Because saffron is so expensive it’s often mixed with other plants which are not actually saffron but are closely related to saffron to build up the bulk of the weight of a purchase. Turmeric is a primary example of a plant often used to help bulk up supplies. Distributors also use plastic as it helps add weight and eye appeal whilst actually providing nothing more than visual esthetics. Scientists can perform deoxyribonucleic acid examinations to determine if a sample is actually pure saffron or not. High quality saffron should have a humid scent which indicates that it was picked fresh. If the scent of saffron is slightly rancid, it means that it is old or of low quality
Month: June 2019
John Edgar Hoover’s Leverage of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Regarding Matters Outside of the Agencies Original Intent
John Edgar Hoover, the original head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation leveraged his power and the organization itself as a political police force which targeted anyone who Hoover felt was off message and out of line with what the United States of America’s political climate was during that particular period. Anyone who was suspected of being misaligned with the then current presidential administration was subject to probe. Figures who were perceived to have challenged the U.S. government and its institutions without the use of hostility includes such notable figures as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lennon
The Advent of Parallax Distance to Measure Immense Distances in Space
Stellar parallax is a measurement technique developed by Friedrich Bessel to measure far away objects in deep space. The process of stellar parallax involves measuring an object from two separate vantage points hinging upon the fact that the object being observed will appear to move a lot more than objects further behind it (e.g. if an observer closes one eye and views their finger in front of a building, and then repeats this act with their second eye closed and the first eye open, the observers finger will appear as though it has moved much further left or right, relative to the other objects behind it). Because Bessel developed a method of calculation to take advantage of this phenomena, astronomers now have the ability to map grand distances with relative accuracy. Bessel worked out that if an observer took an image of a star when the Earth was at either side of its orbit around the sun, it would be possible to observe the star shifting in its position. By knowing how much a star shifts, it is possible to calculate the distance the star is from its observation point on Earth. Bessel surmised that the relatively close star 61 Cygni must be 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) kilometers away from the Earth because of his parallax distance method. This technique unfortunately is severely limited as the diameter of the Earth’s orbit is only 300,000,000 (300 million) kilometers which means that the parallax method can only measure objects up to a factor of 1,000,000x (1 million) the Earths orbital rotation, allowing for a maximum distance of 300,000,000,000,000 (300 trillion) kilometers which is only a tiny fraction of the size of the Milky Way Galaxy or the universe as a whole
The Ancient History of Damascus Steel
Damascus, Syria, the birthplace of Damascus steel was prized in the ancient world for its durability but unbeknownst to the craftspeople who forged Damascus steel, the region from which the iron ore was taken had naturally occurring nickel which meant that Damascus metalsmiths had composite steel 3000 years before the rest of the world as the idea to mix different kinds of metals had not yet been invented. Damascus steel was shatter resistant and could be sharpened to become sharper than any other type of steel. Having first encountered it during the Crusades of the 11th century, European forgers attempted for centuries to recreate what their Middle Eastern counterparts had already perfected
The Odds of Hitting a Hole in One During a Game of Golf
The odds of hitting a hole in one during a game of golf are 1 in 12,000
The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 and its Impact Upon Modern Royals
King George III married for dynastic reasons but his 2 brothers each married commoners would had been married before. George found this unacceptable as it brought the royal family disrepute. In 1772, George passed the Royal Marriages Act which stated that a monarch is permitted to decide who members of their family marry. This new law disrupted royal marriages for over 200 years, perhaps most famously in the case of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Princess Margaret also experienced problems because of this law as she was forced to ask her sister Queen Elizabeth for permission to marry a commoner as well. The royal family considered anyone not royal to be a commoner despite their wealth, fame, or aristocratic title
Guatemala; the Birthplace of Chocolate
Guatemala is believed to be the birthplace of chocolate, worshipped by the ancient Mayans, specifically the cacao tree which was worshipped and revered, calling chocolate the “food of the gods”
The Lifetime Imprisonment of Typhoid Mary for the Spread of Disease Via Food Preparation
Mary Mallon was an Irish cook who was imprisoned for life for not washing her hands properly prior to preparing food. Mallon, an immigrant often referred to as “Typhoid Mary” unknowingly spread typhoid as she did not see a need to wash her hands frequently. Everywhere Mallon worked, people became sick or died which eventually lead to her apprehension. In 1882, the German physician Robert Koch had published a paper proving that microorganisms transmit disease. This discovery gave birth to microbiology. In 1907, New York City, United States of America sanitary expert George Soper had tracked the typhoid outbreak down to Mallon. Suspecting Mallon was immune to the disease but still a carrier, Soper pleaded with Mallon to be tested, however Mallon refused, and angrily chased Soper off with a dining fork. After being visited by the health board of New York City, Mallon found herself under quarantine where she remained for 3 years until she swore an affidavit to never work as a cook again. 5 years afterwards, another outbreak of typhoid occurred, this time traced back to Mary Brown, however Brown was Mallon working under an assumed identity. Mallon was quarantined once again, never being let out and dying from pneumonia while imprisoned
The Advent and Original Intent of Intelligence Quotient Examinations
Intelligence quotient examinations were invented by the French psychologist Alfred Binet as a way of measuring and identifying skill sets which children had or had not yet developed during their adolescence. The idea was to calculate the mental age divided by the chronological age to determine whether a child was ahead or behind their peer group
The Link Between Dementia and Iron
Measuring iron in the brain is the best known way to confirm dementia without performing an autopsy after death. The brain naturally creates tiny bits of iron referred to as “magnetite”. As a human being ages, more and more iron accumulates within the brain. Too much iron however, is a hallmark of dementia. It is theorized that this overproduction of iron is actually due to external factors like pollution rather than naturally occurring phenomena. Dr. Barbara Marr, a world renowned expert and authority in respect to the measurement of metal in incredibly small particles, took thin tissue sections of affected brains obtained during autopsy and observed them under a highly resolved transmission electronmicroscope to review the particles within the neurons of the brain and found 2 different shapes of particle. The magnetite particles are beautifully crystalline, regular and geometric, whilst the opposing particles were rounded in shape, referred to as “spherls” (pronounced “sfare-alls”) or “nanospheres”, rounded in shape because they were originally molten droplets. For every 1 biologically manufactured magnetite, 100 artificially implanted foreign particles of iron are found within the brains of those affected by this condition as confirmed by a study which took place in Mexico City, Mexico. Although not definitely proven, the shape of these secondary particles is remarkably similar to that of airborne pollution, which suggests to scientists that there is a discernible correlation between the 2 types