English is a screwy language. There’s just no logic to it. Why is daughter pronounced daw-ter, but laughter not law-ter? How can though, through, and tough look so similar and yet sound so different? Why does I come before E except after C? What’s so effing SPECIAL about C?
Superstitions ascribe supernatural origins to things that humans don’t understand, and they occur across the world. Early humans had a lot that they didn’t understand, but modern people are much more enlightened. Superstitions about bad luck feel like the kind of things we tell gullible children, so why do I still see people knocking on wood, throwing salt over their shoulders, and refusing to walk under ladders? Exactly where do these strange superstitions come from, and do any have even the tiniest basis in reality?
Dr. Kawash, of the the Candy Professor blog, dives deep into the American relationship with candy, finding irrational and interesting ideas everywhere. The big idea behind Candy Professor is that candy carries so much moral and ethical baggage that people view it as fundamentally different — in a bad way — from other kinds of food.
In 1900, Greek divers rifling through an ancient shipwreck recovered dozens of bronze fragments that turned out to be parts of a 2,000-year-old mechanical calendar. Now, more than a century after that discovery, scientists who studied these pieces are hailing the device as remarkably advanced for its time. Read On
For overall healthy digestion and to minimize acid reflux, make sure you get plenty of fiber from a variety of vegetables, non-citrus fruits, and whole grains. Drink enough fluids to help your body absorb important nutrients and lubricate food waste. And exercise regularly. Use low-fat methods when cooking, for example, substituting broth for butter or oil when you saute, and replacing oil with applesauce (cup for cup) when you’re baking. Herbal chamomile tea is said to have a calming effect on the stomach, so try some after you eat or before bed.
Everybody will tell you that memory can’t be trusted. When they say that, of course, what they mean is other people’s memories can’t be trusted. We don’t like to think that everything we know about the world is based on a deeply flawed and illogical storage system. We’re not talking about being bad at matching faces with names here. Science has found that your memory is basically a pathological liar, just making it up as it goes along. For instance …
There is a great story about the birth of what may have been the most culturally important piece of technology created in the last fifty years: the Sony Walkman – a device that, according to popular business wisdom, should never have existed.
The American revolutionaries gave their lives for a future in which each man would have the freedom to make his own choices. That dream has come true in the form of supermarket aisles that contain 50 different cereals with the word “oat” in their name, five marshmallow based cereals with a monster theme and 12 different varieties of Cheerios alone. God Bless America. What would you say if I told you that dream was a lie? That all these brands you think you’re picking and choosing between are all sock puppets on the many tentacles of a few, lesser known companies? I don’t know what you would say, but we’re about to find out.
