Absolutely Wild Headlines You Didn't Hear About, Round 4
Polar Bear Jail, What Tattoos Do To Your Immune System, Can Dyslexia Change In Other Languages?
Hey everyone, it’s me, Helen! If you’ve been too busy to keep up with all that’s wacky in the news, I’ve got you. Let’s kick things off with a wildlife story. But first! Subscribe! I’d love to see you here regularly!
Inside Canada’s Polar Bear Jail
In today’s entry of “Humans Are The Worst,” inquisitive Canadian polar bears get chucked in the clink for getting too close for comfort to the denizens of Churchill, Manitoba, a sparsely settled town on the shores of icy Hudson Bay. The repeat bear offenders get thrown in the slammer to chill out.
“The jail environment teaches the animals that approaching humans results in a boring and annoying experience, not worth repeating. That’s why bears don’t get to do much in their cells,” writes Lina Zeldovich in Atlas Obscura. “They can perambulate back and forth among the cinderblocks or lounge on straw bedding or wood shavings. They can bang on the walls, which is usually a good sign, says Maclean…“But a bear that’s banging is usually a good, healthy bear.”
Wait? “A bear that’s banging is usually a good, healthy bear?” I’d venture this polar bear is hella pissed and she’s gonna mess you up bad when she gets out? That’s my take. I understand this is a step up from the not-so-old days where they would just shoot the polar bears dead, but I still find this strange. Read the whole article here.
“Tattoos Do Odd Things to The Immune System”
“When you stick ink-filled needles into your skin, your body’s defenders respond accordingly. Scientists aren’t sure if that’s good or bad for you,” reads the deck of this article in The Atlantic that you can read here.
Tattoo ink is “gulped down by immune cells such as skin-dwelling macrophages and can transform into a microscopic version of gum,” writes Katherine J. Wu. “The pigment particles lodge themselves inside macrophages’ innards, refusing to be broken down. When ink is visible at the surface of the body, it’s not just interlaced among skin cells—it’s shining out from the bellies of macrophages that can’t digest it,” Wu writes.
Ok, so is this good or bad? Sounds like it might be somewhat good for your immune system.
“Individuals who frequently get tattoos appear to have higher levels of certain immune molecules, including antibodies, in their blood than people who rarely get inked (at least for a brief time),” writes Wu.
Perhaps frequent tattooing gives the immune system a regular, low-intensity workout, is the speculation. I actually have a few tattoos as a result of cancer reconstruction surgery and radiation treatment (they use small dot tattoos to outline the radiation field). They haven’t seemed to help my immune system, but it’s never too late to get a tramp stamp, right?
“Why You Should Completely Wipe Your Phone Every Few Months”
This Popular Mechanics article you can read here gives you the details on how to wipe your iPhone nearly back to factory settings. The why was a bit light on this post though, so let me sum it up for you. Wipe your phone so it works a little better, and you’re forced to add back only the apps you really need or love.
The idea of doing this makes me want to pull out my hair…I mean, I have to make dinner and clean the lint out of the dryer trap right now, so who has time for this? However, I know that one thing you should do to your phone is turn it off and turn it on completely every now and again, which can help stop your phone being hacked.
“Dyslexia Changes In Other Languages”
English is some bullshit when it comes to spelling, I think we all know that the first time we mixed up their and there in Grade 2. I’ve learned Italian, German and French and I have a little bit to say on this subject.
Italian—the easiest for spelling. It’s almost perfectly phonetic, except for a few rules especially concerning the letter C. (One that trips up English speakers is that“ch” makes a K sound: like bruschetta which is pronounced brusketta). There are not many silent letters I can think of. Even the word psychology (which has a silent P in English in Italian is “psicologia” and is literally pronounced psee-co-lo-gia.
German—Not so bad spelling wise but a few places to trip up exist. For example, there are some double nns, and LOTS of compound words (for example: Kindergarten, kid-garden, is a loaner word from German). However, unlike the other languages I’ve learned, German has a truly confounding grammar structure with the verb coming at the end of the sentence.
French—Also pretty bad for spelling with lots of silent letters in things like eau versus eaux. You need to memorize heavily, and if you find English spelling easy you’ll probably be awesome at French spelling too. Spanish is much easier.
English—THE WORST. It’s like a joke language, frankly. English spelling is all about flexing your memory, and constantly contextualizing words.
Dyslexia is not so simple as not being able to spell and read well, but it is linked with spelling difficulties. Thus, given the above, not to even mention other languages beyond the Indo-European branch, it’s not surprising that dyslexia shows up differently in other languages. And also that English is kinda the worst for young kids. This BBC article says:
“A study comparing children learning to read in English, Spanish and Czech found that reading skills in the latter two languages soared soon after the start of instruction, while the English-speaking children progressed more slowly,” writes Sophie Hardach in this article.
“Paleo and keto diets aren’t great for you or the planet, study says”
Ah yes, another entry from the metal cabinet filed under “No Shit, Sherlock.” Paleo and keto are hard on the earth. Read the Popular Science article here, but the bottom line is mainlining meat all day erryday is a big drag for the planet. But hey, can I put a bug in your ear to think about intuitive eating? I’m telling you, it’s the only way to go. You can read my past article “The Truth About Intuitive Eating: My Anti-Diet Story.”
Well alright my friends, hope that was fun and that you learned something!
Warmly,
Helen
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