Things I Learned in 2020

In this blog post, I’ll share some of the interesting and unexpected things I came across on the internet in 2020. Without further ado, here are the 25 things that stood out to me.

1. Brown is not a color, and there is no brown light 🟤🙅‍♂️🎨.

2. The temperature and atmospheric pressure on Earth can vary greatly across its surface. However, there are lines around the Earth called Isothermal lines and Isobar lines where the temperature and pressure are the same. These lines are jagged in shape, and they intersect at two points, creating at least two points on Earth that have the exact same temperature and pressure at any given time 🌍.

3. Cracking a (cheap) combination lock is actually fairly easy (yes, it’s really that simple) 🔒🔓.

4. The Aeropress was invented by the same guy who invented the Aerobee ☕🥏 .

5. Jeff Bezos is filthy rich 👨‍🦲💸.

6. Ravens and crowns are taxonomically the same 🐦. Ravens and crows together form the genus Corvus in the corvid family (Corvidae). The larger representatives are called “ravens,” and the smaller ones “crows.” However, this is not a taxonomic classification. The genus includes 42 species, distributed almost worldwide and absent only in South America. 

7. Humans are genetically closer to a goldfish than a goldfish is to a great white shark 🐟🦈.

8. “Time freezing “after a saccadic movement of the eyes (for example, when looking at the second hand of a clock) is called Chronostasis 👁️⏱.

9. Fainting during drunk urination is a known phenomenon and a reason for people drowning 🥴.

10. When bread becomes stale, this is not due to it drying out but because the starch molecules crystallize. This process can be reversed by heat.🍞🥖. When the bread is first baked, the starch molecules in the flour are in a gelatinized state, which gives the bread its characteristic soft and chewy texture. As the bread cools, the starch molecules begin to recrystallize, and the bread becomes harder and less palatable. This process is commonly referred to as bread becoming stale.

    One way to soften stale bread is by reheating it. When the bread is reheated, the heat causes the starch molecules to re-gelatinize, which makes the bread softer and fresher-tasting.

11. Sugar has interesting effects on light 🍭🔦.

12. The official reference height in Germany established from 1879 to 1992 was derived from the Amsterdam Level of the Prussian Empire 🇩🇪🌊🇳🇱. The Amsterdam Level was a reference point used in the Netherlands to measure elevations. It was used as the reference point in Germany because it was considered the most accurate and precise measurement of sea level at the time.

13. The human ear can produce sound 👂🔈. This effect is called Otoacoustic Emissions. OAEs are believed to be related to the amplification function of the inner ear’s cochlea. The cochlea is responsible for converting sound waves into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain. OAEs are generated by the hair cells in the cochlea and can be measured using special equipment. These sounds are not audible to the human ear but can be picked up by sensitive microphones.

    Also: This episode of Omega Tau on the Perceptual System is very informative.

14. The 7-day week might be the oldest civilization concept still in use in its unaltered form. The origins can be traced back to ancient civilizations and are fascinating 📆 The origins of the 7-day week are believed to be based on a combination of religious and astronomical beliefs. The ancient Babylonians lived in present-day Iraq and were known for their sophisticated astronomical observations and calculations. They divided the lunar month into four 7-day weeks, aligning with the moon’s phases.

    Additionally, many ancient cultures, including the Babylonians, firmly believed in the power of the number seven. In Babylonian religion, seven celestial gods were each associated with one of the seven days of the week. The Babylonians named the days after these gods, with the seventh day, “Sabbath,” dedicated to the god of the sky and the heavens.

    The ancient Egyptians also used a seven-day week, with each day dedicated to a specific god or goddess. The Romans later adopted the concept of a seven-day week and named the days after their own gods and planets.

