Curio Cabinet
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October 7, 2024
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3 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 7, 2024\layz-MAJ-uh-stee\ noun
What It Means
Lèse-majesté (less commonly spelled lese majesty) can refer to a true ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 7, 2024\layz-MAJ-uh-stee\ noun
What It Means
Lèse-majesté (less commonly spelled lese majesty) can refer to a true ...
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FREEArt CurioFree1 CQ
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but this situation is excessive by any standard! In Greek mythology, Medea was an enchantress and the wife of Jason (the same Jason who sailed with the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.) But her story goes to show that a lot of Greek myths were less than family-friendly. The piece above is a ceramic vessel depicting a woman riding a chariot pulled by flying snakes. Around her are various figures, including a man holding his hands on his head as he looks at two dead bodies. Portrayed on a calyx-krater (a vessel for mixing water and wine before serving), the woman in the magical chariot is none other than Medea. The scene looks almost triumphant, but is actually quite tragic. As her story goes, Medea helped Jason attain the Golden Fleece and win back his father’s throne in Thessaly. After their heroic escapades, the two married and had children. When Jason became infatuated with another woman, however, Medea killed her own two children in revenge and fled with the divine assistance of her grandfather, the sun god Helios. She really took “ride or die” to a whole new level.
Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B), The Policoro Painter (active 400 - 380 B.C.), c. 400 BCE, Ceramic, 19.87 in. (50.5 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: The Policoro Painter, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1991.1, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation, Public Domain.]They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but this situation is excessive by any standard! In Greek mythology, Medea was an enchantress and the wife of Jason (the same Jason who sailed with the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.) But her story goes to show that a lot of Greek myths were less than family-friendly. The piece above is a ceramic vessel depicting a woman riding a chariot pulled by flying snakes. Around her are various figures, including a man holding his hands on his head as he looks at two dead bodies. Portrayed on a calyx-krater (a vessel for mixing water and wine before serving), the woman in the magical chariot is none other than Medea. The scene looks almost triumphant, but is actually quite tragic. As her story goes, Medea helped Jason attain the Golden Fleece and win back his father’s throne in Thessaly. After their heroic escapades, the two married and had children. When Jason became infatuated with another woman, however, Medea killed her own two children in revenge and fled with the divine assistance of her grandfather, the sun god Helios. She really took “ride or die” to a whole new level.
Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B), The Policoro Painter (active 400 - 380 B.C.), c. 400 BCE, Ceramic, 19.87 in. (50.5 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
[Image credit & copyright: The Policoro Painter, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1991.1, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation, Public Domain.] -
FREEScience Daily Curio #2955Free1 CQ
When a butterfly flaps its wings, it threatens the electronics industry. The butterfly effect certainly does seem to be on full display as the devastation from Hurricane Helene is now, in a roundabout way, threatening to have a dire impact on everything from smartphones to AI. Many modern electronics rely on high-quality quartz to operate properly. Microwaves, televisions, computers, and a myriad of other products contain quartz somewhere inside. When an electric field is applied to a quartz crystal, it oscillates at a stable and reliable frequency, and this is used as a timing reference. The simplest example is a timepiece—most analog watches and clocks, despite their purely mechanical appearance, use electronics with quartz to keep time accurately. Quartz is actually very common, but not just any quartz will do. For it to provide precise, accurate timing, quartz of exceptional purity is needed. This kind of quartz is also used for semiconductors, which are essential components of any electronic device that doesn’t run on tubes. Such high-quality quartz is very rare, and only a handful of sites around the world are known to have significant deposits of it. One of those sites is located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a small town of around 2,000. Located an hour from Asheville, the town is also known as Mineral City for its abundance of the rare quartz. Unfortunately, when Hurricane Helene struck, it dropped two feet of rain on the small town and caused widespread power outages. Among the affected were two companies that provide up to 90 percent of all the world’s high-quality quartz. It’s not just the power outage that’s hampering operations, but damage to the quartz mines themselves. Luckily, many semiconductor manufacturers keep robust quartz stockpiles in case of supply disruptions, so there won’t be immediate repercussions. Still, they can’t go on forever unless Spruce Pine gets up and running again. It’s just one more reminder not to underestimate the importance of small towns.
