No Such Thing As A Fish

Little Fish: The OId Ron Brown

81 snips
Feb 8, 2026
A mix of bizarre historical and natural curiosities. Stories range from KGB confusion over a Scottish accent to séance diaries of a prime minister. Strange animal tales include pangolin mishaps, sea slugs that regrow heads, and lizards caught with dental-floss lassos. Other highlights: pig decomposition studies, sperm-as-data trivia, a century-old car nameplate, and a quirky Hong Kong street sign.
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ANECDOTE

The Pangolin That Allegedly Strangled A Man

  • Pangolins are heavily trafficked and almost harmless, but one rare report claims a pangolin strangled a villager.
  • The pangolin had been slung over the man's neck and later curled up, killing him.
ANECDOTE

Dental Floss Lasso For Lizards

  • Biologists catch lizards using a dental-floss lasso so the animals stay unharmed.
  • The small loop technique is called a 'lizu' in fieldwork jargon.
INSIGHT

Genome Replication Skews Data Estimates

  • One ejaculate contains many sperm, each carrying a genome-sized data payload, leading to enormous theoretical data totals.
  • James Harkin notes compression would reduce that number because sperm genomes are highly similar.
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