Daily Curio
An amusing daily fact from the Curious team.
Curio Cabinet
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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
August 11, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Low water levels on the River Rhine mean vessels are having to limit the load they can carry. Following flooding in Seoul, South ...
From the BBC World Service: Low water levels on the River Rhine mean vessels are having to limit the load they can carry. Following flooding in Seoul, South ...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 11, 2022
alleviate \uh-LEE-vee-ayt\ verb
What It Means
Alleviate means "to make something less painful, difficult, or severe" or ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 11, 2022
alleviate \uh-LEE-vee-ayt\ verb
What It Means
Alleviate means "to make something less painful, difficult, or severe" or ...
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FREESTEM Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
This diving robot is the hands-on type. OceanOneK, a robot developed at Stanford University, just got an upgrade. It’s now busy scouring the oceans for lost historical treasures. Originally named just OceanOne, the unusual-looking, orange-and-white, humanoid robot made its maiden voyage in 2016 to the wreck of La Lune, the flagship of King Louis XIV. The wreck is located 100 meters underwater, but that wasn’t a problem for OceanOne, which was capable of diving down to 200 meters at the time. But recent upgrades to its design, including a special foam that contains glass microspheres, allows it to dive down to 1 kilometer, hence the “K” added to its name. Since receiving its upgrades, OceanOneK has explored the wrecks of a Roman ship from the second century as well as a WWII-era submarine and aircraft. While there are other remotely operated submersibles, OceanOneK is unique in a number of ways.
OceanOneK is equipped with a pair of stereoscopic cameras that are mounted on a friendly-looking, humanoid face. The idea is that if OceanOneK is accompanied with conventional divers, they will be able to communicate with the operator underwater in a more intuitive manner. However, the real showstopper is the pair of robotic arms with an advanced haptic feedback system that allows OceanOneK’s operator to feel the resistance of the water and the pressure being exerted on an object, allowing the robot to handle fragile objects with greater care. Technology is cool, but sometimes you just can’t beat the human touch.
Below: A video from Stanford of OceanOneK in action.[Image description: The orange-and-white, humanoid diving robot OceanOneK holds a piece of rope underwater.] Credit & copyright: Stanford, screenshot from video above.
This diving robot is the hands-on type. OceanOneK, a robot developed at Stanford University, just got an upgrade. It’s now busy scouring the oceans for lost historical treasures. Originally named just OceanOne, the unusual-looking, orange-and-white, humanoid robot made its maiden voyage in 2016 to the wreck of La Lune, the flagship of King Louis XIV. The wreck is located 100 meters underwater, but that wasn’t a problem for OceanOne, which was capable of diving down to 200 meters at the time. But recent upgrades to its design, including a special foam that contains glass microspheres, allows it to dive down to 1 kilometer, hence the “K” added to its name. Since receiving its upgrades, OceanOneK has explored the wrecks of a Roman ship from the second century as well as a WWII-era submarine and aircraft. While there are other remotely operated submersibles, OceanOneK is unique in a number of ways.
OceanOneK is equipped with a pair of stereoscopic cameras that are mounted on a friendly-looking, humanoid face. The idea is that if OceanOneK is accompanied with conventional divers, they will be able to communicate with the operator underwater in a more intuitive manner. However, the real showstopper is the pair of robotic arms with an advanced haptic feedback system that allows OceanOneK’s operator to feel the resistance of the water and the pressure being exerted on an object, allowing the robot to handle fragile objects with greater care. Technology is cool, but sometimes you just can’t beat the human touch.
Below: A video from Stanford of OceanOneK in action.[Image description: The orange-and-white, humanoid diving robot OceanOneK holds a piece of rope underwater.] Credit & copyright: Stanford, screenshot from video above.
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FREEScience Daily Curio #2494Free1 CQ
These bones have really mixed things up! Paleontologist Timothy Rowe found the remains of a mammoth mother and calf back in 2013, after his neighbor told him there was something that looked like bones on his property. Now, Rowe and his colleagues have published their findings, and their discoveries are rewriting prehistory. The mammoths’ remains weren’t neatly preserved but instead had been broken in a deliberate manner, fashioned into sharp instruments that were then used to cut into the rest of the carcass. In short, the mammoths had been butchered very methodically by humans. Rowe told CNN, "I have excavated dinosaurs that were scavenged, but the pattern of bone disarticulation and breakage from human butchering was unlike anything I had seen." In addition to a broken skull and marks on the bone left by cutting, there were also signs of a carefully maintained fire around the remains, most likely used to melt the fat inside the mammoth so that it could be drained.
However, the most shocking part of the discovery was its age. The mammoths were killed between 36,250 and 38,900 years ago, and although the prehistoric creatures were known to inhabit the area during that time, it predates the earliest known humans in North America by tens of thousands of years. While humans evolved some 200,000 years ago, it was thought that the Clovis culture was the first to have made its way to North America some 16,000 years ago. Like some other prehistoric humans, they made their way to North America via the Bering land bridge that once linked Asia and Alaska, then they spread southward. While some footprints and possible remains of stone tools have been found in other parts of North America predating them, they were met with skepticism and hadn’t been considered definitive proof. Now, the site in New Mexico might completely change the timeline of human activity on the continent. Who would have guessed that a few broken bones could have such an impact?
[Image description: A model of an adult wooly mammoth and calf at the Anthropos Pavilion, a museum in Brno, South Moravia, Czech Republic.] Credit & copyright: HTO, Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainThese bones have really mixed things up! Paleontologist Timothy Rowe found the remains of a mammoth mother and calf back in 2013, after his neighbor told him there was something that looked like bones on his property. Now, Rowe and his colleagues have published their findings, and their discoveries are rewriting prehistory. The mammoths’ remains weren’t neatly preserved but instead had been broken in a deliberate manner, fashioned into sharp instruments that were then used to cut into the rest of the carcass. In short, the mammoths had been butchered very methodically by humans. Rowe told CNN, "I have excavated dinosaurs that were scavenged, but the pattern of bone disarticulation and breakage from human butchering was unlike anything I had seen." In addition to a broken skull and marks on the bone left by cutting, there were also signs of a carefully maintained fire around the remains, most likely used to melt the fat inside the mammoth so that it could be drained.
However, the most shocking part of the discovery was its age. The mammoths were killed between 36,250 and 38,900 years ago, and although the prehistoric creatures were known to inhabit the area during that time, it predates the earliest known humans in North America by tens of thousands of years. While humans evolved some 200,000 years ago, it was thought that the Clovis culture was the first to have made its way to North America some 16,000 years ago. Like some other prehistoric humans, they made their way to North America via the Bering land bridge that once linked Asia and Alaska, then they spread southward. While some footprints and possible remains of stone tools have been found in other parts of North America predating them, they were met with skepticism and hadn’t been considered definitive proof. Now, the site in New Mexico might completely change the timeline of human activity on the continent. Who would have guessed that a few broken bones could have such an impact?
[Image description: A model of an adult wooly mammoth and calf at the Anthropos Pavilion, a museum in Brno, South Moravia, Czech Republic.] Credit & copyright: HTO, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
August 10, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Major electricity price hikes are adding pressure for people in Sri Lanka who are already struggling to afford the basics. The co...
From the BBC World Service: Major electricity price hikes are adding pressure for people in Sri Lanka who are already struggling to afford the basics. The co...
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : August 10, 2022
trivial \TRIV-ee-ul\ adjective
What It Means
Trivial means “of little worth or importance.”
// Although her parents dis...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : August 10, 2022
trivial \TRIV-ee-ul\ adjective
What It Means
Trivial means “of little worth or importance.”
// Although her parents dis...
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FREESales Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
This store proves that there's more than one way to do business. As inflation causes costs to rise at most stores, Costco has emerged as a notable exception. Although a few of their items have gotten more expensive, the changes don’t seem to be nearly as drastic as at other stores, and Costco’s most popular items (like their rotisserie chickens and food court hotdogs) have retained their pre-inflation price tags. So what is this popular membership warehouse club’s secret? Well, it’s mostly the memberships. An annual Costco membership is $60, and because Costco has so many members, the store can make a profit without significantly marking up prices. In fact, in 2018, CNN Business reported that around 75 percent of Costco’s profits came from membership fees.
The store takes other cost-cutting measures too, some of them pretty unusual. For one thing, Costco doesn’t advertise. Other than signage outside their stores, you won’t see a Costco ad. The money Costco saves in advertising costs helps keep prices low, which brings in customers through word of mouth. Costco warehouses are devoid of decorative displays for the same reason—it saves money, allowing better deals to be passed on to customers. Another price-lowering factor is that Costco doesn’t tend to offer a wide variety of a single type of product. Customers may find only one brand of shredded cheese, for example, but they’ll be able to buy it in bulk for a discounted price since Costco can buy the cheapest bulk items from manufacturers. Costco has also avoided many consequences of the recent “great resignation” by paying employees at least $15 an hour and providing benefits like health insurance. This has led to greater employee retention compared to other large retailers. Even if its unconventional, it sometimes pays to pay more!
[Image description: The entrance of a Costco warehouse.] Credit & copyright: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine, Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainThis store proves that there's more than one way to do business. As inflation causes costs to rise at most stores, Costco has emerged as a notable exception. Although a few of their items have gotten more expensive, the changes don’t seem to be nearly as drastic as at other stores, and Costco’s most popular items (like their rotisserie chickens and food court hotdogs) have retained their pre-inflation price tags. So what is this popular membership warehouse club’s secret? Well, it’s mostly the memberships. An annual Costco membership is $60, and because Costco has so many members, the store can make a profit without significantly marking up prices. In fact, in 2018, CNN Business reported that around 75 percent of Costco’s profits came from membership fees.
