What was once classified as a 16cm or 6 long darning tool found at Roman Vindolanda in northern England, has recently received more attention and is now considered to be a mobile wooden phallus worn down at both ends. Links in comments. [1852 × 1314]

4mo ⋅ ⋅

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The endangered Golden Frog may be small and cute but it is likely the most toxic animal on the planet. It metabolises alkaloids from its diet. These compounds keep sodium channels open, depolarizing nerve and muscle cells, potentially leading to arrhythmias, fibrillation, and on to cardiac failure.

2yr ⋅

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Saw-toothed wind turbine blades are increasingly common. The serrations are on the trailing edge and designed to reduce noise. Explanation in comments.

1yr ⋅

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Tasty Waffles courtesy of Storm Arwen, Maesteg, Wales h/t Nwdle

2yr ⋅

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RIP Chaco: During his career the black Labrador helped find a 14-year-old girl after a massive earthquake in the Bourmerdes area of northern Algeria in 2003, and saved the life of a 19-year-old man, Tariq, buried deep in rubble in the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, Pakistan.

4yr ⋅

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Crocodiles produce nature's strongest gastric juices to digest prey animals whole. Thanks to a unique heart they retain deoxygenated blood, bypass their lungs, and use the CO2-rich blood to stimulate acid production 10x faster than other animals. Stones they ingest might help grind their prey.

2yr ⋅

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In the 1920s Blue Tits learned what was under those shiny new foil milk bottle tops on people's doorsteps in Swaythling, Southampton, Hampshire. It was fresh cream! Tits are gregarious feeders and soon the secret and technique for piercing the foil spread to the whole of the UK.

4yr ⋅

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The male Resplendent Quetzal has a shimmering emerald-green back & head but is scarlet below. His outstanding features are the upper tail feathers which, longer than his entire body, extend into a train almost a metre in length, twisting like metallic ribbons as he flies through the tree canopy.

3yr ⋅

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Kiwi are the only birds with external nostrils at the ends of their beaks. Their beaks are long and tipped with many sensor pits to detect worms and other invertebrates underground and in vegetation. Consequently, Kiwi can often be heard loudly snuffling and snorting to clear out their nostrils.

4yr ⋅

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Lucy Ankers an archeology student at the University of Glasgow found a little clay pot with a pebble over it hidden beneath a hearth stone slab in a fireplace associated with the Glencoe Massacre (1692). Inside were 36 coins dated between late 1500s and the 1680s. (Article in comments) [976×649]

6mo ⋅

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Glass sponges look more like delicate vases than animals. Their intricate structure manages water flow reducing drag. Some may live for tens of thousands of years limited only by sea level change. Over ~800 million years they've evolved some of the most complex medical molecules known to science.

1yr ⋅

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When Europeans colonised Australia they brought cattle that made wet cowpats. They didn't know that native dung beetles were mostly unable to process them having evolved with dry marsupial poo. Millions of flies swarmed for 200y until funding arrived to import scarab beetles able to bury cowpats.

11mo ⋅

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Albert's Pyramid: Queen Victoria had a 35' (10.6m) pyramidal memorial cairn to her beloved Albert built after his death in 1861. It can be found about a mile South of the Castle in a forest in the Queen's Balmoral Estate in Scotland and is open to visitors. [1600x1718]

2yr ⋅

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Moths in the Urodidae family try to avoid predation by ants and birds during metamorphosis when they are vulnerable, by dangling their cocoon on a stout studded silk thread and are thought to mitigate the effects of their humid environmental conditions with their unusual loose mesh cocoon.

4yr ⋅

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There was a 25% increase in the population of the bulky flightless kakapo parrot of New Zealand in the last year. The total is now 252 birds whilst in 2002 there were only 86. With the help of the Ngai Tahu Maori tribe there was a good breeding season and several AI attempts were successful.

1yr ⋅

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They cut down a metal bollard where Robsteer works and found that for 20 years smokers have been poking their used filters into a little hole in its side.

