Curious Minds - March 6, 2023

Happy Monday!

Welcome to March and the last month of the quarter. I’m preparing and excited to go to Japan in just a couple of weeks for my birthday (pi-day!)

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Something for the kids

I found a new blog, Escaping Flatland, referencing an old book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, which talks about in easy terms the impossibility of conceptualizing a dimension beyond our own (the book takes place in a two-dimensional realm.)

Anyway, the blog has a long-form post about the Childhoods of exceptional people, and is similar in some ways to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success but more geared towards parents and what they can do to set up their children for success. It’s not a short read, but it’s interesting.

Something lunar

While it’s frequent to compare lunar days or Martian days to Earth days, the concern has been raised to be able to specify exactly what time it is on the moon. The solution? Europe is now pushing for a lunar timezone.

Something for the gamers

Last week I hadn’t heard of bridge simulators, and in case you haven’t, here is a description:

Bridge Simulators are cooperative live-action role-playing games set in space. Players act out the roles of a spaceship bridge crew, such as communications officer, navigator, or captain. They work together to complete a set of mission objectives.

Imagine you’re on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise or similar — that’s what these simulators are doing. Thorium Nova is a new one that launched last week and looks like it’s a great simulator.

Something buggy

If you’ve ever wondered “do bugs like music?” This video might give something of an answer.

Something herbaceous

I’ve only been drunk once (true story) and I got drunk on Chartreuse. If you don’t know about this unique and bizarre liqueur, which I still love, it has a long history. It is a 400-year-old recipe that includes 130 herbs, and it’s produced exclusively by Carthusian monks in France to fund their religious order. In fact, the color chartreuse was named after the liqueur. You might be able to find a joke about monks getting rich off you getting drunk.

Apparently, it’s growing in popularity and was taking up an increasing amount of time away from their monastic duties. In the article, Where Has All The Chartreuse Gone? you can dive deeper and see the letter they have sent out cutting their production — which will probably inflate the price. Sad day if you’re a Chartreuse drinker.

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Have a great week, and as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments you may have.

Cheers,
Kerry