Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Something/Someone Old
My Something Old today is Przewalski's horse.
Przewalski's horse is one of two remaining subspecies of the species Equus ferus, and the only surviving breed of wild horses alive today:
The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have never been domesticated, such as the endangered Przewalski's horse, a separate subspecies, and the only remaining true wild horse.
Scientists took a great deal of trouble establishing the fact that Equus ferus przewalskii is not, in fact, descended from feral domestic horses:
Earlier DNA sequencing studies had been done to test whether or not the Przewalski horse is the primogenitor of domestic horses, but it was found that they are not. If Przewalski horses were indeed the ancestors of domesticated horses, those sequences, too would have been found within the Przewalski horse sequences. The DNA was then tested the other way as well; domestic horse sequences were checked for Przewalski horse sequences, and were found to contain none. This puts to rest the theory that Przewalski horses were derived from domestic horses.
They seem unsure about exactly when domestic horses and Przewalski horses diverged from one another genetically:
A 2009 molecular study using ancient DNA recovered from archaeological finds places the Przewalski's horse in the middle of the domesticated horses,[9] but 2011 mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that the Przewalski and the modern domestic horse diverged some 160,000 years ago.[14] An analysis based on whole genome sequencing and calibration with DNA from old horse bones gave a divergence date of 38–72 thousand years ago.
This is an inspirational story, because Equus ferus przewalski has been (somewhat) successfully reintroduced into the wild--after having been reduced to a population of only 13!
Every Przewalski horse presently living is descended from 9 of the 13 horses captured in 1945.[16] Two of these were hybrids, one sired from a wild horse stallion and domestic mare and the other from a wild stallion and a tarpan mare. These 13 horses were descended in turn from approximately 15 captured around 1900. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has resulted in successful reintroduction of these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia; and as of 2011 there is an estimated free-ranging population of over 300 in the wild.[17] From a population of 13 horses held in captivity in 1945, the total number by the early 1990s was over 1,500.[18]
This is good news.
Something New
We are still finding new species, of course, and this shrimp tickled my funny bone--or rather, the scientist who discovered it did. He named it after Elton John. Meet Leucothoe eltoni :
Apparently the professor is a big fan:
"I have listened to his music in my lab during my entire scientific career," James Darwin Thomas, a professor at Nova Southeastern University, said in a statement released by publisher Pensoft. "So, when this unusual crustacean with a greatly enlarged appendage appeared under my microscope after a day of collecting, an image of the shoes Elton John wore as the Pinball Wizard came to mind."
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/142189-Leucothoe-eltoni-is-a-N...
Well--we report, you decide:
Here's Elton John:
Here's the shrimp:
Separated at birth?
Something Borrowed
I was looking up the origin of the word kilt when I came across this gem: the word slogan derives from the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm , or battle-cry.
Each clan had their own distinct battle cry, called a slogan in the Lowlands and a flughorn in the Highlands. According to 19th century historian Rev. George Hill, Highland clans typically chose the name of a place or event that had historical significance for the respective clan. Crying out the name seemed to “operate like a charm” on the soldiers, filling them with thumos to fight for their homeland and ancestors.
https://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/06/08/battle-cries/
As someone who used to work in campaign politics, this feels like one of the most fitting modern uses of an ancient word I can think of. It's a bit more disturbing when one thinks of it in an advertising context.
And then, there's the fact that battle-cries were only called sluagh-gairm in the Lowlands. Probably why the word crept into English. Propinquity.
I tried to find a good example of a Scottish battle cry for y'all to listen to, but there's just too much Mel Gibson in the way.
Something Blue
I really should have included this in Something Borrowed, because, well...
But I don't think Jimmy Page and Robert Plant gave Minnie credit. Shame, because usually they did at least give credit to the original blues singers they were covering, even if they didn't give money.
So I'm not sure one can exactly call this "borrowed." Hmph.
I love me some Zepp, but...
How are you all doing?
Comments
Good morning, CStMS!
How are you feeling now? Don't mean to be O/Topic, but is the Meetup still on for the 17th?
I like the way all you c99ers design these Open Threads/Topics. I am fascinated by the historical development of words. Plus, I'm a horse fan. They are among the most beautiful creatures in nature IMHO. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Horse sense
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_horse
Imagine the Native Americans first seeing people on horseback...
http://www.westmifflinmoritz.com/Americas_Folder/Aztecs_Lost.html
There are still feral horses in the eastern US along the coastal islands. Cumberland Island not too far from you CstMS is an example...
https://www.nps.gov/cuis/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm
As to horse sense...
