Curio Cabinet
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August 18, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Leaders from the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine are meeting in Lviv to work out how to deal with a backlog of grain exports f...
From the BBC World Service: Leaders from the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine are meeting in Lviv to work out how to deal with a backlog of grain exports f...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 18, 2022
immutable \ih-MYOO-tuh-bul\ adjective
What It Means
Immutable means "not capable of or susceptible to change."
// It is...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 18, 2022
immutable \ih-MYOO-tuh-bul\ adjective
What It Means
Immutable means "not capable of or susceptible to change."
// It is...
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FREEEngineering Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
These fuel cells are getting a boost. Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have found a way to make hydrogen fuel cells more viable for storing green energy, according to a paper published in Nature. Currently, hydrogen energy storage cells convert excess power from green energy sources into hydrogen gas. The gas can then be used as clean fuel. The trouble is, hydrogen is a tricky gas to store and takes up a lot of space. It seems more ideal to use a solid form of storage like metal hydrides, materials containing metal or metalloid bonded to hydrogen. Hydrides are compact and safe to handle. They can also hold on to hydrogen for long periods of time, and when needed, it can be extracted as a gas or as a form of thermal or electric energy. It’s a low-cost, low emission way to make use of surplus energy produced by renewable sources…the problem is that metal hydrides have very low thermal conductivity, meaning that they take a long time to charge and discharge the stored energy. Now, researchers have overcome those limitations by fiddling around with the internal heat exchangers of magnesium-based metal hydride energy storage devices. According to Puchanee Larpruenrudee, the first author of the study, the team tried different shapes for the heat exchanger, including helical coils and fins. However, a semi-cylindrical coil shape provided the best heat and mass transfer, resulting in a charging time that was 59 percent faster than with traditional heat exchangers. The research team hopes to continue developing the technology, and have also set their sights on increasing the hydrogen desorption rate. Sounds like a gas!
[Image description: a digital illustration of blue hydrogen molecules.] Credit & copyright: geralt, Pixabay
These fuel cells are getting a boost. Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have found a way to make hydrogen fuel cells more viable for storing green energy, according to a paper published in Nature. Currently, hydrogen energy storage cells convert excess power from green energy sources into hydrogen gas. The gas can then be used as clean fuel. The trouble is, hydrogen is a tricky gas to store and takes up a lot of space. It seems more ideal to use a solid form of storage like metal hydrides, materials containing metal or metalloid bonded to hydrogen. Hydrides are compact and safe to handle. They can also hold on to hydrogen for long periods of time, and when needed, it can be extracted as a gas or as a form of thermal or electric energy. It’s a low-cost, low emission way to make use of surplus energy produced by renewable sources…the problem is that metal hydrides have very low thermal conductivity, meaning that they take a long time to charge and discharge the stored energy. Now, researchers have overcome those limitations by fiddling around with the internal heat exchangers of magnesium-based metal hydride energy storage devices. According to Puchanee Larpruenrudee, the first author of the study, the team tried different shapes for the heat exchanger, including helical coils and fins. However, a semi-cylindrical coil shape provided the best heat and mass transfer, resulting in a charging time that was 59 percent faster than with traditional heat exchangers. The research team hopes to continue developing the technology, and have also set their sights on increasing the hydrogen desorption rate. Sounds like a gas!
[Image description: a digital illustration of blue hydrogen molecules.] Credit & copyright: geralt, Pixabay
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FREEScience Daily Curio #2498Free1 CQ
Ever feel like the days are getting shorter? Well, it’s not just in your head. Scientists have found that the Earth is spinning faster, resulting in shorter days. Back on June 29, Earth experienced the shortest day ever on record, with the planet completing a rotation 1.59 milliseconds ahead of the 24-hour schedule. Less than a month later, on July 26, it came close to breaking that record when the day ended 1.5 milliseconds sooner than it should have. So, what’s the deal? Is the planet just going to keep spinning faster and faster until every day is just a few hours long? Don’t worry, there’s no looming catastrophe. In fact, these fluctuations are apparently part of a cycle that scientists are just beginning to understand. If anything, days are getting longer overall, but it’s not on a timescale that’s meaningful to humans. The day actually gets longer by an average of 1.8 milliseconds every century, but even at that rate, it takes hundreds of millions of years to get an extra hour. In the short term, the length of the day fluctuates ever so slightly, although the cause isn’t clear.
There could be a number of contributing factors, like earthquakes shifting the Earth’s axis, melting glaciers moving the planet’s mass away from the poles or—the most likely culprit—a phenomenon called the Chandler Wobble, in which the planet’s geographical poles move across its surface. It’s unlikely for anyone to notice the difference in the length of the day without specialized equipment, but it can affect some things that many people use every day. Anyone with a watch or clock that synchronizes with an atomic clock might find their devices showing the wrong time after a while, and GPS devices, which also rely on satellites that sync with atomic clocks, could be rendered useless. Fortunately, the solution is relatively simple. Timekeeping organizations need only add a “drop second” to compensate for the shorter days, much like leap days are used to keep the calendar consistent. Count on humans to always keep our numbers straight.
[Image description: A photo taken from space, showing the sun over Earth’s horizon] Credit & copyright: qimono, PixabayEver feel like the days are getting shorter? Well, it’s not just in your head. Scientists have found that the Earth is spinning faster, resulting in shorter days. Back on June 29, Earth experienced the shortest day ever on record, with the planet completing a rotation 1.59 milliseconds ahead of the 24-hour schedule. Less than a month later, on July 26, it came close to breaking that record when the day ended 1.5 milliseconds sooner than it should have. So, what’s the deal? Is the planet just going to keep spinning faster and faster until every day is just a few hours long? Don’t worry, there’s no looming catastrophe. In fact, these fluctuations are apparently part of a cycle that scientists are just beginning to understand. If anything, days are getting longer overall, but it’s not on a timescale that’s meaningful to humans. The day actually gets longer by an average of 1.8 milliseconds every century, but even at that rate, it takes hundreds of millions of years to get an extra hour. In the short term, the length of the day fluctuates ever so slightly, although the cause isn’t clear.
