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☆ The Ancient Back Story of the Slimiest Animal in the Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The hagfish, a deep-sea scavenger about the size and shape of a tube sock, has the curious ability to smother itself in its own snot. The mucus is a defense mechanism, released into the water (or in one unfortunate incident, all over an Oregon highway) when the fish feels threatened. A shark trying to take a bite of a hagfish will find itself suddenly unable to breathe, its gills clogged with the slime. “We have to be removing the mucus all the time on the ship, or they will die,” he said. The hagfish has no jaw, making it part of a group that diverged long ago from the ancestors of jawed vertebrates like ourselves.

Persons: Juan Pascual, Anaya, ” Organizations: University of Málaga Locations: smother, Oregon, Spain, Japan

☆ Cancer changed my macho views on accepting help
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Andy Segal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

I assumed I could fight cancer on my ownI’m not wired to cry, and it’s not just because I’m a man. Drawing on my lineage as I faced cancer, I didn’t think I was one of those weaklings who would need help. Friends who had battled cancer offered advice, grocery shopping, respite care and rides to doctor appointments. There was no cancer in the 34 lymph nodes that were removed, which means there is little chance it spread. Even so, in case there are undetectable stray cancer cells, I will undergo five more chemotherapy sessions.

Persons: it’s, Ellen, Segal, Ellen Mazer, Andy Segal, Avrum Weiss, ”, Weiss, sulking, chemo, Whipple, Allen Oldfather Whipple, —, “ Segal, Maisel Organizations: CNN, NFL, ”, Peabody, DuPont Locations: Iranian, Russian, ”, Atlanta, Annapolis , Maryland

☆ Pooping, splooting, spitting: How wild animals beat the heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Hottest day, hottest week, hottest month, and – increasingly likely – hottest year; 2023 has garnered unwanted records as the climate crisis escalates. From peculiar methods like “splooting,” to changing physiology altogether, here are four ways different creatures are trying to beat the heat. Splooting is a popular method of thermoregulation for squirrels, especially among larger species, as they do not lose much body heat through sweating, Devitz explained. A 2021 report noted that some animals are developing larger beaks, legs and ears to better regulate their body temperatures. Spitting and snottingTwo Australian animals put their bodily fluids to good use in the battle to beat the scorching temperatures of the outback.

Persons: –, you’ve, ”, splooting, Charlotte Devitz, Splooting, Devitz, “, Celal, ” Sara Ryding, Jami Tarris, Christine Cooper, Klaus, Dietmar Gabbert Organizations: CNN, Collins, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Deakin University Locations: New York City, Washington ,, Australian, Australia

It was showtime at the youth swine exhibition, and the pig barn was bustling. The competitors, ages 3 to 21, were practicing their walks for the show ring and brushing pig bristles into place. As he slipped into one pen, a pig tried to nose its way out, then started nibbling his shoelaces. Bowman prefers not to enter the pens, he said, as he wiped gauze across the animal’s nose. He soon spotted a more appealing subject: a pig sticking its nose out from between the bars of its enclosure.

Persons: Andrew Bowman, Bowman, ” Organizations: showtime, Ohio State University Locations: New Lexington , Ohio, Wuhan, China

☆ The Days Were Long and the Years Were Longer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Eleanor Henderson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At the margins of “The Light Room,” the pandemic persists. We glimpse it in the colorful masks of the children in the park, in the Halloween candy chute, in attempts to schedule vaccines. Mostly, though, Covid is not the protagonist but the force that keeps the family indoors, that amplifies their isolation. “The Light Room” is ultimately, as Zambreno writes, “a collection of meditations.” Some may indeed find them “translucent” — light-catching, yes, but also insubstantial. Readers looking for sturdier insights into what the virus has meant for human history are unlikely to discover them here.

Persons: Covid, John, snot, Joseph Cornell, Natalia Ginzburg, Italo Calvino, David Wojnarowicz, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Yuko Tsushima, I’ve, Zambreno, “, Eleanor Henderson, ” Organizations: Cornell, Ithaca College Locations: naps

☆ Samantha Irby Says It’s OK to Hate Your Body
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Talk Samantha Irby Says It’s OK to Hate Your BodyAs far as descriptions of writers go, “humorist” has an old-fashioned, almost quaint ring to it, the literary equivalent of haberdasher or lamplighter. Maybe I was born too early to get on the “I don’t give a [expletive] if you see my legs” thing. I don’t know if this is controversial, but I don’t miss my parents. But I don’t know. I think I’m off the hook a little because my main target is myself, but the joke sensitivity is wild to me.

