Here we go again with this month’s collection of links to items which interested me and which you maybe didn’t want to miss.
Science, Technology, Natural World
On the colours of the stars. [££££]
There are some small “earthquakes” on the moon, and the cause is somewhat surprising.
They’re still hunting for the missing flight MH370, and now there is hope of finding it using divination by barnacles.
Scientists have found a huge, remote, Fijian cave, and it’s full of tiny endangered bats. [££££]
Scientists are looking at dreaming and REM sleep across the animal kingdom.
So just how old is the oldest aquarium fish? We know koi carp can live to 80, but Methuselah is even older.
Health, Medicine
Explaining both the neuroscience and physiology of fear and anxiety.
More screening for cancers sounds like it could be good for many of us, but there are serious questions over whether the NHS could cope with it.
Girls, your vagina has it’s own microbiome (just as our guts and skin do), so here are a few pointers on how to look after it.
Yes, it turns out the so-called “male menopause” is a thing for at least some men. [££££]
So is pee sterile?
The medicinal leech has a long history, and is still used today.
Most of us suffer from delusions of some form, however mildly. Here are the five most common.
We all have childhood memories – some of us more than others – but how reliable are they?
It seems that some people whose brains flatline but survive can recall lucid “experiences of death“.
Sexuality
Just what were the rules around masturbation in Ancient Greece? As if one can put rules round such a thing! [££££]
Here are some things most of us don’t know, but probably should, about emergency contraception.
Environment
A recent report says that Britain’s ocean fish populations are in a quite some trouble.
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Seemingly the speed at which someone talks has no relationship to intelligence.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
Researchers have calculated that the species which were to become Homo sapiens suffered a population bottleneck, and could have gone extinct, almost a million years ago.
Meanwhile researchers in southern Africa have discovered some ½million year old timbers which appear to have been woodworked.
5000-7000 years ago there was a culture in what’s now Eastern Europe which burned its houses down every couple of generations – but we don’t know why.
On the age of, and reasons for, the Egyptian pyramids.
Along with Greek rules around masturbation (see above) the ancient world had various rules about with female beauty. [££££]
Two rare Roman cavalry swords from around 200AD have been found in the Cotswolds.
On a similar note, an early medieval warrior buried with his weapons has been found in Germany.
In around 900AD there was a very powerful woman who ruled over that Papacy.
On the involvement of the Templars in the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.
A bit further on … a 14th-century cannon has been found off Swedish coast.
Cannibalism in human history has rarely been just about eating to survive.
An Ode to the Rag-and-Bone Man.
Food, Drink
Notable Sandwiches #68: Francesinha e Francesinha Poveira.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Do opposites attract? Apparently not as research is suggesting that couples are more likely to be similar than different.
Another for the girls … Attractive though it may be, in more ways than one, apparently going braless does come at a cost. However if you’re going to wear a bra, then find your correct size, ‘cos it probably isn’t what you think.
So what is it about school nicknames? Harry Mount suggests that while they can be fantastically rude, the ruder they are, the more affectionate.
Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!
Finally, this year’s Ig Nobel Prize winners have been revealed.
