This is always one of my pet posts to prepare. There is no rhyme or reason for entries, and hopefully it is not a complete list of what I learned during the past year. Still, it is fun to contemplate and I hope it helps add to your knowledge base as well.
1. Finding an ROUS?
When sending Lewis and Clark to the west, President Jefferson really anticipated finding ROUS(s). They weren’t found.
For those who are not Princess Bride movie fans, an ROUS is a “rodent of unusual size.” Jefferson may not have called them ROUS, nevertheless he expected reports of 300 lb possums. Perhaps Jefferson was the muse for the work by “S. Morgenstern,” a fictitious author created by William Goldman, an American novelist. Goldman used ‘Morgenstern’s book’ as a literary device in his early 70s fantasy romance novel, Princess Bride, in turn which inspired the film adaptation directed by Rob Reiner.
2. Hmmm Butterflies, Tasty
No, I am not suggesting we eat butterflies. The topic is how butterflies find things tasty. You may know that butterflies don’t have a mouth for biting or chewing. Instead, their anatomy boosts a proboscis, which is a slender, straw-type anatomy allowing them to gather nearby juices or nectar. But did you know that they taste with their FEET? Their taste sensors are located in their feet. They can taste their food simply by standing on it. What’s that phrase – ‘don’t try this at home?’
3. Vitamin D in Milk. In and Out and In?
According to Dr. John LaPook (M.D. spokesperson on CBS) dairy can be a hit or miss source of Vit. D. I find verification of this unclear, but he explains that during the processing of cheese, milk, cottage cheese, etc., Vit. D is eliminated. Only later is the product “fortified” with Vit. D. [Just FYI, if you drink milk, 1 cup gives you approximately 25% of your daily ‘D’ need. However, I sometimes wonder about ‘which’ government daily level is this claim based. It could be 400 IU, or newer levels of 600 , or 800, which is still fairly low.] See more on Vitamin D at: Vitamin D – Quick Update for Winter or Vitamin-D Craze – Fallacy or Function?
4. Venus the Goddess of Hot Stuff
Venus got a lot of attention this year – and rightfully so. Mind boggling hot stuff there. I suspect that much of this is as new to others as it was to me. Venus rotates opposite (‘backwards’) from the earth. AND it rotates so slowly that its ‘day’ for a full rotation takes 245 (earth days) to complete. Its orbit around the sun however takes 223 days, thus its day is longer than its year. Get your mind around that for a moment. Not only that, but its temperature does NOT change from place to place (steady at 872◦F on the surface and 864◦F for the mass of the planet). They don’t have hotter temps at the “equator” areas. Instead both location-wise and ‘seasonal’-wise (year-long) the temperatures are the same. Furthermore, whether night or day – the temperatures are still the same. Perhaps most surprising, Venus is hotter than Mercury, which sees daytime temps from 350 degrees to nighttime levels of 170 degrees (slightly less than Venus’ 864 degrees). Who knew?
5. Arthritis aided by the Mezzaluna Knife
My husband and I are suckers for kitchen gadgets. This year we couldn’t resist a mezzaluna (‘mezza’ meaning half or part and ‘luna’ moon – so half-moon shape). Perhaps, I should have looked into it a bit more before purchasing. For those who want a description, it is a curved knife with either a single or double blade. Traditionally, the mezzaluna has two handles, which you use with two hands. There is a similar (smaller and popular) product called the “ulu” which originated with the Inuit in Alaska. The ulu is a one handle tool with the blade attached in two areas. You see these displayed with elegant handles and special sitting containers. Like mine, some of the supposed mezzalunas these days are almost a cross between the traditional and the ulu (meaning small with one handle). Mine is an inexpensive Kitchenaid model (which came with a protective sheath) and is just big enough to use with two hands, but easy enough with one. Online you see people ‘demonstrate’ the products, especially the ulu, by chopping. THAT is missing the point since these are mostly ‘rocking’ tools with very sharp blades. It is not unusual to see mezzalunas that look more like a big log-splitting saw. [See video below.] Typically you will read that these utensils are for herbs, spices and light veggies (like onions, garlic or greens). That need not be true; even fish, meats or nuts can be on the chopping block.
Some tips: wooden bowls which fit the shape of the mezzaluna or ulu are a big help (especially with nuts) by keeping bits in place. Learn to ROCK not chop, it is much safer for this sharp knife. It’s a perfect tool for any kind of chilies, or things you don’t want to touch. I’ve used it for cleanly cutting pie, lots of people mention pizza and I have heard that in the Netherlands, this is what they use in cheese shops. Chefs often demote it in place of a chef’s knife which can be more universal. Nevertheless, there is one situation in which the mezzaluna surpasses a chef’s knife. One of the best things about a mezzaluna is that as you age, if arthritis is present (whether in hand or wrist) the knife is safer, faster and more comfortable. This goes double if you use a double grip. If you have arthritis, consider one; if you don’t have arthritis, get over the learning curve now and consider one.