The store takes other cost-cutting measures too, some of them pretty unusual. For one thing, Costco doesn’t advertise. Other than signage outside their stores, you won’t see a Costco ad. The money Costco saves in advertising costs helps keep prices low, which brings in customers through word of mouth. Costco warehouses are devoid of decorative displays for the same reason—it saves money, allowing better deals to be passed on to customers. Another price-lowering factor is that Costco doesn’t tend to offer a wide variety of a single type of product. Customers may find only one brand of shredded cheese, for example, but they’ll be able to buy it in bulk for a discounted price since Costco can buy the cheapest bulk items from manufacturers. Costco has also avoided many consequences of the recent “great resignation” by paying employees at least $15 an hour and providing benefits like health insurance. This has led to greater employee retention compared to other large retailers. Even if its unconventional, it sometimes pays to pay more!
[Image description: The entrance of a Costco warehouse.] Credit & copyright: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain -
FREESwimming Daily Curio #2493Free1 CQ
Trying to find the lifeguard on duty? Look up at the sky! In late July, a 14-year-old boy was saved from drowning in Spain, thanks to a flying drone. The boy was on the verge of sinking beneath the waves when the drone dropped a life vest to keep him afloat until rescuers could arrive by jet ski. Miguel Angel Pedrero, the drone pilot who found the boy, told Reuters, “When we arrived what we saw was a kid that was in very bad shape, with almost no energy to keep floating, so I sent over the life vest. Because of the heavy waves it was a complicated maneuver, but we finally managed to give him the vest and he could float until the lifeguards reached him by jet ski.” Pedrero works for General Drones (GD), a firm that employs 30 pilots who operate drones at 22 beaches across Spain. The country attracts beachgoing tourists from around the world, so mitigating the risk of drowning is a high priority. Just within the first six months of 2022, 140 people died from drowning in Spain, an increase of 55 percent from 2021. It’s no wonder, then, that the country is looking for innovative solutions to safeguard their beaches.
According to GD, 90 percent of drowning deaths occur due to lack of surveillance, and a person can submerge underwater in as little as 20 to 60 seconds once they start to struggle. That means that even a brief lapse in attention from a human lifeguard can lead to a drowning death. GD’s drone, the Auxdron LFG, can help prevent drownings in a number of ways. It is equipped with artificial intelligence, rendering it capable of counting swimmers and identifying potential victims. The drone can be deployed to someone who is drowning much faster than rescuers can reach them, buying the victim time by giving them a flotation device, then visually broadcasting their location. Not only does this help save the person drowning, it also makes the situation safer for rescuers, since they won’t be struggling with a panicked victim who could potentially pull them underwater. Next time you’re on Spain’s sandy shores, don’t be surprised to see the lifeguards reaching for a remote controller before a rescue buoy.
[Image description: A drone flies over a beach at sunset] Credit & copyright: bellergy, PixabayTrying to find the lifeguard on duty? Look up at the sky! In late July, a 14-year-old boy was saved from drowning in Spain, thanks to a flying drone. The boy was on the verge of sinking beneath the waves when the drone dropped a life vest to keep him afloat until rescuers could arrive by jet ski. Miguel Angel Pedrero, the drone pilot who found the boy, told Reuters, “When we arrived what we saw was a kid that was in very bad shape, with almost no energy to keep floating, so I sent over the life vest. Because of the heavy waves it was a complicated maneuver, but we finally managed to give him the vest and he could float until the lifeguards reached him by jet ski.” Pedrero works for General Drones (GD), a firm that employs 30 pilots who operate drones at 22 beaches across Spain. The country attracts beachgoing tourists from around the world, so mitigating the risk of drowning is a high priority. Just within the first six months of 2022, 140 people died from drowning in Spain, an increase of 55 percent from 2021. It’s no wonder, then, that the country is looking for innovative solutions to safeguard their beaches.
According to GD, 90 percent of drowning deaths occur due to lack of surveillance, and a person can submerge underwater in as little as 20 to 60 seconds once they start to struggle. That means that even a brief lapse in attention from a human lifeguard can lead to a drowning death. GD’s drone, the Auxdron LFG, can help prevent drownings in a number of ways. It is equipped with artificial intelligence, rendering it capable of counting swimmers and identifying potential victims. The drone can be deployed to someone who is drowning much faster than rescuers can reach them, buying the victim time by giving them a flotation device, then visually broadcasting their location. Not only does this help save the person drowning, it also makes the situation safer for rescuers, since they won’t be struggling with a panicked victim who could potentially pull them underwater. Next time you’re on Spain’s sandy shores, don’t be surprised to see the lifeguards reaching for a remote controller before a rescue buoy.
[Image description: A drone flies over a beach at sunset] Credit & copyright: bellergy, Pixabay
