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September 29, 2024
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 29, 2024\FECK-lus\ adjective
What It Means
Feckless describes people or things that are weak or ineffective.
// ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 29, 2024\FECK-lus\ adjective
What It Means
Feckless describes people or things that are weak or ineffective.
// ...
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
Last week, refinance applications were up 20% from a week earlier. The number of people who could benefit from refinancing — especially those who took out mo...
Last week, refinance applications were up 20% from a week earlier. The number of people who could benefit from refinancing — especially those who took out mo...
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FREEStyle PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
Ooo la la! This timeless headpiece is as French as escargot, yet the beret has managed to maintain incredible worldwide appeal throughout the centuries. This simple, unisex hat has shown up on the heads of everyone from European royals to uniformed soldiers and is still going strong despite a history that stretches back at least as far as the 14th century.
Although modern berets are heavily associated with French fashion and largely gained popularity in the 20th century, flat-cap style hats have been worn since the time of ancient Greece. The true ancestor of the beret comes from Europe in the 1300s, when felted or fulled wool hats were a durable, warm choice for many people working outdoors. The simple design of these hats gave them a timeless quality that endured through the centuries, and they were eventually adopted by the people of the Basque region, sandwiched between the border of France and Spain. The Basque people were renowned fishermen and whalers who sailed long distances in search of their quarry. Basque berets were perfect for these hardy sailors, who needed water–resistant hats to keep them warm while sailing the cold, northern seas. Their version of the beret became so emblematic of their culture that receiving one at the age of 10 was a rite of passage for boys in the Basque city of Béarn, where the hat is said to have originated. Other European cultures recognized the sailing prowess of Basque fishermen as well, and many came to Basque country to learn from the best. That, along with the long-reaching travels of the Basque sailors, spread the Basque beret around Europe. It wasn’t until 1835, though, that the hat began to be called “beret,” short for the French name for it, “béret basque.” Throughout the 1800s, the hat gained increasing popularity outside of maritime professions, though for less peaceful purposes.
The beret came into the forefront of fashion and history when Spanish-Basque military officer Tomás de Zumalacárregui wore a large, red iteration of the hat during the First and Second Carlist Wars. From then on, the beret was inextricably linked to military aesthetics, and was adopted by various European armies thereafter. Another famous example were the Chasseurs Alpins, an elite group of French soldiers trained to fight in the mountains. They wore blue berets to distinguish themselves and keep warm. Then came the brutal conflicts of WWI and WWII, when the advent of wireless communication with the widespread adoption of radios and telephones gave the beret a novel advantage: its compact design allowed it to fit in the cramped spaces inside tanks and other vehicles, while also allowing for the wearing of headphones. Soon, berets became associated with elite forces like the Green Berets of the U.S. Army.
Around the same time, though, the beret once again found itself being worn for fashion. They were embraced by artists and writers like Ernest Hemingway, who considered their roots in European peasantry a means of rebelling against mainstream fashion. As Paris distinguished itself as the world’s fashion center, the hats became most heavily associated with France. Today, the beret remains largely a fashion statement, but it’s also been worn by political revolutionaries such as Che Guevara and the Black Panthers as a means to identify themselves. No matter who you are, though, when you put on a beret, you’re not just wearing a fashionable headpiece. You’re wearing a piece of history.
[Image description: A maroon-colored beret hat with a puffed decoration on top, sitting on a blank mannequin head.] Credit & copyright:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of E. F. Schermerhorn, 1953. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.Ooo la la! This timeless headpiece is as French as escargot, yet the beret has managed to maintain incredible worldwide appeal throughout the centuries. This simple, unisex hat has shown up on the heads of everyone from European royals to uniformed soldiers and is still going strong despite a history that stretches back at least as far as the 14th century.
Although modern berets are heavily associated with French fashion and largely gained popularity in the 20th century, flat-cap style hats have been worn since the time of ancient Greece. The true ancestor of the beret comes from Europe in the 1300s, when felted or fulled wool hats were a durable, warm choice for many people working outdoors. The simple design of these hats gave them a timeless quality that endured through the centuries, and they were eventually adopted by the people of the Basque region, sandwiched between the border of France and Spain. The Basque people were renowned fishermen and whalers who sailed long distances in search of their quarry. Basque berets were perfect for these hardy sailors, who needed water–resistant hats to keep them warm while sailing the cold, northern seas. Their version of the beret became so emblematic of their culture that receiving one at the age of 10 was a rite of passage for boys in the Basque city of Béarn, where the hat is said to have originated. Other European cultures recognized the sailing prowess of Basque fishermen as well, and many came to Basque country to learn from the best. That, along with the long-reaching travels of the Basque sailors, spread the Basque beret around Europe. It wasn’t until 1835, though, that the hat began to be called “beret,” short for the French name for it, “béret basque.” Throughout the 1800s, the hat gained increasing popularity outside of maritime professions, though for less peaceful purposes.
