A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Salutations readers! Welcome to Volume 120 of Dovi’s Digest.
Many times I’ve written here about my love of travelling. The new cultures, food, and vistas. Invariably, I come back either pallid or tan (depending on where I’ve gone), and often a bit heftier than when I left. The other constant is that I come back with sore legs and feet. “Why?” the more curious of you may ask. Well, I’ll tell you why – because wherever I go, new or old, I make a point of walking as much as I can. I’ve walked from battery park to Columbia in Manhattan (some 130 blocks), from Hampstead to Harrods in London, and a few other besides. I feel that the best (and let’s be honest, cheapest) way to really see a city is by foot. Obviously, I’m far from alone in thinking that. But there are a group of people who put my efforts to see as much of a city as possible into quite a harsh light.
“Every-Single streeters” (the subjects of this week’s headline article) are exactly what it says on the tin – people who attempt to walk every single street in their city, from slums to swank. The reasons they do it are manifold. Some to escape, some to see, and some just for the hell of it. Regardless of their motives, they find a supportive community of likeminded people, who have caught the same bug.
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There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Ariel Subotzky and Josh Hazan. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
Prefer to sit at home? Never fear! There’s plenty more to read. Learn about the people making millions by exploiting 100-year-old contract law, a buried treasure worthy of a famous pirate story (maybe), infinitely renewable energy, using AI to design cathedral worthy art, what’s actually in the storm on Jupiter that could swallow the Earth whole (with lots of space to spare), and why extreme adventure might not only put your life at risk, but also your wallet. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
One Down, 39,136 To Go: The Explorers Who Walk Every Street in Their City
You don’t really know an urban landscape until you’ve visited all of it on foot – from slums to beauty spots. Just ask the thousands of ‘every-single-streeters’.
The People Making Millions Off Listerine Royalties
A little-known provision in a 100-year-old contract opened up the door for private investors to mint money from mouthwash sales.
There Maybe Could Possibly Be a Treasure Buried Under Portland, Oregon
At least according to a hand-drawn map of mysterious origin.
Can Gravity Batteries Solve Our Energy Storage Problems?
Could a cutting-edge technology that harnesses one of the universe's fundamental forces help solve our energy storage challenge?
A Guide to Asking Robots to Design Stained Glass Windows
(Courtesy of Isaac Lipschitz)
Where artists fear to tread, DALL-E-2 comes to the rescue.
In Jupiter's Swirling Great Red Spot, NASA Spacecraft Finds Hidden Depths
Go deep into the eye of the storm.
Disaster At 18,200 Feet: What Happens When Adventure-Seekers Are in Over Their Heads?
None of them noticed the fall. One moment, Adam Rawski was with them on the mountain. The next, he was gone.
Quote of the Week:
“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” – Cicero, circa 43BC
Facts of the Week:
Your eardrums move in sync with your eyeballs, but no one knows why.
Lobsters use sand in their inner ear to work out if they are the right way up.
Until the mid 1800s, lobsters were considered to be food for the poor.
30,000 years ago, people ate mammoth and fed reindeer to their dogs.
10,000 years ago, lions didn't have manes.
African wild dogs vote on whether to go hunting or not by sneezing.
The Isle of Man was the first place in the world to give votes to women an under 18s.
The king of the Isle of Man from 1112 to 1143 was Olaf the Titbit.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
A group of people are in a room. Everyone is wearing either an orange or an indigo birthday hat. Each person can see the other people’s hats but not their own.
One of them shouts, “If you can see at least 6 orange hats and at least 6 indigo hats, raise your glass!”
Exactly 12 people raise their glasses.
How many people are in the room?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Ariel, Josh and Bianca work at a shop that sells pens, erasers, and pencils.
Ariel says: “Seven pens and five erasers cost the same as six pencils.”
Josh says: “Four pens and nine pencils cost the same as five erasers.”
Bianca says: “Six pencils and three erasers cost the same as four pens.”
Only one is lying. Can you tell us who?
a) Ariel
b) Josh
c) Bianca
Answer:
Ariel.
Let A equal the price of pens, B equal the price of erasers, and C equal the price of pencils.
Ariel is saying that 7A+5B=6C.
Josh is saying that 4A+9C=5B.
Bianca is saying that 6C+3B=4A.
Combining Ariel and Josh’s statements, we get 11A=−3C. This is impossible.
Combining Josh and Bianca’s statements, we get 15C=2B. This is possible.
Combining Bianca and Ariel’s statements, we get 8B=−3A. This is impossible.
Either Ariel is lying, which means that Josh and Bianca are telling the truth. (This fits). Or Ariel is not lying, which means that Josh must be lying (since if Josh was also telling the truth then the combination of Ariel and Josh’s statements would not be impossible) and Bianca must also be lying (for the same reasons.) But since there can be only one liar, we can eliminate this scenario, and thus Ariel is the liar.