Category Archives: sexuality

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.

food+drink, history, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Here we go again with this month’s collection of links to items which interested me and which you maybe didn’t want to miss.

Science, Technology, Natural World

On the colours of the stars. [££££]

There are some small “earthquakes” on the moon, and the cause is somewhat surprising.

They’re still hunting for the missing flight MH370, and now there is hope of finding it using divination by barnacles.

Scientists have found a huge, remote, Fijian cave, and it’s full of tiny endangered bats. [££££]

Scientists are looking at dreaming and REM sleep across the animal kingdom.

So just how old is the oldest aquarium fish? We know koi carp can live to 80, but Methuselah is even older.

Health, Medicine

Explaining both the neuroscience and physiology of fear and anxiety.

More screening for cancers sounds like it could be good for many of us, but there are serious questions over whether the NHS could cope with it.

Girls, your vagina has it’s own microbiome (just as our guts and skin do), so here are a few pointers on how to look after it.

Yes, it turns out the so-called “male menopause” is a thing for at least some men. [££££]

So is pee sterile?

The medicinal leech has a long history, and is still used today.

Most of us suffer from delusions of some form, however mildly. Here are the five most common.

We all have childhood memories – some of us more than others – but how reliable are they?

It seems that some people whose brains flatline but survive can recall lucid “experiences of death“.

Sexuality

Just what were the rules around masturbation in Ancient Greece? As if one can put rules round such a thing! [££££]

Here are some things most of us don’t know, but probably should, about emergency contraception.

Environment

A recent report says that Britain’s ocean fish populations are in a quite some trouble.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Seemingly the speed at which someone talks has no relationship to intelligence.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Researchers have calculated that the species which were to become Homo sapiens suffered a population bottleneck, and could have gone extinct, almost a million years ago.

Meanwhile researchers in southern Africa have discovered some ½million year old timbers which appear to have been woodworked.

5000-7000 years ago there was a culture in what’s now Eastern Europe which burned its houses down every couple of generations – but we don’t know why.

On the age of, and reasons for, the Egyptian pyramids.

Along with Greek rules around masturbation (see above) the ancient world had various rules about with female beauty. [££££]

Two rare Roman cavalry swords from around 200AD have been found in the Cotswolds.

On a similar note, an early medieval warrior buried with his weapons has been found in Germany.

In around 900AD there was a very powerful woman who ruled over that Papacy.

On the involvement of the Templars in the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

A bit further on … a 14th-century cannon has been found off Swedish coast.

Cannibalism in human history has rarely been just about eating to survive.

An Ode to the Rag-and-Bone Man.

Food, Drink

Notable Sandwiches #68: Francesinha e Francesinha Poveira.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Do opposites attract? Apparently not as research is suggesting that couples are more likely to be similar than different.

Another for the girls … Attractive though it may be, in more ways than one, apparently going braless does come at a cost. However if you’re going to wear a bra, then find your correct size, ‘cos it probably isn’t what you think.

So what is it about school nicknames? Harry Mount suggests that while they can be fantastically rude, the ruder they are, the more affectionate.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

Finally, this year’s Ig Nobel Prize winners have been revealed.

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

Monthly Links

We bring you this month’s action-packed collection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

When cells divide how do they accurately copy their DNA once, and only once? [LONG READ]

bat

Bats in the UK harbour coronaviruses; none apparently immediately dangerous to us, but we need to know more.

China has a mysterious wildcat, but is the Chinese Mountain Cat actually a discrete species? [££££]

On the Byzantine labyrinths that make up a cat’s nose. [££££]

In potentially good news there’s a plan to establish the UK’s first feline blood bank.

Octopuses change their skin patterns while sleeping, which suggests that they may be dreaming.

octopus

If insects actually have memories, it seems they may not survive across metamorphosis. [LONG READ]

Scientists have discovered a species of palm that flowers and fruits only underground, but they don’t yet understand how it is pollinated.

Health, Medicine

It seems that we have a gene which prevents most bird flu viruses from infecting us.

Nightmare Warning … There’s an unidentified something which causes a green hairy tongue – luckily it’s benign, just disturbing.

