5 Cool Things:
10/20/23
Hi, this is Greg Powell. I hope you'll enjoy one or more of these interesting topics from the world of business and beyond. Dan Powell, my son and collaborator, has researched the articles and written the summaries, so this is not a boilerplate message. We'd like to give you a weekly break to learn about something cool or, better yet, 5 Cool Things
We Are Not Empty (Aeon)
āMatter is composed chiefly of nothingā, said the famous astronomer Carl Sagan in the series Cosmos. Many of us have heard statements to this effect from various places over the years, but unfortunately they couldnāt be farther from the truth: a molecule is absolutely full of dizzying activity. The misconception comes from models that present electrons, protons, and neutrons as particles. In fact, quantum theory holds that, unless measured, the matter in atoms exists as continuous clouds of waves ā even the nucleus of the atom is a mass of uncertain probabilities. āNuclei and electrons are majestic, stable, structured, closed-packed clouds, driving every aspect of matter as we know it.ā Read moreā¦
Desalination System Could Produce Freshwater That is Cheaper than Tap Water (MIT News)
Around three-quarters of the Earthās surface is covered in water, but the vast majority of that water is useless for sustaining human life. Desert cities along vast coastlines and sailors at sea have longed for cheap, available water for many centuries without a solution, aside from the very expensive and energy-consuming desalinization options that currently exist. However, a new solar-powered, passive system for removing salt from water was recently published in the journal Joule, and might upend this paradigm forever. According to scientists at MIT and in China, scaling up the system, which is inspired by natural ocean currents, might make the creation of drinking water possible at rates lower than even tap water, with an interval of years between maintenance needs. Read moreā¦
Sperm Whales Clicking You Inside Out (James Nestor at The Interval)
At 236 decibels, sperm whales are the loudest animals on the planet. Their complex clicking noises have evolved to travel many miles through the ocean, allowing them to communicate with other members of their species over long distances. To study these effects, human divers have trained to free dive ā without scuba gear or submarines ā in close proximity to the animals, whose clicking can cause all sorts of effects on the human body. According to some researchers, the sounds produced by sperm whales might be so complex that they effectively constitute a language more advanced than even human language. See moreā¦
The Surprisingly Long History of the Word āYoā (Mental Floss)
āYoā is a very short, basic word, so it perhaps isnāt actually surprising that itās been present in the English language for a very long time ā in fact, all the way back to the Late Middle Ages. Because spelling then was less standardized, yo could appear as āio, Čo, yowe, or even joā, although it still roughly translated as some sort of exclamation, in this case to spur a team of animals onward. In modern times, itās thought that Rocky Balboaās famous āYo, Adrian!ā did a lot to popularize the word, which during the 1980s was spread, as so many great cultural developments were and are to this day, by Black American subcultures. Read moreā¦
How an English Energy Crisis Helped Create Champagne (Atlas Obscura)
In the early 1600s, centuries of growth and mismanagement began to weigh on stocks of English timber. Fearing disruption to the production of buildings, ships, and other important constructions, the government of King James I issued a proclamation that wood could no longer be burned to produce glass, disrupting a burgeoning wine industry that had just become fashionable among the upper classes. What could the glassmakers do? Produce bottles using coal ā a fuel that burned at a higher temperature, and a process that yielded stronger glass bottles. Suddenly, glass could withstand the higher pressures of additional fermentation: champagne was born, and over time crossed the English channel to regions, like those of France, with more delectable grapes. Read moreā¦
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