Thread: Strange News

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The climate denier had its butt BBQed yesterday and it’s still stinging today

yep, sure.

• Possible proof of oldest human-occupied site found in Oregon, dating back over 18K years
  

An Oregon field research team believes it has uncovered evidence that indicates humans roamed the state at least 18,000 years ago. This could be proof of North America’s oldest human-occupied site yet.

Since 2011, the Bureau of Land Management and the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History Archaeological Field School have partnered to excavate the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter near Riley, Oregon.

According to the BLM, archaeologist Patrick O’Grady led the team that had a major discovery back in 2012. The archaeologists unearthed camel teeth fragments that were initially hidden by volcanic ash from a Mount St. Helens eruption roughly 15,000 years ago.

The researchers also found an orange agate scraper with bison blood residue in 2012, and an additional scraper later in 2015. Experts with the BLM said the “natural layering of the rockshelter sediments” hints that the scrapers date back even further than the volcanic ash and camel teeth.

After conducting “radiocarbon-dating analysis” in 2018 and again this year, researchers reported a newer discovery: the teeth date back to 18,250 years ago.

“The identification of 15,000-years-old volcanic ash was a shock, then Tom’s 18,000-years-old dates on the enamel, with stone tools and flakes below were even more startling,” O’Grady said of the finding.

Cooper’s Ferry in Western Idaho was thought to be the oldest-recorded archaeological site in the region, according to the BLM. The “Clovis people,” who arrived from Asia and Siberia around 13,500 years ago, have also been considered the first North Americans.

BLM Oregon/Washington Archaeology lead Heather Ulrich said this new evidence has been an exciting development for those in the field.

“Thanks to the partnership with Dr. O’Grady and the University these new dates push our archaeological knowledge of human occupation in North America even farther, perhaps the oldest yet!” Ulrich said.

very strange.

• First Bank of the US to be transformed into museum

The First Bank of the United States, the initial central national bank for the country, will be turned into a museum, with its opening set to coincide with the country’s 250th birthday in 2026.

The National Park Service (NPS) said in a release Monday that the bank is receiving a $22.2 million investment from the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund, which provides NPS funding for maintenance in national parks. The funding will be used for the building, which is located in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, to undergo renovations ahead of the planned opening.

“Rehabilitating the First Bank will meet a long-held goal for the park,” said Independence National Historic Park acting Superintendent Amnesty Kochanowski.

Kochanowski said the NPS first acquired the bank building in 1956, when the park was established, but it has been mostly closed to the public.

“The restoration of the renowned building gives the park the opportunity to showcase aspects of the economy of the early republic and the role of the controversial national bank,” she said.

The bank was originally built between 1795 and 1797 during President George Washington’s administration, while the capital of the country was in Philadelphia. Congress chartered the bank for 20 years starting in 1791, following a proposal from Treasury Department Secretary Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton’s goal in establishing the bank was to create financial stability for the country and allow the federal government to collect taxes and pay debts. Opponents of the bank at the time, including Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, pushed back against Hamilton’s proposal, arguing that a national bank could undermine the authority of state banks and that the Constitution did not give the federal government the power to create one.

The bank’s charter expired in 1811, and it was replaced by the Second Bank of the United States five years later.

The funding for the renovations will allow for the replacement of metal roofing that has been leaking, flashings, hatches and louvers. It will also help address moisture incursion issues, repair damage to walls, replace an elevator, update electrical and HVAC systems and add accessible restrooms, a fire suppression system and a new addition to serve as the main entrance.

The Independence Historical Trust, the philanthropic partner of the national park, has also raised $4.5 million to supplement the effort for architectural and structural documents and for designing and installing interactive exhibits.

The museum is scheduled to open in time for the 250th anniversary of the Continental Congress’s ratification of the Declaration of Independence.

very strange news.

