No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

tickettome

Just got done reading an interesting article about how language affects the way we think and perceive the world. There were some interesting examples. Like how in Spanish, the word bridge is masculine, while in German, it is feminine. So native speakers of these languages describe the same thing differently. Spanish speakers will comment on how strong or sturdy a bridge is, while German speakers will comment on how elegant or beautiful it is. Another example that blew my mind was the Guugu Yimithirr language. So, most languages, including English, use an egocentric type of directional language (turn right, left, behind, in front.) these directions are relative to you as a person. Well, the Guugu Yimithirr language uses fixed geographical directions (North, East, South, and West) no matter the context. If you were to put an English speaker and a Guugu Yimithirr speaker in the same hotel, and put them in rooms opposite sides of the hallway from each other, the English speaker will see the exact same room (that person will see the desk to the right of blah and the closet in front of blah) but the Guugu Yimithirr speaker will see a COMPLETELY different room because the bed will be facing south instead of north, and all of that jazz. And the article went on to state how speakers of this language might even have a lower sense of egotism, because directions do not revolve around them, they’re just another part of the picture. Really fascinating.
It made me think really long about language imperialism and how rapidly we’re moving towards a world that deals almost exclusively in English. It makes me sad to know that we’re losing completely different ways of thinking. Completely different perspectives, just gone. I guess that’s why I always get upset when people say that language imperialism isn’t so bad, and that English as a language is connecting people together. The world is a great big place, with completely different perspectives, and I think the fastest way to kill a culture is to take away the language, because not only are you taking away a method of communication, but a way of thinking.

microminutes

Dr Warhol’s Periodic Table of Microbes, The Small Guide to Small Things

93. Np. Neptunomonas

You can’t look at Neptunomonas and not think about King Neptune, SpongeBob SquarePants, and the great voicing done by John O’Hurley and Jeffrey Tambor. Well, maybe you can, but I can’t. From the name, you can tell that Neptunomonas is a marine organism, and at the moment there are 7 recognized species.

As you know by now, recurring themes in this Periodic Table are that 1) Microbes are tougher than you; 2) Microbes can live anywhere. Neptunomonas is no exception, as it was first discovered in a highly toxic superfund site in Puget Sound happily munching away amid creosote and coal tar contaminated soil and sediment. Creosote is a tarry preservative that gives old-fashioned fishing piers their characteristic scent, in addition to cut bait. More essential trivia is that the general manager of the creosote company went down on the Titanic, and that their treated timbers were used in building the Panama Canal.

The type species (Neptunomonas napthovorans) was first noted to consume naphthalene, the white crystalline solid better known as the stinky stuff in moth balls. Think about that, these microbes eat moth balls. Other species have been isolated in Antarctica (Neptunomonas antarctica), a dead ark clam in South Korea (Neptunomonas concharum) (OK, ark clams are cool because one species has hemoglobin and red blood, unlike other clams), and as a symbiotic microbe (Neptunomonas japonicus) of the tube worm Osedax japonicus that was living on or near the carcass of a dead sperm whale, all of which were unknown until 2006. The symbiotic microbes enable the worms to eat whale bones. And if that’s not strange enough, yet another species (Neptunomonas phycophila) is a triple symbiont, as it is a symbiont of an algal symbiont (Symbiodinium) of the sea anemone (Aiptasia tagetes).

Neptunomonas cells are Gram negative rods typically measuring around 0.7 to 0.9 microns wide by 2 to 3 microns long.

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