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Fact of the Day - BIOLOGICAL MAKEUP Did you know.... Even though you experience life as a continuous, unchanging flow of time, most of the cells in your body are constantly being renewed. Through a process called cell turnover, old cells die and are replaced by new ones, meaning much of your biological makeup is far younger than your chronological age. Aging still occurs because some cells don’t regenerate, renewal slows in certain tissues, and even new cells can experience wear and tear over time. Nonetheless, on average, the cells in an adult human body are estimated to be only 7 to 10 years old — so even in middle age, much of your body is biologically closer to that of a child than to that of an elderly adult. Scientists have been able to estimate cellular ages thanks to carbon-14, a naturally occurring radioactive form of carbon that entered the atmosphere in large quantities during above-ground nuclear weapons testing in the mid-20th century. When cells divide, carbon-14 from the environment becomes permanently embedded in their DNA, effectively “dating” the moment each cell was born. By measuring the carbon-14 levels of different tissues, researchers can determine how often various parts of the body renew themselves. The pace of renewal isn’t uniform across all tissues. For example, skin cells regenerate roughly every few weeks, the gut lining every few days, red blood cells about every four months, and liver cells approximately every year. Then there are cells — including most neurons in the brain’s cerebral cortex and the eyes’ inner lens cells — that can last an entire lifetime. Because some critical cells don’t regenerate and other new cells gradually accumulate damage, the body experiences functional decline and aging, even as most cells continue to turn over. Your sense of taste depends on some of the fastest-renewing cells in your body. Like other cells in your body, the specialized cells in taste buds — the taste receptor cells that detect sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami flavors — are continually replaced throughout your lifetime. Those cells live only about eight to 12 days before being shed and replaced by new cells produced from progenitor cells in the tongue epithelium, the thin layer of tissue covering the surface of the tongue. That rapid turnover helps explain why illnesses, injuries, or aging can temporarily alter taste perception. Because each new taste cell must form connections with nerves to transmit flavor information, anything that affects cell production or differentiation — including infections, inflammation, or age‑related changes — can cause shifts in your experience of how foods taste. Source: Most of your body is probably no more than 10 years old.

What's the Word: LOGGIA pronunciation: [LOH-djə] Part of speech: noun Origin: Italian, mid-18th century Meaning: 1. A gallery or room with one or more open sides, especially one that forms part of a house and has one side open to the garden. 2. An open-sided extension to a house. Examples: "Many modern houses feature a loggia that leads to the backyard and garden." "Kevin loved to spend mornings in his loggia, drinking coffee and reading the paper." About Loggia “Loggia” developed from the Italian word “lodge” (a small house). Did you Know? People most commonly encounter a loggia in a museum, palace, or another grand, important building. Loggia in public spaces are characterized by large arches and natural lighting — they can be found in warmer environments that allow open-air spaces.

Fact of the Day - THE CAN CAME FIRST! Did you know.... On January 5, 1858, Ezra J. Warner of Connecticut invented the can opener. The device was a long time coming: Frenchman Nicolas Appert had developed the canning process in the early 1800s in response to a 12,000-franc prize the French government offered to anyone who could come up with a practical method of preserving food for Napoleon’s army. Appert devised a process for sterilizing food by half-cooking it, storing it in glass bottles, and immersing the bottles in boiling water, and he claimed the award in 1810. Later the same year, Englishman Peter Durand received the first patent for preserving food in actual tin cans — which is to say, canned food predates the can opener by nearly half a century. Though he didn't initially know why his method of storing food in glass jars and heating them worked, years of experimentation led Appert to rightly conclude that “the absolute deprivation from contact with the exterior air” and “application of the heat in the water-bath” were key. He later switched to working with cans himself. Before Warner’s invention, cans were opened with a hammer and chisel — a far more time-consuming approach than the gadgets we’re used to. Warner’s tool (employed by soldiers during the Civil War) wasn’t a perfect replacement, however: It used a series of blades to puncture and then saw off the top of a can, leaving a dangerously jagged edge. As for the hand-crank can opener most commonly used today, that wasn’t invented until 1925. John Steinbeck wrote a novel set on a street lined with canneries. And it’s called — you guessed it — Cannery Row. The actual location in Monterey, California, was called Ocean View Avenue until 1958, when it was formally changed to Cannery Row in honor of the 1945 novel about a group of people living on the street during the Great Depression. Steinbeck, who set most of his work in central California, describes the street as “a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream” in the book’s first sentence. After reaching its peak during the first half of the 20th century, the sardine-cannery hotbed fell victim to intense overfishing and the last cannery closed in 1973. The area is now a historic tourist attraction complete with sea lions. Source: Canned food predates the can opener by almost 50 years.

What's the Word: HEW pronunciation: [hyoo] Part of speech: verb Origin: Old English, unknown Meaning: 1. Chop or cut (something, especially wood or coal) with an axe, pick, or other tool. 2. Make or shape (something) by cutting or chopping a material such as wood or stone. Examples: "Michael was expected to hew the lumber into firewood by that evening." "Stone artists are skilled at hewing a marble slab into dramatic figures." About Hew While “hew” developed from the English word “hēawan,” it finds its origins in German (“houwen”) and Dutch (“hauen”). Each of these words refers to the act of chopping, cutting, and shaping wood and other hard materials. Did you Know? Totem poles, traditional sculptures made by Indigeneous people of the northern United States and Canada, are used to denote territory and represent historical events. Totems are hewn from cedar trees, and take around six to nine months to complete.

Fact of the Day - OLYMPIC DEPLOMA Did you know.... While the top three athletes in any Olympic competition take home medals, those who finish in the top eight receive a prize more commonly associated with graduating school: a diploma. Organizers have awarded these diplomas since 1896, the year of the first modern Olympiad, though back then they were given only to the winner. The field was expanded to the top three in 1923, the top six in 1949, and the top eight in 1981. Much like Olympic medals, the paper certificates are designed by the host country. Early diplomas were quite ornate; the ones awarded at the 1896 Athens Games depicted Greek mythological figures next to the Acropolis. Modern designs, however, are typically more minimalistic, largely featuring text on a white or off-white background. Each diploma includes details such as the athlete’s name, the event, and where they placed. The diplomas for the top three medalists have a gold, silver, or bronze background relative to their position. By comparison, diplomas given to athletes who finish fourth through eighth feature an uncolored background. The diplomas are sometimes sent by mail, while others are presented to the athlete in ceremonies held by their own national organizing committees after the competition. Still, some Olympians are surprised to find out Olympic diplomas even exist. The Olympic marathon used to be roughly 1.2 miles shorter. The length of a marathon at the first three modern Olympic Games was measured at around 25 miles, a distance inspired by the ancient Greek legend of Pheidippides, a heroic courier who ran 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a wartime victory. But the length of the race was extended to 26.2 miles at the 1908 London Summer Games. That decision was made by the British Olympic Committee, who wanted the race to start at Windsor Castle and end right in front of the royal box at Olympic Stadium so the royal family could have the best view of the finish. The 26.2-mile distance was eventually standardized in 1921 for all future Olympic marathons. Source: Athletes who place in the top eight of an Olympic event receive an Olympic diploma.

