Song Curio
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November 5, 2024
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service: The European Union has launched a formal investigation into the Chinese e-commerce site Temu over concerns it may be allowing the...
From the BBC World Service: The European Union has launched a formal investigation into the Chinese e-commerce site Temu over concerns it may be allowing the...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day
: November 5, 2024\see-FAH-luh-jee\ noun
What It Means
Psephology is the scientific study of elections.
// Brianna was excit...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: November 5, 2024\see-FAH-luh-jee\ noun
What It Means
Psephology is the scientific study of elections.
// Brianna was excit...
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FREESong CurioFree2 CQ
Happy Election Day! On this politically-charged day, it’s only appropriate to learn about one of the nation’s most politically-charged songs. 1966’s For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield is one of the most famous protest songs of the Vietnam era, and its chorus of “I think it's time we stop/ Children, what's that sound?/ Everybody look, what's going down?” was played at plenty of anti-war marches. However, the song wasn’t actually written in response to the Vietnam War. Rather, it was written after Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills attended an impromptu gathering of around 3,000 teens and young adults who were paying respects to the recently-closed West Hollywood nightclub called Pandora's Box. Despite the fact that the gathering was peaceful, police in riot gear showed up and began to aggressively clear the crowd. This clash, and others like it, came to be known as the Sunset Strip Curfew Riots. Still, it’s not hard to see why the folk song, with its somber-yet-resolute tone and slow, steady beat came to be known as an anti-war song. Who says a protest song can only be used to protest one thing?
Happy Election Day! On this politically-charged day, it’s only appropriate to learn about one of the nation’s most politically-charged songs. 1966’s For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield is one of the most famous protest songs of the Vietnam era, and its chorus of “I think it's time we stop/ Children, what's that sound?/ Everybody look, what's going down?” was played at plenty of anti-war marches. However, the song wasn’t actually written in response to the Vietnam War. Rather, it was written after Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills attended an impromptu gathering of around 3,000 teens and young adults who were paying respects to the recently-closed West Hollywood nightclub called Pandora's Box. Despite the fact that the gathering was peaceful, police in riot gear showed up and began to aggressively clear the crowd. This clash, and others like it, came to be known as the Sunset Strip Curfew Riots. Still, it’s not hard to see why the folk song, with its somber-yet-resolute tone and slow, steady beat came to be known as an anti-war song. Who says a protest song can only be used to protest one thing?
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FREEWorld History Daily Curio #2972Free1 CQ
We really take metal and plastic for granted. In Dorset, England, archeologists recently unearthed a remarkably intact tool from the Bronze Age—a spade made entirely from wood. The tool, crafted from a single piece of oak, is over 3,000 years old and was used for farming purposes. It would have taken a long time to carve by hand, but the Bronze Age worker’s effort was clearly worth it, as the spade was strong enough to survive for centuries. The landscape in which the spade was found helped in its preservation. The ground in Poole Harbour, along the south-east coast, is waterlogged. Water can preserve wooden objects by preventing oxygen from reaching them, which in turn prevents fungal decay and the eventual breakdown of the wood.
While it’s unusual to find any fully-intact object from so long ago, the setting for the spade’s discovery was particularly strange. Most people in the Bronze Age lived in rural, agricultural communities, but it doesn’t seem like such a community existed where the spade was found. No other objects like it have been found nearby, nor anything else to suggest that the site was a permanent settlement. Instead, archeologists believe that the area might have been visited on a seasonal basis. Poole Harbour often floods in winter and dries out over the summer. During warmer months, the area could have been used as a pasture for livestock or as a place to dry peat, and gather rushes. The ditch where the spade was found might have been built to protect drying peat, which was used for burning, or for temporarily storing rushes, which were used to weave baskets. Senior Archeologist Greg Chuter explained in a statement: “We’re working across a vast landscape that is dominated by nature with very little to suggest to the naked eye that much human activity has taken place here. However, just beneath the surface we’ve uncovered evidence of the ways humans have cleverly adapted to the challenges presented by this particular environment for over 3,000 years.” It goes to show that even archeologists never know what they’ll find unless they keep digging.
[Image description: A view of Poole Harbour with trees in the foreground and boats on the water.] Credit & copyright: Theonhighgod at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Theonhighgod at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide.We really take metal and plastic for granted. In Dorset, England, archeologists recently unearthed a remarkably intact tool from the Bronze Age—a spade made entirely from wood. The tool, crafted from a single piece of oak, is over 3,000 years old and was used for farming purposes. It would have taken a long time to carve by hand, but the Bronze Age worker’s effort was clearly worth it, as the spade was strong enough to survive for centuries. The landscape in which the spade was found helped in its preservation. The ground in Poole Harbour, along the south-east coast, is waterlogged. Water can preserve wooden objects by preventing oxygen from reaching them, which in turn prevents fungal decay and the eventual breakdown of the wood.
