"[D]eath is an unfortunate aspect of this work, but we hope to derive lots of information from it."

-
Scientist commenting on the death of a 405 year clam killed in the name of science. It is the oldest known animal on record. Or should that be was the oldest known animal? Either way, it is little consolation to the clam.

You can read the article here

Comments

Barbara said…
I can imagine nothing more boring than living at the bottom of the ocean for 405 years. But then I'm not a clam.
November 01, 2007 4:20 PM
Tena Russ said…
Happy first day of NaMoBloPo!
November 01, 2007 4:37 PM
Mother of Invention said…
I suppose if they had asked the poor thing his last wish he'd have just clammed up anyway! HA!
November 01, 2007 6:03 PM
B said…
I cannot remember what I was going to say in this comment as soon as I read MOI's comment and started laughing! :)
November 01, 2007 9:34 PM
Richard said…
barbara: I'm sure the clam thought the same way about attending concerts and dinner parties.

tena: thanks. So far, I am on a roll!

MOI: how very droll.

breal: that's me straight man to the world.
November 02, 2007 9:08 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese Wisdom Concerning Money

-
[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO ...
Read more

Why you should regularly visit your dentist.

-
I hadn't been to my dentist since May-2004 (normally I went on weekends, but since Sofia and the kids moved to Montreal, I am not in Ottawa on the weekends). Last night, as I was munching on some cashews, I felt a pain in one of my molars and then some grit in my mouth. I went and washed it out, assuming that maybe there had been a stone or something amount the cashews. Turns out I noticed a hole in the surface of the molar (top right, second from the back, my wisdom teeth were removed years ago). Fishing around for grit in my mouth, it looked like crumbled filling. So I assumed that my filling had cracked and crumbled and come out. Went to the dentist this morning, he took an x-ray and came back with bad news. I have a large cavity under the filling, which gave way. The filling did not fall out, but rather impacted into the space of the cavity. He did not rework the filling, since the cavity is very near the root - cleaning it out would likely result in exposing the root. As some...
Read more

Chicken Menses

-
Image
A friend of mine is an ovo-lactic vegetarian. This means that in addition to the plant matter he consumes, he also consumes dairy products and eggs. Dairy products I can accept, but eggs? … hmm, I wasn’t so sure - it sounds a bit like those vegetarians who say they eat chicken and fish. After all, the egg is an animal product. His answer was simple and satisfying, "Eggs are chicken menses. The hen will produce an egg whether she is fertilized or not. Unfertilized eggs are the discarded products of ovulation akin to menses in mammals." Image grabbed from here .
Read more