Category Archives: history

current affairs, history, thoughts, topographical

Notre Dame de Paris

Devastating though it is, Vulcan failed in his mission to reduce Notre Dame de Paris to a pile of ash and rubble. I enjoy watching disasters like this, and plane crashes, not from a a sense of morbid curiosity but from a forensic and analytical perspective; I’m curious about the how, why, what was the cause, and what next.

While one hates to see any medieval, historic, and important building – let alone a church – reduced as it has been, it is equally irritating to see Vulcan not finish the job! The Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris did an heroic job, against all the odds, and won. But let’s be honest, this fire is a grand calamity for the cathedral, for France, and for the French. And it is a truly sorry sight.

It could easily have been so much worse. As one Parisian official has said there was a critical 15-30 minutes, which I presume is referring to the time when the flames reached the NW and SW towers but was contained before it took hold there. If either tower had gone up in flames all bets were off as those towers contain the bells which would almost certainly have fallen, destroying masonry and probably bringing down a large amount of the stone structure if only through a domino effect.

The French government has committed to rebuild the cathedral and somewhere around €1bn of private money has already been pledged to help finance this. Such is the understandable, predictable, knee-jerk reaction. But should Notre Dame be rebuilt? I suggest that maybe it shouldn’t – and not just because of the horrendous cost.

Clearly the remaining structure has to be made safe. After that why not conserve what remains to preserve the medieval splendour. Then do something modern (but, of course this being France, tasteful) which will commemorate the fire as a remarkable event in the cathedral’s history and the heroic efforts of les pompiers. Why not install a transparent (glass, probably) roof so that light (the light of God?) continues to shine through the holes in the stone vaulting emphasising what very nearly didn’t survive. After all the photographic record, and existing skills, are so good that there is little to be gained from remaking the lost parts. Well at least that’s what I would be tempted to do.

I’ve been to Notre Dame twice, and I didn’t like it. It didn’t just leave me cold, I had a feeling of the sinister, even evil, there – and that’s unusual for me in a church (despite my lack of belief). So from an totally personal perspective I would not have been too distraught had the whole building been destroyed. But that’s not to be (at least yet) and a major rebuild of some form will happen. Which is probably as it should be.

history, links, medical, people, science

Monthly Links

Here we go again with this month’s pointers to curiosities you missed earlier. Not so much science this month!

Science, Technology & Natural World

Scientists are resurrecting some old, apparently safer and greener, nuclear technology.

Mice sing. They sing in ultrasound which we can’t hear (but apparently cats can). And they sing politely to each other!

Health & Medicine

Medics have discovered only the second ever known pair of semi-identical (or sesquizygotic) twins. It’s a weirdness we were always told couldn’t happen; obviously it can but very, very rarely.

Many of us know someone who has panic attacks; some of us even suffer ourselves. Here are seven ways in which you can help someone through a panic attack.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

So many top leaders seem to be totally incompetent. So just how do incompetent men rise to the top?

It was hard to decide where best to put this next item … Researchers are suggesting that “big religion” may be being given too much credit for the evolution of modern society. But how will we ever know?

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Palaeontologists have discovered an enormous haul of very well preserved, 500 million year old, fossil species in China.

Recently unearthed archaeological evidence suggests that humans have been living in Australia since about 120,000 years ago – that’s twice as long as previously thought.

Somewhat nearer our times, archaeologists have found the wreck of a ship in the Nile which shows that Herodotus was right about Ancient Egyptian shipbuilding almost 2500 years ago.

And coming almost up to date, DNA testing has shown that the crew of Henry VIII’s ship Mary Rose was from the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Excellence is something we all strive for. But the thought now is that excellence is overrated, even destructive, and we should be cultivating “good enough”.

The world is getting more and more extrovert, so us introverts are feeling more and more guilty at declining invitations or struggling through social obligations. Here’s how one young woman learnt to accept her introversion.

Food & Drink

A company called Garçon Wines is proposing to make flat, rectangular wine bottles from PET plastic. Maybe they’re not as elegant as round bottles but they apparently save huge amounts on shipping and are recyclable.

