Space humility
People who see our planet from outer space experience profound awe, humility, and a recognition of the fragility of life. They return to Earth changed.
Month: April 2021
Book of lonely vowels
Christian Bök’s 2001 anthology Eunoia contains five chapters that each use just one of the five vowels.
Cheating chess computer
In 2011, the World Computer Chess Championship banned the four-time champion Rybka chess engine for cheating.
First computer chess cheat
In the 1993 World Open chess tournament, an unknown competitor drew a match against a grandmaster. He used a computer to cheat.
Human alarm clock
How did people wake up in the morning before alarm clocks? They paid to get knocked up.
Mary and the lamb
Sarah Josepha Hale published “Mary had a Little Lamb” in 1830. Forty-six years later, Mary Tyler claimed to be the original Mary.
Long mile
The Scandinavian mile is 10 kilometres long. It used to be longer still.
Sky compass
Bees use sunlight polarisation patterns to navigate. We can train ourselves to detect light polarisation too.
The doubters and the oracle bones
The Doubting Antiquity School were sceptics of ancient Chinese texts’ historical veracity… until the oracle bones were deciphered.
The lost bell of Shwedagon Pagoda
A Portuguese mercenary stole the largest working bell in history from Shwedagon Pagoda, and then lost it in the waters of the Yangon River.
The Clipper route
The fastest sailing route around the world – the Clipper route – is also the most dangerous.
The rail zeppelin
Germany’s 1930 Schienenzeppelin was a propeller-driven train that could pull forty passengers at speeds faster than 200 kilometres per hour.
Kiln cones
In a kiln, a set of three drooping cones can monitor the effects of temperature on the pottery items being fired.
Wittgenstein’s propellers
The famed philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was also an early pioneer of jet-engine propellers.
Transylvanian school of witchcraft and wizardry
The 19th century Scottish author Emily Gerard collected local legends about a school of black magic high in the mountains of Transylvania.
Grace from slavery
John Newton was a press-ganged sailor, a slave, a slave-ship captain, an Anglican priest, an abolitionist, and the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
The Generalist Academy 