Hemayu Mody (Child Support Services Worker)

It's about memory and the sadness of loss. A photo reminds the poet of her mum. It shows how people's lives are short, unlike nature.

That’s a great question, and the answer depends heavily on the context, but in the United States, one meaning is overwhelmingly common.

In almost any general conversation, especially online or related to sports, CFB stands for College Football. It's a massive part of American culture, particularly from late August through January. The term refers to the games played by large university and college teams, governed primarily by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For millions of people, Saturdays in the fall are completely dedicated to watching their favorite teams play. The rivalries, traditions, and passionate fan bases make it a huge spectacle, often just as popular as the professional NFL.

Of course, in a highly specific technical field, an acronym can mean something else. For example, in engineering, it might refer to a "circulating fluidized bed." However, that's incredibly rare in everyday language. If you see someone casually mention CFB online, you can be 99% certain they are talking about the touchdowns, rivalries, and championship dreams of American college football. It's a true cornerstone of our sports landscape.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is what people call Mad Cow Disease. It is a brain sickness for cows. The name sounds very technical, but it is simple. 'Bovine' means it is related to cows. 'Spongiform' is because the disease makes tiny holes in the brain. So under a microscope, the brain looks like a sponge.

The cause is not a virus or bacteria. It is a faulty protein called a prion. This bad protein makes other normal proteins in the brain also become bad. It is a slow chain reaction that destroys the brain. This makes the cow act very strange. They have trouble walking, they get nervous and sometimes aggressive.

The main worry was that people could get a version of this disease. It is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). This happened from eating meat from an infected cow, especially the brain or spinal cord parts. But now, it is very rare. There are strict rules everywhere about what cows can eat, so it is much safer.