People

Many of us have small, insignificant birthmarks, but congenital melanocytic naevus (CMN), where birthmarks cover a large area of the skin, is quite rare. It can also be very emotionally disturbing. Now 30 people with CMN have been photographed almost nude for an international exhibition by Brock Elbank. The aim is to make everyone, sufferers and the public, more comfortable with CMN.

More next month …

history, ramblings

Easter? Confused?

One of our favourite London bloggers, Diamond Geezer, earlier this week picked up on something I’d missed.

If you follow the rule, Easter should be this weekend – the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. The Equinox was on 20 March and the full moon on 21 March. This would make Easter almost as early as it ever can be.

But it isn’t.

Easter isn’t until 21 April, apparently a full four weeks late, and almost as late as it can be!

WTF is going on?

Well it turns out that the rule isn’t quite what we think it is. Why? Because it was set by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD who, amongst other things, set the date of the Equinox in concrete as 21 March when it actually moves around by a day or so. No-one has since redefined it.

This means in some years Easter falls on what appears to be the wrong date, although this is only likely if the full moon and the Equinox are very close together, as they are this year.

I’ll leave it as an exercise for the student to read DG’s post and understand the details.

Another example of the Law of Things Aren’t What They Seem.

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

So here goes with this month’s selection of items you may have missed the first time round. And there is quite a lot in this month!

Science, Technology & Natural World

Death-Cap Mushrooms are spreading across North America. But why? [LONG READ]

If you don’t like stinging things, look away now … The world’s largest bee has been found in Indonesia, after having not been seen for almost 40 years. And as stinging things go, it is huge!

One from the “I didn’t know that” box … Apparently (and I’ve not yet tried this) grapes can ignite in the microwave. And now scientists have worked out why.

After a long period of relative stagnation, scientists are now trying to work out why the magnetic north pole is moving fast towards Russia.

Health & Medicine

There are male and female brains, right? Wrong; there aren’t; just brains which are moulded slightly differently by our sexist culture.

The hormone testosterone is the thing which makes boys, well boys. Well not entirely: there’s also androsterone which is not produced in the testes. Also it seems that boys also go through several periods of “puberty”.

It seems that there are molecules in ginger which can remodel our microbiome (the flora & fauna that live in our guts).

Sexuality

Book Review: 100 women reveal their vulvas in words and pictures.

The clitoris is a gift, and we need to get over this if we are to really tackle FGM.

The Crown Prosecution Service has decided that pornographic adult consensual sex is no longer taboo. “In principle, anything which is legal to consent to doing is now legal to consent to distribute images of, providing the likely audience is over the age of 18.”

Apparently the female human body blocks weak sperm. Well who would have guessed?

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Ocado, the grocery supplier, recently lost a huge warehouse to a major fire. BBC reporter Zoe Kleinman visited one of their warehouses to see how their leading edge automation in action.

Art & Literature

After far too many years, the British Library are finally making their collection of obscene writing more generally available online – through accredited institutions and in their reading rooms.

London’s National Portrait Gallery has an exhibition of Elizabethan miniatures by Hilliard and Oliver, including one of Sir Walter Ralegh (right).

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

There is a cave, in Siberia’s Altai Mountains, where Neandertals and Denisovans set up home – and it’s challenging our view of cultural evolution.

The first evidence of beer brewing in Britain has been found in Cambridgeshire.

At the other end, the remains of a three person, 12th-century, loo seat is going on display at the Museum of London Docklands.

A guy called John Harding has spent the last 20 years tracking down and cataloguing carvings of naked women showing off their genitals (aka. Sheela-na-gigs) on Britain’s churches.

After which we can only go to the gateway to Hell! A cave in Nottinghamshire has been found to contain a huge number of anti-witch graffiti.

HMS Victory – taht’s the one before the famous one – is an abandoned shipwreck in the English Channel. And now there’s an argument over whether it should be raped by archaeologists or left to decay in peace.

London

Ianvisits goes to London’s newest cathedral.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

In Sweden there’s a “stylish” shopping mall where everything is recycled, reused or upcycled.

There are people around who have decided to make not buying new closthes a lifestyle and a business.

Women across the world stopped depilating for Januhairy. Here four of them talk about what they learnt.

There’s a new emoji for menstruation. But it seems to me, and many others, to be a bit too weak.

