Tag Archives: science

history, natural history, science, topographical

Monthly Links for November

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Christmas is creeping ever closer, but before then we must have this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

The first test image from the new Vera C Rubin telescope has found a tail on galaxy M61 (above). [££££]

Meanwhile a rather strange planetary system has been spotted with three planets circling a pair of stars.

The planet which crashed into Earth, thus creating the Moon, came from the Inner Solar System. [££££]

Recently a very tiny asteroid buzzed past very close to Earth.

Here’s a tribute to Betty Webster, the much ignored woman who discovered the first black hole.

Coming back to Earth … How did a medieval Oxford friar use light and colour to find the composition of stars and planets?

A recent scientific study has found that there are four key ages in your brain’s development – and they’re not quite when you think they are!

A curiosity … It seems we have an internal lunar clock (as well as the solar one) and it’s getting disrupted by light pollution.

Scientists now calculate that the first kiss dates back some 21 million years – so it wasn’t between humans! (Sculpture below is by Brancusi)

The diversity of our dog breeds can apparently be traced back to the Stone Age.

They seem to have memory, but what do trees remember? [LONG READ]

Environment & Ecology

In the UK, on the Isle of Wight, the “White-knuckled Wolf Spider” has been rediscovered.

Would you believe that London is home to a hairy snail (above), which is now subject to conservation efforts?

Meanwhile, an exceptionally rare pink grasshopper (below) has been found in New Zealand.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have discovered a massive ancient Egyptian fortress in the middle of the desert.

In the UK, the find of several Bronze and Iron Age log boats is revealing details of Fenland prehistory.
From

There’s a project which is mapping ancient Roman roads, and they’ve recently added 60,000 miles from right across the Roman Empire. [££££]

Here’s Going Medieval on the Dark Ages.

Well who would have thought it? Finds – including 25 shoes (one, below) – from ancient vulture nests are shedding light on 600 years of human history! [££££]

London

As so often our London section is mostly historical …

There’s a new book, The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown. It’s getting lots of great reviews.

Meanwhile Londonist has an article by Matt Brown on the history of the London Plane Tree. [LONG READ]

Ongoing work under the Houses of Parliament has turned up evidence of prehistoric tools and a lost medieval hall.

In another Londonist post Matt Brown (again) continues his work revealing the detail in John Rocque’s 1746 map of London by colouring it in. He’s now got to Wapping, Rotherhithe and Shadwell (snippet below). [LONG READ]

Still with Matt Brown, and following on from the previous item, he appears to have found the lost island of Shadwell.

And coming right up to date, the 20-year old gates of City Road Lock on the Regent’s Canal are being replaced, allowing a quick peek at the workings of a lock.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

And finally, for your delectation, here’s a history of slang for virginity – and some links to similar articles from the same author.

memes, science

November 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. What are the three states of matter? Solid, liquid and gas
  2. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize? Marie Curie
  3. Who discovered that the earth revolves around the sun? Nicolaus Copernicus
  4. Which is the largest planet in the solar system? Jupiter
  5. In mathematics, what is the mathematical constant approximately equal to 3.14159 known as? Pi
  6. What subatomic particle has its name taken from James Joyce’s work Finnegans Wake? Quark

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

memes, science

November 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 difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

Physical Science & Mathematics

  1. What are the three states of matter?
  2. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
  3. Who discovered that the earth revolves around the sun?
  4. Which is the largest planet in the solar system?
  5. In mathematics, what is the mathematical constant approximately equal to 3.14159 known as?
  6. What subatomic particle has its name taken from James Joyce’s work Finnegans Wake?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Herewith my usual collection of links to items you may have missed, but really didn’t want to. As usual we’ll start with the hard science stuff and gradually get easier.

Science, Technology, Natural World

What can be done about the growing problem of academic fraud?

While we are often sceptical, this can be very selective.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation (left over from the Big Bang) shows an unexpected streak; it’s still there in the latest observations, and scientists don’t understand why, and . [££££]

Galactic centres sometimes blow up, but what we see depends on our point of view. [££££]

Back to Earth (well the watery bit anyway) … There’s a lungfish which has 30 times more DNA that humans – which is a new record for an animal.

What does the world look like to a spider?

Health, Medicine

A lot of men have varicose veins in their scrotum, and it often affects fertility.

We’re still discovering things about the human body … Researchers have now worked out why most of us have innie navels (but not why some have outies). [££££]

Women’s use of cannabis goes back thousands of years.

Recent research is showing how the physical side-effects of antidepressants varies with the type of drug, potentially allowing clinicians to better tailor treatment to the individual.

The medical profession has been dealing with quacks since at least the time of Hippocrates.