Sexuality

In a possible explanation of why vibrators are so effective, researchers have discovered neurons in the clitoris and penis which are especially sensitive to vibration. [££££]

One couple talk about sex in their mid-70s.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

One tax specialist is of the opinion that the UK’s Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has a completely erroneous view of the economy. [LONG READ]

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Some rarely seen Holbein sketches of the Tudor court are going on display later this year at the Queen’s Gallery.

pest rat

When the fantasy world wants a pest do they always choose rats?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Pendants made from bits of giant sloth indicate that humans settled in the Americas a lot earlier than previously thought.

At the same time archaeologists believe they’ve found the USA’s oldest stone tools to date. [LONG READ]

Back in the UK a rare Neolithic polissoir has been found hiding in plain sight in Dorset.

Pyramids and other remains have been discovered off the western tip of Cuba.

carnyx

The Carnyx, a brass musical instrument, was used as a psychological weapon of war by the ancient Celts.

Pompeii bread oven

Pompeii continues to provide surprises. In a current excavation archaeologists are uncovering a building containing a bakery oven (above), courtyard, a fountain and a number of frescos including one of what has (jokingly) been described as an early pizza (below).

pizza fresco

The story of Salisbury’s Medieval Giant.

London

London’s Hyde Park was once the playground of Tudor and Stuart monarchs, courtiers, and the upper echelons of society. [LONG READ]

There’s a hidden world underneath Waterloo Station, which is being revealed on its 175th anniversary prior to redevelopment.

Food, Drink

The Guardian‘s food writer, Felicity Cloake, looks at a few food rules and suggests they can be safely ignored.

Rachel Roddy recreates that Pompeii “pizza” (see above).

Do we need to be worrying about the sweetener aspartame in diet drinks? Spoiler: probably not. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

A ramble around body hair and hairless bodies through the ages.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, please enjoy some highlights from this year’s Finnish Hobbyhorse Championships.

hobbyhorsing

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

And yet already we arrive at time for our monthly round-up of links to items we thought interesting, and you might too.

Science, Technology, Natural World

A new dinosaur species has been discovered on the Isle of Wight.

Asian Hornets

There’s a crack squad of hunters keeping the island of Jersey free of the invasive Asian Hornets (above). And no these aren’t the “murder hornets” which are invading the west coast of North America which are even nastier.

Scientists are taking another look at just when animals like foxes started living alongside humans. [££££]

A new study is finding clues to when masturbation evolved in primates – because it isn’t just humans that indulge.

Palaeontologists believe that Homo naledi in South Africa may have made etchings on cave walls and buried its dead. [££££]

Well now this (isn’t) surprising … it seems that air quality filters are picking up airborne DNA which reveals what species are nearby.

Changing tack somewhat … the US is being urged to reveal its UFO evidence amid (more) claims it has intact alien vehicles.

Meanwhile the “gateway to the underworld” megaslump in Siberia is revealing secrets from 650,000 year old permafrost.

And back to humans … there’s a myth that we use only 10% of our brain, but it is just a myth. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Here are nine things you probably didn’t know about saliva.

Also from the Zoe Health Study, here’s a look at the importance of bile.

Sexuality

Some curious scientist has taken an in-depth look at the condition known as “Blue Balls“, and discovered some interesting things about sexuality.

WWI

Who knew that until fairly recently many countries officially provided whores for wartime soldiers near the battlefield? No, it isn’t much known and talked about. And it wasn’t just in wartime.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

England is apparently going to trial providing a “universal basic income“. The trial will be in just two places with a very small number of people for two years, so don’t hold your breath.

One historian is suggesting that we’re on the brink of civil war – the US in particular but the Western world in general – but that we can avert it if we wake up. [LONG READ]

Art, Literature, Language, Music

So who actually knew there were officially many shades of black? [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have found evidence of plague in Britain 4,000 years ago. And it is being suggested this might be the reason the culture and people who built Stonehenge suddenly vanished from the record.

WWI

A stunning 3,000 year old bronze sword (above) has been found in a Bronze Age grave in Bavaria.

Cricket clubs don’t generally expect to be the custodians of several Roman gods’ heads.

Also with the Romans, a stunning mausoleum has been discovered on a building site in Southwark.

Here’s the story of St Ursula and the 11,000 virgin martyrs. [LONG READ]

Minstrels played an important role in medieval society, and it is now being appreciated that their work could be mad, bad and bawdy.

