“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you’d think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.” Lewis Thomas in Lives of a Cell (HT Skeeter Leard)
#feathersdammit#FEATHERS
Pluvi Tweets about this fantastic photo of Cassowaries, and once again damns the lizards of Jurassic Park. Early adapters can risk looking weird, but those who cling to the old paradigm too long can come to look like Flat – Earthers…
Paradigm Shifted?
From Lucas Machias comes a link to this paper on Tyrannosaurid combat and cannibalism in Science Daily, with a nice illo by Luis Rey of two big mean birds. It is not even remarked on…
Quote
On our rockstar Helen, by Jonathan Katz, an uncommon observation. “… the writer Wilfred Sheed wrote once in the New Yorker that “every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.” Sheed wasn’t being nasty, he was being honest. I loved Macdonald’s talk and a I loved her book, but I died a little tonight. …
Skeleton of Ottoman War Camel Discovered in Austria
Archaeologists in Austria have excavated the intact skeleton of a camel in a suburb of Vienna. It appears this camel was used by the Ottoman Army in the failed siege of Vienna in 1683. Detailed analysis of the remains showed that it had worn a harness and had been ridden. Additionally, it proved to be …
Neanderthal Hearing
Remember about three weeks ago when I posted about Neanderthal jewelry and said the more we find out about them, the more like us they seem? Maybe I was a little hasty. For the first time, researchers in France have been able to isolate and identify the bones from the inner ear of a Neanderthal. It …
The Cutting Edge of Social Trends
An article in the New York Times tells us that coloring books for adults is now “a thing” as we say these days. One popular adult coloring book has sold 1.4 million copies since 2013. The article tells us that many of these crayon enthusiasts buy multiple copies of the same coloring book so they …
Some Archaeology News from Alberta
A number of years ago I did a post about a Pleistocene horse-kill site that had been found in Alberta. This was the first Paleoindian horse-kill site ever found. A few years later a Paleoindian camel-kill site, also the first ever found, was located near by. The first assessment by Brian Kooyman, who excavated the …
Spring’s Arrival
A pair of sandhill cranes arrive for breakfast every morning, slowly striding across the green sweep of ground where we’ve fed the sheep flock the day before. They appear in the early dawn, and I step out the back door to quietly call out my wishes for a good morning. The cranes respond with their …
“Mainstreaming” Falconry?
Of course, the biggest thing is Helen in Vogue and pieces on her in the New Yorker and interviews with her on NPR. The FUNNIEST was the New York Review of Books using her to advertise their edition of T. H. White’s The Goshawk (“the book that inspired Helen Macdonald, author of H is for …