Tag Archives: biology

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for February

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Our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

How could we even know what came before the Big Bang? [LONG READ] [££££]

Which brings us on to some misconceptions about the universe.

At the other end of the unknowable, there’s growing evidence that some giant “Blobs” of rock have influenced Earth’s magnetic field for millions of years.

Compared with which it seems tame that researchers having managed to isolate antibiotic-resistant ancient bacteria from 5000-year-old ice.

So we’re gradually going down in size to take a look at the jam-packed nature of cells.

Meanwhile our favourite drug chemist, Derek Lowe, takes a look at the parlous state of scientific research literature.

Health, Medicine

A surgeon looks at the protection afforded by bone and hormone health.

Trigger warning … the rare condition that produces a calcified foetus.

It is totally normal for our skin to be home to countless mites.

Was the 1889 “flu” pandemic actually a coronavirus?

Sexuality & Relationships

Why do women Lose interest in sex? On the causes of low libido.

Scientific American takes a long, hard and rational look at the workings of polyamory. [££££] [LONG READ]

NSFW … Just when did penis size become important in Japan?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

It is becoming increasingly apparent that ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we thought. [££££] [LONG READ]

The rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game have supposedly been worked out by AI. [££££]

Early medieval swords found in child graves in Kent suggest they were not just weapons.

Another pandemic item … it seems a mass grave in Jordan is providing new light on our earliest recorded pandemic, the Plaque of Justinian.

Our notions of foul drinking water in the Middle Ages are far from accurate.

We hear of heralds, on and off, throughout European history, but what do heralds actually do?

London

Matt Brown is back having coloured another section of John Roque’s 1746 map of London. This time Victoria and Pimlico. And he follows this up with a look at the very soggy state of Pimlico.

Underneath South Kensington (aka. Albertopolis) there’s a subterranean passage.

Back above ground Matt Brown (again) has a bit of fun with London’s street signs, and Katie Wignall goes looking for some of the city’s oldest street signs.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

A psychologist offers some ideas for staying positive when it never stops raining.

Well it was news to me but it seems there’s a new trend for showering in the dark before bed. Whether or not there’s any scientific justification, I think I’ll pass – thank you.

And finally … By way of puffing her new book, Karin Celestine asks “What is in your pockets?”

Image: Karin Celestine
memes, science

February Quiz Answers

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Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Biology

  1. What is the biggest cat species in the world? Siberian Tiger
  2. What is the world’s fastest bird? Peregrine falcon
  3. What is the process by which plants convert sunlight to energy? Photosynthesis
  4. How many eyes does a bee have? Five
  5. How many bones does a shark have? None (a shark’s skeleton is made entirely of cartilage)
  6. What colours are flamingos born? Grey

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

memes, science

February Quiz Questions

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Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month.
As always, they’re designed to be tricky but not impossible, so it’s unlikely everyone will know all the answers – just have a bit of fun.

Biology

  1. What is the biggest cat species in the world?
  2. What is the world’s fastest bird?
  3. What is the process by which plants convert sunlight to energy?
  4. How many eyes does a bee have?
  5. How many bones does a shark have?
  6. What colours are flamingos born?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

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And they’re off … with the first collection for 2026 of monthly links to items you may have missed. This is a short edition (mainly due to the holidays) but it is full of curiosities. As always we start with the hardest stuff …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with a really interesting curiosity. A woman who was murdered in China has been found to have varying proportions of male and female cells throughout her body, due to an exceedingly rare form of chimerism. [££££]

Still on curiosities, there’s a fungus (above) in China, and a few other places, which if eaten when not fully cooked causes people to hallucinate dozens of tiny humans – and reliably only this hallucination!

How many holes does the human body have? It’s really all a question of topology and how you define a hole.

Hallucigenia (below) was such an odd animal that we know very little about it, but researchers are beginning to understand what it ate. [££££]

OK, so now let’s think about the sex life of plants, because it is a lot more complicated than we imagine.

And now the land itself … Scientists have now managed to map, in detail, the landscape of Antarctica beneath the ice.

Health, Medicine

The Covid-19 pandemic has left a hidden toll of millions of undiagnosed chronic conditions.

Next up we have two pieces on the curiosity which is synaesthesia:
First a young lady with time-space synaesthesia on how it affects her experience of events like new year.
Secondly, a pair of twins talk about what it’s like to also have the same synaesthesia.