[Image description: Quartz crystals against a black and gray background.] Credit & copyright: MartinThoma, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.When a butterfly flaps its wings, it threatens the electronics industry. The butterfly effect certainly does seem to be on full display as the devastation from Hurricane Helene is now, in a roundabout way, threatening to have a dire impact on everything from smartphones to AI. Many modern electronics rely on high-quality quartz to operate properly. Microwaves, televisions, computers, and a myriad of other products contain quartz somewhere inside. When an electric field is applied to a quartz crystal, it oscillates at a stable and reliable frequency, and this is used as a timing reference. The simplest example is a timepiece—most analog watches and clocks, despite their purely mechanical appearance, use electronics with quartz to keep time accurately. Quartz is actually very common, but not just any quartz will do. For it to provide precise, accurate timing, quartz of exceptional purity is needed. This kind of quartz is also used for semiconductors, which are essential components of any electronic device that doesn’t run on tubes. Such high-quality quartz is very rare, and only a handful of sites around the world are known to have significant deposits of it. One of those sites is located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a small town of around 2,000. Located an hour from Asheville, the town is also known as Mineral City for its abundance of the rare quartz. Unfortunately, when Hurricane Helene struck, it dropped two feet of rain on the small town and caused widespread power outages. Among the affected were two companies that provide up to 90 percent of all the world’s high-quality quartz. It’s not just the power outage that’s hampering operations, but damage to the quartz mines themselves. Luckily, many semiconductor manufacturers keep robust quartz stockpiles in case of supply disruptions, so there won’t be immediate repercussions. Still, they can’t go on forever unless Spruce Pine gets up and running again. It’s just one more reminder not to underestimate the importance of small towns.
[Image description: Quartz crystals against a black and gray background.] Credit & copyright: MartinThoma, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. -
9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
How businesses strategically funnel cash toward political causes, what they hope to gain, and what they might be risking. Plus, the trucking industry braces ...
How businesses strategically funnel cash toward political causes, what they hope to gain, and what they might be risking. Plus, the trucking industry braces ...
October 6, 2024
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FREEPolitical Science PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
With nationwide relief efforts underway following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, you’ve likely been hearing a lot about one federal agency: FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). With a workforce of more than 20,000 people, FEMA is uniquely equipped to respond to all sorts of emergencies. Before its founding, though, Americans dealing with disasters were largely left on their own.
In December of 1802, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was practically destroyed by a fire. At the time, Portsmouth was among the U.S.’s busiest ports, and its destruction spelled disaster for the economy. The federal government didn’t directly help rebuild the city, but the U.S. Congress suspended bond payments for local merchants to allow them to continue operations in Portsmouth. Similar measures were taken after other major fires, such as one in New York City in 1835 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Still, there wasn’t much interest in creating a proactive federal response system for disasters until the early 20th century, when two tragic events led to calls for action. First, there was the Galveston Hurricane in 1900, which killed thousands of people. Then, the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 leveled much of the city. In both cases, very little federal action was taken to address displaced citizens or to rebuild critical infrastructure, with the onus falling entirely on local governments. Those local governments, in turn, began asking the federal government to create some kind of task force to help when future disasters arose. Finally, in 1950, Congress created the Federal Disaster Assistance Program, giving the federal government powers to act directly in the case of disasters. A series of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes in the 1960s provided further impetus to expand these powers, resulting in the Disaster Relief Act of 1970. This allowed affected individuals to receive federal loans and tax assistance. Finally, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order to combine a number of agencies responsible for disaster response to create FEMA.
Since FEMA was created, it has helped in the face of everything from volcanoes to hurricanes, but it hasn’t always been beyond criticism. For example, the federal response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 were considered inadequate. Major reforms in the 1990s and the increasing emphasis on being proactive, not simply reactive, allowed the agency to respond to disasters more effectively. Some of the proactive measures included purchasing property in areas at higher risk of natural disasters and encouraging more stringent building codes. While FEMA was improving its response to natural disasters, there were also unnatural disasters to contend with. In 1995, FEMA responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Six years later, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 led to the most significant change to the agency since its creation. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created to handle federal responses to terrorist attacks, FEMA was absorbed into it, expanding its scope to terrorism preparedness.
Today, FEMA continues in its original mission of disaster relief, and it’s been getting busier by the year. With climate change creating storms of greater frequency and power, FEMA has been kept on its toes recently. When such storms approach, it’s up to governors of affected states to request assistance through the FEMA Regional Office. Since they can do this before storms actually strike, FEMA can begin providing financial aid and moving people and supplies into position before any actual damage has occurred. Aside from providing practical necessities like food, water, and shelter to affected people, part of FEMA’s purpose is to ensure that allocated funds are handled appropriately. After all, when things go sideways, you want to make sure everything else is on the up and up.
[Image description: An American flag with a wooden flagpole flying against a blue sky.] Credit & copyright: Crefollet, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.With nationwide relief efforts underway following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, you’ve likely been hearing a lot about one federal agency: FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). With a workforce of more than 20,000 people, FEMA is uniquely equipped to respond to all sorts of emergencies. Before its founding, though, Americans dealing with disasters were largely left on their own.
In December of 1802, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was practically destroyed by a fire. At the time, Portsmouth was among the U.S.’s busiest ports, and its destruction spelled disaster for the economy. The federal government didn’t directly help rebuild the city, but the U.S. Congress suspended bond payments for local merchants to allow them to continue operations in Portsmouth. Similar measures were taken after other major fires, such as one in New York City in 1835 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Still, there wasn’t much interest in creating a proactive federal response system for disasters until the early 20th century, when two tragic events led to calls for action. First, there was the Galveston Hurricane in 1900, which killed thousands of people. Then, the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 leveled much of the city. In both cases, very little federal action was taken to address displaced citizens or to rebuild critical infrastructure, with the onus falling entirely on local governments. Those local governments, in turn, began asking the federal government to create some kind of task force to help when future disasters arose. Finally, in 1950, Congress created the Federal Disaster Assistance Program, giving the federal government powers to act directly in the case of disasters. A series of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes in the 1960s provided further impetus to expand these powers, resulting in the Disaster Relief Act of 1970. This allowed affected individuals to receive federal loans and tax assistance. Finally, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order to combine a number of agencies responsible for disaster response to create FEMA.
