into wrestlers

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. The bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska are gorging on salmon and packing on the pounds ahead of the long winter. With the days growing shorter, it means that the annual Fat Bear Week tournament is just around the corner. A new children’s book, Big Fat Bear Battle!, celebrates the famous bears. Written by Alaskan author Brooke Hartman and illustrated by Can Tugrul, the book follows reporters Goldie Fox and Moose McMahon, as they cover a wild competition between Alaska’s biggest brown bears as if it were a wrestling tournament.  Popular Science recently spoke with Hartman about her new book and all things fat bears. Answers have been condensed for clarity.  Big Fat Bear Battle! will be available wherever books …

Meet Fat Papi, the little-known NZ rapper catapulted to Billboard 100 fame | New Zealand

Meet Fat Papi, the little-known NZ rapper catapulted to Billboard 100 fame | New Zealand

Published by Sam Flores

Two months ago, Baban Hussain, a 22-year-old Kurdish New Zealander, was working from a self-run studio in Auckland, putting out music to a few thousand followers as little-known rapper Fat Papi. Then, as modern fairytales go, he made a viral hit that has amassed over 7.5bn views across YouTube, gained him nearly 10m new monthly listeners on Spotify, and catapulted him on to global charts – including the US Billboard Hot 100. The last feat made history: Hussain is the first Kurdish artist to land on the Billboard Hot 100, and only the second New Zealand rapper to do so. “It’s a whirlwind,” Hussain tells the Guardian on a video call from a hotel in New York City where he has been promoting his music and meeting with industry. “My life is completely different. It’s a very intense time and honestly amazing and everything we have ever wanted.” Hussain seems candid and relaxed despite having only spoken to media a handful of times. He is joined on the call by producer Owen Omen, an Australian-based …