Category Archives: links

food+drink, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links, October

So once more, somehow, another month passes and we come around again to this month’s selection of links to items you didn’t know you didn’t want to miss!

Science, Technology, Natural World

Starting here, it’s all downhill, because it seems that a lot of science is actually faked.

Fly brains may be tiny in size but they’re still stuffed with very complex inter-weavings of thousands of neurons, so it’s amazing that researchers have managed to map every neuron. Two reports, first from BBC, and second from Scientific American [££££].

At a different level, scientists have analysed ancient DNA to unravel how the endangered Iberian Lynx avoided extinction.

Some fish in the sea are so bizarre … here’s one that walks on six legs, and those legs can smell its prey in the sand. [££££]

Still at sea, but now above the water, research has found that the windless doldrums around the equator are caused in a completely different way than previously thought.

Staying with things geographical, apparently Mount Everest is still getting taller and not quite in the way we might expect.

It’s no great surprise that scientists have found that the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs was not a one-off.

And talking of meteorites, there was a mega meteorite about 3 billion years ago which was at least the size of Greater London which boiled the ocean and created a 500km wide crater.

NASA has shut down one of Voyager 2’s five remaining instruments to save power.

And finally in this section, did the early universe balloon in size with “cosmic inflation“, or is there a much simpler explanation?

Health, Medicine

This month’s medical matters are all to do with reproduction, in one way or another …

There are many genetic changes that link puberty to other aspects of physiology and affect its timing.

Prof. Christina Pagel highlights why we need to stop ignoring period pain and heavy bleeding!

Why is it that many doctors don’t believe women about the menopause? [££££]

At which point the Guardian asks if wearing a bra makes breasts more perky.

Let’s segue away from “women only” … in a move labelled “bonkers” by many, an NHS hospital in Norfolk has instructed staff that they must not describe babies as “born” male or female [££££]

And finally to the morgue where pathologists have found, during an autopsy, that the deceased 78-year-old man had not two, but three penises – and it is only the second ever such report and the first in an adult. Two reports, from Popular Science and Gizmodo. And the published academic papers make interesting reading!

Environment

In the hope of re-establishing colonies right across Britain, a number of pine martens have been released at a secret locations in Devon.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

It is being alleged that companies will no longer want to force people to change passwords every few weeks to counteract cyber attacks. I’ll believe it when it happens.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

An illustrator talks about how she went about a big commission.

Brits are forever complaining about the relentless invasion of English by Americanisms, but British English regularly invades the US.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

What?! So little history this month?!

Archaeologists have found a very rare Bronze Age wooden spade in southern England.

Archaeologists have found another tiny house in Pompeii which is decorated with erotic frescoes.

Going Medieval finds that medieval people were just as much into side hustles as their modern counterparts.

Food, Drink

White mulled wine seems set to be a thing in UK this Christmas, with Marks & Spencer taking the lead.

Why did European cuisine become so bland? Apparently because snobbery decreed the removal of all the spices and contrasting flavours from the cuisine.

Is it possible to make a commercial, ethically responsible, and tasty fish finger?

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

We should put down our mobile phones and get back into the habit of reading

So just why shouldn’t women propose marriage to men?

And last, but by no means least …

On discovering something wonderful when skint and posing as a nude model. [££££]

arts, environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Our packed monthly round-up of links to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

First up we have to highlight this years Ig Nobel prizes.

Palaeontologists have discovered several new species of extinct bone-crushing Tasmanian Tigers.

At the other end of the size scale, researchers looking in a Tibetan glacier have found over 1700 different frozen viruses.

Still with research reported in Popular Science magazine, the social white-browed sparrow weavers varying nest shapes demonstrate that birds have “culture”. Mind I thought we already knew that from the dialects of Meso-American parrots.

And while with “culture” apparently marmosets have individual “names” for each other.

Grief is well documented emotion in humans, and it seems some other species, but do cats grieve?

Scientists continue to unravel the meaning of our dreams.

So how do you know what that smell is? How does our sense of smell work? [LONG READ]

Leaving the animal world for the geological, in September 2023 something made Earth ring like a bell for nine days. [LONG READ]

Back in the early life of the solar system, it seems that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede was struck by an asteroid bigger than the one which wiped out the dinosaurs.

The asteroid Apophis is due to fly by very close to Earth in 2029, and now an astrophysicist is predicting a very slightly higher chance it may hit us.

