August 12, 2021
The Preferred Nomenclature
Fifteen years ago, biologist and Coen brothers fan Ingi Agnarsson christened two newly-discovered spiders Anelosimus dude and Anelosimus thebiglebowski (includes a spider photo). Why? Most spiders will be aggressive toward their own, but for these two dudes, "aggression, towards kin, will not stand." Naming new scientific discoveries is fun. Until it isn't. [more inside]
unhygienic and impolite toward the athlete
The Big Death
New study says humans killed Neanderthals by having sex with them. A rare blood disorder discovered in Neanderthal babies was likely the result of breeding with humans, according to a new study. [...] This disorder would have made it difficult for the affected generations to reproduce — cutting their bloodline short. (The Hill, July 28, 2021) The paper: Blood groups of Neandertals and Denisova decrypted, PLoS ONE [more inside]
What's a conspiracy theory that you 1,000% believe in?
TikTok user Akintoye has a message about vaccines. (Single-link TikTok video; also available on Twitter.)
An organizing motto for their grief
After Bobby McIlvaine died on September 11, 2001, his family's grief ravelled in many different ways. In a sensitive, and often surprising, account, Jennifer Senior traces the tangled threads to their unexpected destinations in the present.
"You'll thank me someday ..."
Some patients have found themselves suddenly treated like criminals because of their dogs' medications, their past sexual abuse, and seeing doctors a long way away from their house. Why?
"A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse."
"Shakespeare played [the ghost]...it's the toughest part of the play."
TV, emphasis on the 𝓣
Doctor Who wasn't the only British TV series to start out educational and become its own thing. There's a reason 1985's Wonders in Letterland was later renamed Trouble with T-Bag. The following seasons (bar the last) followed a modified formula revolving around the show's breakout characters - the witch-like T-Bags (Tallulah Bag and later her sister and successor Tabitha) and their young assistant T-Shirt enacting a plan that and only be stopped by artifacts (or pieces of one) scattered across history and/or folklore, prompting a girl's journey through existence. The complete seasons and specials on YouTube: 1 2 3 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 9
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