I'm a guest of honor this weekend at the Dallas's Fencon this weekend, and I've just learned that some of the other speakers won't be able to talk, thanks to the government shutdown. They're government space scientists, and the 143-year-old Antideficiency Act makes it a crime (punishable by fines and imprisonment) for government employees to volunteer to do their own jobs (which, in their cases, includes talking about science to the public). The law dates back to the Lincoln administration, and was aimed at stopping fraudsters who did "government" business, then presented a bill for services that hadn't been contracted but had nevertheless been performed — a kind of Civil War era version of red-light windscreen squeegeeing.
During the shutdown, some scientists can't talk about science
Lemurs get high by licking toxic millipedes and rubbing them on their bodies
The toxic secretions of millipedes are a real trip for Lemurs who know not to eat them, but to lick them and rub the enslobbered arthropods around their furry flanks. The ritual has an evolutionary narrative with it—the toxins kill parasites—and getting high is part of the package. READ THE REST
Absolutely astonishing video of a single cell becoming a tadpole
Spoilers below. From Aeon Video: Native to central and southern Europe, the amphibious alpine newt breeds in shallow water, where its larvae are born, hatch and feed on plankton, before sprouting legs and moving to land. This timelapse video from the Dutch director Jan van IJken tracks the development of a single-celled zygote into the… READ THE REST
Boy, 11, earns quantum physics degree in 18 months, wants to make people immortal
Laurent Simons, 11, earned a bachelor's degree with distinction from the University of Antwerp in 18 months of study. His major was quantum physics. Now Simons, who is half Belgian and half Dutch, is planning for his doctorate that will take him to several different countries including Israel, a hub of biotechnology. He says that… READ THE REST
In defense of the mushroom: here's why all your fungi fears are actually wrong
Mushrooms may be among the most misunderstood living organisms on planet Earth. That's partially due to their exotic, almost alien-like look. It's also partially due to their age-old connection to mysticism and folklore from centuries past. Yet another reason is much more firmly grounded in today, as some mushrooms can be poisonous, while others have… READ THE REST
Pawp combines vet telemedicine and emergency vet funds into a new pet insurance alternative
No one needs to tell you the pace of life is increasing. Whether you're a baby boomer, a Gen Xer, a millennial, or even a Gen Zer, you can feel it. Whether you grew up in the '50s, the '80s, or the 2000s, the world you experienced as a kid was a much slower pace… READ THE REST
Need to learn CompTIA, AWS, Cisco, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud? This training can help.
When you're training in the fine arts of IT disciplines, there are many different masters to serve. You could load up on CompTIA certifications. As the world leader in IT preparedness testing, an armload of their credentials is impressive on any resume. However, many of tech's glitterati have their own premium proprietary testing standards to… READ THE REST
