Category Archives: medical

medical, sexuality, words

Sense is Coming

At last people are beginning to wake up to what I’ve been saying for many years: we would all be healthier (mentally and physically) if we were OK with talking about body parts, bodily functions and sexuality.

In a Guardian article last week Nicola Heath says Our collective reluctance to say “vagina” shrouds women’s bodies – and their sexuality – in shame. The article goes on to say:

How are women supposed to talk about their health or sexuality if the anatomically correct words used to describe their body parts are taboo?
… … …
A 2015 survey in the UK revealed that 66% of women aged 18 to 24 avoided going to the doctor to talk about gynaecological issues altogether.
… … …
[Doctors] have to spend valuable consultation time trying to get [women] to specify which bit of their genitalia they are [actually] talking about.
… … …
Our unwillingness to correctly label female anatomy contributes to other problems, including a “pleasure gap” that sees men’s sexual needs prioritised over women’s.
… … …
[T]eachers admitted they were willing to say the word “penis” and talk about male masturbation, but none were comfortable talking about vaginas and female pleasure in the same way.
… … …
It’s also essential for kids to know how to talk about their bodies. Sexual health educators argue that teaching children anatomically correct terms for their body parts – genitals included – helps reduce shame and gives them the language they need …
… … …
So, familiarise yourself with the correct terms for the human body’s reproductive bits … After all, knowledge is power.

And actually also because this is in everyone’s interest.

beliefs, medical, thoughts

On Social Anaesthesia

I’ve long been worried about the trend towards mindfulness and similar “talking therapies”, so it was interesting to see many of my doubts echoed in an article, The Mindfulness Conspiracy by Ronald Purser, published in the Guardian back in June.

It is sold as a force that can help us cope with the ravages of capitalism, but with its inward focus, mindful meditation may be the enemy of activism.

Although the article is a long read (and American), for once I’ll refrain from providing edited snippets. However it did help me to crystallise why it is I find such therapies worrying. I’ll confine myself to my thoughts.

I’ve not only been concerned about mindfulness – and I come from having had some recent exposure to “mindfulness therapy”. I’m also concerned at the efficaciousness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and indeed the new NHS trend for “social prescribing”.

Social prescribing CBT and mindfulness seem to me to be palliatives aimed at enabling people to cope internally and continue to fully participate in the greed economy. They are essentially “social anaesthesia”, to use Purser’s term. They do not help society as a whole sort out its fundamental ethical problems which give rise to the inability to cope in the first place. And that is the thrust of Purser’s article.

But I see the problem as deeper rooted, and emanating from the very causes which create the problems, the greed economy. Because these (mindfulness, CBT, social prescribing) are seen as “essential curses” they are peddled by the medical profession, and others, to consumers (aka. patients) in varying degrees of coercion and bullying. It’s the “we know what’s good for you; your views, desires and wishes don’t matter” attitude. Indeed the same is true of many medical interventions: eat well, exercise more, have bariatric surgery, etc. “Don’t think about it, just do it.”

That’s not to say that all of these aren’t useful interventions for some people, but if they are going to be truly effective they have to be done with the willing cooperation of the patient who understands what the “remedy” is doing and can make a truly informed decision. Only the patient can make that decision, based on the information they have, which includes their mental state and consideration of their quality of life – something the medical profession all too often lose sight of. The patient has to make the best decision they can, with the information they have, at the time; none of us deliberately sets out to make the wrong decision.

Mindfulness and CBT don’t work for me. Nevertheless they can be tremendously useful in allowing some people to calm their mental state and begin to cope with what’s happening around them. But they stop there. They don’t go on to help people understand the underlying problems of broken capitalism and the greed economy, let alone make them able to do something about it by addressing personal morals and understanding, nor society’s ethics. People are made once more into (barely?) functioning consumers, thus perpetuating the underlying problems.

As Purser says, in not quite so many words, mindfulness is a con. Especially compared with true Eastern meditation practices which are a way of life aimed at the individual’s inner self-understanding, realisation and morals; and are not “instant fixes”.

