All Entomologists are serial killers. We even keep trophies of our victims.
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-g4ham-a8ca8d
I was recently asked to give a talk to some high school students about possible careers in the sciences. Specifically, Entomology and related areas. I had my not-so-trusty phone with me and was able to record my presentation. I hope you enjoy.
New Episodes Coming Soon!
Music: The Underscore Orkestra
Bugs Blood and Bones
Find the podcast on iTunes, Google or wherever the heck else podcasts live.
What demon monsters will we be talking about this time!?!
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-qzwbv-90068c
In todays episode of random thoughts of entomo-interest, I was philosophical about the implications of the arthropod pet trade, whether the beetle will win or my cats, and what that might mean for the smaller infestations that crop up along the way.
Stay tuned to the very end for a brief snippet of what is to come in future episodes!
Please check out the Underscore Orkestra, an amazing group deserving of all of our praise.
New Jersey Dept. of Ag Info on H. longicornis
NYT Article Mentioned That Python in the Pet Store May Have Been Snatched From The Wild
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-r6by9-8f0893
If you were to conduct a random sampling of entomologists, you would find that there are a number of issues in which we firmly divide ourselves when it comes to important, life decisions.
What are the best IPM methods?
Who is better: The Beatles of The Scorpions?
Would you be willing to host a bot fly in your body? You know, for science.
And would you eat a bug? And it’s here that we land today. So let’s dig in, and get a taste of the history of insect eating. Some pros, cons. and downright weird.
Further Reading:
A Brief History of Entomophagy
The Natural History of Cheese Mites
7 Upscale Insect Dishes From Around the World
The 1903 Cheese Mites Film History
Nutritional Value of Insects from Around the World
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gre7k-8e22bf
**Re-Upload…I have the editing skills of Keyboard Cat. Errors had to be fixed**
Well hello again! Today we have the final half of my interview with Chris about Smallpox, Ebola, and the realities of being an epidemiologist. Tl;Dr – All guts, no glory, but a cool story to tell. Epidemiology is a fascinating field where disease, culture, and history all converge and inform the decisions of the present and the future.
Get in touch with Chris von Csefalvay through his Website Here or through his Twitter @chrisvcsefalvay
Some recommendations from the podcast are
The Imortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
I also found myself thinking about this great video by Caitlin Doughty about Ebola, Death, and Death Customs.
Show Music: Underscore Orkestra ….Go get their music HERE!
If there’s one thing that I took away from this conversation it was Love the One You’re With.
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-bkrzs-8dabea
Part one of my chat with Chris von Csefalvay about his work in computational epidemiology where he focuses on most of the really nasty diseases. So strap on in for a different kind of bloody, buggy goodness.
Check out his epidemiology and food blog and find him in Twitter @chrisvcsefalvay.
Part Two will come out next week! That’s right! Instead of the standard every other week ( once a fortnight!) you, lovely listeners, will get three weeks of content! Cranking out the gross goodness.
Find me on Facebook at Bugs Blood and Bones, and Twitter @bugwitch. Email: BugsBloodandBones@gmail.com.
Music: Underscore Orkestra
Yesterday I posted about my first close encounter (har har) with invertebrates on The X-Files. Ice (S1 E8) is a great episode that should be on everyone’s list of must see episodes. But season one isn’t done with us just yet. There is still some buggy goodness to be found in the spooky stories to be told. In fact, there are two episodes for me to elaborate upon…well, three but that last one doesn’t count…sort of.
Next up…
The X-Files: Season 1: Episode 18: Miracle Man
Basic Premise: People died! Mulder & Scully to investigate! This time it’s a faith healing teen and his preacher dad in the middle of it. Was someone murdered? Who did it? Where’s the healer kid? WTF is going on!?!
This episode doesn’t really focus on bugs really, but they do play a small part. While in court, the room is swarmed with grasshoppers. There is a shot of the judge being swarmed by grasshoppers as well as a nice pile of crickets on his desk. Cut to the courtroom and its filled with some real and many CGI swarming grasshoppers. This is meant to serve as a representation of one of the 10 plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament. In fact the next scene is Mulder reading the passage to Scully. Surprise! She was raised Catholic and knows all about locusts and plagues. But did-ya-know that the grasshoppers that were swarming were the only ‘locusts’ in that courtroom? Crickets are not locusts. And for you Mid-Westerners out there, Cicadas are not locusts either.
The Science of the Episode: The insects themselves don’t play any real part in the underlying plot but they are instrumental in moving it along and ultimately solving the crime. The ultimate logic (again, avoiding too many spoilers) is the insects were lured into the courtroom for nefarious purposes. Not, as divine retribution as is initially believed. The items used to lure the critters in I doubt would do the trick, but the premise is solid. Given the right conditions they could have been coaxed in there. Good job writers!
