Though I wither, your work is begun

[sovay]

spatch sent me this tweet from the artist of My Life as a Background Slytherin which basically describes my relationship to the news at the moment. I have nevetheless a couple of items that I like:

DNA analysis of horse sacrifices from Scythian burial mounds proves that in addition to being serious riders, archers, metalworkers and tattoo artists, the Scythians were serious horse breeders. "Many, although not all, of the horses possessed genes associated with racing speed that are found in today's thoroughbreds. The genes also showed a variety of colorings—cream, black, spotted, bay and chestnut." It is notable that the Scythian horses were not at all inbred; somehow despite reading an inordinate amount of Marguerite Henry as a child, I had missed the degree to which modern horses are. I look forward to the follow-up paper on genetic diversity.

DNA analysis of bone and teeth fragments from the disastrous Franklin expedition suggests that some of the crew of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were genetically female, "which is surprising since the crew was reported as all male." They might still have been, of course, however they were assigned at birth. Or they might not. Either way, I wish I knew those stories. With any luck, someone will work to write them.

So, yeah. Science.

I spent most of the afternoon cleaning the apartment, in which endeavor I was joined by Rob. For one brief shining moment, not everything is covered in cat hair. (Hestia and Autolycus are already doing their best to reassert the status quo.) We got out of the house in the evening, walked to Davis, had dinner at Punjabi Grill, ran errands, walked circuitously home. I ate ice cream. I am thinking of watching a movie. The fact that I am not already collapsed and/or asleep suggests I might be getting better. Fingers crossed!

Comments

[nineweaving]

...some of the crew of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were genetically female...

O my! O my!

Nine

[moon_custafer]

They might still have been, of course, however they were assigned at birth.

I remarked to a couple of people that intersex conditions (and chimerae) aren't all that rare either, so it's possible at least one of them was AMAB, had no disagreement with this, and still had XX chromosomes.

[sovay]

I remarked to a couple of people that intersex conditions (and chimerae) aren't all that rare either, so it's possible at least one of them was AMAB, had no disagreement with this, and still had XX chromosomes.

I wonder if that would be discernible from DNA evidence. I can only read the abstract, which says nothing about it.