The famed artist Rembrandt is one of the “Old Masters,” but it is one of his “lesser” works, Jacob de Gheyn III, that holds a unique position in fine art. This particular painting (completed 1632) has been stolen four times since 1965. Each time the composition has been recovered. JDG3 is currently displayed at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, unless …
Some meat processors who make large quantities of sausages use very high efficiency meat grinders. In fact, some meat grinders operate at such high speeds that they necessitate being dipped in liquid nitrogen. Otherwise, the devices could overheat and melt the “delicious” fats, thusly ruining the flavoring processes.
The NASA project Apollo included six flights that successfully landed men on the moon. Twenty flights were planned, but only seventeen were attempted. Be watching for books and movies about conspiracies concerning the three flights that were never launched.
Experts estimate that approximately 95% of the vehicles not powered by animals use petroleum products for fuel. However, not all is equal in the oil industry. In the Middle East, one barrel of oil is expended to obtain 30 barrels of oil. That same barrel of oil would produce less than two barrels in return if ethanol from corn were the product. EROEI (Energy Returned On Energy Invested) is an acronym that may become common.
It will likely surprise very few to learn that the world’s highest glacier (Khumbu) is located on Mt. Everest.
Scientists claim that the bird fastest on measured level flight is the grey-headed albatross, which has been observed to average just over 78 mph for an eight hour period. I wonder how the observer kept up with the g-h-albatross.
Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville (France) is worthy of mention because he developed (and patented) a sound-recording device in 1857, some twenty years before Thomas Edison patented his similar invention. A big difference was that Scott’s device used a vibrating membrane and a pen on paper to record visual representations of sounds. He hoped to train people to read spoken words from his recorded etched-ink tracks. The track-reading concept did not work out, but some believe Edison was aware of Scott’s work and used it as inspiration.
Unless you have recently written a check for a very large amount, I am going to assume that the check for 2,474,655,000 British pounds ($3,971,821,275) by Glaxco plc to Wellcome Trust in 1995 represents the largest amount ever transferred by bank draft. Well, I suggest that you do not purchase any works by Rembrandt without first checking with the Dulwich folks – and have great week.