While it’s unusual to find any fully-intact object from so long ago, the setting for the spade’s discovery was particularly strange. Most people in the Bronze Age lived in rural, agricultural communities, but it doesn’t seem like such a community existed where the spade was found. No other objects like it have been found nearby, nor anything else to suggest that the site was a permanent settlement. Instead, archeologists believe that the area might have been visited on a seasonal basis. Poole Harbour often floods in winter and dries out over the summer. During warmer months, the area could have been used as a pasture for livestock or as a place to dry peat, and gather rushes. The ditch where the spade was found might have been built to protect drying peat, which was used for burning, or for temporarily storing rushes, which were used to weave baskets. Senior Archeologist Greg Chuter explained in a statement: “We’re working across a vast landscape that is dominated by nature with very little to suggest to the naked eye that much human activity has taken place here. However, just beneath the surface we’ve uncovered evidence of the ways humans have cleverly adapted to the challenges presented by this particular environment for over 3,000 years.” It goes to show that even archeologists never know what they’ll find unless they keep digging.
[Image description: A view of Poole Harbour with trees in the foreground and boats on the water.] Credit & copyright: Theonhighgod at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Theonhighgod at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide.
November 4, 2024
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Wouldn't you love to impress this year’s holiday guests with a spectacular piece of serveware? Tureens are vessels for serving soup at the table, but this piece is a particularly elaborate example made for the English Duke of Kingston. The tureen is made entirely from silver and features a langoustine, also called a Norway lobster, lying on a pigeon as its lid. On the bottom and leaves of various vegetables that serve as the base of the stand. The rococo style, developed in the 1700s, is known for being ornate, and this tureen is no exception. Both the material and complex design by Pierre-François Bonnestrenne (King Louis XV’s official architect) were meant for the unremarkable purpose of serving soup…but their real purpose was to be an ostentatious display of wealth. The realistic details on the langoustine, pigeon, and vegetables were cast from actual specimens, and the asymmetrical, dynamic shape of the tureen is characteristic of the rococo movement, which valued naturalistic designs. Now if we only knew what the ladle looked like.
Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille), Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695–1750), Henry Adnet, Pierre-François Bonnestrenne, 1735–38, Silver, 14.5 x 15.125 x 12.5 in. (36.9 x 38.4 x 31.8 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, Pierre-François Bonnestrenne, Henry Adnet, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1977.182, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.Wouldn't you love to impress this year’s holiday guests with a spectacular piece of serveware? Tureens are vessels for serving soup at the table, but this piece is a particularly elaborate example made for the English Duke of Kingston. The tureen is made entirely from silver and features a langoustine, also called a Norway lobster, lying on a pigeon as its lid. On the bottom and leaves of various vegetables that serve as the base of the stand. The rococo style, developed in the 1700s, is known for being ornate, and this tureen is no exception. Both the material and complex design by Pierre-François Bonnestrenne (King Louis XV’s official architect) were meant for the unremarkable purpose of serving soup…but their real purpose was to be an ostentatious display of wealth. The realistic details on the langoustine, pigeon, and vegetables were cast from actual specimens, and the asymmetrical, dynamic shape of the tureen is characteristic of the rococo movement, which valued naturalistic designs. Now if we only knew what the ladle looked like.
Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille), Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695–1750), Henry Adnet, Pierre-François Bonnestrenne, 1735–38, Silver, 14.5 x 15.125 x 12.5 in. (36.9 x 38.4 x 31.8 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, Pierre-François Bonnestrenne, Henry Adnet, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1977.182, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation. -
2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: November 4, 2024\uh-MAL-guh-mayt\ verb
What It Means
Amalgamate is a formal verb meaning "to unite (two or more things) int...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: November 4, 2024\uh-MAL-guh-mayt\ verb
What It Means
Amalgamate is a formal verb meaning "to unite (two or more things) int...
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FREEMusic Appreciation Daily Curio #2971Free1 CQ
First a new Mozart earlier this year, and now a new Chopin? After a museum curator discovered a previously unknown piece of composition by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, the 200-year-old piece can now be heard for the first time. Written on a piece of paper the size of an index card, the waltz was discovered by Morgan Library and Museum curator Robinson McClellan. It’s safe to say that McClellan, who was cataloging new collections received by the institution at the time of the discovery, was not expecting to find a centuries-old lost composition by one of the greatest composers of all time. After McClellan found the lost piece, he consulted a handwriting expert to analyze the paper, and the expert determined that while Chopin’s name wasn’t written by the composer himself, the notation indeed matched his idiosyncratic style, including the stylized bass clef symbol. Since the discovery, the piece has been recorded and can be found on YouTube under the title Waltz in A Minor.
Chopin, born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was only 39 years old when he died in 1849. The composer suffered from poor health and hallucinations for much of his life, and some scholars believe that he likely had epilepsy. Among his peers, Chopin was unusual in that he didn’t leave behind nearly as many pieces in his catalog, only writing around 250 pieces in his lifetime (not that that’s anything to sneeze at). Most of his pieces were for solo piano, making him a perennial favorite of many pianists. The newly-discovered piece is also a solo piano piece. About a minute long, the waltz has been described by the museum thusly: “Several moody, dissonant measures culminate in a loud outburst, before a melancholy melody begins.” They added, “None of his known waltzes start this way, making this one even more intriguing.” Experts believe that this discrepancy might be due to the fact that Chopin wrote it in his early 20s, when he experimented more with his music. It might have been a throwaway experiment for Chopin, but it’s a treasure to music lovers today.