What's the Word: DEMIURGIC pronunciation: [dem-ee-ER-jik] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Greek, early 17th century Meaning: 1. Describing a powerful creative force or being. Examples: "When she's in her studio, she's a demiurgic force." "I meditate before I work to try to access a demiurgic state." About Demiurgic “Demiurgic” is thought to have originated from the Greek word “dēmiourgós,” meaning “skilled worker.” Did you Know? While “demiurgic” describes a powerful creative force or state of being, a demiurge is a creative entity, such as an artisan or craftsman. One notable demiurge is the Greek god Hephaestus, who was a talented blacksmith known as the god of the forge.

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Playing Dragon Quest VII Re-imagined. Finished up DQ2 like a week before this came out. Gonna be putting it on a short hold though for the launch of Resident Evil Requiem next week.

Fact of the Day - MANTIS SHRIMP Did you know.... Superman might be the only thing faster than a speeding bullet, but he has some competition from mantis shrimp. Also known as “prawn killers” in Australia, these pint-sized pugilists punch with about the same force as a .22-caliber bullet. At 50 miles an hour, their punches are the fastest in the animal kingdom — and 50 times faster than the blink of an eye. When they decide to clobber their prey, mantis shrimp create 1,500 newtons of force with their claws; even more amazingly, their punches superheat the water around them to a temperature nearly as hot as the surface of the sun. Their clublike claws are coated in impact-resistant nanoparticles that allow the shrimp to punch to their heart’s content. Mantis shrimp use their incredible punching skills to both feed on and fight creatures larger than themselves: crabs, mollusks, gastropods, and other ocean dwellers unlucky enough to get in their way. Videos of the phenomenon are as popular as you might imagine, not least because peacock mantis shrimp, perhaps the most famous type, are so visually striking. Not all mantis shrimp punch, however. There are two main types of hunters — smashers and spearers — and only the former engage in high-speed clubbing. Spearers, meanwhile, impale their prey on spiky forelimbs — a slower but presumably no less painful end. Mantis shrimp are older than dinosaurs. Fossil records indicate that stomatopods branched off from other crustaceans some 400 million years ago, making them older than dinosaurs. And not just a little older, either — dinosaurs first appeared between 200 million and 250 million years ago, making them species-come-lately compared to their fast-punching friends. Other extremely long-lived species include horseshoe crabs (300 million years), alligators (245 million years), and cockroaches (at least 125 million years). Humans, meanwhile, have probably been on the planet for somewhere between 1.4 million and 2.4 million years. Source: Mantis shrimp punch with as much force as a bullet.

What's the Word: MENOLOGY pronunciation: [mə-NAL-ə-jee] Part of speech: noun Origin: Greek, early 18th century Meaning: 1. An ecclesiastical calendar of the months, especially a calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church containing biographies of the saints in the order of the dates on which they are commemorated. Examples: "Rosa loved collecting different examples of menology and switched calendars throughout the year to change things up." "Theresa consulted a menology to learn more about her namesake saints." About Menology This noun comes from the Greek word "mēnologion" — which can be broken down further into the words "mēn" ("month") and "logos" ("account"). Did you Know? Calendars come in all different shapes and forms, from breathtaking art prints to simple desk flip versions. Switch up your way of tracking the days this year to a wonderful alternative, such as a menology. Don't worry — your digital calendars will still be there.

I'm currently playing Goemon's Great Adventure. On February 8th, I decided to download it, after having beaten Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon the day before. The latter game was per @Zemekis's suggestion. No regrets whatsoever.....except maybe for playing Goemon's Great Adventure, because that one's a straight-up ass-kicker.

Fact of the Day - "WUTHERING" Did you know.... "Wuthering" is an adjective that explains a lot about Emily Brontë's classic novel. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is one of the most popular and influential novels in English literature. The book has inspired countless film adaptations, including Emerald Fennell’s controversial 2026 rendition starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, as well as hit songs and much more. It also continues to fuel widespread interest in Emily Brontë’s life and inspirations. However, despite the book’s popularity, many people still might find themselves unaware of what wuthering actually means. It turns out that wuthering is a real word, albeit one that few people use or know in modern times—yet it describes one of the novel’s most central and consequential images. What Does Wuthering Mean? The word wuthering is an adjective that, according to Cambridge Dictionary, is “used to describe a wind that is blowing very strongly or a place where the wind blows strongly.” It is sometimes used interchangeably with the word whithering, though this term is much rarer, and both have their roots in the Old Norse term hvitha, which means “a squall of wind.” The term wuthering is sometimes also associated with the roaring sound that comes with strong winds. In essence, wuthering means extremely windy—and Brontë, ever the consummate wordsmith, could not have chosen a more apt term to title her sole novel. Wind, and specifically the wind that blows across the moors surrounding Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff’s homes in Wuthering Heights, is a character in itself in the book, creating a haunting atmosphere of chaos and desolation that pervades the entire story. Wuthering is also a variation on the terms wuther and wither. According to C. Clough Robinson’s A Glossary of Words used in the Dialect of Mid-Yorkshire (1876), these terms meant “to hurl, with an impetus imparting a trembling or whizzing motion to the object thrown,” and wuthering, specifically, also could “denote any object of huge size, or a person who, in conjunction with a heavy appearance, has a violent manner of displaying activity.” In the context of this definition and the domestic violence and emotional intensity featured in the book, wuthering becomes an even more appropriate title. What Does "Wuthering Heights" Mean in the Book? In Brontë's book, Wuthering Heights is the name of the remote farmhouse where Cathy lives as a child. It is also the home that a young, orphaned Heathcliff moves into when the house’s master, Cathy’s father, brings him home from London, and the house’s imposing, cold nature provides the main setting for the novel’s primary events. Along with the wild moors outside, the house acts as a mirror of the book’s protagonists’ wild inner natures, which could easily be described as stormy, windy, or perhaps most accurately, wuthering. Source: What Does "Wuthering" Mean in 'Wuthering Heights?'