Meanwhile, way out in the universe, researchers have discovered the largest jets ever from a black hole – and they make our galaxy look miniscule.

Health, Medicine

So how much proper risk assessment was done around Covid? And by whom? [LOMG READ]

OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter shares some takeaways from the recent (American) Menopause Society Meeting.

Our bodies are full of nerves, but the longest one orchestrates the connection between brain and body.

While on brains, within the billions of neurons they contain there are trillions of typos – some good, some bad. [LONG READ]

And still on brains, it’s being suggested that many older people don’t just maintain, but actually increase, their cognitive skills. [££££]

And finally with things mental, a Stanford-led research group has identified six different types of depression each of which is likely to respond differently to various treatments. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

Sex historian Dr Kate Lister tries to explain exactly why women masturbate. [££££]

Environment

Nature is like art in many ways as for many humans both are subjective.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Loughborough has installed a new memorial bell as a tribute to those who died from Covid, and a thank you to NHS and other key workers. And unusually for the UK, it’s a campanile. We need more campaniles.

In which David Hockney stimulates an academic epidemiologist and mathematician to think about four dimensional chairs.

Philip Curtis, the director of The Map House in London, talks about mapping Antarctica.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

We reported previously that Stonehenge’s altar stone had been identified as originating in NE Scotland. Now it seems that the front runner locations, Orkney, has been ruled out.

Further up into the cold lands, archaeologists are shedding light on a little known ancient culture in northern Greenland. [££££]

In Britain we are generally pretty ignorant about the way in which ancient India shaped science and mathematics.

Archaeologists in Spain have used DNA to uncover some of the secrets of a Christian cave-dwelling medieval community.

Meanwhile in Poland archaeologists have found the burial of two children suspected of being vampires.

Henry VIII did many notable things including accidentally changing the way we write history.

London

Our favourite London blogger, Diamond Geezer, visits Theobalds Grove (one stop outside Greater London). This is my home town; I was brought up just three minutes walk from this station! Needless to say it’s changed quite a bit since I last lived there in late 1970s.

I lived a couple of hundred yards down the road to the right of the church

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So just why do men bother with depilation?

Emma Beddington set out to see what it’s like to spend a day as a dog, and finds it impossible.

People

A German mathematician who lived in France as a hermit, left thousands of pages of work. Now there’s a debate over whether he was a mathematical genius or just a lonely madman. [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally some pictures of the first UK Hobby Horse Championships.

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Once more unto our monthly links, brethren …

Science, Technology, Natural World

fish-like arthropod

The fossilised remains of a 500-million-year-old fish-like arthropod suggests it was among the first creatures with jaws. [££££]

There’s a living fish with a genome 30 times that of a human, and it’s just been sequenced.

Continuing with odd research findings, it seems that all modern birds share an iridescent ancestor.

And well what do you know? Apparently parrots have accents.

And now to tiny wings … scientists are doing all sorts of probes into honey and finding it can tell a huge story about the environment where it was created – it’s full of pollen, DNA, bacteria, and a lot of other junk. [££££]

Back to one of my favourite themes: wasps.
Each summer, wasps in the UK capture about 14 million kilogrammes of insects such as caterpillars and greenfly, making them important friends to gardeners.
First Prof. Seirian Sumner (aka. @waspprof) looks at why there are so few wasps around this year. (Spoiler: wet Spring.)
Secondly, yet another look at the importance of wasps as both predators and pollinators.

Tardigrades, those almost indestructible micro-creatures, that have been preserved in amber are revealing when they gained their indestructability. [££££]

Psychological research has a problem with reproducibility, and now there are indications that men may not be more attracted to scent of fertile women, after all.

Let’s explode another psychological stereotype … only children are no more self-centred, spoiled and lonely that those with siblings. [LONG READ] [££££]

As below, so above – maybe …

Astronomers have spotted a comet which is being kicked out of the solar system.

And NASA’s army of citizen scientists have spotted an object moving at an incredible 1 million miles per hour (that’s about 40 times round the Earth, an hour!).

Health, Medicine

It is becoming increasingly evident that Parkinson’s disease is related to the gut microbiome.

Would women be healthier and happier if they avoided the menopause and menstruated for ever? Researchers are divided.

Environment

2 herring gulls on a post

What people classify as pests are only species of wildlife going about their lawful business and in the process encroaching on what we declare as human-only places (like houses).

One American environmentalist on the joy of harvesting greywater for his desert garden.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

London blogger Diamond Geezer takes a look at why people are wrong.

