The Wordsmith's Forge

Food

2026-08-27T04:27:16Z

Eating this specific mushroom species makes people see hundreds of ‘tiny humans,’ and it contains no known psychedelic compound

In its genome they found no trace of the genes that make psilocybin, the drug in magic mushrooms. Nothing matched any other known mushroom drug either. That means the cause of these ‘Lilliputian’ hallucinations is an unidentified compound.

Fascinating.

What eaters describe is oddly consistent, and oddly obedient to physics. “They’re not walking through walls or anything,” said Domnauer. One person who ate the mushroom in soup told him that “the little people were jumping off their spoon into the bowl and swimming around.”

That consistency and the physics make me wonder if this mushroom is actually a dimensional lens of sorts.

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Activism

2026-08-27T02:49:18Z

Federal judge shuts down Texas drag ban: If you don’t like drag “just don’t go”

The judge said that even Dolly Parton’s performances may be banned by the anti-drag law because she had “big hair, flamboyant clothes.”

A federal judge in Texas ruled this week that the state’s drag ban is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech in violation of the First Amendment. US District Court Judge David Hittner’s Tuesday decision strikes down S.B. 12, a 2023 law signed by anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Greg Abbott (R). While the law does not explicitly mention the word drag, it criminalized “sexually explicit” performances in the presence of minors, defining such performances as those featuring “a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience.”
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The law, Hittner wrote, “applies to countless protected performances that might contain elements that are ‘in some sense erotic’ and meet either the law’s definition of ‘nude’ or ‘sexual conduct’ but are not obscene or obscene for minors and are thus constitutionally protected.” Hittner cited examples including a gymnast performing in a leotard and a singer performing in a lowcut dress.

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Water

2026-08-27T02:37:08Z

This US Creek Was Dying — Then a Physicist Used Rocks to Bring the Water Back

In Silver City, New Mexico, a dying desert creek had spent more than a century cutting deeper into the landscape while groundwater beneath the region continued to decline. Then physicist Van Clothier began using native rocks, water-harvesting structures, willows, and cottonwoods to do something conventional engineering had struggled to achieve: slow the water and let the creek begin rebuilding itself.

This project uses cross-vanes to slow and redirect water, with the partial walls dispersing energy and diverting some water into catch-pools. Different sites call for different shapes. To understand the best ways to solve water problems on location, it is helpful to study physics, fluid dynamics, geology, and hydrology. But the most crucial part is observing the landscape and working with it instead of against it. Science just tends to shorten your trial-and-error process.

This is another useful technique alongside:
* beaver restoration and simulated dams
* gully-stuffing, another way to stop channels from cutting deeper
* gabions, another type of rock structure to slow water and improve sediment.

( Read more... )

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Wildlife

2026-08-26T20:14:05Z

Marsupials Are 'Far More Evolved' Than Other Mammals, Even Humans

Using specimens from the different developmental stages of 22 currently living species, Natural History Museum developmental biologist Heather White and colleagues constructed a timeline of changes that best explained what now exists. The highly detailed set of 3D micro-CT scans revealed many more changes in how marsupial skulls develop. Specifically, skull development is slowed and shifted in marsupials, in comparison to both placental mammals and our shared therian ancestor from 160 million years ago.

The findings suggest that the extremely young age of marsupial births represents the more specialized type of development that required greater changes in traits compared to our shared ancestor than our strategy of allowing young to develop within us for longer.

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Space Exploration

2026-08-26T18:45:04Z

Earth’s shadow will swallow the full Moon Thursday night in a partial lunar eclipse

Thursday night will bring more than an ordinary full moon.

On August 27, 2026, people across the United States can watch Earth’s shadow sweep across the Moon during an exceptionally deep partial lunar eclipse.

The event will be visible across much of North America, with viewing conditions depending on location and moonrise time.

Lunar eclipses are beautiful celestial phenomena to watch.

For those of you with spiritual practices about the Moon, an eclipse is an unparalleled opportunity for certain types of work such as banishing, binding, and exploring the subconscious or other hidden mysteries.

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Birdfeeding

2026-08-26T18:34:21Z

Today is a beautiful summer day, sunny, breezy, and warm.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/26/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/26/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/26/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I heard bobwhite quail calls but didn't see any. I did see the wild grape vine near the white garden, so that survived the weather that killed many mature plants and saplings around the yard.

