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ysabetwordsmith

Human brains light up for chimp voices in a way no one expected

Humans may carry ancient neural traces that let us recognize the voices of our primate cousins.

Humans don’t just recognize each other’s voices—our brains also light up for the calls of chimpanzees, hinting at ancient communication roots shared with our closest primate relatives. Researchers found a specialized region in the auditory cortex that reacts distinctly to chimp vocalizations, but not to those of bonobos or macaques, revealing an unexpected mix of evolutionary and acoustic influences.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and cold with copious snow. This has wiped out our plans to visit a holiday market. :(

I fed the birds. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, at least one female and four male cardinals, a mourning dove, and a tiny wren clinging to the bathroom window as it probed the edges for hibernating insects.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/13/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/13/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Ground Zero: Los Angeles and the Endgame of the Growth Ponzi Scheme

Los Angeles didn’t mismanage its way into crisis. It built its way here.

I disagree. If a city does not track all of its liabilities, such as the maintenance costs of roads and utilities, that is mismanagement. You can't run a budget when you don't know where your money is going. That ought to be obvious.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Is the human tendency to create groups an overall positive or a negative trait in terms of general human flourishing?

Necessary. Insofar as we know, Homo like most primates is a troop animal, evolved to live in groups rather than alone. Individuals may choose to live alone, but it is much more difficult. Of course, humans can choose to create groups that are themselves positive or negative in structure and behavior, but that's a personal choice.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Scientists find hidden rainfall pattern that could reshape farming

Where rain comes from may decide the future stability of global food production.

New research shows that crops are far more vulnerable when too much rainfall originates from land rather than the ocean. Land-sourced moisture leads to weaker, less reliable rainfall, heightening drought risk. The U.S. Midwest and East Africa are particularly exposed due to soil drying and deforestation. Protecting forests and improving land management could help stabilize rainfall and crop yields.

Allow me to point out that the Midwest used to have copious fencerows of trees and bushes, more pocket forests, and more farmhouse yards. People cut down most of those to clear a few more acres of farmland. The results have been poor across multiple areas including wildlife losses, soil erosion, worsening winds with less interruption, and of course the aforementioned droughts.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly cloudy and chilly. Yesterday it snowed.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

So, I, uh, got my RSI/ergonomics debugged!* I then promptly lost two days to bad sleep due to another new mechanical failure of the balky meat mecha and also a medical appointment in re two previous malfunctions. But I seem back in business now. The new keyboard is great.

Patrons, I've got three Siderea Posts out so far this month and it's only the 12th. I have two more Posts I am hoping to get out in the next three days. Also about health insurance. We'll see if it actually happens, but it's not impossible. I have written a lot of words. (I really like my new keyboard.)

Anyways, if you weren't planning on sponsoring five posts (or – who knows? – even more) this month, adjust your pledge limits accordingly.

* It was my bra strap. It was doing something funky to how my shoulder blade moved or something. It is both surprising to me that so little pressure made so much ergonomic difference, and not surprising because previously an even lighter pressure on my kneecap from wearing long underwear made my knee malfunction spectacularly. Apparently this is how my body mechanics just are.

Canonical link: https://siderea.dreamwidth.org/1890494.html

0.

Hey Americans (and other people stuck in the American healthcare system)! Shopping for a health plan on your state marketplace? Boy, do I have some information for you that you should have and probably don't. There's been an important legal change affecting your choices that has gotten almost no press.

Effective with plan year 2026 all bronze level and catastrophic plans are statutorily now HDHPs and thus HSA compatible. You may get and self-fund an HSA if you have any bronze or catastrophic plan, as well as any plan of any level designated a HDHP.

2025 Dec 9: IRS.gov: "Treasury, IRS provide guidance on new tax benefits for health savings account participants under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill"

Bronze and Catastrophic Plans Treated as HDHPs: As of Jan. 1, 2026, bronze and catastrophic plans available through an Exchange are considered HSA-compatible, regardless of whether the plans satisfy the general definition of an HDHP. This expands the ability of people enrolled in these plans to contribute to HSAs, which they generally have not been able to do in the past. Notice 2026-05 clarifies that bronze and catastrophic plans do not have to be purchased through an Exchange to qualify for the new relief.

If you are shopping plans right now (or thought you were done), you should probably be aware of this. Especially if you are planning on getting a bronze plan, a catastrophic plan, or any plan with the acronym "HSA" in the name or otherwise designated "HSA compatible".

The Trump administration doing this is tacit admission that all bronze plans have become such bad deals that they're the economic equivalent of what used to be considered a HDHP back when that concept was invented, and so should come with legal permission to protect yourself from them with an HSA.

