Here are my monthly links to items you may have missed, but didn’t know you didn’t want to.
Science, Technology, Natural World
Despite extensive studies, scientists still can’t agree on Chernobyl’s impact on wildlife. [LONG READ]
Try putting your ear to the ground … scientists are discovering that life in the soil is unexpectedly noisy. [LONG READ]
So can melting permafrost release ancient pathogenic microbes? [£££££]
It seems that magpies care! They’ve outwitted scientists by helping each other remove tracking devices.
But an even bigger problem … Do birds have language, at least in a way we would recognise? [LONG READ]
Finally in this section … a very short piece on the curiosities that are Britain’s pipefish.
Health, Medicine
A very worrying look at how the GP’s job has changed in the last 30 years. [LONG READ]
Researchers are discovering that bones are a lot more than bits of scaffolding.
How does what you eat affect your sleep, and vice versa?
What happens when depression collides with the menopause and perimenopause? [LONG READ]
Oh dear! Apparently everything we thought we knew about posture is wrong. [LONG READ] [£££££]
At last some good news … Apparently dark chocolate (at least in moderation) is good for your health, and for the microbiome.
Sexuality
So here’s a relationship therapist on how to have better sex.
Environment
Cranes were reintroduced to Britain in the late 1970s, and now they’ve had their best year for 400 years.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
A fossil of a large pterosaur has been found on the Isle of Skye.
Recent research is suggesting that the meteor which killed off the dinosaurs fell to Earth in the Spring.
Palaeontologists are coming to the conclusion that the extinction of the Neanderthals was not caused by the brutal domination of Homo sapiens.
Remains of woolly mammoth, and some other Ice Age remains have been found in Devon.
Some important prehistoric chalk sculptures, thought to be childhood artefacts, have been uncovered in Yorkshire.
Trousers are one of those wonders of civilisation in that their construction is not overtly simple or logical. So it’s astonishing that the oldest known “pants” seem to have originated in Asia, and a pair is survived around 3000 years. And the weaving is absolutely amazing.
Back at home, Museum of London archaeologists have found an 8m Roman mosaic floor in Southwark, just south of the Thames.
Here’s our favourite Medieval Historian on the power and influence of women in medieval times. [LONG READ]
Still with the medieval, researchers have found what appears to be the earliest known account of ball lightning in England, dating from 1195.
London
Just one London item this month … the Museum of London will close this December for 4 years, while it moves to its new home in the old Smithfield Market.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
And finally in this issue … British Naturism has, again, pointed out that it is not illegal to go naked in your back garden, and that it is not a matter for the police.