What's the Word: GEWGAW pronunciation: [GYOO-gaw] Part of speech: noun Origin: Middle English, unknown Meaning: 1. A showy thing, especially one that is useless or worthless. Examples: "Grandpa's collection of gewgaws clashes with Grandma's elegant taste." "She bought a gewgaw whenever she went to the thrift store." About Gewgaw Here's another word with unknown origins. While we know that "gewgaw" was first used in earnest in the 16th century, there's no information on how this word developed in the first place. Did you Know? Home personalization is hard. Whether you love gewgaws or not, try taking inspiration from magazines, sticking to a theme, or asking for advice. Encourage your personal sense of interior design to shine.

Fact of the Day - BLUE-EYED PEOPLE Did you know.... Eyes are said to be the windows to the soul, but they’re also a glimpse at humanity’s genetic past. Scientists estimate that between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, the eye color of all Homo sapiens individuals was brown — likely an evolutionary advantage, as the melanin pigment offers some protection from UV radiation. But then, something changed. Sometime during the Neolithic expansion in Europe, an individual was born with a mutation to the OCA2 gene. This gene code controls melanin production in the iris, and the mutation caused this person’s eyes to turn blue rather than the usual brown. Because blue eyes can only form as a result of this mutation, scientists theorize that all blue-eyed people — about 10% of the world population — are a relative of this original lone blue-eyed ancestor. Strangely, this mutation doesn’t actually turn your eyes blue — in fact, blue eyes are technically not blue at all. The eye’s iris is predominantly made up of two layers: the stroma and the epithelium. Brown eyes have a brown-black melanin pigment in both these layers (though the stroma absorbs the most light), which produces the color brown. Blue eyes, on the other hand, have no melanin pigment in the stroma; in fact, blue eyes have no pigment at all. Instead, they are a reflection of white light in a process called the Tyndall effect. Because blue wavelengths of light are the shortest, they are reflected the most by the fibers in the eyes, which absorb the longer red-orange wavelengths. This bit of complicated optics is similar to how the atmosphere reflects sunlight, turning the sky (and the ocean) a dazzling blue. So while the overall effect is that people have “blue” eyes, from a pigment perspective, the truth is that they really don’t have any color at all. Humans are less genetically diverse than other primates. Humans are the least genetically diverse among the great apes. This means that we’re a relatively young species, as enough time hasn’t passed for mutations to accumulate (200,000 years is a geologic blink of an eye). It also means that Homo sapiens likely sprung from a surprisingly small population — around just 10,000 breeding pairs or so. This may be because early humans appear to have survived two genetic bottlenecks while exiting Africa, both of which caused the population to plummet. One theory suggests humans almost went extinct 74,000 years ago due to a massive volcanic eruption, but other studies question if that “eruption” was actually an epidemic. Usually, this low diversity can make it tougher for animals to adapt to climatic changes. Fortunately, what humans lack in genetic brawn, we make up for with our incredibly complex brains. Source: All blue-eyed people likely descended from a single ancestor.

What's the Word: NOBBY pronunciation: [NAH-bee] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Unknown, late 17th century Meaning: 1. Describing a person of wealth or high social position. Examples: "When he wasn’t saving lives as Batman, Bruce Wayne lived a nobby lifestyle as a socialite." "It doesn’t matter if the rental car is a nobby convertible or a family minivan — I’ll be happy either way." About Nobby The closest guess is that “nobby” developed by way of the Scottish word “knab” (meaning “a person of importance”) as slang for high society. Did you Know? Don’t mix these homophones up. “Knobby” is an adjective that describes something that has a lot of knobs — such as a pilot’s switchboard or an old branch. “Nobby” is an adjective that specifically describes a wealthy person or one who has a high social position. Both are adjectives, but each possesses a different meaning.

Fact of the Day - ELEPHANTS CAN POINT Did you know.... Among many other astounding capabilities, elephants inherently understand what pointing means. In fact, research suggests they’re among a few animals that understand the action without being trained by humans. A two-month study of 11 pachyderms in Zimbabwe used two buckets, one with fruit in it and one without, to determine whether elephants could understand which was which. A researcher standing between the two buckets used her arm to point toward the bucket of food, and the elephants successfully chose the bucket the researcher pointed toward 67% of the time. The study was led by Richard Byrne, a professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who told The Guardian, “Elephant society may have selected for an ability to understand when others are trying to communicate with them, and they are thus able to work out what pointing is about when they see it.” Elephants have exceptionally high emotional intelligence, and communication is key to both their social bonds and survival, which may explain why they’re able to understand this gesture most animals are unable to grasp. Byrne has suggested whales and dolphins as other animals that could feasibly understand pointing, though there’s a major hurdle in finding out whether or not that theory holds water: They’re much more difficult to work with than elephants. Elephant tusks are teeth. Elephant tusks are made of dentine and wrapped in enamel, which is another way of saying that they’re teeth. Deeply rooted but obviously protruding far beyond the mouth, they’re elongated incisors that never stop growing. More layers of ivory are formed as the tusks continue to grow, with each new layer replacing the prior one. While the tusks are solid at the tip, they become more hollow the closer they get to the elephant’s head. They’re also highly sensitive, meaning it’s extremely painful when they’re removed. Source: Elephants can inherently understand pointing (without human training).

What's the Word: FLIVVER pronunciation: [FLIH-vər] Part of speech: noun Origin: Unknown, early 20th century Meaning: 1. A cheap car or aircraft, especially one in bad condition. Examples: "My dad is so frugal, he refuses to give up his flivver until it can't be driven." "It may look like a flivver, but that car served me well through my 20s." About Flivver While we know that this word developed in the early 20th century, when odd nicknames for vehicles first began popping up, its exact origins are unknown. Did you Know? Just because a car is old doesn't mean that it is also a flivver. If you're looking for a used car, it's a good idea to take along your mechanic or automotive-minded friend to check it out and make sure it is good quality.

Fact of the Day - SHELLS Did you know.... Regardless of where you find them — be it on a beach, along a riverbank, or in a garden — most shells share a common feature: 90% of them coil clockwise and open to the right. Mollusk shells with these right-oriented openings are called “dextral,” while those with left-leaning apertures are designated “sinistral.” (These terms can be applied to right- and left-handed humans, too; remarkably, left-handedness occurs in shells and humans at similar rates, with an estimated 10% to 12% of people worldwide being lefties.) Some marine life experts believe that just one gene impacts the direction a shell will coil. The rarity of sinistral shells has created a high-priced market for them — they’re so sought-after among collectors that unscrupulous dealers have been known to peddle counterfeits. However, a few species of marine mollusks are predominantly sinistral. The most commonly known is the lightning whelk, a sea snail found in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Recognizable by their tapering brown, orange, and cream-colored shells, lightning whelks spend most of their lives submerged in underwater grass beds and at the bottoms of bays, feasting on clams and oysters. Some lighting whelks have reached record lengths of 16 inches — and most of these whoppers have openings pointing toward the left. Pearls are the only gems created by an animal. Beyond being a decadent dish, oysters are best known for their glamorous byproduct: pearls. While pearls are the only gemstone created by a living creature, oysters aren’t the sole producer of these underwater jewels. All other mollusks can technically make pearls, as can some gastropods (aka sea snails, which produce rare melo pearls). The special spheres are formed thanks to an oyster’s natural defense against lodged pieces of food or parasites, which trigger the animal to surround the irritant in layers of aragonite and conchiolin — the same substances that make up shells. These layers create a material called nacre (better known as mother-of-pearl), which has the smooth, opalescent sheen for which pearls are beloved. Source: Nine out of 10 shells open to the right.

