Audiostretto 59/4/24 English

There is a windscreen in every car. It is necessary to protect us from the wind when driving at high speeds and from the rain when the weather is not so good. If it were not there, our eyes would be overwhelmed by the force of the wind and we would be in danger of causing an accident due to a lack of good vision. In our lives, we are also increasingly living at higher speeds. Modern technologies,...

We talk about the full moon or the half moon or the empty moon - depending on the shape of the moon as we can see it. Of course, today we know that the moon is always full. Simply because of the position of the Earth in the Sun's cone of light, it covers more or less of the moon surface. Nevertheless, depending on the Earth's position, we see only part of the moon illuminated. So the position in t...

Mud collectors can be found on most roads. These are openings in the roadway that are covered with a cast-iron grid. Their purpose is to drain rainwater into the ground when it rains. This usually works very well - except during thunderstorms, when the wind tears branches and blossoms etc. from the trees and the thundershower carries them along and they eventually get caught in the grating. Of cou...

The bark of a tree has the task - analogous to human skin - of protecting the trunk or tree body from environmental influences. If the bark is injured, it can - again analogous to the human skin - regenerate the injured area through self-healing forces. However, if the bark is missing or is removed to a very large extent, the tree is no longer able to survive and dies. We all live in different gro...

I notice that a traffic light has less and less authority in our time. By this I mean: whether the light is on red or not plays less and less of a role for drivers. If they have the impression that they can continue driving despite a red light - based solely on their own assessment - then they just do. When I was younger, I had the impression that traffic lights enjoyed respect as representatives...

Perhaps you have had people in your environment who have reminded you with incredible persistence of things you should have done. When you were a child, it might have been cleaning your room or doing some other household chore. For me, it was often the case that I delayed doing the task because I was annoyed by the repeated reminders. I was probably more annoyed by my forgetfulness than by the dem...

A trophy such as a medal or a cup in sport can be of varying value to the recipient - depending on the performance required for it, etc. However, the ideal value is certainly higher than the material value. Furthermore, there is a danger that if one identifies too strongly with the trophy, one's own personality may be damaged by atrophy or dependence, too strong an attachment to the award. Then it...

can't help but marvel that aircraft as heavy as we have today can stay in the air and fly from one place to another. For me, something like that borders on a miracle. How can such a heavy vehicle overcome the force of gravity despite the earth's gravitational pull? Of course, birds were the inspiration for this. But it took people who were probably cranks in the eyes of many, dreaming of one day f...

Are trouser pockets as popular with women as they are with men? I have all kinds of things in there. As a rule, a pocket knife is never missing. But even when I'm out and about, my keys are in there, a paper handkerchief. But I still asked myself: why do people have pockets? Was there originally a certain need that I don't know about and is different from what I need the pockets for? This question...

For modern electronic devices, there are so-called digital pens, i.e. "digtial pens". These look similar to another, analogue writing instrument, but do not usually write on paper, but are intended for use on a mobile device or its display. My experience with them is that you cannot write or draw in the same way as with analogue pens. However, the devices are able to recognise handwriting and repr...

In these hot summer months and with the current drought, rain is as the saying goes, a blessing. But that is not always the case. I still hear people complaining that the summer is rainy, that it is always raining, etc. Generally speaking, rain is considered bad weather. In many parts of the world, however, rain is a core element of life and the basis of life that is needed for essential food to g...

Contact lens wearers know: if the lenses do not sit well on the eye or are not ground correctly or appropriately, then the vision is not really good and one is constantly tempted to improve the visual acuity with the eyes or to look for another position with the eye in which it would supposedly be easier to see. In this natural example, it is obvious where the problem lies: in the mismatched part...

Surely you know people who have a tattoo, or maybe even a lot of them, or others who wear very original jewellery that stands out. Some do it simply because they like it, but my guess is that for some it is also to send a certain non-verbal message. I don't always understand it and I don't want to imply or misinterpret anything. But in any case, I think that behind it there is a kind of call for t...

I belong to the generation that still grew up with an analogue telephone with a dial. The telephone was heavy, relatively large, connected to the network via cable and you had a handset that you held in your hand. The number you wanted to call was set with the dial and they were shorter numbers than we have today. Also, you didn't have to set the area code if you were calling within the same city....

I've reached an age where I can't remember everything and sometimes search for certain terms that just don't come to mind. For example, I just couldn't remember the term for cats' whiskers. This can be frustrating, although it doesn't bother me, but shows me: my resources are limited. I can't absorb new information on top of the existing ones every day and keep it all in. I obviously have to set p...

In my understanding, a city is a place of settlement, i.e. a place where one intends to stay. This compared to a tent or a tented settlement, A tent allows for pragmatic accommodation in changing locations. The house in the city, on the other hand, has a permanent focus with infrastructure such as electricity, running water, etc. Those who settle in a house in the city, even as tenants, have inten...

When I consume something, it is not uncommon for the taste of the last thing I consumed to linger in my mouth. Even if it was some time ago and I have long since swallowed what I ate or drank, this taste remains. In cases where it is something I like, this is pleasant, in others - for example, medicines with a bad taste - less so. In most cases, the only real remedy is to brush my teeth. Not even...

How is it that we humans look so different globally. Why do we have light skin in Central Europe, but people in Africa sometimes have very dark skin? I'm sure there are reasons. Along with the skin colour, it is often the overall posture or body shape that differs. Or in the Asian region, the facial shapes are so different, etc. The cultures of the different types of people also vary. So we are al...

I spoke once before about the four-leaf clover and my childhood memories of it. Supposedly, one of these brought good luck. Our children's eyes would scan the meadows with strained eyes and our little hands would grab at possible shamrock candidates because they might look like they actually had four leaves instead of just three.  Which, in retrospect, is a realisation: the desired did not co...

A sunrise is something beautiful to behold. You see a red ball of fire slowly begin to rise above the horizon and then get brighter and brighter. But it is and remains a ball and much smaller than the horizon in width. When I once flew into the morning during an overseas flight, the view was so different - just the other way round: there was a bright glow of light all around the globe that we saw...

What is scarce often has more value and therefore often gets more attention. So I experienced that at the end of the holidays there was a shortage of bread for breakfast on the day of departure. It was interesting how suddenly the appetite for bread increased and at the same time the feeling of not having had enough. In the material sphere, there are things that are or become particularly coveted...

According to science, nature is built up in fractals. That means as much as: the small is depicted in the large or vice versa. A simple example is a tree or a fern. You can see that the branches of a tree look like small miniature trees. They also have a kind of trunk below, from which further branches branch off as self-similar structures. The same goes for a fern whose leaves look like small fer...

Maybe you are one of those who likes to play computer games. When I was a teenager, the handy game consoles came along. They were the forerunners of Gameboys. I bought one too, second hand, and loved to play. In these games you always try to reach a new level. That's the reward. But when you've done them all - what then? Then the enthusiasm is lost. Not so with a parlour game like hurry up and pla...

They say that fire purifies. And what is meant by this is that everything that is not good is burnt away, burnt up, and only that which endures remains. And what is burnt? The burnt is then ashes. And what do you do with the ashes? You can throw it away or scatter it - or: you can process it together with fat to make soap. And what is soap used for? For cleaning. So fire seems to have the double e...

A key ring is very practical: you can attach all the keys you need to one ring and thus have them all together on one ring. However, the disadvantage of the key ring is that if you lose it, all the keys attached to it are gone. Lump risk. In this case - as in other similar ones - it is an assessment of risk and benefit that lets you decide whether to attach all the keys to one bunch or perhaps to...