January 13, 2024
A few words about imagination
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ― Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist.
The great German mathematician David Hilbert (1862–1943) noticed that one of his students had started missing his lectures. When he asked for the reason, he was told that the student had left mathematics in favor of poetry. “Ah, yes,” said Hilbert, “I always thought he didn’t have enough imagination for mathematics…”
It is strange that only extraordinary men make the discoveries, which later appear so easy and simple. Georg Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799) was a German experimental physicist.
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself.” Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher.
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” — Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931) was an American inventor and businessman.
November 20, 2023
The brilliant quotes by Daniel Defoe
It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep, than a sheep at the head of an army of lions.
In trouble to be troubled, is to have your trouble doubled. Fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.
The height of human wisdom is to bring our tempers down to our circumstances, and to make a calm within, under the weight of the greatest storm without.
All our discontents about what we want appeared to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.
It is never too late to be wise.
Daniel Defoe (1660—1731) was English novelist, pamphleteer, and journalist, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719–22) and Moll Flanders (1722).
October 24, 2023
Isn’t there a better way to satisfy the military ambitions of modern leaders? Not so profitable, but…
Historical sources suggest that Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), the first emperor of a unified China, was extremely afraid of death. He even organized expensive expeditions to look for the elixir of eternal life. However, he failed to find it and decided to take an unconventional route. Instead of finding the secret to longevity, he decided to continue ruling and remain the supreme commander even after his physical death. Initially, his plan was to kill and bury thousands of soldiers with him immediately after his own death. But his advisors convinced him to replace the real people with clay “twins”. The clay warriors were made by hand in parts, which were then joined and fired. Therefore, the army is named the Terracotta army.
The afterlife army of the emperor is composed of over 10,000 life-size statues of warriors, horses, and war chariots, all fully equipped for battle. These warriors are positioned in battle formation and ready to engage in combat at any moment. Almost all of the soldiers have a mustache, while some of the generals wear beards. Each individual’s hair is intricately styled according to their branch of the military. It is worth noting that the emperor decreed that only the finest soldiers would be used as models for the statues, which is why each terracotta warrior has their own unique face. While the figures were originally painted in bright colors, the passing of almost 2.5 thousand years of “military service” has caused the colors to fade. According to experts, the weapons with which the terracotta warriors were equipped corresponded to the real weapons of that epoch. The creation of the Terracotta Army was a monumental process that took approximately 40 years and involved around 700,000 workers who participated in the construction of the architectural complex of the tomb and the crafting of the statues.
July 19, 2023
Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?
― The Hobbit
I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Gandalf replies, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. ― Lord of the Rings
A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.” ― The Children of Hurin
It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.― Lord of the Rings
“If ever you are passing my way,” said Bilbo, “don’t wait to knock! Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!” ― The Hobbit
June 30, 2023
- “I don’t think I could love you so much if you had nothing to complain of and nothing to regret. I don’t like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn’t revealed its beauty to them.”
- “…and she merely wondered: ‘Does one always humiliate those one loves?’
- “And now listen carefully. You in others-this is your soul. This is what you are. This is what your consciousness has breathed and lived on and enjoyed throughout your life-your soul, your immortality, your life in others. And what now? You have always been in others and you will remain in others. And what does it matter to you if later on that is called your memory? This will be you-the you that enters the future and becomes a part of it.”
- “The unfree man always idolizes his slavery.”
- “How wonderful to be alive, he thought. But why does it always hurt?”
- “I love you wildly, insanely, infinitely.”
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
April 3, 2023
- “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
- “I wasn’t going to eat it, I was just going to taste it.”
- “I’m just a little black rain cloud, hovering under the honey tree.”
- “I did mean a little larger small helping.”
- “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.”
Winnie the Pooh quotes for everyday
March 8, 2023
What do you need to know about presenting gifts to business partners in the People’s Republic of China?
Here are a couple of tips:
• Present the gift with both hands.
• Gift wrapping:
Wrap the gift in plain paper, preferably red. But do not write with red ink on a note or postcard – this causes negative associations with the Cultural Revolution. In addition, avoid white and black colors, symbolizing tragedy and death.