And in an attempt to cap that, here’s a brief piece on the wild history of the hymen.

Environment & Ecology

The iconic green rose-ringed parakeets (below) a have been spreading across the UK since their escape 50+ years ago; and they’re now causing concern in some quarters (although personally I like having them around).

There are naturally stingless bees in the Amazon, and they’ve now been granted legal rights in parts of Peru.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

The interesting story of when the United Kingdom annexed an island in the North Atlantic.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A look at the curious etymology of OK.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have made an absolutely stunning find of an iron age war trumpet (modern French reproduction carnyx below) and a boar’s head standard, with possible links to Boudicca.

In another major find, archaeologists have unearthed a hoard of Saxon coins which appear to have been buried on just before the Battle Hastings in 1066.

London

Not a lot of people know that there’s a medieval hall in Holborn.

Matt Brown investigates whether AI is any good at making maps of London. Spoiler: it isn’t.

But finally we don’t need AI as Matt Brown has released the latest panel in his project to colour John Rocque’s 1746 map of London: when Marylebone was all fields

history, links, nudism, science

Monthly Links

And so this year’s final collection of links to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start off with some seasonal stars … Here are three stars embroiled in an odd ménage à trois (below).

After which the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a manger for exomoons. [££££]

There’s a huge, faint nebula near Andromeda, but now researchers have managed to work out how far away it is.

Now down to Earth … Here are two reports on the somewhat surprising story of how we were domesticated by cats. First from Scientific American [££££] and the second from the BBC.

Research into the remains of ancient DNA have revealed the carrier of the world’s earliest known plague.

Here’s a little experiment to do at home: how close you can get to the value of π (pi) by repeating Buffon’s needle experiment.

Lastly in this section, here’s something I actually saw … pink fog. It was very odd and rather eerie.

Health, Medicine

When should we undertake mass screening, and when shouldn’t we?

Sexuality & Relationships

So just how monogamous are humans? And where are we in a league table of species?

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Let’s hope this isn’t the thin end of the wedge … the Danish postal service is to stop delivering letters.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

For those interested in language, here’s a brief look at the history of the word c*nt.

Here’s a look at the 2000+ history of sex workers in art. [LONG READ]

Musicians and scientists are now understanding and recreating the sound of music from the Stone Age. [LONG READ]
Meanwhile shells found in Spain could be among oldest known musical instruments.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

In Bolivia they’ve uncovered over 16,000 dinosaur tracks – that’s the largest such known field.

It’s being suggested that an ancient hominin called Little Foot may be a newly recognised species.

Still on palaeontology, finds at a site in Suffolk are suggesting that humans made fire some 350,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Ever onward … and a new study is suggesting people arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have found yet another massive structure close to Stonehenge.

While at the other end of the country archaeologists have found a 3,000-year-old mysterious mass burial site in Scotland.

Here’s something I thought we already new … Ancient Roman cement from Pompeii is revealing the secrets of its durability. [££££]

New DNA work on a Roman era young woman found in southern England has revealed that she wasn’t dark skinned after all.

Now here’s an odd one: it is being suggested that the Black Death plague which swept Europe in 14th-century was triggered by a volcanic eruption.

London

Matt Brown is continuing his work on mapping with a big update to his map of Anglo-Saxon London.

In other work Matt Brown takes a look at the forgotten Thorney Island, now know as Westminster.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Here are some thoughts on the way in which hospitality can bruise us mentally and emotionally.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

Finally for this year, two amusements …

First, the Official Naturist Code.

And then a look at the curious biology of Santa Claus’s elves.

memes, science

July Quiz Answers

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Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal? The cheetah
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have? 3
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what? Penguin
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name? The Far Side
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820? Tomatoes
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour? Chlorophyll

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

memes, science

July Quiz Questions

1 Comment

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal?
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have?
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what?
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name?
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820?
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

arts, history, links, medical, nudism, photography, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for May

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Here is this month’s well packed collection of links to items you didn’t know you’d missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with something which has always been a bone of contention … Do we all see colour the same way? And if so why is it that what I describe as blue, you say is turquoise?

Research has found that chimpanzees have surprisingly good hygiene habits: they use leaves to wipe bums and clean up after sex.

Down in the ocean depths there is still mystery surrounding the largest light in the sea.