What's the Word: PUERPERAL pronunciation: [pyoo-ER-per-əl] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Latin, early 18th century Meaning: 1. During or relating to the period of about six weeks after childbirth during which the mother's reproductive organs return to their original nonpregnant condition. Examples: "Therese and her baby had a lot of support during the puerperal period." "The OB/GYN instructed the couple to check in often during the puerperal period." About Puerperal Puerperal comes from the Latin words "puer" ("child") and "para" ("bearing") — translating to "woman who has given birth." Did you Know? The six weeks following childbirth, aka the puerperal period, are important for both parents to bond with their baby and recover. For this reason, many countries offer paid maternal and paternal leave for a minimum of six weeks. Some countries, such as New Zealand, offer 18 weeks or more.

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Fact of the Day - FEMUR Did you know.... The world’s most important pieces of infrastructure are overbuilt with safety in mind. New bridges can handle stresses far beyond what they’d ever experience, and airplanes are similarly designed with redundancies. But it turns out that this engineering principle is ripped straight from the biology playbook: The human body also has a few overengineered parts just to be safe. Nowhere is this more obvious than the femur, the body’s largest bone, located between the hip and knee. The femur is more than up for its job, as it’s capable of holding up to 30 times your body weight, or roughly 6,000 pounds (though the exact weight depends on the person and age). Named from the Latin for “thigh,” the femur has many important functions beyond just holding your weight. The femur stabilizes you as you walk, connects muscles and tendons from your hips and knees to the rest of your body, and also plays a vital role in blood circulation via the femoral vein (named after the femur). Because the femur can withstand so much weight, fracturing the bone is usually only possible during extreme trauma events, such as a car crash. Breaking a femur can be particularly life-threatening because it can lead to blood clots, but luckily, most injuries can be repaired with surgery and physical therapy. So the next time you’re struggling to backpack up a mountain or just carrying a heavy box up some stairs, don’t worry — you’re (over)built for this. Your funny bone is not a bone. The term “funny bone” is quite an impressive misnomer. For one thing, the shooting pain that results from hitting it is not particularly funny, but also, this body part is not a bone. Whenever you smack your elbow against something, you’re actually hitting the ulnar nerve and not the knobby end of the humerus bone (which is where the “funny” bone derives its name — get it?). Although nerves are usually protected by muscle, fat, and bone, the ulnar nerve in the elbow is a rare exception. When you hit your funny bone, you’re actually pressing the ulnar nerve against the medial epicondyle bone at the end of the humerus, which sends a shooting pain along the nerve. Because the nerve runs up the arm and terminates in the pinky and ring finger, that’s the area particularly affected by that familiar tingly, not-so-funny sensation. Source: Your femur can support 30 times the weight of your body.

What's the Word: PINNIPED pronunciation: [PIN-ə-ped] Part of speech: noun Origin: Latin, 19th century Meaning: 1. A carnivorous aquatic mammal of the order Pinnipedia, such as a seal or walrus. Examples: "Seals, sea lions, and walruses are all pinnipeds — carnivorous mammals who live in the water." "Billy thinks all types of pinnipeds are adorable, even though he knows they can be dangerous." About Pinniped “Pinniped” was coined in the early 19th century by combining the suffix “-ped,” meaning “foot,” with the prefix “pinni-,” which refers to fins. From this, zoologists derived the biological suborder Pinnipedia, consisting of 34 species of seals, walruses, and sea lions. Did you Know? The Pinnipedia suborder of animal describes carnivorous aquatic mammals, but the term “pinniped” was once used to describe any creature whose feet were like fins — meaning seals, sea lions, and walruses, but also certain crabs, birds, and sea slugs.

Fact of the Day - AIR HORSE ONE Did you know.... Just because horses are fast doesn’t mean they’re easy to transport. Often weighing more than 1,000 pounds and not exactly quick to do things they aren’t inclined to, our equine friends nevertheless often need to be brought from point A to point B. Lucky, then, that there’s a plane dedicated to ferrying horses known as (what else?) Air Horse One. Owned and operated by Tex Sutton Equine Air Transportation, it’s a Boeing 727-200 cargo aircraft used for race horses, show horses, and other VIP clients. As such, tickets don't run cheap — one-way trips can set you back $5,000. It would appear to be worth it, however. Everything about the trip in general and the plane in particular is tailored to its passengers’ needs, from custom-built ramps and padded stalls to smooth rides that avoid steep ascents, descents, and adverse weather conditions. Air Horse One also focuses on direct flights to shorten travel times, since Appaloosas and Clydesdales dislike layovers as much as the rest of us. (No word on whether they’re served peanuts and drinks, however.) In lieu of carry-on bags, some horses even get to bring along “pets,” such as goats, to keep them company. We should all be so lucky. There are no truly wild horses left. Though an idiosyncratic, strangely adorable breed called Przewalski’s horse was long thought to be the last remaining wild horse, DNA tests recently proved that, like other “wild” equines, they’re actually feral. The difference? A wild breed is one that has never been domesticated, whereas feral horses are descendants of domesticated breeds that later returned to the wild. According to Sandra Olsen, a University of Kansas zooarchaeologist who worked on the study, there haven’t been wild horses for quite some time: “The world lost truly wild horses perhaps hundreds, if not thousands of years ago,” she said, “but we are only just now learning this fact, with the results of this research.” Source: There is a dedicated airplane for transporting horses called Air Horse One.

