via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
The history of life on Earth is full of evolutionary close shaves, most of which we’ll never know too much about. The authors of a new study published in Science believe they’ve uncovered a major clue as to the cause of one of life’s narrowest escapes, known affectionately as The Great Dying, a name that pretty much spells it all out for you.
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The Genetics of the Earth and Moon
via 3 Quarks Daily: Dean Raymond in Nautilus
Imagine that two very similar-looking neighbors undergo a genetic test. The exam shows that the pair’s genetic fingerprints are virtually identical. They feel a flash of shock and excitement. What does this mean? Could they be long-lost twins, separated in a hospital mixup? The Earth and Moon share a similar issue, one that poses a major scientific puzzle.
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About Thebes: 1909
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
“Washington Dramatic Club – About Thebes”
Our second look at this nominally Egyptian-themed charity benefit staged at the Belasco Theater in April 1909 for an audience including President Taft
8x10 inch glass negative
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Data, Data, Everywhere, nor Any Time to Think: DIY Analysis of E-Resource Access Problems
an article by Sommer Browning published in Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship Volume 27 Issue 1 (2015)
Abstract
Broken links, incorrect metadata, platform changes, and other access issues plague libraries. While libraries have workflows and teams in place to address these problems, little is written on the valuable data gathered in the process. Analyzing this data can reveal the nature of a library's access problems. This article presents the process Auraria Library used to organize data from 100 access-problem reports, the insights the data generated, and the resulting tools that created better electronic access. By simply looking at the rich data that troubleshooting teams are gathering, libraries can make real changes to create a better user experience.
Picked not so much for the content of the article but for its title. Very clever.
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The death of a friend: Queen Elizabeth I, bereavement, and grief
via OUP Blog by Susan Doran
On 25 February 1603, Queen Elizabeth I’s cousin and friend – Katherine Howard, the countess of Nottingham – died. Although Katherine had been ill for some time, her death hit the queen very hard; indeed one observer wrote that she took the loss “muche more heavyly” than did Katherine’s husband, the Charles, Earl of Nottingham. The queen’s grief was unsurprising, for Elizabeth had known the countess longer than almost anyone else alive at that time. While still a child, Katherine Carey (as she then was) had entered Elizabeth’s household at Hatfield; a few years later, on 3 January 1559, though aged only about twelve, Katherine became one of the new queen’s maids of honour and participated in the coronation ceremonials, twelve days afterwards. What is more, Katherine was close kin to the queen. Her paternal grandmother was Mary Boleyn (the sister of the more famous Anne) and her father was the queen’s favourite male cousin Henry, Lord Hunsdon.
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Crusade
via Daily Writing Tips by Maeve Maddox
The word crusade, used as both noun and verb, derives from a Latin verb meaning “to mark with a cross”. Middle English adopted the Old French form, croisee. When the OF spelling shifted to croisade, English speakers started spelling it that way too. Finally, in the 18th century, the spelling was Anglicized to crusade.
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Hermit crabs line up in order of size to swap and upgrade shells with one another
via Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin
“They arrange themselves in an orderly queue, the biggest at the front, the smallest at the back; they're lining up with one aim: to exchange properties. But none of the crabs can make a move because the chain is not yet complete.
They’re all waiting for the right-sized crab to come along.”
The Hermit Crab vacancy chain, as featured in the 'Home' episode of Life Story, on the BBC.
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Spiders: the allure and fear of our eight-legged friends
via OUP Blog by Laurie Kerzicnik
Picture not included here for obvious reasons!
What’s your first reaction when you see this picture? Love? Fear? Repulsion? If you are like many Americans, when you come across a spider, especially a large, hairy one like this tarantula, the emotions you experience are most likely in the realm of fear or disgust. Your actions probably include screaming, trapping, swatting, or squashing of the spider.
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The Apparatus: 1923
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Washington, D.C., circa 1923
“Unidentified ramp on field” is all it says here.
Who can help us categorize this cryptic contraption?
4x5 glass negative
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Wolf Hall: count up the bodies
via OUP Blog by Peter Marshall
Historians should be banned from watching movies or TV set in their area of expertise. We usually bore and irritate friends and family with pedantic interjections about minor factual errors and chronological mix-ups. With Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and the sumptuous BBC series based on them, this pleasure is denied us. The series is as ferociously well researched as it is superbly acted and directed. Cranmer probably didn’t have a beard in 1533, but, honestly, that’s about the best I can do.
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