Early Humans

Dec. 17th, 2025 12:50 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Scientists reveal a 1.5-million-year-old human face

A 1.5-million-year-old face is forcing scientists to rethink the origins and diversity of early humans.

Scientists have digitally reconstructed the face of a 1.5-million-year-old Homo erectus fossil from Ethiopia, uncovering an unexpectedly primitive appearance. While its braincase fits with classic Homo erectus, the face and teeth resemble much older human ancestors. This discovery challenges long-held ideas about where and how Homo erectus evolved. It also hints at a complex web of migrations and possible mixing between early human species.



The actual image shows a reconstruction of the skull, rather than a paleoforensic art rendering of the face when alive.  But it's still cool.

Hard Things

Dec. 17th, 2025 12:48 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels

Dec. 17th, 2025 12:37 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This year I've been running an experiment to see which type of pen lasts the longest for labeling plants outdoors. I have compiled links to the previous posts and added pictures from each month where I hadn't already posted them. Results: Sharpie Oil Pen lasted longest, Craft Smart Oil Pen was still legible at the end of the year, and Sharpie Permanent Marker faded very fast. If you're labeling plants outdoors, buy an oil paint pen, preferably Sharpie.

These are the other posts regarding the labels.
1/3/25 Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels
2/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
3/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
4/4/25 Photos: South Lot
5/6/25 Photos: South Lot
6/2/25 Photos: House Yard
11/3/25 Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 2 Testing the Fit (labels at bottom)
Photos: House Yard 12-16-25

Let's do science to it... )

Book review: The Tomb of Dragons

Dec. 16th, 2025 09:01 pm
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[personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] booknook

Title: The Tomb of Dragons (Cemeteries of Amalo #3)
Author: Katherine Addison
Genre: Fiction, fantasy

Time and circumstance conspired to keep me from reviewing the second book in the Cemeteries of Amalo book, The Grief of Stones, but today I finished the third book, Tomb of the Dragons and I do have time to review this third and final book in the trilogy.

This is NOT a spoiler-free review.

Tomb of the Dragons retains much of what I loved about the first two books, including Thara’s character and his investigations into the underbelly of Amalo, with a healthy helping of Ethuveraz politics.

Thara is having to adjust to the events at the end of the last book, and here, I feel, is where we truly see how important his calling is to him—how he handles losing it. It gives some good perspective to why he is so dogged in pursuing his work goals—his calling really is his sense of purpose, his life. Watching Thara grapple with this change and its indefinite consequences was fascinating.

However, it also retains in greater measure some of the things that I didn’t love about the earlier books, including Addison’s obsession with minutiae. I can only read about the characters traveling on this or that tram line so many times before my eyes start skipping lines to the things that really matter. This would bother me less if it didn’t feel like it came at the expense of more important things.

Read more... )

Recent Reading: The Tomb of Dragons

Dec. 16th, 2025 08:58 pm
rocky41_7: (Default)
[personal profile] rocky41_7 posting in [community profile] books

Time and circumstance conspired to keep me from reviewing the second book in the Cemeteries of Amalo book, The Grief of Stones, but today I finished the third book, Tomb of the Dragons and I do have time to review this third and final book in the trilogy.

This is NOT a spoiler-free review.

Tomb of the Dragons retains much of what I loved about the first two books, including Thara’s character and his investigations into the underbelly of Amalo, with a healthy helping of Ethuveraz politics.

Thara is having to adjust to the events at the end of the last book, and here, I feel, is where we truly see how important his calling is to him—how he handles losing it. It gives some good perspective to why he is so dogged in pursuing his work goals—his calling really is his sense of purpose, his life. Watching Thara grapple with this change and its indefinite consequences was fascinating.

However, it also retains in greater measure some of the things that I didn’t love about the earlier books, including Addison’s obsession with minutiae. I can only read about the characters traveling on this or that tram line so many times before my eyes start skipping lines to the things that really matter. This would bother me less if it didn’t feel like it came at the expense of more important things.

Read more... )

Today's Cooking

Dec. 16th, 2025 10:57 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tonight I'm making the Candy Cane Cookies with cherry flavored candy canes.  Watch for your favorite flavors this time of year and grab them while you can.  This recipe should work with any candy cane flavor you like -- they are basically just a big piece of flavored sugar that you can turn back into sugar grains by bashing them in a bag.

EDIT 12/16/25 -- These turned out okay, but nowhere near as good at the original peppermint or the cinnamon.  They looked pretty though, as the cherry candy canes had both red and green stripes.  So it might be worth a try if you're a fan of "birthday cake" with sprinkles baking.

