Six Foot Long Scorpions
There was a super interesting article in the SF Chronicle today about scorpions. It profiled Lauren Esposito, an arachnologist at the California Academy of Sciences, and her work studying these creatures. The venom found in some species of scorpions has been used to provide us with insights in fighting disease and developing opioid free pain relief. She discussed how original scorpions were over six feet long. Can you image?
It all began, she said, about 450 million years ago, when the ancestors of scorpions became the first arthropods to leave the sea. At the time, they were monsters, up to 6½ feet long, with stingers to match.
Source: Bay Area scientist stung by public’s perception of scorpions as scary scourge - SFChronicle.com
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Articles from blogs I follow around the net
Issue 111 – Back the winners
A Trump crypto adviser’s firm took millions from Tether while he shaped stablecoin rules in their favor, a Senate probe targets Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s not-so-former firm, and crypto’s biggest super PAC plays it safe
via Citation Needed October 16, 2026Pluralistic: Load-bearing (16 Oct 2026)
Today's links Load-bearing: Digital sovereignty vs AI. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Anthrax penmanship; Stolen WEBGEEK license plate; Arizona Republic endorses Clinton, gets death threats; Against the great forces of history....
via Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow October 16, 2026Abracadabra proposes winding down after string of hacks years ago left each $1 "stablecoin" token backed by $0.04 in reserves
Abracadabra, the defi project behind the Magic Internet Money (MIM) stablecoin, is shutting down. It blamed its string of hacks: $6.5 million theft in January 2024, $13 million in March 2025, and $1.8 million in October 2025, which altogether left about $2...
via Web3 is Going Just Great October 16, 2026Generated by openring