There could be a number of contributing factors, like earthquakes shifting the Earth’s axis, melting glaciers moving the planet’s mass away from the poles or—the most likely culprit—a phenomenon called the Chandler Wobble, in which the planet’s geographical poles move across its surface. It’s unlikely for anyone to notice the difference in the length of the day without specialized equipment, but it can affect some things that many people use every day. Anyone with a watch or clock that synchronizes with an atomic clock might find their devices showing the wrong time after a while, and GPS devices, which also rely on satellites that sync with atomic clocks, could be rendered useless. Fortunately, the solution is relatively simple. Timekeeping organizations need only add a “drop second” to compensate for the shorter days, much like leap days are used to keep the calendar consistent. Count on humans to always keep our numbers straight.
[Image description: A photo taken from space, showing the sun over Earth’s horizon] Credit & copyright: qimono, Pixabay
August 17, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
Later this year, it’ll be possible to acquire hearing aids without a prescription. We attempt to read the tea leaves on retail data and consumer behavior. Th...
Later this year, it’ll be possible to acquire hearing aids without a prescription. We attempt to read the tea leaves on retail data and consumer behavior. Th...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 17, 2022
wreak \REEK\ verb
What It Means
Wreak means "to bring about or cause (something that is harmful or damaging)." It is oft...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 17, 2022
wreak \REEK\ verb
What It Means
Wreak means "to bring about or cause (something that is harmful or damaging)." It is oft...
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FREEEntrepreneurship Nerdy CurioFree2 CQ
The road to business success is paved with education…in more ways than one. 38-year-old entrepreneur Graham Cochrane was an unlikely entrepreneur. Having studied to be an audio engineer, by 2009 Cochrane was pursuing his passion for music as a side hustle while working a 9 to 5 job to support his growing family. All of that changed during the Great Recession, however, when he lost his full-time job. Cochrane was forced to apply for government assistance and to re-evaluate how he made money. Up until then, his side hustle had mainly consisted of doing audio work for musicians, but Cochrane had also started a blog and a popular Youtube channel both called The Recording Revolution, where he reviewed audio equipment and shared audio engineering tips. Realizing that his ability to teach was valuable, Cochrane set about monetizing it. He sought out sponsorships by creating a press kit. He began launching digital products like ebooks and teaching online courses to help not just musicians but entrepreneurs like himself who wanted to make money by sharing their knowledge. Soon, Cochrane had two thriving businesses: The Recording Revolution, through which he sold ebooks and courses related to music engineering, and a personal brand through which he taught others how to launch a successful online business. Since ebooks and pre-recorded online courses generate passive income, Cochrane always has time to create new content to keep his businesses fresh. Today, The Recording Revolution brings in around $40,000 per month, while Cochrane’s online coaching business generates about $120,000 per month. It goes to show that teaching others what you’ve learned can be a business in and of itself.
[Image description: A man and woman talk while sitting in front of their computers.] Credit & copyright: Campaign_Creators, PixabayThe road to business success is paved with education…in more ways than one. 38-year-old entrepreneur Graham Cochrane was an unlikely entrepreneur. Having studied to be an audio engineer, by 2009 Cochrane was pursuing his passion for music as a side hustle while working a 9 to 5 job to support his growing family. All of that changed during the Great Recession, however, when he lost his full-time job. Cochrane was forced to apply for government assistance and to re-evaluate how he made money. Up until then, his side hustle had mainly consisted of doing audio work for musicians, but Cochrane had also started a blog and a popular Youtube channel both called The Recording Revolution, where he reviewed audio equipment and shared audio engineering tips. Realizing that his ability to teach was valuable, Cochrane set about monetizing it. He sought out sponsorships by creating a press kit. He began launching digital products like ebooks and teaching online courses to help not just musicians but entrepreneurs like himself who wanted to make money by sharing their knowledge. Soon, Cochrane had two thriving businesses: The Recording Revolution, through which he sold ebooks and courses related to music engineering, and a personal brand through which he taught others how to launch a successful online business. Since ebooks and pre-recorded online courses generate passive income, Cochrane always has time to create new content to keep his businesses fresh. Today, The Recording Revolution brings in around $40,000 per month, while Cochrane’s online coaching business generates about $120,000 per month. It goes to show that teaching others what you’ve learned can be a business in and of itself.
[Image description: A man and woman talk while sitting in front of their computers.] Credit & copyright: Campaign_Creators, Pixabay -
FREEHumanities Daily Curio #2497Free1 CQ
Floating over the ocean usually means getting on a ship, but not for these guys. On this day in 1978, the crew of the Double Eagle II helium gas balloon successfully completed the first ever transatlantic balloon flight. The Double Eagle II took off in Maine and landed near Paris after 3,233 miles and 137 hours, but the feat was in the making for far longer. In the late 1700s, the aviation pioneers the Montgolfier brothers made history by taking off in a hot air balloon and achieving human flight. Since then, there have been many developments in ballooning, including the use of lighter-than-air gas instead of hot air to achieve flight. However, while conventional ballooning is relatively safe, it was never viable for long-distance travel because it can’t really be steered. The pilot of a hot air or gas balloon, for instance, can rise or descend, but the balloon’s direction is largely dependent on the direction of the wind at a given altitude. Yet the three crew members of the Double Eagle II, Ben Abruzzo, Max Anderson and Larry Newman, managed to cross an entire ocean just by rising, falling, and riding the wind—and it wasn’t the first time it had been attempted.
At least 14 attempts had been made previously, with some of them resulting in fatalities. Abruzzo and Anderson had also tried it before in the ill-fated Double Eagle, and had ended up having to abandon the balloon over the Atlantic and be reduced by the Navy. Luckily, the Double Eagle II fared better. This time, Newman stayed on a radio communicating with ground crew, allowing them to navigate changing weather more efficiently. To deal with the high altitudes, they brought along oxygen and heated, battery-powered socks. Despite all this, there were some issues beyond their control. The balloon would freeze overnight, which made it descend. When the sun rose, the ice melted and the balloon warmed up, making it rise. These daily fluctuations were difficult to manage, and it nearly ended the flight once when the balloon descended rapidly, forcing the crew to throw much of their equipment overboard. But despite the odds, they managed to land safely in France to a crowd of thousands who had gathered to watch the historic crossing come to an end. They must have been floating on air after getting on the ground.
