Word for the day: phasmids

The photo shows a variety of plant-mimic insects, apparently both mantids and at least one phasmid.  I had to look up the latter term:

The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, or bug sticks. They are generally referred to as phasmatodeans, phasmids, or ghost insects. Phasmids in the family Phylliidae are called leaf insects, leaf-bugs, walking leaves, or bug leaves. The group's name is derived from the Ancient Greek φάσμα phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom, referring to their resemblance to vegetation while in fact being animals.

I have always been delighted to encounter stick insects, and a few years ago managed to get a nice photo of one who climbed onto my jeans while I was hiking in the Minnesota north woods:

So I was surprised to learn that they can be pests:

Phasmatodea are recognized as injurious to forest and shade trees by defoliation... Indeed, in the American South, as well as in Michigan and Wisconsin, the walking stick is a significant problem in parks and recreation sites, where it consumes the foliage of oaks and other hardwoods... The insects eat the entire leaf blade. In the event of heavy outbreaks, entire stands of trees can be completely denuded. Continuous defoliation over several years often results in the death of the tree. Because these species cannot fly, infestations are typically contained to a radius of a few hundred yards. Nevertheless, the damage incurred to parks in the region is often costly. Control efforts in the case of infestations have typically involved chemical pesticides; ground fires are effective at killing eggs but have obvious disadvantages. In New South Wales, research has investigated the feasibility of controlling stick insects using natural enemies such as parasitic wasps (Myrmecomimesis spp.).

You learn something every day.

"I don't like where this is headed..."

Evolution of the Republican party, as described by Garry Trudeau in his recent book Lewser.

"Knights of the Invisible Jungle of the Tiger's Eye"

A 1920s group self-described as anti-KKK.  This morning I couldn't find a proper online article about them, but they are discussed in a Google Books excerpt of Hooded Knights on the Niagara: The Ku Klux Klan in Buffalo, New York.  

Addendum:  an anonymous reader found this link with more information.

"Mr. Robot"

I've just now started watching the 2015 Mr. Robot series.  I know it has a high Rotten Tomatoes score (98%) and won Emmy and Golden Globe awards, but when I started this I didn't realize it was a four-year-long series with 45 episodes.  I remember being disappointed when other multi-year series (Mad Men, Westworld) seemed to deteriorate or become incomprehensibly complicated as the years wore on, so I'd appreciate feedback from readers as to whether I should pursue this beyond the first year's ten episodes (I've enjoyed the first three - after adapting to the visual of Freddie Mercury as a computer hacker).

Patchwork

This road in Hungary offers a great example of "patchwork" repair (although I'm puzzled as to why the patches tend to be rectangular, since potholes tend to be round-ish). Via.

What characteristic do Greta Thunberg and Margaret Thatcher share?

Attitude.  Here's a relevant quote from Thatcher:

"In my work, you get used to criticisms. Of course you do, because there are a lot of people trying to get you down, but I always cheer up immensely if one is particularly wounding because I think well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. That is why my father always taught me: never worry about anyone who attacks you personally; it means their arguments carry no weight and they know it."

The man in charge of the U.S. Coronavirus Response Team

Via the Political Humor subreddit.

"Superhabitable" planets

"Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe. Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own. Some of these orbit stars that may be better than even our sun.

A study led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch recently published in the journal Astrobiology details characteristics of potential "superhabitable" planets, that include those that are older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than Earth. Life could also more easily thrive on planets that circle more slowly changing stars with longer lifespans than our sun...

Water is key to life and the authors argue that a little more of it would help, especially in the form of moisture, clouds and humidity. A slightly overall warmer temperature, a mean surface temperature of about 5 degrees Celsius (or about 8 degrees Fahrenheit) greater than Earth, together with the additional moisture, would be also better for life. This warmth and moisture preference is seen on Earth with the greater biodiversity in tropical rain forests than in colder, drier areas...

Among the 24 top planet candidates none of them meet all the criteria for superhabitable planets, but one has four of the critical characteristics, making it possibly much more comfortable for life than our home planet.

"It's sometimes difficult to convey this principle of superhabitable planets because we think we have the best planet," said Schulze-Makuch. "We have a great number of complex and diverse lifeforms, and many that can survive in extreme environments. It is good to have adaptable life, but that doesn't mean that we have the best of everything.""

Trichomegaly

"A 53-year-old woman with metastatic signet-ring appendiceal cancer receiving treatment with panitumumab presents with a 2-month history of trichomegaly."  

A case from the New England Journal of Medicine, apparently a result of treatment with an epidermal growth factor receptor antagonist. 

Antipoaching rangers in Zambezia

Underappreciated world-class heroes IMHO, having to deal on a daily basis with armed poachers, the wildlife, and the man-sized traps set by the poachers.  Via.

"The Speed Cubers"

I watched this documentary on Netflix earlier this week.  It is a pleasant respite from the internet, politics, pandemics etc.  I think you will enjoy it if you've ever solved a Rubik's cube (or tried to), or have a friend or family member on the autistic spectrum.  And it only requires about 40 minutes of your time.

Happy little girl

Let's end the day with a cheerful photo, via MadeMeSmile, where the top comment is "It's a trap.  Don't grow up."

Saddest photo I've seen in a long time

Oluvil, Sri Lanka.  "Elephants forage for food at a rubbish dump encroaching on their jungle habitat. Examination of dead elephants has revealed undigested polythene and other plastic waste."  Photograph: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images, via The Guardian.

Privileged person

Republican senator from Mississiippi.  Via facepalm.

Viking maxims

Gleanings from the ninth-century Hávamál:

"There is no better load a man can carry than much common sense; no worse a load than too much drink."

"Never part with your weapons when out in the fields; you never know when you will need your spear."

"Praise no day until evening, no wife until buried, no sword until tested, no maid until bedded, no ice until crossed, no ale until drunk."

"No need to give too much to a man, a little can buy much thanks; with half a loaf and a tilted jug I often won me a friend."

"Confide in one, never in two; confide in three, and the whole world knows."

Other items of interest:

"The Scandinavians were pioneers in the use of skis and skates.  Bone skates fashioned from the metapodials of horses, cattle and deer have been found in vast numbers at may archaeological sites in Scandinavia, and also in the Viking city of York in England; the Old Norse word for skate, isleggr, means literally "ice leg-bone."  They were simply smoothed down on one side, and cut to fit a foot.  The skate would be attached by thongs at heel and sometimes toe, and the skater would propel himself with a spiked stick, not lifting his feet from the ice."

"... was built in the traditional Icelandic fashion with thick walls of turves laid on two foundation-courses of rough stones, and with a turf roof."  TIL that "turves" is a plural of "turf."

"... when he reached Iceland the following summer, it was to be met with the news that his father had upped sticks and started a new life in Greenland..."  Etymology apparently from the use of "stick" to refer to a ship's mast, which would be elevated when preparing to sail.  In Britain the phrase is colloquially used to refer to packing up and moving one's habitation.  A more familiar version would be to "pull up stakes," which I always assumed referred to corner markers on a parcel of land.

"In Main Street" [Alexandria, Minnesota] itself the eye is gladdened by the sight of a huge concrete sculpture of a Viking warrior with a targe bearing the words 'Alexandria - Birthplace of America.'"  Etymology ultimately from the Old Norse targa ("round shield') and related to the Old French targe ("buckler'), a targe was a small shield.  And from it we get the word target.  New word for me; you learn something every day.

This was an interesting book and a worthwhile read.  Magnus Magnusson is a proper scholar, so this isn't just a pretty coffee-table book.  Profusely illustrated, with extensive detail about Viking history in continental Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, Iceland, Greenland, and North America.