• Unsuccessful gifts:
– Foreign currency, including commemorative coins.
– Cheese (most Chinese don’t like it).
– Non-Chinese table wine (but export brandy is considered a good gift).
– Four items or with the numbers 4 and 40 on the package.
– Green hats (a sign of treason in the family).
Based on materials from the “Asia. A guide to customs and etiquette” book by M.M. Bosrok (Published by Intl Education Systems, 1997,ISBN-096375307X)
December 4, 2022
…And please don’t claim that we, men, are useless! Here are some examples from the animal world:
The female New Holland seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) spawns into a male’s brood pouch. After egg fertilization (which takes place inside the pouch), the male carries the eggs in this pocket. After a few weeks, tiny seahorses hatch. At the same time, the father bends forward and leans back, as in labor pains, contracting the pocket muscles and releasing the offspring.
The female common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) lays the eggs in a string of 20 to 60 eggs. Having fertilized them, the male deceives himself with this cord. To protect the eggs from predators, he carries them with him anywhere. A month later, the male brings the eggs into the water, where tadpoles hatch.
Females in some deep-sea anglerfish species (Ceratioidei) are much larger than males (about 20 times). During mating, the male bites through the skin of the female, and “hangs” on his “girlfriend”. Having fertilized the eggs, he remains hanging on the female forever. The male receives oxygen and nutrition from the female, and gradually their blood circulation becomes common. Sometimes, a number of males bind one female in this way.
November 19, 2022
About football and more…
On the eve of the beginning of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, let’s quote some famous coaches and players.
Football is the most important of the least important things in life.
Arrigo Sacchi (b. 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach.
If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later. Robert Paisley OBE (1919 –1996) was an English professional football manager and player
Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football. Louis van Gaal (b. 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former player
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve got to have the best football players in the country. It’s possible that the best, all together, don’t become a team. It’s like a mosaic, you have to put all the pieces together. Marcello Lippi (b. 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager.
I’m sure sex wouldn’t be so rewarding as this World Cup. It’s not that sex isn’t good but the World Cup is every four years and sex is not. Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (b. 1976), known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer and business owner.
When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. So, you put premium fuel in the tank, you drive onto the motorway and you floor it. Guardiola filled up with diesel and went for a spin in the countryside. If that’s what he wanted, he should have bought a Fiat. Zlatan Ibrahimović (b. 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer
Football demands patience. Keep working and you will be rewarded. Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior (b. 1988), known as Marcelo, is a Brazilian professional footballer
September 10, 2022
“In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left, nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians…”
“’You people with hearts,’ he said once, ‘have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful.”
“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”
“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others”
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
July 14, 2022
Scientists rarely manage to discover, investigate and classify new species of flora and fauna, but did you know, that some of these discoveries have been coupled with very curious events?
For example, in the summer of 2020, Virendar K. Bhardwaj, a student at Guru Nanak University (Amritsar), stayed in his village house in the Chura Valley in the western foothills of the Himalayas. He started to take pictures of different wild animals entering the house’s yard and posted them on his Instagram page.
On June 5, 2020, Bhardwaj posted two photos and a video of a striped snake whose he had met the night before. He suggested that he had found Oligodon arnensis, a snake from the Colubridae family, widespread in Sothern Asia. However, Zeeshan A. Mirza, a specialist from the National Center for Biological Research in Bangalore, who accidentally saw the photos and videos, suggested that in fact, Virendar captured an unknown species.
Per the request of herpetologists, Bhardwaj caught a male and a female and handed them over to the specialists. Morphological and genetic analyses confirmed that the snakes really belong to a previously unknown species from the genus Oligodons. The species was named “Oligodon from the Chura Valley” (Oligodon churahensis). For a detailed description of the species, see Mirza et al. Evolutionary Systematics 5(2):335-345, 2021 https://evolsyst.pensoft.net/article/72564/ ). By the way, in the Acknowledgement section, the authors noted that without Instagram, their discovery would not have been possible.
