January 30th, 2017

The record for youngest person to have discovered a supernova is held by 10 year old Kathryn Aurora Gray, who discovered SN 2010lt while looking through images on her dad's computer.

Bonus:
Steve Jobs was adopted, and was half Syrian through his biological father. In fact, his father's Syrian roots meant he wasn't accepted by Jobs' biological grandfather, hence the adoption.

-E

January 29th, 2017

Within a computer, one or more smaller 'virtual computers' can be nested. These are called 'virtual machines', and they can be used to run alternate operating systems, or provide a task-specific work environment. Virtual machines are initiated and managed by a program that oversees the process, known as a hypervisor. As well, a virtual machine can be initiated from another virtual machine, and there is technically no limit to how deep nesting can go (although realistically finite memory will eventually put an end to the fun).

-E

January 28th, 2017

Many countries have a National Liquor (or de facto National Liquor). Vodka, or variants thereof, are listed as the national of six countries: Finland, Iran, Kenya, Poland, Russia, Ukraine. However, rum and its variants take the cup, with 16 countries. Rum is especially popular amongst the Caribbean and South American countries, and of these 16 only three are not in the Americas: Australia, India, and Thailand.

Bonus:

Evelyn McHale jumped from the Empire State Building on May 1st, 1947 at age 23 after succumbing to overwhelming self doubt. She landed on a parked limousine, and a famous photo of her body gives it an eerily serene and elegant appearance, immortalising her death as 'The Most Beautiful Suicide'.

-E

Today marks this blog's 100 post! Whooo!

January 27th, 2017

The sarcophagus of Eshmunazor II, a Phoenician king who ruled in the 5th century BC, was discovered in Lebanon in 1855. The artefact was inscribed with a lengthy message in Phoenician, which warns of the terrible fate that will befall anyone who moves the sarcophagus. The advice went unheeded, and the tomb is now in the Louvre.

-E

January 26th, 2017

The Yarlung Tsangpo is a river that flows through Tibet, and at nearly 3000 km it is the 29th longest river on earth. The river also flows through India and Bangladesh, where it is known as the Brahmaputra River (meaning 'Son of Brahma'). Shortly before draining into the Bay of Bengal it also joins the Ganges river. Most of the Yarlung is quite isolated, and in addition to its high altitude it comprises some extreme canyons (including the world's deepest) and powerful rapids. These features have earned the Yarlung the title 'Everest of Rivers' among kayaking enthusiasts. Like Everest, the Yarlung has also claimed some lives.

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January 25th, 2017

A few hundreds of thousands of years after the Big Bang, the first galaxies formed. These galaxies were unique - relatively small in size but with central supermassive black holes significantly larger than what we see in present day galaxies. Over time, most of these galaxies merged with other galaxies and lost these unique attributes. However, a very small number managed to stay untouched until the present day: almost 13 billion years. These rare fossils of the early universe are called relic galaxies, and to date only a very small handful have been found. There is a big push in astrophysics to find more, as they can help us understand the infancy of our universe.

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January 24th, 2017

A Hilbert Curve is a pattern that can be drawn repetitively to cover a space, such as a piece of paper. The pattern is a fractal, meaning the curve can be made to comprise of smaller versions of itself.  The curve can also be used in 3D to efficiently fill volumes. One application is the 'scheduling problem', in which a number of tasks are scheduled such that no two simultaneous tasks conflict in terms of required resources, and the least amount of time is required to complete all tasks. Trying to organize an exam schedule such that no student has two of their exams overlap is a common example. A Hilbert Curve can be used to order points arbitrarily scattered within a space, by moving each point to the nearest line segment and then moving along the line and completing the 'tasks' one by one. It's a little technical, but it is the basis of Hilbert Curve Scheduling, which is employed by supercomputers in order to efficiently manage requests for computation time.

Bonus:

The most commonly used scheduling manager is the Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management, or SLURM. The name is a reference to a drink portrayed in the cartoon Futurama.

-E

January 23rd, 2017

In the US and Canada the word 'condominium' is used to refer to a housing structure in which sections are separately owned (often shortened to simply condo). There is, in fact, a second historical meaning to the word rooted in international law. A condominium can also be an area of land or sea that is jointly administered by two or more countries. The word comes from con (joint) dominium (dominion). There have been many condominiums throughout the ages, though over time most have been ceded to a single country. The remaining ones are mostly shared bodies of water, but at least two land-condominiums exist today: Antarctica, and the tiny 0.00682 square kilometre Pheasant Island between Spain and France.

Bonus:

Tetra Pak is a multi-billion dollar Swedish food packaging company. In some countries, cartons are referred to as Tetra Paks.