[Image description: A black-and-white portrait of Frédéric Chopin, wearing a suit and tie with jacket.] Credit & copyright: Louis-Auguste Bisson (1814–1876), Amano1, Wikimedia Commons. The author died in 1876, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.First a new Mozart earlier this year, and now a new Chopin? After a museum curator discovered a previously unknown piece of composition by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, the 200-year-old piece can now be heard for the first time. Written on a piece of paper the size of an index card, the waltz was discovered by Morgan Library and Museum curator Robinson McClellan. It’s safe to say that McClellan, who was cataloging new collections received by the institution at the time of the discovery, was not expecting to find a centuries-old lost composition by one of the greatest composers of all time. After McClellan found the lost piece, he consulted a handwriting expert to analyze the paper, and the expert determined that while Chopin’s name wasn’t written by the composer himself, the notation indeed matched his idiosyncratic style, including the stylized bass clef symbol. Since the discovery, the piece has been recorded and can be found on YouTube under the title Waltz in A Minor.
Chopin, born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was only 39 years old when he died in 1849. The composer suffered from poor health and hallucinations for much of his life, and some scholars believe that he likely had epilepsy. Among his peers, Chopin was unusual in that he didn’t leave behind nearly as many pieces in his catalog, only writing around 250 pieces in his lifetime (not that that’s anything to sneeze at). Most of his pieces were for solo piano, making him a perennial favorite of many pianists. The newly-discovered piece is also a solo piano piece. About a minute long, the waltz has been described by the museum thusly: “Several moody, dissonant measures culminate in a loud outburst, before a melancholy melody begins.” They added, “None of his known waltzes start this way, making this one even more intriguing.” Experts believe that this discrepancy might be due to the fact that Chopin wrote it in his early 20s, when he experimented more with his music. It might have been a throwaway experiment for Chopin, but it’s a treasure to music lovers today.
[Image description: A black-and-white portrait of Frédéric Chopin, wearing a suit and tie with jacket.] Credit & copyright: Louis-Auguste Bisson (1814–1876), Amano1, Wikimedia Commons. The author died in 1876, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. -
10 minFREEWork Business CurioFree6 CQ
From the BBC World Service: In the United Kingdom, the government has unveiled its first budget since the Labour Party got back in power, its first in 14 yea...
From the BBC World Service: In the United Kingdom, the government has unveiled its first budget since the Labour Party got back in power, its first in 14 yea...
November 3, 2024
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FREEArt Appreciation PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
There are movements that shape artists, and there are artists that shape movements. Henri Matisse was decidedly the latter of the two. The multidisciplinary French artist passed away on this day in 1954, and during his illustrious career, he became one of the most prolific and influential artists of all time, engaging in friendships and rivalries with other masters of modern art, most notably Pablo Picasso.
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was born on December 31, 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord, France. Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Matisse wasn’t trained in the discipline nor did he show any significant interest in it until he was already a young man. Before picking up his first paintbrush, Matisse moved to Paris in 1887 to study law and went on to find work as a court administrator in northern France. It wasn’t until 1889, when he became ill with appendicitis, that he began painting after his mother gifted him some art supplies to stave off boredom during his recovery. The young Matisse quickly became completely enamored with painting, later describing it as "a kind of paradise.” Much to the chagrin of his father, Matisse abandoned his legal ambitions and moved back to Paris to learn art, studying under the likes of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau. However, the work produced in his early years, mostly consisting of still lifes in earth toned palettes, was quite unlike the work that would eventually make him famous. His true artistic awakening didn’t occur until 1896, when he met Australian painter John Russell. A friend of Vincent van Gogh, Russell showed the struggling artist a collection of Van Gogh’s paintings, introducing Matisse to Impressionism.
In the following years, Matisse began collecting and studying the work of his contemporaries, particularly the Neo-Impressionists. Inspired by their bright colors and bold brushstrokes, his own vision of the world began coalescing along with that of other, like-minded artists into a relatively short-lived but influential movement called Fauvism. The works of the “Fauves” (“wild beasts” in French) like Matisse were defined by unconventional and intense color palettes laid down with striking brushstrokes. Despite being a founding member of a movement, Matisse was never one to settle for just one style or medium. Throughout his life, he dabbled in pointillism, printmaking, sculpting, and paper cutting. At times, he even returned to and was praised for his more traditional works, which he pursued in the post-WWI period. Among his contemporaries, there was only one who seemed to match him: Pablo Picasso. Matisse’s rivalry with this fellow master of modern art is well documented, and the two seemed to study each other’s works carefully. Matisse and Picasso often painted the same scenes and subjects, including the same models. At times, they even titled their pieces the same, not for lack of creativity, but to serve as a riposte on canvas. Matisse once likened their rivalry to a boxing match, and though the two didn’t initially care for each other’s work, they eventually developed a mutual admiration.
Today, the name Matisse is practically synonymous with modern art, and his influence goes beyond the canvas. In his later years, Matisse’s failing health forced him to rely on assistants for much of his work. During the 1940s, Matisse worked with paper, creating colorful collages called gouaches découpés that he described as “painting with scissors.” His final masterpiece, however, was his design for a stained-glass window for the Union Church of Pocantico Hills in New York City. No matter what medium he touched, Matisse always left an impression, leaving behind a body of work that is wildly eclectic yet always recognizably his. Surely his father had to admit that Matisse did the right thing by leaving law school.
[Image description: A fanned-out group of paint brushes smattered with paint.] Credit & copyright: Steve Johnson, PexelsThere are movements that shape artists, and there are artists that shape movements. Henri Matisse was decidedly the latter of the two. The multidisciplinary French artist passed away on this day in 1954, and during his illustrious career, he became one of the most prolific and influential artists of all time, engaging in friendships and rivalries with other masters of modern art, most notably Pablo Picasso.
