A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 226 of Dovi’s Digest!
To be perfectly frank with you all, this entire digest was actually written on Monday morning, sans the intro. I’ve spent the week exploring some of my family history and was expecting to write something deep and meaningful here, telling stories that touched and inspired me. And now it’s Thursday night and I’m writing this not only on a plane, but on my phone during turbulence (although I guess it’s better than a laptop bouncing around the cabin).
I’m still processing what I’ve seen and learned over the last two days. Some life affirming things, some stories that are horrific and will stick with me for years, but all of it meaningful. I hoped to write this intro in situ, but alas here I am. Once I have processed properly I will write the intro that was meant to be.
In the meantime, you have this stream of consciousness piece instead.
The headline article has absolutely nothing to do with anything I’ve just written, although I did have a delicious apple off a tree that was growing next to a cemetery. So there’s that (I don’t want to know what the tree used as fertiliser). It’s a great article though, and will ensure you never have to have a mealy, tasteless apple again.
I hope the “guide” will be most helpful to those of you celebrating Rosh Hashanah this coming week, and that the new year will bring you many apples that will be crisp and tart (don’t come at me with your overly sweet apples, I won’t brook that sort of dissent, although apples on Rosh Hashanah get a pass as they’re supposed to symbolise a sweet new year).
In this week’s added extras:
Epicurious tested out 56 different grilled cheeses to determine the best one.
Wilderness survival tricks that could save your life (but probably just your camping trip).
Learn about the disease that’s deadlier than the plague.
A rhino is flipped upside down and airlifted to a safer place.
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 FIVE correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Sam T, Ariel S, Jeff C, Bianca S, and Chaim E!! The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
How One Man Has Dedicated Himself to the Art of Apple Trolling
This comedian created an apple ranking system so no one ever has to "eat a trash apple ever again."
Does Fidgeting Really Help You Focus?
According to science, it depends.
“For Me, There Was No Other Choice”: Inside the Global Illegal Organ Trade
I spoke to dozens of people – from ‘donors’ to brokers – to find out how this exploitative trade thrives on chaos and desperation.
The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s
She first noticed the scent on her husband. Now her abilities are helping unlock new research in early disease detection.
I Joined the Turkish Commuters Who Swim Between Europe and Asia Every Day
The bends and currents of the Bosporus Strait mean only the most skilled pilots can navigate it without running aground. As a swimmer, there’s even less room for error.
Saturn’s Majestic Rings Will Vanish in Just Six Months From Now
A fast-approaching and significant cosmic event will soon dramatically alter our view of this magnificent planet. Come March 2025, Saturn’s majestic rings will become virtually invisible to earth-based observers.
“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network
Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalisations, no one could find him a therapist.
Quote of the Week:
“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.” – Stephen Hawking
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Tanti P)
Intransigent
in·tran·suh·jnt/ɪnˈtrɑːnsɪdʒənt,ɪnˈtransɪdʒənt/
Adjective
1. unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something.
"her father had tried persuasion, but she was intransigent"
Noun
1. an intransigent person
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
Facts of the Week:
Canadian snooker player “Big Bill” Werbenuik drank 8 pints of beer before a match, then one for each frame.
In the 19th century, a “pool room” was where people placed bets on horse racing.
Pool started as a mediaeval game called jeu de la poule, in which you threw rocks at a chicken.
Pet chickens in Silicon Valley have their own personal chefs.
The 17th century game Sparrow Mumbling involved holding a live bird in your mouth.
Robins go through puberty every year.
If your metabolism was as fast as a hummingbird’s, you would need to drink a can of Coke a minute just to stay alive.
Hummingbirds’ hearts beat 10 times a second and are the size of the rubber on the end of a pencil.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Isaac L)
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
A man has been prescribed two different tablets, X and Y. He needs to take one of each tablet every day, and if he doesn’t take the tablets according to this schedule, he’ll get sick. The tablets are very expensive, so he cannot throw them away and get a new prescription.
When the man has just a two-day supply left, he accidentally drops all four tablets on the floor. He picks them up and notices they look, smell, and weigh exactly the same. How can he make sure that he maintains his tablet schedule?
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
STINK, DELIVER, STRESSED, REWARD, WARTS
The above words have something in common. Which of the following words belongs in the same group?
SPREE, IMITATE, SHIRT, COUNTED, LAGER
Answer:
Lager, because all of these words form new words when reversed (regal, knits, reviled, etc.). Source