Fed up with being positive all the time? Then don’t. Take note of what makes you annoyed and feel negative; and just see the benefits!

Food & Drink

So do you eat mouldy jam? The Prime Minister says she does, but should you? The experts consider.

Shock, Horror, Humour

And finally … There’s a woman in Glasgow who can taste your name. I feel for all the jacks and Johns out there.

Toodle Pip.

environment, history, medical, science, topographical

Monthly Links

2 Comments

Blimey! It can’t be the end of January already – Christmas was only last week! Well anyway here is the monthly selection of links to items you may have missed, and there’s a lot of it this month.

Science, Technology & Natural World

Why do cats have rasping tongues? It isn’t primarily for cleaning meat off bones as most of the bones a cat would encounter in the wild would be small enough for them to crunch up. No their tongues are ideally suited for keeping their fur properly groomed so it stays waterproof and insulating. And I’ve noticed, from having had quite a few cats, that female cats’ tongues are raspier than males – presumably to better groom their kittens.

The immediate challenges with Artificial Intelligence are not that it may take over but far more philosophical.

Almost three hundred years on a scientist corrects the physiological errors in Gulliver’s Travels

Health & Medicine

So how does ‘flu kill people? Spoiler: It doesn’t.

Haemochromatosis is a genetic disease where the body stores dangerously too much iron, and it’s a bigger problem than was hitherto realised.

There’s a lot of debate over whether cannabis is good or bad for mental health. Jonathan Stea on the Scientific American blog investigates.

A recent study has found that around half of people who think they have a food allergy actually don’t.

In another recent study medics have found that many people with back pain are told to do the exact opposite of what the science says works. [LONG READ]

Most of us get the “winter blues” to some degree, but for some (like me) it is full-blown Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Whether you’re one of the unlucky ones may be related to the colour of your eyes.

As I have always suspected, the need for sunscreen is somewhat over inflated. [LONG READ]

[trigger warning] And finally in this section, it seems that miscarriages could be the result of damaged sperm.

Sexuality

Thoughts on how parents should talk to their children about sex.

On women, desire and why their ability to orgasm is supposedly so mysterious.

Environment

Focusing on how individuals can help limit climate change is very convenient for corporations as it takes then focus off them.

That great British tradition, the lawn, is actually not very environmentally friendly.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

I wasn’t sure where this best fits … Apparently most UK police forces fail to meet fingerprint evidence standards. (That’s not really surprising since there has never been a rigorous scientific study of the evidence as to whether fingerprints are reliable.)

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Recent DNA studies are fermenting a brouhaha in India over who were the first Indians.

A tumbledown Welsh farmstead (above) has been discovered to be a rare medieval hall house. And now you can stay there.

The worriers are out to tell us that everyday Victorian and Edwardian objects were far too dangerous, although uranium glass certainly isn’t one of them (it is negligibly radioactive).

Once upon a time Britain was protected by some large concrete blocks.

London

Near Great Portland Street underground station, archaeologists have found an almost intact 18th-century ice house.

London’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology houses one of the greatest collections of ancient Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world, but it is well hidden.

London’s weather in 2018.

What to London Underground’s service announcements actually mean? Well it depends, and it’s complicated.

Here’s a report of the major mess which Crossrail is in. How does any project manager get here?

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Apparently, and to my surprise, the second-hand book trade is thriving.

Throw it away! Decluttering is actually good for you.

Gesshin Claire Greenwood, one of our favourite zen masters, considers Marie Kondo, Japanese Buddhism and breaking away from tradition.

Is it possible to live without plastic? Pioneer families show how it can be done.

Bicarb, vinegar, lemon juice: how to clean your house, efficiently, the old-fashioned way.

Here are a clutch of everyday objects with features you didn’t know were there, or didn’t know their purpose.

Apparently millennials are burnt-out. You mean every corporate employee isn’t?.

Late nights and erratic sleep patterns produce social jetlag and make you ill.

Of Walls and Squirrels. Our other favourite zen master, Brad Warner, on not sweating the things we can’t control.

What are the effects of total isolation, and can we cope with it?

Veganism is on the rise, but is it the latest piece of cynical marketing, or is it really the future of food. [LONG READ]

To sleep nude or in pyjamas? Which is better for your health?