-E

January 22nd, 2017

Vivian Maier was an American of French and Austrian descent. She spent most of her life working as a nanny in New York and Chicago. However she lived a somewhat secretive double life, wandering and photographing street scenes in her free time, yet sharing the images with virtually nobody. After her death in 2009, her immense collection of work was recognised and became an international sensation. Her photos have been featured in galleries worldwide, and a documentary has been made about her enigmatic lifestyle. Today she is considered one of history's preeminent street photographers, and credited with chronicling a chapter in American history. As well, some books of her works now sell for hundreds of dollars.

-E

January 21st, 2017

Some of the biggest waves in the world can be found in Nazaré, Portugal. Just off the coast is the Nazaré underwater canyon - roughly 5000 feet deep - which amplifies the size of waves shortly before they reach the shore. These massive waves have unsurprisingly attracted surfers, and it was here that the record for 'highest wave surfed' was set in 2013 at 30 meters (~100 feet). Videos of surfers getting up to such heights are quite something to behold. Out in the ocean, where the seabed is much further from the surface, it was traditionally though that giant waves couldn't occur. Besides the stories of sailors, evidence for their existence came only in 1995, when a wave of 25.6 meters (84 feet) was measured in the North Sea. It is now know that these giant ocean waves (called rogue waves) are not impossibly rare, with an estimated 10 in the Earth's oceans at any point. How they come to be created out in deep oceans is still an open question.

-E

January 20th, 2017

Few dictators can compete with the brutal reputation of Idi Amin, who ruled Uganda in the 70s. His erratic behaviour and human rights abuses characterized this period, in which an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 people were killed. Much about the life of Amin is unknown, including his place and date of birth, his early life, his parents, and most intimate details of his reign. The year after his overthrow, 'The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin' was released, and although fairly accurate, perpetuated some myths surrounding his character, such as that he was a cannibal and mutilated his fourth wife. A recent attempt to understand the life of Amin has shown that at least some of these are unfounded, and suggested that the wife in question was mutilated by Amin's personal doctor after he impregnated her, and then botched an abortion attempt. Other sources think the doctor, who was discovered dead shortly after, had been set up by Amin. Most likely, this and many other horrors that characterized Amin's rule will never be free of myth. What is known with certainty is that Amin fled to Saudi Arabia after his downfall, where he remained without remorse until his death in 2003. His last wife lived a quiet life working a beauty parlor in London. She died in 2015, insisting to the end that her husband was innocent.

Bonus:

A 2006 film about this period, 'The Last King of Scotland', won Forest Whitaker an Oscar. As with much of Amin's life, the reason Academy Awards are called 'Oscars' has also been lost to history.

-E

January 19th, 2017

Molière was a 17th century playwright, and one of the founders of French comedy. While alive, his works were somewhat controversial in France, but the translated versions were warmly received in England. He is now celebrated across France, and Paris has a road and fountain named after him. His death was quite remarkable: he began coughing up blood half-way through a performance of what would be his final play, yet insisted on finishing. He succeeded, but died a few hours later from pulmonary tuberculosis. This commitment to theatre inspired a famous trope: "The show must go on".

-E

January 18th, 2017

Tripoli is somewhat of an odd sounding name in the predominantly Arab country of Libya. Not only that, but standard Arabic has no 'p' sound (no other Arabic country capital has one). In fact, the name betrays the history of the country. The Phoenicians established a city named Oea at the site of modern Tripoli in the 7th century BC. To the east and west of Oea, the cities of Leptis Magna and Sabrath also arose. When the Greeks later conquered the region they called the grouping Τρίπολις (Tripolis) from three (tri) cities (polis). The name stuck to this day, even in the - somewhat butchered - Arabic name for the city: طرابلس (Tarabulus).

-E

January 17th, 2017

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was called off today. The disappearance of the flight three years ago has been described as 'one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time'. Although the search is unfortunately ending without having located the crash site nor having provided a concrete cause for the disappearance, the international cooperation and scientific acumen demonstrated throughout this effort should still be lauded. For example, the slight doppler shift of the plane's periodic automated signals (even after radio communications had ceased) allowed for the calculation of the airline's movement relative to the relay satellite. Debris from the plane found on the shores of various countries could be traced backwards using details of ocean currents. Hydroacoustic microphones off the southwest coast of Australia were consulted, to see if they had picked up any abnormal sounds around the time of the expected crash. An extensive sonar survey covering 120,000 square kilometers was carried out, which precisely mapped the ocean floor, and even discovered a 19th century shipwreck.

-E

January 16th, 2017

From 2007 - 2010 American Charles Brigham biked around Europe and North Africa, including Libya shortly before the civil war broke out. His tour came to an end in 2010 when he fell from his bike in Egypt and sustained a femoral fracture. His trip is chronicled here.

Bonus:

Khartoum, Sudan is the capital city with the highest year-long average high temperature: 37C. In fact, in no month does the average high fall below 30C.