[Image description: An orange-and-white hot air balloon floats over water.] Credit & copyright: muratart, PixabayFloating over the ocean usually means getting on a ship, but not for these guys. On this day in 1978, the crew of the Double Eagle II helium gas balloon successfully completed the first ever transatlantic balloon flight. The Double Eagle II took off in Maine and landed near Paris after 3,233 miles and 137 hours, but the feat was in the making for far longer. In the late 1700s, the aviation pioneers the Montgolfier brothers made history by taking off in a hot air balloon and achieving human flight. Since then, there have been many developments in ballooning, including the use of lighter-than-air gas instead of hot air to achieve flight. However, while conventional ballooning is relatively safe, it was never viable for long-distance travel because it can’t really be steered. The pilot of a hot air or gas balloon, for instance, can rise or descend, but the balloon’s direction is largely dependent on the direction of the wind at a given altitude. Yet the three crew members of the Double Eagle II, Ben Abruzzo, Max Anderson and Larry Newman, managed to cross an entire ocean just by rising, falling, and riding the wind—and it wasn’t the first time it had been attempted.
At least 14 attempts had been made previously, with some of them resulting in fatalities. Abruzzo and Anderson had also tried it before in the ill-fated Double Eagle, and had ended up having to abandon the balloon over the Atlantic and be reduced by the Navy. Luckily, the Double Eagle II fared better. This time, Newman stayed on a radio communicating with ground crew, allowing them to navigate changing weather more efficiently. To deal with the high altitudes, they brought along oxygen and heated, battery-powered socks. Despite all this, there were some issues beyond their control. The balloon would freeze overnight, which made it descend. When the sun rose, the ice melted and the balloon warmed up, making it rise. These daily fluctuations were difficult to manage, and it nearly ended the flight once when the balloon descended rapidly, forcing the crew to throw much of their equipment overboard. But despite the odds, they managed to land safely in France to a crowd of thousands who had gathered to watch the historic crossing come to an end. They must have been floating on air after getting on the ground.
[Image description: An orange-and-white hot air balloon floats over water.] Credit & copyright: muratart, Pixabay
August 16, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: William Ruto wants to unite his country after a narrow election victory. More than half the election commission’s members have re...
From the BBC World Service: William Ruto wants to unite his country after a narrow election victory. More than half the election commission’s members have re...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : August 16, 2022
litany \LIT-uh-nee\ noun
What It Means
Litany refers to a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration of something, such a...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 16, 2022
litany \LIT-uh-nee\ noun
What It Means
Litany refers to a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration of something, such a...
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
This groove is out-of-this-world. In 1962, UK rock band The Tornadoes created a warbly, spacey, entirely instrumental tune and scored an extremely unlikely American hit. In fact, Telstar, which was written to celebrate the launch of the Telstar communications satellite, became the first song by a British group to reach number one in the U.S. The song features plenty of early-1960s sound effects, including an overdubbed clavioline, a type of early keyboard synthesizer. Toilet flushes played backwards stood in for the sound of rockets. All these experimental elements were dreamed up not by The Tornadoes themselves but by producer Joe Meek, who had the band record the song in his home studio full of odd equipment. In fact, Meek toyed with the song long after the band left the studio, adding layers of effects which they ultimately weren’t too happy with. Luckily for them, the U.S. was in the middle of a space-race-fueled fad in which anything spacey or futuristic was considered “far out.” Telstar became so popular that several other artists, and even Meek himself, tried to release versions with lyrics. They didn't quite blast off like the original, though.
[Image description: The round Telstar satellite, on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.] Credit & copyright: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
This groove is out-of-this-world. In 1962, UK rock band The Tornadoes created a warbly, spacey, entirely instrumental tune and scored an extremely unlikely American hit. In fact, Telstar, which was written to celebrate the launch of the Telstar communications satellite, became the first song by a British group to reach number one in the U.S. The song features plenty of early-1960s sound effects, including an overdubbed clavioline, a type of early keyboard synthesizer. Toilet flushes played backwards stood in for the sound of rockets. All these experimental elements were dreamed up not by The Tornadoes themselves but by producer Joe Meek, who had the band record the song in his home studio full of odd equipment. In fact, Meek toyed with the song long after the band left the studio, adding layers of effects which they ultimately weren’t too happy with. Luckily for them, the U.S. was in the middle of a space-race-fueled fad in which anything spacey or futuristic was considered “far out.” Telstar became so popular that several other artists, and even Meek himself, tried to release versions with lyrics. They didn't quite blast off like the original, though.
[Image description: The round Telstar satellite, on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.] Credit & copyright: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
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FREEMind + Body Daily Curio #2496Free1 CQ
Imagine being diagnosed with cancer, then being cured of another life-changing disease while being treated for it. That’s exactly what happened to an anonymous 66-year-old who has just been reported as the fourth person ever to be cured of HIV. Referred to by the moniker “City of Hope,” after the hospital in Duarte, California, where he was being treated for leukemia, the patient had been living with HIV for decades. Unfortunately, the man was also diagnosed with blood cancer leukemia at the age of 63. To treat the cancer, his doctors ordered a bone marrow transplant, which is meant to replace cancerous blood cells. No one was expecting it to have any effect on the patient’s HIV status. In a strange twist of fate, however, the donor he was matched with just happened to have a natural resistance to HIV. As the patient recovered from the cancer treatment, his HIV levels were also being monitored, and the numbers kept going down over the following months. Now, the patient has been in remission for 17 months, with HIV completely undetectable in his system.
Dr. Jana Dickter, an infectious diseases specialist at the hospital said, "We were thrilled to let him know that his HIV is in remission and he no longer needs to take antiretroviral therapy that he had been on for over 30 years.” That makes this case something of a medical marvel, as only three other people have ever been fully cured of HIV in the past. The first ever case was that of Timothy Ray Brown, the “Berlin Patient,” who was found to have been cured in 2007. But such cases seem to be picking up in frequency, as a woman with HIV was cured earlier this year, also by way of a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Talk about an unexpected ray of hope.
[Image description: A black-and-white digital illustration of human immunodeficiency virus] Credit & copyright: madartzgraphics, PixabayImagine being diagnosed with cancer, then being cured of another life-changing disease while being treated for it. That’s exactly what happened to an anonymous 66-year-old who has just been reported as the fourth person ever to be cured of HIV. Referred to by the moniker “City of Hope,” after the hospital in Duarte, California, where he was being treated for leukemia, the patient had been living with HIV for decades. Unfortunately, the man was also diagnosed with blood cancer leukemia at the age of 63. To treat the cancer, his doctors ordered a bone marrow transplant, which is meant to replace cancerous blood cells. No one was expecting it to have any effect on the patient’s HIV status. In a strange twist of fate, however, the donor he was matched with just happened to have a natural resistance to HIV. As the patient recovered from the cancer treatment, his HIV levels were also being monitored, and the numbers kept going down over the following months. Now, the patient has been in remission for 17 months, with HIV completely undetectable in his system.