There are many, many big companies that we’ve never heard of, but who have a surprising grip on our lives – and failure of any one (like CrowdStrike did in July) could being the world to a halt.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s a glossary of American Beatnik slang.

From early times up to Taylor Swift, musicians can thank ancient temples for thir music. [LONG READ] [££££]

cut-away of Solomon's temple

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Some really forensic research has worked out that Stonehenge’s massive Altar Stone came from north-east Scotland. And we thought that moving the bluestones from SW Wales was a feat too far!

Just a quick reminder that the original (ancient Greek) Olympic Games were entirely male and entirely nude.

Going Medieval takes a look at the medieval attitude to body count. [LONG READ]

Now much more up to date … Divers have discovered 100 bottles of champagne in a 19th-Century wreck in the Baltic.

Food, Drink

And finally … Britain is obsessed with cod, haddock, salmon and tuna, so a Plymouth company is trialling fish fingers made from fish which would otherwise be discarded.

dogfish

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links for July

Here following, this month’s links to items you didn’t know you’d missed!

Science, Technology, Natural World

…

A new colour of cat (above) has been discovered – they’re black and white, but not as we know it!

We know it’s under genetic control, and that underneath all cats are tabby, but researchers have now worked out how tabby markings on cats form.

Scientists can be quite inventive when naming species; here are few of the best, including Agra vation. [LONG READ]

One young researcher is listening to seagrass meadows in an attempt to discover the full range of their biodiversity.

Last year’s Storm Ciarán’s ruined our tea. Here’s how.

A statistician looks at how to take the perfect penalty in football.

Scientists think they’ve discovered a cave on the moon, without being there.

So just how do astronomers work out the size of the solar system, again without going there?

And why do some planets have moons and others don’t?

And still in space, how often are we actually visited by asteroids?

Is it a fossil? Is it a meteorite? No it’s a meteor-wrong! [££££]

And finally for this section, we go from space to the ocean depths … Oceanographers think they’ve found an unexpected source of oxygen on the seafloor. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Yersinia pestis (aka. plague) is, as its name implies, a pest. And it keeps plaguing humanity.

One Anthropology Professor who studies how environmental stressors affect menstrual cycles (and a lot else) gives some scientific evidence as to why she personally hates tampons.

Which leads us nicely(?!) on to …

Sexuality

Kate Lister avers that women aren’t orgasming enough through penetrative sex and men had better start understanding why. She also has a message for men on giving oral sex.

So what’s the low-down on sexual incompatibility in long-term couples?

Environment

A large water beetle has been found in Cambridgeshire after an absence of over 80 years.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Underneath the vineyards of Champagne is a rich hunting ground for fossils.

Why was there a population crash during the neolithic? One suggestion is plague.

How the Sumerians influenced tennis.

More research on the Antikythera mechanism suggests it followed the Greek lunar calendar.

…

Tremors when Vesuvius erupted collapsed shelter walls and crushed the victims.

Still in Pompeii, archaeologists have found an ancient construction site, undisturbed since Vesuvius’ eruption.

Now we have Going Medieval telling us all about the mendicants. [LONG READ]

In support of medieval service magicians in preference to “manifesting”. [LONG READ]

One researcher claims to have uncovered a late 16th-century secret dossier of Elizabeth I’s spy network. Clearly they’d never heard of Francis Walsingham!

Samuel Pepys, it turns out, isn’t just a diarist and government administrator on th make, but also a connoisseur of fashion.

And coming up to date … Shackleton’s ship Endurance, wrecked in the Antarctic, is to get added protection.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

If you’re one of the many lacking body confidence, here are some ideas which may help you attain it.

And here are some scientific tricks to keep your flower bouquets looking fresh for longer.

…

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, something on Larry, Chief Mouser of Downing Street, and other political pets. But there’s no mention of Attlee, the current cat of Mr Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

……
Larry (top) and Attlee
amusements, environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Hello, good heatwave and welcome, to this months collection of links to items you may have missed but didn’t know you didn’t want to.

Science, Technology, Natural World

…

Against all the odds the aging spacecraft Voyager 1 is back on air and communicating intelligibly with ground control. Two items on this from Live Science and Scientific American [££££].

There are currently lots of sunspots and we’re nearing the solar cycle maximum … so the sun’s magnetic field is about to flip.

The search for a planet beyond Pluto has been going on since I was a kid, although astronomers can’t even agree Planet Nine exists, nor what they’re actually looking for.