Warp nine

Dec. 16th, 2025 11:04 pm
cornerofmadness: (Default)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness
That's how my day is moving. Even working with timers I got so very little done and it was suddenly it was time to go to the endocrinologist. I could use another day down here but I'm afraid to go home friday. Thursday is meant to be nearly 60 and raining but then down to freezing again. I'd rather be home to avoid that.

I'm getting to that overwhelmed, gonna cry state. But at least I finally got the damn holiday lights out there (boy that little solar panel battery is something. They turned on immediately after being in a closet for a year. I put the garland on the other side of my porch, the one that's collapsing. I think at this point the garland is gonna be what's holding up the side rail if it get another heavy snow.


It looks like maybe, just maybe I can keep most of my meds and/or qualify for coupons. I make like 200$ too much a month to qualify for medical assistance. Let that sink in for a little while. We're doctors. We're college professors. Our pay is SO low we almost qualify for medicaid. And If I had kids I WOULD qualify. And oh, I signed up for the new insurance with the 9K deductible. It's costing 1100$ a month. Let that one soak in too. FFS. No wonder they won't hire help for my department.

My blood work is not great. My kidneys are working great but with my HGA1C sneaking ever higher. That's not great. I'm unhappy which is only going to make my sugar higher thanks to the stress. At least my hemoglobin is coming up. I still have too many tiny pale red blood cells but they're functioning better than last time. She did agree I'll probably have to start B12 shots. Cries. But at least the evolutionary bullshit adaptation for malaria is behaving itself for now.

From there I went to Gallipolis for dinner and the Christmas lights. I knew the Mexican place (since it's owned by the same brothers as the one in Jackson) would be giving out those envelopes for free stuff in January. I was laughing at the new offerings. One of them is punny. Juan Huge Burrito.

the lights were beautiful. They always are. I didn't upload the pictures yet. I will. but I haven't even showed you anything for months.


I forgot my tea advent again

Day 12 - Rocky Mountains - National Park Tea Black teas, raspberry leaf, raspberry flavor, sage leaf, and raspberry pieces. How did I miss this one? I had a sample box of these ones. either I had gotten a bad sample then because this was phenomenal very raspberry

Day 13 - Rooibos Sweet Sizzlin Cinnamon Herbal Tisane Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet sizzlin cinnamon flavor and safflower petals. At least the cinnamon overpowers the rooibos funk.

Day 14 Apple Sage Black Tea black teas, apple pieces, natural apple sage flavoring and blackberry leaf. oddly weak sauce and boring. At least it didn't taste like sage

Day 15 Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Black Tea Blend Black teas from India, Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan and bergamot oil. They have a whole collection of literature inspired teas (Poe is my favorite) What says Dostoyevsky about this? Nothing but it is a nice complex earl grey

day 16 Snickerdoodle Rooibos Herbal Tisane Organic Green Rooibos, organic cinnamon pieces, sweet blackberry leaf and snickerdoodle flavoring. Needs more snickerdoodle/cinnamon


Fannish 50 Spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus episode 7 )

Photos: House Yard

Dec. 16th, 2025 09:29 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I took pictures of the labels I'm testing, plus a few of the snowy yard as well.

These are the other posts regarding the labels. I need to make a post that shows them all in sequence; not everything has been posted yet.
1/3/25 Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels
2/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
3/3/25 Photos: House Yard and South Lot
4/4/25 Photos: South Lot
5/6/25 Photos: South Lot
6/2/25 Photos: House Yard
11/3/25 Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 2 Testing the Fit (labels at bottom)

Walk with me ... )
glassesofjustice: Star Trek hunter green ugly sweater where the badge is stanging like a tree with a bell on top and it says "Trek The Halls" on the bottom. (Ex:TrekHolidays)
[personal profile] glassesofjustice posting in [community profile] pinchhits

Pinch Hits Available!


The deadline for these is negotiable, but hoping for Wednesday, December 17, 2025 11:59PM EST (08:59PM PST). If you'd like to negotiate a different deadline, suggest one in your claim. If all PHs are not claimed by the 17th, we'll delay reveals by one week.

To claim, comment on this post (comments screened) with the PH# you wish to claim, your ao3 username, and an email the mods can reach you at.

Unclaimed
PH 2 - Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon) )
PH 8 - Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager )
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Clever Crafting
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1653
[Second week of December 2016]


:: Genna, Shiv, and Backstep get together to make package tags or ornaments for the holiday. A bit of fluff with a side of plot, created as an extension of an earlier prompt by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith, with my thanks to her and to the wonderful readers. Enjoy! ::




Genna had just set the last of the ingredients into the crock pot when a teleporter rang the doorbell installed at the sliding glass door, next to the compass rose in the back yard.

She dried her hands on the towel tucked into the loop of her jeans and hurried to greet them. “Backstep? It’s good to see you. Hello, Shiv.”

“Hey. Several people told me that you’re making ornaments and stuff? I was hoping you’d have an idea. I can make bauble ornaments for my --for one person, but I want something different for another.” Shiv shifted his weight slightly.
Read more... )

Accepted!

Dec. 16th, 2025 07:37 pm
soc_puppet: A gray masked dumbo rat wearing a Dreamwidth cheerleading outfit and waving red color-matched pompoms (Cheerleader)
[personal profile] soc_puppet
Just got the news via email: My application to graduate has been formally accepted! My degree will be mailed out to me in three to six weeks 💖🎉🎊
musesfool: gold star christmas ornament (follow that star)
[personal profile] musesfool
So I packed up my jars of candied pecans and my bag of "prizes" and schlepped into the office today for our big huge holiday party - it was 5 departments' worth of people, so like 90 of us, so instead of everyone sitting in a room and eating together, we mostly stayed in our little departmental groups, but the beer-free beer pong was INCREDIBLY popular, Name That Tune also had a good turnout, and the food was excellent. Assistant J did a bang-up job organizing various game stations for people to play - there was also Jenga and Uno available, and a couple of gaming consoles he brought in so people could play Fortnite. *hands* I commended him and told him everybody loved it. And I did not have to lift a finger (except to bring the bag of prizes, aka, my stash of small gifts I've accumulated across the year but haven't given anyone yet, so there was a couple of packs of playing cards still in their wrapper, a couple of candles, 2 cute notebooks, some mini puzzles, and some holiday soaps. I also had a travel mug and a bigger candle to use as extra gifts for the secret gift exchange in case someone didn't show up, and it turned out my boss had given her secret exchange gift to someone else, so she ended up using the mug, and I gave the candle to a co-worker who tried to sign up for the exchange a week after I'd sent the assignments out. I felt bad about telling her no, but there was no way to make it work, except for me giving her the extra gift in the moment - she seemed really touched by it. And of course, several people asked me why I hadn't gotten a gift and I was like, I know who everyone is giving to, so it doesn't feel right to participate, but they didn't seem to buy that logic. *hands* I stand by it though.

I did get some lovely gifts though - a Calamityware mug from my boss, a couple of candles (one apple-and-cinnamon scented and one Frasier fir scented), a bottle of mango jalapeno hot sauce, and some Korean snacks from the co-worker who recently went to Seoul on vacation. And I got to leave at 3:30, so I was home by 4:45, which is truly a blessing. I also got to see and hug a lot of people I haven't seen in months, so that was also great. I truly do like most of the people that I work with, and I do miss seeing them, but ugh, it is so not worth going into the office more frequently to do so, imo, because so much less work gets done (even on days when there isn't a party). I probably won't go back until March if I can help it. *g*

Oh, and most importantly, my candied pecans were a hit! One of my attorneys basically ate the whole jar while he sat at his desk and the others all seemed genuinely excited about getting into them. So that worked out well.

Two more days and then I am on vacation for the rest of the year! I can't wait!

*

Event Name Pinch Hits Due December 20

Dec. 16th, 2025 08:01 pm
the_exchange_mod: (les mis holidays)
[personal profile] the_exchange_mod posting in [community profile] pinchhits
Event: Les Mis Holiday Exchange
Event link: [community profile] lesmisexchangehq
Pinch hit link: https://lesmisexchangehq.dreamwidth.org/4281.html
Due date: December 20 (negotiable)

Pinch Hit LM1
Enjolras/Grantaire
Cosette Fauchelevent/Éponine Thénardier
Cosette Fauchelevent & Jean Valjean
Fanfiction

Pinch Hit LM2
Bahorel, Combeferre, Grantaire, Jean Prouvaire
Combeferre, François Arago
Courfeyrac, Les Amis de l'ABC
Fanart or Fanfiction

Pinch Hit LM3
Javert
Fantine/Javert
Fanart or Fanfiction
the_exchange_mod: (ace attorney holiday)
[personal profile] the_exchange_mod posting in [community profile] pinchhits
Event: Ace Attorney Holiday Exchange
Event link: [community profile] aceattorneyexchange
Pinch hit link: https://aceattorneyexchange.dreamwidth.org/4714.html
Due date: December 20 (negotiable)

Pinch Hit AA1
Lana Skye, Adrian Andrews, Celeste Inpax, Mia Fey, Ema Skye
Maya Fey
Ema Skye, Lana Skye, Miles Edgeworth
Fanart or Fanfiction

Pinch Hit AA2
Kristoph Gavin, Apollo Justice
Phoenix Wright
Apollo Justice
Fanfiction