Thai Bank Museum

Museum and Art Gallery Bank Negara Malaysia

Bank Museums around the world - ICOM ICOMON -ICOM ICOMON

Bank Museum around the World
Afghanistan	Afghanistan [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museum | Da Afghanistan Bank[/COLOR]
Albania	Albania [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museum of the Bank of Albania[/COLOR]
Angola	Angola [COLOR=#474747 !important]Currency Museum of the Bank of Angola [/COLOR]
Argentina	Argentina [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Argentina Museum [/COLOR]
Armenia	The Republic of Armenia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Republic of Armenia Museum [/COLOR]
Australia	[COLOR=#474747 !important]Australia [/COLOR] [COLOR=#474747 !important]Reserve Bank of Australia Museum [/COLOR]
Austria	Austria [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Austria Museum[/COLOR]
The Bahamas	Bahamas [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Bahamas Museum[/COLOR]
Bahrain	Bahrain [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Bahrain Museum[/COLOR]
Bangladesh	Bangladesh [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bangladesh Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Barbados	Barbados [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Barbados exchange Museum [/COLOR]
Belgium	Belgium [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Belgium Museum[/COLOR]
Bolivia	Bolivia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Cultural Foundation of the Central Bank of Bolivia Museum[/COLOR]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina Museum[/COLOR]
Botswana	Botswana [COLOR=#474747 !important]The Bank of Botswana Fine Art Collection Museum[/COLOR]
Brazil	Brazil [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Brazil Museum[/COLOR]
Bulgaria	Bulgaria [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bulgarian National Bank Museum [/COLOR]
Brunei Darussalam	Brunei Darussalam [COLOR=#474747 !important]Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam Museum[/COLOR]
Cambodia	Cambodia [COLOR=#474747 !important]The National Bank of Cambodia – SOSORO Museum Cambodia Museum of Economy and Money[/COLOR]
Canada	Canada [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Canada Museum[/COLOR]
Chile	Chile [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Chile Museum[/COLOR]
People’s Bank of China	People’s Bank of China [COLOR=#474747 !important]China numismatic Museum[/COLOR]
Republic colombia	Republic colombia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of the Republic colombia Colección de Arte del Banco de la República Museum[/COLOR]
Comoros	Comoros [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Comoros Museum[/COLOR]
Costa Rica	Costa Rica [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Costa Rica Museum[/COLOR]
Cuba	Cuba [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Cuba Museum[/COLOR] [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museo Numismático[/COLOR]
Curaçao and Sint Maarten	Curaçao and Sint Maarten [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten Museum[/COLOR]
Cyprus	Cyprus [COLOR=#474747 !important]The Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation Museum[/COLOR]
Czech Republic	Czech [COLOR=#474747 !important]Czech National Bank Museums Czech National Bank People & Money exhibition in Prague – Czech National Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Ecuador	Ecuador [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Ecuador Museum[/COLOR]
Egypt	Egypt [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Egypt Museum[/COLOR]
El Salvador	El Salvador [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador Museum[/COLOR]
Estonia	Estonia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Estonia Museum[/COLOR]
Finland	Finland [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Finland Museum[/COLOR]
France	France [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of France Museum [/COLOR]
Gambia	Gambia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of The Gambia Museum[/COLOR]
Georgia	Georgia [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Georgia Museum[/COLOR]
Deutsche Bundes	Deutsche Bundes [COLOR=#474747 !important]Deutsche Bundes Bank Museum[/COLOR]
European Central Bank	European Central Bank [COLOR=#474747 !important]European Central Bank,ECB Visitor Centre Museum[/COLOR]
Greece	Bank of Greece [COLOR=#474747 !important]The Bank of Greece Museum[/COLOR]
De Guatemala	De Guatemala [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museo Numismático de Guatemala[/COLOR]
Guyana	Guyana [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Guyana money Museum[/COLOR]
Honduras	Honduras [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Honduras Museum[/COLOR]
Hungary	Hungary [COLOR=#474747 !important]Hungarian National Bank[/COLOR]
Iceland	Iceland [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Iceland[/COLOR]
India	India [COLOR=#474747 !important]Reserve Bank of India[/COLOR]
Indonesia	Indonesia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank Indonesia Museum[/COLOR]
Iran	Iran [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran Museum[/COLOR]
Ireland	Ireland [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Ireland Museum[/COLOR]
Italy	Italy [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Italy Museums[/COLOR]
Jamaica	Jamaica [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Jamaica money Museum[/COLOR]
Japan	Japan [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Japan currency Museum[/COLOR]
Jordan	Jordan [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Jordan Museum[/COLOR]
Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museum of National Bank[/COLOR]
Kenya	Kenya [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Kenya Museum[/COLOR]
Korea	Korea [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Korea Museums[/COLOR]