Or to put it another way, in a secular context:
Mindfulness = quickly quieting the mind to cope with society
Meditation = existing in society while deepening the mind over years.

It’s something I have long thought but never before been able to crystallise in my mind.

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

Monthly Links

Time flies, probably like a banana, when you’re too busy to notice. So we’ve suddenly arrived at this month’s collection of links to items you missed the first time round – and considering it’s the “silly season” (aren’t they all nowadays?) we’ve got a well packed, and very varied, bag this month.

Science, Technology & Natural World

A lot of what we now consider normal technology has its origins in the Cold War.

We often forget that there are volcanoes under the sea as well as on land, and they can produce huge rafts of pumice.

The universe is weird, and weirder than we can imagine. Look at the night sky and you’re being blasted by all manner of high energy radiation. Now astronomers have found the Crab Nebula emits incredibly high energy gamma rays.

An infographic about the majesty of trees.

For a long, long time the Japanese have looked upon sightings of rare fish as an omen of earthquakes. Now they are being urged not to as there is no evidence to support the belief.

Well who knew? Apparently black squirrels (yes, they are a thing; they’re in the UK and I’ve seen them in Washington DC; they’re rather handsome!) are the result of an interbreeding between grey squirrels and close relatives fox squirrels which produced a faulty gene now being passed down through grey squirrels.

At least one species of ant keeps its nurseries cleaner than we humans keep ours.

Every ten years Painted Lady butterflies undergo a massive population explosion and there are millions of migrants to the UK.

Health & Medicine

A top epidemiologist takes a look at the nightmare which is infectious disease aboard cruise ships.

Anyone, especially older people, on a medley of medication has an increased risk of unintended harm.

How about instead of women suffering through the menopause because they can’t be open about it, we actually fix society’s attitude so there can be open discussion and greater understanding from employers?

A significant minority of women suffer painful sex due to vulvodynia, and all too often it is not taken seriously.

And why we’re on lady bits, here’s an article explaining why the vagina doesn’t need to smell like a bouquet of flowers. And anyone who says otherwise is either indulging in patriarchy or marketing bollocks.

Oh no! We’re still on the same topic! One young lady, a sexual abuse survivor, was scared of having a smear test, but was helped through it by Twitter.

And still more … An interview with Canadian OB/GYN, Dr Jen Gunter, who is on a crusade to tell the truth about women’s health and expose the purveyors of snake oil. And here’s another interview.

And still with Dr Gunter, here’s a long essay adapted from her new book The Vagina Bible: The vulva and the vagina – separating the myth from the medicine. Buy the book; I’m reading it and it is excellent. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

One lady appreciates her pubic hair.

Well from there the only way is up …

Environment

A report in the RSA Journal argues that we need to be building homes not housing and that property should be on a human scale.

On continental Europe, apparently wild boar are being a problem in cities. This article looks at how Barcelona is fighting back. [LONG READ]

Ungardening … how to make your garden a wildlife haven.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Ten reasons why you should be worried about facial recognition technology.

So how will the world’s major religions cope with the discovery of alien life?

Do you need to be able to address anywhere on Earth? Even the middle of the ocean? You need What3Words, a brilliantly simple idea with an app that has saved lives.

Language

We keep hearing that the English language is going to the dogs. But language always has changed, and always supposedly for the worse. Maybe it’s time to stop worrying about the English language. [LONG READ]

Wherever there is language, people swear, so trying to ban swearing is pointless. Besides there is some evidence that people who swear are more honest.

Art & Literature

How can medievalists get excited about a scrap of parchment? When it contains a fragment of a “vagina monologue”.

Following on from which there is a new translation of the gleefully indecent poems of medieval welsh feminist poet Gwerful Mechain.

We all know about haiku, but there was a ruder equivalent called Senryu. [LONG READ]

You’ve almost certainly heard of Eric Gill, but did you know he had an equally talented younger brother MacDonald “Max” Gill? This is an old review of a long gone exhibition, but serves as an introduction to his work.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

So who were the mysterious people who preceded the Ancient Egyptians?

