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4 Days in Washington Dc

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 09:57:00 +0000

If you are staying in Washington DC, there is a lot to see and do here, a lot of it. Thankfully, most of what you could possibly want to do in Washington DC is in a single area, or, within easy to reach distance. On this page, I am going to cover some of the best things you can do if you are in the city for just 96 hours.

1. Museums: There are 19 museums in Washington DC operated by the Smithsonian. If you love museums, then you are going to feel right at home, all of them are free to enter. Although, of course, each museum is going to take a good few hours to explore. You will, therefore, want to choose your favorites. Start at the Smithsonian Institute Building and pick up a guide to the museums and choose which ones you want.

2. Memorials: If you are not American, you may want to give these a skip. If you are, you should try and see as many as possible. Although, to be honest, they are a bit spread out. I suggest that you take a guided tour to see all of them within the 96 hours that you have. These guides will also throw out a few interesting facts. This includes the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam, Jefferson Memorial and the World War II memorial.

3. White House: You really can’t head to Washington DC, American or not, without seeing the White House. You will also be able to find two other top buildings nearby. This includes the Supreme Court and the Capitol. Basically, all of the biggest decisions in the United States of America are made here. You are going to be at the center of everything. If you wish for a free ticket to the Capitol, you must obtain them online beforehand. If you are American, you can also get them from your local Senator.

4. Georgetown: This is the waterfront of Washington DC. It is very historic. I suggest that you go here during the latter part of the day when you are starting to get hungry. This is because there are a lot of restaurants here and just about every cuisine is covered. In addition to this, the later part of the day is the best time to shop. The crowds tend to be at the minimum.

5. Kennedy Center: If you have an evening spare during the 96 hours that you are spending in Washington DC, then make sure you head to the Kennedy Center. There always seems to be some sort of show going on there, and they all tend to be pretty thrilling. If there is nothing going on, there is also a free guided tour held from time to time which will take you through the history of the building and allow you to see all of the artwork which has been stored here. It is actually pretty interesting, but only do it if you are not really pressed for time whilst in Washington DC.

Free Things You Can Do in San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 09:53:00 +0000

1. Art Galleries:

There are a lot of art galleries in San Francisco, many of which are free. New art shows are popping up all of the time too. Basically, San Francisco is an art lover paradise. Dedicate a day or two to touring some of the bigger art galleries and you will be pleasantly surprised at just how much fun you are having.

2. Golden Gate Bridge:

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is simply awe-inspiring. It is a pretty long walk through at 1.7 miles, particularly if you want to walk back too. If you head across the Golden Gate Bridge, make sure you dress up warm as it can be pretty cold near the middle of it. You will also wish to take a camera as you are almost certainly going to want to snap a few photographs.

3. Randall Museum:

If you have children in tow, this museum is somewhere that you are going to want to be. There are plenty of live animals on show, as well as a number of additional workshops which both adults and children alike can take part in. In addition to this, you will be able to enjoy some pretty decent views over the entirety of San Francisco, so even if you are not going to take part in any of the workshops happening in the Randall Museum, you still should make this place a ‘must visit’

4. Golden Gate Park:

This is, obviously, somewhere that you are only going to want to go if the weather is playing ball. There is a lot happening in the park, particularly at the weekends. I suggest that you look online before your trip to San Francisco to find out exactly what is happening in this fabulous area. You may, for example, be able to take part in free lawn bowling lessons, you may be able to watch a live music concert, or you may even be able to feast your eyes on a good Shakespeare play.

5. Pier 39:

Any time of the year is good for Pier 39. However, if you wish for the best experience, head here during January to July. 1,300 sea lions will be on full view.

6. Wave Organ:

I am going to cap off with this one, simply because the sounds it makes are brilliant. The sounds change throughout the day based upon the tied. In some cases, it can be very spooky, others, a bit more relaxing. There are a couple of restaurants nearby and it makes the perfect soundtrack to your meal! I suggest coming in during the later stages of the day if you wish to hear the best sounds.

Zion National Park, Utah

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:31:00 +0000

Protaras, Cyprus

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:29:00 +0000

Moon Point, Santa Cruz Island, California

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:27:00 +0000

Minatomirai, Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:26:00 +0000

Mdina, Malta

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:25:00 +0000

Best Ways to Save Money in New York

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:10:00 +0000

New York is notorious for being an expensive place to be and, to some extent, that notoriety rings true. However, there are a couple of ways in which you can save money if you are travelling to this fantastic city. On this page, I am going to introduce you to a few of them.

1. Firstly, think about how you are travelling to New York. Now, there are, obviously, some places you can live which will only be able to get to New York via plane. However, if you can get a bus, go down that route. It may take you a bit longer, but it is going to be a whole lot cheaper. In fact, if you can drive, do that too. If you have multiple people in the car, you are going to be saving a whole load of cash and all of that cash can, of course, be used for your New York trip.

2. Before you head to New York, plan about where you wish to eat. Yes, I know this is a lot of effort, but it is going to be worth it. It is likely that you will be able to find discount vouchers for some of the best places online. In addition to this, you can also head to sites such as Groupon which normally have some pretty decent offers for restaurants in New York. If you do not like this level of planning, then you will be pleased to know that there are a number of cheap locations to eat here, just make sure that you get a guidebook beforehand.

3. There are a lot of free attractions to see around New York. In fact, some of the most popular locations are free. The Statue of Liberty and Central Park are right up there when it comes to free attractions to visit. Some of them will even have free guided tours which you can take!