Persons: Samantha Irby, ”, “, operatically, vivacity, Irby, ” Irby, I’ve, they’re, she’s, Cynthia Nixon, Kevin Yatarola, don’t, Nicole Ari Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Karen Pittman, ” Craig Blankenhorn, Max, Brown, Paul Mooney, Richard Pryor, I’m, David, David Marchese, Emma Chamberlain, Walter Mosley Organizations: ”, YouTube, Cal Newport Locations: ”, New York, America

☆ Tesla owners reveal the best and worst features of their cars, and what they really think of Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider spoke with more than a dozen Tesla owners to learn what they like most and least about their cars. We talked to more than a dozen Tesla owners to find out what they like most about their cars — and what they think needs improvement. Since electric cars don't experience the same acceleration lag as gas vehicles, Teslas jolt forward the instant you put your foot down. Con: Stiff rideSome Model 3 and Y owners told Insider their cars are too stiff and jittery over bumpy pavement. Tim Levin/InsiderOver and over, Tesla owners praised the company's extensive network of fast chargers, which is exclusive to Tesla owners in the US.

☆ Hamlin’s collapse spurs new wave of vaccine misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

While the Bills have not said whether Hamlin was vaccinated, about 95% of NFL players have received a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the league. The blog proves no relationship between the incidents and Covid-19 vaccines; it also includes in its count reported deaths from cancer and emergencies of unknown causes. It' snot surprising that misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines surged following Hamlin's cardia arrest, given how much vaccine misinformation has spread since the pandemic began, said Jeanine Guidry, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who researches health misinformation and vaccine hesitancy. High-profile public events like Hamlin’s collapse often create new waves of misinformation as people grasp for explanations. For people concerned about vaccine safety, Hamlin’s sudden collapse served to affirm and justify their beliefs, Guidry said.

Here are 12 of the weirdest and most fascinating animal behaviors scientists spotted in 2022. Here are 12 bizarre and amazing things animals were spotted doing, some of which had never been seen before. It turned out that at least 12 species of primates had been reported doing so, a review published in the Journal of Zoology in October found. A dolphin swallowed 8 venomous sea snakesA sea snake (indicated with pink arrow), moments before it is captured and eaten by a Navy dolphin. Though animals have often been spotted using tools, these usually are used to give the animal a clear survival advantage.

☆ Why colds and flu viruses are more common in winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It’s almost as if those pesky cold and flu germs whirl in with the first blast of winter weather. So why do people get more colds, flu and now Covid-19 when it’s chilly outside? It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose. Once created and dispersed out into nasal secretions, the billions of EV’s then start to swarm the marauding germs, Bleier said. Wearing a mask can protect you from cold air that can reduce your immunity, an expert says.

A Florida sheriff stunned many of his constituents this week by appearing to endorse spanking students, his comments coming during a press conference in which county officials announced plans to tighten discipline in Brevard County schools. Sheriff Wayne Ivey spins the "Wheel of Fugitive" board at the Brevard County Sheriffs Office in 2017. And he is a Brevard County political powerbroker who helped get two Republicans, Megan Wright and Gene Trent, elected to the county school board. Shortly after they were sworn in Nov. 22, Wright and Trent teamed up with school board chair Matt Susin to oust longtime superintendent Mark Mullins. There was agreement among the Brevard County school officials interviewed that disruptive students are a problem in the system.

☆ Video shows lemur picking its nose so deep it touches the back of its throat, then eats it — behavior previously unknown to science
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A video shows a lemur picking its nose, a behavior never before observed by scientists. The animal shoves one of her long agile fingers all the way up her nose to her throat. The video shows Kali, an aye-aye living in the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina, shoving her 3-inch long finger all the way up her nose, taking it out again, and licking it. A picture of a juvenile aye-aye shows its long slender fingers, which are used to hunt for bugs — and for nose picking. Renaud BoiselThe scan, above, showed the lemur's finger going all the way up its nose to the back of its throat.

SntTop editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! You should know that snot color is not enough to diagnose anything outright. Still, it offers a unique glimpse into your body's strange ways of telling you that something's up.

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