Set on a remote and inhospitable mountain in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) is actually an array of four large telescopes. The telescopes can be operated together to achieve an angular resolution so precise that the array could theoretically be used to distinguish between the two headlights of a car on the Moon. The VLT captured the first image of a planet outside the solar system. What do the four telescopes’ names mean in the local Mapudungun language? Discuss
Month: February 2021
caterwaul
positive
litotes – From Greek litos, “simple, single,” it refers to an ironical understatement (e.g. no small amount) or two negatives used to make a positive (e.g. it was not unsuccessful); it is pronounced lie-TOH-teez, LEYED-uh-teez, LID-uh-teez, or leye-TOHD-eez. More…
set point – One’s set point (for happiness) is a genetically determined level of happiness, to which one returns after positive or negative emotional experiences. More…
Positive, comparative, superlative – Positive is the ordinary form of a word, with comparative conveying a sense of greater intensity of the adjective and superlative reflecting the greatest intensity of the adjective. More…
acceptable face – The positive or reasonable side of something. More…
late model
Especially regarding an automobile, of a relatively recent design or model. Watch the video
Population Bottlenecks
Cheetahs are basically all the same. Any two randomly selected cheetahs will be so similar genetically that a skin graft from one will likely provoke no immune response in the other. In the distant past, cheetahs underwent a population bottleneck—an evolutionary event in which a species nearly dies out and is repopulated by a few individuals whose genes are then disproportionately reflected in the ensuing generations. All humans can trace their ancestry back to a single woman. When did she live? Discuss
hidebound
Definition: (adjective) Stubbornly conservative and narrow-minded.
Synonyms: traditionalist.
Usage: It is no use trying to reason with your grandfather, he is a hidebound old man who will never understand your position on the matter.
Discuss
railway
Main Line – The principal line of a railway (1841), it also has the meaning “affluent area of residence” (1930s), originally that of Philadelphia, from the “main line” of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which added local stops to a string of backwater towns west of the city in late 19th century that helped turn them into fashionable suburbs. More…
one-track mind – Is a reference to the railway. More…
railway – The word was first recorded in 1776, but the first actual railway opened nearly 50 years later, in 1825. More…
sidetrack – First used for a railway siding or a minor track or path. More…
latchkey kid
A child who is home alone after school or in general because their parents or guardians are at work. Watch the video
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
One of the most important silent films of all time, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse established actor Rudolph Valentino as a superstar, inspired a tango craze, and beat out Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid to become the highest-grossing film of 1921. It is considered to be among the first anti-war films ever made, and its success made producer June Mathis a powerful woman in Hollywood. Why does Valentino scornfully cast aside his partner at the end of the film’s famous tango scene? Discuss
excrescence
Definition: (noun) Something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings.
Synonyms: extrusion, gibbosity, hump, jut, bulge, protrusion, protuberance, swelling, bump, prominence.
Usage: A roof, Richard contended, was a part of the edifice that the ancients always endeavored to conceal, it being an excrescence in architecture that was only to be tolerated on account of its usefulness.
Discuss