Tuesday, January 31, 2012
NOW YOU KNOW
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| Image by tejvanphotos via Flickr |
MENSA Q & A
True or false: Pasternak was the first Soviet writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
(click below for the answer)
TODAY IN HISTORY
JANUARY 31
1606:Guy Fawkes, a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, was executed.
1865:Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces.
1865:The House of Representatives approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States.
1940:The first social security check was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.
1958:The first U.S. earth satellite, Explorer I, was launched.
1990:The first McDonald's opened in Russia.
Monday, January 30, 2012
SPACE
Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Cherney (Terrastro, TWAN)
Explanation:
Once a bright apparition in the
southern hemisphere dawn
Comet Lovejoy
is fading, but its long tail still stretches
across
skies near the south celestial pole.
Captured on the morning of December 30th, the comet
appears near edge of this little planet as well.
Of course, the little planet is actually planet Earth and the image was
created from a 12 frame mosaic used to construct a
spherical
panorama.
The type of
stereographic
projection used to map the image pixels
is centered directly below the camera and
is known as the
little
planet projection.
Stars surrounding this little planet were above the photographer's
cloudy horizon near the Bay of Islands on the Great Ocean Road in
southern Victoria, Australia.
Running
alongside the Milky Way
the comet can be identified, with other
celestial highlights, by putting your cursor over the picture.
Very bright stars Canopus and Sirius
are right of the little planet.
DEALING WITH A PAIN IN THE NECK
Neck Pain? Skip the Pills, Just Stretch Like a Chicken
Doing some simple exercises at home is more effective than medicine at getting out a painful crick in the neck, a new study shows.
Neck pain afflicts at least three quarters of people at some point in their lives, and many take over-the-counter medications or visit doctors and chiropractors in search of relief. Sedentary office workers tend to be most susceptible to the condition. (click below to read more)
Doing some simple exercises at home is more effective than medicine at getting out a painful crick in the neck, a new study shows.
Neck pain afflicts at least three quarters of people at some point in their lives, and many take over-the-counter medications or visit doctors and chiropractors in search of relief. Sedentary office workers tend to be most susceptible to the condition. (click below to read more)
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
James Ward's second annual
festival of tedium (the "Boring conference"), in November at York Hall
in east London, once again sold out, demonstrating the intrinsic
excitement created by yawn-inducing subject matter. Last year's
conference featured a man's discourse on the color and materials of his
neckwear collection and another's structured milk-tasting, patterned
after a wine-tasting. This second edition showcased a history of the
electric hand-dryer and a seminar on the square root of 2. [The
Independent, 11-19-2011]
TODAY IN HISTORY
JANUARY 30
1649:King Charles I of England was beheaded.
1933:Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany.
1948:Gandhi was assassinated.
1968:North Vietnamese forces launched attacks against the South Vietnamese, beginning the Tet offensive.
1972:British troops opened fire on civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland, sparking the "Bloody Sunday" massacre.
1979:The Iranian civilian government announced that the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini would be allowed to return.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
NOW YOU KNOW
Of
all countries with 25 million or more inhabitants, Bangladesh is the
most densely populated one -- by a lot. Its population density is
roughly 2,500 people per square mile; the next most dense country with a
population exceeding 25 million is South Korea, at just over 1,250
people per square mile. Another perspective: Both Bangladesh and Iowa
have an area of roughly 56,000 square miles. Bangladesh has a
population of 145 million. Iowa has a population of 3 million.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Years before the public fully understood the dangers associated with
smoking tobacco, it was glamorized to no end in movies and on
television. And youngsters weren’t immune to the allure of their
favorite hero suavely dangling a cigarette from his or her mouth. (click below to read more)
TODAY IN HISTORY
 |
| Cover of Edgar Allan Poe |
JANUARY 29
1802:John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress. He was paid $2 a day.
1845:Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven was published.
1861:Kansas became the 34th state in the United States.
1886:Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car.
1936:Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson were the first players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
1963:Poet Robert Frost died in Boston.
2002:In his State of the Union address, President Bush labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea an "axis of evil."
MENSA Q & A
A book has N pages, numbered the usual way, from 1 to N. The total number of digits in the page numbers is 1,095. How many pages does the book have?
(click below for the answer)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
MENSA Q & A
Tanzania was formed by the union of two countries. Name them.
(click below for the answer)
CANADIAN ROTARIANS FIND JOBS FOR THE DISABLED
Several Rotary districts in Ontario, Canada, are helping to expand
employment opportunities for people with physical or developmental
disabilities by educating business leaders on the benefits of hiring
them.(click below to read more)
TODAY IN HISTORY
JANUARY 28
1547:King Henry VIII of England died and his nine-year-old son, Edward VI, assumed the throne.
1915:Congress passed legislation creating the U.S. Coast Guard.
1916:The first Jewish Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis, was appointed.
1986:U.S. shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after lift off, killing all seven crew members aboard, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
1999:The creation of Element 114 is announced by scientists.
Friday, January 27, 2012
AND I QUOTE
"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."-Abraham Lincoln
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
Hospital protocols may be
changing, but too slowly for Doreen Wallace, who fell in the lobby of
the Greater Niagara General Hospital in Ontario in October and broke her
hip. Though it was less than 150 feet from the lobby to the emergency
room, hospital personnel, following rules, instructed her to call an
ambulance to take her around to the ER, though the nearest such
ambulance, in the next city, did not arrive for 30 pain-filled minutes.
Hospital officials said they would handle things better in the future.
[Toronto Star, 10-18-2011]
TODAY IN HISTORY
JANUARY 27
1880:Thomas Edison was granted a patent for his incandescent light.
1944:The Soviets announced the end of the two-year siege of Leningrad.
1945:The Russians liberated Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews.
1951:The U.S. Air Force started atomic testing in the Nevada desert.
1967:The Apollo I fire killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a simulated launch at Cape Canaveral.
1973:Vietnam War peace accords were signed in Paris.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
MENSA Q & A
Using only a four-minute hourglass and a seven-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes—without the process taking longer than nine minutes.
(click below for the answer)
DO YOU ENJOY PHOTOGRAPHY?
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| Vivian Maier |
Vivian Maier (1926-2009) had a talent for seeing. As she walked down the street, she not only avoided bumping into people and objects, she actually saw them in a way most people do not; she saw them in their particularity. We know this because more than 100,000 negatives of photographs she took were somewhat accidentally stumbled upon after her death and now form the basis of two concurrent gallery exhibitions, a photo book and two websites. There was a museum show earlier this year at the Chicago Cultural Center. There will be more. Maier's talent is recognized immediately by those who view her work, something she let no one do in her lifetime. (click below to read more)
MENSA Q & A
When you start a game of 8-ball, how many balls in all are on the pool table?
(click below for the answer)
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