Kosovo	Kosovo [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Kosovo Museum[/COLOR]
Kuwait	Kuwait [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Kuwait Museum[/COLOR]
Latvia	Latvia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Latvia[/COLOR] [COLOR=#474747 !important]Knowledge centre “Money World” Museum[/COLOR]
Lebanon	Lebanon [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Lebanon Museum[/COLOR]
Lithuania	Lithuania [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Lithuania Museum[/COLOR]
Luxembourg	Luxembourg [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Luxembourg Museum[/COLOR]
Macedonia	Macedonia [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia Museum[/COLOR]
Malaysia	Malaysia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank Negara Malaysia MuseumMuseum[/COLOR]
Malta	Malta [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Malta currency Museum[/COLOR]
Mauritania	Mauritania [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Mauritania Museum[/COLOR]
Mauritius	Mauritius [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Mauritius Museum[/COLOR]
Mexico	Mexico [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Mexico online collection Museum[/COLOR]
Pridnestrovian	Pridnestrovian [COLOR=#474747 !important]Pridnestrovian Republican Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Mongolia	Mongolia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Mongolia Museum[/COLOR]
Montenegro	Montenegro [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Montenegro Museum[/COLOR]
Al-Maghrib	Al-Maghrib [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank Al-Maghrib Museum[/COLOR]
De Nederlandsche	De Nederlandsche [COLOR=#474747 !important]De Nederlandsche Bank Museum[/COLOR]
New Zealand	New Zealand [COLOR=#474747 !important]Reserve Bank of New Zealand Museum[/COLOR]
Nigeria	Nigeria [COLOR=#474747 !important]central bank of Nigeria currency Museum[/COLOR]
Norway	Norway [COLOR=#474747 !important]Norway[/COLOR] [COLOR=#474747 !important]Norges Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Oman	Oman [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Oman currency Museum[/COLOR]
Pakistan	Pakistan [COLOR=#474747 !important]State Bank of Pakistan Museum[/COLOR]
Palestine	Palestine [COLOR=#474747 !important]Palestine Monetary Authority Museum[/COLOR]
Papua New Guinea	Papua New Guinea [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Papua New Guinea numismatic Museum[/COLOR]
Paraguay	Paraguay [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Paraguay Museum[/COLOR]
Peru	Peru [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Reserve Bank of Peru Museum[/COLOR]
Philippines	Philippines [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Philippines Museum[/COLOR]
Poland	Poland [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Poland Money center Museum[/COLOR]
Portugal	Portugal [COLOR=#474747 !important]Museum of the Banco de Portugal Museum[/COLOR]
Qatar	Qatar [COLOR=#474747 !important]Qatar Central Bank currency gallery Museum[/COLOR]
Russia	Russia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Russian Federation Museum[/COLOR]
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency currency Museum[/COLOR]
Serbia	Serbia [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Serbia Museum[/COLOR]
Singapore	Singapore [COLOR=#474747 !important]Monetary Authority of Singapore Museum[/COLOR]
Slovakia	Slovakia [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Slovakia Museum[/COLOR]
Slovenia	Slovenia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Slovenia Museum[/COLOR]
South Africa	South Africa [COLOR=#474747 !important]South African Reserve Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Spain	Spain [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Spain art collection Museum[/COLOR]
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Sri Lanka Museum[/COLOR]
Sudan	Sudan [COLOR=#474747 !important]Qatar Central Bank currency gallery Museum[/COLOR]
Qatar	Qatar [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Sudan Museum[/COLOR]
Suriname	Suriname [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Suriname Museum[/COLOR]
Sweden	Sweden [COLOR=#474747 !important]Swedish National Bank Museum[/COLOR]
Schweizer	Schweizer [COLOR=#474747 !important]Schweizer Finance Museum[/COLOR]
Republic of China	Republic of China [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) money Museum[/COLOR]
Thailand	Thailand [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Thailand Museum[/COLOR]
Georgia	Georgia [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Georgia Museum[/COLOR]
Tonga	Tonga [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Reserve Bank of Tonga Numismatics collection [/COLOR]
Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Museum[/COLOR]
Tunisia	Tunisia [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Tunisia Museum[/COLOR]
Turkey	Turkey [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Museum[/COLOR]
European Central Bank	European Central Bank [COLOR=#474747 !important]European Central Bank,ECB Visitor Centre[/COLOR]
Uganda	Uganda [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of Uganda Museum[/COLOR]
Ukraine	Ukraine [COLOR=#474747 !important]National Bank of Ukraine money Museum[/COLOR]
United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates [COLOR=#474747 !important]UAE Currency Museum[/COLOR]
England	England [COLOR=#474747 !important]Bank of England Museum[/COLOR]
New York	New York [COLOR=#474747 !important]The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Museum[/COLOR]
Uruguay	Uruguay [COLOR=#474747 !important]Central Bank of Uruguay Numismatic Museum[/COLOR]
Vanuatu	Vanuatu [COLOR=#474747 !important]Reserve Bank of Vanuatu numismatic center[/COLOR]
Vietnam	Vietnam [COLOR=#474747 !important]State Bank of Vietnam Museum[/COLOR]