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was born on December 31, 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord, France. Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Matisse wasn’t trained in the discipline nor did he show any significant interest in it until he was already a young man. Before picking up his first paintbrush, Matisse moved to Paris in 1887 to study law and went on to find work as a court administrator in northern France. It wasn’t until 1889, when he became ill with appendicitis, that he began painting after his mother gifted him some art supplies to stave off boredom during his recovery. The young Matisse quickly became completely enamored with painting, later describing it as "a kind of paradise.” Much to the chagrin of his father, Matisse abandoned his legal ambitions and moved back to Paris to learn art, studying under the likes of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau. However, the work produced in his early years, mostly consisting of still lifes in earth toned palettes, was quite unlike the work that would eventually make him famous. His true artistic awakening didn’t occur until 1896, when he met Australian painter John Russell. A friend of Vincent van Gogh, Russell showed the struggling artist a collection of Van Gogh’s paintings, introducing Matisse to Impressionism.
In the following years, Matisse began collecting and studying the work of his contemporaries, particularly the Neo-Impressionists. Inspired by their bright colors and bold brushstrokes, his own vision of the world began coalescing along with that of other, like-minded artists into a relatively short-lived but influential movement called Fauvism. The works of the “Fauves” (“wild beasts” in French) like Matisse were defined by unconventional and intense color palettes laid down with striking brushstrokes. Despite being a founding member of a movement, Matisse was never one to settle for just one style or medium. Throughout his life, he dabbled in pointillism, printmaking, sculpting, and paper cutting. At times, he even returned to and was praised for his more traditional works, which he pursued in the post-WWI period. Among his contemporaries, there was only one who seemed to match him: Pablo Picasso. Matisse’s rivalry with this fellow master of modern art is well documented, and the two seemed to study each other’s works carefully. Matisse and Picasso often painted the same scenes and subjects, including the same models. At times, they even titled their pieces the same, not for lack of creativity, but to serve as a riposte on canvas. Matisse once likened their rivalry to a boxing match, and though the two didn’t initially care for each other’s work, they eventually developed a mutual admiration.
Today, the name Matisse is practically synonymous with modern art, and his influence goes beyond the canvas. In his later years, Matisse’s failing health forced him to rely on assistants for much of his work. During the 1940s, Matisse worked with paper, creating colorful collages called gouaches découpés that he described as “painting with scissors.” His final masterpiece, however, was his design for a stained-glass window for the Union Church of Pocantico Hills in New York City. No matter what medium he touched, Matisse always left an impression, leaving behind a body of work that is wildly eclectic yet always recognizably his. Surely his father had to admit that Matisse did the right thing by leaving law school.
[Image description: A fanned-out group of paint brushes smattered with paint.] Credit & copyright: Steve Johnson, Pexels -
9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The private payroll company ADP reported that a lot more people than expected were added to its payrolls this month. True, the more closely watched data on h...
The private payroll company ADP reported that a lot more people than expected were added to its payrolls this month. True, the more closely watched data on h...
November 2, 2024
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: November 2, 2024\EK-struh-kayt\ verb
What It Means
To extricate someone or something is to free or remove that person or th...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: November 2, 2024\EK-struh-kayt\ verb
What It Means
To extricate someone or something is to free or remove that person or th...
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
This morning, the central bank’s preferred measure of inflation — the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE — came out and clocked in at 2.1%...
This morning, the central bank’s preferred measure of inflation — the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE — came out and clocked in at 2.1%...
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FREESports Sporty CurioFree1 CQ
Get your pom poms ready, it’s about to get spirited in here! The first organized cheer took place on this day in 1898. While it might seem inconceivable to hold a modern sports match without a squad of cheerleaders to hype up players and spectators, that wasn’t always the case. In the 1890s, universities had pep clubs, which were composed of male students who cheered their teams from the sidelines, but they didn’t really interact with the crowd. Princeton University was the first to come up with an official cheer for their team in 1884, but the pep club was in charge of chanting it. The first instance of someone leading a cheer together occurred in 1898, when a medical student named Johnny Campbell at the University of Minnesota led the crowd to chant “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-U-Mah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity!” while their team was struggling. It was simple, and the cheer wasn’t anything new, but Campbell’s decision to lead the crowd was novel, and the idea stuck. More than a century later, cheerleading has evolved into an acrobatic sport of its own. Once a male-dominated activity, female cheerleaders took the helm during and after WWII. Squads today also perform a variety of tumbles, flips, and lifts to keep the crowd engaged, and cheerleading squads often compete against each other in contests of their own. Of course, that begs the question: who cheers the cheerleaders?
