A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello everybody! Welcome to Volume 160 of Dovi’s Digest.
Superlatives are a funny thing. We seem to be obsessed with them. The biggest, the smallest, the longest, the fastest. Although deep down I like to think that all of us are the best at something in the world, whether it’s running or plugging a USB in the right way every time or even knowing which cupboard/drawer is the garbage bin in the kitchen, maths says this can’t be the case.
For those of us who weren’t blessed with the ability to run a marathon in two hours or break 254 walnuts with your head in a minute (254!!!, that’s over four per second), we can marvel at these feats from afar – and there is one organisation that collates these facts for us and even publishes a handy book to check them up. I’m of course talking about the Guinness Book of World Records (although it goes by Guinness World Records now).
I had two issues as a kid, 1988 and 1999. I pored over both of them for hours until I had basically memorised all the interesting facts. I also loved comparing the two and seeing which records had changed and by how much. This may have formed the basis for the trove of useless facts I keep in my head now that I think of it. I also dreamed of breaking a record, just so I could say I was the world champion in something. As a small side note, reader (and my cousin) Myer Brom was in the book and held the record for the most Rubik’s Cubes done in an hour. He might not be Ashrita Furman (who holds/has held over 700 records), but I think it’s really neat.
Of course this week’s headline article is about the organisation. It goes into the history of the book, explores what really pushes people to break records, and interviews some of the world’s serial record holders to see what makes them tick.
Last week’s headline of the week was about the woman who won the UK cheese rolling competition despite being knocked unconscious. I found this fantastic quote from one of the men’s winners. When asked how he had prepared, he told reporters: “I don’t think you can train for it, can you? It’s just being an idiot.” That’s worthy of a headline all on its own.
In this week’s added extras: you can watch the world’s fastest robo-mice compete to see how quickly they can complete a maze (some of the turns are so quick that they look like they’re teleporting), and once you’re done with that franticness, take a break and enjoy these very intricate and pleasing latte art masterpieces.
Did you know that Greenland is further north, south, east, and west of Iceland? Well, for lots more that goes out daily, check out our socials at the links below 👇
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There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Dan Riesenburg and Ayelet Garber! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
If you don’t know and don’t care to know who the tallest man who ever lived was (Robert Wadlow, who was 8 ft 11in/272cm tall), there’s bound to be something else that catches your eye. Tired of reading self-help books? Then read the article that takes all the best ones and condenses them down to 11 short points. Or you can read about the samurai who have hit on a novel way to clean up litter. Otherwise you can find out why science has yet to properly replicate a heart, read about the US’s plan to nuke the moon in the 1950s, dive into the life of the man who lives on a cruise ship, or learn how rigged those arcade games are against you, and what one government agency is doing about it. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The Strange Survival of Guinness World Records
(Courtesy of Ari Chipkin)
For more than half a century, one organisation has been cataloguing all of life’s superlatives. But has it gone from being about the pursuit of knowledge to simply another big business?
Every Self-Help Book Ever, Boiled Down To 11 Simple Rules
The basic advice in hundreds of bestsellers is older than you think.
Tokyo’s Trash-Collecting Samurai Takes a Fun, Zany Approach to Cleanup
They call themselves the Gomi Hiroi Samurai — or the “Samurai Who Pick Up Litter.” These sword-wielding eco-warriors have turned garbage collecting into a choreographed performance.
If Technology Only Had a Heart
The failure to produce an artificial heart is a testament to the wizardry of nature.
The Crazy Plan to Explode a Nuclear Bomb on The Moon
In the 1950s, with the USSR seemingly sprinting ahead in the space race, US scientists hatched a bizarre plan – nuking the surface of the Moon to frighten the Soviets.
This Man Has Lived on A Cruise Ship For 20 Years
"People come here for vacation. I don't. I come here to live my life."
Claw & Order, Jersey Shore Edition
How often are you getting scammed by boardwalk games? We investigated. No, really.
Quote of the Week:
“I always pass on good advice. It’s the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde
Facts of the Week:
Palm oil is in 50% of all the products in supermarkets, from instant noodles to detergent.
Malaysia supplies 40% of the world's palm oil.
The largest hotel in the world is in Malaysia.
Hilton Hotels’ largest shareholder is Chinese.
There's a Belgian hotel that will rent you a goldfish to keep you company.
Electric eels aren’t eels.
One way to treat jellyfish stings is to apply shaving foam and “shave” the area with a credit card.
Fish can cough.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Place each letter from the word CULTIVATE onto the blank spaces below to spell a three-letter word, a five-letter word, and a seven-letter word. Each letter can only be used once.
_ C _
_ O _ N _
_ A _ I _ N _
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Place each number from 1 to 16 into this grid so that the sum of each column is equal to the number at the top of that column, and so that the sum of each row is equal to the number at the beginning of that row. There is only one solution.
Answer: