It’s a hot water summer 💦
This edition: A smattering of science & personal development
As I ramp this newsletter back up, I’m experimenting with the layout and style. This week, I’ve removed all images and kept it text-only. Looks a bit empty, but I was also unsure whether the images were adding any value or if they’re really just for decoration.
Let me know what you think!
—Connie
Try this at home: hot water freezes faster than cold water?
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Science proves to us, once again, that we don’t know everything. “Common sense” might suggest that, certainly, cold water would freeze faster than hot water. But there have been (multiple) studies exhibiting the opposite. Talk about counter-intuitive.
The Mpemba effect: a cool name for a cool, mind-bending phenomenon, named after Erasto B. Mpemba, a Tanzanian who discovered the effect as a teenager in the 60s. He observed the effect while making ice cream with classmates, opting to skip the cooling process for his milk-and-sugar mix and throwing it straight into the freezer, finding that it reached a more frozen state sooner than his classmates’ cooled mixes.
Despite the progress we’ve made in understanding the physics of our world and universe, “out-of-equilibrium” (I believe also referred to as “non-equilibrium”) systems are not as well understood, which makes sense, given the added complexity of time as it relates to pressure, temperature, etc.
While I feel a little out of depth deep-diving into the specifics, the fact that there’s this much uncertainty in trying to answer, “Does hot water freeze faster than cold water?” is pretty neat.
Make my job harder: 10 steps to keep advertisers from dictating your life
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Though I’m a marketer by profession, the last thing I want to do is sell you useless junk. With Pr1m3 Day coming up, here’s a gentle reminder that you probably don’t need whatever’s on sale this year (or ever, really).
If you’re trying to cut down on the amount of stuff you have, focus on the things that are functional or fulfill you emotionally (beyond the shallow sense of a dopamine hit and more like Marie Kondo’s concept of “sparks joy”).
For realsies: 7 tips to avoid Shiny Object Syndrome
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Now that we’ve got the procrastination out of the way, it’s time to dive into some self-development. If you’re like me and have a case of Shiny Object Syndrome (starting new projects often but not putting in effort to grow or maintain them), these tips might help.
Especially #3—”Assess its fit with your work (and life).” I’ve only got so much time in my schedule, so I need to make sure that whatever projects I take on give me some value, whether functionally or emotionally (basically the same criteria used to cut down on material goods bought).
Fun stuff
Let me live out my best beekeeper life. This beekeeper simulator (yes, there’s a sim for everything) is reminiscent of Stardew Valley and Pokemon, with its “collect em all, but make it chill” vibes. For $20 USD, I’ll likely pick it up at some point, maybe after the dozen games I’ve bought but haven’t beat yet.
Drool-worthy ube (purple yam) spread. Pronounced oo-bae or oo-beh, the ube spread is similar to hazelnut or cookie butter. TBH, sounds divine. Even if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s available in your area, the list of June product releases is still fun to read through, with foodie items ranging from “meh” to “ohnowhy” (pickle flavored peanuts?!).