Since FEMA was created, it has helped in the face of everything from volcanoes to hurricanes, but it hasn’t always been beyond criticism. For example, the federal response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 were considered inadequate. Major reforms in the 1990s and the increasing emphasis on being proactive, not simply reactive, allowed the agency to respond to disasters more effectively. Some of the proactive measures included purchasing property in areas at higher risk of natural disasters and encouraging more stringent building codes. While FEMA was improving its response to natural disasters, there were also unnatural disasters to contend with. In 1995, FEMA responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Six years later, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 led to the most significant change to the agency since its creation. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created to handle federal responses to terrorist attacks, FEMA was absorbed into it, expanding its scope to terrorism preparedness.
Today, FEMA continues in its original mission of disaster relief, and it’s been getting busier by the year. With climate change creating storms of greater frequency and power, FEMA has been kept on its toes recently. When such storms approach, it’s up to governors of affected states to request assistance through the FEMA Regional Office. Since they can do this before storms actually strike, FEMA can begin providing financial aid and moving people and supplies into position before any actual damage has occurred. Aside from providing practical necessities like food, water, and shelter to affected people, part of FEMA’s purpose is to ensure that allocated funds are handled appropriately. After all, when things go sideways, you want to make sure everything else is on the up and up.
[Image description: An American flag with a wooden flagpole flying against a blue sky.] Credit & copyright: Crefollet, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. -
9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
As we enter day three of port strikes along the East and Gulf Coasts, ports on the West Coast are fielding record high amounts of diverted cargo. Plus, reass...
As we enter day three of port strikes along the East and Gulf Coasts, ports on the West Coast are fielding record high amounts of diverted cargo. Plus, reass...
October 5, 2024
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 5, 2024\AD-ver-sair-ee\ noun
What It Means
An adversary is an enemy or opponent.
// Upon learning that its adversa...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 5, 2024\AD-ver-sair-ee\ noun
What It Means
An adversary is an enemy or opponent.
// Upon learning that its adversa...
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10 minFREEWork Business CurioFree6 CQ
Will the ongoing port strike lead to food shortages? It depends on both businesses and shoppers. Plus, retailers bet on big consumer spending this holiday se...
Will the ongoing port strike lead to food shortages? It depends on both businesses and shoppers. Plus, retailers bet on big consumer spending this holiday se...
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FREEBasketball Sporty CurioFree1 CQ
He was a giant among giants, and not just because of his immense stature. Dikembe Mutombo, an NBA Hall of Famer and a Global Ambassador for the league, has passed away at the age of 58. Mutombo succumbed to brain cancer on October 1 after first revealing his diagnosis two years ago. Born on June 25, 1966, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mutombo was considered one of the greatest defensive players in the league’s history. But along with the former center’s impenetrable defense was a playfulness that won him the affection of basketball fans around the world. His most endearing trademark was blocking shots by smacking the ball high into the air, then wagging his finger at the defeated shooter with a mischievous grin. Mutombo was humble and generous off the court, though, using his stardom to help build hospitals in central Africa. After retiring from the sport, he became the first Global Ambassador for the NBA and used his position to further his philanthropic and humanitarian causes. His son, Ryan, paid tribute to him on social media, saying, "My dad is my hero because he simply cared. He remains the purest heart I have ever known." That’s surely nothing to wag a finger at.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of a basketball hoop.] Credit & copyright: antonio filigno, Pexels
He was a giant among giants, and not just because of his immense stature. Dikembe Mutombo, an NBA Hall of Famer and a Global Ambassador for the league, has passed away at the age of 58. Mutombo succumbed to brain cancer on October 1 after first revealing his diagnosis two years ago. Born on June 25, 1966, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mutombo was considered one of the greatest defensive players in the league’s history. But along with the former center’s impenetrable defense was a playfulness that won him the affection of basketball fans around the world. His most endearing trademark was blocking shots by smacking the ball high into the air, then wagging his finger at the defeated shooter with a mischievous grin. Mutombo was humble and generous off the court, though, using his stardom to help build hospitals in central Africa. After retiring from the sport, he became the first Global Ambassador for the NBA and used his position to further his philanthropic and humanitarian causes. His son, Ryan, paid tribute to him on social media, saying, "My dad is my hero because he simply cared. He remains the purest heart I have ever known." That’s surely nothing to wag a finger at.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of a basketball hoop.] Credit & copyright: antonio filigno, Pexels
October 4, 2024
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10 minFREEWork Business CurioFree6 CQ
Several times a year, millions of honeybees are transported back and forth across the country to help pollinate the nation’s crops. Whose job is it to move t...
