Mollipilose
Having a fur or plumage that is soft or fine; fleecy, fluffy, downy.
A surprisingly late first usage in 1890 which is derived from the Latin mollis, soft + pilus, hair.
H/T @HaggardHawks
So here goes with this month’s outsized collection of links to items you may have missed.
Science, Technology & Natural World
A few days ago I had a strange little bug in the house. It turned out to be the planthopper Issus coleoptratus. And I found out the nymphs of this insect are incredible as they have the only known mechanical gears ever found in nature. Here’s a piece about these gears.
[That’s my photo on the right.]
While we’re on strangenesses … What happens when octopus are give MDMA? Does it affect their distributed brain the same way it does ours? Well naturally scientists had to find out!
Many people don’t like termites (and for good reason) but they’re incredible insects which can actually teach us a lot. [VERY LONG READ]
Scientists have realised that they can mine twitter for observations of nature.
Fungi are another of the fascinating orders of nature.
Leaving the natural world behind, scientists have developed artificial genes which demonstrate that life does not have to be based on DNA. [£££££]
But then again, if there are dead civilisations out there in the cosmos, how are we going to conduct cosmic archaeology to search for them?
Health & Medicine
It seems that we dream even when under general anaesthetic. [£££££]
We all know that 98.6°F (37°C) is our normal body temperature. Except when it isn’t, of course.
So what is going on in our guts? And do probiotics actually make any difference?
The vagina is self-cleaning – so why does the ‘feminine hygiene’ industry exist?
100 years on from the Spanish flu and the disease still stalks us.
Many older people have been advised to take an aspirin a day, even if they don’t have symptoms of cardiovascular disease. Medics now think this is risky.
Men and women experience migraine attacks differently due to both physiology and sociology.
A new UK study of depression is recruiting 40,000 volunteers to find if there are genetic markers for the disease.
Sexuality
So what are the secrets to fulfilling sex in a long-term relationship? Seems like there’s no really special magic but lots of being.
Environment
Beavers are amazing creatures and it appears that they could have a role in combating climate change. (But you don’t ever want to have to sex one!)
How would you like a wolf living near you? Personally I’d rather like to have a wolf living in my area. How about you?
The National Trust in South Wales are experimenting with a return to medieval strip farming, and it sounds like an environmental win.
Finally someone has had the courage to call out what I’ve been suggesting for a long time: abandoning nuclear power could increase carbon emissions.
Art & Literature
Apparently the male nude is back in fashion in art circles.
History, Archaeology & Anthropology
Archaeologists were initially puzzled by the skeleton of a 3,000 year old ancient Greek female. But it turns out she was a master ceramicist.
A couple of years ago IanVisits went to Broughton Castle near Banbury. I went there recently during a conference in Oxford, and it is every bit as spectacular as IanVisits says.
In his late 17th century journal sailor Edward Barlow confessed to a rape. But he then covered it over and the evidence lay hidden until modern conservators got to work uncovering an intriguing tale.
Christopher Kissane in the Irish Times blows the lid on the historical nonsense which underpins UK’s Brexit floundering.
Lifestyle & Personal Development
From the annals of the unexpected … Many of us lack a degree of self-control, but researchers have shown that having a simple ritual can help.
We in Britain are losing our shared spaces (pubs, clubs, libraries, churches) and becoming more isolated and cliquey.
So how do you win friends and then keep them for years? Emma Beddington has some ideas.
Food & Drink
Britain’s Food Standards Agency has been testing meat products, and worrying they find 20% contain the DNA of animals they aren’t supposed to, and that it appears to be deliberate.
Shock, Horror, Humour
Finally this years Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced a week or so ago. DIY colonoscopy anyone? Or just the need to use a voodoo doll to get revenge on your boss?
For this month’s Ten Things again topical …
Ten Autumn Things
Herewith are the usual monthly collection of links to items you may have missed. It’s holiday season, so there’s not been so much of interest this month.
Science, Technology & Natural World
This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures should be good. They’re titled “Who are You?” and will apparently be all about evolution and the rise of Homo sapiens. And who better to present them than the ever excellent Prof. Alice Roberts. But I bet there will only be three lectures again this year, rather than the original six.
