Fun Fact Friday, Number 301!

The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “botany.”  Do you know . . . what is misleading about the proposition that autumn leaves change color from green to yellow and orange?

Even though the leaves appear to change color from green to yellow and orange, the pigments for yellow and orange (carotenoids) are already present, but hidden underneath the green pigment (chlorophyll). So, when the chlorophyll breaks down (disappears), the carotenoids are exposed. The bright reds and purples however, are produced when sunlight hit the glucose that is stored in the leaves.

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.

Neighborhood in Gold and Blue!

Here is another piece that I was able to acquire during the summer of 2021 on my vacation in Traverse City (Michigan). The artist: Charles R. Murphy, the title: Neighborhood in Gold and Blue, the medium: acrylic. I found this wonderful piece at Fusion Fine Art Framing. My collection of Charles Murphy paintings continues to grow . . . this is my fourteenth, but definitely not my last. As long as I vacation in Traverse City, I will always have the opportunity to acquire more of this wonderful artist’s work.

It’s Element-ary, Number Thirty-Eight!

This month we move on to the next of the transition elements: rhenium. Rhenium is a very rare and very expensive substance. And, it was the last stable, naturally occurring element to be discovered. Rhenium is extremely hard and heat resistant and comes in handy for jet-engine and rocket-booster superalloys.

rhenium – discovered in 1925 A.D.

Symbol: Re
Atomic number: 75
Atomic weight: 186.21
Density: 21.02 g/cm³
Melting point: 3,186°C (5,767°F)
Boiling point: 5,596°C (10,105°F)
Color: white-gray
Standard state: solid at 25°C (77°F)
Classification: metallic

Source: The Complete Periodic Table: Elements with Style, by Adrian Dingle and Dan Green.

An Evil Disposition!

“People who malign others by telling falsehoods are usually unhappy with their own lives” (courtesy of wordsinasentence.com). Check out some synonyms for “malign” below.

malign

\ muh–lahyn \, adjective;

1. evil in effect; pernicious; baleful; injurious.
2. having or showing an evil disposition; malevolent; malicious.

verb (used with object),

1. to speak harmful untruths about; speak evil of; slander; defame.

Other words you may consider using (depending on your context/usage, of course):

• asperse
• calumniate

Source: The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich. Definitions courtesy of http://www.dictionary.com

Théodore Géricault!

French painter Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was born on this date in 1791. Despite being one of the pioneers of the Romantic Movement, he died quite young, at the age of thirty-two (32). His most well-known painting, The Raft of the Medusa (pictured here), was a depiction of the crew and passengers of the French shipwreck, Meduse. The captain of the ship had reportedly left the crew and passengers adrift.

College Football 2022, Week Four!

The Spartans dropped out of the AP Top-25 following their loss to Washington last weekend and hope to rebound in their Big Ten Conference opener today against Minnesota. Unfortunately, the Spartan defense could not seem to stop either the run or the pass and the offense was more than lackluster. Alas, a loss at home. Go Green! 

There are currently three (3) Big Ten teams among the AP top-25: Ohio State (#3), Michigan (#4), and Penn State (#14).

The upsets included:
Oklahoma (#6) losing to unranked Kansas State by seven (7) points.
Arkansas (#10) losing to Texas A&M (#23) by two (2) points.
Texas (#22) losing to unranked Texas Tech by three (3) points in overtime.
Miami (#25) losing to unranked Middle Tennessee.

The close calls included:
Michigan (#4) defeating unranked Maryland by seven (7) points.
Clemson (#5) defeating Wake Forest (#21) by six (6) points in double overtime.
USC(#7) defeating unranked Oregon State by three (3) points.
Tennessee (#11) defeating Florida (#20) by five (5) points.
Oregon (#15) defeating unranked Washington State by three (3) points.
Baylor (#17) defeating unranked Iowa State by seven (7) points.

Other top-25 losses that weren’t upsets included:
Florida (#20) losing to Tennessee (#11) by five (5) points.
Wake Forest (#21) losing to Clemson (#5) by six (6) points in double overtime.

A Hedgehog!

Here is a delightful design for an origami hedgehog. Happy folding!

Source: https://youtu.be/HZKTcz26EPE

Fun Fact Friday, Number 300!

Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are about the Statue of Liberty.  Did you know that . . .

• the Statue of Liberty features 7 points in her crown: one for each of the continents? (Real Fact #328)
• the Statue of Liberty wears a size 879 sandal? (Real Fact #444)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts

A Scarecrow Named Joel!

Here is a wonderful limerick by David McCord. Enjoy!

There once was a scarecrow named Joel,
Who couldn’t scare crows, save his soul.
But the crows put the scare
Into Joel.  He’s not there
Any more.  That’s his hat on the pole.

Source: A Bundle of Birdbrains…Lots of Limericks (selected by Myra Cohn Livingston)

Ancient History, Number Forty-Nine!

By “ancient history,” I will be referencing events from September 21st that occurred pre-1492 (i.e., before “Columbus sailed the ocean blue”).  Note: most of these will be from the medieval world (476 AD – 1492 AD) as many earlier events don’t always have specific dates.

• Virgil, Roman poet, author of the Aeneid, dies in Brundisium (19 BC).
• Flavius Aetius, Roman general and stateman, dies (454 AD).
• Richard, Duke of York, claimant to the English throne whose attempts to gain it led to the War of the Roses, born (1411 AD).
• Frederick III, German king 1440-93, Holy Roman Emperor 1452-93, born in Innsbruck, Austria (1415 AD).by the Treaty of the Arras, the Duke of Burgundy makes peace with Charles VII of France (Hundred Years’ War, 1435 AD).
• Girolamo Savonarola, Christian preacher, and leader of Florence 1494-98, who set the city up as a democratic republic, born in Ferrara, duchy of Ferrara (1452 AD).

Source: Volume 1 of the Chronology of World History: Prehistory — AD 1491: The Ancient and Medieval World.