Magnifica Humanitas

Pope Leo XIV published a fascinating encyclical letter today titled Magnifica Humanitas, focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity. I'm not Catholic, but there is a lot here crossing my subjects of interest, from my primary role to family history research. I regularly use AI tools, and work in a technology and policy field, so this encyclical will have some closer reading to follow.

Throwback post: Indy 500 History

In May 2020 I shared a set of photos taken by my Gumpy at the Indianapolis 500, perhaps in 1937 or 1938. Today is race day in Indy for the 110th running, so I'm resharing the link to those photos. 

2026 World Cup teams based on family history

FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off shortly, with forty-eight teams competing across venues in Canada, Mexico and the US starting 11 June and running through 19 July. While we'll be cheering on Team USA, I thought it would be fun to see what other teams I might cheer for during the tournament based on family history connections. I'm not alone in this, based on this FOX5 NY article from 21 May 2026.

Group A features Mexico, which will definitely get some support from our deep roots in Sonora. Group B has Canada and Switzerland. My 4th-great-grandfather Asa Putnam Smith was supposedly born in Nova Scotia in 1783 (I'd love to confirm this with records). We have a Swiss connection through my Dad's side, descending from the Felmey/Völlmi and Imhoff lines of my 5th-great-grandparents.

Group C has Scotland, ancestral home of my 5th-great-grandfather John McIntosh. The group also has Brazil, a surprise landing place for a branch of Allison's Halter line, and Morocco, where we have ancestral origins links to North Africa and the Sephardic community of North Africa on Mom's side of the tree.

Group D features Team USA and Türkiye, where we may have a connection through the Sephardic community of the Eastern Mediterranean. I also have friends and colleagues from Türkiye and hope the team makes it to the knockout stage of the tournament.

Group E has Germany, ancestral home to many branches on both my side and Allison's side of the tree. Group F has Netherlands, and we do have a Dutch connection back to Amsterdam.

Group G features Belgium, and in addition to Brussels being a frequent location for my travel, we have a Belgian connection through the family of Philippe du Trieux.

Group H has Spain (and honorable mention Uruguay). Group I has France, ancestral home to several lines on Dad's side and Allison's side.

Group J includes Algeria, where Allison's 5th-great-grandfather Jean Pierre Halter settled after departing Bas Rhin, France. Defending champs Argentina are also in Group J, and although we don't have a family history connection there (as far as I know), they will be a fun team to watch.

Group K has Portugal, where we have ancestral links on Mom's side to the Azores, Madeira and Portugal. The final group, L, has England, and we have many family history connections on both sides of the tree. This gives quite a few teams for us to cheer along for World Cup 2026.

DNA in the news: Study on Ancient DNA in pre-Inca Peru

A fascinating paper in Nature (22 May 2026) titled Ancient DNA reveals a family ossuary and long-distance migration on the Pacific coast before the Inca Empire. The paper describes a family grouping between 1240-1410 CE of the Chincha Kingdom. One of the individuals had the A2 mtDNA haplogroup.

Nature. 22 May 2026.

Ahead of the long weekend

It's the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend in the US. We have a full household again, and not a lot of major plans other than dodging the rainy weather. We've been watching the NBA Playoffs, which is sadly missing our Pacers, who one year ago took down the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. I'm cheering on Wemby and the Spurs to beat Oklahoma City.

On the family history front, I'm wrapping up the YourDNAGuide Endogamy online course, and continuing chromosome mapping. The long weekend combined with rainy weather provides an opportunity to update my proposed RootsTech 2027 talk. I'm also looking ahead to June travels and the need to solidify the summer schedule before seats become scarce or too expensive.

There are some other threads weaving in the background that I'll hopefully have on the blog in more detail soon.