Several times a year, millions of honeybees are transported back and forth across the country to help pollinate the nation’s crops. Whose job is it to move t...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 4, 2024\GAH-suh-mer\ adjective
What It Means
Something described as gossamer—such as a butterfly wing or a thin fab...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 4, 2024\GAH-suh-mer\ adjective
What It Means
Something described as gossamer—such as a butterfly wing or a thin fab...
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FREEMind + Body Daily CurioFree1 CQ
That’s one spicy buffalo! Famous as a tailgate and sports bar snack, buffalo wings can be enjoyed anywhere…assuming you can handle their kick. This spicy chicken dish has a surprising history: it was invented on a whim, and it isn’t even named after an animal.
Buffalo wings are unbreaded, deep-fried chicken wings, but the star of the dish is, of course, the spicy buffalo sauce they’re coated with. Buffalo sauce is made by mixing hot sauce, butter, vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Some recipes also call for garlic and worcestershire sauce. The orange-colored, spicy wings are usually served with chopped celery and blue cheese dip.
As for how they got their name, buffalo wings weren’t actually named after the large, horned mammals you may be thinking of. Rather, they were titled after the city where they were invented: Buffalo, New York. Funnily enough, the city wasn’t named after the animals, either; it was named after the Buffalo River, which also wasn’t named for the animals, since they never lived in the area. Rather, the river’s name is probably an English mistranslation of its original, French name, “beau fleuve”, meaning “beautiful river.”
There are a few stories of how buffalo wings were invented, but one common theme runs through all of them: that the wings were invented on the fly, or via a mishap. Some say that restaurateur John Young invented buffalo wings in 1961 after having a chance conversation with a customer. At the time, chicken wings weren’t considered good for eating on their own and were usually thrown out or used for soup stock, but the customer told Young that he’d seen a restaurant in Washington, D.C. gaining success by selling chicken wings. So, instead of using his wings for stock, Young fried them up and tossed them in a spicy sauce, which he called “mumbo sauce.” The most popular version of buffalo wings’ origin story is that they were invented at Buffalo’s Anchor Bar, owned at the time by Teressa and Frank Bellissimo. According to the bar’s website, on March 4, 1964, Teressa and Frank’s grown son, Dominic, was tending bar when a group of his college friends dropped in, hungry. Dominic asked his mom to whip something up for them, but options were scarce since it was late at night. So, Teresa fried up some chicken wings and coated them in a spicy sauce. Whoever first invented them, buffalo wings are now considered a quintessential American dish, even if they don’t have anything to do with the country’s largest native mammal.
[Image description: A line of buffalo wings with sesame seeds on a cutting board with several sauces.] Credit & copyright: Meraj Kazi, PexelsThat’s one spicy buffalo! Famous as a tailgate and sports bar snack, buffalo wings can be enjoyed anywhere…assuming you can handle their kick. This spicy chicken dish has a surprising history: it was invented on a whim, and it isn’t even named after an animal.
Buffalo wings are unbreaded, deep-fried chicken wings, but the star of the dish is, of course, the spicy buffalo sauce they’re coated with. Buffalo sauce is made by mixing hot sauce, butter, vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Some recipes also call for garlic and worcestershire sauce. The orange-colored, spicy wings are usually served with chopped celery and blue cheese dip.
As for how they got their name, buffalo wings weren’t actually named after the large, horned mammals you may be thinking of. Rather, they were titled after the city where they were invented: Buffalo, New York. Funnily enough, the city wasn’t named after the animals, either; it was named after the Buffalo River, which also wasn’t named for the animals, since they never lived in the area. Rather, the river’s name is probably an English mistranslation of its original, French name, “beau fleuve”, meaning “beautiful river.”
There are a few stories of how buffalo wings were invented, but one common theme runs through all of them: that the wings were invented on the fly, or via a mishap. Some say that restaurateur John Young invented buffalo wings in 1961 after having a chance conversation with a customer. At the time, chicken wings weren’t considered good for eating on their own and were usually thrown out or used for soup stock, but the customer told Young that he’d seen a restaurant in Washington, D.C. gaining success by selling chicken wings. So, instead of using his wings for stock, Young fried them up and tossed them in a spicy sauce, which he called “mumbo sauce.” The most popular version of buffalo wings’ origin story is that they were invented at Buffalo’s Anchor Bar, owned at the time by Teressa and Frank Bellissimo. According to the bar’s website, on March 4, 1964, Teressa and Frank’s grown son, Dominic, was tending bar when a group of his college friends dropped in, hungry. Dominic asked his mom to whip something up for them, but options were scarce since it was late at night. So, Teresa fried up some chicken wings and coated them in a spicy sauce. Whoever first invented them, buffalo wings are now considered a quintessential American dish, even if they don’t have anything to do with the country’s largest native mammal.
