Category Archives: science

food+drink, history, links, medical, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for June

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So here we are with this month’s bumper bundle of links to items you didn’t know you shouldn’t have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

As usual let’s start at the bottom … Really, just how many elementary particles are there? Pick a number! [LONG READ]

At the other extremes … Space is unimaginably bigger than you think.

And if your brain wasn’t fried enough already, there’s a suggestion that light is the shadow of a dimension we can’t see.

Now to the relatively mundane … for a long time scientists have been trying to understand the mysterious creatures of the deep oceans. [LONG READ]

Which just shows we really do not understand biology … There are some mysterious blobs in cells – even after 100 years scientists are only now beginning to understand what they are and their importance for life. [££££]

How do societies survive power struggles? Ask the wasps.

So why do cats sit in that “loaf position“?

From cats to dogs … scientists have recently discovered the rare and elusive Amazonian Short-Eared Dog in the forests of Bolivia and Peru.

Good grief! Japan’s 2011 “Fukushima” earthquake was so powerful it moved the location of the whole of Japan! [££££}

Health, Medicine

Well, yes … we could indeed at this moment be living through a hantavirus pandemic, but thanks to a lot of quick action by many countries we have avoided it. Which is exactly how public health should work.

What does body odour tell us, and why do we care about it so much?

Here’s (yet another) look at the health and history of pubic hair. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile here’s a look at sunscreen, what it is and how it works. [LONG READ]

Sexuality & Relationships

A cultural look at various aspects of the vagina.

Followed by the new craze of the Vaginus Maximus.

Now here’s an interesting one … an only slightly surprising suggestion of Viagra for women. Read the follow-on articles too. [LONG READ]

And then there’s a look at sexual burnout and bridging the resulting intimacy gaps.

[Images very NSFW] It’s the rarity factor! A look at why we’re biologically wired to desire redheads.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A select group of researcher are allowed access to Spain’s amazing cave paintings and one lucky writer gets a personal tour. [LONG READ]

Archaeologists believe they have discovered a simpler, and older, version of Stonehenge.

Amongst other things it seems that Bronze Age people were also pigeon fanciers.

I just don’t know how they do this … the charred scrolls from Herculaneum are being deciphered.

A metal detectorist in Somerset has found a stunning gold Roman ring.

A medieval manuscript containing early versions of the Merlin and Grail legends, which has remained in private hands for 700 years, is being auctioned by Christie’s.

So to put the record straight, here’s everything you need to know about the Black Death.

London

The Lions of London

Here are some 1920s London Tube Maps, from before its current Harry Beck iconic design.

Greater London has a surprising number of overlooked Art Deco railway stations. (No, not the tube stations!) [LONG READ]

What was the mysterious Whitechapel Mount?

Food, Drink

Why does beer taste different on draught, in a can, or from a bottle?

Scientists are at last starting to unravel the importance of cork to the chemistry of wine. [££££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

DDA banding. It’s an accessibility thing.

A naturist’s look at what people’s arguments against nudity are really saying. [LONG READ]

What if seeing naked women actually reduced objectification? (Men too?) [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

And finally in New Scientist “Feedback” discovers Halupedia, an online encyclopaedia that is 100% AI generated. [££££]

Enjoy!

people, science, topographical

June Quiz Answers

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

Geography

  1. In which country is Angel Falls, the world’s largest waterfall? Venezuela
  2. Switzerland is made up of how many cantons? 26
  3. Which continent has land in all four hemispheres? Africa
  4. In what country is the Chernobyl nuclear plant located? Ukraine
  5. What’s the capital city of Tanzania? Dodoma
  6. Area 51 is located in which American state? Nevada

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

medical, science

Is AI Useful?

Is there any good use for AI? Yes, of course there is.

For example, this is what we should be using AI for …

New protein-folding AI predicts the structures of 1 billion proteins
[paywall]

… not writing stupid stories, making fake videos, or doing kids homework for them.

Protein folding diagram

There are an increasing number of medical and scientific applications from assisted note-taking to analysing complex CT scans. And then, of course, there are applications like industrial & medical robotics.

There are many ways in which AI can be useful, but sadly most of what it appears to be being used for (or at least that which is getting the most media attention) is at best pointless and at worst dangerous. Please let’s concentrate on the useful applications.

This is what we should be using AI for!

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

May’s Monthly Links

So now we bring you this month’s selection of links to items you wish you hadn’t missed. And it’s a well packed edition …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Apart from traumatic, what it would have been like to experience the dinosaur‑killing asteroid? [LONG READ]

death to the dinosaurs

There’s a huge amount of “space junk” above our heads: almost half of what’s in earth orbit is junk – and that’s only what we know about. [££££]

And while we’re talking of things going round … Astronomers have just found over ten thousand new exoplanet candidates.

