One of the new study‘s authors said: “We are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event.”
The last such event was 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs were wiped out, in all likelihood by a large meteor hitting Earth.
“If it is allowed to continue, life would take many millions of years to recover and our species itself would likely disappear early on,” said the lead author, Gerardo Ceballos.
Side view of my yellow cedar talking stick , 52 ” long , the carved raven head is 5 ” long by 1 1/2” wide #ravendesign #yellowcedar #nativeart #nativecarver #nativeculture #handcrafted #handmade #myart #myshop #madeinbc #madeincanada #canada #coastsalish #coastsalishartist #bcfirstnations #britshcolumbia #missionbc #vancity #vancouver #abaloneinlays
Tlicho Elder making a Drum Stick. Wanted to point out his wrap around moccasins he was wearing back in the day. Today wrap around moccasins are still being used by the Tlicho and available on the Tlicho Online Store.
The Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption in Italy 40,000 years ago was one of the largest volcanic cataclysms in Europe and injected a significant amount of sulfur-dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere. Scientists have long debated whether this eruption contributed to the final extinction of the Neanderthals.
A new study by Benjamin A. Black and colleagues tests this hypothesis with a sophisticated climate model.
Black and colleagues write that the CI eruption approximately coincided with the final decline of Neanderthals as well as with dramatic territorial and cultural advances among anatomically modern humans. Because of this, the roles of climate, hominin competition, and volcanic sulphur cooling and acid deposition have been vigorously debated as causes of Neanderthal extinction. Read more.
As habitats of native bees, beetles, and butterflies are sometimes scarce, or in the way of cultivation, it is important to preserve refuges where these creatures can hide, and continue to symbiotically interact with your local ecosystem.
A number of solitary bees, and beetles like ladybugs—which pollinate fruit crops, and control aphids, respectively—live, have their young, and/or hibernate in hollow biological structures.
Dried “tubes” can be found all over the place in the spring, and are unfortunately often cleared from cultivated spaces: grasses, rushes, sedges, ferns, and flower stalks often leave behind a reasonably sturdy, dried hollow structure; I’ve also used cardboard tubing.
These materials can be packed into a frame of sorts (I used a length of PVC pipe), along with things like bark, clay tiles, and conifer cones for spiders, in order to provide an array of habitats.
The insects and arachinids will move in and do the rest.
Beside the home-made “bee hotel” above, I’ve also hung up an old butterfly house. These kinds of structures provide shelter for migrating and local butterflies, and mimic the crevices in trees and rocks in which these insects would normally find shelter.
Between the bees, beetles, birds, moths, and butterflies, and the worms in my compost system, there is a house or habitat for almost every local beneficial creature: except for bats. As soon as one of my trees reaches a sufficient height, I will be putting in a bat house as well.
The benefits of having a biodiverse forest garden system are manifold: these organisms pollinate, decompose, control pest populations, and deposit both seeds and fertiliser. It is in my best interest to have them around, filling out their ecological niches.
Neanderthals from the Krapina cave site may have manipulated white-tailed eagle talons to make jewellery 130,000 years ago, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by David Frayer from University of Kansas along with colleagues from Croatia.
The Scrubba
is a washtub, washboard, soaker and dry-rack that collapses down and
fits in your pocket, and can also serve as a drybag for camping trips.
I’m on a gruelling book tour
and doing a lot of sink-laundry in hotel rooms, so this kind of thing
is perhaps unduly exciting for me at the moment. It’s a somewhat pricey
$55, but could conceivably replace hotel laundry where a washing a
single pair of socks costs $5, and thus earn its keep rather quickly.
Overpopulation in the Scandinavian countries created the Viking society, whose tradesmen, settlers and sea warriors had a considerable influences on the European countries. In return, influenced by what they saw, they brought back goods of all kinds, probably also seeds and posssibly plants.
Archaeologists from the University of York and Queens College, City University New York (CUNY) have discovered the first use of pottery in north-eastern North America was largely due to the cooking, storage and social feasting of fish by hunter-gatherers.
