greygirlbeast | Nite Science Grab Bag

First, I figure everyone's already heard about the upcoming asteroid near-miss, and how over at the head temple of the Immaculate Order of the Falling Sky we've all been gnashing our teeth, but I thought I'd mention it, anyway.

Also, it turns out that African naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) are not only "cold-blooded" mammals, they are incapable of feelings various sorts of pain.

Some scientists are calling for the designation of a new geological epoch, the "Anthropocene." Currently, the Neogene Period is subdivided into three epochs: the Pliocene (5.332 million to 1.806 mybp), Pleistocene (1,808,000 to 11,550 BP), and the Holocene (beginning 11,550 calendar years BP, or about 9600 BC). "The Anthropocene could be said to have started in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when analyses of air trapped in polar ice showed the beginning of growing global concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane. This date also happens to coincide with James Watt's design of the steam engine in 1784."

And finally, just to show that human depravity really is a bottomless fucking pit, 53 sea lions (including 13 pups) have been found massacred in the Galapagos. Their skulls were crushed. They were not skinned. No organs, other meat, or bones were taken. They were simply murdered. Anthropocene, indeed.