Even so Planet Nine is amongst eight strange objects which could be hiding in the outer solar system – maybe.

Back down to Earth with a bump … Adam Kucharski asks “Can we predict who will win a football match?“.

Here’s a BBC News item about the beavers which have been reintroduced less than a mile from my house.

So it looks as if our invasive Asian Hornets have successfully overwintered here, although for some reason the government doesn’t see this as a huge problem!

They look like mini horseshoe crabs … some very rare, very ancient, three-eyed “dinosaur shrimps” (below) have suddenly emerged in Arizona.

…

How old is that termite mound? Researchers in South Africa have found 34,000-years-old termite mounds, beating the previously known oldest by 30,000 years!

Research is showing that our native wild orchids (not the tropical ones you buy in a supermarket) actually feed their seedlings through underground fungal connections. [££££]

Health, Medicine

How many of us are really aware that body organs aren’t always where they are supposed to be?

In addition you may have more body parts that you should have!

You should pay attention to your nipples – and this applies you you guys too, not just the gals – as they can tell you things about your health.

A chemist and an epidemiologist take a look at the whys and wherefores of sunscreen.

Apparently 80% of people with sleep apnoea are undiagnosed. Here’s what to look for.

Finally in this section, the little known Oropouche virus is spreading rapidly in South America; although usually mild it can cause serious complications and could become a healthcare emergency.

Sexuality

How might one start a conversation about sex with a partner or teen?

A cancer diagnosis, or indeed any serious illness, can affect how we approach sex.

Environment

…

I’m used to seeing green parakeets in my west London garden – they’re noisy, they’re quarrelsome, but they’re colourful and often comic – so how did they actually get here from India?

In good news, it seems that the Iberian Lynx, one of the world’s rarest cats, is recovering from near extinction.

…

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Kit Yates lays out why it is important for democracy that we have a numerate society.

So what are the defining characteristics of a fascist? What should we look for?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

…

Here are five mysterious ancient artefacts which still have archaeologists puzzled, including Neolithic stone balls (above).

Elsewhere archaeologists in Spain have found some 2000 year old liquid wine. I think I’ll stick to my 2019 Rioja, thank you!

Bridging the gap to modern times, here’s Going Medieval on, well, medieval gossip.

And coming right up to date, we have an item on the world’s most improbable post offices.

Food, Drink

Scientists have developed a method for making healthier, and more sustainable, chocolate by using the parts of the cocoa pod to replace loads of sugar. But they’ve not yet been able to commercialise it.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So just what is it really like to live in Antarctica?

Emma Beddington investigates a wide range of time-sucking internet rabbit holes, and suggests what one might do to avoid them!

Put that alongside Messy Nessy’s regular blog 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today, who contributes the following exemplar.

…
An 18th century CE ivory dildo complete with contrivance for simulating ejaculation and its own discreet cloth bag. Now housed at the Science Museum in London.

Some stupid tourists seem to think that wild animals are cuddlable and cute! Why?

Only the crazy British would have a stinging nettle eating competition!

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And I’ll leave you this month with two things to try to get your head round …

First, Corey S Powell suggests that, like gravitational waves or ripples in a pond, we are just ripples of information in expanding outwards space-time. I see his point but I’m still trying to work out what it means.

And finally finally, a piece of science fiction suggesting that we could live forever if we merge biologically with the fungal network. [££££]

I suspect merging those two is going to be a bit like finding a unified theory of gravity and quantum mechanics.

history, links, medical, natural history, nudism, science

Monthly Links

Behold, this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed. Let’s dive straight in as there’s quite a bit of science-y stuff this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Astronomers have been seeking the so-called Planet 9 for decades, but still can’t even agree that it is likely to exist.

Deep within Earth there are two giant mystery blobs. What do we know about them?

We all happily talk about the average this or the average that, but what do we mean by average, and why isn’t it always, well, average?

Now to the animal kingdom …

Many animals, including our pets, have a third eyelid, so why don’t we?

Try to get your head round this … Alan Turing’s pattern-generating mechanism for spots and stripes on animal coats; and how the mechanism is modified. [LONG READ]

Despite their size, gorillas have extremely small penises, and it turns out that the genetic mutations which cause this may also help human male fertility.

group of sperm whales

Scientists have been investigating the vocalisations of sperm whales for years, and some now think that they may be the elements of a language, with dialects.

A new to Britain exotic jumping spider has been found in Cornwall, and it isn’t the only one.