1yr ⋅

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A 'car' wash from 1600 has been listed by Historic England as of special interest. Barkway Carriage Wash was used to soak the wheels of coaches and carriages to keep the wooden wheels swollen into their metal rims in dry weather. Brickwork shown is from the C18-C19. Links in comments. [1526×1041]

4mo ⋅

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In 2020 metal detectorist Robert Edwards found a silver thimble under an oak tree near Carew Castle in Wales. Experts have said it was made between 1682 and 1740 and it has been classified as treasure. It may also have been treasured for its engraved posy LYKE STIL AND LOVE EVER. [1024×827]

3wk ⋅

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Seahenge was built on marshland in 2049 BCE. It was a closed timber circle of split oaks with a huge upturned root at its centre and may have once held a body. Holme I was rescued from the sea and preserved but a nearby Holme II was left following pagan rights complaints. See comments [2400×1616]

2yr ⋅

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Echidnas have a number of tricks that seem to allow them to survive in higher than expected temperatures. They blow bubbles onto their beaks which take heat away from their blood by evaporation. They also raise their hollow spines exposing skin to reduce their insulation effect. (Links in comments)

1yr ⋅

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The Mildenhall Roman Treasure was found in '42 by a ploughman and his boss. The boss said it was pewter so he didn't report it until a local Dr with specialist knowledge convinced him to get it tested. It was found to be silver and treasure and he had to stop using it in his kitchen! [2000×1418]

5mo ⋅

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Jinx, a three-year-old working cocker spaniel has received funding from the Welsh Government to find invasive rats on small islands like Skomer where bird life is threatened by the prolific breeding rate of rats. Once he smells a rat Jinx notifies a human who decides their fate. Link in comments.

1yr ⋅

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The Pied Wagtail is predominately a bird of the British Isles. It is pied and wags its tail a lot. It has an unusual number of regional names; in my native Hampshire and the south they're called Polly Dishwashers, elsewhere they may be Penny Wagtails, Willy Wagtails, Water Wagtails, and more.

4yr ⋅

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Mountain pygmy possums are critically endangered, nocturnal, alpine, hibernating marsupials. Kids in NSW have been baking Bogon Bikkies with the same nutritional value as the Bogon Moths that the tiny possums eat. The moths are missing because of intense fires and habitat loss. Links in comments.

1yr ⋅

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Puffins make the most of a fishing trip by holding each fish in place with a muscular tongue, pushed against the inward-facing spiny denticles of their beak, while hunting for more. The two mandibles are hinged in such a way that they become parallel and hold a row of fish with equal pressure.

5yr ⋅

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Three bundles of letters intended for the 181 French sailors from the Galatee, captured by the British in 1758, have been found and translated by Cambridge Prof. Renaud Morieux. Only one letter was opened at the time to determine content and was found to be personal and not of interest [1952×1098].

5mo ⋅

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The Immortal by Liang Kai, circa 1200. This painting depicts an immortal with his chest and abdomen exposed, as he seemingly strides forward. Except for the few fine outlines to suggest the facial features, ears, and chest, the rest of the figure is rendered with large swaths of wet ink [1832x3000]

1yr ⋅

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Tardigrades: In addition to all the extremes that tardigrades can survive, Quantum Entanglement may now be added. According to a so far un-reproduced study Tardigrades are the first multicellular organism to be quantum entangled (while in a cryptobiotic state) and subsequently revived.

2yr ⋅

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This wig contains some 120,000 human hairs on a net of hair. It's thought to have been made for a high-status Egyptian man from the 18th Dynasty 3,500-3,300 years ago. It's curly on top with hundreds of long (30-38cm 12-15) thin plaits hanging down at ear level. [5232×7500]

1yr ⋅

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We eat thistles! Thistles—in the form of artichokes and cardoons—have been on the human table since at least the days of ancient Greece and Rome.

5yr ⋅

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Nuthatches seem to defy gravity as they run headfirst down a tree or hang upside-down under a branch. They have long sturdy pointed bills to crack nuts, seeds or insects and strong toes with long claws to support their acrobatics. Looking like Zorro most species wear a black mask over their eyes.

2yr ⋅

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Crocodiles produce nature's strongest gastric juices to digest prey animals whole. Thanks to a unique heart they retain deoxygenated blood, bypass their lungs, and use the CO2-rich blood to stimulate acid production 10x faster than other animals. Stones they ingest might help grind their prey.

2yr ⋅

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Wine and champagne bottles from the 1920s were created to 1/12 scale, filled with the correct thing using a tiny pipette, corked, capped and labelled appropriately for the cellar of Queen Mary's Dolls' House. The money raised by showing the house was given to charity. Links in comments. [1400×1400]

4mo ⋅

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The Crown of Scotland is part of the oldest surviving set of Crown jewels in Britain. It's made of solid gold with 22 gemstones, including garnets, amethysts, 20 precious stones and 68 Scottish freshwater pearls. It was remade in 1540 for King James V from the crown portrayed in 1503. [2331×3072]

1yr ⋅

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The Pylos Combat Agate was found in the tomb of the Griffin warrior, who was buried about 1500 BCE. It is thought to be the finest-known example of prehistoric glyptic art produced in the Aegean Bronze Age. [1024x661]