Food & Drink

Five, allegedly important, genetically modified fruit. Maybe.

Shock, Horror, Humour

And finally … I do love it when the experts get their comeuppance! An apparently ancient Scottish stone circle was built in 1990s by a farmer.

More next month. Be good!

current affairs, history, thoughts

Historical Precedent?

I’ve been thinking recently about the UK’s current political mess. I don’t pretend that what follows is necessarily new or entirely original – I’ve certainly seen parts of it elsewhere, see for instance here and here – but I do find it illuminating as well as rather worrying.

It seems to me that the situation we’re in at the moment is a very nice combination of Henry VIII and Charles I. Bear with me …

First there was Henry VIII telling he Pope for f*** off (1532-4), for no reason other than his own vanity; and being excommunicated for his pains (1535). He also managed to ensure he was able to amend, or institute, any law he chose, at any time, with never-ending powers (effectively ignoring Magna Carta).

A hundred years later we have Charles I who thought he could rule by divine right, while ignoring and/or riding roughshod over Parliament. But Parliament was having none of it, thus leading to the Civil War and Interregnum of 1642-1660. Parliament, of course, won. When the Commonwealth fell apart (as such chaos so often does), the Restoration in 1660 brought a country with a more robust form of parliamentary government.

This seems to me to be more than a little like where we are at the moment.

We have a government (executive) who are basically telling the EU to f*** off, with exactly the reaction one would expect from an EU who hold all the cards. The executive are granting themselves Henry VIII powers – the ability to amend large swathes of legislation, as they choose, with no reference to Parliament. And they’re attempting to side-line and/or bully Parliament. Yet again Parliament is having none of it (despite not knowing what they do want) and is fighting back.

Ultimately I suspect Parliament will win (possibly with a little help from the Judiciary), but not before there’s been huge damage inflicted on the country as a whole. Eventually (in maybe 10 or 20 years) the country will hopefully emerge with strengthened parliamentary government and a fully codified and written constitution, although perhaps at the expense of a break-up of the federation.

But it will take many decades for the country to recover economic prosperity, and then only if the plunge into being an under-developed third-world country can be avoided. However I’ll not be here to see it.

It isn’t going to be pretty, or comfortable.

May your god go with you.

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

So here we are for our last post of 2018, and this month’s links to items you may have missed before. As usual we’ll start with the scientific and get easier as we go along – so hang in there!

Science, Technology & Natural World

Forty-one years ago (that’s 1977) NASA launched the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes to investigate the outer planets. Voyager 1 left the solar system and entered interstellar space some six years ago. And it has now been confirmed that Voyager 2 passed the same landmark on 5 November 2018. Amazingly both probes are still alive and beaming information back to us using their tiny 20w transmitters, although their plutonium power sources will eventually run out and the probes will be dead on arrival at a nearby star in about 40,000 years time. What an incredible achievement! It is feats like this that make me proud to be a scientist.

We know earthquakes mostly happen along the boundaries of tectonic plates. But not all do; some happen far from plate boundaries. Seismologists are now beginning to think that (some of) these “remote” earthquakes may be caused by rivers moving huge amounts of material over the millennia.

Benjamin Franklin is well known for many things, one of them being his experiments with kites and lightning which led to his development of the lightning conductor. But he had another great electrical discovery to his credit: turkey tenderisation – in the process of which he nearly killed himself.

I wonder if anyone can tell us what glitter is, and how it’s made?

Apparently the Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning a little less.

Wasps. And why we might miss them.

Where grows the mistletoe?

Health & Medicine

1918 saw the destructive Influenza Pandemic. What progress has been made since then?

Meanwhile we have few clues about Disease X, the next pandemic to hit London – as one surely will sooner or later.

Researchers reckon they’ve discovered a genetic cause that links erectile dysfunction and Type-2 diabetes.

Are you shitting comfortably? Actually, probably not. [LONG READ]

So why are more boys born than girls – especially when there are more adult women than men?

Sexuality

The Going Medieval blog dissects the very idea of No Nut November. [LONG READ]

Environment

The Guardian suggests 24 ways in which we can embrace an anti-capitalist life in a capitalist world.

And then here are four actions would help tackle the global plastic crisis.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Researchers reckon they’ve found stone tools which suggest that human ancestors spread into north Africa much earlier than previously thought.