EDIT 8/26/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden and the telephone pole garden.

.

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History

2026-08-26T08:08:04Z

Three forgotten kings could rewrite the history of ancient Assyria

Three forgotten Assyrian kings may have been hiding in plain sight for more than 2,700 years. By piecing together clues from tablets, inscriptions, and an ancient statue, researchers argue that these rulers were omitted from the famous Assyrian King List.

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Hard Things

2026-08-26T08:03:47Z

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

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Linguistics

2026-08-26T01:45:33Z

Multilingual people may have brains up to 13 years younger

People who speak several languages may have brains that age more slowly, with four-language speakers showing brains that appeared about 13 years younger than those of monolinguals. Starting earlier and becoming highly fluent were also linked to a stronger effect.

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Moment of Silence: Dolly Parton

2026-08-26T00:04:24Z

Famous singer Dolly Parton has passed away. Her top hits include "Jolene," "Islands in the Stream," and "9 to 5."

In Lieu of Flowers

Dolly's family suggests making a donation to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. This book gifting program mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas.

Carry on the Work

4 Ways to Be a Humanitarian

10 Things a Southern Woman Does

How To Be A Good Hostess

How to Start Your Singing Career (with Pictures)

How to Write a Good Country Song: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

What makes a Southern Woman "A Lady"?

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Safety

2026-08-25T21:22:45Z

This caught my attention as another case of testosterone poisoning, and likely Darwin Awards:

Mr Toad would be making crash videos....

Speeding for online glory: the internet subculture where young men drive dangerously for likes.

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Vocabulary: Imbricate

2026-08-25T21:14:39Z

imbricate (IM-bri-kit, IM-bri-kayt) - adj., overlapping in a regular pattern. v., to overlap in a regular pattern.

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Science

2026-08-25T18:21:53Z

Atomic catalyst unlocks the hidden value of plant waste

A new atomic-scale catalyst could transform stubborn plant waste into valuable chemicals now commonly made from petroleum.

Scientists have created a highly efficient catalyst that breaks down stubborn lignin from plant waste into useful chemicals under relatively mild conditions. By revealing exactly how the catalyst works at the atomic level, the discovery could help turn forestry and agricultural waste into renewable building blocks for fuels, plastics, and other materials.

This is another example of humans figuring out things a LOT faster than other organisms. It took the biosphere about 30 million years to evolve ways to break down lignin, which how the coal swamps of the Carboniferous period turned into actual coal and oil. Humans started evolving only about 2-3 million years ago, modern humans emerged around 50,000 years ago, and the contemporary scientific practice is only about 1-2 centuries of concerted industrial and intellectual effort.

Recently we discussed scientific breakthroughs that could have big impacts. If lignin cracking becomes feasible on a large scale, that could have as much impact as fossil fuels themselves, because it would support the same kinds of products such as plastics. Although I don't think more plastic is really a great idea, other people love the stuff.

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Birdfeeding

2026-08-25T18:03:20Z

Today is mostly sunny.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/25/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/25/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden and the patio plants.

I poured undiluted comfrey fertilizer on a sprig of poison ivy to see if that will burn it to death.

EDIT 8/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the purple-and-white garden, old picnic table garden, and telephone pole garden.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

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

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Wildlife

2026-08-25T18:01:24Z

There are two categories of wildlife that are essential to biodiversity and habitat health: keystone species and ecosystem engineers. Often one species fills both roles, but they are actually separate things. A keystone species is all about its relationship with other plants and animals. An ecosystem engineer relies on its ability to alter the physical environment. If you're into habitat restoration or other wildlife gardening, focus on keystone plant and animal species of your area. Most ecosystem engineers will only fit in a larger landscape, but may be feasible if your yard happens to fall inside one (e.g. squirrels in an oak forest area).

