The Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a species of crucial economic, agricultural, and environmental importance. Due to the activities of beekeepers it is now spread across the entire world, but its native range is large and diverse, spanning Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Including A. mellifera, 10 species of honeybee belonging to the genus Apis are generally recognized (Engel 1999; Arias and Sheppard 2005). Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear DNA and mitochondrial (mtDNA) markers strongly support clustering these into three distinct groups: cavity-nesting bees (A. mellifera, A. cerana, A. koschevnikovi, A. nulensis), giant bees (A. dorsata, A. laboriosa, A. binghami, A. nigrocincta), and dwarf bees (A. florea, A. andreniformis) (Arias and Sheppard 2005; Raffiudin and Crozier 2007) (Fig. 1A). Apart from A. mellifera all of these species are currently confined to Asia and the lineage that gave rise to extant A. mellifera represents an early split from other cavity-nesting bees, so it is most likely that A. mellifera can ultimately trace its origin to Asia.
Ahh, hadn't thought of that. It just stays at the "you are leaving ccom" screen for me. I copied the link and pasted in a new window and it downloaded fine. Thanks, Chris.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
I saw that article on a different outlet today, and laughed at the headline when I saw it was a juvenile squid; not quite colossal while yet being a colossal squid.
Check out one called Antiviral from 2012. With the way people are infatuated with celebrities and social media I can see something similar to this actually happening…if it isn’t already.
An Age of Extinction Is Coming. Here’s How to Survive.
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Ross Douthat
By Ross Douthat
Opinion Columnist
April 19, 2025
Every great technological change has a destructive shadow, whose depths swallow ways of life the new order renders obsolete. But the age of digital revolution — the time of the internet and the smartphone and the incipient era of artificial intelligence — threatens an especially comprehensive cull. It’s forcing the human race into what evolutionary biologists call a “bottleneck” — a period of rapid pressure that threatens cultures, customs and peoples with extinction.
When college students struggle to read passages longer than a phone-size paragraph and Hollywood struggles to compete with YouTube and TikTok, that’s the bottleneck putting the squeeze on traditional artistic forms like novels and movies.
When daily newspapers and mainline Protestant denominations and Elks Lodges fade into irrelevance, when sit-down restaurants and shopping malls and colleges begin to trace the same descending arc, that’s the bottleneck tightening around the old forms of suburban middle-class existence.
When moderates and centrists look around and wonder why the world isn’t going their way, why the future seems to belong to weird bespoke radicalisms, to Luigi Mangione admirers and World War II revisionists, that’s the bottleneck crushing the old forms of consensus politics, the low-key ways of relating to political debates.
Comments
The alligators in Massachusetts are among the most vicious in the world.
No, not insightful, Chris, I was teasing Shawn. Once in a while a released small pet is found often a caiman.
Yeah, mostly released pets that won't survive the winter.
https://www.greenmatters.com/news/why-are-honey-bees-dying
Commercial beekeepers report a 62% loss in the honey bee population.
I don't have problems, just more work to do.
See, this is the sort of thing I’m talking about. The bees are dying off because they are commercialized.
This right here sums it up….
Bullshít…they wouldn’t naturally be feeding from daikon radishes. Daikon are native to Eastern Asia not North America.
The Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a species of crucial economic, agricultural, and environmental importance. Due to the activities of beekeepers it is now spread across the entire world, but its native range is large and diverse, spanning Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Including A. mellifera, 10 species of honeybee belonging to the genus Apis are generally recognized (Engel 1999; Arias and Sheppard 2005). Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear DNA and mitochondrial (mtDNA) markers strongly support clustering these into three distinct groups: cavity-nesting bees (A. mellifera, A. cerana, A. koschevnikovi, A. nulensis), giant bees (A. dorsata, A. laboriosa, A. binghami, A. nigrocincta), and dwarf bees (A. florea, A. andreniformis) (Arias and Sheppard 2005; Raffiudin and Crozier 2007) (Fig. 1A). Apart from A. mellifera all of these species are currently confined to Asia and the lineage that gave rise to extant A. mellifera represents an early split from other cavity-nesting bees, so it is most likely that A. mellifera can ultimately trace its origin to Asia.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3433997/
We can trace our lineage back to Africa and the Middle East but that doesn’t mean that present day “us” can survive on what they did.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tennessee-coach-josh-heupel-addresses-qb-nico-iamaleavas-departure-no-one-is-bigger-than-the-program/
After a mediocre performance last season I’m glad to hear they moved forward.
