A list of curious facts
One: Preply has created maps that show the most translated book in each country. Below is the one for Asia. The most translated book in India: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. For contrast, the most translated book in Sri Lanka: Michael Ondaatje’s ‘The English Patient’. Hmm, wonder what that says about us... Tap to zoom in on the Asia map below. The others are over here. (h/t subscriber Sachin Raj)
Two: Attention, children! We have a new term in the world of dating: “roaching.” It refers to the act of hiding the fact that you’re seeing lots of other people from someone you just met: “It’s inspired by the ickiness of seeing one of these nasty little bugs—but knowing when you turn the lights on, there are lots of them.” New York Post has everything you need to know about this charming trend.
Three: Talking of trendy things, blue turmeric is having a moment in the United States. Unlike its everyday cousin, this one doesn’t turn everything yellow—and its colour “ranges from turquoise to periwinkle to violet—shades of blue rarely seen outside a packet of gummy bears.” FYI: It is also sometimes referred to as ‘black turmeric’ in Ayurveda—no, we don’t know why. And the Vietnamese ‘superspice’ is supposedly good for everything from fertility to tummy issues. Bloomberg Businessweek reports on this ‘it girl’ of spices.
Four: We hate to tell you this, but people who diligently brush their teeth still get cavities. Turns out that people who tend to get holes in their teeth have specific strains of bacteria—streptococcus mutans, in particular—in their mouths:
“Mouth bacteria are connected to cavities because of the tiny creatures’ digestive process. ‘Cavity bugs,’ as my daughters’ dentist calls them, feed on bits of sugar and carbs stuck to your teeth. The bacteria ferment those things, creating natural acids that start to dissolve the tooth enamel, similar to how water combines with carbon dioxide to dissolve limestone in a cave.”
FiveThirtyEight has more on this unhappy fact.
