Broken hearts are not just high school hyperbole. Some people really do experience a sudden temporary weakening of the heart muscle after emotional stress, such as the death of a loved one or a break-up. Sufferers typically have an onset of congestive heart failure or chest pain, but most people survive the initial acute event, and it has a very low rate of in-hospital mortality. Japanese doctors dubbed the condition takotsubo cardiomyopathy because sufferers’ hearts resemble what? Discuss
Month: September 2021
splenetic
request
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
The US holidays Constitution Day and “I Am an American” Day have been combined into Citizenship Day, which a number of states and cities celebrate with special exercises on September 17. Schools make a special effort to acquaint their students with the history and importance of the Constitution. Naturalization ceremonies, re-creations of the signing of the Constitution, and parades are other popular ways of celebrating Citizenship Day and bring attention to the rights and obligations of citizenship. Discuss
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (1904)
Ashton is best known as the founding choreographer of England’s Royal Ballet. He was drawn to dance at age 13 after attending a performance by the legendary Anna Pavlova in Peru, where he grew up. While studying dance with Léonide Massine and Marie Rambert, he began staging works. In the 1930s, he joined what would later become the Royal Ballet as its chief choreographer. Ashton is largely responsible for the elegantly reserved style of English classical dance. What are his most famous works? Discuss
man up
To deal with something in a more brave, stoic, or masculine way than one has done so hitherto. (Usually used imperatively.) Watch the video
Schrödinger's Cat in Popular Culture
In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger applied quantum-mechanical indeterminacy to an admittedly “ridiculous” thought experiment in which a cat is closed in a box with a vial of poison that will smash if a radioactive atom decays. The two possible yet mutually exclusive states—the cat being alive or dead—coexist until the box is opened and the cat’s fate is seen. Writers have pounced on the idea, weaving it into TV shows, books, and movies. What TV character referenced it after a kiss? Discuss
exonerate
strawberries
strawberry friend – A freeloader, one who visits only when the strawberries are ready for picking. More…
small fruits – Currants, raspberries, strawberries, etc. More…
soft fruit – Fruit that grows on bushes, such as berries, strawberries and currants, as contrasted with top fruit. More…
strawberry – Got its name because the plant “strews” its runners along the ground; its seeds are actually individual fruits and it is termed an aggregate fruit. More…
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
In 1994, the United Nations established September 16 as International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The date honors the September 16, 1987, signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Nations may observe the day with activities that support the aims of the Protocol. Discuss