A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 252 of Dovi’s Digest!
This section has failed to load.
In this week’s added extras:
The most iconic electronic music sample of every year since 1990
Rescue the chickens in this barebones but addicting game.
How a Rubik’s speed cube champion makes his solves.
Are your fingerprints really unique?
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 Jeff C, the Subo clan, Josh H, Myer B, and Ayelet! 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:
The Balloon That Fell from The Sky
Fifteen teams lifted off from Switzerland in gas ballooning’s most audacious race. Three days later, two of them drifted into Belarusian airspace—but only one would survive.
Who Has the World’s Best Tap Water? There’s a Competition for That.
There are no losers at the Oscars of water in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
The Most Interesting Roommate in the World
At first, he was movie star Val Kilmer. But after weeks of us living together, he just became Val.
The Simple Trick to Change Other People's Minds
People will be far more open-minded than you realise if you adopt these simple conversational techniques.
The Six-Figure Nannies and Housekeepers of Palm Beach
An influx of ultra-high-net-worth newcomers has increased demand for experienced—and discreet—household staff.
S’pore’s Cyborg Cockroaches Helping with Search-And-Rescue Efforts in Myanmar Quake
(Courtesy of Myer B)
A total of 10 cyborg cockroaches from Singapore have been sent to Myanmar to assist with search-and-rescue efforts after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck.
The Last Face Death Row Inmates See
The Rev. Jeff Hood has made a career of fighting to save men the state wants to kill — and it doesn't matter if they're innocent.
Quote of the Week:
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.” – American pianist Oscar Levant
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Jeevan C)
Pestiferous
peh·sti·fuh·ruhs/pɛˈstɪf(ə)rəs/
adjective
LITERARY
Harbouring infection and disease.
"The pestiferous area around the prison"
2. HUMOROUS
Constituting a nuisance; very annoying.
"That pestiferous nephew of yours"
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
Facts of the Week:
Gloucester sent a lamprey pie to the Queen for each of her jubilees, but as a protected species in the UK, the lampreys have to come from Canada.
Canada has a strategic maple syrup reserve.
Fort Blunder, built by the US in 1816 to defend itself from Canada, was accidentally built in Canada.
“Bear Castle” is the literal translation from Swedish of Björn Borg.
Mahatma Gandhi wrote in to ask about the Charles Atlas bodybuilding course.
Krishna Pandit Bhanji is Sir Ben Kingsley's real name.
Mswati III, the king of Swaziland, changed his country's name to Eswatini to avoid it being mistaken for Switzerland.
In 2007, the Swiss army invaded Liechtenstein by accident: it was dark, and they couldn’t see where they were going.
Cartoon of the Week:
(Courtesy of Tanti P)
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Insert each of the numbers from 1 to 15 into the spaces below so that the sum of any two consecutive spaces is a square number (4, 9, 16, etc.).
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
What emotion is an anagram of a homophone of an antonym of a homophone of an anagram of wolf?
As a reminder…
1. Anagram: When the letters of a word are rearranged to form a new word.
2. Homophone: Words that sound alike but have a different meaning or spelling.
Answer:
Fear. The anagram of wolf is fowl, the homophone is foul, the antonym is fair, the homophone is fare, and the anagram is fear.