And now up in the air … we’ve long known about their intelligence, but now it appears that crows can do geometry.

Scientists try to imagine what it’s like to be a raven or crow.

And now to our own intelligence … Can you convincingly explain the Monty Hall problem?

Is there really an underlying mathematical sequence which this year’s Premier League title for Liverpool has highlighted?

So there’s a new Pope, but how is the Conclave’s tell-tale black and white smoke ensured?

We’ve all heard of antimatter, but now researchers have discovered anti-spice, which makes chillies less hot. [££££]

Talking of hot … astronomers are now suggesting that a nearby ancient supernova (below) is an invader from another galaxy. [££££]

A new theoretical study is proposing that the very existence of gravity is evidence that we are all part of a giant computer simulation.

Back with the (slightly) more mundane … there’s a collection of astronomers who spend their time trying to find and catalogue the seemingly infinite number of pieces of rock that whizz over our heads every day. [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

Just why do some of use get travel sick but others don’t?

Sexuality & Relationships

Here’s a look at sex, art and the art of sex in ancient Pompeii.

Environment & Ecology

Not just “no mow May” it needs to be “leave it alone June, July and August” … We’d help our declining butterflies (and many other species) by mowing our lawns a lot less.

Researchers are discovering that there really are fungal superhighways connecting things up under our feet.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s a look at whether Spencer Tunick’s massed nude bodies (below) constitute good nude photography or not. [LONG READ]

The Courtauld Institute in London has released a huge art photo archive online, and it’s free

Also in London, at the Cartoon Museum, there’s an exhibition of cartoon cats from Korky to Garfield.

They seem to be two unlikely bedfellows but Cockney and Yiddish influenced each other considerably in London’s East End.

Going back in time, here’s an introduction to the history of runes. [LONG READ]

Here’s the story of how English lost several letters from its alphabet. [LONG READ]

And English then underwent the Great Vowel Shift which further ruined both our spelling and writing. [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A visit to the Rollright Stones (above) – and IME they’re worth a visit. [LONG READ]

There’s a new study looking at pregnancy amongst the Vikings.

A look at the expansion of Medieval Europe. [LONG READ]

An American looks at what other Americans actually know about medieval history. [LONG READ]

It’s not quite a grimoire but the Picatrix contained all the secrets to becoming an evil wizard.

What was happening in London during the first English Civil War (1642-1646). [LONG READ]

In Austrian village there’s a mysterious mummified priest – and it turns out he was mummified via his rectum!

London

North-west London boasts several Black Madonnas.

Some of the Cold War tunnels under central London are to be turned into a permanent museum of military intelligence.

Food, Drink

How to reduce the risk of your fridge being a breeding ground for bacteria.

Aspartame: a calorie-free, but not risk-free, artificial sweetener.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So just how much can your name influence your future or occupation?

Here’s something on thinking slowly and recognising your biases and maybe improve your life. [LONG READ]

On the world of Berliners getting together in the nude. [LONG READ]

An Australian sex writer on learning to appreciate her curves.

And the same Australian sex writer on why she loves her full bush, even in a bikini.

On the naturist attitude to the inevitable erections.

Wow! Ha ha!

In 1990, in Calvine, Scotland, two men photographed what is reportedly the best UFO picture ever seen; but it’s remained a mystery.

And I’ll leave you with a little fable about the evolution of why women like performing oral sex.

Be good!

environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for April

This month’s links to items you maybe didn’t want to miss …

Science, Technology, Natural World

It’s fairly superficial, but here are 15 common science myths debunked. [LONG READ]

Robin McKie reflects on over 40 years as the Observer‘s science editor. [LONG READ]

Pharmaceutical chemist Derek Lowe takes issue with the idea that we could kill off all disease within 10 years.

Meanwhile Corey S Powell discusses why it is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence … [LONG READ]

… And Prof. Seirian Sumner outlines the how we might best create a more nature-literate society.

Somewhere hiding in Britain the government has a collection of deadly fungi.

The tiny and mysterious hominin Paranthropus lived alongside early members of our Homo genus. [££££]

After which it is maybe no great surprise that intelligence evolved at least twice in vertebrates. [LONG READ]

No wonder scientists have recently created the largest mammalian brain map to date. [££££]

Going back down the size scale … just how do insects and the smallest animals survive in Antarctica.

