Gotta love those wild and crazy Etruscan women

I was amused by this story.

Last month, archaeologists announced a stunning find: a completely sealed tomb cut into the rock in Tuscany, Italy. The untouched tomb held what looked like the body of an Etruscan prince holding a spear, along with the ashes of his wife. 

Not so fast. It turns out the "prince" holding the spear is a woman, and the body next to hers is male. The explanation?

Whereas Greek women were cloistered away, Etruscan women, according to Greek historian Theopompus, were more carefree — working out, lounging nude, drinking freely, consorting with many men and raising children who did not know their fathers' identities.  

I was hoping the other body would prove to be her wife, but I'll take what I can get. The moral is that things weren't always as they are today. Norms change.

Why humans (and most other creatures) sleep

This is big news. It answers two longstanding questions about the brain.

The short version is that when we sleep, our brains flush out the garbage that accumulates while we're awake. And that garbage is, in large part, amyloid-beta, the stuff that causes Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. As I say, this is big news.

Apparently the brain flushes out the garbage ten times faster when we're asleep than when we're awake. And, wildly, the brain's cells literally shrink while we sleep -- so the "cleaning fluid" sent from the spine can flush the area clean! It's kind of like putting the restaurant chairs up on the table so you can wash the floor. Here's that section from the article:

Another startling finding was that the cells in the brain "shrink" by 60 percent during sleep. This contraction creates more space between the cells and allows CSF to wash more freely through the brain tissue. In contrast, when awake the brain's cells are closer together, restricting the flow of CSF.

This answers the big question: why do we sleep? It was an issue that caused consternation among scientists because when we're asleep, we're vulnerable to predators. That didn't make sense in evolutionary terms. The question was always: what possible benefit of sleep could outweigh the danger of leaving oneself vulnerable to attack (and death). Now we have the answer.

Another question that arose in recent years is -- why is the brain as active while we sleep as when we're awake? What could possibly be going on in there? Well, now we know: the brain is busy cleaning up after an active day of thinking.

Fascinating stuff. I love that science finally figured this out. We must sleep so our brains can work properly. But to me, this news begs a question.

Do older people get Alzheimer's at higher rates than young people because they sleep so little? We're always hearing that older people have trouble sleeping. I was surprised they didn't mention this in the article. I'll keep my eye out for an answer and will report back if I find it.

Dog's Ten Gentle Suggestions for Humanity

By wearing the Lid, I have come to understand Dog's plan for humanity. Though there will be further guidance in the future, here are Dog's Ten Gentle Suggestions for Humanity. There is the scent of redemption in each one.

1. Be kind to each other.
2. Don't covet stuff. Let other people have some too.
3. Respect science. You're going to need it.
4. The Messiah is among you! Hahaha. Just kidding. I’m the closest thing to a Messiah that you’ve got, and I’m merely a friendly algorithm from another galaxy.
5. Don’t put anything up your nose.
6. When a woman says no, go away.
7. Make sports, not war (and have lots of consensual sex).
8. Spread the food around so everyone on the planet weighs about the same.
9. Read stuff, any stuff. Lots of stuff.
10. Won’t someone please think of the children? Direct the majority of your resources to the youngest among you.

NB: Dog really wanted to give humans a hundred gentle suggestions but he's aware of our short attention span. So he went in another direction. These ten suggestions are dynamic. In other words, they will change as humans need to hear new things.

For now, rejoice! Dog has seen fit to share his wisdom. May these suggestions change your life for the better.

I'm sending you away

Go to Joe.My.God's blog to listen to a short video. It's an interview that Stephen Fry did with Russia's main anti-gay wingnut, Vitaly Milonov. Milonov is the guy who wrote the disgusting anti-gay law in Russia. I've heard him speak before and he's way, way off the edge. It's very funny.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

Sure, that makes sense

In a new GQ magazine profile, former Congressman and mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner says if it weren't for the Internet he probably would have gotten elected.

Indeed. It was the evil internet that did in poor, innocent Anthony Weiner when he tried to become Mayor of New York City. You see, it had nothing to do with his own behavior -- nothing at all! No, it was that nasty internet. You know how it's always reaching out and trashing good, innocent people.

Why, Anthony might be King by now if it wasn't for the internet. Really.

This guy is so disgusting I cannot believe that anyone voted for him. But nitwits did. Maybe that's the saddest thing about his run.

Marmoset monkeys chat with one another

I found this in today's science news:

Humans aren't the only species that knows how to carry on polite conversation. Marmoset monkeys, too, will engage one another for up to 30 minutes at a time in vocal turn-taking, according to evidence reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 17.

More from the article:

To find out, they placed marmosets in opposite corners of a room in which they could hear but not see each other and recorded the exchanges that ensued. They found that marmosets don't call at the same time, but rather wait for about 5 seconds after one is finished calling to respond. In other words, they follow a set of unspoken rules of conversational etiquette.

Doesn't surprise me at all. We are all animals who evolved from a common ancestor. It makes sense that we'd share capabilities with some of our brethren.

I do wonder what these marmosets say to each other. If only we could become other animals for a short time, to learn what their lives are really like. (Shades of Merlin and the young King Arthur!)

Shades of shays

It was a sad story but I had to laugh. In an AP article about a poor woman who was caught stealing $2.87 from a fountain so she could feed herself and her three cats, AP supplied this as a pronunciation aide for the town's name:

Bellefontaine (behl-FOWN'-tihn)

C'mon, doesn't that make you laugh? Fown-tihn? It's like when Americans say "Harry, bring the shays lounge over here, will ya?"

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the term is French: chaise longue. See that last word? It's longue, not lounge. Just like fontaine is not fountain. Cracks me up.

But the idea that there's anyone in our "exceptional" country who hasn't got enough to eat is utterly sickening. And the GOP wants this woman to have less.

No surprise that I'm a bleeding heart liberal

For whatever reason, I took Esquire's survey. It's stated purpose is to learn if you're "a part of the new American center". Well, let's hope not.

Yup, I'm a bleeding heart liberal. But I could have told them that flat-out at the beginning, and skipped the damn survey.

As with all multiple choice questions, there were instances where there was no right answer. For instance, out of six choices on a question about abortion, I was forced to pick:

"Abortions should be legal for any reason, but not after the first six months of pregnancy."

That's not my ideal choice but there was no more sophisticated offering, such as "I'd leave it completely in the hands of the woman and her doctor." I have no feelings about six-month limits. If there are rational reasons for ending the pregnancy, it should be done no matter how far along the pregnancy is.

Anyway, if you want to waste time with no discernible payoff, go take their survey.

Creepy feedspot needs to go away

I got a pushy email from someone named "Anuj" at feedspot. He or she told me that my blog is on feedspot now (!) and I've got a slew of new followers.

Taking my blog in its entirety and posting it on your site to feed your own financial needs is not okay. I told Anuj to take my blog off feedspot immediately and shove it up his or her ass.

If you're reading this on feedspot, don't. Go to my real blog. Have a nice day, all.

Progress

The tree that almost killed my house is now a pile of wood that will be chopped up and used in our fireplace.

Having a tree hit your house, even slightly, is a very weird experience. You should have heard that thing hit the ground. I'm glad to finally see some progress out there.

It was a close call. Luckily, Dog is looking out for me. Praise Dog!

Pretty soon, I will reveal Dog's Ten Gentle Suggestions for humanity. I've seen them and they're stunning. This will change everything!