If you eat a male squid that has not been disemboweled first, you might end up with said squid's spermatophores—basically, sperm-filled packets—attempting to burrow into your soft gum tissue the way they burrow through the flesh of a lady squid. This apparently hurts. We know, because it has happened to more than one person and those cases have been documented in peer-reviewed research journals. (Via Hank Campbell)
That tingling in your mouth could be a squid trying to mate with you
Scientific paper about being bitten by a weird snake
Meet the leaf-nosed snake, a peculiar Madagascan species with a gift for crypsis. Reading about it I found my way to Envenomation by the Malagasy colubrid snake Langaha madagascariensis, which turns out to be "This God Damned Snake Bit Me!" written up as a formal scientific paper. To avoid harming the snake and to prevent… READ THE REST
Sasha Sagan interviews a series of inspiring female scientists
In Violet magazine, writer Sasha Sagan, author of the must-read For Small Creatures Such As We, is interviewing a series of inspiring and diverse female scientists. First up is evolutionary biologist Dr. Michelle Trautwein, "curator of flies" at the California Academy of Sciences. followed by South African chemist/nanotechnologist Dr. Tebello Nyokong of Rhodes University, and… READ THE REST
"Our brain is better at remembering where to find brownies than cherry tomatoes."
Spatial memory is the cognitive process for remembering and recalling the location of objects in relation to yourself and other objects. Turns out, our spatial memory also evolved to more easily remember where chocolate brownies than cherry tomatoes. Makes sense to me. According to researchers at Wageningen University & Research, this is because our evolutionary… READ THE REST
Magnets and metal make this fun and cool scientific desk toy utterly fascinating
Back in the early 1800's, Russian physicist Emil Lenz noted an interesting phenomenon. When he dropped a magnet through a pipe, the magnet's magnetic field created counter-rotating currents in the copper or aluminum pipe. To the naked eye, that dropped magnetic ball falls a whole lot slower when it's inside the pipe than outside. It… READ THE REST
Get over 45 hours of elite Microsoft Excel training for just $40
If there was ever a better endorsement for making sure your resume skills are just as good as you say they are, look no further than Great Britain. Last week, Public Health England used an outdated Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which inadvertently underreported the number of positive COVID-19 diagnosed cases during the week. Because of the… READ THE REST
These six voice recorders are all tiny, but mighty — and also, on sale
Have you ever considered getting a digital voice recorder? They can actually be a lot more helpful than you might realize. From constructing business letters or memos to medical or legal dictation to recording meetings, interviews or lectures, voice recorders are a compact, lightweight way to store hundreds of hours of digital audio you can… READ THE REST