Still with insects, it turns out that flies are masters of migration, travelling huge distances.

Back up in size, a group claims to have de-extincted the Dire Wolf, but have they? Two articles (amongst the many in recent weeks): a blog post from Bethany Brookshire [LONG READ] and an op-ed from Michael Le Page in New Scientist [££££]. Spoiler: No they haven’t.

And now for something completely different … new work is finding that astronomers were wrong about Uranus and it resolves some mysteries.

Much more interestingly, astronomers are trying to work out what’s happening inside Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io.

Health, Medicine

Researchers are now beginning to understand the actual role of carbon dioxide in airborne disease transmission, and this should be a key to safer indoor spaces.

Professor of Mathematical Biology, Kit Yates, asks whether the risks of brain injury in contact sports is being overstated. [LONG READ]

Drinking urine is an ancient practice to improve health, but are the risks worth it?

Sexuality & Relationships

Dani Faith Leonard writes a review of the medical discovery of the clitoris, and takes a sideswipe at DOGE incels in the process.

Here’s a history of (not just pubic) hair removal through the ages. [LONG READ]

And then there’s a pictorial history of the “full bush”. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile a different sex writer talks about her approach to “self-pleasure”.

Now over to you boys … First off, just what is the relation of penis size to monogamy?

And when you’ve got over that shock … apparently you need to wake up to your declining fertility. [££££]

All together now … Here are some thoughts on why some marriages last while others fail.

Which brings us to various ways to improve a sexless marriage.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Following which, this seems an opportune time to consider nine ways to spot falsehoods on the loose.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

So from a linguistics point of view apparently “she” is a very weird word. [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have uncovered a huge horad of Iron Age metal work; everything from cauldrons to horse harness fittings.

If you’re a Roman, how do you get a lion from Africa to York? Because a skeleton (presumably of a gladiator) in a Roman York cemetery has bite marks made by a lion and is the first physical evidence of gladiators (well people) fighting lions as sport.

History is sometimes hard to understand and interpret, but it seems Christopher Marlowe tackled the problematic Edward II.

Archaeologists in Barcelona have uncovered the remains of a wrecked medieval boat.

Mercury and weasel balls … medieval treatments so often make one doubt the sanity of ancient medicine.

Newly discovered wall paintings show off the tastes of wealthy Tudors.

And finally for this month … there’s a brouhaha over the display of a book bound in the skin of a 19th-century Suffolk murderer.

natural history, science

Nature’s Legs

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A few days ago I spotted a mosquito on the bathroom wall. Now we’ve all seen mosquitos before but on this occasion I was fascinated by it’s size and anatomy – especially its incredible legs; thin as the finest silk thread.

Culex mosquito
Culex mosquito

How does Nature make such structures – and make them functional? Scientist though I am, it baffles my brain and I can quite see why some people believe in “intelligent design”.

Surely those legs cannot be anything more than stiff supports. Insects have an exoskeleton in contrast to our endoskeleton. The legs need nerves, muscles and circulation to make then more than fixed supports. Legs can move, allowing their owner to walk, clean itself, and even jump. The muscles have to attach to the inside of the exoskeleton, and there have to be nerves – and a method of supplying energy – to trigger them into action.

Insect circulation doesn’t work the way ours does as they do not have hearts: basically they use haemolymph which can diffuse around their small bodies, or be pumped by, for instance, muscular membranes. Some insects use this as a system of hydraulics, in combination with the muscles, to move legs etc. – apparently muscles to move a joint one way, and hydraulics for the reverse. All of which must be under some form of nerve control – and they don’t have that many nerves running from their tiny brains.

Even more weirdly, some insects (eg. jumping spiders, plant hoppers) have a system of gears which work their legs. Crazy or what?

two rice brown plant hoppers
Rice brown planthopper

Just how can these structures be created? You would think they’re so tiny they cannot be even one cell thick – but they have to be many, many cells thick. Which just goes to show how tiny our cells are.

I know evolution has had billions of years to achieve its designs, but I still struggle with how any living thing works or has evolved. Yes, I know the theories, and I can understand it as abstract pieces of mechanics and chemistry. However I really struggle coming to terms with how it all evolved, how it all works – together – and the sheer complexity of living organisms. When you think about it, it really shouldn’t be possible.