A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello everybody! Welcome to Volume 162 of Dovi’s Digest.
Smoke and flashing lights fill the arena as the gladiator enters. The crowd roars. The slow, inexorable walk to the centre of the killing field begins. The frenzy builds to a crescendo as the warrior arrives. But this is no fight to the death. No swords will be crossed, punches thrown. Nay dear reader, it is of arrows and the man of which I sing. The fighter – a balding man in his forties. The battle – darts.
Once the domain of the pub, where having a pint in your hand and a few in your belly made you a more able competitor, the sport (yes, sport) has become more professional over the years. Sports drink in place of booze and an athlete’s build in place of a plumber’s. If you’re a competitor that is.
A spectator’s experience is still the boisterous, booze-filled bonanza of yesteryear. As the compere’s voice booms “one hundred and eighty!”; the raucous crowd, decked out in their best banana (or hot dog, or Wizard of Oz cast) suits erupt. Beer is chugged, chants and songs reverberate around the room, and the party atmosphere moves up another notch. But don’t take it from me, rather read all about what seems like the ultimate spectator sport in this week’s headline article.
In this week’s added extras, see the winners of the Milky Way photo of the year contest, learn how to break every bone in the human body (using John Wick for examples), and use this interactive infographic to find out how every type of music relates to each other from electropowerpop to Pacific island gospel.
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 (you can also scan the insta code):
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 FOUR correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Yaakov Goldfein, Ariel Subotzky, Chaim Ehrlich, and Ayelet Garber! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
As I write this, the search for the submersible lost near the Titanic is still ongoing. So, there are two articles that are kind of related. The first one is about two men who were set adrift (of their own choosing) in the Pacific, and the fate that befell them; the second is about the new (May 2023) 3D scans of the Titanic, which have captured the most minute details that have never before been seen, right down to the serial number on a propeller. There are less macabre articles too. Read about the possible craft not of human origin that were hidden from world (I haven’t done more than read the article, veracity of the source hasn’t been checked, so take it with a pinch of salt), discover how drugs made a man turn away from white supremacy (and what this means for therapy), learn about how the power of the Beyhive is fuelling inflation in Sweden, and read the oddball story of one of the biggest jewellery heists ever (involving psychics, sheiks, and everyone in between).
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Forget the World Cup: The Darts Are the Ultimate Sporting Event
A night out at the World Darts Championships surrounded by giant Marios, Christmas puddings, Grinches, Greggs sausage rolls and Teletubbies.
Vanished in the Pacific
Driven by Covid chaos, online disinformation, and a YouTube guru, two Americans went looking for solace on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. They found a different fate.
Titanic: First Ever Full-Sized Scans Reveal Wreck as Never Seen Before
The first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, which lies 3,800m (12,500ft) down in the Atlantic, has been created using deep-sea mapping. It provides a unique 3D view of the entire ship, enabling it to be seen as if the water has been drained away.
Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin
A former intelligence official turned whistle-blower has given Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General extensive classified information about deeply covert programs that he says possess retrieved intact and partially intact craft of extra-terrestrials.
How A Dose of MDMA Transformed a White Supremacist
Brendan was once a leader in the US white nationalist movement. But when he took the drug MDMA in a scientific study, it would radically change his extremist beliefs – to the surprise of everyone involved.
Beyoncé's Bills, Bills, Bills Kept Sweden’s Inflation Surprisingly High
(Courtesy of Yisroel Greenberg)
Queen Bey's Renaissance World Tour's first shows prompted a 0.2% (out of 9.7%) surge in inflation.
The Wild Story of the Psychic, the Sheikh, and the $90 Million Diamond Heist
This is the previously unreported inside story of how the former Prime Minister of Qatar became the victim of one of the world’s biggest – and weirdest – jewellery heists.
Quote of the Week:
“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” – Albert Camus
Facts of the Week:
Zoologist Frances Buckland had a parrot that liked to hail taxis from its perch by the window.
Hatebeak is a death-metal band fronted by a parrot.
The death’s head hawk Moth is the only moth that squeaks instead of buzzing.
The East African jumping spider drinks mammals’ blood.
Male spiders in the Salticidae family have fangs longer than their bodies.
American scientists have genetically engineered A 10-legged spider.
Sea urchins have 10 feet.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
The numbers below are arranged according to a certain rule. Once you’ve worked out the rule, fill in the missing number. The number seven in the final circle is not a typographical error.
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
‘Eleven trillion’ has an interesting property. It consists of 14 letters and when written out is 11,000,000,000,000, which consists of 14 digits.
What is the lowest number to have this same property, namely that the number of letters when written as a word equals the number of digits when written in numerals?
Answer:
One billion