7 minute read
That’s Odd
1,306 Legs
Need something to do this Sunday? Spend some time counting this elongated blind millipede’s legs – that’ll keep you entertained.
Scientists have found a millipede in Australia that actually has more than 1,000 legs.
“Previously no known millipede actually had 1,000 legs despite the name millipede meaning ‘thousand feet,’” said Virginia Tech entomologist Paul Marek, lead author of the research published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The threadlike pale-colored millipede reaches about 3-1/2 inches (95 mm) long and about four-hundredths of an inch (0.95 mm) wide. It has 1,306 legs and a conical head, beak-shaped mouth and large antennae. Interestingly, it lacks eyes.
The creature is called Eumillipes persephone. The handful of individuals discovered lived up to almost 200 feet (60 meters) underground. Females had more legs than males.
“In my opinion this is a stunning animal,” said study co-author Bruno Buzatto, a principal biologist at Bennelongia Environmental Consultants in Perth, Australia.
“It represents the most extreme elongation found to date in millipedes, which were the first animals to conquer land. And this species in particular managed to adapt to living tens of meters deep in the soil, in an arid and harsh landscape where it is very hard to find any millipedes surviving in the surface,” Buzatto added.
Sure has a leg up on the competition.
Vaccination Chip
Lost your vaccination card? Have no fear. You can have your vaccination status embedded into your body via a microchip.
In a film that circulated this week, DSruptive CEO Hannes Sjöblad, who is founder of the Swedish Association of Biohackers, demonstrated how a rice-sized microchip with one’s vaccination information can be implanted under a person’s skin in the arm or in their hand.
Lest you think this sounds crazy, a few years ago, companies introduced an option to employees to be implanted with a chip that would grant them access to certain rooms and the ability to pay for food and drinks in the breakroom.
“Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.,” said Todd Westby, the 32M CEO at the time.
Sounds like a fast-track vax.
Flying Into an Active Volcano
Sebastián “Ardilla” Álvarez, a former Chilean Air Force pilot and wingsuit daredevil whose nickname means “Squirrel,” had a recent brush with an active volcano in a heart-pumping, adrenaline-filled stunt.
In a dramatic video posted by Red Bull, the 36-year-old became the first person to fly in and out of an active volcano. (Kids, do not try this at home!)
“Everything started because I had the dream of flying,” Álvarez told CNN. “Since I was a kid, I just wanted to fly – and somehow, I made it happen.”
The thrill-seeker jumped out of the chopper at an altitude of almost 2.2 miles and reached speeds
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of about 180 mph as he flew into and out of the 656-foot-wide crater of Villarrica, a volcano in Chile that the indigenous Mapuche have dubbed “the Devil’s House.”
“This is by far the most extreme project I’ve ever done,” Álvarez added. “That’s for sure. Especially because of all of the factors — it was an active volcano, it was at high altitude, cold, windy, and so there were a lot of things that I needed to take care of.
“Mentally, it was to me really hard because, again, my mind doesn’t want to be there, but you need to kind of force it to make it happen. I really enjoy doing these projects because I really like to push the sport a little bit more,” he added.
It took Álvarez more than a year to prepare for the stunt, which required 500 practice jumps to perfect the technique of flaring to achieve the proper vertical and horizontal speeds to make it in and out of the chasm.
“The preparation for this was all my life, pretty much, it’s been all my life,” Álvarez said. “You need to be a skydiver, a base jumper and if you are a pilot, even better. All the paths [I’ve taken] came together.
“Even if you train for two years but you’ve not been skydiving before, it’s never going to be possible. So it was a lifetime of preparation,” Álvarez said about the three-minute flight.
“I cannot express how happy this makes me feel. But it does, you know, and I think that’s what life is about. I mean, you need to do what makes you happy,” he added.
If happiness means flying in and out of dangerous volcanoes, then by all means, “lava” your life in the way you love it most.
An Egregious Error
Remember when your third grade teacher told you that decimals are important? Well, Max learned that lesson the hard way this week when a little dot created a lot of aggravation for him.
Max is a trader of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
NFTs are the latest cryptocurrency phenomenon to go mainstream. In the simplest terms, NFTs transform digital works of art and other collectibles into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 pieces of digital NFT art living on the ethereum (eth) blockchain. (Yes, we don’t either understand it, and we can’t imagine why people spend so much money on things like this.)
In any case, Max, who goes by the username maxnaut, had a “a lapse of concentration” and accidentally listed the NFT for 0.75 eth ($2,844) instead of 75 eth ($284,495).
“I list a lot of items every day and just wasn’t paying attention,” he told CNN.
In an instant, an automated account snatched up Max’s NFT and then resold the piece for 59.99 eth ($227,558).
“I saw the error as my finger clicked confirm, but a bot sent a transaction with over 8 eth of gas fees so it was instantly sniped before I could click cancel. I have no animosity to the botter; it’s just part of the game,” he added.
Despite the aggravation, Max didn’t allow the setback to color his day.
“Afterwards, I just took 5 minutes and then got back to work trading other stuff,” he said, adding that the “mistake is not too bad in the big picture.”
“I learned fast not to be too emotional when it comes to trading,” Max added. “The industry is so new, bad things are going to happen whether it’s your fault or the tech. Once you no longer have control of the outcome, forget and move on.”
Wise words indeed.
A Special Honor at 105 Years Old
Some celebrate their birthdays with a cake, others with balloons. Major Wooten celebrated his recent birthday – 105 years old! – with a medal of honor.
Wooten served in France during World War II. On his birthday on December 3, he received the French Legion of Honor at a medal ceremony/ birthday party.
Vincent Hommeril, the consul general for France in Atlanta, decorated Wooten with the medal on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron.
“The Legion of Honor is bestowed upon French citizens as well as foreign nationals who have served France or the ideals it upholds, including individuals who have contributed to the country professionally, as well as veterans such as the Americans who risked their lives during World War II fighting on French soil,” the French consulate announcement said.
Wooten was drafted into the army in 1943 and arrived in France in 1944. He served as an Army private in Le Mans before he was sent to Paris to work at a railroad station, where he repaired bomb-damaged trains. He returned to the U.S. in 1946 and worked for U.S. Steel in Birmingham after he left the Army.
Last year, in November 2020, Wooten tested positive for COVID-19, but recovered in time for his 104th birthday, which he was able to celebrate at home.
Looking forward to many more exciting birthdays for this young hero!
