Michael Scott
Periodical 17-year cicadas in Brood XIV—one of 15 broods found only in North America—begin to creep from their underground burrows. Last seen in 2008, they will emerge in the billions across a dozen states from early May through June. Above ground, flightless cicada nymphs transform into black-bodied, winged adults, ready for a month-long bacchanal of song and sex. But for many cicadas—possibly tens of millions—mating will be a gruesome parody of procreation in which their body is turned into a disintegrating puppet by the deadly fungus Massospora cicadina, which only infects 13-year and 17-year cicadas. An infected insect will try to mate even though its genitals have been consumed by the fungus and replaced by a plug of fungal structures called conidiospores, which spread their “zombification” effect on contact. M. cicadina makes male cicadas flick their wings like amorous females do; healthy males become infected when they try to mate with the imposters. The fungus also floods cicadas with cathinone, a stimulant that also occurs in khat, a plant chewed as a recreational drug in some parts of the world. In cicadas, cathinone may boost hypersexualized behavior. “It’s sex, drugs and zombies,” says John Cooley, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut.
How a Cave Expedition Led to the Accidental Discovery of the Human Biological Clock More: Interview with Michel Siffre
Self-knowledge has intrigued thinkers since antiquity and remains a central topic in personality psychology. […] The merits of “knowing thyself” have been emphasized for centuries, yet research shows that self-knowledge is systematically limited — especially among some individuals and for morality-related traits.
Are There Really People With No Inner Voice?
The search to identify the California accent
Wearable device tracks individual cells in the bloodstream in real time
Japan Post said Monday that it has launched a “digital address” system that links seven-digit combinations of numbers and letters to physical addresses. Under the system, users can input these seven-digit codes on online shopping websites, and their addresses will automatically appear on the sites.
Japan cracks down on ‘sparkly’ names for babies like Pikachu or Nike
It’s about Tesla and Elon Musk and autonomous vehicles. It gets fairly technical at times. But it’s really about how we’ve turned over large portions of America to insanely rich people who have no idea what they’re doing. Musk Isn’t Tony Stark. He’s Michael Scott.
Left Out, Musk tried to kill OpenAI’s “Stargate UAE” data center deal
In 1937 a Sabena Junkers Ju 52 crashed in Ostend — the plane struck a factory chimney while attempting to land in thick fog. Everyone aboard was killed, including Princess Cecilie, the older sister of Prince Philip, later Duke of Edinburgh. She had been eight months pregnant, and a newborn infant was discovered in the wreckage. It’s speculated that she had given birth during the flight, and that this had led the pilot to try to land in hazardous conditions.