Meanwhile there are some pieces of the cosmos being ignored by astronomers. [££££]

It seems that the universe could be any one of 18 possible shapes. [££££]

Let’s come back down to Earth … Researchers are beginning to understand how Egypt’s Great Pyramid has withstood earthquakes etc. for over 4500 years. [££££]

There are new insights into whether plants can hear.

[Illustrations NSFW] “Slow Blink” communication with your cat.

Scientists are developing tiny robots that can learn to navigate like honeybees. [££££]

On birds’ eyes and why their visual perception is almost second to none. [LONG READ]

At the other end of life on earth scientists have found a tiny fish that looks like Mr Snuffleupagus (below). [££££]

Snuffleupagus pipe fish

And finally in this section New Scientist had a piece on the renowned mathematician who doesn’t exist. [££££]

Health, Medicine

An interview with two scientists who have been working flat out to develop a test for hantavirus. [££££]

An American look at what the response to the hantavirus “scare” has brought to the surface – and a brilliant example of how to do public health leadership. [LONG READ]

So did the Ancient Egyptians invent the pregnancy test?

Egyptian wall painting…

Along with that women have been using cannabis medicinally for thousands of years.

Twins. Born within minutes of each other. But they have different fathers!

Sexuality & Relationships

Sexual health after 60: aging, hormones & intimacy.

Sex after 35: apparently the female body was not designed for the sex most women are having. [LONG READ]

So what really does happen to a woman’s body during orgasm?

One man’s experience of vasectomy leads him to wonder why the procedure isn’t more common.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Neanderthal dentistry

Were the Neanderthals the first dentists? One article from Scientific American, and a second from The Guardian.

A research team have published a new, online, map of Roman roads across their empire.

It’s long been supposed that after the Romans left Britain the Anglo-Saxons took over and totally replace the indigenous population. But DNA analysis tells us otherwise. [LONG READ]

It seems strange, but early medieval Ireland had laws protecting bees.

So who invented the corridor? [LONG READ]

There are tunnels under Bloxham, Oxfordshire. But what are they for? [LONG READ]

There’s a forgotten cock pit under Whitehall. [Now, now. That’s enough of that!]

London

And finally … Matt Brown has released the latest coloured section of John Rocque’s 1746 map of London. This time it’s Limehouse and Rotherhithe.

1746 London map section

people, science

May Quiz Answers

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

People

  1. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize? Marie Curie
  2. Who is often credited with creating the world’s first car? Karl Benz
  3. The name of which British prince is often used to describe a pierced manhood? Albert
  4. Who was married to John F Kenedy and was first lady from 1961 until 1963? Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
  5. Name the author: He was born in Dublin in 1854, and died in Paris in 1900. Oscar Wilde
  6. Although more well-known for his fiction and character creations, what famous author was also an ophthalmologist? He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the 1870s, was a determined supporter of compulsory vaccination, and partially based his most famous character on a former university teacher. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

books, environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for April

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As usual in this month’s collection of links, we’ll start with the hardest stuff …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Quite a lot of years ago, mathematicians worked out why waiting for a lift (elevator, for those in America) always takes forever. [££££]

How likely are you to be killed by a primordial black hole? [££££]

Whether you believe in astrology or not, your star sign is likely wrong, but you can find the correct one. [££££]

The Chernobyl exclusion zone has become a most unusual ecological experiments on Earth, leading to some unexpected results. [LONG READ]

So why do cats get the Zoomies, especially late at night?

Health, Medicine

If you had cardiac arrest in public, would a stranger give you CPR?

Most men have two balls, but are three balls better?

Sexuality & Relationships

The Kamasutra is more than a sex manual, with consent as an underlying principle.

A 300+ year old sex manual that got pretty much all of it wrong.

Well who would have guessed? Human sperm get lost in space. [££££]

As if boob jobs weren’t enough, labiaplasty is a growing fashion. Why? Just why? [LONG READ]

Environment & Ecology

Jaguar (below) are becoming increasingly rare, so researchers were pleased to see one in a wildlife corridor in the Honduran mountains. [££££]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have discovered a variety of 12,000‑year‑old dice, and they illuminate ancient play.

The oldest known recipe for toothpaste comes from … Ancient Egypt.

So how many of the purported priest holes are actually what they’re said to be? [LONG READ]

Samuel Pepys was, in many ways, a very naughty man – even to the extent of concealing letters about being offered an enslaved boy as a bribe.

London

Matt Brown of Londonist has taken a look at the origins of some of the City of London’s street names.

Matt Brown is also creating a coloured version of John Rocque’s 1746 map of London. Here’s the latest section covering Chelsea and the King’s Road (above).

Meanwhile a researcher has been able to unravel the mysterious location of Shakespeare’s house in Blackfriars.

London Historians visits Benjamin Franklin’s London house.

