Monthly Archives: May 2013

links

You May have Missed …

Our not-very-regular round-up of items I spotted and you may have missed. As usual in no special order, except we’ll start with the historical …

Henry VIII’s warship the Mary Rose sank in The Solent in 1545 and was recovered some 30 years ago. Ever since then archaeologists have been discovering more and more about the wreck. Now they are suggesting that the Mary Rose may have had armour-piercing cannonballs, some three-centuries earlier than they were thought to have been invented.


Archaeologists have also uncovered a 4400-year-old female skeleton near Windsor. What’s unusual is the large number of high-class, including gold, artefacts suggesting that Windsor may have been a royal hideout for 3000 years longer than we thought.

Meanwhile in Egypt archaeologists are working to uncover the sunken remains of the ancient lost city of Heracleion, near the head of the Nile Delta. They’ve been at it for some years already but reckon they may have 200 years work yet to do!

Back at home and much nearer our time, zoologists have been investigating the (stuffed) remains of a lynx shot dead in England in about 1903. Yes, there have been (maybe still are) large wild cats loose in the UK as it seems this one is a Canadian Lynx which had lived for around 10 years in captivity before escaping and being shot soon afterwards.

Many people erroneously believe that Oliver Cromwell made it illegal to eat Mince Pies on Christmas Day. This is one of many myths about what ancient laws allow or forbid in England. Recently the Law Commission published a list of some of these.

Brad Warner is an American zen teacher and punk rocker who generally talks sense. Here he muses on the recent Boston bombings and his reaction to them.

In a similar vein here’s a thoughtful op-ed piece from the Daily Telegraph on the rights of the state to snoop on its citizens.

Apparently some female in Australia is getting hot under the collar because she keeps having her pussy shaved.

Boys, are you worried about your declining sperm count? If so, wear a skirt. Apparently kilts, especially worn Scots-style (ie. with nothing underneath) are good for the balls, because they’re then kept at the temperature Nature intended. (And there are lots of other benefits too!) Even easier: just wear nothing.

On the other side of the sex divide, Prof. Alice Roberts is being rightfully indignant about the commercialisation of NHS maternity services and wards.

And the BBC has reported about medics who are trying to get a better understanding the details of how the womb and childbirth work. I must say it all sounds like trying to medicalise something which is better left to Nature — but then what do I know?

Finally a disturbing report about how the 18th and 19th centuries thought about the dangers of masturbation for women. Lads if you think the Victorians had a downer on your habits, it’s nothing to what they thought about their girlies prospects! It makes cross-dressing look positively tame!

books, medical, science

Book Review

Mary Roach
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

If there is one thing Mary Roach does well it is write. Her style is light, airy and humorous while being informative. It needs to be because she has made her stock in trade writing about taboo subjects like sex (Bonk), death (Stiff) and now our guts. For instance in writing about the biblical story of Jonah and the whale she says:

While a seaman might survive the suction and swallow, his arrival in a sperm whale’s stomach would seem to present a new set of problems. (I challenge you to find a more innocuous sentence containing the words sperm, suction, swallow and any homophone of seaman.)

She takes us on a journey through the gut — from top to bottom. Well, except that she doesn’t; it’s a journey through the top half, as far as the stomach. There’s a black hole of the small intestine should be. And a fast water chute through the colon. So despite the good writing I felt short changed by Gulp. I wanted more, and I wanted a bit more in depth science.

Sure, Roach talked to all the right scientists and medics. But this wasn’t as in depth as either Stiff or Bonk — at least it didn’t feel that way. And as I say the really interesting bits (well, to me, at least) beyond the stomach were too quickly glossed over.

So I was left feeling as though I’d had a decent starter, followed by some sorbet and coffee, but without a main course. Which is a shame because Roach writes too well for this.

Overall rating: ★★☆☆☆

natural history

International Dawn Chorus Day

Sunday 5 May is International Dawn Chorus Day, the worldwide celebration of Nature’s daily miracle of bird song.

The dawn chorus is most noticeable in spring when songbirds start to sing (to advertise for a mate or defend their territory) as daylight begins. So International Dawn Chorus Day is held annually on the first Sunday in May, and people are encouraged to rise early to listen to bird song either at an organised event or just in their backyard.

While those who live in an urban area might hear only a solitary blackbird or robin, they may be surprised at the number of other birds singing as dawn breaks — even the smallest gardens and pieces of overgrown wasteland can provide territory often unnoticed birds. Those lucky enough to live in more rural areas could be in for a real treat.

