Audiostretto 59/4/24 English

Over 30 years ago, I went to the south of France for a kind of active holiday. This included a cave tour. We went underground and through labyrinthine passages. We divided the entire group into two groups. Each had a guide. Our guide made a joke of not telling us what to expect. And so, on one of the routes, the corridor became narrower and narrower, even in height. In the end, we had to squeeze t...

In earlier times, the moon and sun were often depicted with one face. Humans humanised these celestial bodies. I imagine that these celestial bodies lost some of their mightiness as a result. That may sound strange. But I think we humans can deal with it better if we have the impression that we have a living being - in whatever form - opposite us. It may be despotic or inaccessible, but we seem to...

In German there is the saying 'having a roof over your head'. This means that you are not homeless. It does not mean that you have your own home, but you are not exposed to the wind and weather. I would say that Mary and Joseph had a roof over their heads in the stable at Christmas, but it wasn't their home. The easiest way to describe this expression is what it doesn't mean: being...

Perhaps you are one of those people who love being by the sea and enjoy diving or snorkelling. That's not mine. But I have seen some wonderful underwater footage from the sea on television. You can see all kinds of sea creatures and how they move: the fast and nimble fish that you can barely keep track of, the ponderous but mighty whale as it dashes through the water and the almost sleepy-look...

A freshly snow-covered winter landscape is probably one of the most beautiful things that nature has to offer. The snow consists of ice crystals that have beautiful shapes. These ice crystals are usually hexagonal. The physical explanation for this is that this is the most efficient way for water molecules to grow in a solid state. That sounds too sober to me. I simply marvel at their beauty. As c...

I don't know anyone who likes to wait. Waiting is unpopular because it makes it clear that you are dependent on something or someone. That's not a good feeling. I can think of moments when I had to wait in the cold for a train that was delayed indefinitely. When we talk about waiting, we quickly move on to expectation. We probably all have some kind of expectation of ourselves, others, the...

In the cold season, chestnuts are sold at single booths in our town. They are nice and warm to the touch and taste delicious. What we eat are the seeds of the fruit. This means that we are actually eating what is intended for the next generation. So - generally speaking and regardless of whether there are enough chestnuts - we are faced with the decision: do we forego the pleasure and invest these...

Many fruits in nature and some vegetables also have a skin. This is often harder or even much harder than the core. This is certainly intended to provide a certain degree of protection against unauthorised access. The skin therefore protects. In certain fruits, however, the skin also contains a great wealth and a great variety of nutrients. In many cases, we still peel such fruits today, thereby e...

I recently completed a safety training course at work as a refresher. Among other things, it covered behaviour in an emergency situation involving injured people. As a young person, I learnt an acronym - the GABI - in the emergency aid course, which I should use as a step-by-step guide when giving first aid to injured people. This acronym has become so engrained in my memory that I can recite it v...

Do you know the experience that when you are enthusiastic about something and want to convince others of it or infect them with your enthusiasm, others who don't see it that way can be real brake pads? And do you perhaps even get annoyed with these people because they slow you down in front of others? In fact, this may be quite annoying - because it affects our ego and we don't get the app...

There is the verb to contradict. I contradict someone and mean that I disagree with their statements and have a different view or attitude or opinion. Then there is the noun contradiction. You might think that this is simply the nounised verb. But I don't think that's the case. For me, a contradiction is something that is inconsistent and not coherent. In other words, something that expres...

Are you someone who adheres very strictly to recipes and their instructions when cooking or are you someone who prefers to create meals or pastries freely? I tend to belong to the second group - with all the advantages and disadvantages... I think the advantages are that sometimes unexpected creative things come up and I'm quite free and relaxed when I'm cooking. On the other hand, the ris...

The logo of a British energy company looks as if the company is active in the agricultural sector or is particularly environmentally friendly. The logo is a kind of flower in green colours. In reality, however, it processes crude oil and sells it as fuel or petrol, among other things. So when you consume the product, you are led to believe that you are doing something environmentally friendly when...

If you have a minor injury, a patch is a good thing. You can use it to cover the sore area without having to put a lot of effort into bandaging or the like. The patch has a specific size that must fit the sore area. It usually has at least two areas that adhere to the skin and an area with dressing material. However, a patch is a temporary solution. It is usually used for a light, small wound that...

I learnt the 10-finger system on a typewriter. However, it was already an electric and not just a mechanical one. The further development was the computer - which offered or still offers far more than just the possibility of word processing. But would the computer as we know it today exist without the typewriter? I suspect not. The typewriter was certainly the inspiration for at least the design o...

It's not the season for hot air balloons at the moment, but I still find them fascinating. They rise into the air and overcome gravity for two reasons, or rather because of two conditions that must be fulfilled: on the one hand, they have an air mass separated by the envelope and, on the other, a heat source that heats this air mass so that it is sufficiently warmer than the surroundings and t...

Are you happy with your surname? I've had different experiences with mine. The name Stark - which is German for 'strong' - is self-explanatory. As a boy, I was repeatedly challenged at school and provoked by older boys by asking me questions and physically attacking me with "show me if you're really strong!". That was mean and humiliating and unpleasant for me. I am now p...

You have probably already used a whisk to beat egg whites into beaten egg whites. The whisk consists of just a few wires arranged in an arc all round. However, when the whisk is used correctly, it achieves amazing things - much better than if the same material were used in the same way in a ladle, spoon or moulded surface. The clever arrangement therefore has at least or even more influence on the...

When an idea is depicted in a comic or in visual language, it usually takes the form of a light bulb that lights up. An idea is usually a spontaneous thought, a creative act that comes out of nowhere and is not necessarily planned in advance. At least the beginning of an idea. The elaboration happens afterwards. Sometimes it is also called an epiphany - which is probably why the light bulb is ther...

Black soil. Have you ever seen it somewhere? In Switzerland, I once saw strikingly dark agricultural soil in the Bernese Seeland that really did look almost black. There are apparently larger deposits of black soil in the Amazon region and also in Eastern Europe: in Hungary, Romania and further afield in Ukraine, Mongolia and other places. Actually, I don't associate the colour black with anyt...

Most people use a bunch of keys for their house keys or wear them on a chain around their neck. At least all of them do so in such a way that they don't lose them by accident. Why is that? Because the key is important - it authorises access to your home. I use the key to decide whether the door is closed or open and therefore who is allowed in and who is not. Carrying the key as described is p...

Do you know what a Christmas person is? I certainly don't, or rather, I can't imagine what it is. It is - as I saw recently - the modern term for Father Christmas or Saint Nicolas- that was news to me. Yes, the gender issue is spreading far and wide. For me, sometimes to the point of absurdity. For me, Father Christmas is male, has a beard and that's the end of the discussion. I don&#3...

When we describe a person as poor, we mean that this person is pitiful, that they have experienced bad things through no fault of their own and that several unfortunate events have led to a miserable situation. In this context, poor is not primarily meant financially, but in the sense of lacking the ability to act or being unable to change the bad situation themselves. And in fact, it happens time...

The products we buy usually contain a considerable amount of packaging material. On the one hand, this serves marketing purposes because the manufacturer presents itself prominently and usually very positively on the packaging and encourages consumption and, on the other hand, the packaging naturally serves to protect the product from damage during transport. At a time when we should and want to c...

If I compare the bones of a dinosaur with those of a small fish, there are enormous differences in circumference, size, weight, etc. The bones of the small fish are probably even bendable, whereas the largest bones of a dinosaur cannot even be lifted by a single person. The skeleton is therefore orientated both to body size and to the physical activity and functionality to be performed. I find thi...