[Image description: Blue and white pom poms on a yellow auditorium seat.] Credit & copyright: cottonbro studio, Pexels
Get your pom poms ready, it’s about to get spirited in here! The first organized cheer took place on this day in 1898. While it might seem inconceivable to hold a modern sports match without a squad of cheerleaders to hype up players and spectators, that wasn’t always the case. In the 1890s, universities had pep clubs, which were composed of male students who cheered their teams from the sidelines, but they didn’t really interact with the crowd. Princeton University was the first to come up with an official cheer for their team in 1884, but the pep club was in charge of chanting it. The first instance of someone leading a cheer together occurred in 1898, when a medical student named Johnny Campbell at the University of Minnesota led the crowd to chant “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-U-Mah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity!” while their team was struggling. It was simple, and the cheer wasn’t anything new, but Campbell’s decision to lead the crowd was novel, and the idea stuck. More than a century later, cheerleading has evolved into an acrobatic sport of its own. Once a male-dominated activity, female cheerleaders took the helm during and after WWII. Squads today also perform a variety of tumbles, flips, and lifts to keep the crowd engaged, and cheerleading squads often compete against each other in contests of their own. Of course, that begs the question: who cheers the cheerleaders?
[Image description: Blue and white pom poms on a yellow auditorium seat.] Credit & copyright: cottonbro studio, Pexels
November 1, 2024
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: A ban on Google’s flagship Pixel smartphone in Indonesia comes because the company failed to meet requirements for certain smartp...
From the BBC World Service: A ban on Google’s flagship Pixel smartphone in Indonesia comes because the company failed to meet requirements for certain smartp...
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FREEMind + Body Daily CurioFree1 CQ
Move over soup, there’s another fall comfort food in town. When the weather gets chilly, it’s hard to beat a plate of warm, stuffed pasta in flavorful sauce. Ravioli has mysterious origins and seemingly endless variations, but one thing’s for sure: it’s a dish that Italy is extremely proud of.
Ravioli is made from a simple combination of flour, eggs, and water, then stuffed with a variety of fillings. Traditionally, ravioli is cut into squares, but it can also come in round or semi-round varieties. Squash is sometimes used as a filling, as is cheese and spinach, or ground beef. Vegetable or meat fillings must be cooked before ravioli is boiled, since the pasta itself takes only minutes to cook. Squash ravioli is often served in butter or wine sauce, sometimes with pine nuts. Cheese and spinach ravioli often has cheese or pesto sauce, and ground beef ravioli is usually served in a hearty tomato sauce.
The word “ravioli” comes from the Italian word “riavvolgere”, meaning “to wrap.” The dish was first mentioned in writing in the 14th century, in the personal letters of merchant Francesco Datini, meaning that ravioli had likely been around for some time by then. In 1549, famed Italian chef Bartolomeo Scappi served ravioli to the papal conclave in Rome, as they gathered to select a new pope after the death of Pope Paul III. Afterward, the dish grew extremely popular in the Italian capital, and other Italian cities created their own varieties. Italians were some of the first people to serve pasta with tomato sauce, after tomatoes were brought to their country in 1548. Many other European countries were hesitant to cook with tomatoes, which are native to South America, because their bright red color led them to believe that the veggies were poisonous.
Ravioli was a popular Italian staple for centuries before it became standard fare in the U.S. It was helped along in the early 20th century by none other than chef Ettore Boiardi, better known as Chef Boyardee. After running a successful Italian restaurant in New York City, Boiardi launched his own brand of canned food products which endures to this day. One of his first products was canned ravioli with beef filling in tomato sauce, and it remains a Chef Boyardee staple. Before Italian restaurants were common across the U.S., many Americans’ first taste of ravioli came from a Chef Boyardee can. Hey, it’s tasty in any form.
[Image description: Ravioli with clear sauce and cheese in a wooden bowl.] Credit & copyright: Max Griss, PexelsMove over soup, there’s another fall comfort food in town. When the weather gets chilly, it’s hard to beat a plate of warm, stuffed pasta in flavorful sauce. Ravioli has mysterious origins and seemingly endless variations, but one thing’s for sure: it’s a dish that Italy is extremely proud of.
Ravioli is made from a simple combination of flour, eggs, and water, then stuffed with a variety of fillings. Traditionally, ravioli is cut into squares, but it can also come in round or semi-round varieties. Squash is sometimes used as a filling, as is cheese and spinach, or ground beef. Vegetable or meat fillings must be cooked before ravioli is boiled, since the pasta itself takes only minutes to cook. Squash ravioli is often served in butter or wine sauce, sometimes with pine nuts. Cheese and spinach ravioli often has cheese or pesto sauce, and ground beef ravioli is usually served in a hearty tomato sauce.
The word “ravioli” comes from the Italian word “riavvolgere”, meaning “to wrap.” The dish was first mentioned in writing in the 14th century, in the personal letters of merchant Francesco Datini, meaning that ravioli had likely been around for some time by then. In 1549, famed Italian chef Bartolomeo Scappi served ravioli to the papal conclave in Rome, as they gathered to select a new pope after the death of Pope Paul III. Afterward, the dish grew extremely popular in the Italian capital, and other Italian cities created their own varieties. Italians were some of the first people to serve pasta with tomato sauce, after tomatoes were brought to their country in 1548. Many other European countries were hesitant to cook with tomatoes, which are native to South America, because their bright red color led them to believe that the veggies were poisonous.
Ravioli was a popular Italian staple for centuries before it became standard fare in the U.S. It was helped along in the early 20th century by none other than chef Ettore Boiardi, better known as Chef Boyardee. After running a successful Italian restaurant in New York City, Boiardi launched his own brand of canned food products which endures to this day. One of his first products was canned ravioli with beef filling in tomato sauce, and it remains a Chef Boyardee staple. Before Italian restaurants were common across the U.S., many Americans’ first taste of ravioli came from a Chef Boyardee can. Hey, it’s tasty in any form.