The beret came into the forefront of fashion and history when Spanish-Basque military officer Tomás de Zumalacárregui wore a large, red iteration of the hat during the First and Second Carlist Wars. From then on, the beret was inextricably linked to military aesthetics, and was adopted by various European armies thereafter. Another famous example were the Chasseurs Alpins, an elite group of French soldiers trained to fight in the mountains. They wore blue berets to distinguish themselves and keep warm. Then came the brutal conflicts of WWI and WWII, when the advent of wireless communication with the widespread adoption of radios and telephones gave the beret a novel advantage: its compact design allowed it to fit in the cramped spaces inside tanks and other vehicles, while also allowing for the wearing of headphones. Soon, berets became associated with elite forces like the Green Berets of the U.S. Army.
Around the same time, though, the beret once again found itself being worn for fashion. They were embraced by artists and writers like Ernest Hemingway, who considered their roots in European peasantry a means of rebelling against mainstream fashion. As Paris distinguished itself as the world’s fashion center, the hats became most heavily associated with France. Today, the beret remains largely a fashion statement, but it’s also been worn by political revolutionaries such as Che Guevara and the Black Panthers as a means to identify themselves. No matter who you are, though, when you put on a beret, you’re not just wearing a fashionable headpiece. You’re wearing a piece of history.
[Image description: A maroon-colored beret hat with a puffed decoration on top, sitting on a blank mannequin head.] Credit & copyright:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of E. F. Schermerhorn, 1953. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
September 28, 2024
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 28, 2024\AV-uh-tar\ noun
What It Means
An avatar is an electronic image (as in a video game) that represents, and...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 28, 2024\AV-uh-tar\ noun
What It Means
An avatar is an electronic image (as in a video game) that represents, and...
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
We’re now just days from a potential strike by dockworkers that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico on up the East Coast. Oct. 1 is the deadline for an agr...
We’re now just days from a potential strike by dockworkers that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico on up the East Coast. Oct. 1 is the deadline for an agr...
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FREESwimming Sporty CurioFree1 CQ
Being out in open water with no provisions might sound terrifying to most people, but Neil Aigus isn’t most people. On September 23, the Maltese activist and ultra-endurance athlete completed the longest unaided, open-water swim on record after swimming for three days straight. Aigus’s trip began on the morning of the September 21st, when he took off from Għadira Bay in the village of Mellieħa, located on the northern coast of Malta. From there, he swam around the island until he climbed out of a ladder on the beach in Għar Lapsi, another bay on the island’s southern coast. During his three days in the open water, he covered 87 miles without stopping, breaking the previous world record of 78 miles (also set by him). To be considered for the record, Aigus swam with nothing but a porous swimsuit, goggles, a non-neoprene swim cap, and ear plugs, per the rules set out by the World Open Water Swimming Association. Although he had a support crew trailing him, he wasn’t allowed to rest on their boat. While Aigus had a crowd of cheering supporters to greet him at the end, he says he didn’t do it for personal glory. Instead, he told the press, “It was a swim for Malta.” Indeed, the swim was part of a larger effort to raise awareness of marine waste polluting the island's coasts. As he swam, volunteers scoured the coasts for trash, and by the time he finished, they had collected over 1700 pounds of it. That should be a record of some kind too.
[Image description: A close-up photo of a watery surface.] Credit & copyright:
Matt Hardy, Pexels
Being out in open water with no provisions might sound terrifying to most people, but Neil Aigus isn’t most people. On September 23, the Maltese activist and ultra-endurance athlete completed the longest unaided, open-water swim on record after swimming for three days straight. Aigus’s trip began on the morning of the September 21st, when he took off from Għadira Bay in the village of Mellieħa, located on the northern coast of Malta. From there, he swam around the island until he climbed out of a ladder on the beach in Għar Lapsi, another bay on the island’s southern coast. During his three days in the open water, he covered 87 miles without stopping, breaking the previous world record of 78 miles (also set by him). To be considered for the record, Aigus swam with nothing but a porous swimsuit, goggles, a non-neoprene swim cap, and ear plugs, per the rules set out by the World Open Water Swimming Association. Although he had a support crew trailing him, he wasn’t allowed to rest on their boat. While Aigus had a crowd of cheering supporters to greet him at the end, he says he didn’t do it for personal glory. Instead, he told the press, “It was a swim for Malta.” Indeed, the swim was part of a larger effort to raise awareness of marine waste polluting the island's coasts. As he swam, volunteers scoured the coasts for trash, and by the time he finished, they had collected over 1700 pounds of it. That should be a record of some kind too.
[Image description: A close-up photo of a watery surface.] Credit & copyright:
Matt Hardy, Pexels
September 27, 2024
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 27, 2024\LOO-sid\ adjective
What It Means
If something written, spoken, or otherwise communicated is described as...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 27, 2024\LOO-sid\ adjective
What It Means
If something written, spoken, or otherwise communicated is described as...
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FREEMind + Body Daily CurioFree1 CQ
Would’ya like a bowl of chowdah? Go to Boston, and you may very well be asked this question. Even though clam chowder is heavily associated with Beantown, though, it’s prized throughout all of New England—and there are plenty of regional variations, all of which are perfect to cozy up with as fall weather approaches.