¡Hola! climate denier

Seems your BBQed butt is still stinging after I handed it to you a couple weeks ago.

• Stolen Christopher Columbus letter found in Delaware returned to Italy

The US has returned a rare 15th-century original edition of a letter written by Christopher Columbus to Italy, the federal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency has announced.

The letter, valued at over $1.3m, was revealed to have been stolen some time between 1985 and 1988, likely from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the historic public library in Venice.

The letter was recovered by US federal investigators in 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware, with assistance from the Delaware US attorney’s office. It was in the possession of a private collector from Texas, who said he obtained it in 2003 from a rare book dealer. The collector voluntarily relinquished the letter.

The Ice deputy director and senior official performing the duties of the director, Patrick J Lechleitner, traveled to Rome on 19 July to deliver the original letter to Italian officials.

Lechleitner said: “It is my pleasure to be here to celebrate the return of this important artifact to its rightful owners – the people of Italy – and I want to commend our [homeland security investigations] attaché Rome office for their excellent cooperation with our international colleagues, as well as HSI Wilmington for their extraordinary work in identifying, tracking down, recovering and returning the collection of Columbus letters.”

The letter, formally referred to as the Plannck I Columbus letter, named after printer Stephan Plannck, who published some of his letters, is one of 30 surviving first editions of Columbus’s letter announcing his “discovery” of the Americas to members of the Spanish royal family – an assertion many scholars argue is not accurate.

The National Museum of the American Indian in New York said: “Many students learn the phrase ‘In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.’ But Columbus was not the first foreign explorer to land in the Americas.

“Neither he nor those that came before him discovered America – because Indigenous peoples have populated the western hemisphere for tens of thousands of years. European contact resulted in devastating loss of life, disruption of tradition and enormous loss of lands for Indigenous peoples in the Americas.”

In this version of the letter printed in Latin, Columbus wrote about his findings from the Americas in March 1493 to King Ferdinand, who along with Queen Isabella helped finance his voyage.

It is the fourth original edition of this letter stolen over the past few decades.

Paul Needham, a rare book expert and former librarian at Princeton University, approached US officials when he tracked down the whereabouts of the missing letter.

Needham said he came across this exact letter once before, 21 years ago when a dealer in the book trade showed it to him.

“I always take notes on the copies of the Columbus letters, so I went back to my notes,” Needham said. “Right away, I knew that this one copy in Texas had the exact dimensions of the copy that had been stolen from the Marciana.”

Needham said he was able to confirm this was one of the original printed letters after identifying the unique position of the sewing holes from when it was originally bound in a book.

Another rare copy of a letter written by Columbus in 1493 was found in the US Library of Congress, also inspected by Needham. That letter was stolen from the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence, which unknowingly displayed a forged copy until the US returned the original in 2016.

“It’s really great that it’s back where it was stolen from,” Needham said. “That was absolutely the right thing.”

Oldest species of swimming jellyfish discovered in 505m-year-old fossils

The oldest species of swimming jellyfish ever recorded has been discovered in 505m-year-old fossils, scientists have said.

The fossils were found at Burgess Shale in Canada, an area known for the number of well-preserved fossils found there.

The new species, which has been named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis, resembles a large, swimming jellyfish with a saucer or bell-shaped body up to 20cm high. Its roughly 90 short tentacles would have allowed it to capture sizeable prey.

Jellyfish belong to a subgroup of cnidaria, the oldest group of animals to exist, called medusozoans. They are made of 95% water and decay quickly, so fossilised specimens are rarely found, but the specimens – found in the late 1980s and early 1990s – were exceptionally well preserved.

“Finding such incredibly delicate animals preserved in rock layers on top of these mountains is such a wondrous discovery,” said Dr Jean-Bernard Caron, a curator of invertebrate palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum and a co-author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

As a result of the rarity of jellyfish fossils, their evolutionary history has largely been studied through microscopic fossilised larval stages and findings from molecular studies from living jellyfish.

Jellyfish, along with their relatives, have been “remarkably hard to pin down in the Cambrian fossil record” despite being part of one of the earliest groups of animals, according to Joe Moysiuk, a palaeontology student at the University of Toronto and a co-author of the study.

The discovery of Burgessomedusa phasmiformis has shown that the Cambrian food chain was much more complex than previously imagined, he said. “This discovery leaves no doubt they were swimming about at that time,” said Moysiuk.

Caron said: “This adds yet another remarkable lineage of animals that the Burgess Shale has preserved chronicling the evolution of life on Earth.”

• Fossil of 41m-year-old miniature whale discovered in Egypt

A pint-size whale that lived around 41m years ago has been discovered by palaeontologists in Egypt, who say the species may have lived a short, speedy life.

Researchers say they unearthed the fossils near Wadi el-Hitan in Egypt, a site where many fossils of ancient whales can be found. At first, they said, it was unclear what they had found.

Prof Hesham Sallam, founder of the Mansoura University vertebrate palaeontology centre (MUVP), said the team initially found a single exposed tooth in a block of limestone that dated back to the Eocene, a period that lasted from about 55.8m to 33.9m years ago.

