Zdravo friends! Welcome to Volume 133 of Dovi’s Digest.
What does reaching the pinnacle of your profession look like? Well, there are of course the awards, the accolades and the prizes. There’s the admiration of your peers and jealousy of your enemies. Your family may even say they’re proud of you, although instances of this are few and far between. You may even have something in your field bear your name. In football (soccer to my American readers), you may have a move named after you. Good examples are the Cruyff turn or the Panenka penalty. Astronomers are more likely to have an eponymous obscure comet or meteor. But the way you really know you’ve made is when you have an insect named after you. Some recent examples include a spider named after David Bowie (for his many spider themed songs) a moth named after Donald Trump that has the same hairstyle as him, a beetle named after Arnold Schwarzenegger because of its huge “biceps”, and my personal favourite, a horsefly with a gold butt named after Beyonce.
If you’re really influential, you may even have an entire genus named after you or your creations. There is a type of lizard that looks like a tiny dragon with the name Smaug, after the dragon in The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Here’s a picture of one, because they look so awesome (and totally look like tiny dragons).
Inventions generally have the name of the inventor baked into the name. Examples include: Dr Martens boots, Phillips screwdrivers, and the Tesla coil. (a quick aside, so so many of these are weapons of some sort, like a ridiculous amount, maybe in hindsight not the best thing to name after yourself) (another, even quicker aside: did you know the jacuzzi was named after its inventor? What a cool name.) Because of this, it can be quite difficult to steal a trademark or the credit (although it didn’t stop Thomas Edison from trying). But when your name isn’t stamped on it, it becomes more difficult.
Take this week’s headline article for example. What started as a harmless prank to show that Wikipedia can be a sketchy source became a (good natured) web of lies that became enshrined in textbooks and national museums. So who was the real inventor of the toaster? And who is Alan MacMasters really? You can find out below. Enjoy!
As mentioned a few weeks ago, many of the photography competitions are announcing their annual winners. This week it was the turn of the natural landscape awards. You can find all the winners over here. Some beautiful, some scary, all of them evoke wanderlust.
Finally, the Digest is expanding! So now we have both a Facebook page and Twitter. Not only will you find the usual fare there, but many bonus facts, articles, and miscellany too! This is the link to the Facebook page, and this is the link to the Twitter. Please give them a like/follow so we can get DD out to more people, and consider sharing it with a friend (or enemy, I don’t discriminate) who you think would enjoy it too. Thank you!
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 brainteaser. Well done to Ryan Subotzky and Myer Brom. The answer and this week’s brainteaser are below.
In addition to a prank that got out of hand, there is much more to read. Learn about musical rats, unusual co-workers, why early phase toys that teach you probably don’t make you a more successful adult, the most beautiful and worst spot in the world (which is the same place), the gigantic exploration vehicle that just disappeared into the snow, and the most Brakpan/Alabama story you’ve ever read.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Alan MacMasters: How The Great Online Toaster Hoax Was Exposed
For more than a decade, a prankster spun a web of deception about the inventor of the electric toaster. His lies fooled newspapers, teachers, and officials. Then a teenager flagged up something that everyone else had missed.
Rats Have Capacity For Rhythm And Can Keep Time To Mozart Works, New Study Reveals
Scientists have found that rats enjoy the rhythm of Mozart’s music and will bop along to it when given the chance.
My Co-Workers Are Polar Bears. Here’s What It’s Like.
After some amazing interactions with polar bears, Alysa McCall of Polar Bears International decided to dedicate her career to conserving this animal and its ecosystem.
“They Want Toys To Get Their Children Into Harvard”: Have We Been Getting Playthings All Wrong?
For decades we’ve been using toys to cram learning into playtime – and toys have been marketed as tools to turn children into prosperous, high-achieving adults. Is it time for a rethink?
The Instagram Capital Of The World Is A Terrible Place To Be
Just because you can (sort of) afford to go somewhere doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it.
There’s a Massive Antarctic Exploration Vehicle Lost Somewhere at the Bottom of the World
Last seen in 1958, it was designed to travel 5000 miles and self-sustain for an entire year.
DNA Showed A Mother Was Also Her Daughter’s Uncle — How Scientists Solved This Medical Mystery
Why you may have more aunts and uncles than you suspected at the holiday table.
Quote of the Week:
“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” – Dorothy Parker in a book review
Facts of the Week:
Fund managers from poor backgrounds are better at investing than those from wealthy backgrounds.
When investor Henry Budd died in 1862, he left his fortune to his two sons, on condition that neither of them ever grew a moustache.
The three richest Americans have as much money as 160 million poorest Americans.
Due to climate change, Sweden's Lake of the Pine Trees is now surrounded by Birch trees.
53 million years ago, Antarctica was covered in palm trees.
There's a species of palm tree that can walk.
The cabbage palm tree is neither a cabbage, a palm, nor a tree
Palm cockatoos make drum kits out of seed pods and sticks.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
How many times per day do the minute and the hour hands on a clock form a straight line?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
You and a friend are discussing how you choose four-digit PINs. You establish that neither of you would ever use the digit 0.
“I like to choose four different random digits,” you say.
“I like to choose three different random digits,” they reply, “so one of the digits is used twice.”
Which strategy gives the largest pool of possible four-digit PINs?
Answer:
Surprisingly, both strategies create exactly the same number of possible PINs.
The workings: Your strategy is to choose four different nonzero random digits. There are nine choices for the first digit, eight for the second digit, seven for the third and six for the final digit. The number of possible PINs is thus 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 = 3024.
Your friend’s strategy is to choose three different nonzero random digits, thus repeating one of them. There are 9 choices for the digit that is repeated. And there are 6 positions for the repeated digits:
xx--
x-x-
x--x
-xx-
-x-x
--xx
There are 8 choices for the leftmost other digit, and there are 7 choices left for the final digit. So the total number is again 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 = 3024.
By mathematical coincidence, the number of possibilities when you choose three or four number is exactly the same. Nice!