4. Want to catch a decent Broadway show? Well, you can buy tickets for ‘same day’ shows at the TKTS booths found in Times Square, Brooklyn and South Street Seaport. The queues do get long, however, and you have no way of ensuring that you will be able to see what you want, although, if you get there early, the chances of being able to see a good show are high!

5. Do not stay near the center of New York if you wish to save money! Travelling around New York is dreadfully simple, so you can stay in some of hotels further away from the center in order to save a decent amount of cash.

6. Do not head around New York in a taxi. This is expensive, very expensive. Instead, purchase a Metro pass for travelling around the city whilst you are staying there. You will be able to save a lot of cash, and you will not have to worry about your Taxi getting through all of that heavy traffic.

Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 07:00:00 +0000

Portrait of a Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 07:00:00 +0000

Nirvana - Kurt Cobain 1991

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:59:00 +0000

Beautiful German Shepherd

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:58:00 +0000

Adolf Hitler reviews an honour guard in the inner yard of the Reichspräsidentenpalais, Berlin, Germany, 12 September 1934.

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:57:00 +0000

Why did people think the Moon was made out of green cheese?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 24 May 2016 06:22:00 +0000

In fact, nobody really ever thought the Moon was made of green cheese… Well, there are nutters out there, so it’s possible that there was at least one person who thought the Moon was made of cheese, and kids used to sometimes believe the Moon was made of cheese thanks to various fables, but kids will believe anything. For instance, in 1902 it was found that the most common theory as to what the Moon was made of according to children in the United States was that it was made of cheese. But these children weren’t exactly setting the bar high as other popular responses from them were things like “yellow paper, dead people, and rags.”

So other than lunatics and children who were told so by their parents via fables, nobody seriously ever thought the Moon was made of cheese.

Another common misconception surrounding the Moon/green cheese thing is that the “green” here is referring to the color green. While there are actually green cheeses, what the “green” signifies here is “new” or “fresh”, so “the Moon is made of new cheese.” This was a common way to refer to cheese where the whey either hadn’t yet all been pressed out or had just been removed from the curds, in other words, cheese that has not been aged at all.

So how did this “Moon is made of green cheese” thing all start and become popularized? It isn’t entirely clear who was the first to come up with the expression, but it became extremely common starting in the mid-16th century. The credit for the person to come up with the expression usually goes to famed French monk and scholar François Rabelais or English writer John Heywood.

Heywood first used it in The Proverbs of John Heywood written in 1546

Ye fetch circumquaques to make me believe,
Or thinke, that the moone is made of greene cheese.
And when ye have made me a lout in all these,
It seemeth ye would make me goe to bed at noone.

So basically, the expression itself simply was used to refer to something so ludicrous that only the extremely gullible would believe it.

Another early example using the statement in the same way can be found in 1565 in Shacklock’s Hatched of Heresies:

Whilst they tell for truthe Luther his lowde lyes, so that they may make theyr blinde brotherhode and the ignorant sort beleve that the mone is made of grene chese

Yet another early reference from John Wilkins’ New World Book 1 (1638), which is explicitly clear as to the meaning of the expression and that it had become common,

You may as soon persuade some Country Peasants that the Moon is made of Green Cheese (as we say) as that ’tis bigger than his Cart-wheel

While in the early days it was used just to signify gullibility, in the last couple centuries many started thinking that people actually used to believe this, which is kind of ironic if you think about it. This is not unlike how people started believing that most thought the world was flat during the Middle Ages, when in truth in many parts of the world people have known the world wasn’t flat for well over 2000 years.

For instance, Eratosthenes (at the time the head librarian at the library of Alexandria) around 240 BC not only knew the Earth was round, as most Greek scholars did at the time, but managed to become the first known person to calculate the circumference of the Earth accurately, only off by about 2%. He also calculated the distance from the Earth to the Sun and was off by only about a half a percent. Not only that, but he calculated the tilt of the Earth on its axis and was off by less than half a degree. Another amazing accomplishment by Eratosthenes was that he basically invented the discipline of Geography with his remarkable three book treaties Geographikia. You can learn more about all this here: The Amazing Eratosthenes

Why are carved pumpkins called “Jack O’ Lanterns”?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 24 May 2016 06:21:00 +0000

The name “Jack O’ Lantern” was originally one of the numerous names given to ignis fatuus (Medieval Latin for “foolish fire”), another of which is “Will O’ the Wisps”, basically the odd light that can occasionally be seen over marshes, swamps, and the like. “Jack O’ Lantern” first popped up being used this way around the mid-17th century in East Anglia, UK and spread from there through parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

This name likely originally derived from the practice of calling men generically “Dick, Jack, Tom, etc.” In particular, men who were lower class, were often called generically “Jack” beginning around the 14th century in England. (This practice popped up again in the late 19th century in the United States where “Jack” was used for the name for a man where his real name is unknown). Thus, when you see someone carrying a lantern in a distance at night that you see is a man, but you can’t make out who exactly it is, he is literally “man with a lantern”, a.k.a. “Jack of the Lantern” or “Jack O’ Lantern”. This was also commonly used for a nickname for night watchmen and the like around the same time “Jack O’ Lantern” first popped up, referring to ignis fatuus.

As to how this name made the jump to referring to carved pumpkins with lights inside, it has its origins in the Celtic practice of hollowing out and carving faces into turnips and other vegetables during Samuin (a festival where many of the traditions of Halloween come from). After carving the vegetables, they’d place candles inside and put them in windows or carry the make-shift lanterns with them as they walked to ward off evil spirits.

The tradition in various forms endured, including in Britain where pranksters would make these types of carved lanterns to scare people on the road or children would carry them around during Hallowmas while begging for soul cakes.

