It is a mistake to think of #nature as warm and cuddly. Many, perhaps most, #violent encounters between #humans and #wildlife are the result of the former treating the latter as #Disney characters.
One reason “#birds are #dinosaurs” made immediate sense to me was a vivid childhood memory: when I was about ten, I thought some #goslings were cute and wanted to pet them. #Mother#Goose had other ideas. Yeah, don’t do that.
It is equally a mistake to assume nature is All #Killing, All The Time. Fighting takes a lot of energy, and wild animals—including our own distant ancestors—are in constant peril of #starvation. Even a minor #injury can lead to #infection and #death.
Violence is a tool of survival, to be sure, whether in #predation, self-defense, or squabbles over #territory and #mating. Unnecessary violence is a quick road to #extinction. Most animals would rather do something else, when they can.
So before you fall back on “red in tooth and claw” as a default, look for other explanations. They’re usually more interesting anyway.
"Bishop’s story, from birth to presumed death, shows the extreme danger facing right #whales, which could be #extinct in three decades if they continue to disappear at the present rate.
"“As we watch this #species go #extinct one by one, the solution sits idle in the hands of the administration”...
this year, a dead female turned up off #Virginia with a dislocated spine, a calf was discovered in #Georgia with head lacerations, & a young female was found — again in Georgia — with a fractured skull. All the injuries are consistent with vessel strikes.
Several companies are offering people in mourning a chance to chat with a “simulation” of a deceased loved one. Some say it feels like they’re speaking to them from beyond the grave, while others find it disconcerting and manipulative. Ethicists Tomasz Hollanek and Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska from the University of Cambridge are the latest to voice their concerns over the risks of the "digital afterlife industry." Here’s more from Science Alert: https://flip.it/C6.06y #Science#AI#Ethics#Humans
Researchers said the study is the 1st to look at [how] the…variety of #environmental problems can compound #disease risks. It combined hundreds of studies & thousands of observations of …— #humans & other mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, worms & arthropods — & all kinds of #pathogens, such as #viruses, #bacteria & #fungi.
The analysis reinforced…findings…: a hotter world of ravaged #ecosystems is one that is more hospitable to many #parasites, & less so to humans & other #life.
In a donor list to an early 17thc convent, all the men (so far, only men!) are named & their titles given, & then the thing that they paid for is listed. One didn't just give money to the project; donors want their name on this window, that door, this meaningful space within the edifice.
And in my monastic chronicle, men evidently pay for things, while women pay more often for prayers and services. (This is ca. 1606-7)
Not entirely, of course: one of the women pays for a window, and two others for specific door-latches. ("I scrimped and saved and paid for this lock and key, look at me!")
Also, you could be a servant and still help fund the monastery.
#BirdFlu Cattle #Outbreak Feels Like 2020, Former Surgeon General Warns >>>
The cow-to-cow transmission is the latest escalation in a global outbreak that began when the #virus reemerged in Europe in '20. It has since killed tens of millions of birds and more than 40k sea lions.
#WHO called this an "animal pandemic" on April 18.
Genetic fragments of the virus, discovered in grocery store milk, suggest the outbreak is more widespread than officials believed.
cont'd >> "If it keeps spreading in #animals, then it is eventually going to cause problems for #humans, either because we don't have #food because they've got to start exterminating flocks, or because it starts to make a jump in humans. The more it replicates, the more chances it has to mutate."
Though he agrees with the CDC's assessment that the current risk to humans is low, Adams fears the US is repeating many mistakes it made in the early days of #COVID-19.
From Instagram:
museum.of.artifacts A megalithic monument in Spain that's older than the Pyramids was recently uncovered from its watery hiding place by a drought.
The "Spanish Stonehenge" is about 7,000 years old, some 2,000 years older than Stonehenge itself.
Scientists have documented five major mass extinction events in Earth’s history. Are we entering the sixth phase? Live Science has more on this unsettling notion, including why many researchers say yes. If you’re thinking of humans “clearing habitats, exterminating species and changing the climate,” you’re on the right path. https://flip.it/847-f0 #Science#Earth#Humans#Extinction
Someone posted about how AI art seems “soulless” perhaps because it doesn’t do anything to help you connect with the person/artist who created it. I think I agree with that view. As an artist I crave that connection with people... I sold a bunch of prints last week and it was amazing having someone see something I created and having some feeling of liking it because we have some shared experience and that is the connection thing. More of that please.
We all need to vent after a bad day, right? It’s the equivalent of releasing steam from a pressure cooker, it’s long been believed. Researchers at Ohio State University, however, found “not a shred of scientific evidence” to support catharsis theory, as it’s called. In fact, venting might increase anger. Science Alert has more, including effective methods of managing your rage. https://flip.it/2GK2Gq #Science#Health#Anger#AngerManagement#Behavior#Humans
Thirty years after the first exoplanets were discovered, hundreds of additional exoplanets have been identified within the “habitable zone,” a place where liquid water and maybe even life may exist. The MIT Press Reader asks, could a self-sustaining starship carry humans to distant worlds? https://flip.it/0q093h #Science#Space#SolarSystem#Planets#Humans#SpaceExploration
Unraveling the Mystery of Human Taillessness: A Genetic Perspective (www.infoterkiniviral.com)
Humans, despite their numerous remarkable traits, lack a feature common to most vertebrates - a tail. The reason behind this absence has long been a