As usual there’s more information and a register of organised events on the International Dawn Chorus Day at www.idcd.info. Or hunt out your local nature reserve or birdwatching group and see if they’re organising anything.

pleasures

Get Walking Week

Get Walking Week happens from 4 to 11 May. The purpose is to encourage people to get out and discover the pleasures, and health benefits, of walking.

It’s not about having a big strenuous work-out! Most of the planned walks are under 5 miles, and no-one says you can’t enjoy starting off with a short stroll. Even people like me with crocked knees can probably manage a stroll round the block! [So why don’t I do it? Maybe this is the incentive!]

Sometimes there is an assumption that walking is just boring — we walk all the time, so where’s the fun? But taking the time out to enjoy just walking in the outdoors has huge benefits, both physical and mental. You’ll see new things; begin to appreciate Nature more; meet new people; stop and chat to your neighbours or the local farmer.

There’s a lot more information, including walking routes and events, on the Get Walking website at www.getwalking.org.

beliefs, nudism

Nudity is Good for You!

I make no apology (when did I ever?) for returning to the subject of nudity.

In the last couple of days I have seen two rational, reasonable and apparently well researched articles supporting the contention that nudity is actually good for you, does no harm to children etc.

The first was written by Lee Jenkins on the Backbencher blog.** In it Jenkins very briefly summarises the arguments against the main objections to public nudity:
* It’s harmful to children
* It’s unsanitary
* It will encourage rape and sexual assault
* I shouldn’t have to see it
* It’s just wrong
All of which are just plain wrong. Here is just one snippet:

[A]n 18-year longitudinal study [by Dr Paul Okami] showed that, if anything, [childhood exposure to nudity] was associated with slight beneficial effects …
“Boys exposed to parental nudity were less likely to have engaged in theft in adolescence or to have used various psychedelic drugs and marijuana … Girls were also less likely to have used drugs such as PCP, inhalants, or various psychedelics in adolescence.”

Public attitudes to sex and nudity are far more relaxed in Europe … Much like alcohol, the difference is cultural. Indeed, it’s rather telling that British and American attitudes to nudity are fairly similar, and both the US and UK have a teen birth rate far in excess of their European counterparts.


The second report, by Hank Pellissier at Immortal Life,** is more concerned with promoting the benefits of nudism, rather than refuting the objections. Under headings like “Weakened Bodies”, “Barefoot Medicine”, “Superior Socialisation”, “Soothe Away Your Crazies” and “Soak Up the Rays” he provides links to research and articles suggesting that nudity would improve our lot. Especially there appears to be evidence that the young would develop better (mentally and physically) from nudity, we would be better adjusted mentally and we would all benefit from time soaking up sunshine to counteract what is an increasing deficiency in Vitamin D.

As Jenkins observes, if you are genuinely troubled by the site of human form, it’s probably worth asking yourself why, rather than insisting others cover up. According to Pellissier’s article twenty million Europeans already go to nude beaches and spas. What’s stopping the rest of us?

** As far as I can see both these blogs are independent and not associated with any nudist or naturist organisation nor has any overt commercial axe to grind.

medical

Listening to 'Flu

Back last September I wrote about a Scientific American article which proposed that to reduce the spread of ‘flu we should vaccinate children — because it is children, not the elderly, immuno-compromised etc., who are the super-spreaders.

Imagine my astonishment yesterday to see that the UK government is proposing to do just this! Yes that’s right, they’re going to give every child (aged from 2 to 17) an annual ‘flu inoculation. According to yesterday’s Independent report:

All children aged two will be offered a nasal flu vaccine from this September. The programme will be rolled out to all primary and pre-school children next year, with secondary school pupils starting to be vaccinated in 2015.

OK, it would be good if it could all be rolled out this year, but I guess it may in part depend on the vaccine producers’ ability to ramp up production as well as the ability to get suitably trained staff in place to do the work.

But I’m astonished that the politicians have actually listened. I’m even more astonished that they appear to be willing to find the money. Let’s hope dream turns into reality.

words

Word: Maculate

Maculate

Verb. To spot, stain or soil.
Adjective. Spotted or blotched; stained or impure.

Hence immaculate: unspotted, pure, undefiled.

According to the OED the first usage is in a legal roll from 1432-50, shortly followed by Caxton in 1481. Sadly maculate is now confined to medical and zoological usage.


The Panther (or Rusty-Spotted) Genet (Genetta maculata)