A pair of shipwrecks full of Ming era porcelain in the South China Sea are telling us a lot about the historic Silk Road trade routes.

Myths based in medieval goings-on are not always accurate. Here’s the case of the Fowlmere Tunnel. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

And finally for this edition, here are 13 signals all cat owners should recognise. [LONG READ]

WWI

arts, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

In keeping with everything springing back to life and growing we have a blossoming collection of links to items you may have missed this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

First off, here’s a Twitter thread from astrophysicist and science communicator Katie Mack assessing future technology.

Looking the other way, at the consequences of the universe’s origins, there appear to be four possible types of multiverse.

Weirdly it seems that the majority of planets in the Galaxy are in orbit around stars we cannot see. [££££]

And to “homemade” stars … the first atomic bomb (the Trinity Test) created a “forbidden” quasicrystal.

Meanwhile some evolutionary innovations wait millions of years for their chance to shine. [LONG READ]

Wasps complicated social lives can illuminate the evolution of animal societies.

Palaeontologists have recently found the oldest bat skeleton on record.

At the other end of the accessible world scientists have spotted an unknown fish at a record depth of 8300 meters off Japan.

Talking of unknown life in unexpected places … oceanographers have found a massive river and cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier which is teeming with life. [LONG READ]

Finally in this section of the unexpected, scientists are reporting that plants emit rapid bursts of ultra-sound when stressed – although it isn’t clear if this is an artefact of their structure or a “deliberate” act.

Health, Medicine

Here’s a review of Kate Clancy’s new book Period, which aims to change we understand menstruation.

Sexuality

According to a recent survey Britain is a lot sexier than thought.

In an unsurprising finding it seems sexual wellness and talking about sex helps us flourish.

All of which makes sense when you consider that someone, somewhere, thinks we all need to learn the dos and don’ts of kissing.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

So are coincidences real, or are they merely us spotting patterns which should be expected? [LONG READ]

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Researchers have looked at the science underlying why some Renaissance artists used egg in their oil paints.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Let’s start this long section of history with the Ancient Egyptians … They seem to have been creating automata 4000 years ago.

Also in Ancient Egypt, archaeologists have found a collection of severed hands and suspect it is evidence of trophy-taking.

Across the globe in Mexico archaeologists have found what they believe is a scoreboard for the ancient Mayan ball game pelota (above).

Iceni Queen Boudicca who led a revolt against the Romans is enjoying a resurgence as a symbol of rebellion and a feminist icon.

New dendrochronology shows the Vikings really did live in Newfoundland around 1021, but we don’t know how long for.

A building archaeologist asks “what is a castle?“. [LONG READ]

In a surprise twist Pink Floyd have inspired research into medieval monks and volcanology.

Going Medieval takes a look at nobility, courtship, moral justification, and sexy tapestries. [LONG READ]

In another round of medieval myth-busting our building archaeologist looks at why the historic records may not tell you the date of your house. [LONG READ]

Etchings of the Coronation of Charles II in 1661 by Wenceslaus Hollar have been found hidden in the back of a cupboard.

Temple Bar was once an historic boundary to the City of London – and the site still is. [LONG READ]

They’re digging underneath the Palace of Westminster, and one recent discovery is an 18th-century fish token gaming counter.

London

Over 300 old London street signs are up for auction next month (18 May).

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

In a break with tradition, King Charles will use a new coach for the Coronation procession to Westminster Abbey – and it has electric windows and air con.

Some people absolutely cannot abide being in the same room as some of their hated foods.

People

And finally, the 40-year mystery of three abandoned children and two missing parents.

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Here are this month’s links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Baffled by black holes? Confused by quantum theory? You’re not alone, so here are some simple explanations of various mysteries of the universe. [LONG READ]

An ancient, giant insect has been rediscovered outside a Walmart store in Arkansas. And no, that isn’t a euphemism!

In another discovery, a new gecko species (above) has been discovered on a rugged Queensland island. And it does indeed look like a tiny, rather cute, dragon.

So just how do animals manage to follow their nose to find food or mates? [LONG READ]

We’re learning more and more about the microbes that live in and on us. Here scientists are uncovering what lives in our mouths. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile scientists are also looking at the strange microbes inhabiting an abandoned uranium mine.