Environment & Ecology

Wild honeybees are endangered across much of Europe …

… and it seems that the English garden is endangered with a study finding almost 50% of garden area now paved over.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

An exhibition in Cambridge is showing what archaeologists have found about Ancient Egypt’s workers from things like broken pottery.

You can learn a lot from a merkin.

London

The Boroughs of London is a new map-based book about London’s 32 boroughs which are now 60 years old.

Meanwhile Matt Brown (who wrote the words for The Boroughs of London) has continued his series of colouring thee 1746 map of London, this time with Westminster and Lambeth. [LONG READ]

Food, Drink

Beer is a proof for the existence of God.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Some thoughts on the difference between the freedom of skin and the performative society.

So just why do people wear clothes? Well, it’s complicated!

And finally, I’ll leave you with the results of research where 100 couples slept naked for a month. You might be surprised.

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

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

Science, Technology, Natural World

It’s that time of year again, when the Ig Nobel Prize winners are announced.
Two articles:
Tipsy Bats and Perfect Pasta, from Scientific American. [££££]
Teflon diet, garlic milk and zebra cows from the Guardian.

And so to something else approaching reality … the oldest known ankylosaur fossil shows the creature was “bristling with spikes”.

I’m not sure this isn’t so obvious it qualifies for an Ig Nobel, but it seems that primates with longer thumbs tend to have bigger brains.

While on brains … apparently the brain’s body map is surprisingly stable even after you lose a limb. [££££]

Researchers have done an incredible amount of work to map out every nerve in a mouse. [££££]

And still with brains … here’s a look at what owning a cat does to your brain and theirs.

On top of which, like humans, cats can get dementia.

When is a dancing spider a different species of dancing spider?

One guy noticed that thousands of flies kept landing on an oil rig in the middle of the North Sea, and then leaving a few hours later.

How do you manage to track, find and record invasive Asian hornets in the UK?

Now a couple of items for the deep nerds out there … first, much of advanced maths and data analysis depends on Fourier transforms. But what is a Fourier transform?

Now here’s a look at conceptagion – the idea that an outbreak of “mass hysteria” can cause physical symptoms.

OK, so a shift of focus … there’s what appears to be a huge crater in the sediments at the bottom of the North Sea, which most scientists now think was caused by an asteroid impact.

So a robot lander may (or may not) have found signs of ancient life in Martian rocks – but we won’t know for certain at least until scientists get their hands on the samples.

Health, Medicine

The death of an American child shows just how measles can kill years after the initial infection. [££££]

Here’s some low-down on a virus almost everyone gets – HPV.

And here’s a short tutorial on immunology and the basics of vaccines …

… And a look at how hard it was for germ theory to become the prevailing understanding of infectious disease.

Environment & Ecology

A rare continental ladybird has been recorded for the first time in southern England.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Somewhat surprisingly there is a dearth of historical items this month …

First off, the story of human evolution is being radically changed by a Denisovan skull. [££££]

Here’s an introduction to a new(?) website of maps of some English cities showing the incidence of violence in 14th century.

Finally here … Ten things you maybe didn’t know about forks.

Food, Drink

The UK’s food system is based on keeping prices low, but recent droughts are showing up where and how this fails.

There are increasing concerns over the quality of our food, and here are some red flags on spotting chemical ingredients, kitchenware etc.

Which begs the question: do we actually know what we’re eating?

And how do we tell ultra-processed foods from minimally processed foods.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Ladies … here’s a theory of why your husband “forgets” everything you tell him.

Here’s a piece on the Māori and their tradition of nudity.

And finally for this month, one young lady asks why nudity is such a big deal.

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Links for August

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Here’s our August collection of links to interesting items you may (or may not) have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Good scientists update their theories and change their minds. What happens when the do? [££££]

Or to look at it another way, there is much weirdness, and the best we can do is to try to understand the underlying rules.

Because, for example, the Universe is static. No, it’s expanding. Or slowing? Or accelerating. Depending on who and when you are. [££££]

Meanwhile they’ve discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus – assuming you can call a piece of rock 10km in diameter a moon. [££££]

And it seems that Betelgeuse may have a small stellar companion.

After which we shouldn’t be surprised that Earth gets bombarded by meteorites from outside our solar system [££££], or that some manage to crash land here.

Continuing to look up, we’re still trying to understand what triggers lightning; and it seems to be all down to exploding stars!

From above our heads to under our feet … Earth’s core is leaking out.

Now lets turn to the animal kingdom … a small ancient whale with razor-sharp teeth an huge eyes has been unearthed in Australia.

Antarctic Leopard Seals sing to attract a mate, and their songs are very similar to nursery rhymes!

There’s a new theory that our primate ancestors evolved in colder regions and not in the tropics.

