Redux: Whither the Dorset?

By: | January 8, 2016

Five years ago, I received a fateful invitation to join the Last Word On Nothing. Since then, almost all of the faces have changed, but its maverick spirit lives on. Much like the culture of the Dorset, featured in my first post in 2011…:

 

There’s nothing like a lost tribe to pique child-like curiosity. When an isolated band of Brazilian forest people were filmed this year, the world ogled the ochre-painted men with voyeuristic glee. Perhaps we longed for first-hand access to our own ancestor’s lives. One of these lost tribe stories – of the unconfirmed variety – is set in Nunavut, in Arctic Canada.

Inuit have ruled the Eastern Arctic for many generations, but they were not, in fact, the first inhabitants. When Inuit arrived they found another culture living a very different Arctic lifestyle from their own. For the better part of the last five thousand years, the area has been populated by the shy, peace-loving Dorset, who arrived from Siberia shortly after 3000BC. They lacked the Inuit’s specialized gadgets and whaling tradition, concentrating on walrus and seal instead. Rather than building igloos, they traveled with skin tents, which they banked with snow or sod. The Dorset had the run of the Arctic, with all its fresh resources – centuries’ worth of driftwood and animals unused to humans – for more than three thousand years.

When the Inuit arrived from the West, the archeological record shows no further traces of the Dorset or their unique shamanic worldview.  But rumours abound of Dorset survivors who somehow escaped the mysterious fate of their people. Continue reading →

The Wonderful World of Period Patents

By: | January 7, 2016

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I recently wrote a story for Racked about how some of the period underwear on the market work — the kind that either help keep your pad in place, or help replace tampons by wicking and absorbing blood. And because I always like to know about the evolution of various technologies, one of the first things I did in my research was go to the U.S. Patent Office website to see what kinds of patents already existed for these sorts of things.

It turned out that there were a whole lot of patents for menstrual underwear like this. I’ll quote myself here:

The specific materials that Dear Kate and THINX use are new, but idea of specially designed period underwear goes back nearly 40 years. In 1967, a patent for a “protective petticoat” was issued to a woman named Gladys Ruppel Williams. The undergarment was a half-slip, “constructed with a moisture-proof material” to protect the outer clothing from being stained. In 1988, a Chinese company was issued a patent for “woman menstruation underpants” that included two layers of cloth sewn into the crotch of the panties, each lined with a “non-toxic, flexible plastic film.” In 1995 another Chinese company patented a “clean-keeping women undergarment,” which included a leakproof liner.

Yep, “clean-keeping women undergarment.” But these are just a few of the patents for menstruation related items that I found when I started looking. So I want to share some more of them with you. This time with pictures. Because they’re great. Continue reading →

Data Dump

By: | January 6, 2016

7001956012_f6e66a528e_oHere is something you don’t need: a bra that keeps track of your fitness. Half of you don’t even have breasts. And the other half, well, you don’t need a smart bra either.

Yet it exists. In fact, it’s debuting this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. On its blog, the bra’s maker — a company that also offers a fitness-tracking shirt for men — claims that women have been clamoring for this undergarment. “After much applause, and a plethora of requests from eager women who wanted in on the action too, the day has finally come for us to reveal the OMbra.” Continue reading →

Have Lady Beard, Will Travel

By: | January 4, 2016

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When life throws a mean fast pitch at my fragile little hands, I typically catch it and laugh off the burn. But as a woman nearing a certain very plump and meaningful age, my sense of humor is struggling to hold on.

Here’s why. This is a list (from a randomly selected lady blog called Healthline) of the symptoms one might experience during peri-menopause‚ the sometimes years-long warm-up to proper menopause. If you’re a girl in your 40s, you might want to sit down. (Grab a snack first–I know you’re hungry.)

Continue reading →

The Last Word

By: | January 2, 2016

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It’s a new year and most of the LWONers aren’t the least bit repentant – plowing on with the same kinds of storytelling in 2016 that we did in 2015. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and if it is broke – blame it on the dog.

On Monday, Ann and author/journalist Michael Balter talk about the challenges of teaching journalism and the challenges of stopping teaching.

Tuesday brought a meditation by Helen on an old tune from an opera that she knows well and the realization that it might refer to magical protections against malaria.

Guest writer Krista Langlois told us on Wednesday about ancient indigenous knowledge of navigation in the Marshall Island. How it was nearly lost and how a few passionate scientists are bringing it back.

On Thursday I brought back my favorite ant scientist, Brian Fisher, who every year finds fewer and fewer truly undiscovered places on Earth.

And on Friday, the first day of 2016, Cameron doubles down on her previous New Year’s resolution to understand how the tide work near her home and illustrated it for the rest of us.

Photo Credit: Brian Fisher

Redux: The Mystery of the Ill-Timed Tides

By: | January 1, 2016

RasalkTwo years ago this winter, I was trying to figure out why the high tide seems to usually fall on winter mornings where I live, and the low tide on winter evenings. I promised that if I solved this mystery, I’d post an animation about how it worked.

But while reader Stephan Zielinski provided plenty of help, I didn’t get very far on my promise–as has been the case with many New Year’s resolutions past, I came in with enthusiasm and sputtered out like so many firecrackers.

So this year I’ve come up with a new resolution, that nicely encompasses a wide variety of areas: try again. Keep trying. 

For some additional inspiration and expertise in mystery solving, tonight I’ll tune in to the premiere of a new Sherlock special. And that’s what I wish for in 2016: a few mysteries revealed, and new ones to send me down the winding path of wherever they decide to go. Continue reading →

The Last Explorer

By: | December 31, 2015

Brian2-XLA few weeks ago, I introduced the readers of LWON to my favorite ant scientist, Brian Fisher. We learned that, while he may not look like much at first glance, Fisher is more badass than you will ever be, even if you become a Krav Maga master and invent an actual light saber.

But amazing as it may seem, his job isn’t to just sit around the jungle, dodging bullets and sewing up his own arm every now and again. He does science as well. In fact, throughout his career Fisher has discovered over 1,000 new species and genera of ants. It’s hard to say exactly how many because he’s only taken the time to describe and name about a third of them.

Thanks to years of field work, Fisher has enough material to last the rest of his life if he wants – quietly inspecting mouthparts or abdomen bands and naming new species. And he could be happy in his lab, marveling at their novel ways of working together or their bizarre and beautiful body parts. Continue reading →

Guest Post: How to Navigate a Rising Sea

By: | December 30, 2015

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When Alson Kelen was young, he used to lie at night against his father’s arm, on an island where there were no lights and no cars. He listened to waves slapping against wet sand, the breeze shaking the palm fronds, the delicate crackling of a coconut shell fire. As the purple-blue evening gave way to night, Alson’s father would tell his son to close his eyes. And then he would tell stories—stories about sailing, about flying on the wind, about the triumph of surviving long and difficult journeys.

The Marshallese are quite possibly the best voyagers in the world. The Pacific island nation they call home is more than 4,000 kilometers from the nearest continent; a smattering of land scattered over nearly 2 million square kilometers of ocean. Yet even though the Marshall Islands’ elevation averages just two meters above sea level, making it impossible to spot islands from a distance, Marshallese navigators routinely sailed hundreds of kilometers in dugout outrigger canoes, without a speck of land in sight. To navigate, they relied less on stars and more on the ocean itself.

For centuries, scientists ignored this indigenous knowledge, and it was nearly lost. But today, the Marshall Islands’ unique brand of navigation is gaining a foothold in Western science—and helping to launch a cultural revival at the time it’s needed most.

Continue reading →