history, links, natural history, science

September’s Monthly Links

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Once more we come to the time for this month’s selection of links to articles you may have missed. As always we start with the heavy science stuff (so feel free to skip it) and gently wind down from there.

Science, Technology, Natural World

WTF? Saturn has an enormous decagon at its south pole – as well as a hexagon at the north pole. How? Why?

Researchers have now mapped every neuron in the brain of a fly (above).

Aedes aegypti, a tropical mosquito the vector for spreading various tropical diseases, has been found breeding in east London.

It’s always been a puzzle how “early birds” got airborne. Scientists have now found the solution.

In Bolivia scientists have discovered an unknown species of small cat (below) – the first in over 100 years. This report from the Guardian an this from Scientific American [££££].

So why does your cat headbutt you? [££££]

Eyes are amazing. They can do many things which even our modern digital cameras can’t.

Here’s Isa Grant on another mystery: What forensic science says about spontaneous human combustion, and does it make sense?

What would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted? Would it mean the end of life as we know it?

Health, Medicine

Drug chemist Derek Lowe looks a some more (unexpected) positive effects of vaccines.

And from there it’s all the way down to …

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

There is an argument that civilisation is very much older than we think.

But then there is an awful lot we don’t know … like how to decipher the message on this 4000-year old disc (above).

Meanwhile over on Londonist, Matt Brown puts together the relationships between various Anglo-Saxon queens.

So just where is King Harold buried? It may, as is thought, be at Waltham Abbey (below). I like to think it is Waltham Abbey as this is very close to my childhood home. But there is no proof one way or the other.

The medievals suffered from infertility too. So what did they do about it?

Aphra Behn is often overlooked as the first professional female playwright in the 17th-century playwright, but in her day she was a celebrity.

London

Here’s Matt Brown’s latest instalment of colouring John Rocque’s 1746 map of London. This time we’re taken to Rotherhithe.

In much the same breath, Matt Brown takes a look at Soho’s street names …

… and he also takes a trip to the City of London Cemetery.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Many of us are quietly rebelling against the never-ending rise of constant tracking: an app for this; a login for that. Everything is being tracked and monetised to make business a quick buck.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

And finally it’s time for this year’s Ig Nobel prizes – awarded for research which first makes people laugh, but then think.

people, photography

Street Photography

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A couple of days ago, I spotted an article on Substack which asked Is Street Photography Weird?.

I found myself agreeing with most of what the author was saying.

Now street photography is something I do. Wherever I am, if I have a camera on me – sadly not as often as I would like, due to sheer practicality – I’m always on the look out for a picture.

If I’m in a car (passenger seat, of course, as I don’t drive) I’m trying to watch what is approaching. If I’m somewhere I can stop and wait, even sit on a bench, I’m people-watching. All with an eye for a picture. Just people going about their ordinary life, looking interesting or unusual, or things in amusing juxtapositions.

It is catching candid images in the hope that they’re going to work, rather than having to controlled environment of a studio or similar. That’s why I like it; I can’t be doing with the poncing about with studio setups etc.

It’s candid photography. You’re mostly catching people off their guard, usually unaware they’ve been spotted. And for me that’s the point. I don’t much care if whoever I’m photographing sees me, although if they do I’ll often drop the camera rather than risk embarrassing them. Of course, because you’re often taking “grab shots” you do tend to get a high ratio of unusable images; that’s all part of the game, and much more sustainable now with digital cameras.

In 40-odd years of snatching candid street images, I’ve been challenged only twice; and one of them was by a policeman who I reminded that I was doing nothing illegal, with which he had to agree.

So, yes, street photography is rather weird. And just to prove it here’s a random selection of images from my back list. Enjoy.

quotes

Monthly Quotations for September

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And so we arrive at this month’s collection of recently encountered quotes …

Imagine how noisy centipedes would be if they wore tiny flip flops.
[unknown]

You should not be afraid of someone who has a library and reads many books; you should fear someone who has only one book; and he considers it sacred, but he has never read it.
[Friedrich Nietzsche]

Sometimes I like to run naked in the moonlight and the wind, on a little trail behind our house, when the honeysuckle blooms. It’s a feeling of freedom, so close to God and nature.
[Dolly Parton]

Young wenches … gett upon a Table-board, and then gather-up their knees & their coates with their hands as high as they can, and then they wabble to and fro with their Buttocks as if they were kneading of Dowgh with their Arses.
[John Aubrey (1626-1697)]

In the old ignorant times before woomen were Readers ye history was handed downe from mother to daughter, &c.
[John Aubrey (1626-1697)]

The most pleasant of all outward pastimes is … to make pretty progress, a merry journey now and then with some good companions, to visit friends, see Cities, Castles, Towns, to see the pleasant fields, the crystal fountains, and take the gentle air amongst the mountains.
[Robert Burton; The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)]

There are only two options: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are frightening.
[Carl Sagan]

history

September Quiz Answers

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Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Classical & Ancient World

  1. In Greek mythology, who is the muse of sacred poetry? Polyhymnia
  2. What Roman holiday held from 17 to 23 December had a large influence on how Christmas was celebrated? Saturnalia
  3. What ancient wonder was located in the city of Alexandria in Egypt? Pharos, the Lighthouse of Alexandria
  4. What’s the name of the paradise warriors go to after death? Valhalla
  5. Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian God of Death, had the head of what? Jackal
  6. What is the title of the classic Greek epic attributed to Homer, telling the story of the Trojan War? The Iliad

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

books, quotes

This Month’s Poem

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Hiawatha’s Photographing (opening)
Lewis Carroll

From his shoulder Hiawatha
Took the camera of rosewood,
Made of sliding, folding rosewood;
Neatly put it all together.
In its case it lay compactly,
Folded into nearly nothing;

But he opened out the hinges,
Pushed and pulled the joints and hinges,
Till it looked all squares and oblongs,
Like a complicated figure
In the Second Book of Euclid.

Find this poem online at My Poetic Side

history, memes

September Quiz Questions

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Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month.
As always, they’re designed to be tricky but not impossible, so it’s unlikely everyone will know all the answers – just have a bit of fun.

Classical & Ancient World

  1. In Greek mythology, who is the muse of sacred poetry?
  2. What Roman holiday held from 17 to 23 December had a large influence on how Christmas was celebrated?
  3. What ancient wonder was located in the city of Alexandria in Egypt?
  4. What’s the name of the paradise warriors go to after death?
  5. Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian God of Death, had the head of what?
  6. What is the title of the classic Greek epic attributed to Homer, telling the story of the Trojan War?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.