Still with Ancient Egypt, an article of the hugely important role of the scribe. [LONG READ]

Archaeologists have found evidence of early fish tapeworm infection at one of Britain’s most important prehistoric sites.

Coming forward several thousand years, metal detectorists have uncovered a huge hoard of important late Saxon and early Norman coins.

Now we enter the modern era! The Victorian introduction of the penny post revolutionised the way we communicate.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Our favourite Zen master, Brad Warner, on the meaning of life.

And finally … The Victorians (of course!) apparently convinced married couples to sleep in separate twin beds. So how and why did this change?

Phew! There was a lot of that – hopefully something for everybody. More next month.

amusements, arts, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

So here goes on this month’s selection of items you may have missed, but which I think you may not have wanted to.

Science, Technology & Natural World

Good news for cats: scientists have found a way to study the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (cause of toxoplasmosis) without needing to infect cats.

Health & Medicine

The nasty, tick-borne, Lyme disease seems to be on the increase, but researchers are on the trail of a new vaccine. [LONG READ]

According to some the problem is not that we are fat per se but that the problem is “fat stigma” and the mental effects of the ubiquitous bullying.

Health researchers are predicting that giving the HPV vaccine to boys will prevent a large number of cancer cases.

More of us, and especially women, are breaking the taboos about discussing femaile bodily functions.

And the new openness has lead to discussion of why women need to have periods, and many are deciding to forego them. [LONG READ]

Which leads us on to … research has shown that menstrual cups are as reliable as tampons.

Sexuality

In more unlikely research, it seems that women like porn as much as men (at least as shown by brain imaging) but we’re all brainwashed into believing they don’t.

Language

The British are well known for not learning foreign languages, and it is now suggested there are five reasons why English speakers struggle with them.

Art & Literature

So just what is the history of the Bible?

Rowland Emett’s fantastical railway sculpture will be on display at Bonhams New Bond Street from 12 August to 3 September, before being sold at auction.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Palaeontologists have found a massive dinosaur femur in south-west France.

It is being suggested that European Stone Age art could contain a code and possibly be the root of human writing. [£££]

In another story of the Stone Age, researchers have used modern forensic methods to solve a 33,000 year old murder mystery. [£££]

Excavations at the battlefield at Waterloo have uncovered the remains of a field hospital, including amputated limbs, and musket balls.

London

Wenceslaus Hollar created a 5 meter long aerial panorama of London shortly before the Great Fire of 1666. Here’s the story. [LONG READ]

In another piece of history, here’s the story of the Thames watermen and ferrymen.

There’s a fantastic new book about London Bridge and its houses.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Mid-year burnout. Is it a thing, or are we all just terminally tired?

Medieval monks had some advice for us on avoiding digital distractions.

Regret can be all-consuming and destructive of mental health, so here’s a look at how to leave it behind.

Shock, Horror, Humour

To end with several items which have amused me unreasonably much this month …

First, there was Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany

In a surprise revelation, opium-addicted parrots are terrorising poppy farms in India.

Concerned members of the public rescued a bright orange seagull, covered in curry or turmeric. Actually I think it’s a very fetching look!

And finally … a dancing parrot.

Enjoy the silly season!

medical

Vaccine Myths

Over recent months I’ve read several articles setting out to refute anti-vaxxer myths about vaccines, including:

Read these articles for further background and references.

Now I’m not going to recite all the arguments busting the myths, but I will highlight a few salient points.

Autism

  • The original paper by Andrew Wakefield on autism being caused by the MMR vaccine has been totally discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. The paper has been retracted.
  • Numerous studies have been conducted and none have found any evidence to support the notion that vaccines cause autism or other chronic illnesses.

Improved hygiene

  • While it is true that better hygiene, sanitation and nutrition are responsible for there being fewer infections, this is not the whole story. Antibiotics and similar drugs have clearly helped too.
  • However when these factors are isolated and rates of infectious disease are scrutinized, vaccines are also shown to have had a significant effect.