4yr ⋅

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A recently found 'excessively rare' gold Quater Stater provides evidence of a 'new' Iron Age King in Britain: Esunertos. Detectorist, Lewis Fudge, found the coin this March in Hampshire and it was already sold by the end of September for £17,000 (~€19,500 or $21,250). [1100 × 987]

5mo ⋅

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Songbirds like the Common Blackbird don't use a larynx and vocal cords at the top of the trachea for making sounds but a syrinx at its base. Muscles there and in some songbirds around the branches to the lungs allow control of membranes for music in one or both airflows. (more in comments)

2yr ⋅

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The Lion Room is named for the striking fireplace decoration created by eccentric outsider artist Ron Gittins over a period of 30 years while avoiding the attention of his landlord. The Victorian semi-detached house containing Ron's Place has just become a Grade II listed building. MiC. [1555×1037]

1wk ⋅

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This somewhat dishevelled lady is a Blakiston's fish owl from a rare species of eagle owl that lives in China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. Since males of the species can weigh 3.6kg (7.9lb) and females 4.6kg (~10lb), and their wingspan can reach ~2m (6') they rate as the largest living owl.

9mo ⋅

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A Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). The world’s largest privately owned giant sequoia forest, Alder Creek in the Southern Sierra of California, has just been preserved by a $15,000,000 purchase by a Bay Area conservation group. Photo by Victoria Reeder, Save the Redwoods League.

4yr ⋅

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A very rare Henry III Gold Penny found by a metal detectorist in Hemyock, Devon was recently sold at auction for £540,000 (~729,000 USD). Less than ten of the Gold Pennies that evaded meltdown have been found so far. [1600x900]

2yr ⋅

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Rorqual whales can double their weight as they eat. They have long hyper-expandable pleated throat grooves that, by species, may even reach their navel. To eat they race forward, engulfing more than their own body weight in water, krill and small fish. Blue whales can weigh 180 tonnes (~200 tons).

4yr ⋅

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In their larval stage many species of Caddisfly use silk to build themselves a protective sheath from durable fragments found in their aquatic environment. If an artist carefully removes these and places the insects in a tank with gold leaf fragments and small jewels the results are spectacular.

2yr ⋅

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The BBC is 100 years old today (2022-10-18) and pictured is Broadcasting House which was inaugurated and used for radio in 1932. (Article on the Art Deco in comments)

1yr ⋅

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Bumblebees, honey bees, stingless bees, & orchid bees have evolved an efficient way to bring back food to the hive, they have smooth hollows in their tibiae with anchoring hairs in which they securely pack a putty of pollen and nectar. They can fly with ~1/3 of their weight in these Pollen Baskets.

4yr ⋅

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Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, visits Newgrange the passage tomb in Ireland that's older than the Pyramids and talks to experts about the effort that went into its construction and the way that the light enters it on the Winter Solstice. (Links in comments) [1280 × 720]

2yr ⋅

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As Britain builds its 2nd High Speed Rail line (HS2) a number of ancient artefacts are being found. This time it is a 67x18cm (26x7 inch) anthropomorphic wooden figure with tunic-like clothing thought to be from the early Roman period. (article, more images, and a video in comments) [2400×2131]

2yr ⋅

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Two riddles found at the back of the Exeter Book, a book of peotry from the late 900s. The riddles in the Codex Exoniensis don't have answers supplied but for certain of them nothing has changed and adults with a wicked imagination may draw their own conclusions. Links in comments. [1200×610]

3mo ⋅

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Another one that's obvious once you think about it. <Mellifluous>, normally used figuratively to describe a voice that's pleasant to listen to, comes from the Latin <mel> (honey) and <fluus> (flowing). Links in comments.

1yr ⋅

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California's Reservoir Levels (Selected) as of Midnight 2021/12/27

2yr ⋅

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In the 1920s Blue Tits in Southampton learnt what was under the shiny new foil milk bottle tops on doorsteps. It was fresh cream, which rose to the top in those days. Blue Tits are gregarious social learners and soon the secret and technique for piercing the foil spread to the whole of the UK. (MiC)

1yr ⋅

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The Dalmation Pelican differs from other very large pelican species with its curly nape feathers, grey legs and silvery-white plumage. It is one of the heaviest flying birds. It measures 160-183cm (5'3-6'0) in length, 245-351cm (8'0-11'6) in wingspan and weighs 7.25–15kg (16.0–33.1lb).

2yr ⋅

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A 2000 year old Roman cameo blown-glass amphora of opaque white, over translucent cobalt blue glass (24cm×17.7cm). On the other side, amidst trees and ruins, Eros, bow in one hand and torch in the other, flies over a another group of scantily clad men and women. (more in comments) [6243×7500]

2yr ⋅

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Thanks to the clever use of puffikins (manikin puffins) and recorded calls, following a brown rat eradication programme Atlantic Puffins have been seen with nesting material on The Isle of Man after an absence of 30 years. This is a hopeful sign that they might be settling there and breeding again.