Dr. Jana Dickter, an infectious diseases specialist at the hospital said, "We were thrilled to let him know that his HIV is in remission and he no longer needs to take antiretroviral therapy that he had been on for over 30 years.” That makes this case something of a medical marvel, as only three other people have ever been fully cured of HIV in the past. The first ever case was that of Timothy Ray Brown, the “Berlin Patient,” who was found to have been cured in 2007. But such cases seem to be picking up in frequency, as a woman with HIV was cured earlier this year, also by way of a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Talk about an unexpected ray of hope.
[Image description: A black-and-white digital illustration of human immunodeficiency virus] Credit & copyright: madartzgraphics, Pixabay
August 15, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 15, 2022
dilatory \DILL-uh-tor-ee\ adjective
What It Means
Dilatory means "tending or intended to cause delay." It can also mean ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 15, 2022
dilatory \DILL-uh-tor-ee\ adjective
What It Means
Dilatory means "tending or intended to cause delay." It can also mean ...
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
We talk cooling inflation and producer price index with Diane Swonk of KPMG, then we examine how the Nasdaq appears to have regained some of its footing and ...
We talk cooling inflation and producer price index with Diane Swonk of KPMG, then we examine how the Nasdaq appears to have regained some of its footing and ...
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Here’s an artist who found inspiration in unlikely places. American sculptor Viola Frey, a leading artist in Northern California’s Bay Area Funk Movement, was born on this day in 1933. Her piece above, Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress, is a colorful ceramic sculpture depicting a woman in a colorful dress with her hands to her chest and a slightly open, red-lipped mouth. The sculpture was inspired by Japanese and Chinese statues in which such a pose would indicate that the figure is singing. Frey’s art, which tackled issues like class inequality and gender, was largely inspired by antiques and other objects she found at flea markets. She considered herself a bricoleur, a sort of “junk accumulator” as she called it, and would often make molds from flea market finds and create sculptures melding all of their disparate shapes together. Proof that you can always teach old objects new, artsy tricks.
Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress, Viola Frey (1933-2004), 1983, Glazed earthenware, 107 x 28 x 33 in. (271.8 x 71.1 x 83.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Below: two more of Frey’s sculptures, Stubborn Woman, Orange Hands and Untitled (Pink Ears and Red Lips Bricolage).
Here’s an artist who found inspiration in unlikely places. American sculptor Viola Frey, a leading artist in Northern California’s Bay Area Funk Movement, was born on this day in 1933. Her piece above, Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress, is a colorful ceramic sculpture depicting a woman in a colorful dress with her hands to her chest and a slightly open, red-lipped mouth. The sculpture was inspired by Japanese and Chinese statues in which such a pose would indicate that the figure is singing. Frey’s art, which tackled issues like class inequality and gender, was largely inspired by antiques and other objects she found at flea markets. She considered herself a bricoleur, a sort of “junk accumulator” as she called it, and would often make molds from flea market finds and create sculptures melding all of their disparate shapes together. Proof that you can always teach old objects new, artsy tricks.
Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress, Viola Frey (1933-2004), 1983, Glazed earthenware, 107 x 28 x 33 in. (271.8 x 71.1 x 83.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Below: two more of Frey’s sculptures, Stubborn Woman, Orange Hands and Untitled (Pink Ears and Red Lips Bricolage).
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FREESTEM Daily Curio #2495Free1 CQ
Roads may be congested, but there’s plenty of room under them. Switzerland is starting work on the Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), an underground cargo-delivery system set to be operational by 2031. The plan is to start with a 43-mile length of tunnels with 10 stops along the way, with two lanes of automated traffic. While similarities have been drawn to hyperloop projects by Hyperloop-TT and Virgin Hyperloop, the CST’s main focus will be to transport freight, not passengers. As such, the CST won’t have to make engineering choices based on comfort and appearance, which would add to the cost of the enormous project. Fortunately for Swiss citizens, the government isn’t planning on using taxpayer backed subsidies to build the CST. Instead, a number of private companies like Credit Suisse, Swiss Railways Cargo and supermarket chains will be backing the project. By 2031, they hope to have the first portion of the CST completed for about $3.7 billion. That will be just a fraction of the total bill, which might get up to $35 billion for another 311 miles of tunnels by 2045.
Looking at the plans, it’s not hard to see why it will be so expensive. The tunnels are set to be around 20 feet wide and over 300 feet underground in some areas. Inside, the cargo will be transported in a vacuum to reduce drag, allowing individual pods carrying one or two pallets of goods to reach speeds of up to 760 MPH. In addition to being autonomous, the entire system is also set to create zero emissions by running entirely on renewable energy. Still, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to move cargo, so why bother? Well, Switzerland is already projected to see an increase of 40 percent in traffic volume in the next 30 years. Aside from the additional carbon emissions, that means there will be less room on the surface for trucks and other cargo vehicles. Sometimes you’ve got to dig down to move forward.
[Image description: A highway tunnel.] Credit & copyright: MPMPix, PixabayRoads may be congested, but there’s plenty of room under them. Switzerland is starting work on the Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), an underground cargo-delivery system set to be operational by 2031. The plan is to start with a 43-mile length of tunnels with 10 stops along the way, with two lanes of automated traffic. While similarities have been drawn to hyperloop projects by Hyperloop-TT and Virgin Hyperloop, the CST’s main focus will be to transport freight, not passengers. As such, the CST won’t have to make engineering choices based on comfort and appearance, which would add to the cost of the enormous project. Fortunately for Swiss citizens, the government isn’t planning on using taxpayer backed subsidies to build the CST. Instead, a number of private companies like Credit Suisse, Swiss Railways Cargo and supermarket chains will be backing the project. By 2031, they hope to have the first portion of the CST completed for about $3.7 billion. That will be just a fraction of the total bill, which might get up to $35 billion for another 311 miles of tunnels by 2045.