And on the subject of foreign arrivals, the Guardian has a sensible and thoughtful piece about the invasive Asian Yellow-Legged Hornet (Vespa velutina) which has invaded continental Europe and is trying to get a foothold in the UK. [LONG READ]
Here’s the BBC article which triggered my recent blog post on these hornets.
STOP PRESS: The Asian Yellow-Legged Hornet has now been discovered in a southern state of USA (Georgia to be precise)!

face of an Asian yellow-legged hornet

Still with wasps … It seems that many parasitic wasps have tamed viruses so they can use them to help subdue their prey. [LONG READ]

From hornets to their forest home … there’s a theory that trees are social and communicate with each other across the “wood wide web” of fungal filaments. But it is only a theory and some are arguing it is fantasy. [LONG READ]

Treat with extreme care … Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is quite a pretty American Spring flower. But don’t go messing with it as the roots contain a blood red alkaloid, sanguinarine, which will shut down and kill any cells it comes in contact with, and more.

We all contain vestiges of our evolutionary past like goose bumps, extra nipples and the ability to waggle our ears. [££££]

Which brings us to several items about Neanderthals …
So what is the difference between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens? We interbred so there can’t be a lot, right?
There’s still debate about Neanderthals ability to talk.
Some aspects of our health seem to depend on DNA we inherited from Neanderthals.
And most weirdly, apparently the Neanderthal Y chromosome (which codes for male) has been lost, suggesting that human/Neanderthal hybrid males were infertile (in some form).

Health, Medicine

So is the menopause like puberty in reverse? Well, yes, and then again no. [LONG READ]

Most of us guzzle diet drinks and other low calorie goodies, but research is now indicating that the sweeteners are actually harmful to our gut and its microbes.

Archaeological research is now suggesting that (red) squirrels were instrumental is spreading leprosy and transmitting it to humans.

Sexuality

What is the art of lasting sexual connections?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Egyptian Goddess Nut

One astrophysicist has been exploring the connection between the Milk Way and Nut, the ancient Egyptian Sky Goddess.

There’s a rare and very strange, apparently Roman, object (below) which was found at Norton Disney, Lincolnshire. The trouble is no-one knows what it is, or was used for, and there are a number of theories.

mystery Roman dodecahedron

A 1,700-year-old Roman shipwreck found on the coast at Mallorca was loaded with fish sauce when it sank.

We know there was a thriving, early medieval Norse colony in Greenland, but why did it suddenly vanish in the 13th century?

On fake medieval devices for torture and sex.

So what was going on in London during the English Civil War (January 1642 to April 1646). [LONG READ]

London

Specifically now to modern London … London’s Royal Parks have their own plant nursery in the middle of Hyde Park, and IanVisits went to look.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Bhutan, the Dragon Kingdom, strictly limits visitors in order to protect its environment and heritage. But what is it like when you do go there?

Bhutan

Kate Lister asks how you know when you’re in love, and when you’re falling out of it. [££££]

A growing number of women are choosing to not have children. Here some tell what that’s like.

And finally on one of my hobbyhorses … the need to normalise and desexualise nudity if we are to achieve a well balanced society.

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Somehow we’ve almost got to the end of April, which means it’s time for our regular round up of links to items you may have missed. As well as the usual motley collection, we seem to have a lot of science-y stuff this month, so let’s get stuck in!

Science, Technology, Natural World

crab

It is interesting the way that Nature keeps evolving the same patterns independently. As an example, crabs have evolved five separate times.

Talking of the unexpected, researchers have used decades-old tins of salmon to track the health of the ocean’s fish stocks. [££££]

And on the subject of tracking … scientists in the UK have developed a trap which is an early warning system for Asian hornets.

And we keep the chain going … wasp researchers have agreed that the media is biased against wasps. Well who would have guessed!?

And now for something completely different … medical researchers continue to try to make sense of death and near death experiences. [LONG READ]

So why is it that some people always get lost, but others don’t? [LONG READ]

Researchers are using ancient records of previous total solar eclipses to help measure history.

I bet you didn’t know that billions of years ago the moon turned inside out, well sort-of. I certainly didn’t.

It’s well established that Stonehenge is aligned with the sun, but is it also aligned with the moon? Archaeologists and astronomers are about to use a rare lunar event to find out.

And still on space, NASA scientists have seemingly done the impossible and managed to bring the Voyager 1 probe back to its senses. Two, slightly different, looks in the Guardian and on Live Science.