What's the Word: MUDLARK pronunciation: [MUD-lark] Part of speech: noun Origin: English, 18th century Meaning: 1. A person who scavenges in river mud for objects of value. 2. (Historical) A street urchin. Examples: "Wendall wanted to be a modern mudlark." "Milton found many accounts of mudlark life in the London Library." About Mudlark The first published use of the word was in 1785 as a slang term meaning “a hog.” Its origin may have been a humorous variation on “skylark.” By 1796, the word was also being used to describe “Men and boys … who prowl about, and watch under the ships when the tide will permit.” Did you Know? Mudlarks made a living in London in the 18th and 19th centuries by scouring the muddy shores of the River Thames for anything and everything that could be sold to eke out a living. This could include pilfering from river traffic. Modern mudlarks have sometimes recovered objects of archaeological value from the river’s shores. These are either recorded as treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996 or submitted for analysis and review under the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

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Fact of the Day - TINY DOORS Did you know.... While they’re quite minuscule and often painted to blend in with their surroundings, you may notice several strange, tiny doors with decorative trim should you ever wander the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Those doors appear to be more appropriately sized for small creatures than for any congressperson, as they measure roughly 30 inches tall. However, they were never meant to be used as entryways or exits; rather, they concealed hidden water sources that once aided in fire prevention and cleaning. Behind each mini door is a pipe and spout that used to carry fresh water directly from the Washington Aqueduct into the Capitol. The system was implemented in the wake of a devastating fire on Christmas Eve in 1851, which destroyed 35,000 volumes preserved by the Library of Congress. An investigation showed the fire could’ve been extinguished with ease had there been an available water supply nearby, and engineer Montgomery C. Meigs was subsequently tasked with developing a solution. Meigs installed these on-demand water sources throughout the Capitol, concealing them behind miniature doors that could be easily opened in the event of future fires. Not only did the water aid in fire prevention, but janitorial crews also used those hidden faucets to fill their pails for cleaning purposes. Today, the doors and water sources no longer serve an essential purpose, as the Capitol is outfitted with modern fire suppression systems. But those doors remain an eye-catching relic of yesteryear and are a popular talking point among visitors. The U.S. Capitol used to have a smaller green dome. Although the U.S. Capitol opened for business in 1800, its original dome wasn’t finished until 1824. That dome was smaller than the current one, rising to 140 feet above the rotunda, compared to 180 feet today. It was also built from wood and covered with copper, giving the dome a green color far different from its now-familiar white hue. The wood material, however, posed a fire hazard and necessitated frequent repairs. There were aesthetic issues as well, as large-scale expansions to the rest of the Capitol made its dome appear disproportionately small. A bigger and more durable replacement was approved in March 1855, with construction beginning the following year and lasting until January 1866. Source: The U.S. Capitol has strange tiny doors.

What's the Word: VOLUTE pronunciation: [vəl-YOOT] Part of speech: adjective Origin: French, mid-16th century Meaning: 1. Forming a spiral curve or curves. Examples: "Both sea and land snails have similarly volute shells." "Greek architecture is easily recognizable by the volutes on top of columns." About About Volute While "volute" developed in French, it originated from the Latin word "volvere" (which means "to roll"). Did you Know? The adjective "volute" describes scroll shapes, but the noun "volute" is an architectural term. The decorative spiral scrolls on the tops of columns on Ionic and Corinthian-style buildings are called "volutes." Many U.S. state capitol buildings, as well as the U.S Capitol, use this design.

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Fact of the Day - KILLER WHALES Did you know.... When they aren’t busy attacking yachts or starring in beloved children’s movies, killer whales have an even more impressive hobby: making their own tools. Scientists were initially unfazed by footage of the imposing creatures rubbing against one another for up to 15 minutes at a time because “whales do weird things,” as behavioral ecologist Michael Weiss told CNN. But a closer look revealed the animals were actually rubbing strands of kelp between their bodies. Researchers observed at least 30 instances of a behavior they dubbed “allokelping,” in which orcas detach bull kelp from the seafloor and manipulate it with their teeth before rubbing it between themselves, which scientists expect is a form of grooming, social bonding, or both. Cetaceans (a group of mammals that includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises) keep their bodies smooth and aerodynamic by frequently shedding dead skin, and allokelping could aid in that process. The discovery marks the first time any cetacean has been observed using tools, but it isn’t altogether surprising — in addition to being, well, a little unusual, orcas in particular are known for their high intelligence and close social bonds. Killer whales are found in every ocean. Though best known for residing in the cold waters of locales such as Antarctica, orcas are found in every ocean: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic (also known as Southern), and Arctic. This makes them the most widespread cetacean. Of the approximately 50,000 killer whales in the wild, roughly half of them live in the waters near Antarctica. Other large population centers include such far-flung locations as Alaska, Argentina, Norway, and New Zealand. Source: Killer whales make their own tools.

What's the Word: WINKLE pronunciation: [WINK-əl] Part of speech: verb Origin: British, late 16th century Meaning: 1. Extract or obtain something with difficulty. Examples: "The interrogator was used to winkling confessions out of the most hard-boiled subjects." "I had to winkle the button out of the too-tight buttonhole on my new shirt." About About Winkle This word originated from a shortening of the word "periwinkle" — a mollusk with a spiral shell usually found along shores and beaches. Did you Know? The verb form of "winkle" means "to extract something with great difficulty," but there's a noun form of "winkle" as well. Seafood lovers might recognize a winkle as a tiny mollusk with a spiral shell. These edible mollusks are usually around the size of a pinkie nail.

Fact of the Day - SHRIMP FISHING Did you know.... On the western tip of Belgium’s coast, the town of Oostduinkerke keeps alive a tradition more than twice as old as Belgium itself. Since the late 15th century, seaside communities that line the North Sea have practiced a form of shrimp fishing in which horse-riding fishermen, or paardenvisser, trawl the coast’s shallow waters to capture tasty crustaceans. About 500 years after it began, the tradition was recognized by UNESCO as part of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage. But what was once a common sight in the sea’s shallow waters is now a rarity, as only a handful of known paardenvissers still exist. Although the method at its most basic is simply dragging a net behind a Brabant draft horse, the process actually employs some clever physics and mechanics. Attached to each net are two metal-and-wood boards that, thanks to water pressure, keep the net continuously open. A metal chain attached to the front of the net sends shockwaves through the sand, causing shrimp to jump into the trap. As the horse drags the net through the surf, water pressure pushes the catch to the back of the net, which makes room for yet more shrimp. Adorned in their typical bright-yellow oilskin jackets, paardenvissers are often seen along Oostduinkerke’s coast during shrimp fishing seasons (from March to May and from September to November), as well as in June when the entire town gathers for the Shrimp Festival. This two-day event is filled with elaborate floats, costumes, and a parade celebrating the town’s crustaceous cultural heritage. In 2020, Belgium broke its own world record for the longest time without a government. On September 30, 2020, Belgium formed a coalition government 652 days after the last one had collapsed — setting the record for the longest time any country has been without a government during peacetime. This doesn’t mean lawlessness reigned during the long political crisis, however. Instead, an interim caretaker government ran things until an official government took the helm. This not-exactly-laudable world record surpassed the previous record by only 63 days — and that previous record was also held by Belgium, which experienced a similar crisis in 2010 and 2011. Although somewhat small, Belgium is notoriously difficult to govern, in part because wealthier, Dutch-speaking northerners and poorer, French-speaking southerners each have their own political parties and views. Source: Belgium has a 500-year-old tradition of shrimp fishing on horseback.

