The Wordsmith's Forge

Venomous Primate Believed Extinct for 100 Years Was Hiding in Plain Sight All Along

This big-eyed furball is the Bangka slow loris, a creature that in 2015 was believed to potentially be extinct.

As the video demonstrates, the Bangka slow loris (N. bancanus) is still very much with us—thanks to a local wildlife organization on the island of Bangka that had been rescuing and returning them to the wild for years.


Do note that if you work with endangered species, it is important to document and publish your work, because that influences not only what kind of funding you may obtain but also unrelated activities where the existence of an endangered species may promote things (like forming parks) or prevent things (like factories or mines) in their ecological range.

We know an Amish lady at The Ultimate Harvest who freeze-dries things to sell at local events, and will do custom batches. Recently we asked if she could find Roma tomatoes this late in the season, and she did. She managed to find a 25-pound box of Romas. Now, that's what I would've done, because most produce shrinks way down when you freeze-dry and powder it. There's a whole bag worth of lemons in our bag of lemon powder. But half the box of tomatoes made four bags of powder! That is far, far more than I expected. I thought a box would give us maybe one or two bags. She plans to run through the rest of the box and bag them up to sell. I'm sure somebody will buy them; tomatoes are popular.

I'm really looking forward to experimenting. My original intent was to use the powder to punch up things like Xawaash chicken, or recipes that only call for a tablespoon or two of tomato paste. But then I got to thinking it'd be a good way to make tomato bread. Or mix a bit of tomato powder with basil, brush something with olive oil, dust that on top, and bake. The versatility makes this a great pantry staple. I decided to look up some recipes...

( Read more... )

Loch Ness Is About to Welcome a New Monster Not Seen There in 500 Years–the Beaver!

Beavers were last sighted in the area around Scotland’s most famous lake between 1526 and 1527. Now, literally 500 years later, these key ecosystem engineers will be reintroduced to the local environment.


Yay, beavers! :D 3q3q3q!!!

Romans Made Color-Changing Glass–and We’ve Just Replicated After 1,600 Years

It’s made of what’s called dichroic glass, and its party trick is changing color depending on which angle light is shone upon it. The goblet in question is known as the Lycurgus Cup, named for the king of the Thracians in Homer’s Iliad who insulted the god Dionysus.


Fascinating.

( Read more... )

400,000-year-old teeth reveal a stunning twist in human evolution

A groundbreaking discovery is rewriting the story of human evolution, revealing that an ancient human species once thought to be an evolutionary dead end may have left genetic traces in people alive today. By extracting proteins from 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth discovered in China, scientists uncovered evidence suggesting that these early humans interbred with Denisovans, another mysterious ancient human group. That genetic connection may have eventually reached modern populations in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
[---8<---]
Homo erectus is widely regarded as the first hominin to leave Africa; the evidence suggests this species had moved into Eurasia nearly two million years ago. It remains the most geographically widespread human ancestor that ever lived. The new study indicates that Homo erectus exchanged genes (probably through interbreeding) with Denisovans in East Asia roughly 400,000 years ago.


Multiple studies have found "ghost DNA" in humans, traces of ancestors that we haven't even identified, along with the now-known Neanderthal and Denisovan contributions. ("Wait, what was your name again?") When it comes to claiming that some human lineages "died out without descendants" ... I wouldn't bet on that. Humans like to fuck, and they've been fucking all over the family tree for the last few million years.

Today I went seed-gathering at the Charleston Food Forest and the Coles County Community Garden.

( Read more... )

Today is mostly cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a fox squirrel.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/5/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/5/26 -- I gathered seeds at the Charleston Food Forest and the Coles County Community Garden.

EDIT 11/5/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/5/26 -- I planted most of the Egyptian Walking Onions that I gathered today.

EDIT 11/5/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It's mizzling a bit.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...


* Commented on TV Tuesday: Where Are We? in tv_talk.

* Commented on Just one thing: 04 November 2026 in awesomeers.

* Commented on Solovember Bingo in solottrpgs.

* Posted Meme on meta_warehouse.

Vines Produce Bigger, Healthier Wine Grapes When Grown Under Solar Panels

Solar panels grown above grapevines substantially increased the development and fruit production of the crop—all while generating clean energy.


Well, that's awesome. :D If you have solar panels on the ground, rather than on a roof, then you can test this at home with grapevines or other crops. I would suggest it for things that tend to wilt or bolt under baking summer sun -- peas, spinach, lettuce, etc. Also flowers or foliage that recommend some protection from sun, like hostas (which are also edible).