“Then when we were trying to repair it and clean up all of the sediment above the fossils, we discovered it is not something we usually see from that time period,” he said.

The whale has been named Tutcetus rayanensis, after the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, commemorating the discovery of the pharaoh’s tomb a century ago and the Wadi el-Rayan area in Egypt where the fossil was found.

According to Sallam’s team, the creature is a type of whale known as a basilosaurid – an extinct group thought to be the first whales to live solely in the water, unlike other early whales that also ventured on to land.

“[Tutcetus] is actually having very primitive features for the group that’s already known from Wadi el-Hitan,” they said. “It’s clear it’s a new genus and species. It also ended up being the oldest one [recorded], in Africa, for a fully aquatic whale.”

The team estimated the tiny whale weighed 187kg (400lb), and was about 2.5 meters (8ft) long, making it the smallest member of the basilosauridae, which usually measure between 4 metres and 20 metres long.

The researchers said an analysis of the soft enamel of the whale’s teeth revealed it would have fed on small squids and maybe crustaceans. MUVP’s Abdullah Gohar, a co-author of the study, noted that such a diet was similar to that of modern dolphins.

The team added that their study of the whale’s teeth and bones suggested it was approaching full adulthood when it died, while the rapid way in which the teeth developed and the small size of Tutcetus suggest that it had a short, fast life compared with larger and later basilosaurids.

The find comes just weeks after fossil hunters revealed the discovery of an ancient whale thought to be heaviest animal ever to have lived. That whale was also a basilosaurid.

Olivier Lambert, a palaeontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science, who was part of that study but was not involved in the new work, said the diminutive whale illustrated the impressive geographical spread of basilosaurids during the middle Eocene.

“Such a diversity and morphological disparity may also tell us about the replacement of the last four-legged, amphibious cetaceans by these first fully aquatic whales,” he said.

• Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford reacts to snake species named after him

“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones once pondered. Turns out, a species of snakes is being named after the actor, who weighed in on the matter.

A new snake discovered in Peru has been named, Tachymenoides harrisonfordi.

Ford weighed in, saying, “These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children. I don’t understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night.”

He then got serious, calling the homage “humbling.”

“In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling. It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life,” he said.

404: This page could not be found

New species of large, yellow fish discovered in Brazil

‘Large’ creature with ‘intense yellow’ fin found deep in the Amazon. See new species

While on an expedition to an unexplored river deep in the Amazon, scientists spotted a large and brightly colored creature just beneath a waterfall. It was a new species of fish.

Now, researchers have identified the creature as Moenkhausia guaruba, according to a study published Aug. 17 in Zootaxa.

The creature is the newest species of Moenkhausia — a robust fish characterized by teeth in two rows, a lateral line organ to detect movement and small scales on their tails, the study said. It was discovered in the rio Braço Norte.

Scientists described Moenkhausia guaruba as a silvery fish with a golden to olive-green hue. The creature is darker on its back, sides and head, while its snout and jaws are a lighter yellow, orange color. A bright silver greenish stripe spans the fish’s body.

The creature was named for its “intense yellow” fins, researchers said. “Guaruba” references another species — Guaruba guarouba, also know as the Golden Parakeet, which is a golden-yellow parrot native to Brazil’s Amazon.

Experts said one of the creature’s “most remarkable characteristics” is its “great size.” Of the specimens that scientists collected, more than 50% were between about 2.7 inches and 3.3 inches. The longest creature found was nearly 3.8 inches long, the study said. The species is one of the largest types of Moenkhausia ever recorded.

The rio Braço Norte is in central Brazil in the Pará state.

Species New to Science: [Ichthyology • 2023] Moenkhausia guaruba • A New Species of Moenkhausia (Characiformes: Characidae) from rio Braco Norte, rio Tapajos Basin, with Comments on the Fish Endemism of Serra do Cachimbo Plateau

• ‘Oh my god’: live worm found in Australian woman’s brain in world-first discovery

It was a fairly regular day on the ward for Canberra hospital infectious diseases physician Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, until a neurosurgeon colleague called him and said: “Oh my god, you wouldn’t believe what I just found in this lady’s brain – and it’s alive and wriggling.”

The neurosurgeon, Dr Hari Priya Bandi, had pulled an 8cm-long parasitic roundworm from her patient, prompting her to call on Senanayake and other hospital colleagues for advice about what to do next.

The patient, a 64-year-old woman from south-eastern New South Wales, was first admitted to her local hospital in late January 2021 after suffering three weeks of abdominal pain and diarrhoea, followed by a constant dry cough, fever and night sweats.