Is his name really I AM A LEAVER?
Sure don't like the way the world is going.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/bots-now-make-up-the-majority-of-all-internet-traffic/ar-AA1CWQII
Tobacco Flavoring for Smoking Products
http://www.leffingwell.com/download/TobaccoFlavorBook.pdf
Link not working for me.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
It may ask you if you want to download the PDF depending on your browser settings.
Ahh, hadn't thought of that. It just stays at the "you are leaving ccom" screen for me. I copied the link and pasted in a new window and it downloaded fine. Thanks, Chris.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
https://apple.news/AG1-QcshsQMe9ebo3_ooyJw
I saw that article on a different outlet today, and laughed at the headline when I saw it was a juvenile squid; not quite colossal while yet being a colossal squid.
https://www.fooddive.com/news/from-prediction-production-timeline-cultivated-meat-industry/689441/
Yep, thinking I’m gonna have to expand on the variety of livestock around here.
Can't wait for Soylent Green?
Check out one called Antiviral from 2012. With the way people are infatuated with celebrities and social media I can see something similar to this actually happening…if it isn’t already.
>
>
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE !!!!
Az holes in the news:
https://www.wcvb.com/article/nails-falmouth-cape-cod-roads-under-tires/64522358
That's not very nice...
I'm quite certain none of us has done similar things in our misguided youth.
I hope you didn't find out about them the hard way, Edward.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
No, @ShawnOL. Saw the report on a Boston tv Web site.
An Age of Extinction Is Coming. Here’s How to Survive.
Listen to this article · 13:45 min Learn more
Share full article
1.2k
Ross Douthat
By Ross Douthat
Opinion Columnist
April 19, 2025
Every great technological change has a destructive shadow, whose depths swallow ways of life the new order renders obsolete. But the age of digital revolution — the time of the internet and the smartphone and the incipient era of artificial intelligence — threatens an especially comprehensive cull. It’s forcing the human race into what evolutionary biologists call a “bottleneck” — a period of rapid pressure that threatens cultures, customs and peoples with extinction.
When college students struggle to read passages longer than a phone-size paragraph and Hollywood struggles to compete with YouTube and TikTok, that’s the bottleneck putting the squeeze on traditional artistic forms like novels and movies.
When daily newspapers and mainline Protestant denominations and Elks Lodges fade into irrelevance, when sit-down restaurants and shopping malls and colleges begin to trace the same descending arc, that’s the bottleneck tightening around the old forms of suburban middle-class existence.
When moderates and centrists look around and wonder why the world isn’t going their way, why the future seems to belong to weird bespoke radicalisms, to Luigi Mangione admirers and World War II revisionists, that’s the bottleneck crushing the old forms of consensus politics, the low-key ways of relating to political debates.
More here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/opinion/extinction-technology-culture.html?unlocked_article_code=1.A08.ddnD.Q4NuT7mZoDcG&smid=url-share
Then there are these kids:
https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-win-earth-prize-built-salt-powered-refrigerator-2025-4
Finally something to look forward to...
https://newatlas.com/science/north-america-is-sinking-down-into-the-earths-mantle/
I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.
https://www.sustainability-times.com/in-depth/ai-singularity-shock-tech-titans-predict-unstoppable-intelligence-explosion-within-12-months-sparking-global-fear-and-frenzy/
https://archaeology.org/issues/march-april-2025/letters-from/on-the-origin-of-the-pork-taboo/