Welcome to Dailypedia

DEFINITION: (adjective) Strong and muscular. SYNONYMS: hefty, sinewy, muscular, powerful. USAGE: The muscles of his brawny arms showed through the sleeves of his light summer coat.

When a reactor at the Ukrainian Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded in 1986, badly contaminating large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia with radioactive fallout, a concrete containment sarcophagus was hastily constructed around the damaged reactor. The condition of the sarcophagus has since deteriorated, leading to fears of radioactive leaks or even structural collapse. A French firm has been hired to build a new 18,000 ton steel shell around the site of the current Chernobyl containment structure. Once the shelter is completed, dismantling of the old sarcophagus and damaged reactor will begin.

Classically, escapology is the art of escaping from rope bindings. It has since evolved to include escapes from a variety of restraints, including straightjackets, cages, chains, and prisons. In the early 1900s, Harry Houdini, a master escapologist, began performing his “Chinese Water Torture Cell” act. The escape required that Houdini hold his breath for more than 3 minutes while freeing himself from rope bindings in a locked, water-filled glass tank. What rope knot is virtually inescapable?