( Read more... )

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Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, September 1

2026-08-25T07:17:57Z

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, September 1, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Help That's Actually Helpful." I'll be soliciting ideas for caregivers, first responders, clergy, outreach workers, philanthropists, an anonymous benefactor, good samaritans, activists, volunteers, handyworkers, repairmen, teachers, parents, comares, superheroes, supervillains, adventurers, other helpful people, lending a hand, responding to emergencies, volunteering, making donations, supporting people in hard times, learning to trust others, offering crash space, helping someone move, planting trees, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, All Together Schools, Parea, Triton Teen Centers, Thalassia, Rutledge Vermont, the Peace Store, Soup to Nuts, charities, homeless shelters, clothing banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, sobering centers, community clinics, mentor circles, support groups, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, gay bars, feminist bookstores, social justice departments in schools, clubs, quiet rooms, accommodations closets, inclusive workplaces, the Maldives, the Lacuna, Quaker communities, free pirate islands, community gardens, other helper hangouts, emergency aid, accessibility kits, intentional neighboring, altruism, skills heroes need, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, safety pin peace signs, other activist symbols, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

100 things you can do to help others for FREE
100 Ways to Build Connection, Community & Belonging
100 Ways to Help Others
101 Ways to Be the Change  
150 Random Acts of Kindness

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One shows neurodiverse folks helping each other.

The Blueshift Troupers travel the galaxy helping colonies solve problems.

Clay of Life depends on the friendship between a blacksmith and a golem.

A Conflagration of Dragons involves refugees running to their allies.

Coracle Shores follows two siblings escaping from a wrecked world to a fae world, seeking help to settle there.

Daughters of the Apocalypse relies a lot on mutual aid for survival.

Fiorenza the Wisewoman is a source of help to her whole village.

Frankenstein's Family has diverse subgroups interacting to help each other.

Hart's Farm is a community where people routinely use teamwork to care for each other.

The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.

Not Quite Kansas requires the characters to help each other get by in an unfamiliar world.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis involves drunks helping each other out, because they know what really helps.

Peculiar Obligations is about Quakers and pirates balancing each other.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people helping people. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they take care of each other.

The Wandering is all about old people traveling in time to their own youth so they can help more.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

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Nature

2026-08-25T03:07:14Z

Movile Cave: A Unique Isolated Ecosystem in Romania

Cristian Lascu discovered Movile Cave in 1986 during a geologic survey above a derelict mining pit in Mangalia. Its groundwater is rich in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide but deficient in oxygen. Locked down about 60 feet below the surface of the earth, it is not naturally connected to the outside world.

Life in the cave has been isolated from the outside world for the past 5.5 million years, and it is entirely based on chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis. Nevertheless, Movile Cave is cramped in spite of its amazing abundance. The only access to a horizontal labyrinth of winding limestone passages, dotted with odd growths, is a tiny, man-made shaft.

This is what one science fiction worldbuilding book described as "rigorous chemical conditions." So we now have a proven model of an ecosystem that relies on chemosynthesis instead of photosynthesis, and has a completely different atmosphere than surface-Earth. That makes it fair game as a model for science fiction ecosystems!

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Poetry Fishbowl Report for August 4, 2026

2026-08-25T01:51:32Z

This month's theme was "Weirder Than That." I wrote from 12:45 PM to 2 AM, so about 11 hours 15 minutes, accounting for breaks. I wrote 4 poems on Tuesday and 2 later in the week.

Participation was down a little, with 6 comments on LiveJournal and another 23 on Dreamwidth. A total of 8 people sent prompts. There were no new prompters.

Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the August 4, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Any Two Words in the English Language"
"Society Where None Intrudes"
"This Weird Intersection of Dance Music and Indie Music"
"A Tie to the Past, a Road to the Future"
"The True Driver of Learning"

Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from August 4. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include: janetmiles, fuzzyred, and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 3 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

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Vocabulary: Piteraq

2026-08-24T18:24:48Z

piteraq (PIT-eh-rak) - n., a cold katabatic wind blowing off the Greenlandic icecap down to the eastern coast.

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History

2026-08-24T17:48:54Z

Early Farmers Figured Out ‘Engineering Wonder,’ Building Huge Irrigation System Without Government or Chief

Early farmers achieved an “engineering wonder of the world” by building a giant irrigation system in South America thousands of years ago. Communities living in what is now Colombia created the remarkable network based on cooperation among family groups—without top-down government—according to a new study.

The researchers believe modern policymakers could adopt a similar strategy to solve the country’s current water management crisis.

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Birdfeeding

2026-08-24T17:31:16Z

Today is partly sunny and mild.