Pinch Hit AA3
Tyrell Badd, Miles Edgeworth, Gregory Edgeworth, Raymond Shields | Eddie Fender
Ema Skye/Kay Faraday
Sherlock Holmes | Herlock Sholmes/Naruhodou Ryuunosuke
Fanart or Fanfiction

Pinch Hit AA4
Trucy Wright, Phoenix Wright
Blaise Debeste | Excelsius Winner, Sebastian Debeste | Eustace Winner, Miles Edgeworth
Kristoph Gavin, Klavier Gavin, Apollo Justice
Fanfiction / Fanfiction or Fanart (differs by propmt)

Pinch Hit AA5
Miles Edgeworth, Trucy Wright, Phoenix Wright
Klavier Gavin, Apollo Justice [or] Athena Cykes, Simon Blackquill [or] Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth
Athena Cykes, Simon Blackquill
Fanart or Fanfiction

Tuesday word: Mistletoe

Dec. 16th, 2025 04:47 pm
simplyn2deep: (Hawaii Five 0::Kono::red top)
[personal profile] simplyn2deep posting in [community profile] 1word1day
Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Mistletoe (noun)
mis·tle·toe [mis-uhl-toh]


noun
1. a European plant, Viscum album, having yellowish flowers and white berries, growing parasitically on various trees, used in Christmas decorations.
2. any of several other related, similar plants, as Phoradendron serotinum, of the U.S.: the state flower of Oklahoma.

Origin: before 1000; Middle English mistelto, apparently back formation from Old English misteltān ( mistel mistletoe, basil + tān twig), the -n being taken as plural ending; cognate with Old Norse mistilteinn

Example Sentences
Christmas on the Farm at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark includes visits with farm animals, tractor-drawn wagon rides, a mailbox for letters to Santa, and Christmas trees, wreaths, garlands and mistletoe for sale.
From Los Angeles Times

In the Dec. 21, 1918, issue of the Ohio State Journal, the state’s acting health commissioner cautioned people to "beware the mistletoe," recommending a "kissless holiday" for flu fighters.
From Fox News

If you don’t have someone to kiss under the mistletoe, or a friend or family to share the holidays with, have no fear — being alone doesn’t have to be lonely.
From Seattle Times

Bing Crosby — “White Christmas” Was Christmas even a thing before ol’ Binger hung the mistletoe?
From Seattle Times

Christmas on the Farm at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark includes visits with farm animals, tractor-drawn wagon rides, a mailbox for letters to Santa and Christmas trees, wreaths, garlands and mistletoe for sale.
From Los Angeles Times

bit of mistletoe trivia )

Food

Dec. 16th, 2025 05:52 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Parents find Health Star Ratings confusing and unhelpful. We need a better food labelling system (Australia)

Food labels are intended to support healthy choices. But not all labelling schemes are equal.

Australia currently uses a voluntary Health Star Rating system. Food manufacturers can choose to add a star label to their packaging to indicate how it compares to other similar products. Or they can choose not to show a star rating on a product at all
.


How satisfied are you with the food labeling option(s) available where you live? If you also buy imported foods, what do you think about labels from other countries?

What kind of traits do you pay attention to in food shopping?  Are they easy to find on labels, harder to find, not listed, or actually forbidden to list?

Read more... )
goodbyebird: Fifth Element: Leeloo stands on the ledge, looking down. (ⓕ Supreme Being)
[personal profile] goodbyebird
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 16


Scott Pilgrim
Afternoon Delights by [archiveofourown.org profile] wakeupnew (1,033 words). A good Wallace and Scott interaction never fails to cheer me up.
There is a bang.

The door, he realizes fuzzily. Possibly -- hitting something?? Definitely opening really loudly. He really wishes it wasn't doing that. He should probably start locking it while he's sleeping.

"I thought your shit had supposedly been gotten together, guy," says someone, who flings himself down on the sofa that Scott uses for a bed, hard enough that the cushions bounce under both of them. "What are you doing asleep at 3:00 on a sunny Saturday afternoon?"

"Frrrrsleeping," Scott groans indignantly, and then Wallace plucks the pillow off his head and out of his arms. Scott tries to grab it back without opening his eyes, and his hands mostly just flail ineffectually against Wallace's jeans.

"Whoa there, tiger," Wallace drawls. "I have a boyfriend now; let's keep it PG." He drops the pillow on Scott's chest. If it's possible to drop a pillow with force, Wallace does it. "You know, considering that you're the all-time evil-ex-fighting champion
and the best fighter in the greater Toronto metropolitan area, it was very easy to pull that away from you."

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alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)
let me hear your voice tonight

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