A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 205 of Dovi’s Digest.
I’m currently away, and therefore I haven’t written an intro.
This week’s headline article is honestly one of the funniest I’ve read in weeks, and documents one man’s experience on the world’s largest cruise ship. I also recommend David Foster Wallace’s similar article which made me giggle.
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
In this week’s added extras:
Is this the most impressive zoom out you’ve seen from a smartphone?
Get ideas to curb the munchies from these comprehensive snack food reviews.
A letter to the editor that will restore your faith in book reviews (and maybe humanity).
Watch these baby penguins jump off an ice cliff and get inspired.
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 SIX correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Chaim E, Yona K, Josh H, R Sam T, Ryan S, and Ariel S! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever
Seven agonizing nights aboard the Icon of the Seas.
Inside the Weird and Wonderful World of Miniatures
Once the province of retirees, miniatures are now trending on TikTok, starring on reality television, and selling for six figures. Here, we take you inside the big moment for these tiny worlds.
How Synthetic Diamonds Are Upending The Industry's Status Quo
Lab-grown diamonds are causing changes in a business that is already under heavy scrutiny.
Invisible Ink
At the CIA’s Creative Writing Group.
Why You Age Slower On A Plane (And Other Incredibly Strange Effects Of Relativity)
Einstein correctly predicted that time slows when you're flying fast, but to experience "time dilation" most spectacularly, you'd have to travel into a black hole, says astrophysicist Chris Lintott.
The Biggest Questions: What Is Death?
New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.
Happily Ever Divorced
After my Instagrammable marriage fell apart, I finally found peace with my ex-husband — off the grid.
Quote of the Week:
“We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we’re happy because we laugh.” – American philosopher William James
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Lauren W)
Pluck
Pluhk /plʌk/
noun
1. Courageous readiness to fight against the odds.
2. Spirited and determined courage.
"it must have taken a lot of pluck to walk along a path marked ‘Danger’"
Facts of the Week:
Baker Island, in the middle of the Pacific, is the last place on earth to ring in the new year.
The world's smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail.
Cleaning a train in Pakistan takes 40 people four hours.
Human nose grease can be used to clean photographic negatives.
People enjoy their food more if they share photographs of it on social media.
The customer who ordered the world's smallest sushi, made with a single grain of rice, or so moved she cried for an hour and a half.
Rui-katsu (“tear seeking”)is a Japanese therapy which women pay to have a good cry with a handsome man.
Three Argentinian rugby players used their new tooth implants as bottle openers.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Today’s puzzle will quiz you about “verbjectives,” words that can be used as both a verb and an adjective, depending on the context.
The first clue is for the verb form of the word, denoted by (v), and the second clue is for the adjective form of the word, denoted by (a). Your job is to find the word that satisfies both.
Here’s an example: aim (v), honest (a)
Answer: direct
1) authorize (v), acceptable (a)
2) unfasten (v), receptive (a)
3) obscure (v), slow (a)
4) abstain (v), speedy (a)
5) release (v), complimentary (a)
Last week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
“This sentence contains _______ letters”
Write a number in words in the blank space in the above sentence that will make the statement true.
Answer:
Thirty six or thirty eight.