Research has confirmed that cats develop dementia in a very similar way to humans developing Alzheimer’s.

All hail the Rat King – maybe.

A new study has found that “sex reversal” is surprisingly common in birds.

They keep telling me that wasp numbers in UK have been unusually high this summer after a warm and dry Spring. All I can say is “Not here”; wasps are almost absent.

Now finally in this section, a complete change of subject … a sports scientist has looked at how strip colour impacts performance particularly in Premier League football.

Health, Medicine

Do we visualize dreams in colour or black and white?

While different diseases spread via different methods, there’s a scale of contagion.

Is it actually possible to break your penis? Spoiler: yes, and it needs emergency action.

On which note … why some penises are curved?

Environment & Ecology

Scientists have used existing air pollution monitors to assess environmental DNA (eDNA) to discover what lives nearby.

Natural England is reporting the recovery of 150 struggling species of plants and animals.

Southern Small White butterfly has been seen in the UK for first time.

A study is suggesting that reintroduced lynx could thrive in Northumberland.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

We know that the Mercator projection used for most maps of the world distorts the relative sizes of continents, and now the African Union has joined calls for and end to the projection’s use.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

There’s a Christian principle of “hate the sin but not the sinner” which we seem to have totally lost – artist Eric Gill is, again, a current target – as it’s now a case of “hate the sin, and the sinner, and their works; and airbrush the whole from existence”.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A previously unknown species of Australopithecus (our ancestors) has been identified from some teeth. [££££]

Still with teeth, an ancient cow’s tooth may help unlock some of the mysteries of Stonehenge.

Slowly coming up to date … a 2,500-year-old Siberian “ice mummy” had intricate tattoos

A new analysis reveals that the Vikings were addicted to silver and just how far they would travel to obtain it.

Archaeologists have happened upon the tomb of an ancient Mayan city’s first ruler.

Meanwhile all classes of ancient Incan used coded strings of hair for record keeping.

DNA analysis of some early medieval English skeletons has revealed some surprising West African ancestry. [££££]

On the return of the equestrian statue of Charles I to Charing Cross.

Still with the Restoration, their women were much more creative than has been perceived.

HMS Northumberland – built 1679 as part of Samuel Pepys’s modernisation of the Navy – sank in the Great Storm of 1703, but is only now revealing its secrets.

London

And finally for this month … Three articles on transport for London …
*  London’s First Bus
*  The colourful history of London’s Traffic Lights
*  An old Underground train breaks a world record.

history, links, medical, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

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Here we go with this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed – and we have a good selection of both science and history this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with a look at some counter-intuitive statistics from the Men’s Soccer Under-21 Euro competition.

Still on statistics, here’s another look at the Monty Hall Problem (above) & the meaning of life.

Now for optical illusions rather than mental illusions.

Now to geology … and there are some deep pulses beneath Africa.

Observers think it possible that some fragments of meteor have landed on Ben Nevis.

Cosmologists report that they’ve seen the gravitational waves from the largest ever seen merger of two black holes. [££££]

The Owl Galaxies (below) (what a wonderful name) are hiding a secret, but observers can’t agree on what the secret is.

And here’s a clump of quasars which really shouldn’t exist in such a small volume of space.

Now we have three items on the third (known) alien visitor to our solar system. The first from Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy Newsletter, then the Scientific American report [££££], and finally Scientific American also look at seven mysteries [££££] [LONG READ] about the object.

Now let’s come back down to the gory details of life on Earth. Around 13 million years ago there was a huge “terror bird” and one of them appears to have been killed by an equally huge reptile. Truly a battle of apex predators.

More up to date … How do various apes settle status disputes? [LONG READ]

Apparently evolution can explain human testicle size but says nothing about our unique chins.

And finally for this deep science section … every one of the thousands of rose cultivars is ultimately derived from one (or more) of three original species.

Health, Medicine

First a recap of something we already knew … Measles isn’t just dangerous, it can wipe your immune system’s memory leaving you exposed to infections from which you’ve previously recovered.

Plague (Yersinia pestis), aka the Black Death, is still alive and still causing illness and death – albeit at a much reduced level than 400+ years ago. [££££] [LONG READ]

On the curious variety of blood groups, which has uncovered Gwada-negative, the rarest blood group on Earth carried by just one person.

A look at how currency can affect clinical trials.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A historian looks at the lack of female labia in sculpture. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile another historian takes a look at the history of adultery in art.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The first, almost complete, Denisovan skull has allowed researchers to suggest what our ancient cousin looked like. [££££]

A short step across to Neanderthals, and it appears that individual groups had their own local food cultures. [££££]

Once upon a time Pharaoh came in the Nile.

Also from ancient Egypt, in an unusual burial in a pot, the skeleton has undergone whole genome analysis.

