A turtle's shell is, anatomically speaking, its rib cage, grown out, fused together, and covered with plates of keratin (same material used in scales, claws, fingernails, horns, etc.)

The rigid shape of the shell also means that turtles can't breathe the way most other animals do (i.e. by expanding the ribcage to reduce internal pressure and pull air into the lungs).  They instead have to use a sort of internal pump, combined with a kind of diaphragm-analog set of muscles to help change their internal shape.

Tags: anatomy, biology, science, turtles

In the grand tradition of the Internet, I found out yesterday that for the last 30 years, I've been doing it wrong.  It, of course, being peeling a banana.

Instead of pulling and sawing at the stem end, which upon reflection is evolutionarily "designed" to NOT separate from the fruit, one should properly turn the banana over and contemplate the hind end.  Pinch the tip of the banana gently, and it will split apart.  It can then be opened somewhat in the fashion of a milk carton.  I tried this last night, and I must say it really worked substantially better.  It also leaves you with the stem attached to use as a handle if desired.

The only drawback is that it's a trifle more difficult to remove that little black bit on the end that's now staring you in the face, but it's not that big a deal, and you'll never need to open a banana with a steak knife again (which I have done on several occasions).

Here's a short (less than one minute) video clip illustrating the technique.

Tags: bananas, food, video

I dunno if anyone's actually reading this that isn't already friended, but in case there are any of y'all out there, I may not be posting regularly for a while.  Details are friend-locked.  Basically, just too much life going down.

Tags: life

The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road Company ran out of southeastern Pennsylvania and the surrounding territory from the 1830s to the 1970s, when the (then) Reading Company sold off its last rail-related assets to Conrail and became part of Reading Entertainment, whose Reading Cinema movie theaters are all over the US and Australia.

It was one of the first railroads in the country, and was named after Philadelphia and Reading, PA, the two cities that it originally serviced (its 93 mile route also included some mining towns). Reading, PA was in turn named after Reading, England (this will be relevant in a moment). The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road Company expanded rapidly from its local beginnings (in 1871 it was arguably the largest company in the world due to some wise side investments in coal mines and coal shipping facilities; sadly, that focus on coal nearly ruined the company in the second half of the 20th century) connecting to New York City and in 1877 to Atlantic City, NJ. It was an important enough feature of Atlantic City that it was in turn featured in a well-know board game designed around that particular population center.

It is thus clear that despite what those morons on that game show I was watching thought, the actual name of the Monopoly property is pronounced "REDDING," not "REEDING." This isn't the Reading Rainbow, dolts.

Tags: games, history, monopoly, railroad

Gervase of Tilbury was a 12th-13th century lawyer and scholar in England.  He hung out with kings and popes, most of whom are forgotten and/or ignored today by the general public.  He wrote some important works, most of which are likewise ignored or forgotten.  But one of those works was the Otia imperialia, an encyclopedic collection of miscellaneous folklore and wisdom, which was highly influential over the next few centuries.

It is also one of the earliest recorded sources for the legend of men turning into wolves with the full moon.
 

Tags: folklore, history, werewolfs

The plumber arrived promptly, looked at the sink, and went [roughly paraphrasing since I wasn't actually there], "Sure, no problem.  [bang bang].  Hmm.  [bang bang]  Wait, they did what?  [thoughtful pause] I'm going to need my power tools.  Be right back."

Turns out we were more or less right-- the sink had been done in such a fashion that the only way to properly remove the U-bend section would have been to completely disassemble ("no disassemble!") the entire sink.  So he cut it out with a power saw instead and replaced it with newer pipes.  Which, in the long run, is a Good Thing(tm).

In the process, he determined that we were also likely having drainage problems due to a partially blocked vent tube, which means I may end up crawling around the roof sometime in the near future.  A prospect which fills me with some trepidation, may I add.

Tags: home repair, plumbing

Despite an earlier success at fixing a problematic stopper, last night proved pretty conclusively that my skills as a plumber are strictly limited.

Our bathroom sink is clogged, 3/4 of a bottle of Drano failed to make an impact, and I can't get the (newly purchased) hand auger to go through the U-bend.  With Media's help I was able to dismantle half of the U-bend, but then we discovered that it appears to be a custom job and is lacking one of the normal nuts that hold it in place, resulting in a lot of puzzlement and a U-bend that is not removed.

Also, I flooded the bathroom a bit (just a bit!  honest!).

Media's planning to call a plumber this morning.

Tags: fail, life, plumbing