The most famous type of clam chowder is New England clam chowder, also called Boston-style. It’s a thick, creamy soup made with clams (usually Quahog clams, though littleneck clams are also sometimes used.) The clams are steamed, de-shelled, and chopped into hearty chunks before being added to a broth of milk, butter, potatoes, onions, and flour for thickening purposes. Pork or bacon is sometimes added, and the chowder is usually sprinkled with black pepper. Clam chowder is normally served with oyster crackers, which get their name, at least in part, from their association with the soup. Some people’s preference for crushing the crackers and adding them to the chowder as a thickener actually mimics some of the first New England clam chowder recipes, which used crushed hard tack or stale bread in place of flour to thicken the broth.
Despite its beloved status in Boston, Boston-style clam chowder didn’t actually originate there—or even in the states, for that matter. Seafood chowders had been popular in Europe for centuries by the time anyone in the U.S. ate their first bowl of it. In the 1700s, as settlers from places like England, France, and Nova Scotia came to New England, they brought their seafood recipes with them. Sometimes, fishing communities would create large, communal pots of soup, adding leftover fish from their days’ catch. These fishermen were sometimes called “Jowters”, after a 16th-century word meaning fishmonger, which may be where the word “chowder”, meaning seafood soup, originated. No one knows for certain how clams came to be the main ingredient in American chowders, but the first written instance of them being added to chowder came in 1833, in American Frugal Housewife. The name of this book might give a clue as to their popularity, since clams were usually cheaper to procure than high-quality fish.
Today, the most famous clam chowder variations are Manhattan clam chowder and Rhode Island clam chowder, which look and taste quite different from the Boston-style dish. Manhattan style clam chowder forgoes milk in favor of a tomato-based broth with added vegetables and thyme. Rhode Island clam chowder does away with the creamy broth of New England’s style and the tomato-based broth of Manhattan's style, opting for a clear broth made by simmering clams, vegetables, and pork in fish stock. The truth is, no matter where you are in New England, there’s sure to be some kind of clam chowder on the menu. Not bad for a soup originally made by humble fishmongers.
[Image description: A black bowl filled with white, lumpy clam chowder sprinkled with black pepper.] Credit & copyright: Daderot, Wikimedia CommonsWould’ya like a bowl of chowdah? Go to Boston, and you may very well be asked this question. Even though clam chowder is heavily associated with Beantown, though, it’s prized throughout all of New England—and there are plenty of regional variations, all of which are perfect to cozy up with as fall weather approaches.
The most famous type of clam chowder is New England clam chowder, also called Boston-style. It’s a thick, creamy soup made with clams (usually Quahog clams, though littleneck clams are also sometimes used.) The clams are steamed, de-shelled, and chopped into hearty chunks before being added to a broth of milk, butter, potatoes, onions, and flour for thickening purposes. Pork or bacon is sometimes added, and the chowder is usually sprinkled with black pepper. Clam chowder is normally served with oyster crackers, which get their name, at least in part, from their association with the soup. Some people’s preference for crushing the crackers and adding them to the chowder as a thickener actually mimics some of the first New England clam chowder recipes, which used crushed hard tack or stale bread in place of flour to thicken the broth.
Despite its beloved status in Boston, Boston-style clam chowder didn’t actually originate there—or even in the states, for that matter. Seafood chowders had been popular in Europe for centuries by the time anyone in the U.S. ate their first bowl of it. In the 1700s, as settlers from places like England, France, and Nova Scotia came to New England, they brought their seafood recipes with them. Sometimes, fishing communities would create large, communal pots of soup, adding leftover fish from their days’ catch. These fishermen were sometimes called “Jowters”, after a 16th-century word meaning fishmonger, which may be where the word “chowder”, meaning seafood soup, originated. No one knows for certain how clams came to be the main ingredient in American chowders, but the first written instance of them being added to chowder came in 1833, in American Frugal Housewife. The name of this book might give a clue as to their popularity, since clams were usually cheaper to procure than high-quality fish.
Today, the most famous clam chowder variations are Manhattan clam chowder and Rhode Island clam chowder, which look and taste quite different from the Boston-style dish. Manhattan style clam chowder forgoes milk in favor of a tomato-based broth with added vegetables and thyme. Rhode Island clam chowder does away with the creamy broth of New England’s style and the tomato-based broth of Manhattan's style, opting for a clear broth made by simmering clams, vegetables, and pork in fish stock. The truth is, no matter where you are in New England, there’s sure to be some kind of clam chowder on the menu. Not bad for a soup originally made by humble fishmongers.
[Image description: A black bowl filled with white, lumpy clam chowder sprinkled with black pepper.] Credit & copyright: Daderot, Wikimedia Commons
September 26, 2024
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: This week, Chinas has really been trying to get its economy back on track. Today, China’s leaders has rolled out additional measu...
From the BBC World Service: This week, Chinas has really been trying to get its economy back on track. Today, China’s leaders has rolled out additional measu...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 26, 2024\dih-TER\ verb
What It Means
To deter someone is to discourage or prevent them from acting. To deter a th...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 26, 2024\dih-TER\ verb
What It Means
To deter someone is to discourage or prevent them from acting. To deter a th...