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Fact of the Day - BEN AND JERRY'S ICECREAM Did you know..... The founders of one of the country’s leading ice cream brands spent only a pint-sized sum learning how to make their product. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield became friends in seventh grade, back in 1963. Originally, they set their sights on being a doctor (Greenfield) and an artist (Cohen). But once they reached their 20s — a rejected medical school applicant and a potter who dropped out of college — they decided to enter the food industry instead. The duo came close to becoming bagel makers, but they realized that producing ice cream was cheaper (bagel-making equipment can be pretty pricey). Their dessert education arrived through a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences correspondence course, which sent them a textbook in the mail and required only open-book tests. The course has since been replaced by a weeklong series of workshops, the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, which bills itself as the country’s “oldest, best-known, and largest educational program dealing with the science and technology of ice cream.” Established in 1925, the program has attracted representatives from Baskin-Robbins, Haagen-Dazs, and Blue Bell Creamery who want to improve their knowledge of research and development, quality control, sales strategies, and more. To prepare to run Ben & Jerry’s, Cohen and Greenfield also purchased various brochures from the Small Business Administration, sold for 20 cents each at the post office. Next, they decided to open a shop in bucolic Burlington, Vermont, home to the University of Vermont’s campus (and thousands of hungry students). Their doors opened in 1978 in a former gas station with unsightly holes in the roof that Cohen attempted to patch up with tin sheets and tar. Cohen and Greenfield secured the location by combining a $4,000 bank loan with their pooled $8,000 (including $2,000 supplied by Cohen’s dad). All of the ice cream was made in a 5-gallon machine, and the shop originally sold eight flavors: Oreo Mint, French Vanilla, Chocolate Fudge, Wild Blueberry, Mocha Walnut, Maple Walnut, Honey Coffee, and Honey Orange. However, as the flavors got wilder — think Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, and Phish Food — many more outposts and a wholesale delivery business followed, as did an IPO. In 2000, Unilever — the parent company of Breyers and Klondike — paid $326 million to acquire Ben & Jerry’s. One of Ben & Jerry’s namesake co-founders can barely taste food. As a kid, Ben Cohen was diagnosed with anosmia, a rare sinus condition that renders him unable to smell. In addition, he has a very limited sense of taste. When eating, Cohen has long derived pleasure from textures. Before helming a business, it was second nature for him to add pieces of cookies or candy to his bowls of ice cream. In recent decades, the signature Ben & Jerry’s item has become a scoop of ice cream brimming with ingredients like chunky fudge, airy marshmallows, and swirly caramel. The company even pioneered cookie dough ice cream, knowing that pearls of batter would result in a satisfying mouthfeel for everyone. Source: Ben and Jerry learned how to make ice cream by taking a $5 correspondence course.

Fact of the Day - MUSIC PERFORMANCE UNTIL 2640 Did you know.... For one organ concert currently being played at a German church, every chord change makes international news. That’s because this performance of avant-garde composer John Cage’s “Organ²/ASLSP” is slated to last centuries. In 1985, when Cage (1912–1992) wrote a piano version of what later became “Organ²/ASLSP,” he directed musicians to play his notes “as slowly as possible.” They’ve complied. The performance began on what would have been Cage’s 89th birthday: September 5, 2001. A collection of music aficionados, scholars, and former collaborators planned a one-of-a-kind tribute to Cage in Halberstadt, Germany, where the first modern keyboard organ is thought to have originated. They dreamed up a performance that would last as long as the Halberstadt instrument, believed to have been built in the city’s cathedral in 1361. Since that was 639 years before the turn of the millennium in 2000, the group settled on a 639-year concert. A custom organ was constructed at the medieval church of St. Burchardi in Halberstadt. The performance opened with a 17-month pause, and one chord lasted nearly seven years. (Sandbags, moved by human hands, weigh down the pedals to engage the organ’s pipes.) As of press time, only 16 chord changes have occurred; the next is scheduled for August 2026. Private donors have raised money to fund the project, but more is needed for the concert to continue uninterrupted all the way through its scheduled end — in 2640. “Organ²/ASLSP” isn’t the world’s longest performance. While “Organ²/ASLSP” is slow, it is not the longest music composition or the longest recital. English banjoist Jem Finer — a founding member of the Celtic punk band the Pogues — holds those world records for his original work “Longplayer.” With help from a bank of London computers, Finer has sequenced six of his short pieces to play simultaneously on a set of Tibetan singing bowls located in the lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf, overlooking the River Thames. The concert started in the first moment of January 1, 2000, and no sound combination will repeat until the final second of December 31, 2999. Source: An ongoing music performance at a German church is scheduled to continue until 2640.

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Fact of the Day - IT MUST BE BOILED! Did you know... Whether you prefer yours plain, covered in sesame seeds, or colored like a rainbow, all bagels share one common characteristic: the dough is boiled prior to baking. Boiling is a crucial step that helps gelatinize the dough so it achieves the ideal density; it also partially deactivates the yeast so the bagel doesn’t rise quite as high as other bread rolls. During a typical boiling period — about 30 to 60 seconds — bagels also absorb salts, sugars, or other seasonings that are added to the water, thus enhancing the dough’s flavor. For these reasons, culinary experts agree that it’s inaccurate to refer to bialys or any other unboiled, torus-shaped baked goods as “bagels.” Experts trace the origins of boiled bagels to Jewish communities in 13th-century Eastern Europe (specifically modern Poland); the technique was brought to New York City in the 19th century by Jewish immigrants. In 1907, local bakers in NYC formed the International Beigel Bakers Union, which worked to guard the boiling and baking process as a trade secret. The union was successful in doing so until the 1960s, when the invention of a new bagel-making machine helped popularize bagels nationwide. There’s a unique style of bagel native to Montréal, Canada. While many Americans are likely familiar with New York-style bagels, their neighbors to the north have a special variant of their own whose origins date to the early 20th century. What makes Montréal’s bagels unique is they’re always handmade and boiled in honey water to lend the dough a sweet flavor. The dough also lacks salt, which produces less crumbliness and more chewiness. Additionally, Montréal-style bagels are cooked in a wood-fired oven, giving them a soft and fluffy interior with a crispier crust. The bagels also are rolled thinner than their NYC counterparts, resulting in a larger central hole. Source: A bagel isn’t a bagel unless it’s boiled.