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

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/24/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/24/26 -- I trimmed around the goddess garden.

EDIT 8/24/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/24/26 -- I picked up a trolley of sticks and dumped that in the firepit.

EDIT 8/24/26 -- I hauled in a stockup load of groceries.

.

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Free Epic Poll

2026-08-24T17:13:30Z

The August 4, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl has made its $200 goal, so you get a free epic. Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll. I will keep it open at least until Tuesday midday. If there's a clear answer then, I'll close it; otherwise I may leave it open a little while longer. Here are your options...

"An Equally Valid Way of Being"
Summary: Xavia finds that becoming a werewolf improves her mental as well as physical health.
66 lines

"To Love without Condition"
Story Date: Saturday, August 15, 2015
Summary: Jarom Brahmaputra meets a girl and reconsiders his soulmark.
106 lines

View Poll: Free Epic for the August 4, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl

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Fandom

2026-08-24T16:30:45Z

Fandom 101: Hanahaki Disease

Hanahaki disease is a fictional affliction characterized by the growth of a blooming plant in a person’s body. Canonically, the disease is a manifestation of unrequited love, and the growth results in either a slow, painful death of coughing flower petals or an instantaneous healing when the love is requited and spoken. It can be surgically treated by removing the growth, and with it, the love that created it.

I found this fascinating. I've never encountered it in this form.

However, it seems closely related to the Western fairytale trope of spitting flowers, gems, etc. while speaking. There is also a much wider use of flowers growing in or on the body.

For my rendition, see "Pearls and Posies" in Fiorenza the Wisewoman.

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Monday Update 8-24-26

2026-08-24T08:11:46Z

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Entertainment
Poem: "Nothing Like Looking"
Poem: "Looking Up into the Sky at the Same Time"
Food
Entertainment
Poem: "Lágrimas da Floresta Tropical"
Poem: "Filled with Things You Don't Know"
Poem: "The Frequent Passage from Hand to Hand"
Birdfeeding
Entertainment
Space Exploration
Education
Philosophical Questions: Science
Climate Change
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Moment of Silence: Juan Tamariz
Food
Family Skills
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 8-21-26: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Summer 2026 A-I
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Travel
Climate Change
Books
Community Thursdays
Today's Smoothie
Education
Quantum Physics
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Good News

Poem: "Confidence, Trust, Believing, Strength" has 27 comments. Energy has 28 comments. Food has 27 comments. Affordable Housing has 25 comments. LiveJournal has 43 comments.

"Save All the Pieces" belongs to The Big One and needs $74 to be complete. Kenneth and Stylet discuss what to do about the mangled hedgerow.

The weather has been mild to warm and we got a little more rain. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a female cardinal, a gray catbird, and a mourning dove. Cicadas and crickets are singing. Many large dragonflies are zooming overhead. I've seen a squirrel high the trees over the parking lot, flicking its tail. I heard a woodpecker drumming, and a quail calling, but didn't see either. Currently blooming: pansies, violas, sweet alyssum, marigolds, snapdragons, lantana, million bells, blue lobelia, petunias, portulaca, nemesia, fan flowers, firecracker plant, pineapple sage, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, garlic chives, blackberry lily, Queen Anne's lace, purple echinacea, yellow coneflower, frost aster, cosmos, sunflowers, nasturtiums, zinnias, bachelor's button, cup plant, thistle. Ripe fruit: tomatoes, cucumbers.

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Entertainment

2026-08-24T04:30:35Z

Pro Women’s Baseball Returns for First Time Since 1954: A League of Their Own is BACK!

Almost eight decades after she last played baseball, Maybelle Blair returned to the diamond—in a wheelchair—to inaugurate the new women’s US baseball league. It brought Blair’s uniquely American story full circle—and she wasn’t going to miss it for anything. “I tell you, I broke four ribs recently,” the 99-year-old told a news crew from WICS. “But nothing was going to stop me from being here—even if I had to crawl.”

Maybelle played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that launched amid the backdrop of World War II and was memorably depicted in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own.

Last weekend, Maybelle, who pitched for the Peoria Redwings during the 1948 season, was on the field in Springfield, Illinois, to help celebrate the first game of the new Women’s Professional Baseball League.

It's good to see the League back!

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