Month: December 2023

Ambigrams

Ambigrams, or inversions, are graphical figures that spell a single word in multiple directions or orientations. There are a number of categories, including rotational ambigrams, which present several instances of a word when rotated through a fixed angle, and mirror ambigrams, which can be read when reflected in a mirror. The word “suns” is a natural ambigram, meaning it has some form of symmetry in its natural state. What novel, published by bestselling author Dan Brown, features ambigrams? Discuss

John Lennon Shot by Mark David Chapman (1980)

While returning to his New York hotel with wife Yoko Ono one evening, John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, a delusional and possibly psychotic Beatles fan. Chapman eventually elected not to pursue an insanity defense and instead pled guilty to the murder, receiving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. He has since been denied parole on several occasions. Rather than flee the scene after shooting Lennon, Chapman hung around and read from what book until police arrived? Discuss

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832)

Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer, editor, and theatre director who won the 1903 Nobel Prize for Literature. He worked to stimulate national pride by linking Norwegian history and legend to modern ideals and sought to revive Norwegian as a literary language. His poem “Yes, We Love This Land Forever” serves as the lyrics of the Norwegian national anthem. Bjørnson is known as one of “the four great ones” of 19th-century Norwegian literature. Who are the other three? Discuss

The Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire, also known as the circum-Pacific seismic belt, is a 40,000 km (24,854 mile) horseshoe shaped zone of frequent seismic and volcanic activity. Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in the Ring of Fire, which encircles the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is a direct consequence of plate tectonics and the movement and collisions of crustal plates. What causes the high levels of volcanism in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory? Discuss

"The Blue Marble" Photograph Taken by Apollo 17 Crew (1972)

“The Blue Marble” is a famous photograph of Earth taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft while traveling toward the Moon in 1972. So-titled because the Earth resembles a blue marble—accented by swirls of white clouds—the image is among the most widely distributed photographs in history. Depicting a fully lit Earth, the snapshot was originally taken “upside-down,” with Antarctica on top, but was rotated before distribution. How did NASA update the image in 2005? Discuss

Theodor Schwann (1810)

Schwann was a German physiologist who founded modern histology by recognizing the cell as the basic unit of animal structure. He also studied nerve structure, discovering the myelin sheath covering nerve cells, and formulated the basic principles of embryology. While investigating digestive processes, he isolated a substance responsible for digestion in the stomach, the first enzyme prepared from animal tissue, and named it pepsin. What other common scientific term was coined by Schwann? Discuss