And still at the microscopic level, scientists have discovered a completely new and unexpected group of aquatic and predatory microbes, which might be a whole new biological kingdom.

There are even more new discoveries: it has also been found that Japan’s most familiar wild orchid is actually two closely related species.

Health, Medicine

OK, so H5N1 bird flu which is causing the deaths of thousands of birds (especially seabirds) can jump to mammals. But how much do we need to worry about it? [LONG READ]

Here’s one for the “I never knew that” file … Lemon juice can combat kidney stones.

As those of us with depression are probably aware there has long been a debate about the involvement of serotonin as a causative agent. Here’s a layman’s summary of what we think we know about depression treatments. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

Men report reliably having far more orgasms during straight sex than do women. But we should be more open about what constitutes sex to find ways of closing the orgasm gap.

Environment

It is quite surprising what washes up on our beaches.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A rare painting by Brueghel the Younger has been found behind a door in French house.

A Ming dynasty Buddha has been found in the sand near a north Australian beach, and it is being suggested this is evidence of Chinese visits to Australia much earlier than previously known. Hmmmm …

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Ancient cave paintings often feature hand impressions, and many appear to have mutilated fingers. This is now being suggested as deliberate concealment of fingers as part of a Stone Age sign language. [££££]

One day we’re going to realise that ancient peoples moved around quite a lot, and European prehistory is not what we thought. [££££]

I don’t understand why it is thought “startling” that Roman gladiators fought in Britain.

A supposed Roman altar has been found at Leicester Cathedral, supporting a long-held legend.

On the other side of the world on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) an apparently unfinished Moai statue has been found in a volcanic crater.

Coming back to home, researchers have finally managed to decipher a batch of Mary Queen of Scots’ letters from her incarceration.

Come forward another 100 years or so … renovation at a flat in the centre of York had revealed unknown 17th-century friezes.

London

London has about 40 pairs of peregrine falcons who feed largely on the feral pigeons and starlings. But what happened during lockdown when the pigeons dispersed along with the humans? They upped their predation on the Ring-Neck Parakeets – but subsequently returned to dining on pigeons.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Zen Master Brad Warner has offered a Buddhist perspective on transgenderism.

Teenagers are well known for being moody, but here are eight ways to nurture teenage minds.

And finally, a designer shares her love for the tiny things which enable the world.

environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Welcome to another action packed edition of our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed the first time around.

Science, Technology, Natural World

On the uselessness of useful knowledge – or how AI is developing.

Do you have an inner voice that chatters away to you? Most people do in some form, but some don’t and some have bizarre inner voices.

So just why is 42 the answer to everything? [£££] [LONG]

And why is it that some organisms throw away large amounts of DNA during early development? [LONG]

It appears that our modern domestic horses originated in southwest Russia.

Recent years have produced a deluge of dinosaur fossils in China, and they’re totally changing the dinosaur history. Like T. rex with feathers?! [£££]

If that worried you, then go hide now. Because jumping spiders’ remarkable senses capture a world beyond our perception.

Health, Medicine

MessangerRNA is behind some of the very successful Covid-19 vaccines, but it is also now beginning to transform the way we treat many illnesses. [£££]

Sexuality

Yet more on the forbidden erotica of ancient Pompeii. [VIDEO]

And now for three items on the (hopefully normalisation and) liberation of female genitalia …
Labia liberation!, the movement to end vulva anxiety. [LONG]
Viva la vulva, ignorance about the basic biology is shockingly high. [LONG]
An interview with Jamie McCartney, creator of The Great Wall of Vagina.

Environment

We’re running out of fish shit, and it matters. [£££]

We’re also running out of species, as apparently almost half Britain’s biodiversity has gone in the last couple of hundred years.

Forty Hall in north London has been chosen as a site for a beaver release project.

Meanwhile it is important we learn to live with, if not love, our house guests.

It seems that volcanic ash and lava enriches the oceans far faster than it does land.

The Campaign for Better Transport has called for a ban on domestic flights and subsidy for rail travel.

One photographer has made it her mission to photograph the plastic in our seas.