[Image description: A line of buffalo wings with sesame seeds on a cutting board with several sauces.] Credit & copyright: Meraj Kazi, Pexels
October 3, 2024
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The Japanese stock market gains followed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba saying the time wasn’t right for further increases in borrowing costs. Elsewhere, a co...
The Japanese stock market gains followed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba saying the time wasn’t right for further increases in borrowing costs. Elsewhere, a co...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 3, 2024\pah-STAIR-uh-tee\ noun
What It Means
Posterity is a formal word that refers to all future generations of pe...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 3, 2024\pah-STAIR-uh-tee\ noun
What It Means
Posterity is a formal word that refers to all future generations of pe...
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FREEPhysics Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them. So many of our essential electronic devices run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but they have an annoying habit of not doing the one thing they’re supposed to: holding a charge. Fortunately, researchers at Stanford University may have discovered the cause of this irritating phenomenon, according to a paper published in Science. Lithium-ion batteries are relatively simple, using anodes and cathodes to store lithium ions. When the ions move between the two oppositely charged electrodes through an electrolyte, the resulting chemical reaction creates a charge by freeing up electrons. But if that’s all there was to it, lithium-ion batteries wouldn’t lose capacity and energy as quickly as they do, even when they’re not in use. The culprits, it seems, are hydrogen protons which are released into the cathode, breaking down electrolyte molecules with the help of electrons and leaking through the cathode. Hydrogen has long been suspected of causing these issues, but it was difficult to know for sure, since hydrogen atoms are pretty much everywhere and hard to isolate in a lithium-ion battery. So, researchers instead used deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen, that was easier to track. When deuterium was introduced into a battery, they found the exact amount of charge loss they expected from hydrogen. Maybe it’s problems like these that keep hydrogen from being considered a noble gas!
[Image description: A selection of batteries arranged in a triangle, seen from above.] Credit & copyright: mohamed abdelghaffar, Pexels
You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them. So many of our essential electronic devices run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but they have an annoying habit of not doing the one thing they’re supposed to: holding a charge. Fortunately, researchers at Stanford University may have discovered the cause of this irritating phenomenon, according to a paper published in Science. Lithium-ion batteries are relatively simple, using anodes and cathodes to store lithium ions. When the ions move between the two oppositely charged electrodes through an electrolyte, the resulting chemical reaction creates a charge by freeing up electrons. But if that’s all there was to it, lithium-ion batteries wouldn’t lose capacity and energy as quickly as they do, even when they’re not in use. The culprits, it seems, are hydrogen protons which are released into the cathode, breaking down electrolyte molecules with the help of electrons and leaking through the cathode. Hydrogen has long been suspected of causing these issues, but it was difficult to know for sure, since hydrogen atoms are pretty much everywhere and hard to isolate in a lithium-ion battery. So, researchers instead used deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen, that was easier to track. When deuterium was introduced into a battery, they found the exact amount of charge loss they expected from hydrogen. Maybe it’s problems like these that keep hydrogen from being considered a noble gas!
[Image description: A selection of batteries arranged in a triangle, seen from above.] Credit & copyright: mohamed abdelghaffar, Pexels
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FREEDiabetic Care Daily Curio #2954Free1 CQ
It’s always nice when our own cells are put to good use. Type 1 diabetes affects millions of people around the world, but now we may be approaching a cure, thanks to researchers at Tianjin First Central Hospital and Peking University and some human stem cells. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which a person’s pancreas produces insufficient insulin or none at all after the body’s immune system destroys the organ’s islet cells. Without insulin, the body isn’t able to process sugar in the blood, resulting in a host of complications. Once thought to develop only in children, it used to be referred to as juvenile diabetes. However, it’s now known that type 1 diabetes can develop in anyone at any age, and symptoms can come on very suddenly. These include excessive thirst, hunger, and urination, as well as fatigue, mood changes, and blurry vision. The condition is fatal if left untreated, and treatment involves a lifetime dependence on insulin. Even with insulin, though, patients often have to adhere to strict diets and monitor their blood sugar levels. But for one 25-year-old woman in Tianjin, China, the days of walking on medical eggshells may be in the past. Three months after receiving an experimental transplant of reprogrammed stem cells that grew into new islet cells, her pancreas started producing insulin at healthy levels. Now, a year later, she says she no longer needs insulin injections and can eat as she pleases. This comes just a few months after another group of researchers performed a similar procedure to treat type 2 diabetes in a 59-year-old man, also in China. The researchers hope to follow up with the woman in another year or so, and they hope to expand their next trial to 10 to 20 people in order to replicate the results. If it works, it could mean a cure for diabetics all over the world. That’s some heavy lifting for a few tiny cells.
