Audiostretto 59/4/24 English

The advantage of a floor lamp is that it is mobile and provides good illumination of the room, thanks to the usually rather tall stand that supports the lamp. It can be placed anywhere there is space and a power supply. It is often open at the top so that it provides good lighting without dazzling. It is therefore often used near a comfortable seating area. You can read or relax in comfort. Such a...

Here in the German-speaking world we have the well-known Christmas carol 'Oh Tannenbaum'. It is probably one of the first songs you learn as a child. And yet - if you look at the lyrics - it doesn't have much to do with Christmas at all. But it is part of the tradition, it has become established, naturalised, you might say. A shell without content - when it comes to the Christmas story or message....

Rain is considered bad weather. Probably because you can't see the sun when it's raining. But both are necessary for us to survive. The necessary moisture has to come from somewhere for all the plants to get their food. After all, we water the plants at home, and if you asked them, they would probably not see it as punishment or bad weather, but as grateful refreshment, the satisfaction of a need,...

We all experience gravity every day. According to physics, two bodies attract each other and this explains gravity towards the centre of the Earth. So, we let go of something - and it falls to the ground; except for a helium-filled balloon. In water, things are different. Not all objects sink, only those that are heavier than water. Air rises. Light things rise. This is also easy to transfer. The...

We used to argue about whether black was really a colour or not. Black is black. Dark. Full stop. With other colours, there is dark and light, like light red or dark red. That's not possible with black. It is the end of the scale, the superlative of dark. If I remember correctly, black is the colour that absorbs everything and does not reflect light or parts of the light spectrum like other colour...

In German we have the expression to put someone behind bars - in other words, to imprison someone. The image used expresses the fact that there is something between freedom and the actual state, namely the bars, and that this is what is standing in the way of the person in question or has taken away their freedom. A bar - one might think - is nothing big. Not a strong wall or the thick walls of a...

It won't be long before we're lighting candles again. The thinner the candle, the faster it burns down, and the bigger and thicker it is, the longer it takes to burn down. Ergo: the amount of wax determines the life of the candle. It is the wax, together with the wick and oxygen, that makes candlelight possible, it is the wax that burns and makes the flame possible. Have you ever tried to watch th...

The word temptation is rather old-fashioned and not really taken seriously in our society. At best, it is used in advertising slogans. For example, when it comes to unhealthy food or consumer goods that we don't need or can't afford. Then almost cynical or sarcastic slogans are written, such as 'The best temptation since chocolate' or similar. But temptation is a very serious matter that affects u...

We all know it: the sun doesn't always shine in life, there are times and things that we don't like, that we would prefer to be different or not at all. We are happy when these are over as quickly as possible and as rarely as possible or not at all. We tend to long for happiness, contentment, comfort, peace and joy. But in life there is also unhappiness, discord, restlessness, sadness, hatred, con...

You've probably heard the term "unthinkable" or used it yourself. Unthinkable has something strange about it, something that makes me smile. As soon as I describe something as unthinkable, I am actually contradicting myself. Because if I think or say something and then describe it as unthinkable, then I have already thought it - so my statement is no longer true. That's not the case with the invis...

Did you know that oats are almost exclusively a summer crop? These hardy plants thrive in cooler climates and on almost any type of soil. A special feature of oats is that most cereal pests, such as ergot, cannot reproduce in oats. As a result, oats generally do not need to be sprayed. So oats already have a natural resistance to something harmful. How good for us! Not only does it mean less work...

When our son went to kindergarden, there were occasional events to which parents were invited and which gave them an insight into the day-to-day life of the kindergarden. We could see how they interacted as a group and what rituals they had. I remember a verse that was part of one of these rituals at the beginning of the day. Among other things, everyone said these words I am a star, I love myself...

In English, we know the expression that a key has a bit. This is the part of the key that goes into the lock and turns to open and close it. This is especially true of older keys. It is the most conspicuous part of a key, and if you find a drawing or symbol of a key here and there - for example in the church painting of St Peter's - it is because the key has a bit. In the future, doors may only ha...

We have all experienced being insulted and insulting others. Strange as it may sound, the easiest way to do this is usually with words. You say something derogatory or degrading and it's done. Often the intention is to cause offence. However, insults can also be non-verbal: a look can be extremely hurtful, especially if used deliberately and repeatedly, or deliberately ignoring a person, etc. The...

As human beings, we prefer to be well, to be successful, to have our plans come to fruition, to be healthy, to be successful and happy in life. Hopefully, this is an essential part of all our lives. But it's not always so. We don't like being on the losing side, we want to be on the winning side. And we don't like to lose, in other words, to stop having something. Losing something we love, like a...

Many people say they don't dream. I myself dream a lot and regularly, ever since I was a child. Sometimes I wake up really refreshed because I had good dreams and sometimes I wake up really knocked out because my dreams were stressful. Sometimes these episodes of the podcast originate in dreams, and sometimes there are nights when I dream, but in the morning what I dreamed is forgotten like the fo...

When we were children, we used to go to the swimming pool in the summer. It was called Eglisee. It's a compound name and actually means a lake where there are perch. It always amazed me and I wondered if such a lake had really existed there in the past. It probably did. Today there is nothing left of it except the name. But the name is a contemporary witness. That's the case with many place names....

Do you prefer pictures to text? Even in the adult world, pictures are used to illustrate things better than text alone. For example, when analysing figures, certain graphics are used to express statistics that reflect the numerical values that have been collected or calculated. Such statistics or graphs can look very colourful, graphically sophisticated and sometimes almost artistic - alongside th...

There is no doubt about it: as people in the West, or at least in Central Europe, we live in abundance. Most of us certainly do. Our most basic needs are more than met, and we have choices in many areas - not only whether we have what we need, but also how, with what and when we want to satisfy those needs. This is not the case for the majority of humanity. Abundance not only brings with it a resp...

It's out of season for melons. I don't know if you like them - there are several varieties. In any case, like other similar fruits, melons are surrounded by a relatively hard skin, followed by a rather soft part of the flesh and, in the middle, the seeds. We humans like the middle part best, the flesh. We cut off the skin and remove the seeds. But it is the seeds that are the next generation, so t...

Probably most or many of us think that those who have gained or are gaining a lot of knowledge or a great academic career are the clever and wise ones of this time or the past. In fact, it is a privilege to know a lot and to be intelligent. But to be wise is something else - I think. For me, being wise means making the right decision in a given situation, saying the right word, keeping quiet when...

Whether the height difference is small or large, above a certain height we usually have to use an auxiliary structure. This can be a staircase or a ramp. This helps and we are able to overcome the height difference, get to the higher level and continue walking there. However, there is always a cost in terms of extra space: both a staircase and a ramp require extra space and distance to overcome. T...

The term turbine was coined in France towards the end of the 18th century by a French engineer called Claude Burdin. It comes from the Latin turbare, which means to turn. That makes sense. You may be familiar with the word turbo, which has the same origin. Turning - that's what the turbine does to generate electricity, for example. But in order for it to spin and produce that energy, something has...

I think there are different types of people who, depending on their type, prefer things to be quieter or wilder. So there are those who prefer a room with a single colour wallpaper or wall covering and others who like it more colourful. We always like to relax in nature and it seems to me that nature is anything but monochrome. Natural meadows are full of different shades of green, grasses, flower...

The famous Italian dessert tiramisu is served in many variations today. It is interesting to note that it is not that old and was only created in the last century. The literal meaning of the name is: pull me up. And this alludes to the caffeine content used in the dessert. Pull me up. This is not always only a wish when you are tired, but also when you are personally not feeling well. Be it due to...