From here things get a little murkier in terms of tracing how exactly “Jack O’ Lantern” got applied to carved pumpkins. It is entirely possible that the above “man with a lantern” nickname of “Jack O’ Lantern” may have simply directly extended as a nickname for these carved turnip or vegetable lanterns without any intermediary. The first known instance of this application was in 1837 in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Great Carbuncle:

On the other hand, given that it appears it was Irish immigrants to America who brought over the practice of carving and lighting vegetables and it appears it was they that adapted this practice to carving pumpkins for this purpose, it seems likely enough that the nickname did not make a direct jump from “man with a lantern” to “carved vegetable lantern”, but rather came via an Irish legend, Stingy Jack. (This legend sprung up around a century after the first known instance of “Jack O’ Lantern” referring to ignis fatuus.)

There are numerous versions of The Legend of Stingy Jack, but the general story is there was a sinful drunkard named Jack who encountered the Devil and convinced the Devil to come have a drink with him before the Devil would take him down to Hell. The Devil agreed and after Jack had drunk his fill, as he had no money, he asked the Devil to cover the bill. As the Devil had no use for money, he had none on him, so Jack suggested he transform himself into a silver coin so Jack could pay the bill. (Why Jack or the Devil would care about paying at this point in the story makes little sense, among other oddities, but shhhh! You’re interrupting the story.)

Once the Devil had transformed himself into the coin, rather than pay the bill, Jack quickly stuck the coin into a small money pouch which had a crucifix on it, trapping the Devil.

In order to get Jack to let him out, the Devil made a deal with Jack that he’d give him 10 more years of life. The bargain was struck and after 10 years, the Devil returned for Jack and Jack made the request that the Devil fetch him an apple from up a tree. The moronic Devil, who apparently lives to please, climbed the tree and fetched an apple for Jack. While he was up the tree, Jack carved a crucifix into the bark at the base of the tree, thereby trapping the Devil… who could apparently turn into a coin but couldn’t turn into a bird. Or, you know… couldn’t just hop down past the crucifix instead of climbing down when he reached that point…

A second deal was struck, this time with Jack demanding that the Devil never take his soul to Hell. The Devil agreed and, being known for honesty and integrity, kept his word once Jack let him go.

Of course, Jack eventually died (maybe he should have asked for immortality and eternal youth?) and upon arriving at Heaven’s gates, whoops! His sinful life made it so he couldn’t get in. He then went and visited the entrance to Hell to try to get in there (for some odd reason), but the Devil wouldn’t let him in owing to his previous promise. Being once again apparently kind and generous, the Devil did give Jack an ever burning coal from Hell to use to light his way / warn other people of Jack’s presence. Jack then placed it in a carved turnip (which apparently doomed souls have easy access to) and proceeded to wander the Earth for all eternity.

So whether it was a direct jump from the “man with a lantern” British slang to being associated with people holding vegetable lanterns and then the vegetable lantern itself or, probably more likely given how vegetable carving became popular in America, via the Irish Stingy Jack legend, the ultimate origin of why we call carved pumpkins “Jack O’ Lanterns” seems to be a melding of the ignis fatuus nickname, “Jack O’ Lantern”, with the Samuin practice of using hollowed out vegetables with candles inside to ward off evil spirits.

Where did the phrase “take a gander” come from? What the hell is a “gander” and why would I want to take it?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 24 May 2016 06:19:00 +0000

As you are no doubt aware, but for those who aren’t familiar with the phrase, “take a gander” is an expression meaning “take a look”, “get a peek”, “check it out”, etc.

It first popped up around the late 19th / early 20th century. It is based on the “male goose” definition of “gander”. “Gander”, meaning “male goose”, derives from the Old English “gandra”, which ultimately comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ghans-, meaning “goose”.

So how did “take a gander”, essentially meaning “take a male goose”, come to mean “take a look”? It is thought by some etymologists to have originated from “thieves’ slang”, much like“tip” as in “leave a tip”, but this time originating in the United States, rather than Brittan.

Whether thieves came up with it or not, this usage is referencing the fact that geese have long necks and like to poke their heads just about everywhere (literally, watch out if you’re around a gaggle of people friendly geese, particularly if you’re wearing a dress or just if you’re a guy and want to keep your sensitive bits unpoked).

So, basically, geese appear to be a bunch of rubberneckers. Thus, to “take a gander” meant to “stretch your neck and see”, as a long-necked goose would.

In the beginning of this sort of “look” definition of “gander”, the word was often used as a verb, rather than in the phrase “take a gander” where it is used in its noun form. But starting around 1914, this switched and over the next several decades the noun form became more common and today hearing someone use the verb form is fairly rare.

Why Skin Wrinkles In Water ?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Wed, 18 May 2016 10:01:00 +0000

If you’ve ever washed away your day with hours in a hot-tub, you might have asked yourself, “Why do my hands look like I’m 90 years old when they’re in the water?”

The full explanation of how and why our fingers wrinkle in wet environments is still the subject of some debate. What we know is that the physiological mechanisms causing this phenomenon are the result of our veins constricting (vasoconstriction) in your hands and feet. One might notice this occurs even in warm water, when we otherwise would assume blood vessels should dilate instead of constrict. This suggests an evolutionary benefit to wrinkling digits. One such advantaged recently demonstrated by two studies showed that wrinkled fingers provide us with better grip in wet environments.

To better understand what’s going on with our dish-pan-hands, let’s take a closer look at the anatomy and physiology involved.

