I was listening to a Tim Ferriss Podcast recently with Walter Isaacson which was based around lessons learned from the likes of Steve Jobs, Leonardo DiVinci and Ben Franklin (link below).
They spoke about curiosity and how it is the best way to live your life. To stay curious and always wonder. I totally agreed. I am always curious. I am always wanting to know the answers to odd questions that pop into my head.
Walter mentioned that Leonardo Di Vinci had a curiosity notebook where he would write in every morning things he wanted to learn that day. For example, why is the sky blue.
💡He also wrote from right to left not our usual way of writing left to right!
This got me excited. I always have questions in my head especially when I am out walking with Coco. Random things pop into my head. So of course, I went and bought a notebook. Each morning this week I have wrote down one question I want to know the answer to. And each week I plan to share the nuggets I learn.
Ever wanted to know the random things you forget to google? Well fear not, they may just be in my weekly curiosity letter 😊
So without further ado - here goes a few questions I have considered this week:
Why do birds sing mostly in the morning time?
(you can tell this is from my 6am morning walks with Coco 🐕)
- They sing at dawn because during the night they can't see predators therefore they don't want to alert them to their whereabouts
- Whats called the dawn chorus, start to sing 30 to 90 minutes before sunrise
- Louder during mating season
- Males sing to reconfirm territory and to alert female birds
- Females listen out for suitable mates based on song quality (no pressure then)
How long are dogs pregnant for?
- 60 to 64 days (didn't realise it was so short!)
What is the meaning behind the Ryans belt constellation?
- First point to note is that it's not even called Ryans belt 😂
- Secondly - I didn't even realise those 3 stars linked to an actual outlined shape 🙈
So what I've learnt:
- The constellation name is Orion
- Based on a myth about a hunter called Orion
- There are a few stories but all seem to come to the conclusion he was killed by a scorpian
- The constellation as you can see above is set out in the shape (ish) of the hunter and you can see the 3 stars we all know as his belt!!!!
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh (I can hear you saying in your head 😊)
- Apparently as he was killed by a scorpion (scorpius constellation below), so he is placed at the opposite side of the sky to Scorpius so they are never visible at the same time
The cool story I read is within the below link if you're interested:
I know you are wondering who came up with all this but sure that's another question for another day.
I hope you enjoyed this short and sweet thought letter.
See you next Thursday for more stuff you didn't realise you didn't know! 😋
Elisa.