Good morning.
Midweek in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of fifty-three, and winds from the west at 10 mph.
Zoologists recently found something in the jungles of southeast Asia…a giant flying squirrel that puts our own local species to shame:
Biswamoyopterus laoensis is a large flying squirrel that weighs 1.8 kg and measures about 42 inches (1.08 m) in total length – the body is about 18 inches (0.46 m) long and the tail is 24 inches (0.62 m) long.
Impressive.
We should import them into Whitewater, pronto. Whitewater’s municipal government, and university administration, should be on the phone talking to the Laotian government at the earliest suitable opportunity. (Helpful hint: they’re 12 hours ahead of us. You’re welcome.)
I’d guess that these monster flying squirrels would be unsuited to our climate, but that shouldn’t stop us. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and a multi-million-dollar, publicly-funded tech park. Why fret over an inability of the CESA 2 Building Innovation Center to make even its payments in lieu of taxes when a program of Flying Squirrel Importation could save that crony-capitalist building?
I’ve not a biologist, but there are several fruitful angles to pursue: genetic modification for cold-climate living, mass production of squirrel sweaters (plaid would look sharp), or construction of insulated squirrel habitats conveniently located throughout the city in people’s trees, spaced no more than 50 yards apart to provide plentiful opportunities for Biswamoyopterus laoensis to take shelter.
There you are: the Next Big Thing™.
On this day in 1793, the French execute Marie-Antoinette:
The daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, she married Louis in 1770 to strengthen the French-Austrian alliance. At a time of economic turmoil in France, she lived extravagantly and encouraged her husband to resist reform of the monarchy. In one episode, she allegedly responded to news that the French peasantry had no bread to eat by callously replying, “Let them eat cake.” The increasing revolutionary uproar convinced the king and queen to attempt an escape to Austria in 1791, but they were captured by revolutionary forces and carried back to Paris. In 1792, the French monarchy was abolished, and Louis and Marie-Antoinette were condemned for treason.
Scientific American‘s daily trivia question asks about the history of science and its politization. (Clicking on the question leads to its answer.)