By 2022, her symptoms also included forgetfulness and depression, prompting a referral to Canberra hospital. An MRI scan of her brain revealed abnormalities requiring surgery.

“But the neurosurgeon certainly didn’t go in there thinking they would find a wriggling worm,” Senanayake said. “Neurosurgeons regularly deal with infections in the brain, but this was a once-in-a-career finding. No one was expecting to find that.”

The surprising discovery prompted a team at the hospital to quickly come together to uncover what kind of roundworm it was and, most importantly, decide on any further treatment the patient might require.

“We just went for the textbooks, looking up all the different types of roundworm that could cause neurological invasion and disease,” Senanayake said. Their search was fruitless and they looked to outside experts for help.

“Canberra is a small place, so we sent the worm, which was still alive, straight to the laboratory of a CSIRO scientist who is very experienced with parasites,” Senanayake said. “He just looked at it and said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is Ophidascaris robertsi’.”

Ophidascaris robertsi is a roundworm usually found in pythons. The Canberra hospital patient marks the world-first case of the parasite being found in humans.

The patient resides near a lake area inhabited by carpet pythons. Despite no direct snake contact, she often collected native grasses, including warrigal greens, from around the lake to use in cooking, Senanayake said.

The doctors and scientists involved in her case hypothesise that a python may have shed the parasite via its faeces into the grass. They believe the patient was probably infected with the parasite from touching the native grass and transferring the eggs to food or kitchen utensils, or after eating the greens.

Senanayake, who is also an infectious diseases expert based at the Australian National University, said the patient needed to be treated for other larvae that might have invaded other parts of her body, such as the liver. But given no patient had ever been treated for the parasite before, care was taken. Some medications for example could trigger inflammation as the larvae died off. Inflammation can be harmful to organs such as the brain, so they also needed to administer medications to counteract any dangerous side-effects.

“That poor patient, she was so courageous and wonderful,” Senanayake said. “You don’t want to be the first patient in the world with a roundworm found in pythons and we really take our hats off to her. She’s been wonderful.”

The patient is recovering well and is still being regularly monitored, Senanayake said, and researchers are exploring whether a pre-existing medical condition that caused her to be immunocompromised could have led to the larvae taking hold. The case has been documented in the September edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals.

Senanayake said the world-first case highlighted the danger of diseases and infections passing from animals to humans, especially as people and animals start to live more closely together and habitats overlap more.

“There have been about 30 new infections in the world in the last 30 years,” he said.

“Of the emerging infections globally, about 75% are zoonotic, meaning there has been transmission from the animal world to the human world. This includes coronaviruses.

“This Ophidascaris infection does not transmit between people, so this patient’s case won’t cause a pandemic like Covid-19 or Ebola. However, the snake and parasite are found in other parts of the world, so it is likely that other cases will be recognised in coming years in other countries.”

Infectious diseases physician Prof Peter Collignon, who was not involved in the patient’s case, said some cases of zoonotic diseases may never be diagnosed if they are rare and physicians don’t know what to look for.

“Sometimes, people die with the cause never being found,” he said.

“It’s worth taking care when encountering animals and the environment, by washing foods thoroughly and cooking food properly, and wearing protection like long sleeves so you don’t get bitten,” he said.

Even stranger on a Thai forum in a land without rounders there are endless posts by just one person about a minority sport of little or no intwrest to any as witnessed by the disdain

Scientists solve deep-sea ‘Octopus Garden’ mystery off California coast

A deep-sea mystery involving thousands of octopuses found off the coast of Central California was recently solved by a team of ocean researchers.

The mystery appeared three years ago, when the largest known “Octopus Garden,” in the world was discovered two miles underwater on the seafloor.

In 2018, researchers discovered thousands of octopuses near the base of an extinct volcano, Davidson Seamount, 80 miles off the coast of Monterey.

“It is the biggest aggregation of octopuses ever discovered, and the only one off the coast of the U.S.,” a San Jose State University spokesperson wrote.

A team of biologists, ecologists, geologists, and engineers monitored the Octopus Garden using high-tech tools to learn why octopuses are attracted to the deep-sea location. The team included members of SJSU’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and NOAA.

In a new study published Wednesday in “Science Advances,” researchers confirmed that octopus migrate to the Octopus Garden to mate and nest their eggs. The presence of adult males and females, developing eggs, and octopus hatchlings indicated that the nursery is used exclusively for reproduction.

Most of the octopus mothers observed at the volcano were upside down, inverting their arms and folding them around their bodies. This posture indicated pearl octopus (Muusoctopus robustus) mothers were protecting or brooding their eggs. The mothers waved their arms to circulate water among the eggs and swatted away scavengers trying to invade nests in their nursery.

