Lateral with Tom Scott

35: Selfies with number 57

6 snips
Jun 9, 2023
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ANECDOTE

Puzzle: Twelve Days Totals Revealed

  • The episode opened with a listener puzzle about an item that 'eventually contains 178 feet, 81 heads, 46 wings, and eight udders.'
  • Tom reveals at the end that it's the accumulations in the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.
INSIGHT

Payment Amounts Used As Implicit IDs

  • The UK split a £900 cost-of-living payment into 301, 300 and 299 to create an implicit ID for each instalment on bank statements.
  • That small asymmetry makes it trivial to tell which payments someone has received and which remain outstanding.
ANECDOTE

Dancers Sew Point Shoes With Dental Floss

  • Ballet dancers often sew point shoes with dental floss because it is stronger than ordinary thread and can withstand high strain.
  • Professionals replace point shoes every few days, so dancers repeatedly resew elastic and ribbons during performance seasons.
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