Just Plain WEIRD #2
By Geoffrey Brooks 2020 May 10 – Here is presented the widely dismissed account that probably sometime in the mid-11th century, Danish Vikings from Schleswig and the Danelaw (as ascertained from runic rock inscriptions) arrived at Santos in Brazil and proceeded inland to …
By Nick Lavars 2020 May 07 – The Cape honey bee has an ability to reproduce daughters asexually, and scientists have now pinpointed the gene that makes this possible. Binty/Depositphotos. – Scientists investigating the genetics underlying a peculiar behavior in South Africa’s Cape honey …
Antibodies from Winter, a 4-year-old llama with great eyelashes, have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments. Winter, center, a llama on a farm run by Ghent University in Belgium. Credit: Tim Coppens – By Jillian Kramer 2020 May 06 – Leer …
Map-makers insert fake towns or trap-streets to catch out plagiarists, but Agloe, in New York state, took on a strange life of its own. By David Bramwell 2020 May 03 – The non-existent town of Agloe, NY, came into existence when an entrepreneur …
By Rich Haridy 2020 Apr 23 – Boston Dynamics suggests this technology could be applied to a number of other more common wheeled robots. Boston Dynamics. – For years we have witnessed Boston Dynamics develop increasingly sophisticated robots, and while they are undoubtedly impressive …
It originated in India, and came to dominate Western interiors and fashion. Joobin Bekhrad traces the fascinating – and turbulent – history of all things ‘chintzy’. By Joobin Bekhrad 2020 Apr 21 – In a letter to her sister penned in 1851, the …
By Nathan Gibson Updated 2019 Jun 14 – Typos (generally, errors in spelling of a printed word) have been a part of human history ever since people began to read and write. While they mostly effect publishing companies rather than individuals, anyone who …
Fears around the pandemic are causing sleep patterns to change and strange dreams to linger in people’s memories. An ongoing study by the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center has found a 35 percent increase in dream recall and a 15 percent increase in negative …
By Katherine Ripley – Updated 2019 Jun 11 – If Abraham Lincoln had heeded the warnings that his life may be in danger, the course of history may have been very different. In fact, if you look back through history, you’ll find …
By Loryn B – Unless you are an avid historian, it’s very likely that you can’t seem to figure out how ecstasy and Titanic have one thing in common. And you probably couldn’t figure out how Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth are somehow …
