The Trainwreck Labs Newsletter
Coming to your inbox every Monday with a brand new fun-fact and all the answers to Trainwreck Labs games from the past week.
This week, we have…
Announcement: Trainwreck Teachers
A fun fact inspired by Fictogram
Answers to last week's games
Reader survey
Calling all teachers!
To kick off the new year, we’re thrilled to announce something special for educators: a new Discord community exclusively for teachers who use educational games in the classroom!
Join this dynamic community and enjoy:
Priority Feature Requests: Help shape the future of TWL games by influencing upcoming features.
Global Networking: Connect with innovative educators worldwide who are revolutionizing learning with games and creative techniques.
Exclusive Perks: Be among the first to join and receive a FREE membership to the Trainwreck Club, including ad-free gameplay and a dedicated classroom mode!
Whether you’re an educator looking to make learning more engaging or a student who thinks your teacher would love this opportunity, respond to this email to join the fun. Don’t miss out on this unique chance to innovate education!
Never heard of Discord, but still want to join? Let me know! We’re open to all ideas.
The science behind Ghostbusters
We are long overdue for a Ghostbusters prequel about Peter Venkman’s great-grandfather. Image generated by DALL-E.
Do you believe in ghosts? In the 1984 supernatural comedy Ghostbusters, Dr. Peter Venkman (Fictogram answer #411) is a professor of parapsychology who establishes a business investigating and capturing ghosts. In the world of Ghostbusters, ghosts are real - but have you ever wondered how our belief in ghosts came to be?
Ghost mythology has developed around the world in almost every culture, as a way for humans to process and cope with uncertainty around death, the afterlife, and inexplicable happenings. In pre-modern times, when mortality was high, ghosts were a fixture of everyday life. Ghosts were feared, welcomed as ancestors, worshipped, or occasionally captured to do one’s bidding. Many societies had funeral rituals to prevent ghosts from haunting the living.
Nowadays, lots of scientific explanations exist for various ghost sightings. For instance, sleep paralysis, in which people can find themselves dreaming, aware and immobile, may explain a percentage of ghostly hallucinations experienced at night. Mold exposure in a home could lead to feelings of fear, and seeing dark shapes cross your vision. One study even found a significant association between the presence of mold in homes and reportings of hauntings. Even just a prior belief in ghosts existing, such as being told a house is haunted, makes you more likely to pick up on strange noises or temperature changes and attribute them to something paranormal. These psychological and environmental factors may be responsible for many ghostly encounters.
The ghosts of Ghostbusters were in part inspired by writer Dan Aykroyd’s family history of paranormal investigation. Aykroyd’s great-grandfather was a psychic investigator who conducted seances, and his grandfather allegedly created a radio he claimed could contact the spirit world. In an interview, he said that his “whole family was sort of steeped in this kind of just accepted fact that spirits do exist.” If that’s a spooky thought - we know exactly who you should call!
Learn more: BBC Three, Britannica, TIME, Looper, Intro to Global Studies.
Trivia
Due to copyright issues, several alternatives to the title Ghostbusters were considered at first. Which of the following was not one of them?
Answers to last week's games
Monday, December 30 to Sunday, January 5.
Globle
Dec 30 Austria
Dec 31 Croatia
Jan 1 Spain
Jan 2 Nigeria
Jan 3 Thailand
Jan 4 Syria
Jan 5 Comoros
Jan 6 Play now!
Globle: Capitals
Dec 30 Ankara
Dec 31 Muscat
Jan 1 Helsinki
Jan 2 Panama City
Jan 3 Port Louis
Jan 4 Valletta
Jan 5 Moroni
Jan 6 Play now!
Chronogram
#639 Augustine of Hippo
#640 Louis Armstrong
#641 Genghis Khan
#642 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
#643 T. E. Lawrence
#644 Aaron Burr
#645 Arthur Schopenhauer
#646 Play now!
Fictogram
#407 Hans Gruber
#408 Oskar Schell
#409 Alex Forrest
#410 Nathan Zuckerman
#411 Peter Venkman
#412 Norman Bates
#413 Arthur Chipping
#414 Play now!
Metazooa
#518 grey parrot
#519 kinkajou
#520 pillbug
#521 giant centipede
#522 camel
#523 mantis shrimp
#524 macaque
#525 Play now!
Metaflora
#457 cucumber
#458 citron
#459 yam
#460 cotton
#461 thyme
#462 cassava
#463 gum arabic tree
#464 Play now!
Linxicon
The following are the shortest paths from last week:
#322 before → aftermath → effecting → enabling → enable
#323 strengthen → muscle → alcohol → wine
#324 correct → valid → legal → attorney
#325 too → additionally → excess → overgrown → undergrowth → tree
#326 fashion → practical → practically → nearly
#327 actually → actuality → reality → environment → weather
#328 learning → winning → award → nomination
#329 Play now!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
Before you go…
Need a hint, but can’t wait for next week’s newsletter? Join the Trainwreck Labs Discord server!