Upon further investigation, researchers confirmed the octopus nests were clustered in crevices bathed by hydrothermal springs where warmer waters flow from the seafloor.

The ambient water temperature was 35 degrees. However, the water temperature within the cracks and crevices at the Octopus Garden reached nearly 41 degrees.

Researchers counted more than 6,000 octopuses in a portion of the site, and believe there may be 20,000 or more at this nursery.

The females of this species are devoted super-moms. They brood their eggs for five years, and when the eggs finally hatch, the mother dies.

Researchers were surprised to find that eggs near the volcano hatched in less than two years.

“We tracked individuals from among the thousands at this nursery and discovered that eggs, which at those temperatures would be expected to take five years or longer to hatch, surprisingly hatched in less than two years,” said Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San Jose State University professor Amanda Kahn, who co-authored the study.

The shorter brooding period in warmer waters greatly reduces the risk of developing octopus embryos from being eaten by predators.

“Mothers must equip each egg with sufficient energy (yolk) to support the costs of embryonic development and early juvenile success … but must also retain enough energy to sustain maternal care throughout incubation,” the study states.

All of the octopuses migrated through cold dark waters to reach the volcano’s hydrothermal springs. The study states, “Of all the hurdles faced by animals in the deep sea, cold may be the most challenging.”

“Thanks to MBARI’s advanced marine technology and our partnership with other researchers, we were able to observe this unique hotspot of life on the deep seafloor in tremendous detail, which helped us discover why so many deep-sea octopus gather there. These findings can help us understand and protect other unique deep-sea habitats from climate impacts and other threats,” said MBARI Senior Scientist Jim Barry, lead author of the study.

US driver pulled over with huge African bull riding shotgun in car

Police in Norfolk, Nebraska, responding to calls of a man driving with a “cow” in his car were stunned to discover a local man with a huge Watusi bull riding shotgun in his vehicle.

“The officers received a call referencing a car driving into town that had a cow in it,” Capt Chad Reiman told News Channel North-East Nebraska. “They thought that it was going to be a calf, something small or something that would actually fit inside the vehicle.”

In fact, the animal was a Watusi bull – a breed of cattle famous in Africa with gigantic horns.

The driver was identified as Lee Meyer of nearby Neligh and police performed a traffic stop on his car. Meyer told them that the Watusi bull’s name was Howdy Doody.

“The officer wrote him some warnings,” Reiman told the TV channel. “There were some citable issues with that situation. The officer chose to write him a warning and ask him to take the animal back home and leave the city.”

Meyer – whose car appeared specially outfitted to have a bull as a passenger – promptly did.

Looks like it was pretty nervous.

Poor animal - owner a Trump fan, doubtless.

3,000-Year-Old Tomb Opened in Peru, Possible Cult Leader Unearthed

Mysterious remains of 3,000-year-old 'Priest of Pacopampa' found buried face down with accessories of human bone

A peculiar tomb has been unearthed in Peru.

Inside the burial chamber, the 3,000-year-old remains of an elite spiritual leader, dubbed the "Prince of Pacopampa," were found face down with legs crossed. While more study is required to determine precisely what significance he held in his ancient civilization, the rationale behind the burial position may have been a precaution to protect against his power in the afterlife, the lead researcher on the project told Insider.

But the dig site holds deeper mysteries, still, as the priestly remains were found alongside artifacts believed to have been made of human bone and stamps with symbols that may have belonged to a cult that worshipped predatory animals.

"Burials lying on the face are often found in the Andes," the Pacopampa Archaeological Project leader Yuji Seki told Insider. Seki, also an emeritus professor at the National Museum of Ethnology focusing on ancient power formation in the South American mountain range, said the reasoning for body's position "may have been a fear of someone with powerful abilities, but we don't know for sure."

At other archaeological digs, the practice of burying remains in a face-down position has been attributed by researchers as a superstitious burial ritual to prevent the recently deceased from returning from the dead, as in the case of a medieval girl found in England.

Seki added that the crossed legs are believed to be an intentional gesture of religious significance, as similar stone carvings from the era (3,000 - 50 BCE) depict religious figures in cross-legged poses.

The Priest of Pacopampa skeleton was found alone in a massive gravesite in part of a large-scale archaeological project carried out since 2005 under an academic agreement between the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan and Peru's National University of San Marcos to determine when and why intrasocietal differences emerged in ancient Andean civilizations.

"Judging from the extravagant use of space, with only one burial for a large earthen pit, it can be inferred that he was an important person," Seki told Insider. "This tomb has the unusual feature of placing the deceased in the eastern half of the pit and the burial offerings in the western half. After placing the deceased the tomb was filled with soil containing large amounts of carbonized material and ashes, as well as many archaeological artifacts."