APTYCOCK: A quick-witted or intelligent young man. (SW England)
BANG-A-BONK: It might not look like it, but this is a verb meaning “to sit lazily on a riverbank.” (Gloucestershire)
BAUCHLE: A name for an old worn out shoe, and in particular one that no longer has a heel—although it was also used figuratively to refer to a pointless or useless person. (Ireland)
CLIMB-TACK: A cat that likes to walk along high shelves or picture rails is a climb-tack. (Yorkshire)
CLOMPH: To walk in shoes which are too large for your feet. (Central England)
CRAMBO-CLINK: Also known as crambo-jink, this is a word for poor quality poetry—or, figuratively, a long-winded and ultimately pointless conversation. (Scots)
CRINKIE-WINKIE: A groundless misgiving, or a poor reason for not doing something. (Scots)
CRUM-A-GRACKLE: Any awkward or difficult situation. (SW England)
CRUMPSY: Short-tempered and irritable. Probably a local variation of “grumpy.” (Central England)
CUDDLE-ME-BUFF: Why call it beer when you can call it cuddle-me-buff? (Yorkshire)
CULF: The loose feathers that come out of a mattress or cushion—and which “adhere to the clothes of any one who has lain upon it,” according to Wright. (Cornwall)
CURECKITYCOO: To coo like a dove—or, figuratively, to flirt and canoodle with someone. (Scots)
DAUNCY: If someone looks noticeably unwell, then they’re dauncy.(Ireland)
DOUP-SCUD: Defined by Wright as “a heavy fall on the buttocks.” (NE Scots)
EEDLE-DODDLE: A person who shows no initiative in a crisis. Also used as an adjective to mean “negligent,” or “muddle-headed.” (Scots)
FAUCHLE: Fumbling things and making mistakes at work because you’re so tired? That’s fauchling. (Scots)
FLENCH: When the weather looks like it’s going to improve but it never does, then it’s flenched. (Scots)
FLOBY-MOBLY: The perfect word for describing the feeling of not being unwell, but still not quite feeling your best. A Scots equivalent was atweesh-an-atween. (Central England)
HANSPER: Pain and stiffness felt in the legs after a long walk. (Scots)
INISITIJITTY: A worthless, ridiculous looking person. (Central England)
JEDDARTY-JIDDARTY: Also spelled jiggerdy-jaggardy. Either way it means entwined or tangled. (NW England)
LENNOCHMORE: A larger-than-average baby. Comes from the Gaelic leanabh mor, meaning “big child.” (Scots)
LIMPSEY: Limp and flaccid, often used in reference to someone just before they faint. (East England)
MUNDLE: As a verb, mundle means to do something clumsily, or to be hampered or interrupted while trying to work. As a noun, a mundle is a cake slice or a wooden spatula—to lick the mundle but burn your tongue means to do something enjoyable, regardless of the consequences. (Central England)
NAWPY: A new pen. (Lincolnshire)
NIPPERKIN: A small gulp or draught of a drink, said to be roughly equal to one-eighth of a pint. (SW England)
OMPERLODGE: To disagree with or contradict someone. (Bedfordshire)
OUTSPECKLE: A laughing stock. (Scots)
PADDY-NODDY: A long and tedious story. (Lincolnshire)
PARWHOBBLE: To monopolize a conversation. (SW England)
PEG-PUFF: Defined as “a young woman with the manners of an old one.” (Northern England)
QUAALTAGH: The first person you see after you leave your house. Comes from an old Celtic New Year tradition in which the first person you see or speak to on the morning of January 1, the quaaltagh, was interpreted as a sign of what was to come in the year ahead. (Isle of Man)
RAZZLE: To cook something so that the outside of it burns, but the inside of it stays raw. You can also razzle yourself by warming yourself by a fire. (Yorkshire/East England)
SHACKBAGGERLY: An adjective describing anything left “in a loose, disorderly manner.” (Lincolnshire)
SHIVVINESS: The uncomfortable feeling of wearing new underwear. Shiv is an old word for thick, coarse wool or linen. (Yorkshire)
SILLERLESS: Literally “silverless”—or, in other words, completely broke. (Scots)
SLITHERUM: A dawdling, slow-moving person. (East England)
SLIVING: A thin slice of bread or meat, or a splinter of wood. (Yorkshire)
SLOCHET: To walk with your shoes nearly coming off your feet. Or to walk with your shoelaces untied. Or to walk slowly because your shoes are too big. (SW England)
SPINKIE-DEN: A woodland clearing full of flowers. (Scots)
TEWLY-STOMACHED: On its own, tewly means weak or sickly, or overly sensitive or delicate. Someone who is tewly-stomached has a weak stomach, or a poor constitution. (East England)
THALTHAN: Also spelled tholthan, a thalthan is a part-derelict building. (Isle of Man)
TITTY-TOIT: To spruce or tidy up. (Yorkshire)
UNCHANCY: Sometimes used to mean mischievous or unlucky, but also used to describe something potentially dangerous, or, according to Wright, “not safe to meddle with.” (Northern England)
VARGLE: Means either to work in a messy or untidy way, or to perform an unpleasant task. (Scots)
VARTIWELL: The little metal loop that the latch of a gate hooks into? That’s the vartiwell. According to the OED, it probably takes its name from an old French word for the bottom hinge of a gate, vervelle. (Eastern England)
WEATHER-MOUTH: A bright, sunny patch of sky on the horizon flanked by two dense banks of cloud is the weather-mouth. (Scots)
YAWMAGORP: A yawm is a yawn, and a gorp is a mouth. So a yawmagorp is a lounger or idler, or someone who seems constantly to be yawning and stretching wearily. (Yorkshire)
ZWODDER: The last entry in the English Dialect Dictionary describes “a drowsy, stupid state of body or mind.” It’s probably related to another word, swadder, used to mean “to grow weary with drinking.” (SW England)
Primitive Survival Skills 