Looking at the plans, it’s not hard to see why it will be so expensive. The tunnels are set to be around 20 feet wide and over 300 feet underground in some areas. Inside, the cargo will be transported in a vacuum to reduce drag, allowing individual pods carrying one or two pallets of goods to reach speeds of up to 760 MPH. In addition to being autonomous, the entire system is also set to create zero emissions by running entirely on renewable energy. Still, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to move cargo, so why bother? Well, Switzerland is already projected to see an increase of 40 percent in traffic volume in the next 30 years. Aside from the additional carbon emissions, that means there will be less room on the surface for trucks and other cargo vehicles. Sometimes you’ve got to dig down to move forward.
[Image description: A highway tunnel.] Credit & copyright: MPMPix, Pixabay
August 14, 2022
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : August 14, 2022
shard \SHAHRD\ noun
What It Means
Shard refers to "a small piece or part" of something, and is often used as a synonym o...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 14, 2022
shard \SHAHRD\ noun
What It Means
Shard refers to "a small piece or part" of something, and is often used as a synonym o...
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FREEPolitical Science PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
It’s not going too far to call it one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed. On this day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act (SSA), forever changing the financial landscape of the United States. The SSA established a tax-funded pension for every American over a certain age and a federal unemployment program. But it wasn’t done out of the goodness of the government’s heart. In fact, it was born out of hardship and nationwide economic desperation.
By the time the Great Depression began, in 1929, elderly Americans were already an impoverished demographic. With no national program to fund their retirement, most older Americans couldn’t afford to retire and had no way to make ends meet once old age forced them to stop working. While the Great Depression affected many industrialized nations, the United States was one of the only ones that had no nationalized insurance program of any kind.
Though Roosevelt’s legacy is forever entwined with the SSA, it wasn’t Roosevelt who originally thought up the idea. Rather, after watching two elderly women in tattered clothing picking through garbage cans in his neighborhood, physician and political activist Francis Townsend wrote a letter to the editor of the Long Beach Press-Telegram detailing a plan for an old-age pension program. Townsend stated that anyone who was retired and over age 60 should be given $200 per month, as long as they didn’t have a long criminal history. Oddly, his plan also called for all recipients to spend their money within 30 days, to stimulate the economy. Even though Townsend wrote his letter in 1933, his plan quickly went as viral as anything could, at the time. Soon, Townsend Plan Clubs began popping up around the country. Made up of people who supported the growing “Townsend Movement”, the clubs became an influential political force, putting pressure on Congress to pass Townsend’s plan. Within two years of Townsend’s letter, 3,400 clubs existed, and the movement claimed to have at least five million members.
Congress realized that they needed to do something. But how would it look if the government allowed a private citizen to essentially draft their legislation for them? Rather than jump straight to using Townsend’s plan, the House of Representatives passed the Dill-Connery bill in 1934, which would have relegated more federal funding to dramatically underfunded state pension programs. Roosevelt likely knew that the bill wouldn’t be enough to satisfy most Americans, though. In fact, he secretly met with his supporters in the Senate and asked them to delay passing the bill until his administration could create legislation of their own. Then, with the help of various government agencies, he set about the task of creating a pension program, an unemployment program, and a national healthcare program. The SSA was unveiled in 1935. While similar to Townsend’s plan in many ways, its old-age pension would be funded by workers themselves via a pay-as-you-go tax. Unemployment benefits would be administered by individual states, but all states would be required to do so.
Congressional hearings and debates began immediately. The national healthcare portion of Roosevelt’s plan was quickly expunged. Other parts of the SSA were expanded, however. Congress decided that Social Security should be made available to widows and children, for example. The legislation was far from completely comprehensive, though. While it was decided that Social Security would be funded through a new payroll tax, many professions were outright excluded from the program. Agricultural laborers, nurses, social workers and many others were therefore not eligible for Social Security. Around 27 percent of white workers and a whopping 65 percent of Black workers were excluded, further deepening the racial wealth gap.
Luckily, the SSA was improved over time. In 1950, it was greatly expanded to include more qualifying jobs and to include workers in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The SSA was expanded again in 1960 to include Medicare, finally somewhat accomplishing Roosevelt’s vision of a national healthcare program. In 1972, a cost-of-living allowance was worked into Social Security, to help it keep up with inflation rates. Today, at least 69.1 million people receive benefits of some kind thanks to the Social Security Act. If only someone would name one of its amendments after Townsend!
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act surrounded by government officials.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress, Public DomainIt’s not going too far to call it one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed. On this day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act (SSA), forever changing the financial landscape of the United States. The SSA established a tax-funded pension for every American over a certain age and a federal unemployment program. But it wasn’t done out of the goodness of the government’s heart. In fact, it was born out of hardship and nationwide economic desperation.
By the time the Great Depression began, in 1929, elderly Americans were already an impoverished demographic. With no national program to fund their retirement, most older Americans couldn’t afford to retire and had no way to make ends meet once old age forced them to stop working. While the Great Depression affected many industrialized nations, the United States was one of the only ones that had no nationalized insurance program of any kind.
Though Roosevelt’s legacy is forever entwined with the SSA, it wasn’t Roosevelt who originally thought up the idea. Rather, after watching two elderly women in tattered clothing picking through garbage cans in his neighborhood, physician and political activist Francis Townsend wrote a letter to the editor of the Long Beach Press-Telegram detailing a plan for an old-age pension program. Townsend stated that anyone who was retired and over age 60 should be given $200 per month, as long as they didn’t have a long criminal history. Oddly, his plan also called for all recipients to spend their money within 30 days, to stimulate the economy. Even though Townsend wrote his letter in 1933, his plan quickly went as viral as anything could, at the time. Soon, Townsend Plan Clubs began popping up around the country. Made up of people who supported the growing “Townsend Movement”, the clubs became an influential political force, putting pressure on Congress to pass Townsend’s plan. Within two years of Townsend’s letter, 3,400 clubs existed, and the movement claimed to have at least five million members.
Congress realized that they needed to do something. But how would it look if the government allowed a private citizen to essentially draft their legislation for them? Rather than jump straight to using Townsend’s plan, the House of Representatives passed the Dill-Connery bill in 1934, which would have relegated more federal funding to dramatically underfunded state pension programs. Roosevelt likely knew that the bill wouldn’t be enough to satisfy most Americans, though. In fact, he secretly met with his supporters in the Senate and asked them to delay passing the bill until his administration could create legislation of their own. Then, with the help of various government agencies, he set about the task of creating a pension program, an unemployment program, and a national healthcare program. The SSA was unveiled in 1935. While similar to Townsend’s plan in many ways, its old-age pension would be funded by workers themselves via a pay-as-you-go tax. Unemployment benefits would be administered by individual states, but all states would be required to do so.