Vaccines are too risky

  • Children and adults have been being successfully vaccinated for decades.
  • This has provided ample opportunity for research studies and none has never found a single credible link between vaccines and long term health conditions.

Vaccination is not needed

  • This argument goes that we don’t need to vaccinate because infection rates are already incredibly low.
  • Yes, infection rates are low and this can be shown to be due toi the herd immunity from vaccination: with many people resisting infection due to vaccination even unvaccinated groups are provided some protection as diseases cannot get a foothold.
  • This level of “herd immunity” is important because there will always be a portion of the population – infants, pregnant women, elderly, those with weakened immune systems – that can’t be vaccinated.
  • Reduce that level of “herd immunity” and the infections do return.


Mercury in vaccines acts as a neurotoxin

  • Yes, some vaccines have contained the preservative thimerosal, which is a compound containing mercury. And yes, free mercury is a neurotoxin. But thimerosal does not produce free mercury in the body.
  • However both the USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization, have found no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines causes health problems in kids.
  • In fact in 2001 thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines in the United States except multi-dose vials of flu vaccine. It has also been removed in vaccines in the EU. As a result there was no drop in the incidence of autism; in fact the opposite. The same was found in Denmark.

Vaccine overload

  • “Vaccine overload” is the idea that giving many vaccines at once may overwhelm or weaken a child’s immature immune system and lead to adverse effects.
  • However there is strong scientific evidence to the contrary.
  • Despite the relatively recent increase in the number of vaccines, improvements in vaccine design have reduced the immunologic load from vaccines.
  • Moreover vaccines pose a very small immunologic load compared to the pathogens naturally encountered by a child in a typical year.

HPV vaccine

  • In some quarters the HPV vaccine, which is offered to pre- and early-teenage girls (and increasingly to boys) is controversial due to concerns that it may encourage promiscuity.
  • Even if this were the case (and I have seen no evidence) my personal view is that this would be preferable to cervical, throat and other cancers.
  • It is also quite baffling that anyone can oppose a vaccine which aims to reduce the incidence of cancer.

Flu Vaccination

  • It is a common misconception that you don’t need a ‘flu shot every year.
  • This is wrong. If you are eligible for a ‘flu shot you do need one every year.
  • Not only is ‘flu a highly dangerous disease, especially for the immunocompromised, but it mutates very rapidly. In consequence this year’s circulating ‘flu viruses will be very different to last year’s, and the vaccine is updated every year to take account of this.

So, in summary, vaccines prevent the outbreak of (often dangerous) diseases such as polio and measles which used to be widespread – and ‘flu which is still common. The scientific consensus strongly supports their safety.

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

Monthly Links

Another month comes to a close so it is time for links to items you may have missed, but which I didn’t and collected for you!

Science, Technology & Natural World

Some elements amongst the physics community are determined that an even bigger particle collider than the current LHC at CERN is an utter waste of money.

Oh dear! It seems that at the end of WW2 the Allies managed to lose a few cubes of uranium from Germany’s failed nuclear programme.

We know that plants’ growth shows a high degree of symmetry, but how many of use realised it was quite this complicated?

Scientists reckon that plants can hear bees buzzing – and they then make their nectar sweeter.

Talking of hearing … it turns out bats can tune their sonar very effectively by constantly wiggling their ears.

When is a cuttlefish like a human? When it has arms. Apparently all creatures’ arms/limbs are built from the same set of genes, regardless of how many there are.

Health & Medicine

This month’s medical column is all about girlie parts, but the boys will want to be educated too …

Women are now asking if it is possible to have a better period (depending on their value of “better”)

According to a couple of old articles in the sacred Cosmopolitan there are nine different types of boobs and seven different types of labia. The good news is that they are all perfectly normal and nothing to be ashamed of.

The story of one survivor who is campaigning against the brutality of FGM.

