The Occasional Joke


Nurse: Patient's name?

Centurion: Marcus Licinius Crassus

Nurse: And his date of birth?

Centurion: 115 BC.

Nurse: All right. And what is he here for?

Centurion: Cataphract surgery.


Thursday, October 15, 2009

Some science news

I've been slacking off on posts lately, so here are a few recent developments in the world of science, in lieu of actually writing anything myself:

  • Lower Paleolithic knife skills: "(The implication is) ... that either one person from the clan butchered the group's meat in a few episodes over time, or multiple persons hacked away at it in tandem," says Prof. Avi Gopher.
  • Dogs won't take your word for it when you say "It's OK, Spot, don't worry about the thunder!" But they do seem to like having other dogs around.
  • Like venal psychiatrists, scientists have managed to give flies false memories of bad things happening to them.
  • Chimps will pass the crescent wrench, when asked, but so far, not without being asked, it says here.
  • A kakapo gets cuddly; rare parrot assaults photographer while journalist stands by snickering. (Parental discretion advised.)
  • The solar system has a wall, perhaps to keep out riff-raff. Note that Science News can't seem to decide whether it's talking about the solar system (article) or the galaxy (headline.)

And an older piece that I'd meant to bring to your attention, but didn't.

And finally, ponder this: I saw something recently along the lines of "everything is an invasive species, at one time or another, actual damage done by invasive species isn't all that much proportionately, don't worry about it ..." Can't find the reference now, unfortunately, but in counter balance to it, this alarmingly-named article was running in a number of places just today. I think I'll keep on worrying, personally.