Chilean Experts Say Beached ‘Blob’ a Sperm Whale

Friday, July 11th, 2003

I guess the mystery‘s solved. From Chilean Experts Say Beached ‘Blob’ a Sperm Whale:

Chilean scientists said on Friday their study of a huge blob of flesh found on a Pacific beach about three weeks ago concluded it was the carcass of a sperm whale, ending speculation of a giant octopus.
[...]
Researchers at the Museum of Natural History in Santiago were the first to reach a conclusion after analyzing samples of the decaying specimen and finding glands of a sperm whale.
[...]
When a sperm whale dies at sea, it rots until it becomes a “skeleton suspended in a semi-liquid mass within a bag of skin and blubber,” the scientists said. Eventually, the skin tears and the bones sinks while the skin and blubber float.

“This washes up and has the appearance of an octopus because the spermaceti organ keeps its bulky shape,” they added.

The spermaceti is a large bulbous organ that forms a sort of forehead and contains a milky wax which early whalers likened to sperm fluid.

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Lu An Li: “I believe it would be better to have one bad general than to have two good ones.” Someone explain this to me.
Gaikokumaniakku: After the lemur bites the millipede, it sprays its toxic secretion, which the lemur then rubs all over its fur. Research suggests that there is a practical purpose to this: the benzoquinone secretion functions as a natural pesticide and wards off malaria-carrying mosquitos. The secretion also acts as a narcotic, which causes the lemur to salivate profusely and enter a state of intoxication.
Freddo: If you want to reach the mass market you need an equally sized megaphone (or a lot of luck). A push by Oprah will do it, Joe Rogan probably to a lesser extend. Amazons algorithm and star rating have been wokified to the point of uselessness; goodreads fast approaching the same point. Aspiring writers get the advice to build their own internet presence, but that of course is a lot of work by itself. I like the concept of a book bomb where a group of like-minded authors do a push of a new novel.
Felix: And, no mention of romance novels. Aren’t they supposed to be 50% or better of books sold? Sure, there are big name romance writers. A lot of them, if the grocery store is indicative. But. No mention?
Felix: Jim, what are the important, unread books you have in mind?
Albion: As someone who has published a couple of books (independently) on-line I can testify no one reads them much. In a way not a problem as it was more of a hobby, and there is a certain pleasure in getting words down in roughly the right order. But in terms of return for effort, it is barely a penny an hour in all likelihood. As they say, don’t give up the day job. Equally I can go to a library or bookshop, and while there tens of thousands of books available, I know I don’t want to read...
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Jim: Pre-World Wars America was so much more literate than now that it may as well have been another planet. Nor has the displacement of Americans by the descendants of Ellis Islanders helped much.
Jim: No one buys books because no one reads books. There are books of great importance that practically no one has had access to for dozens or hundreds of years now available for free on the Internet Archive, and they have been “viewed” only a handful of times, let alone read. It would be comical were it not so tragic.
David Foster: Does this include books sold for Kindle and other e-readers? Sounds like it doesn’t. Also, I wonder how much more effectively books could be marketed by people outside the publishing establishment.
Phileas Frogg: And yet they continue to furiously, and quietly, ban or hide titles that they consider dangerous as rapidly as ever. Just ask Aleksandr Dugin, Harold Saltzman, or Jean Raspail. Odd.
Bob Sykes: One has to wonder what the aerodynamics of the huge WW II bomber formations were. Often hundreds of large aircraft flew in tight formations. PS. “Twelve O’Clock High” is still one of the best war films ever made.
Bruce: Begun, the drone wars have. Small drones are cheap and effective. Big drones, airplanes, and any static target you can Google is vulnerable. In ‘General Kenney Reports’, Kenney’s memoir of the Pacific War, he mentions Lindberg showing up quasi-illegally. Kenney put the man who babied a single-engine plane across the Atlantic in charge of training P-38 pilots to baby their fuel use, and P-38 ranges doubled.
Bob Sykes: Which is why Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have hypersonic missiles, and we don’t. Not even one successful test. Kunstler is pessimistic: https://kunstler.com/clu sterfuck-nation/pep-talk -on-a-dark-day/#more-216 11′
Gaikokumaniakku: “It’s unusual.” One might say it’s “unwonted.”
Dan Kurt: Re: “Selcouth” is not a word you see every day. It’s unusual. Ok. Strike selcouth and substitute eldritch.
Isegoria: “Selcouth” is not a word you see every day. It’s unusual.
Dan Kurt: To me this post is disconcerting. On reading it I experienced a strong sense that I had read it once before. What a selcouth déjà vu moment.
Gaikokumaniakku: Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Phileas Frogg: Again the eternal conflict between the Real and the Nominal, and once more the Nominal lies. Never forget, lying is an act of aggression, and should always be treated as such. The more egregious the lie, the more aggressive the act. Respond accordingly.

Isegoria

Chilean Experts Say Beached ‘Blob’ a Sperm Whale

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