Congressional hearings and debates began immediately. The national healthcare portion of Roosevelt’s plan was quickly expunged. Other parts of the SSA were expanded, however. Congress decided that Social Security should be made available to widows and children, for example. The legislation was far from completely comprehensive, though. While it was decided that Social Security would be funded through a new payroll tax, many professions were outright excluded from the program. Agricultural laborers, nurses, social workers and many others were therefore not eligible for Social Security. Around 27 percent of white workers and a whopping 65 percent of Black workers were excluded, further deepening the racial wealth gap.
Luckily, the SSA was improved over time. In 1950, it was greatly expanded to include more qualifying jobs and to include workers in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The SSA was expanded again in 1960 to include Medicare, finally somewhat accomplishing Roosevelt’s vision of a national healthcare program. In 1972, a cost-of-living allowance was worked into Social Security, to help it keep up with inflation rates. Today, at least 69.1 million people receive benefits of some kind thanks to the Social Security Act. If only someone would name one of its amendments after Townsend!
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act surrounded by government officials.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress, Public Domain -
7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
Christopher Low measures market activity with us. A wrinkle in the ongoing saga of gas prices: The price of crude is rising. The BBC looks in on how new COVI...
Christopher Low measures market activity with us. A wrinkle in the ongoing saga of gas prices: The price of crude is rising. The BBC looks in on how new COVI...
August 13, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 13, 2022
carceral \KAHR-suh-rul\ adjective
What It Means
Carceral means "of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison."
// Th...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 13, 2022
carceral \KAHR-suh-rul\ adjective
What It Means
Carceral means "of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison."
// Th...
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
People are still leaving jobs to find new ones at record level, and data shows that it’s generally working out for them. Speaking of records, the demand for ...
People are still leaving jobs to find new ones at record level, and data shows that it’s generally working out for them. Speaking of records, the demand for ...
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FREESports Daily CurioFree1 CQ
A celebrated athlete is hanging up her racket. 41-year-old Serena Williams announced her retirement from tennis in a recent Vogue article. Williams is widely considered to be one of the best tennis players of all time. In her decades-long career, she’s won 73 career singles titles and 23 career doubles titles, along with almost $100 million in career winnings. Williams admitted that she’s been hesitant to quit tennis, despite her already-cemented legacy. Moreover, she’s been hesitant to even bring up the subject, even with her closest friends and family. She said in the article, “I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry. I think the only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist.” Nevertheless, she says it’s time to leave the world of competitive tennis behind, not that she’s planning on taking it easy. As Williams stated, “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition…Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution.” Part of that transition includes having another child, this time without feeling the need to compete even while pregnant, as she did when she won the Australian Open in 2017. She’s also planning on expanding her work with Serena Ventures, her venture capital firm which mostly funds businesses owned by women and people of color. No doubt that even off the court, she’s still on the serve.
[Image description: Serena Williams holds a tennis racket as she waits for an opponent to serve the ball.] Credit & copyright: Edwin Martinez, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
A celebrated athlete is hanging up her racket. 41-year-old Serena Williams announced her retirement from tennis in a recent Vogue article. Williams is widely considered to be one of the best tennis players of all time. In her decades-long career, she’s won 73 career singles titles and 23 career doubles titles, along with almost $100 million in career winnings. Williams admitted that she’s been hesitant to quit tennis, despite her already-cemented legacy. Moreover, she’s been hesitant to even bring up the subject, even with her closest friends and family. She said in the article, “I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry. I think the only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist.” Nevertheless, she says it’s time to leave the world of competitive tennis behind, not that she’s planning on taking it easy. As Williams stated, “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition…Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution.” Part of that transition includes having another child, this time without feeling the need to compete even while pregnant, as she did when she won the Australian Open in 2017. She’s also planning on expanding her work with Serena Ventures, her venture capital firm which mostly funds businesses owned by women and people of color. No doubt that even off the court, she’s still on the serve.
[Image description: Serena Williams holds a tennis racket as she waits for an opponent to serve the ball.] Credit & copyright: Edwin Martinez, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
August 12, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Lee Jae-yong was convicted of embezzlement and bribery, but the Seoul government says he’s needed back in charge of the country’s...
From the BBC World Service: Lee Jae-yong was convicted of embezzlement and bribery, but the Seoul government says he’s needed back in charge of the country’s...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 12, 2022
melancholia \mel-un-KOH-lee-uh\ noun
What It Means
Melancholia refers to a feeling of sadness or depression. It is also ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 12, 2022
melancholia \mel-un-KOH-lee-uh\ noun
What It Means
Melancholia refers to a feeling of sadness or depression. It is also ...
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FREEHumanities PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather.
It was one of the fiercest hurricanes to ever strike the U.S.—and over 400 World War I veterans were caught in its path.It turned out to be a perfect storm in the worst sort of way. In September 1935, at the height of hurricane season, few realized that a deadly hurricane was building off the coast of the Florida Keys. When the hurricane hit land, it created 20-foot waves, blew the clothes off of people's backs, and smashed a veterans' camp to smithereens.
It was the Great Depression, and jobless World War I veterans were demanding help from Washington. To give the men work and to provide some much-needed infrastructure in the Florida Keys, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent approximately 400 veterans to the area to build roads and bridges. Flimsy shelters were hastily constructed near the beach to house the veterans, who were paid $30 a month plus room and board.
In late August of 1935, a storm began developing east of the Bahamas; but it was weak at first and didn't seem to pose a threat. This was before the days of weather satellites, so tracking hurricanes was an extremely inexact science. Few realized that the storm was gathering strength until it hit the Florida Keys as a Category Five hurricane—the highest rating on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The administrators of the work camp had an emergency plan in place: in case of a hurricane, they would send for a train in Miami to evacuate the veterans. But as the hurricane was building, administrators held off ordering the train because the Weather Bureau predicted the storm was heading for Cuba. By the time administrators realized the predictions were wrong, it was too late. Precious time was lost as workers assembled the train; when it finally headed for the work camp, it was slammed by winds of 160 miles per hour and gusts up to 200 miles per hour. Train cars were tossed into the air, and only the engine was heavy enough to stay on the tracks.