2yr ⋅

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The ceiling of the Sheikh-Lotf-Allah mosque in Isfahan, Iran, built 1603-1619, rebuilt and repaired in the 1920s. Because of their religious beliefs some Islamic artists have become masters of the mathematical art of tessellation. (more in comments) [3212×2151] Image © Phillip Maiwald

2yr ⋅

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Manhattan 1926.

5yr ⋅

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Inside one of the legs on the Troll A natural gas platform, one of the heaviest structures ever moved across the earth. Each leg is 303 meters (994 feet) tall from seabed to platform a journey which takes 9 minutes in the elevator.

1yr ⋅

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Two 'Titan' banknotes held by the Bank of England are worth £200,000,000 together. Their smaller cousins called 'Giants' are worth a mere £1,000,000 each. These represent money deposited with the bank by authorised Scottish and Northern Irish banks that print their own notes. [5472×3648]

6mo ⋅

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A carved sandstone relief depicting a naked male figure with a spear in front of an equus has been found by volunteers during the annual excavations at the Roman fort Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall. The 315mm×160mm 12×6 carving would originally have been found in a recess. (MIC)[2097×1572]

2yr ⋅

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It has been found that there is 1.77 × as much above-ground biomass in Great Britain's temperate broadleaf forests than was previously thought and consequently estimates of the amount and importance of carbon storage in such forests has been understimated locally and abroad. (Paper in comments)

1yr ⋅

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Eurylepta californica looks like it's had chocolate drizzled on it. Each flatworm is an hermaphrodite carrying both sperm and eggs. There is a cost associated with growing young so a mating couple engages in penis fencing trying to hypodermically impregnate the other before getting poked themselves.

1yr ⋅

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An IBM Quantum Computer seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2020. Q System One is the first integrated, general-purpose quantum computer, and comes in a 2.7m (9') airtight cube of half-inch thick borosilicate glass. (Links in comments)

1yr ⋅

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A hundred years ago people listened to radios without needing batteries. Like modern passive RFID chips crystal radios didn't need their own power-supply there was enough energy in the transmitted radio signal for users to tune in and listen to a radio broadcast with headphones. Links in comments.

1yr ⋅

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What big teeth you have! The beautifully preserved fossilised skull of a pliosaur from ~150 million years ago goes on public display today 2024-01-02 in the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge in Dorset, UK. It is almost complete and 2m long. Links in comments.

3mo ⋅

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The Great Bed of Ware was made by Jonas Fosbrooke ~1590 of oak. It was mentioned in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in about 1601, and Ben Johnson's Epicœne in 1609 and later in Byron's Don Juan and Dickens' The Holly Tree. It's 3.38m × 3.26m (10' × 11') and it's said to take 4 couples. [960×1231]

10mo ⋅

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In 1783, a mysterious admirer* of Marie Antoinette ordered her a most complicated pocket watch from Breguet. It included hours, minutes, seconds, perpetual calendar, equation of time, repetition for hours, quarters and minutes, independent seconds, thermometer and power-reserve indicator.

4yr ⋅

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A medieval gold and diamond ring found by David Board in Dorset sold on Tuesday for £38,000. He will spilt the money with the farmer friend on whose land he detected the ring. The ring is inscribed ieo vos tien foi tenes le moy, which translates to as I hold your faith, hold mine. MiC.

1yr ⋅

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The BBC was 100 years old yesterday (2022-10-18) and pictured is Broadcasting House which was inaugurated and used for radio in 1932. (Article on the Art Deco in comments)

1yr ⋅

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Andernach decided to green their public spaces with edible plants rather than the usual trees and flowers. Article in comments.

4yr ⋅

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The Pylos Combat Agate is considered to be the finest-known example of a prehistoric carved gemstone. It is intricately made at only 3.6cm (1.4) long and was found in the tomb of the Griffin warrior who was buried 3,700 years ago in Greece but it is thought to be made by Minoans. (more in comments)

1yr ⋅

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America, Its Folklore: depicting 61 legends, tall tales, and literary heroes by cartoonist and illustrator William Gropper. (Interactive zoomable version, downloads, and article in comments.)

5yr ⋅

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The famous London tube map presented in Welsh. (Article in comments.)

4yr ⋅

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Faulty separations occur when, during the evolution of words, a space moves in a term, disappears or appears thereby obscuring its etymology. See <adder>, <aitchbone>, <apron>, <auger>, <humble pie>, <nickname>, <orange>, and <umpire>. Links in comments.

