So this is my take on Linnaeus Legacy. I have to admit that I was really wondering how to put pieces together into a coherent and decent prosaic carnival (at least it seems coherent now). Eventually, things went out straight naturally, and I am left with wondering if this has actually a meaning or not. I’ll let you consider the question and make your mind about it.
But first I have an important disclaimer to add: it is your responsability if you read this. I know we’re still with Linneaus Legacy below 18, but my intent is only educationnal. I sincerely apologise for destroying my fellow bloggers efforts into decent science popularisation. Any other interpretation is your own only.
The idea that came out was to make a quote mine carnival, celebrating diversity of taxa and taxonomy of course. Since quote-mining is a well known creationist sport, I was happy to find it possible to get in touch with creationism (evidence below).
- Not Exactly Rocket Science, about how life creates itself : “His team has found a stunning new proof of the…[creationist] taste for apples about [6000] years ago, when the fruit was first introduced to North America… and [that they] have a life-long affinity for the distinctive smell of their fruity… contact with… these ripples of divergence“.
- As put at Catalogue of Organisms: “As remarkable as this discovery is, it can’t be called completely incredible – it simply highlights just how little we know about… metamorphic changes… The relatively few features cited… varied from the superficial… to the non-existent.“
But unfortunately, I’m not enclined to creationism enough to keep up this editorial line. And the theme emerged naturally otherwise anyway, so I decided to let it go. A real quote is going to define this further part below, the bonus game is just “try to guess from which post it comes from”: I keep telling you, it’s perfectly normal that I’m obsessed with sex. It’s all part of science! Actually, since I was still willing to be fair and honour such a great scientist as Linneaus, I found out it was a reasonnable way to manage the carnival…
So here is a further exercise in quote mining:
- Gravity’s Rainbow: “Bastard… species… are constantly lobbying to… reinforce… our wilderness“
- Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): “Clearly, their dispersive way of life should… meet the demands of…extreme sociability“
- Dracovenator, with Eo[b]cene cla[i]ms: “To help with this…, the anterior adductor muscle of many… becomes highly elongate and extends posteroventrally, thus creating a channel between… bivalves… [and] seems to mark the presence of a unique… being“.
- Beetles In The Bush digs further: “What did these… relationships… have in common?… [They] developed a unique “tapping” method of communication between males and females… at a much more leisurely pace. Today such an approach is impossible.“
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: “Big noses… have… disproportionately large mouths…, and the entire… scheme… needs to be reworked, as… no one had ever found any… sexual organs… (small structures within all animal[s])…, [some scientist] has settled the issue…: he found three specimens… [that] are all actually the same gen[italia]. Clearly, the entire group… needs to be reviewed, and that can only be done by finding more specimens and taking more samples“
- Catalogue of Organisms takes the same path: “In the absence of any other images…, feel free to print them off, cut them out and see if you can assemble your own model of… appendages. (…) If you look closely at the photo…, you’ll see that… segment[s]… are quite long, giving these animals a quite impressive reach, perfectly designed to strike… into significant circulatory organs.“
- Bug_girl’s Blog gives the tone too: “If you are not… living with one, you may not understand the… obsession with genitalia. (…) The study of… genitalia is so important, all sorts of devices have been invented and devised for just that purpose. (…) It can be difficult to get the male genitalia to expand enough to see important details.“
- The Lord Geekington issues: “This topic looks familiar…, since… I’ll stick with… no hooks or suckers… correctly or not“
- The Phytophactor goes on: “Their inability to appreciate something is directly based on their ignorance of the subject… so the people in charge must themselves operate. (…) It does give you pause. No wonder scientists are considered elitists. (…) Well, consider this, you would be naked.“
- Gossamer Tapestry takes conclusion words out of my mouth: “My overall impression of the area? In general, I’ve been very impressed… The park was clean, the trails were well marked, and the interpretation was of high quality. The park contains important remnants…, and is well-managed in terms of things like invasive species control. Definitely worth a visit. I know I’ll be back.“
Bravo! I enjoyed your interpretation as much as I know I will enjoy the actual submission.
[…] Linneaus Legacy – The January issue, hosted at Greg Laden’s Blog, was a good one. Seeds Aside is hosting the February edition and is hoping to post it later this week if he gets enough submissions! Go to this post for details on where to submit your post (or those from other blogs you enjoy). EDIT: Too late – edition #16 is now posted. […]
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Well done! Such a pity that no-one had used the word “conspiracy” in their post…
[…] 16th Linneaus Legacy is up at Seeds Aside – and it’s […]
Indeed, conspiracy would have added it to a real mess level. Anyway in case some people still do not realise biology is really all about sex, I wonder what we can do…
Nice work! This was really well done, and quite silly!
LOL!
[…] Linneaus’ Legacy #16 – A quote-mined carnival over at Seeds Aside. […]
[…] – some of my jokes cross the line where they have to be interpreted in a sexual context. […]
[…] Well, (as a disclosure of interest,) I’m writing this because I’m well aware that my most successful blog post was purely sexy. So matters of sex are really attractive to readers (in case you disagree, please […]