Environment

It is suggested that urban trees live fast and die young compared with those in rural forests

Social Sciences, Business, Law

The current incumbent seems to get embroiled on controversy, but what really is the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons?

Language

Not everyone agrees that language is a living, evolving entity, so here are 19 of the most contentious linguistic disagreements.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

I never knew that some of the Lewis Chessmen were missing, but it seems that one of the missing few has recently resurfaced.

High quality viniculture is turning out to be a lot older than expected.

Historians across the ages cannot agree, but it seems that Druids are fairly skilled at metamorphosis – either that or the historians are making it all up as they go along!

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Somewhere, high on the Tibetan plateau, is a matriarchal culture where men are never in charge and where the women don’t know who is the father of their children.

Back in the western world, people are asking what it means to be genetically Jewish, but maybe not culturally so.

There is more accumulating evidence that a long working week really is bad for your health, and that a shorter working week isn’t necessarily less productive.

When might a big earthquake hit Tokyo, and how is Japan preparing itself?

Taxidermy is often seen as a rather unsavoury hobby, but a growing number of women are making their mark as taxidermists.

Brad Warner, our favourite Zen Master, takes a somewhat sideways look at the way all things are connected.

Food & Drink

The public health lobby are worried that too many people are getting home hygiene wrong.

And finally … Master of Wine, Caroline Gilby, looks at how long to keep an opened bottle of wine, and what you can do with it. (No, I know. What is this commodity “spare wine”?)

More in a month. Enjoy the summer.

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

OK, so it’s time again for our monthly selection of links to items you may have missed the first time. There’s a lot in this month’s selection so here goes …

Science, Technology & Natural World

The mobile 5G technology is supposed to be the great white wonder but there are fears it could jam weather forecasting satellites (and others?).

Beavers are in the news again. New Scientist ran an article on a secret site in England where beavers control the landscape [£££]. And in Scotland they have been given protected status.

Researchers reckon that (some) wasps are able to reason using logic. If true they would be the first insect known to do so. And in other buzzy news scientists tell us that we really should appreciate wasps.

Health & Medicine

We know we’re all subtly different, but it seems that some of us harbour mysterious variations like extra teeth and extra nipples.

Recent work has suggested that having your appendix removed can make you more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. The Conversation takes a look and discovers there really is no good evidence one way or the other.

There are medical reasons why some men need to be circumcised, usually in adulthood, but for a few this creates more trauma than beforehand.

Scarleteen is a great Sex Education resource. Here they talk to one woman about her experience of having an abortion. [LONG READ]

Staying on women’s health … Just what does the menopause do to the body? [Includes video]

Sexuality

How one couple rejuvenated their marriage and got out of a “sex rut”.

Environment

New York is banning glass-clad skyscrapers and iconic architect Le Corbusier warned against them. Now it seems academics are also coming to the conclusion that glass skyscrapers are an environmental folly.

So who would have guessed that urban greening can save species, cool warming cities, and make us happy.

Art & Literature

The genius of Leonardo da Vinci came up with ideas for things like helicopters. Some of them aren’t as far-fetched as it seems.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

A fossilised bone found years ago in a Tibetan cave turns out to be from a Denisovan, showing they were widespread across Asia. Which would account for the fact that Tibetan people carry a genetic mutation from Denisovans which allows them to function at high altitude.

New Scientist tells the story of the Yamnaya who conquered Europe about 5000 years ago in what seems to have been a fairly bloody era. [LONG READ] [£££]

Here we go again … Yet another academic thinks he has uncovered the secret of the Voynich manuscript. I wonder.

Somewhat echoing my sentiments, Oxford Historian Amanda Power sets out a case for not restoring Notre Dame but keeping it as a symbol of our flawed lifestyle(s). Oh and, I believe, as a teaching aid for historians and architects.

London

London is in danger of flooding and the Thames Barrier is coming to the end of its design life. So what can be done?

London is full of statues. Diamond Geezer looks at a selection of royal ones.