Meanwhile, the veterans at the work camp had little protection as the storm plowed through their camp. As shelters were blown apart, flying lumber speared and buried many of the men. Others were hit by raining coconuts; still others were swept away by the sea. When the storm retreated, an estimated 259 of the veterans had lost their lives.
Many blamed camp administrators for the victims' fate, including the writer Ernest Hemingway, who wrote an article for New Masses titled, "Who Murdered the Vets?" published just a few weeks after the storm. Hemingway ended his angry piece with the question, "Who left you there? And what's the punishment for manslaughter now?" But a government investigation determined the deaths were "an act of God"—and no one was ever charged. A monument to the veterans, the Florida Keys Memorial (known locally as the "Hurricane Memorial"), was constructed to honor the victims, and ceremonies are held at the site every year on Labor Day and Memorial Day.
Below: the relief train sent to rescue the veterans was derailed by the hurricane.
Image credit & copyright: Florida Keys--Public Libraries, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather.
It was one of the fiercest hurricanes to ever strike the U.S.—and over 400 World War I veterans were caught in its path.It turned out to be a perfect storm in the worst sort of way. In September 1935, at the height of hurricane season, few realized that a deadly hurricane was building off the coast of the Florida Keys. When the hurricane hit land, it created 20-foot waves, blew the clothes off of people's backs, and smashed a veterans' camp to smithereens.
It was the Great Depression, and jobless World War I veterans were demanding help from Washington. To give the men work and to provide some much-needed infrastructure in the Florida Keys, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent approximately 400 veterans to the area to build roads and bridges. Flimsy shelters were hastily constructed near the beach to house the veterans, who were paid $30 a month plus room and board.
In late August of 1935, a storm began developing east of the Bahamas; but it was weak at first and didn't seem to pose a threat. This was before the days of weather satellites, so tracking hurricanes was an extremely inexact science. Few realized that the storm was gathering strength until it hit the Florida Keys as a Category Five hurricane—the highest rating on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The administrators of the work camp had an emergency plan in place: in case of a hurricane, they would send for a train in Miami to evacuate the veterans. But as the hurricane was building, administrators held off ordering the train because the Weather Bureau predicted the storm was heading for Cuba. By the time administrators realized the predictions were wrong, it was too late. Precious time was lost as workers assembled the train; when it finally headed for the work camp, it was slammed by winds of 160 miles per hour and gusts up to 200 miles per hour. Train cars were tossed into the air, and only the engine was heavy enough to stay on the tracks.
Meanwhile, the veterans at the work camp had little protection as the storm plowed through their camp. As shelters were blown apart, flying lumber speared and buried many of the men. Others were hit by raining coconuts; still others were swept away by the sea. When the storm retreated, an estimated 259 of the veterans had lost their lives.
Many blamed camp administrators for the victims' fate, including the writer Ernest Hemingway, who wrote an article for New Masses titled, "Who Murdered the Vets?" published just a few weeks after the storm. Hemingway ended his angry piece with the question, "Who left you there? And what's the punishment for manslaughter now?" But a government investigation determined the deaths were "an act of God"—and no one was ever charged. A monument to the veterans, the Florida Keys Memorial (known locally as the "Hurricane Memorial"), was constructed to honor the victims, and ceremonies are held at the site every year on Labor Day and Memorial Day.
Below: the relief train sent to rescue the veterans was derailed by the hurricane.
Image credit & copyright: Florida Keys--Public Libraries, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. It’s not the sort of forest one expects to see...especially not in midtown Manhattan. Unfortunately, the environmental disaster portrayed in American sculptor Maya Lin’s 2021 art installation, Ghost Forest, is all too real. 49 dead Atlantic Cedar trees stood in Madison Square Park. Their brown trunks were sun-bleached. Their limbs appeared brittle and were completely bare. Behind them, one can see the stark contrast of New York City buildings. The trees were arranged so that visitors could walk between them, experiencing a dead forest firsthand. For Lin, that was the point of the installation; to warn people about the ravages of climate change. In nature, so-called ghost forests result from rising sea levels and extreme weather events, both of which can be caused by climate change. In a statement, Lin explained, “I wanted to bring awareness to a die-off that is happening all over the planet. But I also feel that a potential solution is through nature-based practices.” Ghost Forest will remain on display for six months, during which time the trees will further decay. That’s enough to make just about anyone appreciate living forests!
Ghost Forest, Maya Lin (1959-), 2021 , Dead Atlantic Cedar trees, Madison Square Park, New York City, New York
Below: two more photos of Lin’s Ghost Forest, showing different angles of the installation.
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. It’s not the sort of forest one expects to see...especially not in midtown Manhattan. Unfortunately, the environmental disaster portrayed in American sculptor Maya Lin’s 2021 art installation, Ghost Forest, is all too real. 49 dead Atlantic Cedar trees stood in Madison Square Park. Their brown trunks were sun-bleached. Their limbs appeared brittle and were completely bare. Behind them, one can see the stark contrast of New York City buildings. The trees were arranged so that visitors could walk between them, experiencing a dead forest firsthand. For Lin, that was the point of the installation; to warn people about the ravages of climate change. In nature, so-called ghost forests result from rising sea levels and extreme weather events, both of which can be caused by climate change. In a statement, Lin explained, “I wanted to bring awareness to a die-off that is happening all over the planet. But I also feel that a potential solution is through nature-based practices.” Ghost Forest will remain on display for six months, during which time the trees will further decay. That’s enough to make just about anyone appreciate living forests!
Ghost Forest, Maya Lin (1959-), 2021 , Dead Atlantic Cedar trees, Madison Square Park, New York City, New York
Below: two more photos of Lin’s Ghost Forest, showing different angles of the installation.
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FREEScience Daily CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. It's not your imagination. If you live in a congested area, it really does rain more on your days off. According to a study from 1998, it’s significantly more likely to rain on weekends than weekdays. And it’s our own faults! The researchers analyzed Eastern Seaboard weather from several decades and discovered that Saturdays received 22% more precipitation than Mondays. The scientists believe weekend rain clouds are actually produced by weekday commuting. The millions of extra car and truck trips generates tons of additional aerosols--tiny airborne particles around which raindrops develop. As the work week progresses, the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere increases and liquid water condenses around them. If enough of the water groups together before being dispersed by wind, it will start to rain. So next time you are sitting in traffic, you can add this to the list of irritants: every minute you are stuck is increasing the chance it will rain next weekend.
