Dovi’s Digest Volume 221
The Dead Sea is dying 🧂🌊😵
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 221 of Dovi’s Digest.
To paraphrase a well known late 90s song, the weeks keep coming and they don’t stop coming. It seems like just a few days ago that I was writing last week’s intro. Yet here I am again, frantically banging out a short essay to try and satiate the ever-hungry maw of the internet. I’m going to try and be as concise as possible this week, as it is not only late, but my (purported) arthritis is flaring up a little (I know I sound like a 70-year-old man called Irving when I say that).
This week’s headline article touches on this a little. For years the Dead Sea’s salt and mud flats have been touted as panaceas for all of life’s woes. Eczema, psoriasis, even depression have all been anecdotally cured by Dead Sea products. This goes for arthritis as well. Seeing as there’s no known allopathic cure for it, I’ve been researching naturopathic therapies, and one of the most common recommendations is a visit to the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, it’s shrinking at an alarming rate, due to both human intervention (the diverting of feeder rivers) and global warming (although I guess that is also human intervention). Anyway, I reckon that I need to try get there at some point before 2050 to have a shot. For a variety of reasons.
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
In this week’s added extras:
The meanings behind the acronyms you see every day.
There’s a new, less competitive version of Scrabble, so you don’t have to memorize the list of acceptable two-letter words.
A hilariously detailed infographic on the number of mullets in Australian rules football.
The gorgeous trailer for the upcoming papal thriller (yes, you read that right), Conclave.
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 SEVEN correct answers to last week’s brainteaser, well done to Yona K, Josh H, Chaim E, Ryan S, Sam T, Ariel S, and Jeff C!! 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:
The Disappearing Dead Sea
It’s a natural wonder treasured for the “healing powers” of its mineral-rich water. But the sea at the lowest point on Earth is slipping away.
What Happens When Astronauts Get Stuck in Space
The two Nasa astronauts overstaying on the ISS aren't the first astronauts to be stuck in space… and they probably won't be the last.
A Peek Inside the Brains of ‘Super-Agers’
New research explores why some octogenarians have exceptional memories.
Four Friends, Two Marriages, One Affair — and a Shelf of Books Dissecting It
A tale of literature and treachery.
$5,000 Exoskeleton Pants Promise to Make You a Better Hiker
Arc’teryx’s Mo/Go hiking pants use braces and carbon fibre arms to take pressure off your legs when climbing stairs or mountains.
How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World
A gigantic, weather-defining current system could be headed to collapse. Peter and Susanne Ditlevsen had a simple yet controversial question: How much time might we have left to save it?
The Dognapping of the Century
When a ring of thieves steals a poet’s beloved dog, one of the world’s most famous women must break her long domestic oppression and discover herself in the process.
Quote of the Week:
“It's so simple, yet makes such a difference. Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.'” — Mary Kay Ash
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Carl S)
Coruscating
ko·ruh·skay·tuhng/ˈkɒrəskeɪtɪŋ/
Adjective
1. flashing; sparkling.
"a coruscating kaleidoscope of colours"
2. severely critical; scathing.
"his coruscating attack on the Prime Minister"
Facts of the Week:
Yellville, Arkansas, celebrates Thanksgiving by dropping turkeys from a light aircraft.
In 1605, an act of Parliament made the celebration of Bonfire Night compulsory.
During the Second World War, paraffin was used to make cakes.
France and French Polynesia have special mailboxes for baguette deliveries.
French became the official language of the Aosta Valley in Italy three years before it was adopted by France itself.
Drunken fights among pétanque players are known in the French press as bouliganism.
France has a population of wild hamsters.
A group of pheasants is called a “bouquet”.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Below is an encoded quote from the comedian George Carlin. Can you figure out what it says?
Each letter is a stand-in for another letter. Hint: Q = M.
“‘S DQ’ SU YLTRYPLJWB PKL UKRYPLUP ULOPLOHL SO PKL LOMWSUK WDOMADML. HRAWJ SP FL PKDP ‘S JR’ SU PKL WROMLUP ULOPLOHL?”
Last week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Today’s puzzle comes from the Guardian: Change one letter of each word to make pairs of synonyms.
Example: “paid and dug” → “pair and duo”
a) Mistress and buffering
b) Engage and maiden
c) Aware and prime
Answer:
a) Distress and suffering
b) Enrage and madden
c) Award and prize