P.S. As paradoxical as it may sound, social networks are becoming a very powerful tool in the search for new species. For example, the Semachrysa jade lacewing was discovered when an amateur photographer Hock Ping Guek under the nickname Kurt Orion asked to classify the insect, whose photo he did in Selangor State Park near Kuala Lumpur and posted on Flickr. And the Ameronothrus twitter mite was opened (as you may guess by its name) thanks to pictures on Twitter…
June 26, 2022
Did you know that Charles Perrault denied (in all possible ways) his authorship of the collection of fairy tales “The Tales of Mother Goose”? In January 1697, the book was published, and the name of the author was… Pierre Perrault Darmancourt, the 19-year-old son of the writer. Initially, the collection included eight fairy tales in prose with poetic morality.
One of the tales, “Sleeping Beauty”, was published earlier, in 1696, in the magazine “Gallant Mercury” without reminding the author’s name. It is believed that the writer’s unwillingness to directly declare his authorship is due to the fact that Perrault, a well-known writer, and a member of the Académie Française, was ashamed of his own passion for the “non-serious” (as it was commonly believed at that time) genre of the fairy tale.
An irony of fate, but for the vast majority of us, Charles Perrault is known exclusively as the author of beautiful fairy tales.
May 17, 2022
“…But there was once a workman who made a glass cup that was unbreakable. So he was given an audience of the Emperor with his invention; he made Caesar give it back to him and then threw it on the floor. Caesar was as frightened as could be. But the man picked up his cup from the ground: it was dinted like a bronze bowl; then he took a little hammer out of his pocket and made the cup quite sound again without any trouble. After doing this he thought he had himself seated on the throne of Jupiter, especially when Caesar said to him: ‘Does anyone else know how to blow glass like this?’ Just see what happened. He said not, and then Caesar had him beheaded. Why? Because if his invention were generally known we should treat gold like dirt…”
Petronius Arbiter (d. 66 AD). Satyricon. Chapter.51 London. William Heinemann. 1913.
Variations of this story were mentioned briefly in Natural History by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24 – 74/79) and Roman History by Cassius Dio (c. 155/164 – c. 235 AD). Some sources suggest that the anonymous master made this cup of… aluminum.
Aluminium (or aluminum) is a metal that is very rare in its native form, and the process of refining it from ores is complex. The Discovery of this metal was announced in 1825 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851), whose work was extended by German chemist Friedrich Wöhler (1800-1882). However, the methods of Oersted and Wöhler were extremely expensive, and the price of aluminium exceeded that of gold.
In 1886-1887, the American chemist student Charles Martin Hall (1863-1914) and the French metallurgist Paul Héroux (1863-1914) independently developed an electrolytic method for producing aluminum, which instantly devalued this metal. This method is still the main one in the industrial production of aluminum.
March 12, 2022
Don’t go West…
(Advice to Columbus)
- I. A Voyage to Asia would require three years.
- II. The western Ocean is infinite and perhaps unnavigable.
- III. If he reaches the antipodes he could not get back.
- IV There are no antipodes because the greater part of the globe is covered with water, and because St. Augustine said so.
- V. Of the five zones, only three are habitable.
- VI. So many centuries after the Creation, it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value.
– Report of the committee of the College of St. Stephen to study Columbus’ plans to find a shorter route to India.
People give ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon… Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all systems is of course the very best. This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but the sacred scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, not the earth.
– Martin Luther (1483-1546) [Criticizing Copernicus’ heliocentric theory of planetary motion]
…The satellites (of Jupiter) are invisible to the naked eye and therefore can have no influence on the earth, and therefore would be useless, and therefore do not exist.
– Francesco Sizzi, an astronomer at Florence [Arguing against Galileo’s 1610 announcement of his discovery of four moons of Jupiter].
Animals, which move, have limbs and muscles. The earth has no limbs and muscles; therefore, it does not move.
– Scipio Chiaramonti [Professor of philosophy and mathematics at University of Pisa, 1633].
…Transport by railroad car would result in the emasculation of our troops and would deprive them of the option of the great marches which have played such an important role in the triumph of our armies.
– Dominique Francois Arago (1786-1853), French politician.
Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.
– Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859), Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London.
February 21, 2022
The “COVID gifts”
Kenya’s first-ever National Wildlife Census performed by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and the Kenya Wildlife Service shows that Kenya’s wild elephant population experienced a “baby boom” in 2020. According to the document, the total number of elephants in the population has increased by two hundred (!) newborns and now stands at 36,280 animals. This is 12% more than in 2014, when there was an unprecedented number of poaching cases. The Kenyan authorities have called this demographic improvement a “COVID gift”. The pandemic restrictions have led to the decrease in tourism to the natural habitats and, as a result, to a reduction in the “interactions” between elephants and tourists, and poaching.
Magical Kenya Tembo Naming Festival (MKTNF) and the Kenya Wildlife Service have come up with the initiative of Adopting a baby elephant. Namely, everyone who makes an appropriate donation, can choose and give a name to a newborn elephant. Naturally, the happy foster parents are not allowed to take the “kid” home as in traditional adoption, but they will receive weekly updates on the health and progress of “their” elephant. So, our advice is to hurry up!
February 15, 2022
More than a quarter of the world’s rivers sampled in a major new study are found to be polluted with drugs to a toxic degree. Pharmaceutical pollution poses a “global threat” to environmental and human health, according to the researchers.
Rivers polluted with antibiotics could cause the ‘next pandemic’, warn scientists
- J.L. Wilkinson, A.B.A. Boxall, D.W. Kolpin, et al. Pharmaceutical pollution of the world’s rivers. PNAS February 22, 2022 119 (8) e2113947119;https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113947119
- F Desbiolles, L Malleret, C Tiliacos, et al. Occurrence and ecotoxicological assessment of pharmaceuticals: Is there a risk for the Mediterranean aquatic environment? Sci Total Environ. 2018 Oct 15;639:1334-1348. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.351.
December 22, 2021
- “It is hard to cast the skin,” said Kaa
- “Now, don’t be angry after you’ve been afraid. That’s the worst kind of cowardice.”
- “Better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance”
- “Man is the weakest and most defenseless of all living things, and it is unsportsmanlike to touch him.”
– The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling
November 24, 2021
Let you alone! That’s all very well, but how can I leave myself alone?
We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy.
Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It’s like being a pedestrian, only rarer.”
It would be funny if it were not serious.
We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against…
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
September 16, 2021
- Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
- One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.
- To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….
- And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
- Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy ready-made things in the shops. But since there are no shops where you can buy friends, men no longer have any friends.
- All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
June 7, 2021
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.” Will Rogers, American film actor
“Whoever lacks sex speaks of sex, the hungry man speaks of food, the man who does not have money speaks of money…” Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist
“Everything that can buy with money is cheap.” Dmitry A. Darin, Russian poet
“Money can not buy only one thing- poverty. So you need to seek the assistance of stock market.” Robert Orben, American writer
“If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we shall be poor indeed.” Edmund Burke, Irish statesman, economist, and philosopher
“He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.” Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath of the High Renaissance
“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.” Will Smith, American actor
“…It is true; but in everything, friend, one must always return to the same question – a stupid one, I admit, but very necessary – have you any money?” Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
April 12, 2021
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.
Sanity is not statistical.
From “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell.
October 31, 2020
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
― Albert Einstein
Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.
― John F. Kennedy
There will be no veterans of World War III.
― Walter F. Mondale
August 12, 2020
“If a cat sits on a hot stove, that cat won’t sit on a hot stove again. That cat won’t sit on a cold stove either. That cat just doesn’t like stoves.”
― Mark Twain
July 6, 2020
“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”
— Werner Heisenberg – German theoretical physicist and one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics. Nobel Prize in Physics 1932.
April 26, 2020
At one of his lectures, David Hilbert said: Each person has a certain horizon. When it narrows and becomes infinitesimal, it turns into a point. Then the man says: “This is my point of view.”
December 10, 2019
Your theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.
― Niels Bohr.
November 22, 2019
Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.
― Albert Einstein.
November 11, 2019
(1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
(2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
(3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
― Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future.