[Image description: A row of medical needles in plastic packaging.] Credit & copyright: Tara Winstead, PexelsIt’s always nice when our own cells are put to good use. Type 1 diabetes affects millions of people around the world, but now we may be approaching a cure, thanks to researchers at Tianjin First Central Hospital and Peking University and some human stem cells. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which a person’s pancreas produces insufficient insulin or none at all after the body’s immune system destroys the organ’s islet cells. Without insulin, the body isn’t able to process sugar in the blood, resulting in a host of complications. Once thought to develop only in children, it used to be referred to as juvenile diabetes. However, it’s now known that type 1 diabetes can develop in anyone at any age, and symptoms can come on very suddenly. These include excessive thirst, hunger, and urination, as well as fatigue, mood changes, and blurry vision. The condition is fatal if left untreated, and treatment involves a lifetime dependence on insulin. Even with insulin, though, patients often have to adhere to strict diets and monitor their blood sugar levels. But for one 25-year-old woman in Tianjin, China, the days of walking on medical eggshells may be in the past. Three months after receiving an experimental transplant of reprogrammed stem cells that grew into new islet cells, her pancreas started producing insulin at healthy levels. Now, a year later, she says she no longer needs insulin injections and can eat as she pleases. This comes just a few months after another group of researchers performed a similar procedure to treat type 2 diabetes in a 59-year-old man, also in China. The researchers hope to follow up with the woman in another year or so, and they hope to expand their next trial to 10 to 20 people in order to replicate the results. If it works, it could mean a cure for diabetics all over the world. That’s some heavy lifting for a few tiny cells.
[Image description: A row of medical needles in plastic packaging.] Credit & copyright: Tara Winstead, Pexels
October 2, 2024
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
The San José is being hailed as the most valuable shipwreck in the world — it’s a Spanish galleon which sank in the Caribbean more than 300 years ago. Now th...
The San José is being hailed as the most valuable shipwreck in the world — it’s a Spanish galleon which sank in the Caribbean more than 300 years ago. Now th...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day
: October 2, 2024\FRET\ verb
What It Means
To fret is to worry or be concerned.
// I was sure we wouldn’t get there in time,...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day
: October 2, 2024\FRET\ verb
What It Means
To fret is to worry or be concerned.
// I was sure we wouldn’t get there in time,...
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FREEBiology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
That’s not a raccoon…but it’s not too far off from one either. Coatimundis, or coatis, as they’re commonly called, are members of the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons. You won’t find these ring-tailed mammals digging through garbage cans, though. Coatis are rainforest dwellers, and some of the things they eat are a lot more dangerous than trash—like tarantulas, for example.
Coatis are around the same size as their raccoon cousins, reaching lengths between 33 and 44 inches, and weighing between 4.4 and 15.9 pounds. Active during the day, coatis avoid predators by climbing, which they excel at. In fact, coatis can rotate their ankles more than 180 degrees, allowing them to descend trees headfirst. When they’re on the ground, coatis use their long snouts to overturn logs and dig through fallen leaves to find their favorite foods: fallen fruit, small reptiles, and insects. Prey doesn’t always go down without a fight, though. Coatis sometimes face off against venomous snakes, which they are nimble enough to outmaneuver and kill. Tarantulas present two problems: not only do the spiders have a venomous bite, they’re also covered in irritating hairs that stick into an attacker's skin, causing itching and pain. Tarantulas even kick their own legs in order to disperse the hairs onto potential enemies. Coatis have a novel way of dealing with this. They simply snatch tarantulas from the forest floor and rub the spiders vigorously between the thickened palms of their front feet, or “hands.” This rubs off the irritating hairs and kills the spiders at the same time, making for an easy meal.
That’s not to say that coatis are invulnerable. They have plenty of their own predators, from big cats, like jaguars, to birds of prey. To stay safe, coatis use the buddy system…at least for part of their lives. Females live in groups along with their offspring, but males become solitary once they reach sexual maturity. This makes them easier targets for predators, but also makes it easier to spread out and claim territory and females of their own. When you spend your days fighting tarantulas and snakes, it’s understandable to not want to fight amongst yourselves.
[Image description: A ring tailed coatimundis sniffing the ground.] Credit & copyright: Vassil, Wikimedia CommonsThat’s not a raccoon…but it’s not too far off from one either. Coatimundis, or coatis, as they’re commonly called, are members of the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons. You won’t find these ring-tailed mammals digging through garbage cans, though. Coatis are rainforest dwellers, and some of the things they eat are a lot more dangerous than trash—like tarantulas, for example.
Coatis are around the same size as their raccoon cousins, reaching lengths between 33 and 44 inches, and weighing between 4.4 and 15.9 pounds. Active during the day, coatis avoid predators by climbing, which they excel at. In fact, coatis can rotate their ankles more than 180 degrees, allowing them to descend trees headfirst. When they’re on the ground, coatis use their long snouts to overturn logs and dig through fallen leaves to find their favorite foods: fallen fruit, small reptiles, and insects. Prey doesn’t always go down without a fight, though. Coatis sometimes face off against venomous snakes, which they are nimble enough to outmaneuver and kill. Tarantulas present two problems: not only do the spiders have a venomous bite, they’re also covered in irritating hairs that stick into an attacker's skin, causing itching and pain. Tarantulas even kick their own legs in order to disperse the hairs onto potential enemies. Coatis have a novel way of dealing with this. They simply snatch tarantulas from the forest floor and rub the spiders vigorously between the thickened palms of their front feet, or “hands.” This rubs off the irritating hairs and kills the spiders at the same time, making for an easy meal.