This was another great episode as it begins to build some in depth back story for Mulder (beyond basic exposition) and is more Law & Order-like, than Unsolved Mysteries. It actually feels more like an episode of Scooby Doo for grown ups with some elements of supernatural woo. But not too much. The elements of woo are minimal and can be explained logically within the framework of the episode. I love that about the first few seasons of the show. Overall, a good episode, not the greatest but I do enjoy it. It’s in my top 10 for the season.
The next episode to feature creepy crawlies has been one of my favorites of the whole series. I want to give it its own post so I’ll hold off on that until tomorrow. So I’m going to skip and make a brief mention about the fourth arthropod-related reference in season one.
Season 1 Episode 21: Tooms
I won’t go into the plot because it has nothing to do with bugs. Not one bit. It does have to do with a creepy Captain Fantastic-like man who eats human liver. No word on the inclusion of fava beans and a nice Chianti though.
So, where does the bug reference come into play? A nicely built up scene where Mulder sleeps on his couch while Tooms is slowly sneaking into his apartment. Why was Mulder on the couch? As far as we know he doesn’t acquire an actual bed until many seasons into the show…but I digress. This great scene, were we anxiously await to see if Mulder will wake up in time to thwart Tooms is juxtaposed by a scene from a classic science fiction film playing on the TV. That’s right. It’s the original The Fly.
That’s it. See you next season.
Heyloo there everyone. If you haven’t noticed, I know a bit about bugs. I also happen to be an arachnophobe. Yup. I’m not the only one either; and am looking to get some insight into the minds of my fellow humans. I’m curious about what it is about critters that makes us afraid or just uncomfortable. So I created an impromptu survey in hopes of letting you all speak your minds.
The first link below is to the survey itself. At the end of that are links to the photo surveys if you wish to add your impressions of those. The photo surveys are split in two because Survey Monkey only let’s me use 10 questions per survey.
Thanks for your help everyone!
Actual survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W8KRHKB
Photo Survey p1: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WKZX72L
Photo Survey p2: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WKT6S5G
The other day I spent some of my morning playing around on the Book of Face when it seemed everyone was going bonkers. Not only had the OSU Buckeyes lost but apparently someone figured out who Jack the Ripper was. And they used SCIENCE to figure it out! Wow! Needless to say I was very excited. As a history nut and a science junkie I couldn’t wait to see how they did it. And then I read the news about it and became sad.
I would like to start out stating that I am NOT a Ripperologist. I didn’t even know that was a word until learning about it watching the show Whitechapel. Why am I stating this right off the bat? Because it seems part of the marketing campaign for this book has included an automatic jab at anyone who will dissent in its findings. Claiming that Ripperologists will not accept the conclusions because they have a financial stake in the matter. I’d wager that they are actually seeing a nice influx of income at the moment thanks to this book. Regardless of their perspective on its conclusions.
The basics are this: DNA was found on a scarf which had belonged to Miss Eddowes, the 4th apparent victim of Jack the Ripper. According to the news reports and this video, her DNA from blood and organ fluids was found as well as his DNA. **I may have missed it but it seems to be implied that his DNA was recovered from semen stains?** These were traced to modern descendents and relatives of the individuals to confirm not only the identity of Eddowes but also of a man named Aaron Kosminski. Mr. Kosminski had been considered a suspect at the time but was not held or tried. Many people were considered suspects at the time. The presence of his DNA is touted as “proof” that he killed this woman, and therefore is Jack the Ripper. I have a few thoughts about this…
They used Mitochondrial DNA for their work and this is great for molecular analysis. It doesn’t change much over time (i.e. little genetic variation) which is why it’s been so useful for looking into our ancestral roots. That’s great! You can look at the mtDNA and figure out who is related to who. .
But here’s where I would like to address a few concerns. Let’s break down a few of my problems with what I’ve read about the matter thus far:
DNA degrades over time. The DNA that would have been available for analysis was likely in poor shape. Yes, there are methods of analyses which allow for testing of older and degraded samples, but it can increase the amount of error observed. DNA from far older sources has been used to great effect in other fields such as archaeology, but this is always a point that never seems to be brought up.
It’s a big assumption that the presence of his alleged DNA on the scarf is only indicative that he came into contact with the scarf. How do we know it occurred during the time of the killing? Did they know each other? Those who are more familiar with Ripper lore than I may know some answers to these questions.
Chain of custody issues aside, it’s difficult to make a solid determination and certainly not possible to “prove” that Aaron Kosminski murdered this woman. We certainly cannot conclude that, even if he did murder Miss Eddowes, that he also murdered the other women as well.
Mr. Kosminski may have been admitted to a “string of lunatic asylums” but this is hardly evidence against him. Admitting criteria were far different back then. Someone with a trisomy disorder (Down Syndrome, etc) would have been held.
Granted, I have not read the actual book as it has yet to be released and many of my doubts and concerns may very well be addressed within its pages. However, I do proceed with a large amount of skepticism.
Don’t get me wrong. I find this fascinating and I look forward to checking the book out from the library when it is released. This sort of thing really excites me and I just absolutely love it. But, as I’ve learned over the years, by bringing science to the pop culture realm, we lose sight of some of the basic scientific principles we operate by.
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