A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 116 of Dovi’s Digest.
Although we come into contact with many other people in our lifetimes, only a few make a noticeable impression. Normally they’re dear friends and family, but sometimes, they are just people who are passing by, or are in our life for fleeting moment. A good example from my own life is when I injured my knee eight years ago. A guy who we’ll call Steve (because that’s his name) flew into me with a brutal tackle, snapped a whole lotta things, and then pretty much disappeared. He was in my life for just one weekend in Newcastle but affected so so much more.
I’ve often wondered what impact I’ve had in passing. Do they remember the snarky comment from that guy with glasses? Or hopefully more graciously, like the joke they heard from the guy in the bright orange jacket. The fact is that I’ll never know.
Random acts of kindness are pretty much in the same vein. Although hopefully the eventual outcome is more positive, even if we don’t know the full impact.
Sometimes however, we can find out years later that a tiny thing we did changed someone’s world. In this week’s headline article, we read about a pair of refugees who were helped by a random stranger on the plane who gave them $100 and some earrings, and their quest to find her more than 20 years later.
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 SIX correct answers to last week’s brainteasers. Well done to Ariel Subotzky, Josh Hazan, Hazel Levine, Ayelet Garber, Bianca Shulman and Kevin Levy. The answers and this week’s riddle are below.
To answer a riddle, please just reply like you would on a normal email. I’d put a little reply button, but apparently substack doesn’t allow that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Some wholesome news doesn’t get you through the week though, so I have some more for you. This week you can read about how humans may not actually need eight hours of sleep a night (poppycock imho), why my motto of “you have to grow old, you don’t have to grow up” may be the trick to staying young, if the whole “life flashing before your eyes as you die” actually happens, how using the word “Vikings” is a disservice to marauders everywhere, and the scion of a billionaire family caught up in (or maybe caused) a multimillion dollar fraud investigation into a legal cannabis company. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
A Stranger on an Airplane Gave Her $100 Years Ago and Changed Her Life. Now She's Trying to Find the Mystery Woman to Thank Her.
Part 1
Part 2
The Gyllenhaal Experiment (Interactive)
Colin Morris recently explored the difficulties of spelling by identifying Reddit comments with (sp?) next to words. It’s no surprise that Jake Gyllenhaal, along with other celebrities, were atop the list. Let’s take this idea one step further.
Evolution Didn’t Wire Us for Eight Hours of Sleep
Chimps sleep nine hours a night. Cotton-top tamarins sleep about 13. What happened to humans?
Can You Delay Ageing by Refusing to Act Your Age?
When old age starts depends on where you live in the world. But it may also partly depend on how you view ageing. Can you delay it with a positive attitude?
Did We Really Find Proof That Life Flashes Before Our Eyes When We Die?
What that viral brain study really says.
Goodbye to the Vikings
The term ‘Viking’ as it is commonly used is misleading, warping our perception of the Middle Ages. It should be retired.
How a Chewing Gum Heir Fell into a Sticky Situation with Weed
Beau Wrigley’s cannabis company is beset by lawsuits filed by angry investors alleging fraud.
Quote of the Week:
“Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else’s mistake.” - Gautama Buddha
Facts of the Week:
In 2008, two pigeons at an Iranian nuclear facility were arrested for spying.
US civil defence guidelines advise against using hair conditioner after a nuclear strike.
Reed College in Oregon has the world’s only nuclear reactor run by undergraduates.
The first nuclear reactor was built in a squash court.
Tennis courts were once shaped like an hourglass.
The grass at Wimbledon is trimmed by a millimetre a week for 12 weeks and cared for by a man named Mr Stubley.
Ritalin was named after its inventor’s wife Rita because it improved her tennis so much.
Tennys Sandgren is a tennis player from Tennessee.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Josh Hazan)
Sign of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
What number, when written out in English, contains all five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and has no repeated letters? (By write out a number, I mean something like, “two hundred and thirteen.”) To answer, just press reply like you would to a normal email. 🙂
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Below are incomplete words. Place three letters in each bracket so that you can complete the word on the left and begin the word on the right.
i (_ _ _) lar
lat (_ _ _) ror
phan (_ _ _) ato
indica (_ _ _) toise
sc (_ _ _) na
thr (_ _ _) egal
Answer:
i(dol)lar
lat(ter)ror
phan(tom)ato
indica(tor)toise
sc(are)na
thr(ill)egal