    The 7-day week was adopted by the ancient Romans and later spread to other cultures through trade and conquest. The names for the days of the week come from the seven solar system planets known to the ancient Romans. These planets were believed to have an influence on the day named after them, with the Roman gods associated with each planet also believed to hold sway on that day. The Roman names for the days of the week are:

15. The word for “bear “in some branches of Indo-European languages became taboo and was replaced by euphemisms like The Brown One, The Honey Eater, The Shaggy Coat, and The Destroyer 🐻🍯. The southern Indo-European tongues retain the old Proto Indo-European word for bear, but different words for bear appear in the northern Proto Indo-European language groups, like Germanic (which includes English, German, Dutch, and Swedish), Slavic (which includes Russian, Polish, and Czech), and Baltic (including Lithuanian, Latvian, and Old Prussian). This may be because bears were more common in northern regions and therefore had a greater impact on the culture and language of these people.

16. In the Swedish village of Ytterby (or the Ytterby mine), 7 elements were discovered (Gadolinium, Holmium, Thulium), and 4 of them were named after the place itself: Ytteium, Ytterbium, Terbium, and Erbium 💎.

17. Singapore is the only state that became independent involuntarily 🇸🇬. Singapore was a colony of the British Empire until 1963 when it merged with Malaysia to form the Federation of Malaysia. However, due to political and economic tensions, Singapore was expelled from the federation and became independent in 1965. Unlike other countries that gained independence through revolution or negotiated agreements, Singapore’s independence was involuntary as it was forced to separate from Malaysia.

18. Anencephaly is a defect that occurs during embryonic development. It results in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp 🧠.

19. The first ATMs used paper vouchers impregnated with a mildly radioactive substance (carbon 14) instead of plastic cards to match the vouchers with a personal identification number (PIN) 💸☢️.

20. The health consequences of the drying of the Aral Sea are similar in magnitude to the disaster of Chernobyl 🏜️☠️. Air pollution caused by the drying Aral Sea is so high that it causes a 5% increase in global pollution when salt, dust, and aerosols are carried by west-south winds into the stratosphere. Pesticides from the Aral Sea can even be found in the blood of Antarctic penguins, and Aral dust can be found on Greenland’s glaciers, in Norway’s forests, and in the Mongolian desert. The child mortality rate is four times higher than in Russia, and in many regions, one in ten to twelve children die before their first birthday. Birth defects, such as anencephaly, are also on the rise. It is estimated that 25% of cotton-growing regions’ population are mentally challenged.

21. In Germany, the churches receive 540 million € (586 million $) annual reparations payments from the government for properties and assets that were seized under Napoleon’s rule in the eighteen hundreds ⛪💸💰.

22. In 2016, Singapore’s police reported 135 total days without any crimes, including snatch-theft, house break-ins, and robbery 🦹‍♂️🇸🇬.

23. Ultrasonic calls of bats are more elaborate than you might think 🦇. Some bats use their ultrasonic calls to focus on specific objects, such as prey, by adjusting their calls’ frequency to match the objects’ relative speeds. Bats use slightly different frequencies in a group to avoid interfering with each other’s calls. If one bat “interferes” with another bat’s frequency, it will be scolded.

24. The Masoretic Text is the Hebrew text that serves as the basis for most Jewish and Christian Bibles and was considered to be the tradition of the original biblical text until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are Bible manuscripts that are up to 1100 years older 📜. The Masoretic text is a traditional Hebrew version of the Bible that has served as the basis for most Jewish and Christian Bibles. It was considered to be the original biblical text, but this belief was partially challenged with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are Bible manuscripts that are up to 1100 years older than the oldest Masoretic Texts that have been preserved.

    The Septuagint, on the other hand, is a collection of Greek translations of the Old Testament that are up to 600 years older than the oldest surviving Hebrew texts. As a result, the Septuagint and the Masoretic text have some differences in their texts. These differences can range from slight variations in wording to more significant differences in meaning. Some scholars believe that the Septuagint is a more accurate representation of the original biblical text, while others argue that the Masoretic text is a more accurate representation of the text as it was preserved and transmitted by the Jewish community.

25. Certain trees, like oak trees, will produce many acorns every few years, known as a “mast year.” This is done to overwhelm seed predators, such as squirrels, and ensure enough acorns are left to grow into new trees 🌲🌰🐿. Additionally, some trees will only have a “mast year” every few years, which are prime numbers. This is done so that the population of seed predators can’t adapt to the increased food supply.