Today I Learned #4: Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

[Gori the Grey]

Today's the day, then!

 

[Birdjaguar]

Today is the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

I wonder if I can fit a listen into my day.

I read yesterday that Beethoven deafness and many other ailments were likely caused by lead poisoning. Hair samples that were analyzed recently showed 200 to 300 ppm of lead where typical levels today are 4-5. He apparently drank excessively and usually it was cheap lead laced wine.

Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness

Using powerful technologies, scientists found staggering amounts of lead and other toxic substances in the composer’s hair that may have come from wine, or other sources.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Gori the Grey]

John Milton went blind. He described it in sufficient detail that modern ophthamologists are pretty sure they know what caused it. And it's something that can now be corrected.

 

[Birdjaguar]

John Milton went blind. He described it in sufficient detail that modern ophthamologists are pretty sure they know what caused it. And it's something that can now be corrected.

And why did he go blind?

 

[Gori the Grey]

I'd have to dig through some old stuff to get you the specifics. I'll try.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'd have to dig through some old stuff to get you the specifics. I'll try.

OK then
I did find this:

CONCLUSION​

I believe that the craniopharyngioma theory is apocryphal, and I favor the diagnosis of bilateral retinal detachments as the most likely cause of Milton's blindness. Sorsby7 presented no definite conclusion in his scholarly review of the subject in 1930, but he suggested that if the “natural weakness” of Milton's eyes was myopia, then this disorder would lend further credence to the retinal theory. Myopia is a predisposing factor for detachments of the retina; this tendency is probably related to an abnormally long axis of the globe that may cause increased vitreous traction on the underlying retina. Whether “excessive” reading during childhood may lead to a progression of myopia has been speculated and debated for many years. According to Dr. Brian Curtin, whose book The Myopiasis the definitive work on the subject, dysfunctional accommodation from reading can indeed be a cause of myopia (personal communication, Feb. 4, 1991). From an early age, Milton studied long into the night; perhaps this activity facilitated the development of myopia in eyes that later suffered retinal detachments. Dufour14 thought so and wrote, “…we might diagnose his case more correctly than did the doctors of his day; but, alas! very little better than they, could we cure him?” The answer today is most likely “yes.” One wonders, however, whether Milton, with eyesight intact, would still have been able to perceive the “still, small voice” of the Muse.

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(12)60139-6/fulltext

 

[Gori the Grey]

@Birdjaguar: Here's what I found when I Googled. I guess there are three possible candidates: glaucoma and detached retinas being two of them.

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/377/bmj.o1441.full.pdf

I like what you found, too (although Milton doesn't describe the Muse as having a still, small voice; that's Elijah in Kings). (But the question raised is a good one: would it have affected his artistry? Is PL partly a result of his blindness?)

 

[Birdjaguar]

And, not unexpectedly, they do not agree.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Til that fly swatters have those holes so as to minimize air disruption - insects are very sensitive to it and would otherwise take off long before the swatter hit them.
Made me think about whether large enough holes (which would allow the insect to feasibly pass partly through them before being hit by the wall around the hole) would also work (you know, for gruesomely incapacitating it on air; the small holes wouldn't, since the hit by the wall would instantly push the insect to the opposite direction) or if the larger ones simply would alert it.

If you're careful enough, a rolled-up newspaper works, too. Or even a Kleenex box, if the insect is close enough to reach and there's nothing fragile that could be hurt by an especially hard SWAT! or a hand-held SLAP!

It's how I deal with moths in the summer. I try not to use the fly swatter, because it scares Maddy.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

I wonder if I can fit a listen into my day.

I listened to a short version a little while ago. There's a flash mob reel on YT.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

That besides sweet, salty, sour and bitter there's a fifth taste called 'umami'.

 

[Gori the Grey]

That "joke" and "jocular" have the same Latin root. I learned this today, because it only just occurred to me today to even inquire.

But here's what I really learned: "jocular" is actually based on the diminutive form of jocus. So it technically means "a little bit joking." Which is, kinda, how jocular does function as a word: not really making full-fledged jokes, but just in that general merry spirit.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Trying to wrap my mind round the concept of imaginary/impossible colours, and it got me to this video

 

[Gori the Grey]

Also, in its way, belongs in the Boring Thread.

The video only, I mean. The concept is interesting.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Trying to wrap my mind round the concept of imaginary/impossible colours, and it got me to this video

After my cataract surgery, I saw shades I never saw before. Mind you, I don't know how many drops of whatever they'd put in my eyes, not to mention what they'd given me to relax me.

 

[Comrade Ceasefire]

That besides sweet, salty, sour and bitter there's a fifth taste called 'umami'.

There's another (unnamed) one that allows people to distinguish between Vegemite and Marmite.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Fun link to see the population pyramid for any country.

CHINA POPULATION PYRAMID

Dynamic China Population Pyramid explores 100 years of age and sex distribution and world comparisons.

www.worldlifeexpectancy.com

 

[Samson]

Fun link to see the population pyramid for any country.

CHINA POPULATION PYRAMID

Dynamic China Population Pyramid explores 100 years of age and sex distribution and world comparisons.

www.worldlifeexpectancy.com

It is pretty cool, but I would not put money on its predictions. Haiti will increase in pop by nearly 30% by 2050 despite there being few children?

Spoiler Pop pyramids for Haiti 2020/2050 :

2020

2050

 

[Birdjaguar]

The top pyramid shows lots of children and it appears, maybe, many die young straightening the sides. But, yes, predicting the future can be difficult. I would assume the same methodology is used for for all the countries though.

 

[Samson]

The top pyramid shows lots of children and it appears, maybe, many die young straightening the sides. But, yes, predicting the future can be difficult. I would assume the same methodology is used for for all the countries though.

I am pretty sure that is not principally dying young, but low birth rate. There seems a similar pattern in many countries, and as you say I suspect they are modelling a global drop in birth rates on top of whatever model they have for individual countries.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Earlier variants of cardiopulmonary resuscitation involved tobacco smoke enemas. I somehow doubt that was very helpful.