Analysis of various records has highlighted London’s murder hotspots.

Meanwhile in the River Thames there is the mystery of the skeleton still wearing his thigh boots.

When and where were the first traffic lights? Answer: Parliament Square in 1868 – long before the motor car.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Some thoughts on how to be a better spouse from Scientific American.

And finally for this year …

Since 1904, King William’s College on the Isle of Man has set an annual general knowledge test. In the past pupils sat the test twice: once unseen on the day before the Christmas holidays, and again when they returned to school in the New Year, after spending the holiday researching the answers. The test (now voluntary) is highly difficult, a common score being just two correct answers from the 180 questions, with best scores of 40 to 50 for the unseen test. The quiz has been published in the Guardian since 1951 – and you can find the 2018 test in the Guardian or on the King William’s College website. Good luck!

That’s all for this year, so here’s wishing everyone a peaceful and successful 2019. The Kindly Ones permitting we’ll be back after the fireworks.

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

WTF happened there? Where has this year gone? It’s already the end of November and we’re deep into SAD season. But let’s not despair ‘cos here’s our monthly selection of links to items you might have missed the first time round.

Science, Technology & Natural World

If you’re an AI designer the Law of Unintended Consequences is never far away. Such systems are well known for gaming the system with a solution that satisfies the stated objective but fails to solve the problem according to the human designer’s intent. There’ll be some examples at the end of this post.

A violent storm on the Sun could cripple communications on Earth and cause huge economic damage, but why are solar storms such a threat?

Health & Medicine

Here are six surprising drug interactions which often fly under the radar but which you should know about. Even I knew about only two of them.

This one is definitely straight out of the “I Don’t Believe It” drawer … apparently llama blood may provide clues to beating the flu.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth are investigating how the proportion of fat and glandular tissue affects the perkiness of boobs, and why one bra design doesn’t fit all.

Our favourite OB/GYN, Dr Jen Gunter, takes a look at the menopause, and her personal experience in deciding how to manage it.

GPs in England are being encouraged to prescribe social activities to their patients as part of the government’s strategy to combat loneliness. But this is raising some ethical questions: are the consequences acceptable and does the initiative respect people as people?

As so often, the ancient Chinese had an inventive way of doing things: pay your doctor as long as you’re healthy; when you’re sick they’ve failed and don’t get paid.

Sexuality

Here’s one good example of why we must not be too scared to talk about teenagers having sex.

Labour MP Jess Phillips is campaigning to ensure girls are taught about their sexuality from a young age so they form healthy sexual relationships as adults and not just “how to handle and dispose of men’s pleasure safely”. Read her views here and here.

On the other side of the coin, a survey confirms that stress damages many people’s sex lives.

So now relax ‘cos you’re unlikely to be masturbating too much.

Environment

Scientific American looks at why we really do need innovative nuclear power.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Researchers have been taking an in depth look at Neanderthal teeth, and discovering some surprisingly intimate details of their daily life.

Meanwhile others have been dating the oldest known animal painting which has been found in a cave in Borneo. I’m glad they know it’s an animal.

Still with animals but much closer to home, archaeologists at the Vindolanda fort have uncovered a Roman dog with fur intact. Well they say it’s Roman, but they also say it is 2000 years old: both cannot be true!

Yet another group, this time at the British Museum, have been delving into Egyptian fashion and examining a 1700-year-old child’s left sock.

Since Ancient Roman times, and right up to Hollywood, witches have been seen as figures of fun as well as malevolence.

From at least 1000 years ago the Peruvians were into making holes in their heads.

Finally in this section, and coming almost up to date, a dredging project at Blenheim Palace has uncovered over 30 rooms flooded when Capability Brown created the estates lakes.

Food & Drink

The Marine Conservation Society has been looking at the humble fish finger and found that they are surprisingly sustainable and some of the best products to buy are also the cheapest.

Shock, Horror, Humour

Finally, we promised some more on the unintended consequences of AI. There are quite a few examples in a Google document, including these two:

A self-driving car which was rewarded for speed learnt to spin in circles.

In an artificial life simulation where survival required energy but giving birth had no energy cost, one species evolved a sedentary lifestyle that consisted mostly of mating in order to produce new children which could be eaten (or used as mates to produce more edible children).