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/horse-sense.html
Well thanks for the OT and letting me horse around!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Morning, all!
Awaiting a big dump of snow here in the Northeast, which I'm excited by!
Fascinating Open Thread as usual, CSTMS! And this line cracked me up:
Did anyone else see that Goldman Sachs and Apple are "in talks"? Apparently GS wants to offer consumer financing for the iPhone. Stellar idea. /s
Good Morning, all!
I finished upgrading the OS on my Linux machine and it's glorious. I found this copy of a post I wrote for another site, dated 2007. Are we any closer now than 10 years ago?
=============================================
How should we "support the troops"?
1) End the wars and bring them home.
2) Get them out of uniform. Allow the National Guard to go back to their civilian lives. Cut the military budget. Cut the size of the standing military. Close 720 overseas military bases. Decomission 12 aircraft carriers.
3) Treat their wounds. Test them for depleted uranium poisoning. Make sure the disabled vets have the best care we can give them. Universal health coverage would be a good start.
4) Ease their transition to civilian life. Make sure they have access to free, quality higher education and job training, so they have a good chance at a good job. While we are at it, make sure it is available to everyone else as well.
5) Raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for these programs (bearing in mind the enormous savings from the military budget) and balance the Federal budget. This will give a huge boost to the economy.
6) Make sure they have good jobs available. Enhance their collective bargaining rights. Require corporations that want to sell in the US to provide jobs in the US.
7) Create vast numbers of good new jobs performing the transformation of American society from an unsustainable easy-motoring surburban pipe dream to a sustainable, human-centric nation running on renewable energy. Work with private business where possible, use direct government action where necessary.
8) Make sure they have a healthy environment to live in and raise their families in.
9) Institute election reform to make sure their votes count, and that never again can Fascists steal the highest offices in the land.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
That's a list of good ideas!
Which version of Linux do you use and recommend? Thanks.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I run Fedora
but I've run some version of Unix for over 30 years. It's probably not the best distribution to start with. Have a look at Ubuntu, or you might try Mint.
One advantage of Linux is that it is much more resource efficient than Windows. This machine is 10 years old but it's faster and more responsive than my Windows machine which has a faster CPU, 2 GB more RAM, and a much better graphics card. I haven't seen memory usage over 2.5 GB.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
BSD!
Another FreeBSD user?!
I ran FreeBSD for many years, but Linux's support for desktop applications ran so far ahead of it as to leave no comparison.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Not FreeBSD
I ran Aegis (a Unix-like OS with advanced networking back in the mid 80s), then SunOS (which was derived from BSD, later replaced with Solaris which I also used), then HPUX (which was based on System V). Also VMS but that isn't Unix. Then I went without for a few years then got my own Linux machine ... 2001? Right around there.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS here
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Linux distros
I'm using Ubuntu Studio 17.10 "Artful Aardvark", which can be obtained for free here. Ubuntu Studio comes pre-equipped with all the audio-visual "bells and whistles" you could imagine, while running efficiently on less-than-ideal hardwares. And a full range of windowing systems, from KDE to MATE to XFCE, are easily available. (I use MATE myself, set up to operate like Windows 2000 and its ilk. Studio first comes up running a customized XFCE environment.)
As I'm sure you now know, Linux is community supported; and here on c99 we have a strong Linux support community already at your fingertips, I'm proud to say!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Thanks for the advice
I want to climb on the Linux train. All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Live images
You will have to option to download a "live" image and write it to a USB thumb drive. You can boot from USB (you may need to go into your BIOS/UEFI to set the boot priority) and it will boot to Linux without disturbing your existing hard drive. You can even set it up to have a small data partition so that you can save settings and data. That lets you try it out before you commit, and also lets you take a quick look at different distributions before you decide which one to try out.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
the Linux train
All the best to you, too!
If you run into trouble migrating to Linux, get me a private message!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
When you talk about the audio-visual bells and whistles
on the Ubuntu package, what does it mean?
I ran Linux back in 1996 and don't remember anymore when I got Windows and why. I have forgotten anything about how to install and configure a Linux server. in the late 2012 I got help to use a video editing system Avid on a Windows machine. My intention was to use it and learn more of it after my retirement. That all didn't work out. I took the machine to Germany, hard disk crashed, some folks who call themselves PC Profis could neither fix it nor rebuild the server on a new hard drive though I had all the back ups and software with me. I am so angry now, because I can't do anything and probably have to get a new computer and new contracts for the quite expensive AVid and Sorensen squeeze video editing software.
