Tag Archives: history

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Somehow we’ve almost got to the end of April, which means it’s time for our regular round up of links to items you may have missed. As well as the usual motley collection, we seem to have a lot of science-y stuff this month, so let’s get stuck in!

Science, Technology, Natural World

crab

It is interesting the way that Nature keeps evolving the same patterns independently. As an example, crabs have evolved five separate times.

Talking of the unexpected, researchers have used decades-old tins of salmon to track the health of the ocean’s fish stocks. [££££]

And on the subject of tracking … scientists in the UK have developed a trap which is an early warning system for Asian hornets.

And we keep the chain going … wasp researchers have agreed that the media is biased against wasps. Well who would have guessed!?

And now for something completely different … medical researchers continue to try to make sense of death and near death experiences. [LONG READ]

So why is it that some people always get lost, but others don’t? [LONG READ]

Researchers are using ancient records of previous total solar eclipses to help measure history.

I bet you didn’t know that billions of years ago the moon turned inside out, well sort-of. I certainly didn’t.

It’s well established that Stonehenge is aligned with the sun, but is it also aligned with the moon? Archaeologists and astronomers are about to use a rare lunar event to find out.

And still on space, NASA scientists have seemingly done the impossible and managed to bring the Voyager 1 probe back to its senses. Two, slightly different, looks in the Guardian and on Live Science.

Artists impression of Voyager 1

Health, Medicine

An epidemiologist highlights that kids don’t need to get diseases to be healthy.

Here a medical health researcher looks at the UK’s failure in 2020 to “act fast and isolate” against Covid.

And staying on pandemics, the consensus amongst scientists is that the next pandemic will be caused by a flu virus.

Changing tack somewhat … a top OB/GYN looks at the basics of menstrual blood and explodes more than a few myths.

And another myth exploded … it seems that time-restricted eating is linked to a 91% (ie. almost double) higher risk of cardiovascular death.

Lastly in this section: you’ve heard of dyslexia, but do you know about dyscalculia? [££££]

Sexuality

The somewhat outspoken sex researcher, Dr Kate Lister, asserts that all straight men should try pegging once.

Meanwhile sex educator Dr Emily Nagoski talks to the BBC about sex and orgasm myths.

And coincidentally two women talk in the Guardian about their experiences of their unexpectedly open marriages. First Cassie Werber; and secondly New Yorker Molly Roden Winter. [BOTH ARE LONG READS]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

IanVisits reckons that according to an inoperative law we have the date of Easter all wrong.

UK Supreme Court building

Politicians in the UK fulminate about foreign courts having sway over our law, when in fact there are more foreign courts on UK soil pontificating on affairs elsewhere in the world.

Now what have I been saying for years? … Using phonics to teach children to read doesn’t work.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Imaginary fashion art by Rose Wong

Here’s a blog post on the interesting work of New York artist Rose Wong.

Meanwhile Ian Dunt eulogises the word cunt.

Early medieval England saw a boom in the minting of silver coins, but until now no-one really knew why.

Mermaid Street & the Mermaid Inn, Rye

Mediaeval Mythbusting goes on the trail of the tales behind our more ancient pubs, including one of my favourites, The Mermaid in Rye. [LONG READ]

And Going Medieval discourses on obscenity, ancient and modern. [LONG READ]

London

London once had dozens of iconic green huts which were cabman’s shelters. Now there are only 13 and the final one has just got heritage protection.

Green London Cabman's Shelter

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So here’s another look at the culture and usefulness of pubic hair.

And finally … Another of my favourite places in Dungeness, on which stands Prospect Cottage, the late Derek Jarman’s seaside home. It is sometimes open to the public, but the Guardian has some interior photographs.

Prospect Cottage, Dungeness

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, memes

What Happened in 824?

Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.

Notable Events in 824

11 November. The Constitutio Romana establishes the authority of the Holy Roman Emperors over the papacy of Rome.

Unknown Date. Zenpuku-ji, one of the oldest Tokyo temples, is founded by the Japanese Buddhist monk Kukai.

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.

history, memes

What Happened in 724?

Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.