Remember: If a system can be gamed, someone or something will game it.

Enjoy your Christmas turkey!

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

So here’s our monthly selection of links to items you may have missed, but will wish you hadn’t. As usual we’ll start with the science-y stuff and go downhill from there.

Science, Technology & Natural World

Astronomers are still on the hunt for “Planet 9” which they think lies way beyond Pluto. And they’ve found a strange, but small, object – nicknamed “The Goblin” – which may provide more clues on where they should be looking.

At home, researchers are looking at the effects of climate change and rising sea levels, and asking which cities will sink into the sea first. The answer may not be what one would intuitively expect.

Talking of the sea, it’s long been thought that few things predated jellyfish, but this turns out to be wrong.

Meanwhile on land it is being suggested that cats are pretty useless at catching rats and prefer smaller prey. Well they had better not tell our felines that!

However the ability of crows to make tools is giving some insights into how the brain generally works.

I wasn’t sure whether this next item belongs here or under “Environment” but it is sufficiently technical I left it here … It is being suggested that we could store unpredictable energy, like solar and wind, using compressed air. It sounds crazy, but might work.

Health & Medicine

There’s a muscle-weakening disease popping up in America which affects children and looks a lot like polio (but isn’t). And weirdly it seems to have a two-year cycle.

Are you like me and have problems with sleep? If so it may be that you’re over-tired.

Still thinking bout sleep, a researcher seems to have worked out why it is that we take so long to wake up and get going in the mornings. And that caffeine doesn’t actually help.

But then it is being recognised that people sometimes just give up and die.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are women who suffer from tokophobia: an extreme fear of pregnancy and childbirth.

Finally in this section, here’s a piece about the medicinal leech and how to farm it. They’re strange beasties with 10 stomachs, 32 brains and 18 testicles!

Art & Literature

No good adventure story, and many others, would be complete without a good map. Here a few writers tell of their favourite literary maps.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

There’s a puzzle in ancient historical research: how do we know which historical accounts are true? And as one professional demonstrates it isn’t as simple as all oral history is make-believe.

Opium has been known and used for more than 7,000 years. There’s a new book Milk of Paradise: A History of Opium by Lucy Inglis, reviewed in History Today.

King Henry I is said to have died of a surfeit of lampreys, and now archaeologists in London have found lamprey teeth in a medieval layer near the Mansion House. Although lampreys were a medieval delicacy, their teeth are rare (these are the first found in London, and only the second in the UK) as they are made of keratin (like nails and hooves) rather than dental enamel.

Someone has found an old red velvet bag (right) in a Tudor house once occupied by Walter Raleigh’s son and widow. They think it may have been used to carry around Raleigh’s mummified head. It looks more like a 1970s girl’s gym kit bag to me!

London

Have you ever wondered just how much stuff any city transport system actually owns. Here Diamond Geezer looks at Transport for London’s assets, and the scale is somewhat frightening!

Lifestyle & Personal Development

One scientist is annoyed that the likes of the media won’t recognise that her doctorate confers the title “Dr” – because she’s not medic. I find the medical profession are the worst offenders in this regard.

We all doodle, at least sometimes. It turns out your doodles could be important and meaningful.

The ability to do simple, “order of magnitude”, calculations on the back of an envelope is important for learning, verifying your answers and demystifying things like geological time. It is something I was taught, at school as a teenager, to check if answers to science/maths exam questions were likely to be right – and it has turned out to be an invaluable skill.

And finally this month … A Buddhist look at trigger warnings and fixing the world. TL;DR: don’t.

history, words

Word: Khipu

1 Comment

Khipu

Pronounced “key-poo”.

A device consisting of cords or threads of different colours arranged and knotted in various ways, used originally by the Incas of Peru and the surrounding areas for recording events, keeping accounts, sending messages, etc.

So basically this is the old Inca system of recording using intricately connected, coloured and knotted cords. This included numerical recording using a decimal number system, and it is now being thought was also textual as well as numeral. There’s an interesting article on this in the current issue of New Scientist [paywall].

The word has multiple origins being partly a borrowing from Spanish and partly Quechua. It arrived in English, via the Spanish, around 1580.