Got a case of the Humans

I laughed. Hysterically. Probably enjoyed this too much, but I had to share.

Lost my wisdom

I went under general anaesthetic to extract all four wisdom teeth this past Tuesday. First time under general anaesthetic. Turns out, anaesthetic and I are very good together. I woke up wonderfully albeit a little dazed and sore. The surgeon said it was a routine procedure, but he did note that I had a fairly nasty infected pocket. I didn't feel anything before surgery, so I didn't really think much of it. I'm paying for it now. Fever, chills, pain. Not fun. 

The thing that scared me the most was the numb tongue and lower lip. That is scary! You can't drink from a cup properly, so you have to sip through a straw. I poked the straw up my nose before I could distinguish where my mouth was. I can only eat with a teaspoon; table spoons are too big. My first meal was natural yoghurt. Since my lower lip was completely numb, I didn't know that I had spilt some yoghurt down my chin and onto the icepack I had wrapped around my jaw. Kass just sat there watching me and laughed after she pointed my immaculate appearance. Thanks, Kass. Have to be extra careful about eating hot soup...

Thankfully, this whole procedure is a one off. I look forward to eating solid food again *yay*!!

Cuddlysaurus: where fluffy IS deadly

Cuddly-looking, fluffy and fuzzy: not something you'd expect to describe a very large carnivorous mesozoic predator. BUT, there WAS a downy dinosaur. Yutyrannus huali, the tyrannosaurid with the fluffy coat, is the largest dinosaur discovered with a full covering of feathers.

Y. huali was uncovered in China, and estimated to be 60 million years older that its famous cousin, Tyrannosaurus rex. Although considerably feathered, the immense bulk of the predator would not have been very aerodynamic - instead the down was purely for insulation, perhaps with a little splash of colour for display. It's not entirely odd for a predator to be feathered - snowy owls manage quite well in polar climates and their physiology is simply a downsized version of Yutyrannus.

(Image of Yutyrannus huali by Alain Beneteau aka dustdevil)

Info collected from these news articles here, here and here.
And this journal article in Nature.

Currency of the extinct

Damn it Australia!!!

We already have the superior "plastic money"... but despite this, we are a land girt by sea... and are clearly MISSING OUT ON A HUGE OPPORTUNITY!!

I mean, Australia, we had dinosaurs... so... if Canada can do this then why haven't we done it yet?!?! I am talking about, of course:

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK dinosaur money!!!

The very awesome coins will be ready for purchase next Monday for C$29.90!