Talking of human evolution, the latest research suggests that one of the last traits of our primate origins to disappear was our prehensile big toes.
More prosaically, it seems that the UK has this month been plagued by social wasps. I can’t say I’ve noticed, but here anyway are five reasons we should celebrate them. Oh and there’s another reason: our beloved honey bees are descended from ancient wasps.
I’ve seen it suggested that this is old news, but there are recent reports of Pine Marten recolonising the Kielder Forest for the first time in 90 years.
Health & Medicine
There’s a brilliant plan afoot to map the location of every publicly accessible defibrillator in the UK.
And a tragic story: how smallpox claimed it’s very last known victim here in the UK.
There’s new evidence that the HPV vaccine has been responsible for a huge reduction in the rate of cervical cancer. Even better is the news from last month that HPV vaccination is to be offered to teenage boys in England.
Apparently the idea that millions of sperm are in an Olympian race to reach the egg is yet another male fantasy about human reproduction. This Aeon piece has news of what actually seems to happen. [LONG READ]
I wasn’t sure whether to put this item under science or medicine, but here’s a piece of the chemistry of foxgloves, from which we still get the heart drug digoxin.
And here’s a strange phenomenon: aphantasia – the inability to picture things in one’s mind’s eye. It sounds as if there is a spectrum of aphantasia from very lucid to nothing; I suspect I’m somewhere in the lower half as the only pictures I have of events (even significant events like our wedding) are a few “snapshot” images, whereas other people I know can run everything in full HD video in their brains. It’s very curious.
Environment
Here’s another potentially disastrous new vanity project which George Monbiot has got his knife into: the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway. The article contains links to some of the official documentation, and it doesn’t look very pretty!
History, Archaeology & Anthropology
Researchers have made a very interesting discovery of an ancient hominid girl whose mother was a Neanderthal and father was a Denisovan. It suggests that hybridisation between hominid species, and especially our close relatives, was a lot more common than was suspected.
An interesting alternative theory about the development of major monuments like Stonehenge and Easter Island. [£££]
Yet more laboratory research has led investigators to unravel the recipe for Egyptian mummification.
It been a hot summer (although writing this over bank holiday weekend it doesn’t feel that way) and the lack of rain has been a great result for archaeologists as many hitherto unknown sites have become visible in crop marks. And the use of drones has made finding them so much easier than hitherto. [Mostly images]
London
One of our favourite London bloggers has undertaken an epic journey: across London on the 51½°N line of latitude. It is documented in a series of 12 posts of which this is the first – or you can have the whole 51½°N journey in a single post. [LONG READ]
Lifestyle & Personal Development
So what is it really like being an artist’s model? A handful off London’s life models give us a few insights.
Food & Drink
Gluten is getting a bad name. Are problems with gluten in the diet a fad? Or are they a real medical issue? Joanna Blythman in the Guardian looks at some of what seems to be happening. I think the jury is still out.
Despite many people’s dislike, we all know cabbage is good for you and now researchers are suggesting it may contain anti-cancer chemicals. Well if was good enough for Diogenes …
That’s all for this month; more at the end of September.
For this month’s Ten Things we have something more summery …
Ten Butterflies which Visit My Garden
So this was the exciting part of our day out on Monday of this week …
For Christmas I bought Noreen and half-day falconry experience with Coda Falconry, who are a couple of miles north of Waltham Abbey. I also made sure we had a couple of guest passes to go with it, especially as I wanted the chance to do some photography (which was not just allowed but actually encouraged).
Noreen has always been interested in falconry, mainly because of its use in medieval times. So this was a superb chance to have four hours hands-on experience. And did we have a great time!
We were a small group: 4 taking part and 3 guest observers. Paul, the falconer, was patient, interesting and knowledgeable about a whole range of natural history and not just falcons.
Starting at midday, and after some brief introduction, Paul brought out a variety of birds, one at a time. And as the day wore on the birds got bigger and bigger!