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FREEBiology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
An immortal hydra that spreads death and disease? Sounds like something from Greek mythology, but it’s the subject of serious scientific research. According to a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) are using species related to jellyfish that can spread cancer between each other to learn more about other types of transmissible cancer. Named Hydra oligactis, the freshwater creature resembles a small worm with many appendages sticking out of it from one end. Thanks to its ability to repair its own DNA, the species is more or less immortal in that it doesn’t die of old age. It also reproduces asexually, essentially cloning itself by growing and releasing buds that develop into other individuals. They have another curious trait: when overfed in a lab, they rapidly develop tumors which can be transmitted to their clone offspring. This isn’t the only case of transmissible cancer, though. Notably, the Tasmanian devil population is struggling with two kinds of contagious cancers, but it’s otherwise very rare. Very little is known about the mechanisms behind cancer transmission, but thanks to the hydras, that may change soon. The researchers at CNRS wrote, "Using Hydra oligactis, which exhibits spontaneous tumor development that in some strains became vertically transmitted, this study presents the first experimental observation of the evolution of a transmissible tumor. This work, therefore, makes the first contribution to understanding the conditions of transmissible cancer emergence and their short-term consequences for the host." It’s one of the few cases where professionals want to see cancer grow.
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of a Hydra polyp, which looks like a worm with many tendrils.] Credit & copyright: Abraham Trembley/Pierre Lyonnet, 1744. Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer.
An immortal hydra that spreads death and disease? Sounds like something from Greek mythology, but it’s the subject of serious scientific research. According to a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) are using species related to jellyfish that can spread cancer between each other to learn more about other types of transmissible cancer. Named Hydra oligactis, the freshwater creature resembles a small worm with many appendages sticking out of it from one end. Thanks to its ability to repair its own DNA, the species is more or less immortal in that it doesn’t die of old age. It also reproduces asexually, essentially cloning itself by growing and releasing buds that develop into other individuals. They have another curious trait: when overfed in a lab, they rapidly develop tumors which can be transmitted to their clone offspring. This isn’t the only case of transmissible cancer, though. Notably, the Tasmanian devil population is struggling with two kinds of contagious cancers, but it’s otherwise very rare. Very little is known about the mechanisms behind cancer transmission, but thanks to the hydras, that may change soon. The researchers at CNRS wrote, "Using Hydra oligactis, which exhibits spontaneous tumor development that in some strains became vertically transmitted, this study presents the first experimental observation of the evolution of a transmissible tumor. This work, therefore, makes the first contribution to understanding the conditions of transmissible cancer emergence and their short-term consequences for the host." It’s one of the few cases where professionals want to see cancer grow.
[Image description: A black-and-white illustration of a Hydra polyp, which looks like a worm with many tendrils.] Credit & copyright: Abraham Trembley/Pierre Lyonnet, 1744. Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer.
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FREEPhysics Daily Curio #2950Free1 CQ
It’s an artist’s job to see beauty in things that ordinary people overlook. In the case of legendary French painter Vincent van Gogh, it seems that artists can even depict the beauty of things that can’t be seen. Van Gogh’s The Starry Night depicts a night sky made of bold, swirling brushstrokes that appear to be the product of artistic license, but scientists have now found that the mesmerizing details of the piece are scientifically sound. Since Van Gogh painted the night sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence 135 years ago, the painting has been recognized as one of the artist’s greatest works. Created during his stay in an asylum, the painting actually depicts his view through the window in his room. However, what he painted looks much more fantastical than a typical night sky, full of bright colors that dance around in the form of 14 eddies lit up by the moon and stars. For many, The Starry Night is the epitome of post-impressionist art, but for a group of researchers at Xiamen University in China, it was an illustration of fluid dynamics. Apparently, the swirling of the clouds and the halos of light around the moon and stars were seemingly painted with a solid understanding of turbulent airflow. Using high-resolution scans of the painting, the researchers analyzed the atmospheric motion shown in the painting. They determined direction, distance, and intensity based on the color and thickness of the brushstrokes. Surprisingly, they found that the atmospheric motion depicted in the painting adhered to scientific turbulence theories. This doesn’t mean that Van Gogh was secretly a physicist, but that he likely spent a lot of time doing something a lot of artists do: observing and studying nature. Dr Yongxiang Huang, one of the researchers, stated, “...This physical relationship must be embedded in his mind, so that’s why when he made this famous Starry Night painting, it mimics the real flow.” In other words, it was an accurate impression.