It was once widely reported that water-immersion wrinkling was the result of osmosis. Water being pulled into dead skin cells (keratin) on our epidermis would cause them to swell. The swollen outer layer of skin, still tightly attached to the layers beneath, would then wrinkle due to the increased surface area. A quick Google search will show you this idea is still widely circulated, even by some otherwise reputable sources.

While it might have some minor role, we now know osmosis resulting in skin swelling is not the main cause of finger wrinkling for several reasons. The first is that only fingers, toes and the bottoms of your feet tend to wrinkle when wet. If osmosis was the reason, all parts of your skin would wrinkle in response to wetness. Some have suggested it’s because the outer layer of the skin is the thickest in these areas, as such, would be more subject to swelling and wrinkling. The problem is that measurements have shown a decrease in finger volume when wrinkled, not an increase, as would be the case if swelling was the cause.

The most damning evidence that osmosis is not the cause of finger wrinkling is that if you cut the sympathetic nerve fibers (those that respond to your fight or flight response) to a person’s fingers, they will no longer wrinkle in water.

For those who don’t want to let go of an osmosis mediated answer, never fear. Water diffusing into our porous skin is thought to cause the reaction by our sympathetic nervous system, leading to vasoconstriction.

It’s the vasoconstriction that is the cause of wrinkling digits. In the 1930s, Dr.’s T. Lewis and GW Pickering, noticed patients with damaged median nerves (one of the main nerves in your arms that can affect the movement and sensation in the hands) did not have their skin wrinkle in areas connected to that nerve. Since this observation, there have been several studies that have confirmed vasoconstriction as the main cause of water-immersion wrinkling.

The debate among researchers is exactly how the sympathetic nervous system gets stimulated by water. The two leading theories revolve around electrolyte imbalances in your epidermis, and an overproduction of sweat by your sweat glands.

Several studies looking at using finger wrinkling as a test for how well your sympathetic nerves are functioning in your limbs, have cited electrolyte imbalances as the most likely cause of an increased fight-or-flight response to your extremities.

When water diffuses into the many sweat ducts of your hands and feet, the increased water volume creates an abnormal balance of electrolytes like sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, and bicarbonate. They state:

Altered epidermal electrolyte homeostasis would lead to a change in membrane stability of the surrounding dense network of nerve fibers and trigger increased vasomotor firing with subsequent vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction, through loss of volume, leads to negative digit pulp pressure resulting in a downward pull on the overlying skin, which wrinkles as it is distorted. The degree of wrinkling would directly depend on the change in digit tip volume and implies any process inducing loss of digit volume will precipitate wrinkling.

Other researchers looking at a cause of the increased nerve firing have cited an equally plausible scenario- overproduction of sweat by your sweat glands. Those who posit this cause agree that it’s your sympathetic nervous system trying to maintain homeostasis within the epidermis. However, the cause in their view is a loss of the surface tension created by sweat droplets when outside water is introduced.

Normally your sweat glands at rest produce sweat at certain pressures. That droplet is then evaporated depending on the environment you’re in. In the water, evaporation is absent. The result is a sweat droplet that continuously grows in size.

The researchers calculated all of the pressures involved and found the total pressure of the atmosphere and water, at depths of 10cm, was 767mmHg. The total pressure exerted on the sweat droplet, by the sweat gland, was 1260mmHg. The much higher pressures pushing on your sweat droplet caused a free-flow of sweat from the body. In response to the excessive loss of sweat, they concluded:

To maintain homeostasis, the sympathetic nervous system triggers a reduction of blood flow to the hand, causing the vasoconstriction and eventual wrinkling of the skin. Other factors, including the temperature and tonicity of both the sweat and water, as well as the depth of immersion, also influence the formation of wrinkles.

No matter the exact mechanism causing our sympathetic nervous system to fire off like were being chased by wolves, the result does give us a gripping advantage in wet conditions.

In 2011, Mark Changizi, an evolutionary neurobiologist, was the first to propose this idea. The hypothesis was confirmed by neurobiologists at Newcastle University in the UK in 2013. Along with the advantages in wet environments, they found wrinkled fingers gave no disadvantage in dry conditions, suggesting a superiority in one situation while not diminishing our protection in others.

So next time you’re washing dishes, be thankful that your fingers wrinkle- it gives you a better grip!

Why Getting Kicked in the Balls Hurts in the abdomen, Not Just the Region That Was Actually Impacted?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Wed, 18 May 2016 09:57:00 +0000

Testes originally form in the abdomen near the stomach and kidneys. The nerves and blood vessels remain attached in that region, even after the balls drop. So when a guy gets kicked in the balls or otherwise has his nuts squished, the pain involved travels up from each testicle into the abdominal cavity, via the spermatic plexus, which is the primary nerve of each testicle, and then to the spine.

In addition to the pain in the stomach area, many men also experience severe nausea. This is thought to be caused by a huge rush of sympathetic nervous system discharge. So the body’s tolerance level for that rush determines whether that person will be someone susceptible to actually vomiting when kicked in the nuts.

So bottom line, getting kicked in the balls = severe pain in testicles + severe abdominal pain + quite a bit of nausea and possible vomiting. Good times.

Teflon Was Invented by Accident

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Wed, 18 May 2016 09:54:00 +0000

The man who accidentally invented it was Dr. Roy Plunkett. After receiving his BA, MS, and eventually PhD in organic chemistry, Dr. Plunkett took a job with DuPont, in Jackson New Jersey. He was subsequently assigned to work on synthesizing various new forms of refrigerant, trying to find a non-toxic alternative to refrigerants like sulfur dioxide and ammonia.

