Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 23h

Lovely!

Reposted by c0nc0rdance

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · Mar 8

Let's learn about the Seriemas, family Cariamidae.

This red-legged Seriema named Kevin is demonstrating how he prevents his food from wriggling as he swallows it, as captured by @witmerlab.bsky.social during a visit to the Columbus Zoo in 2019.

Native to South America, they have famous cousins...

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Reposted by c0nc0rdance

Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · 1d

Current Status: phys.org/news/2025-10...

Escalating Amazement Meme:

Cool: Dinosaur Tracks: Dinosaur footprints: how do they form and what can they tell us? by Emily Osterloff for the Natural History Museum

Very Cool: Fossilized Weaning in Neanderthal Teeth: Austin et al. 2013. Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates. Nature, 498(7453), 216-219.

So Cool: Giant Sloth Hunt Tracks: Fossilized Human Footprint Found Nestled in a Giant Sloth Footprint by Ed Yong for the Atlantic

AMAZING: Fossilized Mutual Destruction Nimravid Battle: The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles by Riley Black for the Smithsonian

OH HOLY SHIT AMAZING: Fossilized Rock Hyrax Booty Skootch Tracks: Charles W. Helm et al, The unusual, unique ichnology of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) and possible Pleistocene tracks and traces from South Africa, Ichnos (2025). DOI: 10.1080/10420940.2025.2546373

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 1d

Yes! "Iron fertilization" is a controversial way to sequester CO2 and boost productivity in certain marine environments. There's some concern about its over-use disturbing natural equilibria.

Iron Fertilization - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Iron fertilization is a technique that would artificially add iron to the ocean’s surface, triggering massive blooms of phytoplankton that could remove substantial amounts of carbon dioxide from the a...

www.whoi.edu

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

A cream cheese kolach.
(I'll see myself out)

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Lab safety is everyone's responsibility. Be sure to bury your experiments at last 2 meters deep.
😉

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

No, I think I hit the same wall. I see a lot of references to "National Taiwan University (NTU)", but no primary source.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Horror movie scientist: "Let's make these giant sharks super-intelligent & more aggressive so we can... uh... learn... things."

Real scientist: "Look, I made biofluorescent fish so we can study gene activation in response to environmental toxins!" 😄

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Reposted by c0nc0rdance

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · Mar 6

Dad Joke of the Day:

If anyone knows a way
to reverse excessive plastic surgery,
I'm all ears.

#DJotD

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

In case you don't hear this today: thank you for doing what you do.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

It works both ways: for the normies AND the weirdos! 😁

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

If we don't crush orphans here, they'll just offshore the whole thing to some Chinese orphan-crushing sweatshop.

Crush American!

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Of course, I have my Womball right on my desk.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly where I'm at. I suspect 14 days in the gut produces natural chunking & compression.

Squeezing that last little bit of moisture out without creating blockages is just *accidentally* producing Minecraftian poops.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

New sequel to 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' just dropped. 😀

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2d

Glowing shark and hidden crab found deep off Australia

In a stunning glimpse into the mysteries of the deep, scientists have uncovered two new marine species off Western Australia—a glowing lanternshark and a tiny porcelain crab. The discoveries, made…

www.sciencedaily.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Appropriately cubical sign. 😉

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

We'll need to buy a few hundred and put the kettle on to do some testing! 😄

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Oh yeah, I think I saw you guys open for... uh, never mind.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

I think the cubic shape is the *unintentional consequence* of their very long digestive process (14+ days), required to process tough roots & grasses, extracting all moisture.

The cubes are just a fortunate happenstance of super-efficient distal colons.

Article here:

How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery

Distinctive intestines mold feces into sharp-cornered poop

www.science.org

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

The predominant theory is *territoriality*.

They place their stacked poo strategically on rocks & logs to mark the borders of their territory, to avoid harmful confrontation with other wombats.

They can make 100 cubes in a single night.

My own theory is a little different:

a gif from gifrun.com shows a bear standing next to a sink

Alt: A grey furry wombat in a zoo setting on concrete floor. It's scratching its hind end with a forelimb and looking very focused on the task.

media.tenor.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

2-D computer modeling recreated the forces acting on the cubes (see article).

So mystery solved:
Cubic poop is made by specially structured colon tissue.

Now the question is WHY? & here we still have a mystery.

The wombat lives in dry environs, so they maximize water extraction from food waste.

Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces

The bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) is a fossorial, herbivorous, Australian marsupial, renowned for its cubic feces. However, the ability of the wombat's soft intestine to sculpt flat faces and s...

pubs.rsc.org

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

There are "zones" near the end of the tubular colon where 2 sides are less 'stretchy', more muscularized. As the wastes reach this zone, they become compressed along these two axes, producing 'corners'.

The 'exit shape' on the wombat is unremarkable & doesn't play a role in shaping the cubes.

a brown furry animal is standing next to a tree trunk

Alt: A brown furry wombat is wiggling its hind end on a tree trunk, moving from side to side awkwardly.

media.tenor.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

The answer came in 2018, with close examination of animals killed in unfortunate car vs. wildlife incidents.

Researchers inflated the intestine with surgical balloons to examine the biomechanical properties of the wombat intestine.

And they found the 'cube-maker'.

(GIF is cute but unrelated)

a wombat is being brushed by a green broom that says class on the handle

Alt: a wombat is being brushed by a green broom that says class on the handle

media.tenor.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry, this will be the only picture I'll share of wombat poop.

Their poop comes out in neat 2 cm cubes, about 5-8 cubes per session, which means that artistic wombat POO STACKING is a very real possibility.

How do wombats, of all animals, manage to produce these sugar cubes made of excrement?

A dark brown cubic poop from a wombat on a grey rock. Taken from a Science article. There's greenery around the rock.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

There's nothing I don't love about WOMBATS, from their curmudgeonly mannerisms to their armored, bony butts (that protect them from predators when they're head-first in a burrow).

But we should talk about their cubic poop & how it gets that way.

CW: animal poo in next post

a man is holding a wombat in his arms while wearing a bjp shirt

Alt: Czech professional mixed martial artist Jiri Prochazka is kissing a wombat he has in his lap.

media.tenor.com

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