[Image description: Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, depicting a starry night sky with swirling wind over a village at night.] Credit & copyright: Vincent van Gogh, Museum of Modern Art, Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.It’s an artist’s job to see beauty in things that ordinary people overlook. In the case of legendary French painter Vincent van Gogh, it seems that artists can even depict the beauty of things that can’t be seen. Van Gogh’s The Starry Night depicts a night sky made of bold, swirling brushstrokes that appear to be the product of artistic license, but scientists have now found that the mesmerizing details of the piece are scientifically sound. Since Van Gogh painted the night sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence 135 years ago, the painting has been recognized as one of the artist’s greatest works. Created during his stay in an asylum, the painting actually depicts his view through the window in his room. However, what he painted looks much more fantastical than a typical night sky, full of bright colors that dance around in the form of 14 eddies lit up by the moon and stars. For many, The Starry Night is the epitome of post-impressionist art, but for a group of researchers at Xiamen University in China, it was an illustration of fluid dynamics. Apparently, the swirling of the clouds and the halos of light around the moon and stars were seemingly painted with a solid understanding of turbulent airflow. Using high-resolution scans of the painting, the researchers analyzed the atmospheric motion shown in the painting. They determined direction, distance, and intensity based on the color and thickness of the brushstrokes. Surprisingly, they found that the atmospheric motion depicted in the painting adhered to scientific turbulence theories. This doesn’t mean that Van Gogh was secretly a physicist, but that he likely spent a lot of time doing something a lot of artists do: observing and studying nature. Dr Yongxiang Huang, one of the researchers, stated, “...This physical relationship must be embedded in his mind, so that’s why when he made this famous Starry Night painting, it mimics the real flow.” In other words, it was an accurate impression.
[Image description: Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, depicting a starry night sky with swirling wind over a village at night.] Credit & copyright: Vincent van Gogh, Museum of Modern Art, Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.
September 25, 2024
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
Once upon a time, there was department store chain called Kmart. Now, the bargain retailer is closing its last full-scale store in the lower 48. Kmart has st...
Once upon a time, there was department store chain called Kmart. Now, the bargain retailer is closing its last full-scale store in the lower 48. Kmart has st...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 25, 2024\ILK\ noun
What It Means
Ilk is a noun that means "sort" or "kind." It is usually used in short phrases w...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 25, 2024\ILK\ noun
What It Means
Ilk is a noun that means "sort" or "kind." It is usually used in short phrases w...
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FREEBiology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
She’s an icon, she’s a diva, she’s a hippo. If you’ve been on social media in recent months, you’ve almost certainly seen at least one post about the adorable baby pygmy hippo named Moo Deng. Born this July at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi province, Thailand, Moo Deng has done more than take the internet by storm; she’s raised public awareness about her highly endangered species.
As their name suggests, pygmy hippopotamuses are much smaller than their common hippopotamus cousins. Common hippopotamuses stand around 5.2 feet tall and can reach lengths of up to 16.5 feet with females weighing up to 3,000 pounds and males weighing up to 9,000 or more. Compared to that, an average pygmy hippo standing three feet tall with a length of around 6 feet and a weight of around 600 pounds seems quite petite. But it isn’t just their size that makes pygmy hippos unusual. While common hippos spend most of their life in water, pygmy hippos are better suited for life on land. They have fewer webbed toes than their larger counterparts and are therefore poorer swimmers. Still, they like to wade in water and often live near lakes and rivers. Like common hippos, pygmy hippos can’t sweat, but their skin does secret a reddish substance called “blood sweat” which acts as a natural sunscreen, ensuring that their mostly-hairless bodies don’t get burned. It’s thought that pygmy hippos and common hippos shared a common ancestor, and that the two species diverged from one another around 10 million years ago.
Wild pygmy hippos live in tropical lowland forests in northwestern Africa, where they eat a vegetarian diet of fallen fruit, broad-leafed plants, and grasses.
Unfortunately, habitat loss has led them to become critically endangered, and today there are only around 3,000 pygmy hippos left in the wild. Conservationists are doing their best to work with governments to pass regulations that create protected areas for pygmy hippos. Of course, public awareness always helps—for now, we can leave that part to Moo Deng.
[Image description: A mother and baby pygmy hippo standing by water in a zoo enclosure.] Credit & copyright: Mistvan, Wikimedia Commons. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Mistvan. This applies worldwide.She’s an icon, she’s a diva, she’s a hippo. If you’ve been on social media in recent months, you’ve almost certainly seen at least one post about the adorable baby pygmy hippo named Moo Deng. Born this July at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi province, Thailand, Moo Deng has done more than take the internet by storm; she’s raised public awareness about her highly endangered species.
As their name suggests, pygmy hippopotamuses are much smaller than their common hippopotamus cousins. Common hippopotamuses stand around 5.2 feet tall and can reach lengths of up to 16.5 feet with females weighing up to 3,000 pounds and males weighing up to 9,000 or more. Compared to that, an average pygmy hippo standing three feet tall with a length of around 6 feet and a weight of around 600 pounds seems quite petite. But it isn’t just their size that makes pygmy hippos unusual. While common hippos spend most of their life in water, pygmy hippos are better suited for life on land. They have fewer webbed toes than their larger counterparts and are therefore poorer swimmers. Still, they like to wade in water and often live near lakes and rivers. Like common hippos, pygmy hippos can’t sweat, but their skin does secret a reddish substance called “blood sweat” which acts as a natural sunscreen, ensuring that their mostly-hairless bodies don’t get burned. It’s thought that pygmy hippos and common hippos shared a common ancestor, and that the two species diverged from one another around 10 million years ago.
