A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Greetings earthlings!! Welcome to Volume 114 of Dovi’s Digest.
There are a few themes that I have touched on more than once in the Digest. There is my obsession with mountain climbing, multiple pieces on board games (pun intended), the unplumbed depths of the oceans, extreme endurance, and of course space and all things related.
There have been articles about Mars, Aliens, the sun, comets, and many things in between.
One of the things I followed quite closely was the launch of the James Webb telescope late last year and its subsequent deployment which took months. The telescope, which is billed as the replacement for the venerable Hubble Telescope, began taking “photos” (they’re actually infrared images) a few months ago, and last week NASA, in conjunction with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency released the first pictures. I won’t pretend to know what the images show, but I can tell you they’re very pretty. Exhibit A (A nebula of young stars) below:
The biggest difference between to the two telescopes is their power. Something that would’ve taken Hubble weeks to “shoot”, the James Webb did in 12 hours.
The ramifications for this are huge in the science world, as researchers can now “see father back in time” (explained in the image below) than ever before, almost right to the Big Bang.
I won’t say any more as this week’s headline article is written by people more articulate and qualified than me, and it explains what the pictures show, and the possible implications and uses for the telescope.
Very quickly, for those wondering where the names are from, Edwin Hubble was an astronomer who was one of the first to really explore “extragalactic astronomy”, and James Webb was the second director of NASA, and one of the main proponents of the Apollo program (incidentally, the 53rd anniversary of the first moon walk was yesterday, the 21st of July).
With regard to last (and this) week’s brainteaser, Myer Brom astutely noticed that it was related to the Fields medal, the equivalent of the Nobel in the field of mathematics. Last week’s paid homage to Maryna Viazovska, from Ukraine, who won for her groundbreaking work on how to pack spheres in 24 dimensions. The puzzle was about how to pack beers in three dimensions. There is also an article about one of the winners who wanted to be a poet, and landed up being one of the finest young minds in the space today.
Finally, as mentioned last year, July is the month of the Tour de France, the most prestigious of cycling events. And I love watching groups of men struggling to climb mountains while in spandex. So, there is an article this week on how many calories the average cyclist burns riding 200km per day for three weeks, and how they replenish those supplies.
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 Myer Brom. The answers and this week’s riddle are below.
Pondering the fates of the cosmos and considering our miniscule lives in the context of the huge universe may be a huge turn off. Lucky for you, there are other articles. As I said above, there is an article on the absolutely insane abilities of professional cyclists, the wannabe poet who happened to be one of the world’s top mathematicians, what the ineffable aurora STEVE actually is (a follow up to last week’s article. As an aside, the name STEVE is derived from the animated movie Over the Hedge), why unlimited holiday leave isn’t as great as it seems, the science behind Oreo filling always sticking to one side, and how Winnie the Pooh changed the real-life Christopher Robin’s (A.A. Milne’s son) life. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The James Webb Telescope's First Photos Show Its Extraordinary Power
The cosmic probe’s long-awaited images will kick off astronomers’ science programs.
Tour de France: How Many Calories Will The Winner Burn?
“Imagine you begin pedalling from the start of Stage 12 of this year’s Tour de France. Your very first task would be to bike approximately 33.2 km up to the peak of Col du Galibier in the French Alps while gaining around 1,305 m of elevation. But this is only the first of three big climbs in your day. Next you face the peak of Col de la Croix de Fer and then end the 165.1-km stage by taking on the famous Alpe d'Huez climb. As a sports physicist I still cannot fathom the physical capabilities needed to complete the world’s most famous bike race.”
He Dropped Out to Become a Poet. Now He’s Won a Fields Medal.
(Courtesy of David Greenway)
June Huh wasn’t interested in mathematics until a chance encounter during his sixth year of college. Now his profound insights connecting combinatorics and geometry have led to math’s highest honour.
Steve The Odd “Aurora” Revealed to Be Two Sky Shows in One
“We’re moving, little by little, closer to understanding Steve,” space physicists say.
The Smoke And Mirrors Of Unlimited Paid Time Off
Having as much holiday as you want? Sounds great – until it’s not.
“Oreology” Investigates Mystery of Why Oreo Creme Filling Usually Sticks to One Side
MIT team also designed 3D-printed DIY rheometer for at-home or classroom experiments.
On Christopher Robin, War, and P.T.S.D.
On his return from WW1, A. A. Milne’s bonding with his son on adventures in the countryside inspired Milne to write again, the connection between them changed the course of both of their lives—with unintended consequences that pleased neither.
Quote of the Week:
"Like what controls your happiness and what controls your joy or pride. And a lot of times when people put it in other people’s hands, that if you like it, if you like you appreciate it, I need your applause. They build less and less substance within themselves because they’re optimizing for somebody else’s metric, not realizing that nobody gives a damn about anybody else, except themselves.” – Kunal Shah
Facts of the Week:
George Orwell’s first word was “beastly”.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won the Oscar for Best Costume Design, the only Harry Potter film to win an Academy Award.
The fact that the Defence Against the Dark Arts professors in Harry Potter are all cursed was inspired by all the drummers in Spinal Tap dying in bizarre ways.
The JD in JD Wetherspoon is from a character in the Dukes of Hazzard; Wetherspoon was a teacher at the founder’s primary school.
The Irish get through 50 beermats per person per year.
The Queen owns several pubs, including one called the Windsor Castle.
The Queen has won more than £6 million from horse racing.
The Queen employs an official stamp collector.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
This week’s, about the prime number 13, was inspired by Briton James Maynard’s Fields Medal for his many prime results about prime numbers.
Place 13 chairs along the walls of a rectangular room such that each wall has the same number of chairs as the wall it faces.
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
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?
Answer:
Yes, it is possible. You can get 41 in by packing in hexagonal fashion
If you don’t have enough cans at home to prove it, Pythagoras can prove it for you. The Pythagorean Theorem states that for right-angled triangles, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sums of the squares on the other two sides. Thus in the triangle below, 12 = x2 + (0.5)2, or x = √(0.75) = 0.87 to two decimal places.
The vertices of this triangle are the centre of two cans and the point where two cans meet. The horizontal and vertical lines join at a right angle. If the diameter is 1 unit, the radius is 0.5 units.
When nine vertical rows (of 41 cans) are stacked, the horizontal distance is 0.5 + 8x + 0.5 = 1 + (8 x 0.87) = 1 + 6.93 = 7.93. This number is less than 8, so we know the cans will fit.