Dovi’s Digest Volume 235
Come away with me ✈️🌍😱
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 235 of Dovi’s Digest!
Once again I find myself sitting in bed at 12:45 writing the Digest intro. But this time it’s not because I’ve been procrastinating (maybe it’s a little bit of that), but because I’m currently in Thessaloniki and have been out exploring the city’s history in the day and the excellent music scene at night.
As I’ve mentioned before many times in these very pages, I love exploring new places, the more random, the better. This deep sense of wanderlust has given me experiences I’ll remember forever, and has forged friendships that I still cherish.
Which makes me quite jealous of the group that this week’s headline article is about. The world’s most travelled people make a point of going to places that even I would fear to tread. Read all about them below!
In this week’s added extras:
Red Bull spent a year building a custom drone to keep up with its Formula 1 car (driven by Max Verstappen) around Silverstone.
Why bubble-gum is pink.
This site sends you on a journey down the River Styx.
Holidays are upon us, which means many people ae travelling. Easily compare pros and cons of every airline, airport, and airplane model with this tool.
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 Steven K, Ariel S, Chaim E, Josh H, Yali F, Ryan S, and Hazel L! 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:
Meet the Extreme Travelers Trying to Visit Every Country in the World
I tagged along on a surreal trip to a conflict zone in Azerbaijan with a group of explorers known as the world’s Most Travelled People. No matter that the war there wasn’t over yet.
I Spent 72 Hours Without a Phone. It Led Me to a Terrifying Realisation
“Every time I was left alone, which is when I’d usually check my phone, I instead just stared numbly into space”.
“Look, They’re Getting Skin!”: Are We Right to Strive to Save the World’s Tiniest Babies?
Doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But when so few survive, are we putting them through needless suffering?
When Does the Human Brain Peak? Here's What Scientists Actually Know About Cognitive Decline
If you look to science, you’ll find that cognitive aging is not a uniformly downhill slope that inevitably ends with something like dementia.
The Invisible Man
We see right through the unshowered soul living in a car by the beach, or by the Walmart, or by the side of the road. But he’s there, and he used to be somebody. He still is. A first-hand account of homelessness in America.
The Shipwreck Detective
Nigel Pickford has spent a lifetime searching for sunken treasure—without leaving dry land.
My Weekends With the Dead
In 2017, I decided to solve a long-time mystery about my family. It led me to a controversial pastime that consumes thousands—and has changed untold lives.
Quote of the Week:
“A good rule to remember for life is that when it comes to plastic surgery and sushi, never be attracted by a bargain.” – Graham Norton
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Kathy M)
Denizen
deh·nuh·zn/ˈdɛnɪz(ə)n/
Noun
a person, animal, or plant that lives or is found in a particular place.
"denizens of field and forest"
Do you know a word you think others should know about?
Facts of the Week:
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh has been converted into the world's most luxurious prison.
Cellblocks is a crypto currency used in American prisons.
Cryptocurrency worth $534 million was stolen in Japan in 2018 (over $5 billion at today’s price), making it the biggest theft in the history of the world.
In 2005, security guards at Australia's parliament were banned from calling MPs “mate”. The ban was lifted within 24 hours for being un-Australian.
There are two places in Australia called Dismal Swamp.
Trees sweat to cool down.
By using bidets instead of toilet paper, Americans could save 15 million trees a year.
Woodpeckers bang their heads into trees at 15 miles an hour, 12,000 times a day.
The Canary Islands have dandelion trees.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
There are 1,000 people in a conference. 500 speak English, 500 speak Spanish, and 500 speak Hindi. Everyone at the conference speaks at least one of these languages.
What can the maximum number of people be who speak only one language?
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
Move a single letter from one word to the other to make a pair of synonyms, or near synonyms.
Example: Boast - hip → boat - ship (by moving the “s”)
1. Our - Start
2. Strip - Tumble
3. Clause - Idea
4. Cash – Broom
5. Plight - Lam
Answer:
1. Sour - Tart
2. Trip - Stumble
3. Cause - Ideal
4. Crash - Boom
5. Light - Lamp