Among the artifacts buried with the Prince of Pacopampa, and found intentionally placed upside down like the body was, were a bowl embellished with carved lines and a decorated stamp, which would have been dipped in paint and used to adorn the bodies of people in elite social standing with ritualistic symbols.

"The stamp represents the palms of the hands," Seki said, adding that two additional stamps, representing a feline face and a human frontal face with closed eyes, were also found.

He added: "This is the first example of a tomb with three stamps in the Andean region. There are no traces of its use, so it is possible that they were a tool to symbolize the authority of this person. Also, like many elite tombs, it was covered with the red pigment of cinnabar, mainly on the face."

In addition to the stamps and pieces of pottery, an artifact believed to be made of human bone was discovered nearby the body.

Initially thought to be a tupu, a traditional Andean pin that would adorn women's blankets, Seki said two small bowls with gently curved sides were later excavated in the immediate vicinity, and it is possible that the bone artifact was used for scooping or stirring items contained in those containers.

"Judging from the length of the bones, it is possible that human bones were used, and we are currently analyzing the material," Seki said. "Judging from the size of the tomb, as well as the presence of the burial offerings and cinnabar, we believe that it is extremely likely that he was a religious leader."

While it is too soon to draw definitive conclusions about the burial rites of the time, Seki said, tombs in the area previously uncovered by the Pacopampa Archaeological Project team have shown evidence of "ritual violence."

Little more with pictures in the link above

This Tucker Carlson interview with Larry Sinclair , does that count as strange news?

For some reason it seems strange news to me.


Anyone remember That 70's Show, from the late 90s?


The main stoner guy.






Just got 30 years to life.

Danny Masterson: That 70's Show actor given 30 years to life in prison for raping two women | Ents & Arts News | Sky News

Ernest Hemingway letter about surviving plane crashes sold for $237,055

A letter written by Ernest Hemingway recounting his harrowing injuries after surviving two successive plane crashes in two days has sold at auction for $237,055 (£187,751).

In the four-page letter to his lawyer Alfred Rice, the novelist also wrote of his experience shooting his first lion in Kenya using a gun that had to be held together with sticky tape.

On 23 January, 1954, Hemingway and his wife, Mary, were coming to the end of a safari when they embarked on a plane trip to photograph the Murchison Falls in Uganda. However, the Cessna crashed when the pilot attempted an emergency landing to avoid hitting a flock of ibises. They spent the night in the jungle, and news outlets reported that Hemingway was dead. The next day, they were picked up by a boat of tourists and boarded a second flight, which caught fire during takeoff, crashed and exploded. The pair sustained serious injuries, from which Hemingway never fully recovered.

In the letter – written 17 April, 1954 (misdated as 1953) – Hemingway explains that: “The trouble is inside where right kidney was ruptured and liver and spleen injured.” He added that he: “Couldn’t write letters much on acc’t of right arm which was burned to the bone 3rd degree and it would cramp up on me (still does a little but all burns OK). But fingers burned and left hand 3rd degree too, so couldn’t type.”

He also wrote that he was “weak from so much internal bleeding” and that he has “been a good boy and tried to rest”. Of his wife’s condition, he reported: “Mary had a big shock and her memory not too hot yet.” Yet, the writer insists: “Everything fine here.”

Composed on stationery from a hotel in Venice, the letter also features complaints about the shipping failures of Abercrombie & Fitch, the American fashion retailer that then sold shotguns. The company had sent Hemingway’s order to the incorrect Nairobi address, meaning he had to shoot his “first lion” with a borrowed gun which was “so old it would come apart in [his] hands and had to be held together with tape and Scotch tape”. The company’s “carelessness in shipping imperiled both my life and livelihood”, added the novelist.

The letter went under the hammer at Nate D Sanders Auctions on Thursday and attracted 12 bids. It was the centrepiece of a collection of nine letters; another letter containing Hemingway’s views on his novel To Have and Have Not went for $6,875.

Originally Posted by Edmond

Anyone remember That 70's Show, from the late 90s?

I remember one cast member.

She grew up……..

Elon Musk has sired an 11th child.

The last two are named X and Y.

The newest boy.

The little boy is called Techno Mechanicus, or Tau for short.

^^Considering the fact that you're the forum's strangest poster since frt was banned, you really have posted up some totally mundane on this thread.

I liked it.

Originally Posted by Edmond

Elon Musk has sired an 11th child.

The last two are named X and Y.

The newest boy.

I looked it up, because you didn't have a link.

11 children is correct and X (son) and Y (daughter) are also correct.

First rule of naming babies – make sure Elon Musk isn’t the father