Food, Drink

Here’s a quick look at some of the factors which produce the myriad types of tea.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Humans have been documenting their appreciation of the nude body for thousands of years, and photography has made it much easier and more accessible.

The New Testament letters of Paul are not what they seem; many weren’t even written by him. [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

Finally, New Scientist considers the size of a “shedload“. [££££]

science

April Quiz Answers

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

Physical Science & Mathematics

  1. How many faces does a Dodecahedron have? 12
  2. What is the cube root of 64? 4
  3. The Sun is (of course) the closest star to Earth. What star is the next closest? Proxima Centauri
  4. Who discovered that the Earth revolves around the sun? Nicolaus Copernicus
  5. What is the chemical symbol for the element mercury? Hg
  6. How is the Earth protected from the effects of Solar Winds from the Sun? By the planet’s magnetic field

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

memes, science

April Quiz Questions

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

Physical Science & Mathematics

  1. How many faces does a Dodecahedron have?
  2. What is the cube root of 64?
  3. The Sun is (of course) the closest star to Earth. What star is the next closest?
  4. Who discovered that the Earth revolves around the sun?
  5. What is the chemical symbol for the element mercury?
  6. How is the Earth protected from the effects of Solar Winds from the Sun?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

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

Monthly Links for March

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Herewith my collection of links to items you may have missed, but didn’t want to. Again this month we have quite a few science and medicine articles, and not so much on the arts – well it all depends on what’s published and looks interesting.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Now tell me … would aliens do physics, and do it the way we do? [££££] [LONG READ]

Beyond which, could aliens in another galaxy see dinosaurs on Earth? [££££]

So what is time? Is it just a figment of our imaginations?

A researcher has found Galileo’s handwritten notes in old astronomy text.

The Eye of the Sahara. They think it’s a circle and it shouldn’t be there. [LONG READ]

On the dying art of taxonomy and a love of midges.

In Papua New Guinea scientists have found a tiny possum and a glider which were thought extinct for 6,000 years.

Staying with discoveries, scientists have found three unknown geckos, and a lot else too, in Cambodia’s limestone caves.

And still with new discoveries, some other scientists have found lots of strange new species (example below) deep off the coast of Britain’s Caribbean islands.

Back on dry land apparently hedgehogs can hear very high frequency ultrasound.

Apparently cacti could help explain one of the oddities of evolution.

And finally in this section, an immunologist takes a hard look at the science behind the paraben panic.

Health, Medicine

Which brings us to the messier bits of the scientific arena …

We all have skin mites, but should we worry? Are they a health issue or harmless passengers?

Why do some people (like me) suffer from motion sickness, while others don’t.

What does body odour actually say about you?

Have you ever noticed that you breathe out of one nostril at a time. And have you ever stopped to wonder why?

Researchers have a suspicion that a previously unknown virus, hiding in a bacterium, may be a trigger for colorectal cancer.

And still wth gut bacteria, apparently couples share 30% of their gut bacteria. [I’m surprised it is so little – K]

Sexuality & Relationships

NSFW. So what does science tell us about why breasts send males wild? [LONG READ]

Remaining with female anatomy for a minute, apparently the clitoris has migrated from the inside (in most species) to the outside (in humans).

And so to male anatomy … with a look at the history of male member. [LONG READ]

The myths, misconceptions and realities of how porn shapes sexual health.

NSFW. Against which the evolution of erotic literature looks fairly tame.

Environment & Ecology

For once some good news: the Large Tortoiseshell butterfly (above) is no longer extinct in UK

It’s definitely counterintuitive, but when the human population fell during the Black Death, plant diversity dropped as well.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

The UK is considering putting native fauna on its banknotes, so some experts have a say.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s an interesting interview with Ruth Scurr who wrote a biography of 17th century antiquarian John Aubrey (below).

Apparently our least favourite word is all about womb wisdom.

NSFW. A look at art and the vulva. [LOMG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The theory of the population of the Americas has again been turned on its head by an archaeological site in Chile.

King Harold’s movement of troops from the NE to fight the Battle of Hastings … was it (as has been assumed) the most heroic march ever, or did everyone travel by boat?

London

Matt Brown takes a look at some of the interesting and varied historical models of London. [LONG READ]

And I’ll leave you this month with Matt Brown looking at bovine influences on London. [LONG READ]

books, science

March Quiz Answers

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

Literature

  1. Which Italian city is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set? Verona
  2. Which of the following did not live entirely in the 19th century? Tolstoy (1828-1910)
  3. What is the name of the snake in The Jungle Book? Kaa
  4. Winston Smith is the protagonist of which George Orwell novel? 1984
  5. Agatha Christie’s By the Pricking of My Thumbs and Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes are two novels who take their titles from lines in what Shakespeare play? Macbeth
  6. Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie after the publication of what 1989 novel that mocked the prophet Muhammad? The Satanic Verses

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.