[Image description: A woman with an umbrella raises one hand in the rain.] Credit & copyright: xusenru, Pixabay
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. It's not your imagination. If you live in a congested area, it really does rain more on your days off. According to a study from 1998, it’s significantly more likely to rain on weekends than weekdays. And it’s our own faults! The researchers analyzed Eastern Seaboard weather from several decades and discovered that Saturdays received 22% more precipitation than Mondays. The scientists believe weekend rain clouds are actually produced by weekday commuting. The millions of extra car and truck trips generates tons of additional aerosols--tiny airborne particles around which raindrops develop. As the work week progresses, the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere increases and liquid water condenses around them. If enough of the water groups together before being dispersed by wind, it will start to rain. So next time you are sitting in traffic, you can add this to the list of irritants: every minute you are stuck is increasing the chance it will rain next weekend.
[Image description: A woman with an umbrella raises one hand in the rain.] Credit & copyright: xusenru, Pixabay
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FREEComposition Photo CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore—in fact, these turbulent clouds passed over Shasta County near Redding, California in 2019. A National Weather Service report issued a tornado warning for the areas between Anderson and Redding, roughly a 10 mile stretch of land. Residents who usually had views of flat farmlands, forested hills, and Mount Shasta's peak, beheld a psychedelic arrangement of lights and funneling storm clouds in the low precipitation supercell storm (a cyclone containing little water). Luckily, the clouds didn't cause any major destruction, although 1.5-inch-diameter hail rocks and some lightning accompanied the unusual weather. Cory Mueller of the National Weather Service remarked that low precipitation supercells are something of a visual marvel and "...typically very photogenic because you can see the storm structure very well." We just hope these photographers will keep themselves out of harm's way, especially if the next storm proves to be more dangerous!
Below: more images from the Shasta County storm clouds.
Image credit & copyright: Angela Walfoort, Cody Gayman, Sean Boren
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore—in fact, these turbulent clouds passed over Shasta County near Redding, California in 2019. A National Weather Service report issued a tornado warning for the areas between Anderson and Redding, roughly a 10 mile stretch of land. Residents who usually had views of flat farmlands, forested hills, and Mount Shasta's peak, beheld a psychedelic arrangement of lights and funneling storm clouds in the low precipitation supercell storm (a cyclone containing little water). Luckily, the clouds didn't cause any major destruction, although 1.5-inch-diameter hail rocks and some lightning accompanied the unusual weather. Cory Mueller of the National Weather Service remarked that low precipitation supercells are something of a visual marvel and "...typically very photogenic because you can see the storm structure very well." We just hope these photographers will keep themselves out of harm's way, especially if the next storm proves to be more dangerous!
Below: more images from the Shasta County storm clouds.
Image credit & copyright: Angela Walfoort, Cody Gayman, Sean Boren
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FREEScience Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. If you thought that only certain Xmen could change the weather, think again! Dubai, the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been experiencing record-breaking temperatures lately. Even during normal summers, the city can reach a scorching 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t great for tourism or general quality of life. So, last year, the UAE’s government decided on a novel way to cool things down. Using specialized drones, they stimulated the city’s near-constant cloud cover to produce rain. After successful tests, they began using the technology in other areas, such as the city of Ras Al Khaimah, from which meteorological officials recently released a video of a human-induced downpour.
How can people control the weather using only drones? The technique is called cloud seeding. When droplets of water vapor, which form clouds, are too small and far apart from one another, they are unaffected by earth’s gravity and can’t fall to the ground. It’s only when the droplets grow larger that they fall, so cloud seeding seeks to force small droplets together to form larger ones. Previous cloud-seeding technologies involved adding silver iodide or other chemicals to clouds in order to form ice crystals, causing water droplets to condense around them, become heavy, and fall as rain. The UAE, however, has employed a newer technique. Instead of chemicals, drones now deliver an electric charge to air molecules near clouds. Just as static electricity sometimes causes things to stick together (like hair to a brush) the electric charge encourages water droplets to bunch up. Although the technique is expensive and requires that drones be fitted not only with electricity-making equipment but also sensitive moisture sensors, it doesn’t require any chemicals to be dispersed through the air, which has been a major cloud-seeding environmental concern for years. As climate change continues to raise temperatures around the world, it’s possible that other nations may adopt similar weather-control to keep things cool. We’re all for it, assuming we don’t end up in a scene from Geostorm!
[Image description: The city of Dubai at night.] Credit & copyright: enjoytheworld, PixabayIt's Flashback Friday! As the summer heat continues, enjoy these curios all about weather. If you thought that only certain Xmen could change the weather, think again! Dubai, the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been experiencing record-breaking temperatures lately. Even during normal summers, the city can reach a scorching 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t great for tourism or general quality of life. So, last year, the UAE’s government decided on a novel way to cool things down. Using specialized drones, they stimulated the city’s near-constant cloud cover to produce rain. After successful tests, they began using the technology in other areas, such as the city of Ras Al Khaimah, from which meteorological officials recently released a video of a human-induced downpour.
How can people control the weather using only drones? The technique is called cloud seeding. When droplets of water vapor, which form clouds, are too small and far apart from one another, they are unaffected by earth’s gravity and can’t fall to the ground. It’s only when the droplets grow larger that they fall, so cloud seeding seeks to force small droplets together to form larger ones. Previous cloud-seeding technologies involved adding silver iodide or other chemicals to clouds in order to form ice crystals, causing water droplets to condense around them, become heavy, and fall as rain. The UAE, however, has employed a newer technique. Instead of chemicals, drones now deliver an electric charge to air molecules near clouds. Just as static electricity sometimes causes things to stick together (like hair to a brush) the electric charge encourages water droplets to bunch up. Although the technique is expensive and requires that drones be fitted not only with electricity-making equipment but also sensitive moisture sensors, it doesn’t require any chemicals to be dispersed through the air, which has been a major cloud-seeding environmental concern for years. As climate change continues to raise temperatures around the world, it’s possible that other nations may adopt similar weather-control to keep things cool. We’re all for it, assuming we don’t end up in a scene from Geostorm!
[Image description: The city of Dubai at night.] Credit & copyright: enjoytheworld, Pixabay