According to DuPont, in 1938, 27 year old Dr. Plunkett and his assistant, Jack Rebok, were experimenting with one such potential alternative refrigerant, tetrafluorethylene (TFE). Dr. Plunkett subsequently created around 100 pounds of TFE and stored the gas in small cylinders.

On April 6, 1938, upon opening the valve on one of the pressurized cylinders of TFE that had previously been frozen, nothing came out, even though by its weight, it seemed to still be full. Dr. Plunkett and Jack Rebok then decided to investigate further by cutting the cylinder open. Once they managed to get it open, they discovered that the TFE gas inside had polymerized into a waxy white powder, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin.

Ever the scientist, Plunkett then proceeded to run tests on this new substance to see if it had any unique or useful properties. Four of the most important properties of this substance discovered were that it was extremely slippery (one of the slipperiest substances known to man), non-corrosive, chemically stable, and that it had an extremely high melting point. These properties were deemed interesting enough that the study of the substance was transferred to DuPont’s Central Research Department and assigned to chemists that had special experience in polymer research and development, while Dr. Plunkett was then promoted and transferred to a separate division that produced tetraethyl, used to boost gasoline octane levels.

Three years later, the process and name of Teflon were patented and trademarked. Four years after that, Teflon first began being sold, initially only used for various industrial and military applications due to the expense of producing TFE. By the 1960s, various forms of Teflon were being used in a variety of applications, such as stain repellant in fabrics and electrical wire insulation. It was also in the 1960s that Teflon began being used in its most publicly known application, as a coating for non-stick pans. Today, Teflon or other brands of the same product are also used in windshield wipers; carpets and furniture (as a stain repellant); light bulbs; coating on glasses; in various hair products; in semiconductor manufacturing; automotive lubricant; igniters for solid-fuel rocket propellants; and in infrared decoy flares, among other things.

Was Beethoven Really Deaf When He Wrote All His Music?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:06:00 +0000

If there is one Ludvig van Beethoven fact everyone knows it’s that he was deaf. But just saying “he was deaf” leaves a lot of pertinent questions unanswered, such as how deaf was he? How did he communicate with people? Of course, the biggest question is how did he compose what is considered some of his greatest music while he was deaf.

Beethoven was born in 1770, and was introduced to music at a young age by his father who was a piano and violin teacher as well as a talented tenor. Young Beethoven was considered a child prodigy when it came to music, and performed his first public concert in his hometown of Bonn when he was just seven years old.

He continued his musical career while learning from some of his great contemporaries, like Christian Gottlob Neefe, who taught him composition. He played viola in the court orchestra and became familiar with operas, several of which were by Mozart. He continued to study Mozart, along with Bach and other famous composers. By 1791, Beethoven had composed several of his own works and began publishing these compositions just a few years later.

In 1795, Beethoven performed publically in Vienna for the first time. He had developed a reputation with the piano, and wowed crowds with either Piano Concerto #1 or Piano Concerto #2.

All of Beethoven’s achievements above were done—as far as we can tell—with quite good hearing. This soon changed. Starting around 1796, we have references of Beethoven mentioning in letters hearing “buzzing noises,” but it wouldn’t be until 1801 when we have documented evidence that he had been gradually going deaf.

The exact cause of Beethoven’s deafness is unknown, theories have ranged from syphilis to the composer’s habit of dunking his head in cold water whenever he was tired, among many others.

It isn’t known precisely when he went completely deaf. There are documented instances of people needing to shout in his ear in order for Beethoven to hear them in the 1810s, and his hearing continued to decline from there. It is known that Beethoven continued seeking (fruitless) medical advice and treatment for his hearing up until 1822, after which the composer finally accepted that his hearing was never going to improve and stopped seeking medical aid for his condition.

Beethoven’s music, which is generally split into three periods, reflects the gradual decline in his hearing. The Early Period lasts from Beethoven’s childhood to around 1803, when he had both the First and Second Symphonies under his belt in addition to the accomplishments described above. During this period, he could mostly hear and his music was characterised by higher notes.

The Middle Period starts right around the time Beethoven’s decline in hearing was becoming severe and ends just before the 1820s when he was presumed to be totally deaf. This period is characterised by lower notes, with the number of high notes he used dropping significantly. As you can probably guess, since high notes were giving him trouble, he switched to lower notes so that he could better hear the music he was creating. Compositions like the Moonlight sonata, the opera Fidelio, and six symphonies, among others, were written during the Middle Period

The Late Period starts just before 1820. During this time, his music switched back to including more high notes. If he wasn’t already fully deaf at the start of this period, he was likely close to it. The reintroduction of higher pitched notes suggest that he was resolved to “listening” with his inner ear rather than actually hearing the music he was creating.

One of Beethoven’s biggest accomplishments during the Late Period was the composition of the Ninth Symphony, which he began working on in 1822 and was first performed in 1824. There is a popular story that Beethoven conducted this symphony, and kept on conducting even after the players had finished as he couldn’t hear the applause behind him nor that the music had stopped. Beyond his eyes working just fine, allowing him to see (even if only peripherally) that the musicians had stopped, this seems unlikely, at least the way the story is commonly stated. If he was indeed conducting, he would have needed to have the music timed perfectly in his head, and if he didn’t, this would have made him a nearly useless conductor. Unsurprisingly given his deafness and the importance of timing in conducting, most historians think that he merely assisted the actual conductor on stage, but did not conduct himself. Whatever the case, it was reported that he received a standing ovation.

