New quiz, old quiz, poisons, sunflower explosion, & chemical mystery

 

1. NEW QUIZ

This morning's relentless mantra:
Malacothamnus, malacothamnus, malacothamnus, malacothamnus...

Apparently, drinking coffee in a relaxed fashion, listening to birdies cheerfully greet the sun, is not enough. I must have a look-this-up-or-I-will-annoy-you-to-death vocabulary alarm in my brain.

So, that's the new quiz: what is malacothamnus (without looking it up)?

Per usual, creative I-have-no-idea guesses are appreciated, as well as studly-spot-on-I-totally-know-this answers. =)

I looked it up, and now I understand why my brain sent me this, given what I saw yesterday...

2. OLD QUIZ

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster

toxophilite: a person fond of or expert at archery

— toxophilite adjective
— tox·oph·i·ly noun

Origin of TOXOPHILITE
Greek toxon bow, arrow + philos dear, loving
First Known Use: 1794

Hence:

The file name for this shot is in German, but includes "Tibetexpedition_Volksfest_Bogunschu" So, I'm thinking it's a folk festival including (or all about??) Tibetan folks, and it's an archery (Bogunschu) competition or demonstration.

In other words, that place was likely rich in toxophilites, in both senses of the word. =)

There are lots of things I love about this photograph, but one is comparing where he is looking vs. where his arrow is pointed; he is accounting for gravity. So cool.

Maybe during my new archery adventures, I'll start to get a feel for that sort of adjustment.

And I want one of those things for my thumb--I'm guessing it helps hold the string until you are ready to let loose.

I discovered this word because I actually wondered if there were some cool archery-specific terms. It just seemed like there had to be. And, apparently, there are. =)

VOCABULARY QUIZ WINNERS -- WOO HOO!

Correct Answers

 
The answer that made me, biology-chick, swoon (and laugh), was from Snail:
"Something to do with archery? Amirite? I'm trotting this out because the archerfish here are in the genus Toxotes and that's close enough for me. (The common mangrove species is Toxotes jaculatrix. I have no opinion about that name.)"

And from CP: delightfully, pointedly vague =) :
"Does it have something to do with a person who launches pointy things with a bent stick and some string (more or less)?"

Delightful Guesses

Mainly mongoose: "This one's new to me. My guess: a toxophilite is a person who's irresistably drawn to things that are harmful (e.g. snake enthusiasts)."

Jodi: "Someone who willingly imbibes poisons, but really, only a little at a time. 'I'll have an Amanita Lite, please-- I'm on a diet.' "

=) See why I LOVE my blog readers? =)

And I agree, toxophilite sounds like someone who dearly loves poisons.

Speaking of...

3. POISONS

The new book I'm currently reading
made our friends nervous when they saw I was reading it,
'cause they love my husband.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum.

It's not what you think. =)

The subtitle explains it: Murder and the
Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York.

Photo from Amazon.com.

btw, I bought it, so this is not a paid-by-freebie-book review.

In fact, it's not a review at all.

It's a super interesting mix of evil doers, chemical and biological/medical invention to try and foil them, and the interplay of historical happenstance.

And there are practical, take-home lessons, like "Never, ever drink wood alcohol."

4. SUNFLOWER EXPLOSION

5. CHEMICAL MYSTERY

I steamed a batch of just-picked green beans last night.
Left the lid on the pot overnight.
And this is what I found this morning.

Why is it this amazing shade of orange??

If you know, feel free to share.
I bet my mom (chemist) knows...

xoxobb

duct tape, spider, Pepe, bombardier beetle blast & tragi-comic warnings

 
In order:

1. desperately want to duct tape my forearms to take the 1000 tiny barbs out of my arms.

It's okay if I lose hair.

Just did some spontaneous weeding, and while pulling (yes, KILLING) the oh-so-heinous stick tights, I was attacked. (stick tights, a.k.a. Torilis arvensis--don't let the mild photographs on that site fool you, this creature is a GIANT PAIN. Better shots re: heinos-ity, here (scroll down to red "Additional Hitchhiking Plants.")).

So, now their TINY TINY TINY little barbed spines are all over my arms and pretty much invisible.

Their presence, however, is clearly indicated by the stinging itching and red of my forearms. I will spare you the photographic proof.

WHEE!

(p.s. 30 min. later and a few cold water soapy washes and some packing tape press 'n' peel action, feeling ALL better. p.p.s. days later, now, all better, but am a more careful picker of same so, yet again, a PLANT has influenced MY oh-so-superior human behavior. =) )

2. huge spider from last night, lumbering across the wall. Is it possible it's a pregnant female? Her abdomen is HUGE.

Any one of you entomological folks out there know who that is?

While giant, she is kinda glossy...

And this one was without the flash,

so due to darkness & bb's shakiness, turned into abstract art.

3. Pepe or Pepette walked through again last night.

Here's evidence from 6/5 of someone new in the neighborhood.

Clearly, a nose poking through the grass,

digging up dirt 4 snax.

I learned through my thesis research that skunks eat more mice

than any other (local) creature does. Who knew?

(p.s. SO don't have a citation for that, sorry...)

And here's evidence of my photographic prowess. AWEsome. =)

=) Okay. So, if you look at the furthest left fence post, and go down and slightly to the left, kinda in the first blonde vs. light green grass, you MAY see an arc of dark around light.

That's my striped skunk's tail. Hind end.

CALL me a weenie.

However,  I neither wanted to disturb nor inspire-to-spray it.Got a good look moments earlier mildly walking past my porch, in a skunk's characteristic, unhurried way.

Kinda makes you wonder why this super stinky defense is not more common. It's SO effective!

4. I realize, however, that the bombardier beetle has taken chemical defense to another level, as our beloved David A. relates during this amazing footage. Gotta love The Big DA.

The b-beetle's defense is boiling caustic liquid.

 

Boiling caustic liquid.

Sometimes I just like to look up words to be sure I understand the full measure of their meaning.

Even if, as in this case, I have a strong, general idea. After all, I did minor in organic chemistry.*

Boiling, we get.

Boiling HURTS us and other things used to a similar temperature range. Burns & scars skin.

caustic (Wiki):

Causticity, the property of a substance that causes corrosion.

Okay, so then what does corrosion mean, for reals?

Corrosive (Wiki):

A corrosive substance is one that will destroy or irreversibly damage another surface or substance with which it comes into contact. [emphasis added]

Okay, THAT lays it out nice and clear.

liquid I am confident we are quite clear on.

The bonus re: bombardier beetle is it's AIMED at you and spraying in rapid pulses.

wow.

5. Here's the heartwarming sign which one uses to indicate contents are corrosive:

LOVE signs like this.

This reminds me of the don't feed the squirrels sign I've seen in parks which cracks me up. It shows a person's hand, presenting peanuts-in-the-shell to the squirrel, and the squirrel has grabbed one of the person's fingers which is very similarly shaped...

LOVE it. I can even tell you where in Yosemite one is, or at least used to be. And how it's been embellished...

Anyhow, that's enough for today!!!

FYI: Photo quiz was answered correctly by 2 ladies 

(WOO WOO!!! Honk Honk!! Nice work!!!)

check out the comments below that post.

xoxobb

PS Did fieldwork 2 days last week, then traveled to wedding reception, so this was delayed...

*Really, I feel that all I remember is that H2SO4 (NOT an organic chemical) is VERY REACTIVE SO BE CAREFUL was the message in chem lab. Remember, sulfuric acid is created when you get gassed by cutting onions: posted on this INSANE plant defense and the goddess Julia Child earlier.