Wild pygmy hippos live in tropical lowland forests in northwestern Africa, where they eat a vegetarian diet of fallen fruit, broad-leafed plants, and grasses.
Unfortunately, habitat loss has led them to become critically endangered, and today there are only around 3,000 pygmy hippos left in the wild. Conservationists are doing their best to work with governments to pass regulations that create protected areas for pygmy hippos. Of course, public awareness always helps—for now, we can leave that part to Moo Deng.
[Image description: A mother and baby pygmy hippo standing by water in a zoo enclosure.] Credit & copyright: Mistvan, Wikimedia Commons. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Mistvan. This applies worldwide. -
FREEGolf Daily Curio #2949Free1 CQ
He really brought his sport down to Earth. Famed American golfer Arnold Palmer died on this day in 2016. He was a rare star of his normally-quiet sport who’s as remembered for his athletic prowess as he is for his eponymous drink. Arnold Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1929. As a teenager, he won the state high-school golf championship twice, earning himself a college scholarship. However, he never graduated from college, dropping out once to join the U.S. Coast Guard in 1950 and again in 1954 after winning the U.S. Amateur Championship. It proved to be a good decision, as he went on to win the 1955 Canadian Open and the 1958 Masters Tournament at the age of 28, making an explosive debut in the professional golf scene. By the 1960s, Palmer was a sports superstar, but it wasn’t just because of his skills. Before Palmer came onto the scene, golf was largely a high-society game, aloof from the rest of American sports culture. Palmer, on the other hand, was an affable persona whose everyman charisma was as undeniable as his powerful swings.
Golf games were starting to be televised around the time that Palmer went professional, and his approachable nature drew in American viewers who were curious about the sport and enamored with his easygoing, relatable personality. It was in 1960, just as Palmer’s star was rising, that his namesake drink came to be. The story goes that Palmer was in Palm Springs, California, when he was overheard asking a waitress for a drink consisting of lemonade and iced tea. Supposedly, another patron nearby overheard the order and asked the waitress for “that Palmer drink.” Nowadays, even those who’ve never heard of the golfer probably know his drink. Palmer golfed competitively for decades, playing in the PGA Tour Champions starting in 1980, and he only officially retired in 2006. If it wasn’t for Palmer, golf might still be a game just for business executives and so-called stuffed shirts. Plus, imagine all those thirsty people who would be lacking a refreshing drink option on the course.
[Image description: A golf ball sitting on a golf green with trees in the background.] Credit & copyright: Jill Rose, PexelsHe really brought his sport down to Earth. Famed American golfer Arnold Palmer died on this day in 2016. He was a rare star of his normally-quiet sport who’s as remembered for his athletic prowess as he is for his eponymous drink. Arnold Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1929. As a teenager, he won the state high-school golf championship twice, earning himself a college scholarship. However, he never graduated from college, dropping out once to join the U.S. Coast Guard in 1950 and again in 1954 after winning the U.S. Amateur Championship. It proved to be a good decision, as he went on to win the 1955 Canadian Open and the 1958 Masters Tournament at the age of 28, making an explosive debut in the professional golf scene. By the 1960s, Palmer was a sports superstar, but it wasn’t just because of his skills. Before Palmer came onto the scene, golf was largely a high-society game, aloof from the rest of American sports culture. Palmer, on the other hand, was an affable persona whose everyman charisma was as undeniable as his powerful swings.
Golf games were starting to be televised around the time that Palmer went professional, and his approachable nature drew in American viewers who were curious about the sport and enamored with his easygoing, relatable personality. It was in 1960, just as Palmer’s star was rising, that his namesake drink came to be. The story goes that Palmer was in Palm Springs, California, when he was overheard asking a waitress for a drink consisting of lemonade and iced tea. Supposedly, another patron nearby overheard the order and asked the waitress for “that Palmer drink.” Nowadays, even those who’ve never heard of the golfer probably know his drink. Palmer golfed competitively for decades, playing in the PGA Tour Champions starting in 1980, and he only officially retired in 2006. If it wasn’t for Palmer, golf might still be a game just for business executives and so-called stuffed shirts. Plus, imagine all those thirsty people who would be lacking a refreshing drink option on the course.
[Image description: A golf ball sitting on a golf green with trees in the background.] Credit & copyright: Jill Rose, Pexels
September 24, 2024
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The art market is in somewhat of a funk right now. Auction houses are reporting that demand for new pieces of art has dipped recently, partly due to external...
The art market is in somewhat of a funk right now. Auction houses are reporting that demand for new pieces of art has dipped recently, partly due to external...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: September 24, 2024\JERK-waw-ter\ adjective
What It Means
Jerkwater means “remote and unimportant.” It is often used to desc...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: September 24, 2024\JERK-waw-ter\ adjective
What It Means
Jerkwater means “remote and unimportant.” It is often used to desc...