Effective immediately, you should consider a bronze plan half an insurance plan.

( Read more [3,340 words] )

This post brought to you by the 221 readers who funded my writing it – thank you all so much! You can see who they are at my Patreon page. If you're not one of them, and would be willing to chip in so I can write more things like this, please do so there.

Please leave comments on the Comment Catcher comment, instead of the main body of the post – unless you are commenting to get a copy of the post sent to you in email through the notification system, then go ahead and comment on it directly. Thanks!

ysabetwordsmith

'It is the most exciting discovery in my 40-year career': Archaeologists uncover evidence that Neanderthals made fire 400,000 years ago in England

Neanderthals were the world's first innovators of fire technology, tiny specks of evidence in England suggest. Flecks of pyrite found at a more than 400,000-year-old archaeological site in Suffolk, in eastern England, push back archaeologists' evidence for controlled fire-making and suggest that key human brain developments began far earlier than previously thought.

It's exciting to see such concrete evidence.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today's theme is Labyrinth.

comicsfanfiction -- Comics Fanfiction
The community for posting any fanfiction, ANY RATING IS ALLOWED, based on COMICS including webcomics or graphic novels. One main place to find all those stories that we all want. Comic fandoms that were originally from another medium (show, book, movie, etc) - for example Gargoyles, Star Wars or Star Trek - and has a comic series line (miniseries or not) are allowed here, but only if you focus on the comics-based information.
[Active with multiple posts in December.]

crossovers -- Crossover fiction from across the universe!
Crossover fan fiction.
[Active with multiple posts in November.]

fandom_fanvids -- A Collection of Fanvids from different Fandoms
[Active with one post in November.]

labyfic -- In Search of New Dreams: A Labyrinth Fan Community
Labyrinth movie community: fanfiction, fan art, & discussion.
[Active with multiple posts in December.]

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today we went up to Danville.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and chilly.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity today though.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/11/25 -- It snowed quite a bit today.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today I made Crockpot Healthy Chicken Soup with the Mazyana Curry Spices. Other ingredients included butternut squash, onion, peas, and pearl couscous. It was okay, but not exciting. We did both like the pearl couscous as a soup / crockpot ingredient, which is good because we have most of a jar left. If I make it again, I'll add more flavor. Possibilities include increasing the curry powder, adding other seasonings such as a bay leaf or sage, and adding fresh garlic and/or ginger.

12/12/25 -- Adding more Curry Spices to the leftovers improved the flavor, but could still use more tinkering.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

How Uruguay’s energy supply became 98% renewable

The fossil fuel industry likes to make out that it is a pipe dream to think that we can completely replace fossil fuels with alternative sustainable sources. But the example of Uruguay shows that it is not only possible but the transformation can be done in as short a time as five years.

Now that's impressive.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

The end of marriage?

If marriage goes extinct, it will be because it deserves to.

All these factors converge on one result: increasingly, women are finding marriage unappealing. They see it as a ticket to second-class status where they're expected to subordinate their own lives and dreams to the desires of men.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Corpse Roads and Coffin Stones

Corpse roads are paths over which one carries a coffin to its final resting place. Like crossroads, corpse roads are physical places with metaphysical properties, according to folklore. Such pathways are found all over the world, but the origin of corpse roads in Great Britain is a little more political than you might expect.

The post also includes prompts for stories set in such places. I agree that it is an unparalleled location for family drama, but that is not my best topic.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls and posted as part of a swap with

janetmiles. It also fills the Questioning square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls and posted as part of a swap with

janetmiles. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Congress quietly strips right-to-repair provisions from US military spending bill

Congress has released the final version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and critics have been quick to point out that previously proposed rules giving the US military the right to repair its equipment without having to rely on contractors have gone missing.

The House and Senate versions of the NDAA passed earlier both included provisions that would have extended common right-to-repair rules to US military branches, requiring defense contractors to provide access to technical data, information, and components that enabled military customers to quickly repair essential equipment. Both of those provisions were stripped from the final joint-chamber reconciled version of the bill, published Monday, right-to-repair advocates at the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) pointed out in a press release.

Imagine that you are deep in enemy territory, your gear breaks, and you have no way to fix it.

Also, this greatly undermines everyone else's argument that once you buy something, it belongs to you, and you can do whatever you damn please with it. The military was the best argument for right to repair.

However, it offers a huge opportunity to any manufacturer who wishes to scoop market share. You sell the product with its user manual. Then for those owners who want to repair their own equipment, you sell spare parts and offer classes on maintenance and repair. People who want to repair things would logically buy from you instead of your competitors.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy, windy, and chilly.

I fed the birds. I've see a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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Lupa Greenwolf

October 2016

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