Welcome back and thanks for reading today. I have seven more fun and STEM links. One is about a feral child, Kasper Hauser, and the mystery of his origin. Recent DNA analysis shows one possible solution is incorrect and leaves his mystery intact. Other links explore the reasons Neanderthals died out and how sea otters use their pockets to store rocks. And a link to the history of peanut butter, in case you wondered. Plus how scientists are learning what birds really talk about.
A cave in France is revealing how the Neanderthals died out
Download a 417-Megapixel Panorama of the Andromeda Galaxy—A Decade-Long NASA Project in the Making
Sea otters have a favorite rock that they keep in a fur pocket under their arms. They have a clever reason for it.
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/sea-otters-favorite-rock/
The most famous mystery science might never solve
https://www.popsci.com/science/kasper-hauser-mystery-video/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser
This New Technique Slashes AI Energy Use by 95%
https://decrypt.co/285154/new-technique-slashes-ai-energy
How Scientists Started to Decode Birdsong
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/21/how-scientists-started-to-decode-birdsong
A Brief History of Peanut Butter
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/brief-history-peanut-butter-180976525/
Next Week
The next Wednesday email has fun STEM stories about how telescopes work, how to search online, whale poop, why tomatoes don’t kill you, what plants need to survives, and more. Plus, it answers the question, “how many dogs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” The answer depends on your breed of dog. The Wednesday emails also now have a new STEM Bits & Bytes section that makes for a faster read that’s also got the usual detailed links I’ve researched.