today i learned that there are no major rivers in the yucatan peninsula.
the bedrock is soluble limestone, full of caves and fissures and sinkholes, so all the drainage water flows under the surface
the sinkholes are called cenotes down there. here is a picture of one such, currently infested by that invasive species Tourista americanus
(https://i.imgur.com/jVn22Oh.jpg)
Looks like a bad case of las turistas.
i learned today that strandbeests exist
^ I would like some of whatever that artist was smoking
lookit this
https://i.imgur.com/nrvDzB3.mp4
its a fucking crinoid.
until recently, i had no idea that crinoids even still existed.
today i lerned that some of them move around
this is paradigm shift for me, having assumed crinoids were sessile ever since i were a child.
its like watching a coelocanth crawl up onto a beach
the day isnt over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyzjVL5tFn0
in wisconsin, thee are detached and drifting bogs that have to be returned to their starting points every year.
https://www.geoengineer.org/news/lake-chippewas-floating-island-that-has-to-be-boat-pushed-every-year
video of this odd event:
https://i.imgur.com/ij0g0st.mp4
when i saw it, i said, well theyre clearly bogs, but why arent they attached anymore? the aswer is that its an artificial lake, and when they flooded it the bog part, which was floating anyway, floated up more and and started travelling.
this is like the old cs lewis islands in voyage to venus
today i learned that adoplf hitler shot himself with a walther ppk, a 32 caliber semiautomatic pistol.
this is the same gun used by agent 007 in the james bond movies.
its a very small caliber weapon, and supposedly awkward to shoot. i may try one one of these days
My eldest son has one. I'll have to ask him. I seem to recall that every time he shoots it his hand is hurt by some part of the mechanism. But he has big hands, like his dad.
theres nothing to keep the slide from snagging you, for sure. is that where it bites him?
its reputation is that its crude, with a rough action. but the design is over 100 years old, so you cant really hold that against it
I'll ask him. He's currently deployed overseas. (USAF)
today i learned about AV plugs.
(https://i.imgur.com/P3isTmil.jpg)
when you die, the undertaker screws this giant plug into your arsehole so you dont blow a stream of shit over the mourners as your inner gsses expand.
amazing. they think of everything.
UGHHHH !
All the more reason to specify that I don't want to be embalmed, and I'm leaning towards being buried under a tree. Crab apples, anyone? ;D
Cremation has become a more and more practical and practiced method for disposal. It is also hugely more economical and far less burdensome for the survivors.
I, along with my wife, opted for the Neptune Society deal several years ago. Going price for cremation in my area is about $800 which includes the necessary death certificates and such. A decent Christian funeral in one of the "funeral Homes" costs a bloody fortune and then you still need to buy a burial plot.
Indeed. When my mother died, we used a local funeral home. We rented a casket, and had her cremated. But it was still $9k by the time we were done. That industry preys on the sorrow and guilt (potentially) of the survivors. She was a devout Catholic, so there was no way there wasn't going to be a mass for her funeral. She grew up dirt poor on a farm and would have been appalled at what her funeral cost. I'm looking at donating my sorry carcass to science when I die. At least some use will come of any organs that scientists can use, and the eventual cremation is paid for. Still wasteful. I'm also considering being buried for use as fertilizer under a tree. One more crab apple can't be a bad thing. :D
the world is getting stranger and stranger.
today i learned about dinosaur erotica:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81rv9tfb2NL._CLa%7C2933,2560%7C911m7tlpIIL.jpg,91egJ0hLP9L.jpg%7C0,0,1333,2560+1600,0,1333,2560+666,0,1600,2560_._SY300_.jpg)
interestingly, it doesnt have anything to do with dinosaurs having sex with other dinosaurs. its somewhat, ah, more risque than that. and theres lots of them:
wet hot allosaurus summer
don juan velociraptor
triceratops and bottoms
and the ever favourite
all i want for christmas is utahraptor
just when you though 2025 coul;dnt get any weirder.
The word "cubewano." I was rummaging around in the controls and options in the Stellarium program (a free planetarium program (https://stellarium.org/) I've mentioned here before). In one of the menus I saw something unfamiliar, and I've been paying attention to astronomy for a while.
A cubewano (pronounced "kyoo-bee-wuh-noh") is a classical Kuiper Belt object. The word comes from the final few digits of the provisional designation of the first observed Kuiper Belt object (other than Pluto and Charon): (15760) 1992 QB1 now known as 15760 Albion (Wikipedia link (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Kuiper_belt_object)). As far as I'm aware I've never previously encountered the word. A pleasure. :)
A reminder that though I am more up to date with and cognizant of astronomy than the average bear, I'm no astronomer!
I just finished the "Hunchback of Notre Dame", and I came across the word "lucubrate". It means "write or study, especially by night" - a scholar burning the midnight oil. First time I had encountered the word in my 73.5 years.
We are expanding our vocabulary. Thanks Bruce.
Rec, with his impressive vocabulary, has often caused me to consult my OED, which has expanded my brain a tiny bit.
It can be argued that in order to understand a concept, one must be familiar with a word that describes the concept.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on February 23, 2026, 12:59:04 AMI just finished the "Hunchback of Notre Dame", and I came across the word "lucubrate". It means "write or study, especially by night" - a scholar burning the midnight oil. First time I had encountered the word in my 73.5 years.
In my reading, mostly encountered as "lucubration" or "lucubrations." As in "Her lucubrations were interrupted by an untimely visitor." It's a bit over-the-top, but a translation of Victor Hugo seems like a natural place for it. ;)
Quote from: Icarus on February 23, 2026, 04:10:53 AMWe are expanding our vocabulary. Thanks Bruce.
Rec, with his impressive vocabulary, has often caused me to consult my OED, which has expanded my brain a tiny bit.
It can be argued that in order to understand a concept, one must be familiar with a word that describes the concept.
One of my most memorable purchases when I had a bit of money of my own was a
Merriam-Webster's Unabridged in the big single volume edition.
It was reading 19th century writers that got me on that trail--they were much more willing to use arcane words in their work than contemporary writers. I got many superb words from Herman Melville for instance. From his short but excellent novel
The Confidence Man my list of new words came close to 20 as I recall. The Merriam-Webster's was lost in a minor disaster, so now like you I go to the
OED. Maybe eventually a hard copy but for now through my library I get access to the online version.
I have a 2-volume Funk & Wagnalls unabridged that cost practically nothing and it's proven useful on occasion but the
OED is unquestionably the gold standard.
When I was 15 a friend of mine and I wrote stupid songs at his house. He had a second-hand electric guitar, and I used his Funk & Wagnalls as a drum, hitting it with a spoon from his kitchen. We recorded the music. Needless to say, that was an off-label use of a Funk & Wagnalls. Later, I learned the correct purpose.
:lol:
To have a publisher of reference works with such a name was a splendid thing. In their time they were fairly respected in the business.