Art, Literature, Language

On the origins and setting of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Some Chileans are living on top of a hoard of some of the earliest known mummies.

Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkably rare, painted Roman amphitheatre at Richborough in Kent.

It s now well established that the Vikings got to America almost 500 years before Columbus, with their Newfoundland site now firmly dated to 1021AD.

On the development of the medieval Westminster Abbey. [LONG]

Staying with ecclesiastical sites, archaeologists have discovered the unexpected site of the tannery at Fountains Abbey.

On menstruation and how men developed a horror for it in the middle ages.

And so, coming up to Halloween, three items on witchcraft …
First a look at how the historic witches are beginning to receive justice.
Secondly a Twitter thread about witch bottles.
And thirdly on the long and underappreciated history of male witches

London

London’s Underground system had a very early spiral escalator; unfortunately it seems never to have fully commissioned and working.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Here’s a recently released, but old, interview with our favourite Zen Master, Brad Warner.

The tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan cares for its happiness more than for its GDP.

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

Monthly Links

Once more unto the monthly links round up, and we’ve got a goodly collection this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Breaking my rule not to blog about Covid-19, but it seems it is all too easy to fake lateral flow tests.

Let’s go into the weird world of the workings of smell receptors. [LONG READ]

While on smell, here’s an item which looks at normal personal body odour and it’s effects on relationships.

Cats are inscrutable and mysterious creatures, but what do they really get up to when we’re not looking.

Health, Medicine

Oh dear, here’s another item on Covid-19 that’s crept in under the radar: how were the Covid-19 vaccines made so quickly without cutting corners?

Scientists are now beginning to unlock the effects of our “gut microbiome” on our health. [LONG READ]

Also on a food theme, it seems that eating milk chocolate in the morning has a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, although it is no better for the waistline.

Medics are suggesting that much common treatment for endometriosis is actually making things worse.

And still on women’s health, here’s a look at the problems many women have with perimenopause and periods. [LONG READ]

Environment

Our predecessors got it right: trees among crops can help both farmers (with improved yields and diverse crops), the environment and thus the climate. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile we can all help the environment by turning those nice areas of mown grass into meadows, as quite a few councils are doing. [LONG READ]

There’s a new arrival on Exmoor: the first baby beaver born there in 400 years!

Art, Literature, Language

This piece contains a video of the amazing and skilled process of making a violin. [30 minute video]

At long last an academic has created an annotated version of Robert Burton’s 400 year old The Anatomy of Melancholy and seemingly unlocked many of its secrets. (Be warned before you buy this: it is a tome bigger than a house brick and totally impossible to read in bed.)

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Palaeontologists have uncovered a site containing thousands of fossilised marine organisms; it’s been likened to a “Jurassic Pompeii”!

Archaeologists are also gradually piecing together something of the lives of Neanderthal children, often from footprints which gives clues about their activity. [LONG READ]

Staying with the Neanderthals, one of them had the creativity and imagination to carve a geometric design in a piece bone.

Coming slightly closer to home, there is the suggestion that Stone Age Europeans may have worn make-up. [£££]

Scientists are also now making progress on understanding what ancient people ate by analysing clues embedded in, rather than on, their pottery. [LONG READ]

About the only good thig to come out of the HS2 project is the archaeology it has spawned. One of the latest finds is a hoard of 2200-year-old coins in Hillingdon.

Researchers have been able to extract and analyse DNA from a mummified 1600-year-old Iranian sheep and shown that it was genetically very similar to the breeds currently kept in that area.

There’s a cave in Derbyshire which is thought to be the early ninth-century home of the deposed and exiled Eardwulf, King of Northumbria.

A new analysis is confirming a previous suggestion that some of the stained glass in Canterbury Cathedral is amongst the world’s oldest, and predates the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

And talking of Thomas Becket, why were his bones moved only 50 years after his death?

The travel guide is far from being a modern invention, for instance we have the medieval travel guide of Cristoforo Buondelmonti.

What did it mean to be a “damsel” in medieval times? [LONG READ]

One of the mysteries of medieval buildings is why so many have obvious burn marks on the wood. It seems it isn’t quite what we thought! [LONG READ]

London

There’s a hidden tram station in central London, and it is going to be opened to the public for the first time in 70 years.