That’s not to say that coatis are invulnerable. They have plenty of their own predators, from big cats, like jaguars, to birds of prey. To stay safe, coatis use the buddy system…at least for part of their lives. Females live in groups along with their offspring, but males become solitary once they reach sexual maturity. This makes them easier targets for predators, but also makes it easier to spread out and claim territory and females of their own. When you spend your days fighting tarantulas and snakes, it’s understandable to not want to fight amongst yourselves.
[Image description: A ring tailed coatimundis sniffing the ground.] Credit & copyright: Vassil, Wikimedia Commons -
FREEScience Daily Curio #2953Free1 CQ
Sometimes, history isn’t made—it’s grown. Researchers at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, Israel, have brought back an ancient tree from extinction. It’s not just any tree, either: it was once one of the most valuable commodities in the ancient world. The “Judean Balsam,” also known as “the Balm of Judea,” or “Balm of Gilead” was grown in the southern Levant region millennia ago. Its resin had a variety of uses and is referenced in biblical texts as “tsori.” Tsori was written about and traded extensively by the Romans, and was used for everything from perfumes to medicine. However, the tree died out in the Levant at some point, and the identity of the Judean Balsam and its miraculous resin were thought to be lost to time. Yet, in a stroke of luck, a seed belonging to the mysterious tree was discovered in the 1980s in the Judean Desert. The seed, which is approximately 0.8 inches in length, was found safely tucked away in a cave and dates back to sometime between 993CE and 1202CE. Although it was found to be viable, researchers had little success in cultivating it until recently.
Now, they finally have a sapling to show for their efforts. The researchers have named the young tree Sheba, and through a DNA analysis, have determined it to belong to a species in the Commiphora family. Researchers can now better understand what its resin was used for. Most notably, compounds found in the tree appear to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. One of the compounds is squalene, an oily substance that is known to protect and smooth skin. Trees in the Commiphora family can be found in other parts of the world and are common in parts of Africa, Madagascar, and the Middle East, but one has never been found in the Levant before. Researchers believe that Judean Balsam may have been grown in the region by grafting parts of grown plants onto rootstock, which would explain why the seeds weren’t found before. Regardless, we certainly aren’t tsori to see it make a comeback.
[Image description: A sketch of a branch from the biblical plant known as the “balm of Gilead.”] Credit & copyright: Commiphora gileadensis (L.) C. Chr. (Balm of Gilead, Opobalsam): finished drawing of fruiting branch by Luigi Balugani (1737–1770), Wikimedia Commons. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Public Domain.Sometimes, history isn’t made—it’s grown. Researchers at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, Israel, have brought back an ancient tree from extinction. It’s not just any tree, either: it was once one of the most valuable commodities in the ancient world. The “Judean Balsam,” also known as “the Balm of Judea,” or “Balm of Gilead” was grown in the southern Levant region millennia ago. Its resin had a variety of uses and is referenced in biblical texts as “tsori.” Tsori was written about and traded extensively by the Romans, and was used for everything from perfumes to medicine. However, the tree died out in the Levant at some point, and the identity of the Judean Balsam and its miraculous resin were thought to be lost to time. Yet, in a stroke of luck, a seed belonging to the mysterious tree was discovered in the 1980s in the Judean Desert. The seed, which is approximately 0.8 inches in length, was found safely tucked away in a cave and dates back to sometime between 993CE and 1202CE. Although it was found to be viable, researchers had little success in cultivating it until recently.
Now, they finally have a sapling to show for their efforts. The researchers have named the young tree Sheba, and through a DNA analysis, have determined it to belong to a species in the Commiphora family. Researchers can now better understand what its resin was used for. Most notably, compounds found in the tree appear to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. One of the compounds is squalene, an oily substance that is known to protect and smooth skin. Trees in the Commiphora family can be found in other parts of the world and are common in parts of Africa, Madagascar, and the Middle East, but one has never been found in the Levant before. Researchers believe that Judean Balsam may have been grown in the region by grafting parts of grown plants onto rootstock, which would explain why the seeds weren’t found before. Regardless, we certainly aren’t tsori to see it make a comeback.
[Image description: A sketch of a branch from the biblical plant known as the “balm of Gilead.”] Credit & copyright: Commiphora gileadensis (L.) C. Chr. (Balm of Gilead, Opobalsam): finished drawing of fruiting branch by Luigi Balugani (1737–1770), Wikimedia Commons. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Public Domain.
October 1, 2024
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10 minFREEWork Business CurioFree6 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Police have clashed with protesting garment workers in Bangladesh, who are demanding higher wages and better working conditions. ...
From the BBC World Service: Police have clashed with protesting garment workers in Bangladesh, who are demanding higher wages and better working conditions. ...
