Thursday Things: Pluto Week
20 February 2020. Vol 2 No 8. By Dan McGirt. #28
Welcome to Thursday Things! This week we honor a much maligned planet, with our special guests venomous snakes and the Ebola virus. Read on!
Pluto Forever! Photo: NASA
On February 18, 1930, American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, still the 9th planet of our solar system, no matter what the haters say. This isn’t Tuesday Things, so I didn’t sent a notice on Pluto Day, but Pluto deserves a whole week, so Happy Pluto Week!
Speaking of the underworld, a recently unearthed tomb in the Roman forum may be the burial place of city’s founder Romulus:
A shrine dedicated to the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus, has been discovered after archaeologists excavated the Roman Forum and stumbled upon the discovery.
The shrine includes an underground chamber containing a 55-inch sarcophagus, and what experts believe may be an altar. The sarcophagus dates to the 6th century B.C., according to experts.
"This is an extraordinary discovery," Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, told The Times of London. "The forum never ceases to yield amazing fresh treasures."
Things that are bad for you, possibly even fatal, such as the Ebola virus or viper venom, can also be very beneficial, even life-saving, when the right kind of human ingenuity is applied. See the next two items…
Ebola Could be Ally in Fight against Brain Cancer
researchers at Yale University have released new preclinical data showing that one of the world’s deadliest viruses can be used to fight brain tumors. The researchers—showing that elements of the Ebola virus were effective at treating glioblastoma in mice—published their data recently in the Journal of Virology through an article entitled “Mucin-like domain of Ebola virus glycoprotein enhances selective oncolytic actions against brain tumors.” item
Could Snake Venom Cure Cancer? Colorado Scientists Say Research Suggests So. Snakes may be the Snapes of the animal world…
A team of scientists at the University of Northern Colorado believe venom from venomous snakes could carry the cure to cancer. Dr. Stephen Mackessy, professor at UNC’s School of Biology, says studies show venoms in different snakes can attack human cancer cells in unique ways.
Best line in the article: “Killing the cancer with venom isn’t hard. It’s not killing the patient at the same time that’s the challenge.”
These are two good example of why we should be humble about our present understanding of how the world works and do our best to be good stewards of the Earth and all that is in it. Because you never know when that deadly virus or deadly snake or that innocuous rare vine you just obliterated to make a parking lot might hold the key to making life better. There is a long history of things that once seemed useless, even dangerous, that later proved to be valuable resources once we had a better understanding of what to do with them.
We close this week with The Oldest Song in the World.
In what is thought to be the oldest song ever created, a ‘sheet’ of music was discovered in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit and referenced back to around 3400 years ago.
Professor Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, who works as the curator at the Lowie Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley, spent fifteen years deciphering the clay tablets which were uncovered and excavated in Syria by French archaeologists in the early 1950s. The tablets, it has been confirmed, formed “a complete cult hymn and is the oldest preserved song with notation in the world.”
I’m sure you’ll agree its a catchy little tune!
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