Artists impression of Voyager 1

Health, Medicine

An epidemiologist highlights that kids don’t need to get diseases to be healthy.

Here a medical health researcher looks at the UK’s failure in 2020 to “act fast and isolate” against Covid.

And staying on pandemics, the consensus amongst scientists is that the next pandemic will be caused by a flu virus.

Changing tack somewhat … a top OB/GYN looks at the basics of menstrual blood and explodes more than a few myths.

And another myth exploded … it seems that time-restricted eating is linked to a 91% (ie. almost double) higher risk of cardiovascular death.

Lastly in this section: you’ve heard of dyslexia, but do you know about dyscalculia? [££££]

Sexuality

The somewhat outspoken sex researcher, Dr Kate Lister, asserts that all straight men should try pegging once.

Meanwhile sex educator Dr Emily Nagoski talks to the BBC about sex and orgasm myths.

And coincidentally two women talk in the Guardian about their experiences of their unexpectedly open marriages. First Cassie Werber; and secondly New Yorker Molly Roden Winter. [BOTH ARE LONG READS]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

IanVisits reckons that according to an inoperative law we have the date of Easter all wrong.

UK Supreme Court building

Politicians in the UK fulminate about foreign courts having sway over our law, when in fact there are more foreign courts on UK soil pontificating on affairs elsewhere in the world.

Now what have I been saying for years? … Using phonics to teach children to read doesn’t work.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Imaginary fashion art by Rose Wong

Here’s a blog post on the interesting work of New York artist Rose Wong.

Meanwhile Ian Dunt eulogises the word cunt.

Early medieval England saw a boom in the minting of silver coins, but until now no-one really knew why.

Mermaid Street & the Mermaid Inn, Rye

Mediaeval Mythbusting goes on the trail of the tales behind our more ancient pubs, including one of my favourites, The Mermaid in Rye. [LONG READ]

And Going Medieval discourses on obscenity, ancient and modern. [LONG READ]

London

London once had dozens of iconic green huts which were cabman’s shelters. Now there are only 13 and the final one has just got heritage protection.

Green London Cabman's Shelter

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So here’s another look at the culture and usefulness of pubic hair.

And finally … Another of my favourite places in Dungeness, on which stands Prospect Cottage, the late Derek Jarman’s seaside home. It is sometimes open to the public, but the Guardian has some interior photographs.

Prospect Cottage, Dungeness

history, links, medical, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

OK, guys and gals, it’s time for our monthly round up of links to items you may have missed the first time round. So here goes …

Science, Technology, Natural World

There’s this giant star-shaped sand dune in Morocco whose mysteries are now beginning to be understood.

There are some mathematical techniques which can not only tell use where we’re going, but where we’ve been.

teenage brains graphic

Most parents would agree that teenagers are odd. Here are two reasons why.
First it seems there may be evolutionary advantages to the affliction of “teenage brain“. [£££]
Secondly apparently puberty triggers “teenage armpit odour” of cheese, goat and urine.

Now to something more wholesome … Every cat has a strange pouch under its belly and scientists still don’t know why.

Health, Medicine

Girls are entering puberty ever earlier, and for some it is proving a significant mental health risk. [LONG READ]

Along with this we must stop trying to normalise and ignore women’s menstrual pain and bleeding. [LONG READ]

coloured woman's hands over her pubic area

Mind you, it doesn’t help matters when menstrual health literacy is so alarmingly low.

Progressing through the reproductive cycle, here’s a piece of pregnancy and childbirth in 17th-century England.

Now for something different. Unusually some people are totally unable to picture things in their mind, they have no mind’s eye. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

This one’s not for the squeamish … Why do some people find it pleasurable to insert objects into their urethra? [LONG READ]

On safer ground, here’s a look at some new insights into people’s motivation for polyamory.

four people grpahic

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

It is much believed that girls avoid studying physics because the maths is too hard, but that is not the case.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The world’s oldest known fossilized forest has been discovered in England.

A Copper Age necropolis, containing skeletons and still sharp weapons, has been found in Italy.

Burginda was an early medieval English woman who was not just educated but well-versed in African poetry.

A guy fishing with a magnet from an Oxfordshire bridge has pulled up an 1100-year-old Viking sword.

Viking sword

So how do historians sensibly divide the 1100-ish years of the Middle Ages into manageable chunks of time.

Just as today, medieval women had informal social networks to share health problems and medical advice.

In which 17th-century ladies go dildo shopping.