While the loss of his hearing was a crushing blow to the man, this was actually a boon to history. As his hearing diminished, he took to writing to communicate with people, resulting in numerous letters and “conversation books,” many of which have survived providing incredible insight into Beethoven’s life and music. For instance, in a letter to a friend he vocalized his social struggles and his concern over his future on account of losing his hearing: “For two years I have avoided almost all social gatherings because it is impossible for me to say to people ‘I am deaf.’ If I belonged to any other profession it would be easier, but in my profession it is a frightful state…” He went on to say that, “Of course I am resolved to rise above every obstacle, but how will it be possible?”

In the end, Beethoven’s ability to hear for much of his life and mastery over music composition during that time enabled him to continue to compose new music while deaf. Where the disability ended up causing the most trouble was simply in performing in concerts, which he could no longer do with ease. Unfortunately for him, this was a significant source of income that, once he became functionally deaf, he could no longer earn. Beethoven’s final public performance took place in April of 1814, playing his so-called “Archduke Trio”, known formally as Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97. Reportedly, Beethoven’s deafness severely impacted his performance.

Beethoven passed away in 1827. During an autopsy, they found that his auditory nerves had atrophied and Eustachian tube was narrowed. This certainly explained why he was deaf, but not what had caused it. Beethoven himself would commonly blame it on gastrointestinal problems or typhus.

Is It Safe To Eat Cheese Rinds?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:03:00 +0000

Whether or not you should eat a cheese rind depends entirely on your taste, as even the most unpalatable rinds are in no way poisonous or dangerous to eat. Often imparting a unique and even complementary flavor, consuming the rind along with the headline act is frequently recommended for some cheeses. On the other hand, not everyone enjoys the flavor or texture of even the mildest rinds, and, in fact, several prominent cheese experts discourage rind consumption altogether.

For those cheeses that have a rind, it may serve one or more purposes, such as imparting flavor, retaining moisture and protecting the cheese from air and the elements. Generally speaking, the harder the rind, the longer the cheese has aged.

If you choose to eat the rind, it will help to know a little about the different types of cheeses and their rinds to see just how daring you’re willing to be. As a general guide to cheese rind eating, here are several “families” of cheese in terms of rinds (or their lack).

Bloomy rind chesses like Brie and Camembert have lovely white rinds that are soft, easy to chew and add a delicate umami flavor (like mushrooms) that many people enjoy. You should know that the “bloom” however comes from penicillium candidum, a special type of mold that is purposely sprayed on the cheese’s surface. Nonetheless, despite its moldy composition, these bloomy rinds are among the most appealing in terms of taste and texture.

Washed rind cheeses are slathered or “washed” in any of a variety of products, including beer and wine to encourage the growth of flavor-imparting bacteria and mold that add distinct flavor and usually make the cheese a bit stinky. These may also be washed in a brine, which can leave salt crystals behind on the rind that impart a grainy texture. Examples of washed cheeses include Muenster and Taleggio, and these rinds may be pinkish, gray, reddish and even a bit mottled.

Blue cheeses have a variety of rinds from the naturally developed, like Stilton, to those wrapped in sycamore leaves like Cabrales. The rinds of these cheeses, which can also include simply foil and plastic, are not traditionally eaten. But, again, if it’s your cup of tea, eat away. It won’t hurt you.

Hard cheeses are typically aged for long periods of time, and after (in some cases) years of aging, their rinds become pretty tough. In addition, given their long aging process, these cheeses may have been wrapped in a man-made casing that isn’t intended to be eaten. Examples of these kinds of cheeses include aged gouda with its wax rind and cheddars wrapped in cloth.

When experimenting with a new rind, experts suggest you start from the part of the slice of cheese that is furthest from the rind and nibble your way outward; by this method, you will enjoy the most delicate flavors of the cheese first, and then experience increasingly stronger flavors. If the flavor and texture continues to be enjoyable, you can continue all the way to eating the rind. If not, the rinds of many cheeses, such as Parmesan, which some find too strong, make for great flavor additions to a pot of stew.

When Did People Start Using Punctuation and Who Invented the Common Marks We Use?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Tue, 10 May 2016 09:50:00 +0000

The earliest writings, which were syllabic and/or logographic (think Mayan and Chinese), had no need for either spacing or punctuation, as each word was typically self-contained in the symbol. However, as previously demonstrated, the lack of punctuation and spacing in alphabetic writing made comprehension difficult; so hard, in fact, that in ancient Greece it was a rare feat for an individual to understand a text they were reading the first time through and the idea of reading out-loud to a group without extensive practice beforehand was also not something typically done.

Nonetheless, a few notable exceptions aside, punctuation in the West didn’t really appear until about the end of the 3rd century BC when Aristophanes of Byzantium, head librarian at the Library of Alexandria , introduced the precursors of today’s punctuation marks. He suggested inserting dots to indicate where a passage ended and the length of pause needed when speaking a text (useful in aiding knowing how much breath was needed for the following passage). This convention subsequently began to appear in various Greek works and became, to some degree, relatively standardized.

Interestingly, the Greek words that came to be our comma, colon and period were not describing their dotted punctuation marks themselves, but rather the length of the piece of text that was being set apart, to wit: a low mark (hypostigme) denoted a “unit smaller than a clause,” which was known as a komma; a mid-high mark (stigma mese) distinguished a clause or kolon; and a high mark (stigma teleia) denoted an entire sentence, known as a periodos.

The Greeks also introduced a mark to distinguish paragraphs (paragraphos or gamma), and set off quotations withdiples.