In North London there is a botanical garden that’s home to a variety of bits of London no-one else wanted. It sounds worth a visit.

We all know about the ravens at the Tower of London, but now they have their first raven chicks for 30 years.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

One Guardian journalist took a lot of tests to try to find out if she was being poisoned by modern life.

So you really need five reasons to be naked in your garden! OK, here they are.

Food & Drink

Finally, one to gladden the hearts of many of my friends … Belgian monks have resurrected a 220-year-old beer after deciphering the recipe. And they’re brewing it!

More goodies next month! Cheers! Hic!

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

It’s that time again! Time for our monthly round-up of items you may have missed the first time. Let’s go …

Science, Technology & Natural World

DNA isn’t the only intricate code used by life. There’s a really subtle and intricate coding of sugars coating every cell (diagram below). [£££]
Here’s another look from The Conversation.

DNA continues to shine light on the domestication of dogs.

From dogs to cats … apparently cats can recognise their own names. They just take no notice!

A “missing link” four-legged fossil shows how walking whales learned to swim. [£££]

Meanwhile the Antarctic Icefish expands our surprise at the variety of colours of blood.

Asian hornets (above) predate honeybees and are an invasive, alien, pest as they have no natural controls in Europe. Much as it grieves me to see anything destroyed (and especially given my defence of wasps) we are being asked to report any sightings. London’s Natural History Museum provides the low-down, identification guidance, and links for reporting sightings.

And now to the physical sciences …

Some brilliant science has led to the first picture of a black hole.

It has long been known, but often disputed, that the Northern Lights make a noise. Now scientists have worked out how this might happen. [£££]

Clouds of hot volcanic gas, rocks etc. (pyroclastic flow) can move at deadly speed. It seems the speed of pyroclastic flow is is due to a “hovercraft effect”.

Health & Medicine

It seems we’re getting our calorie counting all wrong.

Which brings us nicely to the understanding that our microbiomes need fibre to flourish and not the oft believed fermented foods.

This American woman lived to be almost 100 despite having almost all her organs in the wrong places.

The story of one young lady with an unusually obstinate hymen.

Sexuality

Well, yes, as you might expect, sex therapists really do hear it all.

So then, girls, how do you perk up your breasts? Spolier: you can’t. [£££]

Laura Dodsworth muses on vulvas, vaginas and the stigma of talking about them.

Environment

We know the Chernobyl disaster was caused by errors, but it was also followed by cover-ups.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Article 13 is the EU’s new rules on online copyright enforcement. So what is it all about? [£££]

Art & Literature

There has been dispute over the authorship of Beowulf for many years. Now the latest research suggests it was the work of a single author.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

One day, long, long ago, a humongous meteor crashed into Earth causing the death of the dinosaurs. Now one maverick palaeontologist believes he’s found a fossil site encapsulating the instant of the disaster. [LONG READ] [£££]
And here are two somewhat shorter summary articles: the first from New York Times [£££], the second from National Geographic.

Slightly more up to date, palaeontologists have discovered what they believe is another “human” species in a Philippine island cave.

So did Homo sapiens inter-breed with Denisovans more recently than we previously thought? [£££]

It seems that the Ancient Egyptians mummified mice (above)!

Experts now tell us that the Romans brought rabbits to Britain. Did we not already know this?

Dutch marine salvage teams, looking for lost shipping containers, have found the remains of ship wrecked in 1540 complete with its cargo of copper plates.

London

Although this is 18 months old, it is worth highlighting the disgraceful decay of the Houses of Parliament.

The Victoria & Albert Museum has a cast of Trajan’s Column. Now you can stand inside it.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

And finally … Japan is entering a new era wth the abdication of Emperor Akihito on 1 May 2019. The reign of each Emperor is given a name (gengo), which is used in the Japanese calender (alongside the Western calender). Emperor Akihito’s current gengo, Heisei, which means “achieving peace”. The era of the new Emperor, Naruhito, will be called Reiwa (right), signifying order and harmony.

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, 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.