A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Aloha hoa (hello/goodbye friends in Hawaiian)! Welcome to Volume 113 of Dovi’s Digest.
Today is a special day. For the eagle eyed among you, you may notice that that 113 is 104 more than nine. And for those with long memories, you may remember that two years ago in volume nine, I mentioned that it was my birthday week. There are 52 weeks in a year. 104 weeks ago is exactly two years, so therefore, this week it’s my birthday. And more than that, today is actually my birthday! Yay me! 🥳🎉🎂 Soooo, I’ve added a few articles that are birthday themed. The obvious one is the one about fireworks, as that’s how the world traditionally celebrates by birthday. The less obvious one is the start of the second article headline, and honestly, I’d have it no other way. Normal is boring.
More importantly however, today is also the day that I reach a 2000-day streak on Duolingo. As mentioned about half a year ago when I hit a five-year streak, it’s something that I’m very proud of. Five and a half years of constant daily work is nothing to be sniffed at, and consequently, I speak quite a few languages passably.
Therefore, the headline article this week is about a man who puts my 5 ½ languages to shame.
Carpet cleaner Vaughn Smith lives in Washington D.C., and by his count speaks eight languages fluently, and a further 37 in one form or another (and at least 24 he speaks well, if not fluently). This level of hyper-polyglotism puts me to shame (although I feel no actual shame at being technically a mere polyglot [someone who speaks five or languages]), and the article doesn’t only go into how Smith learnt the languages, but also how his brain works while speaking and reading in all these different ways. Just his life story is fascinating itself. I’ve been sitting on this article for a few months, and this is just the occasion to use it. It’s one of the best I’ve read this year, even if it does make me feel a little less special.
I haven’t mentioned the James Webb telescope’s new photos this week yet, and they are really stunning. I first mentioned it in December and followed its launch and deployment. I’ll go into the photos in more detail next week.
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteasers. Well done to Ariel Subotzky and Josh Hazan. The answers and this week’s riddle are below.
A quick note on last week’s edition: in the facts, there was a misspelling of the word “read”. It’s been corrected, and I’ll try make sure it doesn’t happen again.
I sure hope my birthday and linguistic skills interest you, but there’s more interesting stuff just in case. Read about an ISIS siege in a beautiful beach town, why skipping ads means we’ll see more brands shamelessly plugged in movies (plus some examples and a fun mouse cursor), megaships and why they won’t grow any more (even though they could), a crustacean that wears a self-made tiny helmet, and an in depth look at Nick Kyrgios, tennis’ bad boy and last week’s Wimbledon finalist. (Think underhand serves, swearing at umpires and fans, and mad parties). Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The Remarkable Brain of a Carpet Cleaner Who Speaks
24 Languages
(Courtesy of Dr Stan Wolberg)
MIT scanned to brain of Vaughn Smith to see what his skills can teach us about learning.
“I’m Still Alive but Sh*t Is Getting Wild”: Inside the Siege of the Amarula
When vast gas reserves were discovered off the idyllic coast of northern Mozambique, a crew of roughnecks flew in from around the world to make their fortunes. But the ISIS attacked.
Anatomy of a Product Placement
As consumers skip ads and streaming content balloons, brands aim to be everywhere all at once.
Why Container Ships Probably Won't Get Bigger
The biggest container ships ever built ply the world's oceans, but will physics and economics set some limits to how much larger these vessels can get?
This Is Why the Pistol Shrimp Is Immune to Its Own Powerful Shock Waves
(Courtesy of Dovi Joel)
Anterior opening in orbital hoods helps redirect kinetic energy from the blasts. (Or, shrimp wears tiny little helmet)
14 Fun Facts About Fireworks
Number three: Fireworks are just chemical reactions.
Nick Kyrgios, the Reluctant Rising Star of Tennis
He has been called the most talented player since Roger Federer. But does he even want to win?
Quote of the Week:
“Floods will rob us of one thing, fire another. These are conditions of our existence we cannot change. What we can adopt is a noble spirit.” – Seneca
Facts of the Week:
During a speech in Warsaw, Jimmy Carter mistakenly announced he wanted to have sex with the Polish people.
Richard Nixon's chair in the cabinet room was 2.5 inches higher than everyone else’s.
Teddy Roosevelt had a pet badger called Josiah.
In 2017, a Tyneside woman found a cyst in the ear of her Beagle that bore an uncanny resemblance to Donald Trump.
Trumpadóir is Irish for “loudmouth”.
People with autotopagnosia literally cannot tell their arse from their elbow.
A macroverbumsciolist is someone who pretends to know word, but then secretly look set-up.
A wonty-tump is Herefordshire dialect for a “molehill”.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Lee-at Joel)
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Is it possible to put more than 40 cans of beer of diameter 1 unit and height 2.6 units in a crate that has dimensions 5 x 8 x 2.6?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
You are standing on the surface of the Earth. You walk ten miles north, ten miles west, ten miles south and then ten miles east. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?
(Note: this is not a trick question. Since the Earth is spherical, almost all starting points will not get you back to where you started.)
Bonus brainteaser!!!
In the Jules Verne story Around the World in Eighty Days, Phileas Fogg leaves London on October 2, 1872. He travels via Egypt, India, Japan, the US and his final leg is across the Atlantic. As the book’s title indicates, the trip takes him 80 days. What day did he arrive back in London?
Answer:
The most obvious place is you are anywhere that is 5 miles south of the Equator. This guarantees that your westerly and easterly paths rotate an equal amount around a latitude.
Yet there are more solutions near a pole. In this case, near the North Pole. If you head north, reaching a latitude where the circle of latitude is less than ten miles, there are solutions that get you back to where you started. To find them requires some heavy lifting using trigonometry. If you want to take a deeper dive, the full result is worked through in the Art of Problem Solving by Alfred Posamentier.
Bonus Answer:
He arrives back one day early, on December 20. Indeed this is an integral part of the plot! By crossing the international date line traveling East, he loses a day. Fogg sees 80 sunrises, but since he is travelling eastward, his days are all shorter than if he had stayed in the same place. In total, he shaves 24 hours off the full 80 days by an east-bound circumnavigation of the world