Don’t like a seven day week? How does a 10 day week sound? The French Revolutionary Calendar tried it for 13 years until Napoleon abandoned it in favour of keeping step with the rest of Europe.

French Republican timepiece

Food, Drink

There’s an impending risotto crisis as it seems the key Italian rice crops are dying due to drought. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Here’s one neurologist who makes a good case against daylight saving time. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile one sex researcher has vowed to never share her bed with anyone anymore. [££££]

There’s a growing belief that many of our ills, and especially those of younger generations, are all down to our dependence on smartphones.

You’ve doubtless heard of incels, now we need to start understanding the psychology of femcels.

And finally I’ll leave you with one (naturist) writer’s take on understanding the difference between naturism and primitive living. [LONG READ]

girls nude cricket
It’s very unlikely that “primitives” played cricket. ☺
history, links, medical, natural history, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Welcome to our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed but which struck me as interesting or amusing. We’ve got quite a collection this month, and as usual we’ll start with the hard stuff – the science – and then it’s all downhill.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with something topical … So just why do we have leap years? [££££]

Scientists have again proven themselves wrong: this time they’ve concluded that Saturn’s moon Mimas probably has an underground ocean which they thought couldn’t exist.

On Earth, but not entirely disconnected, scientists have concluded that the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history happened 7300 years ago off Japan. [££££]

We’re familiar with Isaac Newton splitting light into a rainbow with a prism, but it was William Herschel (better known as an astronomer) who actually worked out what was going on beyond the red and the violet ends of the spectrum.

Changing tack entirely … Researchers have worked out a more detailed mechanism by which erections work – at least in mice – opening the door for better drugs for erectile dysfunction.

Which somehow brings us to penguins … One of the current team at UKAHT’s Port Lockroy station in Antarctica describes counting penguins and why the penguins think pebbles are cool.

So why do birds have skinny legs? [££££]

Let’s hear it for the Yellow-Crested Helmetshrike (below), which has been rediscovered after not being seen for 20 years.

Why don’t humans have gills? Spoiler: because guess what, we don’t live in water.

On a more macabre topic, scientists have discovered a detailed, and regularly timed, network of microbes for decomposing flesh.

Which takes us nicely on to …

Health, Medicine

It is estimated that one million people in England may have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Bubonic plague is still a thing, albeit pretty rare, in America. The latest case is in Oregon.

We are still in the Covid pandemic – it’s only the fifth year – and it is still presenting challenges. [LONG READ] [££££]

An epidemiologist takes a long hard look at what you can do to boost your immune system – and what doesn’t work! [LONG READ]

Bodily secretions (blood, tears, wax) can tell us a lot about our health.

Should this be here or under History? … A bone analysis has revealed the first known cases of TB amongst Neanderthals.

Here’s some reassurance, especially for those of us in the springtime of our senility, that forgetting is a normal function of memory – and when we should start worrying about it.

Sexuality

Apparently some women (probably some men too) enjoy anal sex, it’s more common than supposed and it shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure.

Sex educator Emily Nagoski has a new book out (Come Together) which is a good excuse for a Q&A. [LONG READ]
And here’s an excerpt from Come Together. [LONG READ]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Here are two related items from lawyer David Allen Green on when the UK government hold a border poll in Northern Ireland. The first from Prospect magazine, the second from DAG’s Substack blog. [LONG READ]

The first UK banknotes featuring King Charles III will be released into circulation on 5 June this year.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

I’m not at all sure I fully understand how they’ve done this, but researchers have uncovered secret mathematical patterns in Bach’s music. [££££]

A controversial new analytical technique offers a fresh look at the Indo-European roots of our languages.

Between about 1909 and 1915 Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky photographed Russia using his ground-breaking colour process.

A portrait by Gustav Klimt (above) has been rediscovered after being lost for nearly a century.

The astonishing art of Mattias Adolfsson.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

We start this section with a long overview article on the emerging use of science in historical research. [LONG READ]

Forget our modern preconceived ideas, just what was life like for female Neanderthals?

What does jewellery tell us about the culture of Ice Age Europeans? [££££]

Here are two articles on the Egyptian’s practice of mummification. First, when did the Ancient Egyptians start mummifying their dead. And secondly their practice of mummifying baboons. [££££]

Having mentioned TB amongst Neanderthals earlier, researchers have used DNA to identify Down’s Syndrome in 2600-year-old infants. [££££]

Rare Roman funeral remains have been discovered beneath Holborn Viaduct in London
From

The devastating Roman-era plagues were associated with cold snaps.