A quick hop across to Peru where archaeologists have found a 3500-year-old city.

Back to Europe and one archaeologist points out that most Minoan art is made up – if only by joining the dots to fill in missing sections. [LONG READ]

Going Medieval looks at the Crusades, and how they were pretty much all failures. [LONG READ]

A buildings archaeologist shares some thoughts on cellars. [LONG READ]

Here an archaeologist discusses some of the medieval treasures in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. [LONG READ]

Here in the UK we’ve not long managed to escape from this year’s Wimbledon tennis championship, but in the 16th-century (real) tennis was a decidedly dangerous sport.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned the New River before, but in case you missed it, here’s its history. [LONG READ]

And lastly here, we’re right up to date with news of Denmark’s radical experiment in archaeology which embraces metal detectorists. [LONG READ]

London

Matt Brown has taken on the task of colouring John Roque’s 1746 map of London. Here’s the latest section Tyburn Tree to Hide Park Corner. [LONG READ]

Kew Gardens is going to close its iconic Palm House for five years from 2027 in order to give it a major make-over and conservation.

As many here will know GWR have been trialling a battery-driven train on my local branch line, and it seems this technology could bring significant benefits to many small lines.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

A microbiologist looks at how often one really should wash all your bedding.

Let’s finish with three useful and explanatory articles on naturism. First, naturism is only exhibitionism in disguise, isn’t it? Well no, actually.

Secondly a piece on navigating social nudity and group dynamics.

And finally … So what is wrong with tattoos or piercings which have traditionally been frowned upon in nudist settings? Spoiler: nothing.

memes, science

July 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.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal? The cheetah
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have? 3
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what? Penguin
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name? The Far Side
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820? Tomatoes
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour? Chlorophyll

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

memes, science

July Quiz Questions

1 Comment

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

Biology

  1. What is the fastest land animal?
  2. How many hearts does an octopus have?
  3. Gentoo, Adelie and Macaroni are all species of what?
  4. What comic strip’s joke name for the row of spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail, the “thagomizer,” ended up becoming the official name?
  5. Which fruit did many people in the Western world think was poisonous until 1820?
  6. What is the natural compound present in green plants that gives them their colour?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

history, links, medical, nudism, science

Monthly Links for June

And so, already, we get to this month’s collection of items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World
Has any cat owner actually managed to fully decipher their cat’s meows? Well now researchers are trying to use AI tools to do just this. [££££]

Whether your cat is vocal or quiet may depend on its genes.

So, we’re still finding microbes we didn’t know about. In one case a microbe with a bizarrely tiny genome (above) which could just be evolving into a virus.

And in a further demonstration of how little we know about our home rock, scientists continue to be baffled by an apparent, and mysterious, link between Earth’s magnetism and oxygen levels. [££££]

Extending this lack of knowledge outward … Was the Big Bang really the beginning of our Universe? We don’t know, but there is research which suggests it could all have happened within a black hole!

Health, Medicine

Despite what they told you at school, insulin is made in the brain, and not just in the pancreas.

The ancient idea of the wandering uterus may be wrong, but the female reproductive tract is surprisingly mobile.

Sexuality

Who knew that semen allergy was a thing?

Another oddity … Orgasms can trigger colours in people with sexual synaesthesia. [££££]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Denmark is deploying “saildrones” (above) in the Baltic Sea to monitor undersea cables and protect them from hostile action.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

English spelling will never make sense. Here’s something about why. [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

One archaeologist thinks he’s uncovered a fraudulent scam involving Roman wine.

Also in the Roman world, a huge haul of fragments of Roman frescoes has been found in South London. What a nightmare jigsaw puzzle!

Here’s a review of a book on the making of books in the Middle Ages.

The Inca had a system of “writing” based on knotted strings, and some ancient examples are revealing Peru’s climate history.

There seemed little he couldn’t turn his hand to for the profit of humanity in general, making Benjamin Franklin (below) a phenomenon even during his lifetime.

London

Who knew that London still had sheriffs?

IanVisits investigates the one-time secret tunnels beneath Holborn, and looks at the plans to open them to the public.

In North London there’s a forgotten Tudor house that’s seen better days.

Coming right up to date … there’s to be a national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II. And of course it will be in London’s St James’s Park and being designed by Norman Foster. [No comment.]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Continuing one of our recurrent themes, here’s an article on helping people understand naturism and social nudity.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

So let’s end with two unlikely items …

Did you know that Disney produced educational films about periods and family planning as long ago as 1946?

And finally a Dutch museum has put on display a 200-year-old, mint condition, condom (below) decorated with an explicit scene of a nun and three clergymen. It is believed to have been a “luxury souvenir” from a fancy brothel in France.