A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 150 of Dovi’s Digest.
There’s a fantastic stat that 6% of Americans believe they can beat a bear in hand to hand (hand to paw?) combat. This typifies the hubris with which Americans and particularly men view the world.
I could prattle on about how we have this misplaced sense of superiority or explain why men have these daydreams where they actually imagine these hypotheticals. But I won’t. Instead, I’ll share some of the other results of the survey, because they’re hilarious.
Only 72% believe they could beat a rat.
49% think they can beat a medium-sized dog (this was the largest discrepancy between men and women, who registered 61% and 39% respectively).
17% believe they could beat a chimpanzee (who are basically pure muscle. Google it).
12% reckon they’d take a kangaroo.
Finally, 8% of Americans think they could win in unarmed combat against a gorilla, a lion, or an elephant. (This is telling, as I don’t think they realise how much bigger than a grizzly an elephant is).
Anyway, this week’s headline article is about two college wrestlers who fulfilled every man’s dream: they wrestled a bear…and won. Enjoy!
(Disclaimer: these are professional wrestlers, who are tall, packed with muscle and are in their athletic prime. Also, there were two of them. Please don’t fight a bear, you’ll almost definitely die.)
Your added extras this week are a man who builds sandcastles that definitely aren’t the bucket and spade ones you’re used to, as well as a cool article about two aerospace engineers who broke the world record for the longest flight by a paper plane.
The Dovi’s Digest Facebook and Twitter pages will keep you sated between editions, with all new content. Check it out at the links below:
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There were THREE correct answer to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Ariel Subotzky, Ryan Subotzky, and Chaim Ehrlich! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
2v1 interspecies matchups notwithstanding, there’s advice for when you find sunken treasure matey, how a man used AI to spoof voice recognition in a bank, the difficulties adults with ADHD have at work, how the Taleban have adapted to life in the big city after spending so long in a rural setting, read about the grave of the unknown bank robber and the mysterious woman who visited every year, and learn about the fight over the IP of Albert Einstein’s face.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The College Wrestlers Who Took on a Grizzly Bear
In October, two junior college wrestlers were in the woods looking for antlers when they heard a crunch and saw the scariest thing you can find in the wilderness: an angry grizzly bear.
So, You’ve Found A Shipwreck Full Of Treasure, Now What?
There's a loot of laws surrounding shipwreck treasure.
How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice
Banks in the U.S. and Europe tout voice ID as a secure way to log into your account. I proved it's possible to trick such systems with free or cheap AI-generated voices.
The silent struggles of workers with ADHD
Unlike their neurotypical counterparts, workers with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder often find themselves left behind.
New Lives in the City: How Taleban have experienced life in Kabul
A large number of Taleban fighters have moved to Afghanistan’s cities since the movement’s capture of power, many of them seeing life in the city for the first time in their lifetime.
The Grave of XYZ
The mysterious headstone of an unidentified bank robber was seen visited, every year, by a woman in black.
Who Owns Einstein? The Battle for the World’s Most Famous Face
Thanks to a savvy California lawyer, Albert Einstein has earned far more posthumously than he ever did in his lifetime. But is that what the great scientist would have wanted?
Quote of the Week:
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
Facts of the Week:
The mayor of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire is weighed every year to see if he's gotten fat during his term in office.
Plants make up 82% of the mass of all living things.
Only 30% of Hindus are vegetarian.
The DNA in your body could stretch to Pluto and back 17 times.
The Sun is closer to the earth during the northern hemisphere's winter, not the summer.
In the Qing dynasty, people swapped their pillows in the summer for cooler ceramic ones.
Ancient Greek soldiers once went on strike for softer pillows.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Name a branch of scientific study. Drop the last letter. Then rearrange the remaining letters to name two subjects of that study. What branch of science is it?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Dictionary.com found examples of every letter in the English language being silent…except one. Which letter is never silent?