-E

January 15th, 2017

The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan from 1632 - 1654. It was built after his 3rd wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died in childbirth after 19 years of marriage. The two are said to have shared an incredible love, and - unusual for the time - Jahan shared his political duties with Mahal. After the death of Mahal, Jahan was wrought with grief, and ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna river as a grandiose mausoleum for his lost lover. French explorer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier visited the completed Taj Mahal in 1665, one year before the death of Shah Jahan. He later wrote that Jahan had planned to build an identical mausoleum for himself on the other side of the river, however that his would be black. Thus, the legend of the Black Taj Mahal was born, with different sources citing different reasons for it never having been completed. Modern opinion is that it was simply a myth, and that Jahan had planned to rest alongside Mahal inside her mausoleum, where he still does today.

Bonus:

The name 'Taj Mahal' is thought to be a contraction of the name of Mumtaz Mahal ('Z' and 'J' are often interchanged in Hindi and Urdu).

-E

January 14th, 2017

The tiny African nation of The Gambia is undergoing a political crisis. President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled for 22 years, refuses to step down after losing an election last December to Adama Barrow. Jammeh's term will end on January 19th, after which point many countries have stated they will refuse to recognize his leadership. The embattled president had initially called on the senate to review the election results on January 10th, but then postponed the hearing until May.

Bonus:

Erika Chase Davis is a talented indie artist who is definitely worth a listen.

-E

January 13th, 2017

In Christianity, saints were associated with various days. This lead to Calendars of Saints, in which each day lists various saints. Some calendars in France still abide by this tradition.

-E

January 12th, 2016

The red junglefowl is thought to be modern ancestor of the domestic chicken. It lays two clutches of 4 - 7 eggs a year (8 - 14 eggs per year). The domestic chicken was already noticed for its egg laying potential by 1,500 BC, and was at least once referred to as the "bird which gives birth every day". Today egg laying chickens can produce upwards of 300 eggs per year, with the record standing at 371. After a year of egg laying, the quality and yield of eggs begins falling. At this point chickens can be slaughtered for food, or they can be starved for 1 to 2 weeks, which causes them to lose their feathers and begin a second egg-laying cycle. This practice is called forced moulting, and is banned in the EU, but widespread in the US.

-E

January 11th, 2017

Trying to represent a spherical object on a flat surface, such that the full sphere can be shown, is a complex problem. In cartography, various map projections have been suggested as the best way to deal with this issue. Regardless of the choice, there will always be a sacrifice in the accuracy of the area, direction, distance, shape, or a combination of these. Thus, each projection comes with advantages and disadvantages, and the debate around choosing one often gets quite personal, with xkcd's Randall Munroe even illustrating the relationship between projection and personality. One way to view where the distortions occur is using Tissot's Indicatrix, in which a mesh and circles are drawn around the sphere, and then studied after various projections.

-E

January 10th, 2017

Wikipedia maintains a list of noteworthy trees. This includes the widest tree, the tallest tree, some very isolated trees, trees of religious significance, trees of cultural significance, and some quirky ones. It also includes trees that are no longer standing, such as Prometheus. In studying trees, a graduate student cut down the tree (later nicknamed Prometheus) in 1963, only to discover it was around 5,000 year old, which made it the oldest known non-clonal organism at the time. Since the felling, a new record holder was found in 2012: a bristlecone pine in California dated to 5,067 years (as of 2017) meaning it started growing in 3,050 BC, during the early Dynastic Period of Egypt. This tree's lifetime encapsulates effectively all of human civilization as defined by language and dynasties.

-E

January 9th, 2017

A new surgical procedure has begun to advertise permanently changed eye colour. The operation is controversial, with some applauding it, and others some decrying it as a massive scam.

-E

January 8th, 2017

A codeshare is an agreement between two or more airline companies, in which they share a flight. This means they both advertise the flight using their own unique flight numbers. It is certainly a bit bizarre, but is used to allow companies to expand their marketing, and also give semblance of flying more routes than they may actually cover. For passengers, it allows some more complex routes to be booked through just one airline (although two or more will actually be relaying the passenger).

Bonus:

Codesharing typically takes place between carriers of the same airline alliance. Star Alliance is currently the biggest by the number of airlines: 27. They moved 641.1 million passengers in 2016, narrowly coming in second to SkyTeam, who managed 665.4 million.

-E

January 7th, 2017

In 2009, to publicize the dangerous effects of climate change, the Maldives held an underwater cabinet meeting. The rising of the oceans is especially pertinent in Maldives, which is the country with the lowest average elevation: only 1.8m above sea level.

Bonus:

The Beatles were introduced to marijuana by Bob Dylan.

-E

January 6th, 2017

In materials science, 'Thin Plate Physics' is a small sub-domain that explores the properties of vibrations and deformations created when a force is applied to a thin plate of varying materials. The plates are sometimes made out of epoxy, a slightly malleable plastic-like substance.