The first three birds were in turn a tiny Scops Owl (from SE Asia), a European Kestrel, and a Barn Owl. Otis, the Scops Owl was really sweet; he was no more than six inches tall; and he loved being stroked, siting happily on a gloved hand, eyes shut, head tucked in, apparently dozing off!
Bramble, the male Kestrel, was really beautiful with grey head and chestnut back …
Next up was Dizzy, a female Barn Owl …
Paul let us all (participants and observers) feel the Barn Owl’s plumage as it is just so soft – unbelievably softer than anything previously encountered, and softer even than eider down – the feathers were almost ethereal! No wonder Barn Owls are so silent in flight.
All these birds were flown. They would all sit on a post, waiting for a gloved hand, with a piece of food, to be proffered. Then they’d fly over and enjoy the morsel. All the participants experienced this with every bird.
By this time it was pushing 1.30 and, after a short break, time for an hour-long woodland walk to show off Griffin, a 15-year-old Harris Hawk. I opted out of this part as I wasn’t sure how my knees and back would stand up; and besides it was very hot and sunny and a cool drink and some shade was needed. Just as well I did opt out as the walk lasted more like an hour and a half!
I used the gap to have a quick look at the “zoo” on the rest of the farm site (it is very family and school group orientated), see a few of the other birds of prey and have that cool bottle of pop.
When everyone returned about 3pm, Paul showed the final two birds of the day: a Eurasian Eagle Owl and a Golden Eagle.
Logan, the Eagle Owl, is a mean-looking, brute of a bird, although according to Paul he’s actually a softie! But he is certainly fearsome in flight.
Apparently there are now thought to be two pairs of Eagle Owls living in Thetford Forest, and there is a lone female on the loose in Epping Forest (not very far away from Coda’s site). Apparently the females (which as with all birds of prey are larger than the males) are quite capable of taking a fox. (One of Coda’s Harris Hawks has also been known to take a Greylag Goose – no mean feat!)
Last up was the largest bird of the day, Nelson, the Golden Eagle, who weighs in at around 6lbs (almost 3kg). We were all of us allowed to have Nelson sit on our hand: as Paul said “It’s not every day you get to hold a Golden Eagle!”.
The photo above is of Nelson sitting on my (thankfully gloved) hand. He was certainly a magnificent beast: around 75-80cm from beak to tail and with the wonderful bronze/gold head and nape which gives them their name. You wouldn’t want to meet either the Golden Eagle or the Eagle Owl on a dark night!
By this time it was pushing 4pm and the afternoon wrapped up with with the group seeing a number of Coda’s other falcons.
We went off very tired, rather stunned and slightly sunburnt for a much needed couple of pints!
Coda Falconry are a small, award-winning, friendly outfit, with a wide range of birds of prey most of which have been hand-reared and/or are rescues; their team even includes Loki the Raven, who is apparently incredibly mischievous and cunning. Coda do several different experience sessions as well as frequent filming, regular re-enactment displays (many at Headingham Castle), routine pest control work, and more.
What a brilliant day, and thoroughly recommended!
PS. More photos on my Flickr photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kcm76/albums/72157692159960390.
Here’s the usual selection of links to articles which interested me and which you may have missed. We’ve a packed house, so on with the show …
Science, Technology & Natural World
Some interesting speculation on whether a pre-human industrial civilisation could have existed on Earth, and whether we would be able to tell.
Apparently European women are twice as likely to be naturally blond as men.
Ravens. The Tower of London has them. So who better to ask about the intelligence of Ravens.
Wasps. There are countless species of them, they’re mostly tiny, and most are parasitic – indeed there’s thought to be at least one parasitic wasp species for every other insect species.
Ants perform triage and launch rescue missions on the battlefield, but only if it’s worth the effort.
Scientists are suggesting that trees may have a form of “heartbeat”, but it is so slow we wouldn’t normally notice.
Why does soil, especially newly wet soil, Springtime soil and forest soil, smell so identifiably?
It seems many trillions of viruses fall to Earth each day – millions per square metre – and it’s not all bad.
A meteorite found in Sudan contains some tiny diamonds, which means it is thought to be the remnants of a lost planet.