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Chappell Roan isn’t the only pop girlie who has rocketed to fame this year. Sabrina Carpenter has taken the music industry by storm in 2024 with her biting humor and famously short stature (the star is just 5 feet tall, hence her latest album’s name, Short n' Sweet). Her breakout hit, Espresso, is the kind of earworm that all pop stars dream of releasing. The song’s bopping beat is perfectly danceable while its lyrics are easy to remember and also sharply funny: “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya/walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya.” The frothy tune was inspired by a trip to France in which Carpenter drank espresso at a cafe while feeling on top of the world. As fast as her ascent to fame may seem, though, Carpenter has actually been in the entertainment industry for a while. At age 11, she had a small acting role on Law & Order SVU. Then, from 2014 to 2017, she had a recurring role on Girl Meets World. She began releasing music around the same time—in fact, Short n’ Sweet is the star’s sixth album, though it’s already the one she’s best known for. Sometimes fast fame takes a while!
Chappell Roan isn’t the only pop girlie who has rocketed to fame this year. Sabrina Carpenter has taken the music industry by storm in 2024 with her biting humor and famously short stature (the star is just 5 feet tall, hence her latest album’s name, Short n' Sweet). Her breakout hit, Espresso, is the kind of earworm that all pop stars dream of releasing. The song’s bopping beat is perfectly danceable while its lyrics are easy to remember and also sharply funny: “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya/walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya.” The frothy tune was inspired by a trip to France in which Carpenter drank espresso at a cafe while feeling on top of the world. As fast as her ascent to fame may seem, though, Carpenter has actually been in the entertainment industry for a while. At age 11, she had a small acting role on Law & Order SVU. Then, from 2014 to 2017, she had a recurring role on Girl Meets World. She began releasing music around the same time—in fact, Short n’ Sweet is the star’s sixth album, though it’s already the one she’s best known for. Sometimes fast fame takes a while!
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FREEWorld History Daily Curio #2952Free1 CQ
Imagine having your thoughts bottled up for 200 years. Student volunteers working at an archaeological dig in France have discovered a message in a bottle, and the find appears to have them as excited as the ancient pottery buried in the site. In the commune of Dieppe on the northern coast of France, volunteers were digging in the remains of an ancient Gaulish village in search of pottery. The Gauls were once the dominant culture in the region that covers modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of Germany and Italy. For centuries, the Gauls clashed with the ancient Romans, and in 390 BCE, they even managed to plunder the city of Rome itself. Over time, though, the Gauls lost ground against the Romans, and Julius Caesar eventually led a successful campaign against the rest of the Gallic territories by 50 BCE.
In order to maintain control over the Gauls, the Romans built limes, a type of fort, including the Cité de Limes, where the aforementioned volunteers were conducting an archaeological dig. Sites like the Cité de Limes are the subject of interest to archaeologists because they can sometimes contain a treasure trove of Gallic and Roman artifacts from thousands of years ago, but the volunteers at this site found something much more recent. Among the ancient relics was a glass bottle—the kind that apparently used to hold smelling salts for women to carry around—containing a note. It read, “P.J Féret, a native of Dieppe, member of various intellectual societies, carried out excavations here in January 1825. He continues his investigations in this vast area known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.” Indeed, local records confirmed that Féret conducted a dig of his own nearly 200 years ago on the very site and left the note for future researchers to uncover. It’s not often that an archaeologist gets to be the find on a dig!
[Image description: A close-up photo of the surface of water.] Credit & copyright: Matt Hardy, PexelsImagine having your thoughts bottled up for 200 years. Student volunteers working at an archaeological dig in France have discovered a message in a bottle, and the find appears to have them as excited as the ancient pottery buried in the site. In the commune of Dieppe on the northern coast of France, volunteers were digging in the remains of an ancient Gaulish village in search of pottery. The Gauls were once the dominant culture in the region that covers modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of Germany and Italy. For centuries, the Gauls clashed with the ancient Romans, and in 390 BCE, they even managed to plunder the city of Rome itself. Over time, though, the Gauls lost ground against the Romans, and Julius Caesar eventually led a successful campaign against the rest of the Gallic territories by 50 BCE.
In order to maintain control over the Gauls, the Romans built limes, a type of fort, including the Cité de Limes, where the aforementioned volunteers were conducting an archaeological dig. Sites like the Cité de Limes are the subject of interest to archaeologists because they can sometimes contain a treasure trove of Gallic and Roman artifacts from thousands of years ago, but the volunteers at this site found something much more recent. Among the ancient relics was a glass bottle—the kind that apparently used to hold smelling salts for women to carry around—containing a note. It read, “P.J Féret, a native of Dieppe, member of various intellectual societies, carried out excavations here in January 1825. He continues his investigations in this vast area known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.” Indeed, local records confirmed that Féret conducted a dig of his own nearly 200 years ago on the very site and left the note for future researchers to uncover. It’s not often that an archaeologist gets to be the find on a dig!
[Image description: A close-up photo of the surface of water.] Credit & copyright: Matt Hardy, Pexels