-E

January 5th, 2017

A 1996 episode of The Simpsons, Lisa the Iconoclast, contains a scene in which a character comments on the odd choice of the word 'embiggen'. Another character replies that "it's a perfectly cromulent word". This scene led to a resurgence in the archaic word embiggen, and the birth of a second word which previously never existed: cromulent.

Bonus:

The title of the episode also contains an interesting word: Iconoclast, which is a term used to describe one who 'attacks cherished beliefs'.

-E

January 4th, 2017

Frite Alors is a restaurant chain that serves poutine, among other items. The first location opened in 1991, with the idea of bringing Belgian fries to Canada. The style of the restaurant and its logo come from another staple of Belgian culture: the Bande Déssinée. In addition to Quebec, there is now a store in Lyon, France.

-E

January 3rd, 2017

Mont Tremblant is a mountain and ski resort about 130km northwest of Montreal opened in 1939, and one of the most visited in the region. At 875m it is tall 45m taller than the Burj Khalifa. Though its base is 230m above sea level, giving it a vertical drop of 645m. For Quebec ski resorts, this is quite impressive, though the highest summit is Mont Sutton at 968m, and the highest vertical drop is Le Massif at 770m (though this is a half-graben, and not a mountain). Outside of ski resorts, other mountains in Quebec dwarf these. The highest point in Quebec is 1651m, and is interestingly not a mountain peak. This is because of curious border placement: the Quebec/Labrador border passes 10m southwest of the peak of Mount Caubvick (known as Mont D'Iberville in Quebec). Therefore, the peak in Labrador is at 1652m, beating Quebec's highest point by one metre. Few have climbed the peak, and two were killed in an attempt in 2003.

Bonus:

Mont Tremblant, and almost all of Quebec's ski resorts fall into an area known as the Laurentian Mountains (Laurentides in French). It was here that modern alpine skiing was born. The Montreal Ski Club opened in 1904 and brought Swiss skier Emile Cochand to Quebec to teach in 1911. He opened the first ski resort in North America in 1914 (initially it was simply his home) which become known as Chalet Cochand.

Bonus 2:

One visitor to the Chalet Cochard was Lowell Thomas, an american journalist and adventurer who helped popularize the region and also played a part in the establishment of Mont Tremblant. Outside of skiing, he also introduced the world to T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence was an enigmatic figure who played a large part in the history of the Arab world. Lawrence never took a partner, a fact that has aroused much speculation. Even more mysterious is a dedication in one of his books to a lover, referred to only as 'S.A.'.

Bonus 3:

Rather contrary to his lifestyle, Lawrence died of a simple motorbike mishap at the age of 46. His surgeon was greatly affected by the loss, and went on to develop the motorcycle helmet. To come full circle, 74 years later, actress Natasha Richardson died in 2009 of a head injury while skiing at Mont Tremblant. This event played a large part in popularizing helmets in the region.

-E

January 2nd, 2017

A 'vimana' (विमान) is a mythical flying palace or chariot that was described in ancient Hindi and Sanskrit texts. The word is now in use in modern Hindi, and its current meaning refers to something that closely resembles a magical flying palace: an airplane.

-E

January 1st, 2017

Happy new year! 2017 is a prime numbered year. The last was 2011, and there won't be another one for a decade. 2027, the next one, will form a pair of twin primes (two primes that are two apart from one another) with 2029. Not many alive now will live to see the next pair of twin prime years: 2081 and 2083.

Bonus:

2017 is also Canada's 150th anniversary (well, since the Canada Confederation, as opposed to other milestones on the way to sovereign statehood). The Queen sent a lovely message of congratulations, where she also shows off her French.

Bonus 2:

A 150th anniversary is referred to as a sesquicentennial. Perhaps somewhat superfluous, as '150th anniversary' has the same number of characters.

-E

December 31st, 2016

The Right Whale earned its name thorough somewhat macabre circumstances. It was said to be the 'Right whale to kill' on account of its slow speed, docile nature, huge size, significant reserves of blubber, and the fact that it floats after being killed, making it easy to tow to shore. Because of this, the whale's population has fallen from tens of thousands to only a few hundred individuals.

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December 30th, 2016

Weed growing may be a hush-hush business, but it is also a profitable one. The US and Canada, among other countries, have realized this, and are beginning to cash into the billion dollar industry. Often forgotten is the crucial step between growing and selling: trimming. After harvest, it's necessary to trim the leaves, and to separate leaves, buds, flowers, etc. Plants can be trimmed as is (wet trimming) or left to dry first (dry trimming). Weed trimming is generally paid under-the-table, but can be incredibly profitable. Fast trimmers can early upwards of 100USD per hour. As countries legalize, the pay will most definitely drop as a result of taxation, so time is running out to get in on the action.

-E