Thursday Things: Didn't See It Coming Edition
8 April 2021. Vol 3 No 14 By Dan McGirt. #87
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You see mushrooms in the forest. I see a nice leather jacket! Photo by Dorothea OLDANI on Unsplash
Things I did not see coming: mushroom leather. Stella McCartney shows off the world's first clothes made from mushroom leather
Stella McCartney is today showing off its first set of clothes made from a new form of artificial leather; Mylo’s Unleather, a mycelium leather created by startup Bolt Threads. The material, culled from the root system of fungi, promises to behave, and look, like animal leather, with a fraction of the environmental cost.
Narcissism is a real thing, but it seems to me from the media and online discussions that the reported supply greatly exceeds the actual number of narcissists in the world. I got curious this week and looked that up. Turns out I was right. Because I always am. Because I am awesome. Meet the Real Narcissists (They're Not What You Think)
The term narcissist has been widely deployed to describe not only a passel of difficult relatives and regretted exes, but also both nominees for president and the entire generation known as Millennials. Is narcissism really so widespread or on the rise in the general population?
A growing consensus among psychologists says no, it isn't. True pathological narcissism has always been rare and remains so: It affects an estimated 1 percent of the population, and that prevalence hasn't changed demonstrably since clinicians started measuring it.
To summarize the article, “Narcissism is a trait each of us exhibits to a greater or lesser degree” but a clinical diagnosis of pathological narcissism, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, is rare. Sources vary on the estimated prevalence, but it is tiny. I know you want to thank me for this information, so go ahead and thank me. I deserve it.
Things I did not see coming: Scientists show you can collect DNA from the air
Scientists and investigators might not need to scoop up DNA from surfaces in the future. According to Science Focus, researchers at the Queen Mary University of London have shown that you can collect "environmental DNA" (eDNA) from the air.
Well, that’s pretty wild. What can you do with this?
Lead author Dr. Elizabeth Claire said the work was originally meant to help conservationists and ecologists study biological environments. With enough development, though, it could be used for considerably more. Forensics units could pluck DNA from the air to determine if a suspect had been present at the scene of a crime. It might also be useful in medicine — virologists and epidemiologists could understand how airborne viruses (like the one behind COVID-19) spread.
Things just keep getting weirder and weirder. Do we now need to worry about the DNA trail we’re leaving everywhere? Probably not — they’re already tracking through our phones, right?
In Soviet Russia, ring wears you. Soviet TV version of Lord of the Rings rediscovered after 30 years
A Soviet television adaptation of The Lord of the Rings thought to have been lost to time was rediscovered and posted on YouTube last week, delighting Russian-language fans of JRR Tolkien.
The 1991 made-for-TV film, Khraniteli, based on Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, is the only adaptation of his Lord of the Rings trilogy believed to have been made in the Soviet Union.
Top Things To Do In Georgia Georgia just dropped most of its remaining Covid-related restrictions on businesses and gatherings, and spring is here, so now is a great time to visit the Peach State! Here are lots of fun trip ideas to help you explore Georgia: Georgia Trip Ideas.
And if you want a more eclectic list of cool and unusual things to do in Georgia, Atlas Obscura has you covered: 43 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Georgia
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