Weekend warriors

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Skytrax names world’s best airline; your dog’s as stressed as you are; and Toy Hall of Fame announces an all-star list of 2026 nominees.

Let’s get into it!

The Skytrax awards are presented annually to crown the world’s top airline, along with the best-in-class for various categories regarding different cabin tiers, lounges, catering, and regions.

Singapore Airlines reclaimed the top prize as the best airline in the world, based on a global customer feedback survey conducted by Skytrax, an aviation consulting firm based in the U.K.

Singapore Airlines has won the prize six times in the 25-year history of the awards, last claiming it in 2023. It bumped Qatar Airways off the top, a nine-time top airline over the last 15 years alone.

The top six were Singapore, Qatar, Cathay Pacific Airways, All Nippon Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Emirates.

Air Canada was the lone North American carrier to crack the top 20, coming in at number 17, while being named the top airline in North America and also picking up the top prize for best business class dining.

“The industry is getting more competitive,” Mark Nasr, EVP at Air Canada, told CNN. “There’s a theme right now around the growth of premium travel and customers that are very discerning. They have large budgets, and airlines are investing to earn that business. With fuel prices increasing so much, the airlines that will be able to sustain themselves will be the ones able to charge a premium to justify their products.”

A study conducted by researchers at Sweden’s Linköping University in 2019 found a dog’s stress levels tend to mirror those of their owner.

The researchers measured the cortisol levels of humans and their dogs, which indicate how stressed someone is. Over time, cortisol marks itself on strands of hair, meaning dogs will display it on their coats until they go for a bath.

They analyzed 25 border collies, 33 Shetland sheepdogs, and the animals’ female owners, and found cortisol levels on the dogs’ hair matched those of their owners.

The dogs’ stress levels were measured against several variables, including whether they lived in homes with other dogs, whether they had a yard to play in, the time of day their owners tended to work during, and others.

The researchers found no environmental factors influenced cortisol levels in a statistically significant way compared to how they were influenced by their owners’ own stress levels.

“Dogs are affected by their owners’ distress and respond with consoling behaviours,” he said James Burkett at Emory University in Atlanta, who published a similar study in 2016.

“We now know that dogs are also affected by their owners’ personalities and stress levels. While this may be common sense for dog owners, empirical research is still catching up to our intuitions about animal empathy.”

The Strong Museum of Play released its list of nominees for this year’s Toy Hall of Fame inductions, and the list has some of the strongest contenders ever assembled.

Let’s get right to it. The 2026 nominees are as follows: bingo, Bop It!, Care Bears, Mahjong, Monster High dolls, Mouse Trap, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Polly Pocket, slides, Sorry!, Tickle Me Elmo, and Yahtzee.

Whether you’re a Staker who grew up playing high stakes games of Mouse Trap, Sorry!, Yahtzee, or bingo, or the parent of a millennial whose after-school hours were spent obsessing over Pokemon, Bop It!, or Polly Pocket, there are plenty of worthy contenders among this year’s list of nominees.

Let’s not be coy, though; Mouse Trap is without a doubt the leading favorite among Stakers. Here’s what the Strong Museum had to say about it in the nomination announcement.

“When Mouse Trap debuted in 1963, no game in the world looked quite like it. It used injection molded plastic to create a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption at the board’s center and blurred the line between board games and toys. Players construct the titular trap piece by piece, hoping to capture each other’s mice.”

The official list of inductees will be selected and announced in November.

William Shatner debuted his metal band, “the *uckers,” at Chicago’s Riot Fest the other day ahead of the release of his debut metal album, titled What the F is Heavy Metal?

The Canadian legend, 95, is wading into the genre that he admittedly is only just starting to learn a few things about.

“I began to discover what the f–k is heavy metal,” Shatner told Billboard prior to the gig.

“I’ve been preparing for two months now…only by counting down do you know where to come in on heavy metal because it all sounds alike. Yesterday I had my first rehearsal with the –uckers; it’s working and it’s going to be fantastic.”

The show featured three songs, including Metallica’s Enter Sandman, Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train, and Motorhead’s Ace of Spades, all absolute classics familiar to fans of every subgenre of heavy metal. All three were performed in Shatner’s signature spoken-word style.

“I’m so enlivened. I’m so filled with passion. I’ve come to understand what heavy metal is—it’s an energy that permeates your body and lifts you up. Heavy metal is the rhythm of life. It’s overwhelming, especially if you’ve got earphones in…I’m so excited about what I’m performing. It’s a real-life fervor happening for me.”

What’s your number, cucumber?

You probably remember when the Jeffersons moved on up to the East Side, but do you recall where your other fave TV families lived? Find out, with today’s trivia!

Complete the game and earn an entry for our weekly $100 Amazon e-gift card giveaway.

Winner will be notified on Monday September 28th. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*