August 31, 2016
Word of the Day
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Definition:
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(noun) A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. |
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remorse, self-reproach
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This child had taken and lost her treasured amethyst brooch and now sat there calmly without the least apparent compunction or repentance. |
Idiom of the Day
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A particularly poignant, memorable, or emotionally touching moment or event, i.e., one that would be well-suited to be captured in a photograph. Taken from an advertising slogan for Eastman Kodak photographic film and cameras. Sometimes used ironically or satirically.
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Article of the Day
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Once solely a concept of science-fiction, the parahuman, or human-animal hybrid, has recently entered the realm of reality. Efforts to combine genes from different species for medical and industrial purposes are now fairly common. Though such research could prove useful for the production of drugs and transplant-ready organs, it has raised numerous ethical, moral, and legal issues. Have scientists created human-animal hybrid embryos?
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This Day in History
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997)
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Diana's beauty and unprecedented popularity as a member of the royal family attracted intense press attention, and she became one of the most photographed women in the world. After her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996, she remained highly visible and continued her activities on behalf of numerous charities. In 1997, she was killed in a car crash in Paris, along with her companion, Dodi al-Fayed, and their driver. Who was blamed for the accident in subsequent investigations?
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Today's Birthday
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821)
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Helmholtz was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. He made fundamental contributions to physiology, optics, electrodynamics, mathematics, acoustics, and meteorology, but he is best known for formulating the mathematical law of conservation of energy. His approach was strongly empirical at a time when many scientists embraced deductions from mental concepts. He described body heat and energy, nerve conduction, and the physiology of the eye. What medical instruments did he invent?
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Today's Holiday
Moldovan Language Day (Limba Noastra)
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Limba Noastra, or Our Language Day, is a public holiday in Moldova. On August 31, 1989, Moldova became the first Soviet republic to pass a law declaring its language, Moldovan, to be the official language of the republic. The law also formally proclaimed that Moldovan and Romanian were the same. Second in importance only to Moldova Independence Day on August 27, Language Day is celebrated with ceremonies at the burial sites of individuals linked to the struggle for cultural rights of Romanians, especially Romanian poets and writers.
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Quote of the Day
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If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
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In the News
North Atlantic 'Weather Bomb' Tremor Measured in Japan
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Seismologists in Japan have tracked, for the first time, a particular type of tiny vibration that wobbled through the Earth from the Atlantic seafloor. It was started by a "weather bomb": the same low-pressure storm, off Greenland, which made UK headlines in ...
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