If you see a grille, vent or unlikely structure in London street, there’s a good chance it is a portal to the capital’s hidden underworld.

Over 100 years ago, London Underground’s Piccadilly Line had a revolutionary spiral escalator.

Food, Drink

What should we be eating in order to do our bit for climate change? Here are some of the most sustainable foods, from seaweed to venison.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

If you want to be a better gardener, James Wong says you should be breaking all those quirky Victorian rules about how to do it.

The art of really listening: “Be interested, be curious, hear what’s not said”.

Here’s a look at some of the taboos around body hair (mostly female). Basically it what you feel comfortable with.

Contrary to popular belief researchers have discovered that two-thirds of couples start out just as friends.

But on the other side of the coin, many friendships fade out, and that’s OK.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, we have a major problem with our serfs.

environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

OK, guys & gals. Hold tight for this month’s ride through my links to items you may have missed the first time around.

Science, Technology, Natural World

We know surprisingly little detail about the landscape of our oceans as relatively little has been systematically surveyed, but now scientists have identified and accurately measured the depth of the deepest hole in each of the planet’s five oceans.

Two items on our friends the wasps. First in the Guardian on the importance of wasps. And secondly from Prof. Seirian Sumner of UCL on why she loves wasps and on their importance [LONG READ].

While on insects, an Australian school has been treated to the rare sight of a Giant Wood Moth – and yes, they really are huge!

In another pair of articles in New Scientist [£££] and Scientific American [£££] ecologist Suzanne Simard talks about discovering the hidden language of trees and how they communicate with each other.

A look at the chemistry of the fragrant flowers of viburnum.

Pharmaceutical chemist Derek Lowe takes a look at the how our genes are littered with apparently junk DNA.

We’re regularly told that red wine is good for us and it’s all down to a chemical called resveratrol. (Actually I’d maintain all wine is good for us!)

Health, Medicine

Many women have problems with the symptoms of the menopause. Journalist Kate Muir investigates the social impact, and what could (and should) be done to help.

While on women’s health, the Guardian‘s Emine Saner investigates the (apparently) new focus on the pelvic floor. (Hold on! What’s new here? Haven’t we known about this for several decades?)

Sexuality

So in these days of Covid concern, is oral sex safer than kissing, and other questions about dating?

In which a couple of young people talk about being polyamorous.

At the other extreme several young people talk about being asexual.

Environment

From the outside you’d not think that the River Thames is one of the cleanest rivers in the world, so how come it looks so awful.

One London woman has “adopted” three urban foxes who visit her garden, and they’re confident enough to let her touch them. (We don’t actually advise doing this, guys & gals; remember they’re wild animals with a nasty bite!)

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists claim to have identified the oldest known tattooing tools at an ancient site in Tennessee.

Back in Europe archaeologists think they may have identified one of the victims of Vesuvius at Herculaneum as a rescuer.

Back at home, we all know the legend about Lady Godiva; it seems it is all based on the real early medieval countess Godgifu.

And in another investigation it has been concluded that the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset was created in Anglo-Saxon times.

Medievalist Dr Eleanor Janega gave a short talk on the Black Death. [Video]

And Dr Eleanor Janega has also devised a new (pub?) game: Annoy a Medievalist Bingo.

Tudor historian Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb discovers what it is really like to wear early Tudor women’s clothes.

London

Still in historical context, the Tower of London’s baby raven has been named after a Celtic goddess in a “brilliantly ridiculous” ceremony.

Back down on the ground, London Reconnections takes a look at vehicle design, with special reference to that done for (the various guises) of London Transport.

Food, Drink

What do you mean, you didn’t know avocados are good for you? Here are five reasons you should eat avocado every day. (Disclosure: yes, I do!)

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

You know I’m not going to miss out on a chance to mention naturism … so here’s another look at why we’re better off unclothed. (Disclosure: yes, I am.)

People

Don’t underestimate or write off shy people: one such looks at how it has actually been a big benefit.

In other news, the Heritage Crafts Association has added hand kilt-making and glass eye making to list of the UK’s endangered crafts

And finally … from sewage works to cemetery, Guardian columnist Emma Beddington writes enthusiastically about the bleak local places in which we’ve found solace during lockdown.