See the quick YouTube video below using a large mezzaluna to view the rocking motion. [You will get the gist in 15 seconds.]
6. Food of Confusion
While on a food theme, the word “victual” (originally credited to the French) is not pronounced with an elegant or sophisticated sound. Instead, it is pronounced as you would expect the Clampets from the Beverley Hillbillies to utter it when talking about dinner – saying ‘vi-tl’ or maybe the plural ‘vi-tls’. [And yes, it does mean provisions.]
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Our bodies show science something new again. I won’t be sheepish about recently learning of the Scutoid, because it was new to everyone this year. It’s a heretofore unknown shape of a cell in the body. Forget a trapezoid, pentagon or hexagon, we now have the scutoid. These 11 sided geometric shaped cells, discovered by researchers at Seville University, have of course been in existence all along – on our skin, in our bodies and other parts of nature. However, now these shapes are viewed more clearly, compared to the previously perceived simple cylinder shapes, since their “self-packing” behavior is part of the discovery.
The name may come from a dorsal area of a beetle called the scutum or scutellum. Who knows what they may find next, but in 2014 there was a discovery of a cell looking like a slinky toy.
There is a great deal of information online about Scutoid cells, but for a 20 second video to see the shape AND how they pack themselves together, visit below.
8. Word Play
The words ‘Silent’ and “Listen” use exactly the same letters. Hmmm. Maybe enough said.
9. Health Advantage of Turmeric over Curcumin
I am a big fan of Turmeric and its ability to fight inflammation. I was reading related studies being reviewed by Michael Greger, MD. One of the studies showed a rather impressive result of curcumin used with pre-diabetic groups, in which 16% + of the controlled group went on to full-fledged diabetes, whereas zero of the experimental group did so. Dr. Greger referenced another research paper of 3 case studies treating Alzheimer’s patients with Turmeric in which the results were likewise positive – incredibly so. He pondered whether it was just a fluke, especially since a similar study using Curcumin (an element in Turmeric) did NOT show such results. The jury may remain out, but Dr. Greger mused why there would be a preference to extract and test the one (currently) known active element in Turmeric, from the Turmeric itself. His answer was only a guess, but worth pointing out. Turmeric (as a spice) cannot be patented but a Curcumin product could. Further, as herbalists have frequently noted, there are synergistic effects from compound substances. The ‘active’ ingredient alone may not fully achieve the effects of the complete complex substance.
10. Narwhal, Vitamin C & Loss of Tusks
We don’t live in the artic, but Inuit there may be losing a prime source of Vitamin C. The Narwhal, often called the unicorn of the sea is a medium-small sized toothed whale, the male having a protruding canine which hosts a long tusk. Their blubber is high in vitamin C. However, due to the melting of artic sea ice around their living territories of Canada, Russia, Greenland and northernmost parts of Atlantic and Pacific oceans, other enemy whales are entering this region more regularly. The Killer Whales are devouring Narwhal and causing great alarm. We risk annihilation of the ‘sea unicorn.’ The Narwhal is one of two species remaining (along with the beluga whale) in the Monodontidae family of whales (for those who enjoy that kind of information). Here’s hoping that changes in the climate and oceans don’t include the Narwhal going the way of the Dodo. Or perhaps to bring the comparison into the destructive time of our own history and actions, any one of these similarly tusked creatures that humans hunted, poached or led to extinction: the West African black rhinoceros (declared extinct in 2011); the Bubal hartebeest aka Bubal antelope, (extinct between 1945-1954) or the Pyrenean ibex (extinct 2000) .
11. Mental Health and the Atmosphere
Aging with Pizzazz readers know that we often include posts pondering mental health, attitude and emotional feelings. In case you missed it, one of my favorite recent posts was A Joy a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Relatedly, I never knew the atmospheric connection to the phrase ‘feeling fine on cloud nine?’ In 1896 an International Cloud Atlas was published, which classified clouds by altitude. Any cloud under 50K feet was Cloud 9. [Zero was the highest and a level of ten was fog.] Somewhere along the way, the US Weather Bureau developed their own classifications and Cloud 9 became a high cumulonimbus cloud ranging from 30K to 40K feet above sea level. Either way, cloud 9 was ‘up there’ and when we talk about “being on cloud 9” we refer to feeling great and having few earth-bound cares. Just to make sure I leave you on cloud nine, perhaps sing along with the Temptations from 1969…..
12. Hard to Get a Point Across
I remain thankful for the loyal readers I have. Still, I have learned it’s not always easy getting the word out. I hesitate to remind people of the obvious – that ‘bloggers’ depend on having their information shared with others, and once in a while to have readers click on ads (it brings in no more spam than other searchers). This is especially so for content originators who aren’t selling a product on their site. Building readership is difficult in these times of information overload. I thank you for sharing my hard work with friends, family or others on your Facebook page.
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Picture Credits. TitlePic: Geralt: stickies: 2768204 and Adult Learning 2706977 via Pixabay.
narwhal; artic via Pixabay:
