In the middle of these interesting times we’re living in, we bring you a diversion by way of our round-up of links to items you may have missed this month. And I promise it is Coronavirus-free.
Science, Technology, Natural World
The Rainfall Rescue Project are looking for (online) volunteers to help transcribe old rainfall records from the handwritten sheets, so they are digitised and useable for in depth research.
We thought we understood it, but rock samples brought back by the Apollo moon missions are reopening debate about how the moon formed. [£££££]
It seems that people who get lost in the wild follow strange but predictable paths. [£££££]
Dust is often not what you think, especially in museums.
A brief look at five dinosaurs which, once upon a time, roamed the British Isles.
The smallest known dinosaur skull has been found in a piece of amber.
Crows understand death, at least death of a fellow crow, but can we work out what they’re actually thinking?
Now, while we’re all in solitary confinement, is a good time to take up birdwatching: there’s a surprising number of birds go past your window and they’re not all sparrows and pigeons.
If they share a vase, daffodils kill other cut flowers. Here’s why.
Health, Medicine
Copper is great at killing off microbes (it’s been used in horticulture and viniculture for centuries) and yet in a medical context the more inert stainless steel is preferred.
A small number of women are born with the rare MRKH Syndrome, where they lack a vagina and possibly other internal reproductive organs.
We all know about tree rings giving information about the growth of the tree, but it seems our teeth also document our life’s stresses.
Environment
A small Japanese village is leading the way into our carbon-neutral future, but it ain’t easy.
The Guardian gives us fifty simple ways to make life greener. [LONG READ]
Social Sciences, Business, Law
Many of us like to belief we have free thought uninfluenced by others; but can we ever be a truly independent thinker?
Art, Literature, Language
Aubrey Beardsley is one of many artists whose has work been suppressed for obscenity, and is the subject of a new exhibition at Tate Britain (assuming museums are ever allowed to reopen). [LONG READ]
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
A new study reports that a supposedly important collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments are all fakes.
Archaeologists suggest that a collection of bones found in Kent church likely to be of 7th-century saint
Drake’s Island in Plymouth Sound is to be opened up and get its first visitors in 30 years.
London
London blogger Diamond Geezer takes a look at the genesis of London numbered postal districts.
Lifestyle, Personal Development
And finally … Should ladies’ loos provide female urinals, and would they be an answer to the queues for the loos?
Take care, everyone, and stay safe!