Notable Events in 724

Unknown Date. A Muslim fleet raids the Byzantine-ruled Balearic Islands, as well as Byzantine Sardinia and Lombard Corsica.

Unknown Date. Emperor Shomu orders that houses of the Japanese nobility be roofed with green tiles, as in China, and have white walls with red roof poles.

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

This is the first of this year’s collections of links to items you may have missed the first time round – and didn’t know you wished you hadn’t!

As usual we’ll start with the harder science stuff and then it’s all downhill.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Lenin’s bust at the South Pole of Inaccessibility in 2008 – the hut is now buried

Let’s start in the middle of nowhere … Poles of Inaccessibility are just that: places furthest from anywhere.

Most know about John Conway’s Game of Life, but there’s been a long-standing puzzle about periodically repeating patterns which has now been solved. [££££]

Still with mathematics, Kit Yates talks about the way in which we are all too often deceived by our training that things are linear.

Changing tack, here are ten odd creatures that washed up on beaches during 2023.

There are times when one wonders where scientists get their research ideas! These guys investigated the vibrations caused by indigenous instruments the bundengan and didgeridoo.

Didgeridoo and clapstick players performing at Nightcliff, Northern Territory [Wikipedia]

On to a weirdness in the heavens … astronomers have discovered a megastructure which is challenging our understanding of the universe.

Back on our planet, Earth’s wobble creates problems for astronomy, cartography and climate. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Now here’s an interesting approach to understanding anatomy … the body is just bags within bags within bags, all the way down. [££££]

We all know about the placebo effect, but here are half a dozen things you maybe didn’t know about it.

OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter has written a new book on menstruation: Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation; here’s a review.

On the other side of the divide, it seems that sperm counts are falling across the globe and scientists are trying to find out exactly why. [LONG READ] [££££]

In 1889 there was a pandemic caused by Russian flu. Here’s a piece outlining why it is unlikely it was actually due to a coronavirus.

Scientists are worried about permafrost, or rather the increasing lack of it: they’re finding, in melting permafrost, ancient microbes which are still viable, and worry there may be some which could cause a devastating pandemic if they get released.

I’m not sure whether this final item in this section should be here or under history, but here goes … Archaeologists looking at ancient DNA have found the first known ancient case of Turner syndrome, a condition where the subject has just one X chromosome, rather than the normal two.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

So let’s come on to history proper, and start with ten amazing finds from 2023.

A collection of treasures found inside a sunken temple in Egypt.

Not included in the above is the 2000-year-old “celestial calendar” which has been found in an ancient Chinese tomb.

Also about 2000 years old is a knife engraved with what are thought to be the oldest known runes in Denmark.

Slightly more recently, the medievals seemed to have this thing about fighting snails – but historians can’t agree why.

Back with ancient artefacts, archaeologists in Switzerland have found an intact medieval gauntlet.

In Scotland, the oldest known tartan, uncovered in a peat bog, has been recreated.

The Glen Affric tartan

Now we’re almost right up to date … the UK’s intelligence agency, GCHQ, have released previously classified images of the code-breaking compute COLOSSUS to mark its 80th anniversary.

A 'rebuild' of Colossus

London

Last month we mentioned the lovely Tudor map of London and the coloured version being created by Matt Brown … well here’s Part 2. [££££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So how, and why, is it that every coffee shop looks much the same right across the world? [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally here’s a selection of trailblazing tattooed ladies from earlier times. [LONG READ]

Maud Stevens

history, memes

What Happened in 324?

Over the next few months we’ll have a look at some things – things which seem to me to be interesting or curious – which happened during other years ending ..24. Some years are busy; in others nothing much seemed to have happened, so there are some gaps. We’ll do a different year each month, starting at 324.

Notable Events in 324

Unknown Date. Constantine I (below) founds Constantinople and incorporates Byzantium into the new capital. He reorganises the Roman army in smaller units classified into three grades: palatini (imperial escort armies); comitatenses (forces based in frontier provinces) and limitanei (auxiliary border troops).

arts, beliefs, environment, food+drink, history, links, medical, memes, science

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.