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
You can’t talk about music in 2024 without talking about Chappell Roan. The breakout pop star has catapulted to fame in just a few short months. To give an idea of her meteoric rise, Roan made her late-night debut on The Late Show in February of this year, and by September she had already gotten big enough to perform her latest single, Good Luck, Babe!, at the VMAs, complete with pyrotechnics and backup dancers. The song, like Roan herself, serves to show how far the music industry has come in terms of LGBTQ+ representation. As an openly lesbian performer, Roan often pens songs about her romantic experiences. With its bright vocals and danceable beat, Good Luck, Babe! is, in many ways, a classic pop breakup song. However, the lyrics reveal a story about a female narrator dating a woman who is ashamed of her sexuality and attempting to hide it. In press materials for the song, Roan wrote, “I needed to write a song about a common situationship within queer relationships—where someone is struggling with coming to terms with themselves.” One thing’s for sure: audiences sure aren’t struggling to come to terms with Roan’s new superstar status.
You can’t talk about music in 2024 without talking about Chappell Roan. The breakout pop star has catapulted to fame in just a few short months. To give an idea of her meteoric rise, Roan made her late-night debut on The Late Show in February of this year, and by September she had already gotten big enough to perform her latest single, Good Luck, Babe!, at the VMAs, complete with pyrotechnics and backup dancers. The song, like Roan herself, serves to show how far the music industry has come in terms of LGBTQ+ representation. As an openly lesbian performer, Roan often pens songs about her romantic experiences. With its bright vocals and danceable beat, Good Luck, Babe! is, in many ways, a classic pop breakup song. However, the lyrics reveal a story about a female narrator dating a woman who is ashamed of her sexuality and attempting to hide it. In press materials for the song, Roan wrote, “I needed to write a song about a common situationship within queer relationships—where someone is struggling with coming to terms with themselves.” One thing’s for sure: audiences sure aren’t struggling to come to terms with Roan’s new superstar status.
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FREEScience Daily Curio #2948Free1 CQ
Three’s a crowd, but who’s complaining? The Earth already has one moon that’s been orbiting us for billions of years, but scientists say that, for a little while, a second moon will be joining in. It won’t exactly be a full-sized moon, but a small asteroid that researchers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) have dubbed 2024 PT5. The asteroid originally hails from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits around the sun, around 93 million miles away. 2024 PT5 isn’t the first, nor is it likely to be the last, visitor from Arjuna, as many of its asteroids travel within 2.8 million miles of Earth while moving at an average of 2,000 miles per hour. However, 2024 PT5 is going to get a little closer than others and hang around longer, too. Starting on September 29, the asteroid will begin a 57-day orbit around the Earth. It won’t part ways with our planet until November 25.
Interestingly, the asteroid won’t complete even a single full revolution around Earth during its cosmic layover, though maybe that’s for the best. At 33 feet across, the asteroid might not seem like much, but it could do some damage if it were to collide with the Earth. In an interview with ABC News, University of Rochester astrophysics Professor Adam Frank, who was not part of the research team, said, "...If something this size were to hit the Earth, you know, it would be an apocalypse of a biblical kind.” By the way, if there ever was a threat to Earth, ATLAS would be the first to know. ATLAS is an early warning system for asteroid impacts run by the University of Hawaii with NASA funding. Several times a day, they use two telescopes located in Hawaii, one in Chile, and another in South Africa to scan the sky for potential collisions. When ATLAS makes the news, it’s probably a good idea to stop and listen to what they have to say!
[Image description: A full moon partly visible through evening clouds.] Credit & copyright: W.carter, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.Three’s a crowd, but who’s complaining? The Earth already has one moon that’s been orbiting us for billions of years, but scientists say that, for a little while, a second moon will be joining in. It won’t exactly be a full-sized moon, but a small asteroid that researchers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) have dubbed 2024 PT5. The asteroid originally hails from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits around the sun, around 93 million miles away. 2024 PT5 isn’t the first, nor is it likely to be the last, visitor from Arjuna, as many of its asteroids travel within 2.8 million miles of Earth while moving at an average of 2,000 miles per hour. However, 2024 PT5 is going to get a little closer than others and hang around longer, too. Starting on September 29, the asteroid will begin a 57-day orbit around the Earth. It won’t part ways with our planet until November 25.
Interestingly, the asteroid won’t complete even a single full revolution around Earth during its cosmic layover, though maybe that’s for the best. At 33 feet across, the asteroid might not seem like much, but it could do some damage if it were to collide with the Earth. In an interview with ABC News, University of Rochester astrophysics Professor Adam Frank, who was not part of the research team, said, "...If something this size were to hit the Earth, you know, it would be an apocalypse of a biblical kind.” By the way, if there ever was a threat to Earth, ATLAS would be the first to know. ATLAS is an early warning system for asteroid impacts run by the University of Hawaii with NASA funding. Several times a day, they use two telescopes located in Hawaii, one in Chile, and another in South Africa to scan the sky for potential collisions. When ATLAS makes the news, it’s probably a good idea to stop and listen to what they have to say!