11mo ⋅

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A baby porcupine is called a porcupette and (for some strange reason) when they are born their quills are soft. Within minutes though, the keratin from which they are made, hardens-up and their quills become sharp like those of an adult. (Viral feeding time video in comments.)

4yr ⋅

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Before Kent stole the crown Alton was a centre for hop growing with hops extending through East Hampshire towards Farnham and the Hogs Back. For 200 years Romani and city folk would supplement local efforts during the busy season to pick and bag hops for beer making. (Article and pics in comments.)

1yr ⋅

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In addition to Stonehenge England had a Seahenge a wide circle of deeply buried split oaks with a huge upturned tree root at its centre. Built in 2049BCE in marshland it was found in seawater. It was pulled up, dried and preserved with wax, like an old wooden shipwreck, and moved to a local museum.

1yr ⋅

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Queen Victoria had a 10.6m (35') memorial cairn to her beloved husband Albert built after his death in 1861. Albert's Pyramid can be seen by visitors in Scotland on the top of Creag an Lurachain prominence 442m (1450') in a forest on the 50,000 acre Balmoral Estate about a mile south of the castle.

1yr ⋅

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An invasive species of giant freshwater fish called Paiche (Arapaima gigas) is penetrating the Amazon at some 40km pa. One saving grace is that it tastes good and may be prepared for human consumption in a variety of ways. Its skin may also be made into waterproof leather. Links in comments.

4mo ⋅

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Field Topology by XKCD

2yr ⋅

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Puffins make the most of a fishing trip by holding each fish in place with a muscular tongue, pushed against the inward-facing spiny denticles of their beak, while hunting for more. The two mandibles are hinged in such a way that they become parallel and hold a row of fish with equal pressure.

1yr ⋅

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Detroit in 1977 illustrated by Bozidar Damjanovic Benedict.

2yr ⋅

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A Roman oil lamp, which was made in north Africa in the 4th-5th century AD at the end of the period of Roman rule in Britain, was found by happenstance on the foreshore of the River Thames. It was spotted by a licensed mudlark who nearly discarded it as merely a Victorian copy. (links in comments)

1yr ⋅

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The Crown of Scotland is part of the oldest surviving set of Crown jewels in Britain. It's made of solid gold with 22 gemstones, inc garnets, amethysts, 20 precious stones and 68 Scottish freshwater pearls. It was remade in 1540 for King James V from the crown portrayed in 1503. Links in comments.

1yr ⋅

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When this bird was first named it was known as the Bearded Tit but it has a moustache but no beard, and it turns out that it is not a tit. Now it is increasingly known as the Bearded Reedling, so we are halfway there.

4yr ⋅

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The figurative financial phrase <nest egg> is thought to derive from the small-holder practice of placing a dummy egg made of unglazed pottery, stone or glazed ceramic in a desired spot, and then finding more real chicken eggs at that location. (Links in comments)

1yr ⋅

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Northern Irish actress Moyna Macgill (Charlotte Lillian McIldowie 10 Dec 1895– 25 Nov 1975) was Angela Lansbury's mum but you'd never guess from her picture :).

1yr ⋅

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The data for the first map of Wales as a seperate country were collected by Humphrey Llwyd MP. He sent these to Ortelius who was creating the first modern atlas and the map was included in a new binding in 1573. It was improved by Mercator and others in this version from 1623. (more in comments)

2yr ⋅

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Florence Nightingale didn't want a state funeral or an elaborate grave despite coming from a well-to-do family, being highly regarded by society and a friend of Queen Victoria. When she died aged 90 she was buried simply in the village of East Wellow near her family home Embley Park in Hampshire.

1yr ⋅

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Chicago 1931 by Charles Turzak & Henry Chapman. Showing major rivers and other bodies of water, with drawings of landmarks, streets, railroads, parks, planes, ships and boats, and whimsical beings such as the sea monsters, etc. (Downloads, interactive & larger versions in comments).

5yr ⋅

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San Francisco: The people in the City's Stay 6 feet apart posters aren't following the rule.

4yr ⋅

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🔥 Tardigrades: In addition to all the extremes that tardigrades can survive, Quantum Entanglement may now be added. According to a so far un-reproduced study Tardigrades are the first multicellular organism to be quantum entangled (while in a cryptobiotic state) and subsequently revived.

2yr ⋅

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Apple Mac Pro ventilation grill. An array of hexagonally tessellated spheres is carved from one side of the aluminum slab and another offset array is carved from the other. Animation in comments.

