Matilda's Lab Newsletter #92

This week we have no kids! We learn why you can't be influenced as easily as your friends, how to get ahead at work, how conspiracy theories thrive in communities and the benefits of a twangy accent.

What we’ve been up to

Cat and I have just had a week without the children! Whilst that did open the opportunity for some nice long morning dog walks and date nights, we had one over-arching ambition. Get the new shed completed.

Shed is a bit of an injustice. We’ve had a garden room installed, which was in the process of having electricity installed. The idea being that this will become’s Cat’s (slightly-out-of-)home office. Then Nathaniel’s old nursery will exclusively become my recording studio. Until this work is complete, both Cat and I are in a bit of limbo with our own projects. So kid free time equals DIY time.

When the kids left for their grandparents, we had an empty shell with power lines in place. Our first job was to get all the insulation installed and the walls boarded so that the electrician could come back and finish the installation. We managed to reach this milestone before the electrician went on holiday, but not without hiccups. We’d never attempted a job like this before, certainly not working with plasterboard. So whilst it looked like we had lots of wooden frame to work with, it turned out that it wasn’t enough, and we didn’t realise this until we’d already put all the insulation in place and covered it all up with foil. Oops. We thought that we’d get away with just a bit of filler and then paint. No chance. We now needed thick lining wall paper to cover up the sins of our inexperience. I’ve done a fair bit of DIY in my time, but I’ve away stayed well clear of wallpapering, and now I know why. Whist frequently stressful, I do find DIY enjoyable, but not wallpapering.

In the meantime, the kids had great fun visiting motor museums, playing badminton and (in Nathaniel’s case) doing lots of space activities so that he can get his space badge at Squirrels.

New Blog content

For the first time in a while, I did a bit of drawing. It finished off the most recent instalment of the History of Science about the Menga Dolmen, a monument that I didn’t appreciate was so impressive until I researched this piece. A significantly technical piece of human engineering over 1000 years before the construction of the pyramids.

Despite software glitches, I am battling on with the Map of Life update. I’ve just added another 13 species from the Euungulata to the Map of Mammals (you can click the image to see the full map, with a lot less mammals on).

It’s not out quite yet (next week), but August will see the release of the next Matilda’s Lab single: Only A Theory. This was also written before Matilda’s Lab was a thing. It is based on the first chapter of Richard Dawkins’ The Greatest Show On Earth, a book that considers the range of evidence that supports the theory of evolution by natural selection. It’s the first song that I’ve written that contain a direct dictionary definition quote, and it’s quite a long one (the quote, not the song).

From the Archive

There may be a new movie about the man of steel, but this week we revisited my piece on the invertebrate of steel, the tardigrade.

And we went back to a cartoon about a special part of the brain.

Science News

If you want to get ahead at work, then it pays to be a “Yes-Man”. However, if you’re not cut out for general spinelessness, then you can still protect your ambitions by bringing your boss solutions, rather than problems.

It can be tricky to hear other people in loud places, but people with a strong “twangy” accent cut through the noise more effectively.

Conspiracy theories aren’t just for weird social outcasts, in fact, community is a major feature of conspiracy theory success.

Social networks contain paradoxes. It was already known that your friends have more friends than you do, but now we know that you are less susceptible to influence than your friends, whoever you are (and people think that quantum physics is confusing!)

It turns out that leopard seal songs have a similar structure to nursery rhymes. If that detail impressed you, then you impress me, because I’m still coming to terms with the revelation that leopard seals sing songs! (Try saying those last 4 words 10 times quickly).

Kicking back

We’ve recently received the first image of a planet being born. Click the image for more details.

Cat vs. council (the council never stood a chance)

It’s how he would have wanted to have been remembered…

Because, you never know when you might need a moose.

These are bacteriophages, viruses that attack bacteria. The colours have been added for dramatic effect (not by me).

Please feel free to get in contact with any questions, suggestions or comments either via Substack or at matildaslab@gmail.com.

Please share this with anyone who you think will appreciate it.

And remember to share with me any cool sciencey stuff that you find, to make sure that I can pack this newsletter with the best new science content each week.

Until next time, treat every day like a school day and find those lessons to learn.