The Post For Stuff You Wanna Tell People

[Parasaurolophus]

I always wanted one of these on t'other Fora, but never got around to starting it. So here we go! A thread for things you just wanna say or share that don't necessarily fit in other, dedicated threads.

For instance, the Arctic's first-ever lambeosaur was found recently.

Also, summer grading hell begins.

[polly_mer]

Cerium is the only element that has a solid-solid critical point (https://www.pnas.org/content/108/23/9342  an open-source article with which I have zero affiliation).

[ergative]

W. E. B. Du Bois has a ggplot theme: https://www.statswithmatt.com/post/ggplot2-meets-w-e-b-du-bois/

[polly_mer]

W. E. B. Du Bois has a ggplot theme: https://www.statswithmatt.com/post/ggplot2-meets-w-e-b-du-bois/

That's a really cool plot at the top of the page.

[fast_and_bulbous]

The last thing to really jazz me in the sciences was the discovery of a fossil site that most likely captures the hours during the KPg extinction event (the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs). Science article,  PNAS article, and an article in the New Yorker. I was floating a few inches above the ground for a couple days after reading this. Imagine, finding a smoking gun that captures the violent event itself... just mindblowing, and I hope Robert DePalma has the best friggin' academic career from here on out...

[Parasaurolophus]

W. E. B. Du Bois has a ggplot theme: https://www.statswithmatt.com/post/ggplot2-meets-w-e-b-du-bois/

That was really cool, thanks for sharing it! I'ma distribute it more broadly.

(Also cool was the graph for Napoleon's invasion of Russia, which I'd never seen.)

[hesitant]

Listening to Innovation Hub as I browse the Fora... a species of ants in Latin America dedicates time and effort to farm a small beetle in proximity to their colony, so that they can harvest a special fungus growing in the hairy parts of its legs which then they consume because it makes them incredibly slow. Since the substance has no nutritious or other value, they dedicate time, resources and effort to growing the beetle, just so they can  slow down... super industrious ants need a drug to take a break! Fascinating!

[polly_mer]

a species of ants in Latin America dedicates time and effort to farm a small beetle in proximity to their colony

I love the mental picture of ant farmers with a beetle.

[Parasaurolophus]

Listening to Innovation Hub as I browse the Fora... a species of ants in Latin America dedicates time and effort to farm a small beetle in proximity to their colony, so that they can harvest a special fungus growing in the hairy parts of its legs which then they consume because it makes them incredibly slow. Since the substance has no nutritious or other value, they dedicate time, resources and effort to growing the beetle, just so they can  slow down... super industrious ants need a drug to take a break! Fascinating!

Whooooaaaa!


For my part, today I'm grading my class' first test. So far, the results are... well, disastrous. It was a very easy test, and I even told them what one of the five questions was going to be ahead of time. I'm about 25% of the way through them all, and at this rate I'll be lucky if more than ten earn passing grades. Oof. (My department head did tell me to expect that half or more of the class would fail outright, but I cockily thought I could do much better.)

The adjustment period continues!

[mamselle]

So, you don't think they need help slowing down, unlike the ants, then, hunh?

M.

[hesitant]

(I thought Mamselle's comment was addressed to me, which it wasn't...and now I can't delete my response...so here is a version of it, anyway)

The reason I posted about the ants needing to slow down is that I thought it was hilarious, coming from a culture that glorifies the industrious ant; I am not kidding: every person my age had to,  at the age of 5 or so,  memorize a poem, a version of the Aesop's tale about the grasshopper and the ant,  and  recite it on all kinds of weird occasions. To make things worse, the grasshopper is a musician in this version, so it tells you a lot about the status  of the arts and the humanities in my culture of origin...

Now, imagine me hearing this bit about ants farming beetles for the sole purpose of getting high on their foot/leg fungus!

[polly_mer]

I can see why you really needed to share and thanks for doing so!

[mamselle]

Yes, I was commenting on what I thought might have been the intended but unstated connection with your post (which I also enjoyed) and the next post after it...as in, students doing that abysmally on a test, unlike the ants, probably need a pick-me-up instead!

I should have used the quote function to clarify...

Sorry if it seemed confusing!

M.

[hesitant]

Mamselle,

Your post was crystal clear...I just read it the way I wanted to; you, see I can't really stop posting about those ants! May be I should go and finally score all these placement essays I have signed up to score! Sigh! Scoring placement essays is so much less fun than discussing hardworking ants on drugs...C'est la vie!

[mamselle]

C'est vrai...

;--}

If Octoprof were posting, I suspect she'd say something like, "Get going on that grading, youngster."

<stern look.>

M.