5yr ⋅

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Oilbirds are active at night, foraging for fruits using keen olfaction and extremely light-sensitive eyes, and echolocate as they leave and return to their cavernous roosts. Interestingly they use frequencies for their echolocation (7–23 kHz) beyond their known hearing range (best at ~2 kHz).

5yr ⋅

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Among the many unique characteristics of our tiny Tarsier cousins, is that they are the only Primate species that communicates in pure ultrasound (> 20 kHz).

4yr ⋅

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Glass eels: After migrating for years and thousands of miles across the Atlantic from the warm gyrating Sargasso Sea the critically endangered European eel larvae arrive in Europe and Africa and metamorphose into tiny glass eels and move up the rivers to become freshwater fish facing many obstacles.

1yr ⋅

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ADVERTISEMENT

Bumblebees, honey bees, stingless bees, & orchid bees have evolved an efficient way to bring back food to the hive, they have smooth hollows in their tibiae with anchoring hairs in which they securely pack a putty of pollen and nectar. They can fly with ~1/3 of their weight in these Pollen Baskets.

1yr ⋅

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A juvenile squirrel is called a kitten. Like us, squirrels have larders and food caches and it appears that nut hiding is an inborn behaviour in kittens. More and better research, however, is needed before scientific consensus can be reached in many aspects of nut caching.

4yr ⋅

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A baby porcupine is called a porcupette. When they're born a porcupette's quills are helpfully soft and downy but within a few minutes, the keratin from which their quills are made, hardens up making them sharp like those of an adult. (Links inc. video in comments.)

1yr ⋅

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Carrion Crows (Corvus corone) in Japan learnt how to efficiently crack difficult walnuts. First they dropped nuts from a height onto roads, later they found slow-moving cars cracked them effectively, recently they learnt how to use traffic lights. This skill was copied from place to place in Japan.

4yr ⋅

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Roman bootie: It's not just wooden postcards that have been found at Vindolanda. Thousands of ~2000 year old leather items including ~5000 shoes have been preserved in the peaty soil. Sadly, climate change is drying up the soils of northern England threatening unrecovered artefacts. [2928×1647]

2yr ⋅

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A watch made by Parisian David Margotin (~1650) inside an enamelled case depicting a rural scene on the face, colourful spring flowers on the back, and on the inside a chateau beside a lake, all delicately painted into the enamel by artisans (likely) from Blois. (link in comments) [2292×3072]

2yr ⋅

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The Ortelius Atlas from 1570 is recognised as the 1st modern atlas. The maps were all the same size, in the same style and arranged by continent, region and state. This image is from a binding of maps from 1571-1584. Find your locaction in a much larger interactive digital version in the comments.

1yr ⋅

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Charles Booth took advantage of data collected by School Board Visitors to create detailed maps of the areas in London subject to varying degrees of poverty and wealth. A first sheet featuring the East End was published in 1889 and more were added in 1891. (Detailed interactive sheets in comments)

2yr ⋅

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Oxford's Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen and her team at the WCRUnit have developed a 3D printed model of a hedgehog. They used it to determine which models of robotic mowers kill them and have written papers on their findings. They hope to publish the model for self, business and regulatory testing. MiC

3mo ⋅

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Despite being one of Britain's smallest birds, weighing as little as 7g (1/4oz), the Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is its most common breeding bird, having approx. 8,600,000 territories. If you want to smile listen to what Wren dawn calls sound like slowed down. (link in comments)

4yr ⋅

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A baby porcupine is called a porcupette. When they're born a porcupette's quills are surprisingly soft and downy but after some minutes the keratin from which their quills are made hardens up. So stroke them while you can. (Links inc. video with banana in comments.)

1yr ⋅

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Misericords are found strategically placed under the seats in the choir stalls in Winchester Cathedral. These intricately carved oak figures, faces, and animals, which date from the 1300s are for resting chorister's bottoms during long ceremonies. Pictured is the cat and the fiddle. (story in links)

1yr ⋅

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Wondeground - by MacDonald “Max” Gill. A map from 1914 that helped save the London Underground. Packed with little jokes and mischievous details. (interactive map in comments)

6yr ⋅

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The Lion of Lucerne: The Memorial to the Swiss Guards who were killed during the fighting, or massacred after surrender, during the French Revolution in 1792 h/t kestrelkat & Shnorlax_Twitch

5yr ⋅

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1977: The HP-01 calculator watch can calculate dynamically using time as an argument. The user can watch as the cost of their international call increases on the display.

4yr ⋅

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After more than 50 years of searching, Sir David Attenborough catches up with his most evasive animal yet - a wonderful creature called the golden haired blue-faced snub-nosed snow monkey. Seven Worlds, One Planet (article in comments).