[Image description: Ravioli with clear sauce and cheese in a wooden bowl.] Credit & copyright: Max Griss, Pexels
October 31, 2024
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
For some, spooky season means buying truckloads of candy or dusting off that 12-foot plastic skeleton in the basement. For others though, it’s time to get to...
For some, spooky season means buying truckloads of candy or dusting off that 12-foot plastic skeleton in the basement. For others though, it’s time to get to...
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FREEScience Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
Strength in numbers is all well and good…until it’s not. According to a report published in Communications Biology, MIT and Norwegian oceanographers have managed to observe what may be the largest recorded predation event in the ocean which took place between two species of fish: cod and capelin. What made it possible, ironically, was the capelins’ own collective defense strategy. The capelin is a small species of fish that lives in the Arctic, and every year, billions of them swarm the Norwegian coast to spawn, where they’re joined by Atlantic cod that also migrate to the region. Per the observations by the oceanographers, the cod began shoaling, or forming into a large group, in response to the capelin gathering and descending into darker depths to spawn. While shoaling is normally a defensive behavior used by prey such as capelin, in this case, it only served to attract the attention of the cod and prompt them to gather together too. The result was a veritable massacre, with 2.5 million cod eating around 10 million capelin in just a few hours. This accounts for just 0.1 percent of the capelin population spawning in the region, but researchers believe that events like this might become larger in scale and more common due to climate change. As Arctic ice sheets retreat, the capelin will have to travel greater distances to spawn, exhausting them and leaving them more vulnerable to predators. This granular degree of observation was only possible thanks to the team’s Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS) system, an acoustic imaging system that can detect individual fish and identify the species based on the distinct resonance of their swim bladders. Nicholas Makris, one of the MIT researchers, believes that this technology can help track similar predation events between other species, particularly those with declining populations. He said in a statement through MIT, "It's been shown time and again that when a population is on the verge of collapse, you will have that one last shoal. And when that last big, dense group is gone, there's a collapse. So you've got to know what's there before it's gone, because the pressures are not in their favor." There’s plenty of fish in the sea…for now.
[Image description: The ocean’s surface under a sunset] Credit & copyright: Sebastian Voortman, Pexels
Strength in numbers is all well and good…until it’s not. According to a report published in Communications Biology, MIT and Norwegian oceanographers have managed to observe what may be the largest recorded predation event in the ocean which took place between two species of fish: cod and capelin. What made it possible, ironically, was the capelins’ own collective defense strategy. The capelin is a small species of fish that lives in the Arctic, and every year, billions of them swarm the Norwegian coast to spawn, where they’re joined by Atlantic cod that also migrate to the region. Per the observations by the oceanographers, the cod began shoaling, or forming into a large group, in response to the capelin gathering and descending into darker depths to spawn. While shoaling is normally a defensive behavior used by prey such as capelin, in this case, it only served to attract the attention of the cod and prompt them to gather together too. The result was a veritable massacre, with 2.5 million cod eating around 10 million capelin in just a few hours. This accounts for just 0.1 percent of the capelin population spawning in the region, but researchers believe that events like this might become larger in scale and more common due to climate change. As Arctic ice sheets retreat, the capelin will have to travel greater distances to spawn, exhausting them and leaving them more vulnerable to predators. This granular degree of observation was only possible thanks to the team’s Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS) system, an acoustic imaging system that can detect individual fish and identify the species based on the distinct resonance of their swim bladders. Nicholas Makris, one of the MIT researchers, believes that this technology can help track similar predation events between other species, particularly those with declining populations. He said in a statement through MIT, "It's been shown time and again that when a population is on the verge of collapse, you will have that one last shoal. And when that last big, dense group is gone, there's a collapse. So you've got to know what's there before it's gone, because the pressures are not in their favor." There’s plenty of fish in the sea…for now.
[Image description: The ocean’s surface under a sunset] Credit & copyright: Sebastian Voortman, Pexels
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FREEUS History Daily Curio #2970Free1 CQ
Happy Halloween! This year, we’re examining the history of The Amityville Horror and the real events behind the 1977 novel and hit 1979 horror film that it inspired. The real story of the supposedly haunted house begins with tragedy. On November 13, 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were murdered as they slept in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York. The sole surviving member of the family, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr., was charged with the murders of his parents and four siblings. The trial made headlines across the U.S., and though DeFeo’s attorney used an insanity defense, DeFeo was convicted and sentenced to six consecutive life sentences. However, that’s as far as any of the DeFeos were directly involved in the lore of the Amityville house, which George and Kathy Lutz bought at a bargain. The couple and their three children moved into the house just a year after the murders and had the house blessed by a Catholic priest. According to the Lutz couple, the priest later called to inform them that he had heard a voice say, “get out” during the blessing, along with a warning to stay out of the master bedroom.
Soon after, the Lutz family supposedly started having hostile paranormal encounters. They claimed to see ghosts, and told stories of green slime seeping from the walls and carpet, along with strange, persistent odors. On January 14, 1976, just 28 days after moving in, the Lutz family fled the house and had movers retrieve their belongings. The Lutz family relayed their experiences to writer Jay Anson, who published The Amityville Horror in 1977. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1979. Of course, it was likely all too good (or horrible?) to be true. DeFeo’s attorney William Weber confessed during an interview that George Lutz made it all up, and despite the book claiming that the police were called on several occasions, there are records indicating otherwise. Anson also faced several lawsuits regarding the book’s truthfulness, and skeptics have pointed out that the Lutz family had a lot to gain by telling such a story, including $300,000 for the book deal. While there are still some die-hard believers, one thing is for sure: nothing the Lutz family purportedly went through was as horrifying as what actually happened on that November night in 1974.