So, I wonder if I should try it again and run Linux to save money. I have even less nerves than back in nineties, but would make it dependent how good the video editing software is that comes with the Ubuntu package.
Which one comes with the Ubuntu Studio? I want to produce videos eventually. Does that work well?
I remember way back it wasn't that advanced yet.
I don't do video editing myself
but a quick search turned up:
9 Best Free Video Editing Software for Linux In 2018
See if any of those address what you want to do.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
thx, I will do that when I get a new 'puter /nt
Great list, thanks for posting it.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning.
I read in my morning paper that our president wants to have a military parade, with tanks and stuff. Hurrah.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWVM5bUZmE width:500 height:300]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Don't forget to clap
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Do you think it will have a regiment of 2 1/2 ton trucks loaded
with pallets full of crisp twenties? How about special ops - are there any of those units that aren't stationed abroad?
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
And the planes ...
Will the F-35s and Ospreys be able to do a fly-over without falling out of the sky and into the crowd ? As for generals on white horses, alas, there is nary a Rokossovsky or Zhukov to be found.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
F-52's
Grin.
I want to see a Blue Angels team of f-52's doing aerobatics over the WHITE house.
(that's something blue)(and definitely borrowed, from the vid game)
Boy, this is the best entertainment since Spiro. Dan Quayle couldn't hold a candle.
Good one.
It took me a while to get it, I had to look it up.
Gawd that guy's an idiot.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
But he's OUR idiot.
He has a fine feeling for pop culture hooks and riffs -- a real Boob Tube prez. He may be an idiot, but he has cunning and manipulation on his side. More Spiro than Quayle.
Reagan was the right empty vessel for a Hollywood generation; Rump is right for a tv generation. Plus he's reaping the weeds of "welfare queen" sorta mythology.
That's why we have a military
To keep tiny hands' ego propped up.
Beware the bullshit factories.
I'm picturing President Shithole standing on a balcony
watching his Death Machine Parade -- smiling and waving looking just like Kim Jong-Un.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Good morning, CSTMS. IIrc, some Przewalski's horses
served as cavalry mounts in WWII on the Eastern front. At least one unit, from Uzbekistan, with Uzbeki riders.
Love Memphis Minnie - one of the greats. Thanks.
How's your health coming? Hope you're in full health again.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
everywhere
in the nature they are making new species. On the Galapagos island of Daphne Major some Science Men watched a cactus finch have some sex with a medium ground finch, thereby producing a new finch, which they are calling Big Bird. The Big Birds are only having sex with one another, because when the males commence the singing, the non-Big Bird finch women don't like those songs, and turn away.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg61J_MVEz4]
Hi, CSTMS, I always smile, when your OT comes up,
because I love that face and hair-do of the old woman in your first image so much. She is too cute.
I can't figure out how she did her hair? Who is she? Is there a story behind that image?
Good to see you back,
I hope you're doing well.
See my other comment about something blue and borrowed. Heh.
Linux. I like 'nix-based systems in general. I'm impressed at what Linux can do for old hardware that bogs down under windoze. A lot of potential there for reducing the e-waste stream and saving users money, and I love the free and open source aspect.
(curmudgeon hat goes on)
Zepp only gave credit when they were forced to. Many musicians have complained and sued. They stole a lot of material. Circa '70, someone who was teaching me guitar (at least he tried) said that if you listen closely, you could hear them make lots of mistakes. A guy who wrote music used in Stairway (see Taurus by Spirit) was singing for his supper by the 90's, never got a penny from them: Randy California. He drowned saving his son from a rip current, still fairly poor. googletube used to have a great vid from the 90's of him and the bald spiritus (father in law, IIRC) doing "Nature's Way".
But I confess, I occasionally enjoy some Zepp as a "guilty pleasure", esp. unusual time sigs.
(curmudgeon hat off)
Thanks for the invertebrate news! Nit-picky: it's actually an amphipod, related to shrimp but not a true shrimp. I've done the same, describing Gammarid freshwater amphipods to kids as "sort of shrimp". Amphipods are extremely common in freshwater as well as marine environments, especially since they often tolerate low oxygen and pollution. "While exploring the remote coral reefs of Raja Ampat in Indonesia" -- gods, what a job.
Great to hear from you again. I like your writing, I read it a lot lurking here.