4yr ⋅

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Winchester was once the capital (or one of the capital cities) of England. Eight Kings including King Cnut lie at rest at Winchester cathedral. There's been a cathedral on this site since the 660s. It was built in the grounds of the Old Minster which was created as a church in 648. List in comments.

1yr ⋅

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It is still possible to find new species in the UK! A fungus found growing in moss under a sweet chestnut tree in 2008 in Windsor Great Park was, upon analysis, new to science in 2021. Hydnellum nemorosum is a rare tooth-fungus named for the tiny protrusions rather than gills on its underside.

2yr ⋅

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Pictorial map of Detroit, Michigan (Motor City) illustrated by Bozidar Damjanovic Benedict in 1977 for Archar Inc., Scarborough, Ontario.

1yr ⋅

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Honeybees can reach 44°C 111°F without injury. They decouple their wings and buzz their wing muscles on full power to get hot and then go into empty cells next to pupae to warm them up. Their precise temperature regulation determines the role of each pupa with 34°C housekeeper 35°C forager. MiC

1yr ⋅

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One of four Condeep legs from the Troll A platform. Each leg is over 300 meters (1000') tall. The leg containing the import and export risers has an elevator that takes over nine minutes to travel from the platform above the waves to the sea floor.

2yr ⋅

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Daniel Bowman from Sandia National Labs says that it's possible for enthusiasts to build a solar-powered hot air balloon that can reach 30km above the Earth carrying a payload for around $50. Using these he discovered an as yet unidentified source of infrasound repeating a few times per hour. Links.

1yr ⋅

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The Silsby 1894 steam-powered horse-drawn rotary pump fire engine could shift water at ~500 USg/h (~1,900l/h). A first size unit could throw water at ~900 USg/h (~3,400l/h). This beautifully restored fourth size unit sold at RM Sotheby's for US $396,000 in 2012. More in comments.

1yr ⋅

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This intricate glass sculpture, by Science-artist Luke Jerram, is a representation of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. In 2009, H1N1 rates of infection reached pandemic proportions, sparking a global health crisis and taking the lives of approximately 17,000 people during the 2009 flu season.

5yr ⋅

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Social weavers (Philetarius socius) in southern Africa build nests that look like haystacks hanging from a tree or pole. A hundred nesting pairs may live together in one of these large complexes which can survive, with constant maintenance, for a century.

4yr ⋅

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Scroll to 28:48 in the play link in the comments to hear a classic Wogan skit rebroadcast in honour of the building renamed in Sir Terry's memory that will no longer be the home of BBC Radios 2 & 6 after Spring of 2024. This is only very rude if you have a wicked imagination and an adult mind.

3mo ⋅

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Items found with the wreck of the royal warship HMS Gloucester which sank in 1682 carrying the future King James Stuart. Items rescued inc. a urine specimen jar, shoes, pipes, tobacco, navigational kit, a chest of women's clothes with a silk petticoat, and 149 wine bottles 29 of them unopened.

1yr ⋅

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Outside, the Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart looks like a multi-story concrete cube but inside it has a sci-fi quality with seamless white surfaces. Influences are said to be the Pantheon, the 1785 Bibliotheque Nationale de France proposal, Noah's ark, and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. MiC.

1yr ⋅

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Large naval guns set as bollards in London's Docklands: When no longer useful for the navy, cannons were part buried on quaysides as mooring bollards and in streets and pavements to restrict access or prevent accidents. More in comments.

1yr ⋅

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Torrent Ducks thrive in those swift Andean mountain streams that bubble over boulders. Turbulence oxygenates the water to support the stonefly larvae which they eat. They dive to extract the larvae from the cracks between the rocks on the bottom using narrow, flexible bills, edged with serrations.

4yr ⋅

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London Theatreland in 1915 by MacDonald (Max) Gill. Like his Wonderground (posted earlier) this map is said to be filled with detail of a humorous character, the peculiarities of every district being happily parodied, and it forms an abundant source of amusement.

6yr ⋅

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I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Clue at 50: Five scheduled programmes featuring historic episodes including the original one from 1972. (Details and links in comments)(For the uninitated — Image: Colin Sell in 1982)

2yr ⋅

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Golden haired snub-nosed snow monkeys inhabit mountainous forests in Southwestern China at elevations of 1,500-3,400m (~1,600-3,700yds ). Snow occurs frequently within their range and they can withstand colder average temperatures than any other non-human primates.

4yr ⋅

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Paris in the early 1730s, for Michel-Etienne Turgot, provost of merchants. Portrayed by Louis Bretez of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and engraved by Claude Lucas, engraver of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Prints, downloads, much larger version, and interactive map in comments.