[Image description: A map showing Amityville in yellow and surrounding areas in pink.] Credit & copyright: United States Census Bureau, Wikimedia Commons. This image or file is a work of a United States Census Bureau employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.Happy Halloween! This year, we’re examining the history of The Amityville Horror and the real events behind the 1977 novel and hit 1979 horror film that it inspired. The real story of the supposedly haunted house begins with tragedy. On November 13, 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were murdered as they slept in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York. The sole surviving member of the family, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr., was charged with the murders of his parents and four siblings. The trial made headlines across the U.S., and though DeFeo’s attorney used an insanity defense, DeFeo was convicted and sentenced to six consecutive life sentences. However, that’s as far as any of the DeFeos were directly involved in the lore of the Amityville house, which George and Kathy Lutz bought at a bargain. The couple and their three children moved into the house just a year after the murders and had the house blessed by a Catholic priest. According to the Lutz couple, the priest later called to inform them that he had heard a voice say, “get out” during the blessing, along with a warning to stay out of the master bedroom.
Soon after, the Lutz family supposedly started having hostile paranormal encounters. They claimed to see ghosts, and told stories of green slime seeping from the walls and carpet, along with strange, persistent odors. On January 14, 1976, just 28 days after moving in, the Lutz family fled the house and had movers retrieve their belongings. The Lutz family relayed their experiences to writer Jay Anson, who published The Amityville Horror in 1977. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1979. Of course, it was likely all too good (or horrible?) to be true. DeFeo’s attorney William Weber confessed during an interview that George Lutz made it all up, and despite the book claiming that the police were called on several occasions, there are records indicating otherwise. Anson also faced several lawsuits regarding the book’s truthfulness, and skeptics have pointed out that the Lutz family had a lot to gain by telling such a story, including $300,000 for the book deal. While there are still some die-hard believers, one thing is for sure: nothing the Lutz family purportedly went through was as horrifying as what actually happened on that November night in 1974.
[Image description: A map showing Amityville in yellow and surrounding areas in pink.] Credit & copyright: United States Census Bureau, Wikimedia Commons. This image or file is a work of a United States Census Bureau employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
October 30, 2024
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service : First, it’s the “worst of times” camp. While Germany’s economy grew unexpectedly, German-based car company Volkswagen announced ...
From the BBC World Service : First, it’s the “worst of times” camp. While Germany’s economy grew unexpectedly, German-based car company Volkswagen announced ...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 30, 2024\SING-kruh-tiz-um\ noun
What It Means
Syncretism refers to the combining of different forms of belief or pr...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 30, 2024\SING-kruh-tiz-um\ noun
What It Means
Syncretism refers to the combining of different forms of belief or pr...
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FREEScience Daily Curio #2969Free1 CQ
This miracle material really sucks…but that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do. Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a material called COF-999, and it could be the future of carbon-capturing technology. With climate change becoming more of a problem each year, the idea of capturing atmospheric carbon is starting to catch on. The problem is, capturing carbon can literally be like grasping at air. There are already some direct air capture (DAC) facilities that remove carbon from the atmosphere, but the most optimistic estimates say that it can cost between $600 and $1000 per one ton of CO2. Experts at the World Economic Forum believe that DAC would need to be $200 per ton to see widespread adoption, which would only be possible with a major breakthrough. Well, the researchers at UC Berkeley might have just made such a breakthrough with COF-999. Short for Covalent Organic Frameworks, the material is made of porous crystalline structures that give it both a high surface area and low density. When air flows over it, the material traps CO2 within its pores at an astonishing rate. According to the researchers, 200 grams of COF-999 can trap 20 kilograms of CO2, or about 100 times its own weight, making it as efficient at capturing carbon as trees. That carbon can then be released to be sequestered underground or used for industrial purposes by heating it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Professor Omar Yaghi, who led the team of researchers, has been working to develop COF-999 since the 1990s. In a statement from UC Berkeley, he explained why it’s been so difficult to come up with a material like it: “[CO2]’s energetically demanding, you need a material that has high carbon dioxide capacity, that’s highly selective, that’s water stable, oxidatively stable, recyclable.” While COF-999 can be reused over 100 times before degrading or losing carbon capturing capacity, Yaghi believes that it can be improved upon. If that’s true, then the future’s looking cooler and cooler by the minute.
