OMG! Have we got a packed full box of links to items you may have missed this month. So let’s dive in …
Science, Technology, Natural World
Why do we find the quantum world weird? According to Carlo Rovelli we wouldn’t if we accepted that objects don’t exist. Prepare to have your mind addled! [LONG READ] [£££]
According to one expert extra-terrestrial life may not be all that alien.
Most of us have heard about near death experiences, and some have experienced them … but what do they mean? [LONG READ]
On carrots, colour, chemistry and vision.
Covid-19 variants may be causing heart problems in pets.
Catnip repels insects (and is loved by many cats). Scientists are beginning to unravel how the insect repellent action works.
Years ago, the Horniman Museum in south London bought a piece of rock, and unknowingly imported some prolifically breeding small shrimp with it. So they were feeding the shrimp to many of their fish. Turns out the shrimp was a hitherto unknown species!
Meanwhile Japanese scientists have looked at the bacteria in 100 million-year-old ocean sediment cores … and found the bacteria they contain can be brought back to life!
How does an octopus sleep? With short bursts of frenzied and colourful REM-like sleep.
From water … to air … Wisdom the albatross, the world’s oldest known wild bird, has another chick at age 70.
… to land … It is generally accepted that Tasmanian Tigers are extinct. But people still think they see them and that they’re still alive.
Health, Medicine
It is becoming well understood that reproductive problems in both men and women are increasingly common. Hormone disrupting chemicals in the environment seem to be at least partly to blame. [£££]
Sexuality
A look at asexuality and its recent increase.
While at the other end of the scale, many of us have declining libido, and want it back …
… One way might be to hang pubic hair paintings in your living room. [LONG READ]
Environment
New bye-laws ban trawl fishing off the Sussex coast with the aim of allowing the kelp forests to regenerate.
10 years on there have been a number of review articles about the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Here is a selection:
• Japan marks 10 years since the disaster killed 18,500 people.
• What happened at the nuclear plant?
• How locals are returning after nuclear disaster. [£££]
• UN report says Fukushima radiation did not damage health of local people.
• But one ocean scientist is still worried.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
Archaeologists in Egypt have found what may be the world’s oldest pet cemetery.
Scientists thing they’ve finally unlocked the secrets of the Antikythera Mechanism using computer modelling.
You always wanted to know the grisly details of Roman murder, didn’t you?
Still in Roman times … it has been calculated that when Vesuvius erupted in 79AD it killed the inhabitants of Pompeii in 15 minutes.
A group in Ireland is attempting to revive the ancient tradition of the sheela na gig.
On the Before- and After-Times.
Two looks at what chivalry is, and the dearth of whte knights.
Workmen at Tintern, in the Wye Valley, have found a hitherto unknown medieval tunnel system.
A look at the role of 14th-century working women in southern France.
On the other hand, medieval women put faith in things like birth girdles to protect them during childbirth.
On the crapness of medieval pickup lines.
A short life expectancy in days of yore is a myth – lots died as children, but survive that and many lived into old age. [LONG READ]
The National Archives have documents about the Gunpowder Plot written in invisible ink (lemon/orange juice).
Until the advent of the envelope in the western world letters were sealed by a technique called letterlocking. Researchers have now worked out how to use X-rays to read these letters without breaking the seals.
Charles II’s mistress Hortense Mancini was a trend-setter ahead of her time.
Food, Drink
Seafood fraud is happening on a global scale and sleuths are using DNA techniques to fight back. Meanwhile, how good are you at spotting whether your fish a fake?
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
It is time that men got a grip and made a stand to end violence against women (and men!).
One woman’s experience of the evolution of nude black women in art. [LONG READ]
Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!
And finally a pair of researchers have worked out how to make a hippogriff and angels that could fly. [£££]