4yr ⋅

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America, its Folklore: Depicting 61 legends, tall tales, and literary heroes by William Gropper. (Zoomable interactive map, downloads and article in comments.)

5yr ⋅

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It has been found that there is 1.77 × as much above-ground biomass in Great Britain's temperate broadleaf forests than was previously thought and consequently estimates of the amount and importance of carbon storage in such forests has been understimated locally and abroad. (Paper in comments)

1yr ⋅

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An oil lamp, which was made in north Africa in the 4th to 5th century AD at the end of the period of Roman rule in Britain, was found by happenstance by a licensed mudlark on the foreshore of the Thames and at first ignored as a Victorian copy. (article in comments)

5yr ⋅

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Chicago 1931 by Charles Turzak & Henry Chapman. Showing major rivers and other bodies of water, with drawings of landmarks, streets, railroads, parks, planes, ships and boats, and whimsical beings such as the sea monsters, etc. (Downloads, interactive & larger versions in comments).

5yr ⋅

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Perhaps the British Isles were tired in 1570 when Ortelius pulled together the first modern atlas. All the countries known to Europeans were drawn on pages of the same size, in the same style and arranged by continent, region and state. (A link to the online interactive atlas in comments)

2yr ⋅

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Eastern division of Paris: containing the Quartiers – (1833) by cartographer William Barnard Clarke for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain). Engraved by James Shury. [1187 x 1576]. Downloads, larger version, and interactive map in comments.

4yr ⋅

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A composite image of a 3D model of San Francisco in 1940. The San Francisco Model is a 42' x 38' (13m x 12m) wooden replica of San Francisco in 158 pieces at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet. Federal Works Agency, Work Progress Administration from a 1938 aerial survey by Harrison Ryker. (MIC).

5yr ⋅

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Panorama of the Local Universe – TH Jarrett – constructed from the 2MASS Galaxy Catalog (XSCz), roughly 1.5 million galaxies. Each galaxy color-coded by its location (or redshift) from the Sun: blue sources are nearby, green sources are moderately distant, and red sources are the most distant.

6yr ⋅

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Partulid snails, used culturally and for ecosystem services in Tahiti, are being re-introduced from a conservation programme after human introduced species of foreign snails (African land snails and the carnivorous Florida rosy wolfsnail) made all but 12 of the native species extinct.

4yr ⋅

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Tartan Ribbon, photograph taken by James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. Considered the first durable colour photographic image, and the very first made by the three-colour method Maxwell first suggested in 1855. See comments for a 'how it was made' video.

4yr ⋅

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A map of the wondrous isle of Manhattan (1926) designed by Charles Vernon Farrow (1896 –1936). – Larger version, interactive version and downloads in comments.

5yr ⋅

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Pratts Plan of the New Forest by Alfred Taylor

6yr ⋅

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A composite image of a 3D model of San Francisco in 1940. The San Francisco Model is a 42' x 38' (13m x 12m) wooden replica of San Francisco in 158 pieces at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet. Federal Works Agency, Work Progress Administration from a 1938 aerial survey by Harrison Ryker. (MIC).

5yr ⋅

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On this day in 1903 the ghost story writer, M R. James, revealed the bodies of five of dead abbots to the public. He was an authority on Bury St Edmunds Abbey and oversaw an excavation of the chapter house after the discovery of a manuscript showing the location of 18 buried abbots.

5yr ⋅

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Map of London, made from an actual Survey in the Years 1824,1825 & 1826. By C. and J. Greenwood, Extended and Comprising the various improvements to 1835. (interactive version in comments)

5yr ⋅

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Manhattan 1926. (Larger version, interactive version and downloads in comments.)

5yr ⋅

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The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London has over 3000 ship models. This is the 74-gun ship Bellona (1760) on the slip. (Link in comments)

5yr ⋅

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Map Descriptive of London Poverty, 1898-9 sheet 7 of 12) by the Social Reformer, Charles Booth, and a team including his cousin, Beatrice Potter. (Interactive Composite Map in comments – via u/londonskater)

5yr ⋅

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u/alatalot'Found this gold ring at beach in Mauritius' see comments for possible connection to the Mauritius Campaign.

4yr ⋅

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London Theatreland in 1915 by MacDonald (Max) Gill. This map is filled with detail of a humorous character, the peculiarities of every district being happily parodied, and it forms an abundant source of amusement. Commissioned by the Underground Electric Railways Company.

6yr ⋅

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Pratt's High Test Plan of the Roads of the South Coast (of England in 1932) by Alfred E. Taylor, 1925-1940.

6yr ⋅

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