[Image description: A blue sky with a few white clouds.] Credit & copyright: Donald Tong, PexelsThis miracle material really sucks…but that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do. Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a material called COF-999, and it could be the future of carbon-capturing technology. With climate change becoming more of a problem each year, the idea of capturing atmospheric carbon is starting to catch on. The problem is, capturing carbon can literally be like grasping at air. There are already some direct air capture (DAC) facilities that remove carbon from the atmosphere, but the most optimistic estimates say that it can cost between $600 and $1000 per one ton of CO2. Experts at the World Economic Forum believe that DAC would need to be $200 per ton to see widespread adoption, which would only be possible with a major breakthrough. Well, the researchers at UC Berkeley might have just made such a breakthrough with COF-999. Short for Covalent Organic Frameworks, the material is made of porous crystalline structures that give it both a high surface area and low density. When air flows over it, the material traps CO2 within its pores at an astonishing rate. According to the researchers, 200 grams of COF-999 can trap 20 kilograms of CO2, or about 100 times its own weight, making it as efficient at capturing carbon as trees. That carbon can then be released to be sequestered underground or used for industrial purposes by heating it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Professor Omar Yaghi, who led the team of researchers, has been working to develop COF-999 since the 1990s. In a statement from UC Berkeley, he explained why it’s been so difficult to come up with a material like it: “[CO2]’s energetically demanding, you need a material that has high carbon dioxide capacity, that’s highly selective, that’s water stable, oxidatively stable, recyclable.” While COF-999 can be reused over 100 times before degrading or losing carbon capturing capacity, Yaghi believes that it can be improved upon. If that’s true, then the future’s looking cooler and cooler by the minute.
[Image description: A blue sky with a few white clouds.] Credit & copyright: Donald Tong, Pexels -
FREEBiology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
Jump back, this is one scary squid! Halloween is tomorrow, so it’s only fitting to examine one of the spookiest creatures in the ocean…well, their name is spooky, at least. Vampire squids aren’t really squids—they’re in their own group of cephalopods—and they don’t drink blood. In fact, they’re the only cephalopods that don’t eat live prey at all; they prefer dead organic material. So, how did a peaceful scavenger end up with the name “vampire”? It’s all about appearances.
Vampire squids evolved from an ancestor of the octopus around 165 million years ago. They live in the deep ocean, at depths of around 1958 to 3937 feet. There isn’t much light so far down, which makes for a dark, spooky environment—at least to human eyes. When people first illuminated a vampire squid in the light of a submarine, the animals’ large eyes seemed to glow blue, and its unique tentacles, connected by a membrane, swirled like a vampire’s cloak. That's how they got their name, despite their tame lifestyle. Of course, vampire squids didn't evolve these unique traits to frighten humans, but to help them survive the extreme conditions of the deep ocean. Compared to their body size, they have some of the largest eyes of any animal, and those peepers are extremely reflective, which is why they seem to glow blue when illuminated. These eyes help the squids see in an environment with almost no light.
As for their tentacles, vampire squids have eight arms and two long appendages called filaments that can extend up to eight times their body-length. They use these to sense their environment and feel for food. Vampire squids might not be predators themselves, but plenty of other animals prey on them, from sharks and sea lions to other cephalopods. Luckily, the squids’ “cloaks” are great for startling attackers. When provoked, a vampire squid will pull its cloak over its head, exposing fleshy spikes called cirri. This makes the squid look bigger than it actually is and unappetizing (who wants to eat something spiky?) It’s a clever ruse and a fitting use of their Halloweeny appendages…though there’s never been a recorded instance of a vampire squid yelling “boo" before swimming away.
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of a vampire squid with its tentacles spread in front of its face. Words beneath it read “Vampyroteuthis infernalis Ch. 3/1.”] Credit & copyright: Carl Chun, 1903, NOAA Photo Library, Wikimedia Commons. This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties.Jump back, this is one scary squid! Halloween is tomorrow, so it’s only fitting to examine one of the spookiest creatures in the ocean…well, their name is spooky, at least. Vampire squids aren’t really squids—they’re in their own group of cephalopods—and they don’t drink blood. In fact, they’re the only cephalopods that don’t eat live prey at all; they prefer dead organic material. So, how did a peaceful scavenger end up with the name “vampire”? It’s all about appearances.
Vampire squids evolved from an ancestor of the octopus around 165 million years ago. They live in the deep ocean, at depths of around 1958 to 3937 feet. There isn’t much light so far down, which makes for a dark, spooky environment—at least to human eyes. When people first illuminated a vampire squid in the light of a submarine, the animals’ large eyes seemed to glow blue, and its unique tentacles, connected by a membrane, swirled like a vampire’s cloak. That's how they got their name, despite their tame lifestyle. Of course, vampire squids didn't evolve these unique traits to frighten humans, but to help them survive the extreme conditions of the deep ocean. Compared to their body size, they have some of the largest eyes of any animal, and those peepers are extremely reflective, which is why they seem to glow blue when illuminated. These eyes help the squids see in an environment with almost no light.
As for their tentacles, vampire squids have eight arms and two long appendages called filaments that can extend up to eight times their body-length. They use these to sense their environment and feel for food. Vampire squids might not be predators themselves, but plenty of other animals prey on them, from sharks and sea lions to other cephalopods. Luckily, the squids’ “cloaks” are great for startling attackers. When provoked, a vampire squid will pull its cloak over its head, exposing fleshy spikes called cirri. This makes the squid look bigger than it actually is and unappetizing (who wants to eat something spiky?) It’s a clever ruse and a fitting use of their Halloweeny appendages…though there’s never been a recorded instance of a vampire squid yelling “boo" before swimming away.
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of a vampire squid with its tentacles spread in front of its face. Words beneath it read “Vampyroteuthis infernalis Ch. 3/1.”] Credit & copyright: Carl Chun, 1903, NOAA Photo Library, Wikimedia Commons. This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties.
