Ancient anatomists knew about the pancreas. Still, they didn't know what the organ was for- maybe it was just padding between other organs. German anatomist Johann Wirsung made a discovery about the inner workings of the pancreas, and he was shot and killed for his efforts!
But that was not the last of the violence involving research on the pancreas. As medical science advanced, we learned that the pancreas secreted digestive fluids that contained insulin, necessary for regulating carbohydrates in the body. Could we make insulin ourselves to help people with diabetes? Yes, but it would take a team of great minds to accomplish that, and those minds did not get along. Over hundreds of years, scientists studying the pancreas fought over who would get credit for medical breakthrough, leaving the pancreas with a soap opera of human egos surrounding it.
Tuesday, March 03, 2026
Murder Over Pancreatic Research
I Went Golfing with Alice Cooper
In the 1970s, Alice Cooper burst onto the scene with his shock rock about not liking school and not being a nice guy. He wore creepy makeup, brought snakes onstage, and worst of all, he had a woman's name! It was cool to like Cooper because it was subversive, but the songs were good, too. Some years later, it became clear that he was a serious musician who had a great hook for the time, and was a regular guy underneath the makeup. When he made enough money to move to a ritzy neighborhood, he became great friends and played golf with neighbors like Groucho Marx and Glen Campbell.
Mike Erskine-Kellie relates a golf outing in this animation from the view of a cranky old man who still sees Cooper as the demon singer that first grabbed the spotlight. Contains some NSFW language. (via Nag on the Lake)
Death Toll
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Most of these deaths are easy to ignore because they aren't Americans, but you'll never convince me that God loves them any less than He loves me and my people, or that these people love their children any less than I love mine. Meanwhile, Trump launched the war in the middle of a fundraising gala at Mar-a-Lago. Things are not going to get better from here.
Unheard of Instruments in the Saxophone Family
Have you ever seen a slide saxophone? Or a Conn-o-sax? Those are just a few of the rare saxophones in the collection of Dr. Paul Cohen, who plays, writes about, and collects unusual saxophones. Here he gives a tour of his instruments to saxophone players from the United States Army Field Band. The saxes range from tiny little things to the huge 6.5-foot contrabass sax that will make your chest rattle. Dr. Cohen even has some custom-made and one-of-a-kind instruments, such as the saxophone with no keys that you play in the manner of a bugle. You could make an entire band out of saxophones! (via Metafilter)
Kindergarten Weather Report
Carden Corts got a kindergarten assignment to make a weather forecast video. His dad, Charlie Corts, who works in video production, helped a little. It's adorable, but wait until the subject shifts to spring break for things to really heat up! Kindergarten teachers don't grade on a curve, do they? Even without the awesome video effects, six-year-old Carden does a great job doing the weather. That kid is going places. Like reddit, where his uncle posted this video.
Deflection
(cartoon Michael de Adder) #trump #iran #epstein
— Wolf Hour (@wolfhour.bsky.social) March 1, 2026 at 11:05 AM
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Monday, March 02, 2026
Some More Bagpipe Music
You know I love me some pipes. Here are The Red Hot Chilli Pipers doing Queen.
A Coincidental Homeowner
Among the big names of the American Civil War, Wilmer McLean is pretty far down the list. You might not have ever heard of him. But his presence is found in the geography of the war. McLean was a wealthy man, with a grocery store, a plantation, and a family. He was a staunch advocate for the Confederacy, and volunteered his home in Manassas, Virginia, on the banks of Bull Run Creek, as Confederate headquarters. You can guess what happened there- twice. McLean and his family bugged out twice while their home and property were ravaged in battle.
After the second battle, McLean moved his family to a safer spot, in a village called Appomattox Court House. There, he once again learned what having the nicest house in town will get you. Weird History tells us of McLean's somewhat coincidental role in the Civil War.
Miss Cellania's Links
There are no psychopaths. Virtually everything you think you know about psychopathy has been thoroughly debunked. (via Damn Interesting)
When cats hear the automatic feeder. Turn the sound on.
"What’s The Ugliest Statue In Your Country?"
Former MAGA Supporters Are Sharing The “Wake-Up Calls” That Finally Made Them Leave, And It's Incredibly Eye-Opening.
Women's Clothing Sizes are Crazy- Here are the Depressing Details. (via Metafilter)
Frederic Tudor, the Ice King of Boston. He grew rich by shipping ice to India.
Iron Age Surgeons Fixed a Woman’s Shattered Jaw With Primitive Prosthetic—and She Survived. (via Strange Company)
After a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and taken from Spain to Bolivia, authorities feared the worst. They found her in the rainforest nine months later – but that wasn’t the end of her ordeal. (via Damn Interesting)
Ha! Ha! Ha!
A 1934 short supposedly banned due to drug use, where Betty Boop and everyone else partakes in laughing gas. Everyone today knows that stuff is way too expensive.
Dodged a Bullet
Morning.
— Frostbitten Flamingo (@flemtheparrot.bsky.social) March 1, 2026 at 12:57 AM
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Sunday, March 01, 2026
Where Eggs Come From
Where do the eggs in your refrigerator come from? The supermarket, of course! But before that, they come from chickens. Sure, you already knew that, but you've probably never thought about how a chicken makes the egg, and how they manage to do it almost every day for months at a time. What goes on inside a hen in order to lay an egg every day is astonishing.
Egg production is managed differently depending on whether you want eggs for the breakfast table or chicks. If you don't gather eggs every day, a hen ends up with several eggs, and stops producing them in order to keep them warm for hatching. For this, you'll need a rooster. But if you only have hens, and take their egg every day, they'll keep laying them as long as they have the proper nutrition and the proper stimulation- which is not a rooster, but sunlight!