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Fact of the Day - ALASKA'S FLAG Did you know..... Every flag has a story, but few are as endearing as Alaska’s. One of the rare places to have a flag before it was actually a state, the Last Frontier held a contest to design its territorial standard in 1926 — and a 13-year-old won. (The contest was open only to Alaskan children in grades seven to 12, but it’s still impressive.) Benny Benson lived in an orphanage known as the Jesse Lee Home in Seward, Alaska, when he came up with the winning design, which included a description he wrote himself: “The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear – symbolizing strength.” His design also featured “1867” in commemoration of the year the United States bought Alaska from Russia, although the numbers didn’t make the final cut. In addition to being hailed as a local hero, Benson won a watch with his design on it and a $1,000 scholarship. He eventually used that money to attend Hemphill Diesel Engineering School after moving to Seattle in 1936. He was 45 when Alaska became a state in 1959, fulfilling the hopeful description of his design. Alaska kept its flag instead of adopting a new one, and Benson’s work lives on today. Paraguay is the only country with a two-sided flag. Just as most (but not all) flags are quadrilateral, most countries’ standards are also one-sided, meaning they have designs only on their fronts. The exception that proves the rule is Paraguay, whose flag has both an obverse (front) and reverse (back). The front features red, white, and blue horizontal stripes and the country’s coat of arms in the center, while the back has the same stripes but the seal of the treasury in the center instead. Some countries used to have two-sided flags, including Lithuania and the Philippines, as did countries that no longer exist (the Republic of Formosa, in what is now Taiwan, had an especially nice one in 1895), but Paraguay is the only present country with one. Here in the U.S., Oregon also has a two-sided flag. Source: Alaska’s flag was created by a 13-year-old.

Fact of the Day - AGATHA CHRISTIE Did you know.... Agatha Christie’s characters have done it all — survived attempted murder, traveled to far-off lands, and solved mystery after mystery. But the bestselling author didn’t just write about adventure; she also sought it out, sometimes on a surfboard. Two years after publishing her first novel, Christie embarked on an international trip with her first husband, Archibald. Their 1922 stop in South Africa included an attempt at surfing, where it’s possible she may have become the first Western woman to stand up on a surfboard. The globetrotting couple quickly fell in love with the sport and went on to catch swelling waves off the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Christie, in letters to her mother, recounted the tricky experience of learning to surf, describing the sport as “occasionally painful” thanks to a “nosedive down into the sand.” But the writer eventually became more skilled, detailing in her 1977 autobiography that nothing could compete with the rush of approaching shore at high speeds. She also wrote about surfing in her novel The Man in the Brown Suit, in which her protagonist, nicknamed “Anna the Adventuress,” goes surfing in Cape Town. Christie’s pursuit of the perfect wave was unusual for an English woman of her time. The Museum of British Surfing suggests she and her husband may have been two of the earliest Brits to attempt the activity. However, they did have regal company: Prince Edward, the British royal who would eventually abdicate the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, was photographed surfing in Hawaii two years before Christie rented her first surfboard. Agatha Christie’s first novel was rejected six times. Despite her literary success, Agatha Christie’s writing career took some time to launch; her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was rejected six times before publication. Christie, who had an interest in storytelling as a child, took her first stab at writing thanks to a bet with her sister, Madge. In The Mysterious Affair, her long-featured detective Hercule Poirot made his entrance, investigating a poisoning. It wasn’t until 1920, some four years after she began writing, that Christie’s thriller was finally printed; her description and use of poisons from knowledge gained as a World War I nurse even landed the novel a favorable review in a pharmaceutical journal. Christie’s first book made such an impact that she even named her home Styles after the story’s setting. Source: Agatha Christie helped popularize surfing.

Fact of the Day - EARTHS INSIDE THE SUN Did you know..... From 93 million miles away, it can be easy to forget just how big the sun is. With a diameter of 864,938 miles and a circumference of about 2,715,396 miles, the brilliant ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of our solar system is large enough to fit about 1 million Earths inside of it. It’s also some 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface and, thanks to nuclear reactions, 27 million degrees in its core, producing the same amount of energy every second as 100 billion tons of dynamite. Don’t let that give you earthlings an inferiority complex, however — in about 5 billion years, the sun will run out of hydrogen, and eventually collapse into a white dwarf roughly the same size as the Earth. (Earth won’t survive that, but luckily we don’t need to worry about it for quite some time.) In the meantime, the sun will remain almost unfathomably larger than anything orbiting it — about 1,000 Jupiters could fit inside it, for instance, as could 64.3 million of Earth’s moons. Some stars are hundreds of times larger than the sun. Though the sun is obviously massive from our earthbound perspective, it’s not especially large in the (very) grand scheme of things. In fact, it’s fairly average. The sun pales in comparison to Betelgeuse (no relation to the Michael Keaton character), a red giant that’s approximately 700 times larger and 14,000 times brighter. Because it’s 724 light-years away from us, however, Betelgeuse is only around the 10th-brightest star in our night sky. If you want to feel really small, there are a number of videos showing the relative sizes of different heavenly bodies that may just leave your head spinning. Source: About 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun.

Fact of the Day - ANTS AT WAR Did you know.... In addition to invading picnics in the park, ants stage full-on conflicts with other ant colonies. Take the aptly named army ants — a term that applies to around 150 distinct species — which are among the many ant species, along with leafcutter ants and marauder ants, that fight each other for the purpose of territory or resource control. Research has shown those battles share striking similarities to human skirmishes, with ants relying on a combination of force, strategy, and chemical warfare to achieve victory. Army ants have been observed advancing in tight phalanx formations that overwhelm opposing colonies with their sheer size. Some colonies send smaller numbers of scouts beforehand in search of food; those scouts then return to assemble a fighting force. Some species, such as the Matabele ant, even have some ants who essentially act like wartime medics, carrying injured ants away from the fight and tending to their wounds. There’s also evidence of ants strategically deploying “weaponry” in battles with other ant colonies. For example, the Raspberry crazy ant secretes a substance that neutralizes fire ant venom, while door ants explode when threatened and spew toxins on enemies. Other species, such as leafcutter ants, craft armor from magnesium calcite that helps them withstand oncoming attacks. Many ants also instinctively know when it’s time to retreat and fight another day, displaying an unwillingness to fight to the death in a losing situation — unless it’s for the purpose of defending their nest. A bullet ant’s sting is ranked among the most painful in the world. The Schmidt sting pain index, created by entomologist Justin O. Schmidt, is a ranking of the most excruciatingly painful insect stings. Pain level one includes the sting of red, tropical, and southern fire ants, which Schmidt equated to being shocked by a light switch, as well as the sting of a bee. At the highest end of the spectrum is the bullet ant, which is the only ranked insect to hold a notorious four-plus pain rating. Schmidt described the sting in his 2016 book The Sting of the Wild as “like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel.” Unlike other ant venom, which is commonly delivered by bite, a bullet ant delivers its venom using a wasplike stinger. While the sting isn’t fatal, it can lead to intense pain, muscle paralysis, and hallucinations that can last for up to 24 hours. Source: Ants go to war with other colonies.