Still with the Romans, what was life, and death, like for Roman legionaries? [LONG READ]

A haul of nearly 400 ancient medical tools from Turkey hint at rare Roman doctors’ offices.

We’re coming a bit more up to date with this look at St Margaret of Antioch. [LONG READ]

Still with the early medievals … A gold ring of Mercian Queen Æthelswith (above) was unearthed by a Victorian ploughman in Yorkshire.

A look at secret romantic communications in medieval times. [LONG READ]

And finally in this section, Going Medieval looks at the Black Death in Africa and Asia, and the interconnected Middle Ages.

London

Covenants, Easements & Wayleaves: the intricacies of London Infrastructure. [LONG READ]

The various parts of the London Overground train lines are to be given their own names and identity. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Not having children when you get old can be unsettling, but it need not be. [££££]

A huge “house share” in the Netherlands has always caused outsiders to speculate and gossip about the residents’ sleeping arrangements. [LONG READ]

Third century Buddhist scripture The Lotus Sutra still has relevance today.

Cats have many attention-seeking behaviours, but do they really suffer from a fear of missing out? [££££]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally for this month, here’s Simon Tatham’s Portable Puzzle Collection.

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

This is the first of this year’s collections of links to items you may have missed the first time round – and didn’t know you wished you hadn’t!

As usual we’ll start with the harder science stuff and then it’s all downhill.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Lenin’s bust at the South Pole of Inaccessibility in 2008 – the hut is now buried

Let’s start in the middle of nowhere … Poles of Inaccessibility are just that: places furthest from anywhere.

Most know about John Conway’s Game of Life, but there’s been a long-standing puzzle about periodically repeating patterns which has now been solved. [££££]

Still with mathematics, Kit Yates talks about the way in which we are all too often deceived by our training that things are linear.

Changing tack, here are ten odd creatures that washed up on beaches during 2023.

There are times when one wonders where scientists get their research ideas! These guys investigated the vibrations caused by indigenous instruments the bundengan and didgeridoo.

Didgeridoo and clapstick players performing at Nightcliff, Northern Territory [Wikipedia]

On to a weirdness in the heavens … astronomers have discovered a megastructure which is challenging our understanding of the universe.

Back on our planet, Earth’s wobble creates problems for astronomy, cartography and climate. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Now here’s an interesting approach to understanding anatomy … the body is just bags within bags within bags, all the way down. [££££]

We all know about the placebo effect, but here are half a dozen things you maybe didn’t know about it.

OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter has written a new book on menstruation: Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation; here’s a review.

On the other side of the divide, it seems that sperm counts are falling across the globe and scientists are trying to find out exactly why. [LONG READ] [££££]

In 1889 there was a pandemic caused by Russian flu. Here’s a piece outlining why it is unlikely it was actually due to a coronavirus.

Scientists are worried about permafrost, or rather the increasing lack of it: they’re finding, in melting permafrost, ancient microbes which are still viable, and worry there may be some which could cause a devastating pandemic if they get released.

I’m not sure whether this final item in this section should be here or under history, but here goes … Archaeologists looking at ancient DNA have found the first known ancient case of Turner syndrome, a condition where the subject has just one X chromosome, rather than the normal two.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

So let’s come on to history proper, and start with ten amazing finds from 2023.

A collection of treasures found inside a sunken temple in Egypt.

Not included in the above is the 2000-year-old “celestial calendar” which has been found in an ancient Chinese tomb.

Also about 2000 years old is a knife engraved with what are thought to be the oldest known runes in Denmark.

Slightly more recently, the medievals seemed to have this thing about fighting snails – but historians can’t agree why.

Back with ancient artefacts, archaeologists in Switzerland have found an intact medieval gauntlet.

In Scotland, the oldest known tartan, uncovered in a peat bog, has been recreated.

The Glen Affric tartan

Now we’re almost right up to date … the UK’s intelligence agency, GCHQ, have released previously classified images of the code-breaking compute COLOSSUS to mark its 80th anniversary.

A 'rebuild' of Colossus

London

Last month we mentioned the lovely Tudor map of London and the coloured version being created by Matt Brown … well here’s Part 2. [££££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So how, and why, is it that every coffee shop looks much the same right across the world? [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally here’s a selection of trailblazing tattooed ladies from earlier times. [LONG READ]

Maud Stevens