Not everyone was a fan of these marks. Given that their entire purpose was not syntactical but, rather, elocutionary, many, like the famous Roman orator Cicero (106-43 BC), scorned such punctuation, noting things like when and how long to pause for breath “ought to be determined not… by a stroke interposed by a copyist, but by the constraint of the rhythm.”

Thanks to the influence of the Romans, the punctuation introduced by the Greeks languished as the oral tradition of Rome dominated. However, once Christianity began to spread across Europe via written texts, its scribes began punctuating again in order to try to preserve the original meaning of the Word.

In addition, by the 7th and 8th centuries, spaces between words were becoming more common (and are said to have been invented, or at least popularized, by Irish and Scottish monks of this era who were tired of wrestling with separating unfamiliar Latin words). At the end of the 8th century, Charlemagne is generally credited with the introduction of lowercase letters after requesting that the monk Alcuin develop a unified alphabet, which ultimately included these.

With the rise of the printing press a few centuries later, the numerous conventions (and symbols) used in punctuation became a bit of a problem for printers, something that had not been as much of an issue when things were simply written by hand. Enter Aldus Pius Manutius, a prominent Italian publisher and printer of the 15th century who, besides famously introducing “pocket editions” of Greek and Roman classic works meant for mass consumption and relatively inexpensive to purchase, also seems to have been the first typographer to use the comma and semicolon. (He also helped develop italic type with the help of Venetian punch-cutter Francesco Griffo. Interestingly, Griffo seems to have met an untimely end after he beat his son-in-law to death with an iron bar and is presumed to have been executed for this crime- after being charged with this murder, there is no further record of him.)

Aldus’ grandson, Aldo Manutius the Younger (1547-1597) took over the family printing business at the age of just 14. Not long after, he codified the modern, standardized use of comma, colon and period, publishing a book on the subject in the early 1560s called Orthographiae ratio (A System of Orthography). In the book, Aldo built on the ancient Greeks’ minimal punctuation marks and designated that the comma would separate phrases and clauses, the colon would be used for lists, and the “full point” (read: period) would denote the end of the sentence. Aldo also explained the uses of other basic punctuation including the question mark, apostrophe, exclamation point and quotation marks.

Aldo also explicitly noted that the purpose of these marks was more than merely as a rhetorical aid, but that such marks were necessary in order to express and preserve meaning (as previously identified by the Christian scribes centuries earlier).

This began to change after the publication of Ben Jonson’s English Grammar (1640) in which he illustrated how punctuation could help preserve an author’s original intention, rather than just giving a guide to how to read a text out-loud. Well received, by the time of the Restoration (1660), using punctuation for syntactical purposes was finally common, and in fact, by the 18th century, excessive punctuation (such as placing a comma between every possible phrase) had become a major problem.

Overuse of punctuation continued to some extent through the late 19th century until lexicographers Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler published The King’s English (1906), which called for far less and established the style of “light punctuation” that endures to this day.

Why Leaves Change Color in The Fall?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Sat, 07 May 2016 18:57:00 +0000

The primary thing that triggers the changing of colors in leaves is the length of day. However, moisture and temperature play a role as well. For instance, an extreme drought in the summer can delay somewhat the changing of the colors in fall. Why this is the case is not wholly understood, but it is possibly from the tree not being able to make as much food to store up for the winter, in the case of the drought, so it might be trying to push the envelope a little in terms of making food for a couple more weeks before needing to shed the leaves.

Temperature also plays a part in the ultimate vividness of the color. However, as far as the timing goes, seems to play a very small role given that trees of the same species at very high elevations, where it is colder, will have their leaves change color at nearly the exact same time as those of the same species at lower elevations on the same latitude line.

Primarily though, as the length of day shortens, at a certain point which varies by species, some mechanism in the tree will trigger it to begin the process of closing up the veins to the leaves and eventually shedding them, lest they freeze while the veins are still open which can potentially harm the tree.

There are three main things that give leaves their color. Those are: chlorophyll (green), which is necessary for photosynthesis; carotenoids, such as carotene and xanthophylls, which produce the orange and yellow colors, but whose roles are not entirely understood; and anthocyanins, which give us the shades of red and purple.

In the former two cases of chlorophyll and carotenoids, they are both present in the leaves during the summer, but the chlorophyll more or less covers up the carotenoids, so you see a mostly green leaf, rather than orange or yellow. The anthocyanins, on the other hand, are primarily produced as a result of glucose that is trapped in the leaves when the veins are closed off. These sugars then break down as a result of sunlight and produce the red and purple pigments.

During the summer, the plant is continually producing chlorophyll to aid in the production of glucose, which the tree uses for food. Once the day length decreases sufficiently, the tree gradually starts to decrease the production of chlorophyll and the veins to the leave slowly close off. When this happens, what you have left is the carotenoids and, depending on the species and environmental factors, possibly the produced anthocyanins.

What Makes Your Eyes Red in Flash Photographs?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Sat, 07 May 2016 18:54:00 +0000

Simply put, that crazy zombie look people tend to get, as if they are about to use you as a pre-lunch snack, has to do with how light from a camera flash reflects off the eye, and the specific wavelengths at which it tends to do this.

It is important to note that the term “light” can refer to any electromagnetic radiation, not just the radiation in the visible spectrum. Electromagnetic radiation can be classified into seven types; Gamma, X-ray, Ultraviolet, Visible, Infrared, Microwave and Radio wave. Visible light actually comprises a very narrow range of frequencies that can be perceived by humans. This human-visible light has the same characteristics of all these types of electromagnetic radiation. Specifically, in relation to red-eye from photographs, it can be reflected off of a variety of surfaces.

