Tag Archives: environment

Monthly Links for December

So here we are with the last round of Monthly Links for 2024, and were ending with a fairly bumper bundle …


Science, Technology, Natural World

dog-like ancestral mammal

Let’s start off with Quanta Magazine‘s reviews of science during the year. [All are LONG READS]
The Year in Physics
The Year in Biology
The Year in Maths
The Year in Computer Science
For some reason Quanta don’t cover chemistry or medicine.

There’s this idea in theoretical physics that we are living in a simulation, driven by some higher powers. And now there is a possible new law of physics which could support this.

The mathematics of random gatherings is a bit of a riddle.

Exponential growth can be somewhat counter intuitive.

Meanwhile scientists have tossed 350,757 coins to prove that they’re not 50/50 heads/tails and that a fair coin is probably impossible.

By most standards our modern atomic clocks are pretty accurate, but they’re about to be superseded by nuclear clocks which are orders of magnitude even more accurate.

Somewhat at the other extreme there’s an ancient piece of space hardware which is surprisingly still working well beyond it’s intended lifespan.

Talking of space hardware, there’s growing concern at the quantity of space junk left flying about up above, and how it could destroy all possibility of further space missions.

There are, as NASA have discovered, a whole host of so-called “dark comets” flying about above our heads.

Let’s come back to earth, or rather the sea … a strange, previously unknown, predatory crustacean has been found miles deep in an ocean trench off the west coat of South America.

Land predators aren’t going to be left out … the 280-million-year-old fossil of a dog-like predator which is likely one of our oldest mammal ancestors, has been found in Spain (above).

From dogs to cats … scientists have made a lot of progress unravelling the complex genetics of ginger cats.

ginger kitten

Finally in this section, Independent SAGE, which was formed early in the pandemic to communicate good and transparent science, have been doing some navel-gazing to see what they could have done better. There are two summaries by Kit Yates of the published research paper: activities and organisation and lessons learnt.


Health, Medicine

Although it’s now a bit late for Christmas 2024, here are some generally applicable ways, from a GP, to avoid some common health hazards.

The science and medical community are getting worried about a possible pandemic of H5N1 bird flu. But how close are we really close to a pandemic?

Meanwhile Bob Hawkins is writing a series of four articles on how one models a pandemic in order to understand how various scenarios play out. Here’s part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Here’s a look at why it makes sense to vaccinate boys against HPV.

Poliovirus has been found in wastewater in Spain, Germany and Poland. How important is this?

One of our most common symbols of Christmas, mistletoe, provides a number of therapeutic agents.

The Vagus Nerve, our most complex nerve, is responsible for the messaging associated with many of our organs, but it’s role in mental health is also being unravelled. [££££] [LONG READ]


Sexuality

It seems that sexual identity is much more fluid than we previously thought.

Sex educators provide 16 ways to talk to your children about bodies, porn and consent.


Environment

beaver kits

Here are five UK biodiversity success stories.

So what does happen to the natural world when people disappear? [LONG READ]

Carbon-positive gardening in your own back yard.

Hunting wildlife to remove them doesn’t work: hunt more coyote, get more coyote.

coyote


Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

So how much do we know about really old people, and how reliable is it? [LONG READ]

Sweden is almost a cashless society, and that’s not good for who are left out.


Art, Literature, Language, Music

As one had always suspected, “Word of the Year” is a marketing gimmick which tells us nothing about the actual state of the world.

Many authors place imaginary books within their own real books. Now there’s an exhibition in New York which brings some of these imaginary works of literature to life.


History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Let’s start off with a summary of ten fascinating archaeological discoveries of 2024. [LONG READ]

It seems highly likely that the first tools were made from plants, not rocks; but it is difficult to prove. [££££] [LONG READ]

A Bronze Age pit in Somerset has revealed evidence not just of mass murder, but also cannibalism.

Back around 4500 years ago, the area which is now Iran is known to have had a number of sophisticated board games including the Royal Game of Ur; and of course there are no manuals. Now two researchers have looked at another of these games, which has not just the board but also many of the pieces, and worked out a possible set of rules for the game. (If you really want brain-ache, follow the link to the preprint paper at the end of the linked article for a detailed explanation.)

In Norway, a number of Viking women’s graves have revealed jewellery, coins, and a ‘vulva stone’

An archaeological site in Kent is turning up lots of Anglo-Saxon finds, including a remarkably well preserved sixth-century sword.

Two articles on the plethora of archaeological finds from the reconstruction of Notre Dame. First from Science and second from Good News Network.

Unexpectedly, letters from Elizabeth I, Benjamin Franklin and Lord Byron are among a collection discovered in British stately home.