Health & Medicine
Do you suffer from chronic pain? Medics are suggesting that a change of mindset could help reduce the pain as much as analgesics.
Who, apart from me, had flu this last winter? If you did you shouldn’t be surprised as apparently we don’t take flu seriously enough. It really is worth getting the flu jab (especially if you’re in an “at risk” category). Although I was vaccinated and still got flu which floored me it wasn’t anything like as bad as if I’d not been vaccinated.
The NHS is being urged to include boys & young men in the HPV vaccination scheme (currently only adolescent girls are eligible). Not only would it help contain the general spread of the virus, but more and more men are getting head/neck cancers from the human papilloma virus, thought to be due to the young having more oral sex.
A test is being developed that will allow a foetus’s sex to be determined from just a finger-prick drop of blood during the first trimester of pregnancy.
There needs to be much greater awareness of the state of our post-birth vaginas. As usual the UK lags behind our old enemy, France, in post-partum rehabilitation.
And while we’re at it, we still have an appallingly poor knowledge of the anatomy for the clitoris. Yes, that’s all of us, it seems!
Environment
Unlike my neighbour, most of us understand that plants are important. Here’s why.
Bees are important too. And you can help the bees by doing less. Just mow your lawn only every two to three weeks.
Scientists are developing an enzyme to eat plastic bottles.
Art & Literature
It’s reported that Neil Gaiman is to make a film of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy.
Stockholm residents are up in arms over a five storey high blue penis mural.
London
IanVisits has created a useful map of all London’s miniature steam train rides.
Meanwhile another London blogger, Diamond Geezer, has produced a London Random Tourist Inspiration Generator for when you want to go somewhere but don’t know where.
Lifestyle & Personal Development
We’re moving towards a cashless society, or so we’re told. But being cashless puts us at risk, so the Swedes are turning against the idea.
Why are some societies strict and others lax? New Scientist investigates.
Do you want to be more assertive in life? If so there’s a dominatrix in New York who will teach you.
Chiltern Railways, whose trains run north-west out of London’s Marylebone Station, are suggesting eight seated yoga poses you can do on your commute. I struggling to decide how serous they are.
Crazy cat lady is a frequent image in pop culture. But why?
Food & Drink
A recent column in the Guardian is suggesting that eating goat is as tasty as lamb and a sustainable, ethical choice of meat.
Shock, Horror, Humour
And finally, one for the engineers and kids out there. John Collins, aka. “The Paper Airplane Guy“, holds the distance record for flight by a paper airplane. And he shares a few of his secrets with us.
Yes, indeed, you never know what you’ve got until you look.
We have the decorator man in to give the hall/stairs/landing a lick of paint before we have new carpet put down.
On day 1 (yesterday) most of the time was taken removing the old carpet. And on the turn of the stairs we were awestruck at finding treasure …
Nestled in the angle of the tread and riser, between two strips of carpet gripper, underneath the carpet were found two tiny and entire mummified mice.
The poor little things had obviously, years ago, crawled in round the edge of the carpet to escape a feline kidnapper, and been unable to get their way out (or died from injuries).
Treasure trove indeed.
This month’s large collection of articles encountered which you maybe didn’t want to have missed.
Science & Natural World
First off we must pay our respects to this year’s IgNobel award winners amongst whose investigations were solid and liquid cats, didgeridoos and cheese disgust.
Budburst on many trees is temperature dependent and March temperatures seem to be the key for many. And they’re getting slowly warmer, so budburst is getting earlier.
[Disclosure: I’ve been submitting records to UK phenology research for many years; many more years that the 17 covered by this research. It takes little time and is valuable “citizen science”.]
It is that time of year when we start seeing black and yellow flying insects about. Yes, summer is wasp season.
There are essentially three wasp species in the UK. The two we see most often are the ones most people despise: the small ones the Common Wasp, Vespula vulgaris, and German Wasp, Vespula germanica. Both are definitely yellow and black. To all intents and purposes they look identical (if you really want to see the difference you’ll need to get up close and personal with them – most of you won’t want to).