The eye is a wonder of evolution that has resulted in our abilities to sense the world around us in a way that blind mole rats can only imagine! Light comes into the eye through the cornea. That light is then perceived by the retina and its images are sent to the brain via the optic nerve. The amount of light that gets to the retina is controlled by the pupil. Should it be a bright sunny day, the pupil constricts and only allows a small amount of light in. On dark nights, the pupil dilates and becomes quite large to allow as much light in as possible. Sitting between the retina and the sclera (the white part of the eye) lays a layer of connective tissue called the Choroid. This layer provides oxygen and nutrients to the outer part of the retina. Compared to the retina, the Choroid is an extremely vascular area containing copious amounts of blood vessels.

When the light from a camera flash goes off, the pupils do not have time to constrict, and so a large amount of light is reflected off of the Fundus (the interior surface of the eye). Due to the large amount of blood in the Choroid, the light picked up by the camera lens appears red. Since the angle the light goes in to the eye is the same angle that it will reflect out, the closer the flash is to the camera lens, the greater chance the reflected light will be seen by the lens. The darker the environment a person is in, and thus the wider their pupils are, the greater the chance of having eyes of the damned.

Other factors contributing to the red-eye effect is the amount of melanin in the layers behind the retina, and the age of the person being photographed. Light skinned people with blue eyes tend to have less melanin in the fundus. This leads to a more pronounced red-eye effect, compared to dark skinned people with brown eyes. The same is true for other animals as well. The role melanin plays can be seen in pictures of animals with heterochromatic eyes (two different colored eyes). Should the animal have one blue and one brown colored eye, the blue eye will show a pronounced red-eye effect while the brown will not.

Children will also tend to get a red-eye effect more readily then do their adult counterparts. This is because a child’s pupil will dilate faster than adults, in low light situations.

There are a few very simple things you can do to prevent the infamous red-eye. One technique is to constrict the pupils just before the picture is taken. For instance, camera’s with red eye reduction settings use a two flash system in which the first flash causes the pupil to constrict, and the second flash is when the picture is actually taken. Should you simply turn on more lights, your pupils will also constrict. Another technique is to move the flash away from the lens. This will increase the angle at which the light enters the eye, and thus decreasing the chance it will reflect back to the camera lens.

Why Inhaling Helium Can Change the Sound of Your Voice?

noreply@blogger.com (Milica86) — Sat, 07 May 2016 18:51:00 +0000

The physics behind this little phenomenon, practiced in the back corners of parties everywhere, are actually fairly simple. What is going on in the voice tract however is not.

The mechanics of a person’s voice is an awesome biological phenomenon born from the need of women to gossip. It all starts with the air in the lungs. As air passes from your lungs to the outside of your mouth, it can be manipulated in several ways. Should you decide a vow of silence is appropriate and simply want to blow out candles your entire life, you can force air out and all that is heard by others is the sound of wind rushing from your mouth. Should you need to take a more Opera Winfrey approach, you can use your larynx, or voice box.

The air in your lungs gets pushed up by the relaxation of your diaphragm. It then goes through your trachea and out a small orifice that has two folds of skin (vocal cords) on either side of it, in the shape of a V. This is called your larynx or voice box. As the muscles that attach to your voice box tense and relax, they create a vibration of the cords. As these cords vibrate, they release pulses of air. The tension in these muscles creates the differences in frequency. The higher the tension, the higher the frequency and therefore the higher the pitch. This frequency is measured in hertz (how many times a second this repeats). For example, nearly all human speech sounds usually range from approx. 200 hertz-8,000 hertz. Meaning the sound waves vibrate at approx. 200-8,000 times per sec.

Once out of the voice box, the air travels into the area of your mouth that can be informally known as your vocal tract. As you manipulate your tongue, jaw and lips, you can change the resonant frequencies created by your vocal cords, allowing you to make the many different sounds of speech.

Together, the sound we hear created by air flowing at different frequencies and resonances, creates our voice. One other factor affecting pitch is the thickness of ones vocal cords. The thicker the folds of skin are, the deeper the voice. This is due to the amount of mass your chords have that the air has to manipulate. As you would expect then, men tend to have much thicker folds of skin then women, ah the soulful folds of Barry White!!

So now let’s talk about the air that’s coming out of your lungs. The number of molecules in a fixed volume of gas, like the volume of air in your lungs, does not change with the type of gas (assuming the pressures are reasonably low). As long as the temperature and the pressure are the same, it does not matter whether it is helium or air, the number of molecules is the same. The mass of those molecules is then measured by atomic weight. Atomic weight is a dimensionless physical quantity (which is why it works so well for a gas that does not necessarily have a given dimension). It is the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element compared to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12. All that basically means is the higher the number the heavier the gas.

Helium has an atomic weight of 4.002602. Air which is approximately 80% Nitrogen, has differing characteristics depending on the environment. (for instance if you live in Los Angeles its about 99.27% car exhaust). Because of this, its actual atomic weight is impossible to precisely define. However it is generally about seven times heavier then helium.

So why the perceived difference in your voice with helium? The answer lies in how sound waves travel through a given gas. The more dense, or heavier, the gas, the slower the sound wave will travel. Helium is much lighter than air. The speed of a sound wave through helium will then be much higher. So by inhaling helium and using it as the source of the perceived sound, you are simply increasing the speed or frequency of your voice. You are not changing the pitch, since your vocal chords are vibrating at the same speed as when you are using air. You are also not changing the configuration of your vocal tract. So while the base frequency of the chords remains the same, the frequency of the sound heard by others is increased due to the wave traveling through helium much faster than through air.