[Image description: A full moon partly visible through evening clouds.] Credit & copyright: W.carter, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
September 23, 2024
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FREEScience Daily Curio #2947Free1 CQ
It’s time to apply the breaks on climate change. Researchers from Conservation International have recently found that surf breaks, portions of the ocean where waves frequently break due to features on the seabed, are capable of acting as massive carbon stores, making them important to the fight against climate change. Surf breaks are more than just spots where surfers can catch great waves—they’re also rich ecosystems with immense biodiversity. From coral reefs to mangrove forests, they’re absolutely teeming with life. Where there is life, there is carbon, and surf breaks around the world contain a staggering 97 million tons of carbon sequestered away beneath the waves. Researchers looked at 4,800 popular surfing spots (and the surrounding 0.6 miles or so) spread throughout 11 countries. Broken down, their carbon is distributed between mangroves (26.1 percent), tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (24.0 percent), temperate broadleaf and mixed forests (15.5 percent), temperate conifer forests (9.1 percent), and Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub (5.0 percent), among others. The amount of carbon found directly in the surf breaks is the equivalent of the annual emissions of 77 million automobiles, but there’s more. When the researchers included the surrounding 1.9 miles, they found that the figure goes up to 211 million tons of carbon. Knowing this, governments around the world can take action to protect these areas to prevent the stored carbon from being released into the atmosphere. This also has the added benefit of protecting the popular surf spots for recreational purposes. However, if these areas aren’t protected from development or pollution that threatens their biodiversity, the carbon could be released, exacerbating the climate crisis. Already, around 20 percent of the surf breaks in the study lack any sort of protection. Hopefully, conservationists and locals can work together to keep the good times and the good waves rolling.
[Image description: Ocean waves just offshore.] Credit & copyright: Saral Shots, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.It’s time to apply the breaks on climate change. Researchers from Conservation International have recently found that surf breaks, portions of the ocean where waves frequently break due to features on the seabed, are capable of acting as massive carbon stores, making them important to the fight against climate change. Surf breaks are more than just spots where surfers can catch great waves—they’re also rich ecosystems with immense biodiversity. From coral reefs to mangrove forests, they’re absolutely teeming with life. Where there is life, there is carbon, and surf breaks around the world contain a staggering 97 million tons of carbon sequestered away beneath the waves. Researchers looked at 4,800 popular surfing spots (and the surrounding 0.6 miles or so) spread throughout 11 countries. Broken down, their carbon is distributed between mangroves (26.1 percent), tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (24.0 percent), temperate broadleaf and mixed forests (15.5 percent), temperate conifer forests (9.1 percent), and Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub (5.0 percent), among others. The amount of carbon found directly in the surf breaks is the equivalent of the annual emissions of 77 million automobiles, but there’s more. When the researchers included the surrounding 1.9 miles, they found that the figure goes up to 211 million tons of carbon. Knowing this, governments around the world can take action to protect these areas to prevent the stored carbon from being released into the atmosphere. This also has the added benefit of protecting the popular surf spots for recreational purposes. However, if these areas aren’t protected from development or pollution that threatens their biodiversity, the carbon could be released, exacerbating the climate crisis. Already, around 20 percent of the surf breaks in the study lack any sort of protection. Hopefully, conservationists and locals can work together to keep the good times and the good waves rolling.
[Image description: Ocean waves just offshore.] Credit & copyright: Saral Shots, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. -
9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
We learned this week that retail sales rose in August. A big part of that was thanks to online shopping, which was up almost 8% from last year. And retailers...
We learned this week that retail sales rose in August. A big part of that was thanks to online shopping, which was up almost 8% from last year. And retailers...
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Someone’s in for a rude awakening. American artist Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was one of the greatest Neoclassical sculptors of her time, creating lifelike figures from Greek and Roman myth out of marble. The piece above, The Sleeping Faun, is a marble sculpture depicting a sleeping man holding a goatskin. To his left, a faun is tying the tail of the goatskin to the tree stump. Fauns were half-man, half-goat creatures from mythology, often associated with the Greek god Pan or his Roman counterpart, Faunus. Either way, they were described as having the horns and legs of a goat, though they weren’t always depicted that way in art. In Hosmer’s piece above, like many before it, the faun has an entirely human appearance. Adding to the confusion is the younger creature, who does have the legs of a goat. Regardless of their true identities, one thing is clear: with friends like this, we’d be sleeping with one eye open.
The Sleeping Faun, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (1830–1908), 1870, Marble, 50 in. (127 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, The Cleveland Museum of Art. Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1997.15. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.Someone’s in for a rude awakening. American artist Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was one of the greatest Neoclassical sculptors of her time, creating lifelike figures from Greek and Roman myth out of marble. The piece above, The Sleeping Faun, is a marble sculpture depicting a sleeping man holding a goatskin. To his left, a faun is tying the tail of the goatskin to the tree stump. Fauns were half-man, half-goat creatures from mythology, often associated with the Greek god Pan or his Roman counterpart, Faunus. Either way, they were described as having the horns and legs of a goat, though they weren’t always depicted that way in art. In Hosmer’s piece above, like many before it, the faun has an entirely human appearance. Adding to the confusion is the younger creature, who does have the legs of a goat. Regardless of their true identities, one thing is clear: with friends like this, we’d be sleeping with one eye open.
The Sleeping Faun, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (1830–1908), 1870, Marble, 50 in. (127 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, The Cleveland Museum of Art. Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1997.15. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.