Fact of the Day - FIRE POPPY Did you know..... Wildfire can be devastating for humans and wildlife, yet some plant species rely on fire as a vital part of their life cycle. Known as fire followers, those species have evolved to take advantage of landscapes cleared by flames. Take, for example, the fire poppy (Papaver californicum), a delicate orange-red wildflower that emerges almost exclusively after wildfires in California’s chaparral and foothills. Its seeds can lie dormant in the soil for decades, waiting for the precise combination of heat, smoke, and mineral-rich ash that only fire provides. When those conditions align, fire poppies bloom briefly and brilliantly, turning barren slopes into living proof that destruction can also bring renewal. But that poppy isn’t the only plant to thrive in a fire-ravaged environment; fire followers exist in dry ecosystems around the world, from Australia’s savannas to the Mediterranean basin and South Africa’s fynbos biome. Fire removes dense vegetation, returns nutrients to the soil in the form of ash, and alters the chemistry of the ground and air in ways that signal it’s finally safe to grow. Some fire-following plants respond to heat that cracks open tough seed coats, while others are triggered by compounds found in smoke. In the months after a burn, when competition for growing space lessens and sunlight floods the ground, those plants can suddenly appear in extraordinary numbers, transforming charred land into fields of colorful growth. Ecologists have studied the relationship between fire and plant life for more than a century. In the early 1920s, botanists observed that certain chaparral shrubs in California only sprout and produce fruit after a wildfire, uncovering the evolutionary connection between fire and plant reproduction. Those early studies helped lay the groundwork for fire ecology, the scientific field dedicated to understanding how fire influences ecosystems. Fire ecologists examine how burns affect plant growth, nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and interactions between species, revealing that fire is not just a destructive force but also a vital process for many landscapes around the world. Since those early observations, fire ecology has developed into a structured field of research. By the mid-20th century, scientists had begun studying how fire shapes vegetation patterns, soil chemistry, and ecosystem recovery. Source: There’s a California flower that only grows after fires.

Fact of the Day - MESSENGER PIGEONS Did you know.... Pigeons tend to have poor reputations, treated as winged pests that are shooed away from park benches and windowsills. However, these sometimes-annoying avians — which were first domesticated by humans at least 5,000 years ago — are also known for being adept messengers. That’s why police in Odisha, a coastal state in eastern India, have used pigeons to relay important messages in situations where modern lines of communication no longer work. About 150 homing, racing, and carrier pigeons make up the region’s pigeon patrol. They begin their training at just 5 to 6 weeks old, and can fly up to 500 miles at a time, at top speeds of 34 miles per hour. Fleets of carrier pigeons aren’t at all new to India. The feathered couriers were used throughout the country for centuries, and in more recent history by police stations during British colonial rule. Odisha launched its official bird messaging service in 1946 as an experiment, since the region had no telephone access. The program’s earliest pigeons were tasked with regularly transporting messages written on lightweight onion-skin paper between police stations in a state that spanned more than 60,000 square miles. Even with today’s accessible phone and internet services, there’s been no rush to retire the courier pigeons. While the birds tend to serve a ceremonial role during functions of state, handlers keep the pigeons trained and ready to respond in natural disasters when communication towers are wiped out, and the birds are believed to have helped save lives during catastrophic flooding in 1982 and in the aftermath of a super cyclone in 1999. The last known passenger pigeon was named for Martha Washington. The demise of the passenger pigeon has served as a century-long warning about the role humans play in the natural world. At one time, the species dominated the skies of North America, accounting for 25% to 40% of the entire American bird population. But by the early 1900s — following decades of overhunting and habitat destruction — only a few passenger pigeons survived in captivity. One in particular gained notoriety: Martha. Named for the nation’s original first lady, Martha Washington, the pigeon was housed at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden, where crowds regularly gathered to view the bird that would eventually become the last living passenger pigeon. Amazingly (and likely with the help of regular medical attention) Martha far surpassed her winged counterparts’ average lifespan of 15 years, living to the ripe age of 29. Today, it’s possible to still get a glimpse of her at the Smithsonian, where she has been taxidermized and is occasionally on display. Source: Police in India still use pigeons to relay messages.

Fact of the Day - THE OLYMPIC TORCH Did you know... Is it the same flame from Greece to the games? One of the exciting traditions leading up to the Summer and Winter Olympics is the torch relay, when people can go out and see the Olympic torch as it travels from Greece, where it is lit by the sun and a parabolic mirror, to the Olympic flame in the host city. The relay is prepared for potential bad weather, like rain and wind, or other conditions that could cause the flame to go out. But there are still rare times when the flame does go out. So how do Olympic organizers ensure that the flame lit in Greece is still the same one that arrives in the host city for the Olympics? From Greece to Gold The Olympic flame is lit during a traditional ceremony in Greece that includes women dressed as ancient priestesses lighting the first flame with sunlight reflected on a parabolic mirror. That same flame will be carried by torch bearers throughout the torch relay until it makes its way to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, only to finally be extinguished at the end of the event. The Olympics make it a point to ensure that the same flame that was ignited during the ceremony in Greece is the one that lights the Olympic flame in the host city, which can be a bit of a challenge when carrying it through a relay with such a large number of participants. In 2024, for example, the torch relay for the Summer Games in Paris included around 10,000 torch bearers. The flame, however, always travels with a backup just in case. Officials carry specially-designed containers similar to a miner's lamp that house the original flame and a backup for everything from air travel (on a private plane, of course) to get the flame from Greece to the relay and then keep the flame lit throughout its journey. If the flame goes out for a torch bearer during the journey, the backup container is used to relight the flame. Needing a Backup The backup flame has actually been important during relays when circumstances caused the flame to go out for a torch bearer during the relay. In the 1970s, there was a problem with the torch as it made its way to the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. A rainstorm caused the flame to go out during the relay, causing an official along the route to relight it with a cigarette lighter. That's actually not allowed, as it doesn't keep with the tradition of using the original flame. So, the re-lit torch was extinguished and lit again with the backup that started in Greece. A report during the 2014 Winter Games relay in Russia said the torch had gone out multiple times during its travels. A spokesman for the relay at the time claimed that it was normal to have that number of incidents. In 2016, a man tried to extinguish the torch during the relay in Brazil by throwing water at it. Luckily, it missed the torch, which stayed lit. The relay also has typical issues with the flame that could necessitate relighting it during the relay, such as bad weather, of course, or a runner taking too long during the relay and using up all the fuel in a torch before it can be passed on. The 2026 Winter Games, taking place in Italy, run from February 6 to February 22. See the full schedule here. Source: How the Olympics Keep the Torch Lit—And What Happens When It Goes Out