Around the globe there are around 8,500 shipwrecks from WWI and WWII, and many are now a ticking time-bomb of pollution, or worse.
Polluting shipwrecks are the ticking time-bomb at the bottom of our oceans.


Food, Drink

Now here’s a curiosity … Diamond Geezer has discovered that the British are drinking a lot less tea than 50 years ago, but coffee consumption is about the same.

cup of tea


Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

People have always needed to make sense of the world within their knowledge span, so they end up believing all sorts of things which later generations reveal to be rubbish.

Here are three articles from Corey S Powell in which he takes a cosmic look at thought …
Perspective from the stars
You Are a Ripple of Information
Your information bubble is your legacy

How Polynesian voyagers navigate Earth’s biggest ocean.

So just why don’t more women choose to propose to their male partners? Spoiler: patriarchy.

Once they reach 40 many women become invisible to men, and they won’t all accept it. [££££]

Another look at why women wear bras.

And finally for this year … ten reasons why you need to sunbathe naked.

nude sunbather


Monthly Links

Well then … Here we go with another collection of links to items you didn’t know you didn’t want to miss.


Science, Technology, Natural World

In the latest of the grand space projects, NASA has retrieved a couple of hundred grams of an asteroid and dropped it back to Earth.

Now we’re coming down to the top of a 22,000-foot volcano where Earth’s highest-dwelling vertebrates have been found

Japan has a new island thanks to an underwater volcanic eruption.

Still on the fiery nature of Earth, there’s been a swarm of earthquakes happening in Iceland, which likely precedes a volcanic eruption.

Still on earthquakes, a researcher, at the Vatican Library, has found a 500-year-old Hebrew note which reveals an unknown earthquake swarm in Italy.

Now to the natural world …

Serotine bats (above) have surprised scientists by being the first known mammal to have procreative sex without penetration.

Staying with rodents … experiments suggest that rats may have the power of imagination.

In the Amazon there’s a somewhat horrifying parasitic wasp (below) with a huge head, and it is just one of over 100 newly discovered species.

This is somewhat bizarre … it seems that starfish are just a large, flattened head, with no body. [££££]


Health, Medicine

Scientists seem to have worked out why some people get headaches from drinking red wine.

And now we have three items for the female population …

In the first, OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter tries to once and for all explode the myth of menstrual synchronization.

Dr Gunter then looks at the sense in poking garlic up your vagina.

Finally academic sex researcher Dr Kate Lister tests oral probiotics for vaginal health. [££££]


Sexuality

And now on to actual sexuality … in which Dr Emily Nagoski looks at some approaches to sex for the disabled.

Expert sex therapists suggest the usual 20 ways to revive your flagging libido.


Environment

On the interaction between wild pigs and golf courses.


Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Why is there this assumption British voters become more Conservative with age – and is it true?

Let’s obscure the players’ genders and then see how men’s and women’s soccer compare.


Art, Literature, Language, Music

Archaeological finds are revealing that art is much older than our species. [LONG READ] [££££]

There’s a boom in people taking up life drawing.


History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Near China’s “Terracotta Army” archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 2000-year-old sheep-drawn chariot.

Moving west, a large number of clay stamps used to seal Roman documents (above) have been discovered in Turkey.

Meanwhile off the coast of Sardinia divers have discovered around 50,000 Roman coins.

A cartographer has created a London Underground style map of Britain’s Roman Roads.

Excavations around Sutton Hoo in Suffolk continue to turn up suprises. One latest find is the remains of what might be an early 7th-century temple.

Coming gradually up to date … A hoard of medieval pennies dating from the reign of King Stephen has been found in Norfolk.

In Germany they’ve found a centuries old grave containing a skeleton with four prosthetic fingers.

Dr Eleanor Janega takes reveals the real story behind the killing of Joan of Arc.

Forensic research proves that the Ancient Ram Inn in Wotton-under-Edge (above) is old, but not as old as is made out. [LONG READ]


London

Here’s a look at the life of Wenceslaus Hollar who is best known for his panoramic views of 17th-century London (below).


Food, Drink

The convoluted story of the sandwich called Gua Bao. [LONG READ]


Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Mathematician Kit Yates looks at whether the time has come to stop changing the clocks twice a year.

Cheese-rolling, straw bears and weird rituals: one man has made it his life’s work to record the whole of British folklore, and he now has a massive collection.

There’s a collection of walks around the UK’s strange and sacred sites.

Returning to sex researcher Dr Kate Lister, she’s written about growing out her pubic hair for the first time in 20 years. [££££]


Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, in a surprise revelation it has been discovered that a supposed Yeti hair actually belonged to a horse.