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How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

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Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#11

Post by nickdothutton »

comrade1234 wrote: post #3

I climb a lot around the forests where I live in Switzerland. In one area there are a lot of yew trees - deadly to mammals. Just 30 grams of the needles will stop your heart. The bright red berry tastes very nice and isn't poisonous but the seed, if just one seed has a crack in it and you swallow it it will stop your heart in about thirty minutes. German kings have used it to kill themselves after being defeated by R…

They are planted in graveyards in the UK, it prevents grazing animals from entering and soiling up the place. The animals seem to know to keep away. They cant nibble the grass without getting a mouthful of the needles.

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#14

Post by xattt »

comrade1234 wrote: post #3

I climb a lot around the forests where I live in Switzerland. In one area there are a lot of yew trees - deadly to mammals. Just 30 grams of the needles will stop your heart. The bright red berry tastes very nice and isn't poisonous but the seed, if just one seed has a crack in it and you swallow it it will stop your heart in about thirty minutes. German kings have used it to kill themselves after being defeated by R…

There was a yew bush on my walk to primary school. When berries were in season, I used to pick and squish the berry between my fingers because the shape was unique (berry with a seed that sticks out‽) ands its slimy feel. Thank goodness it never amounted to anything more, even through transdermal absorption.

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#15

Post by xattt »

zhoBEENG wrote: post #7
comrade1234 wrote: post #3

I climb a lot around the forests where I live in Switzerland. In one area there are a lot of yew trees - deadly to mammals. Just 30 grams of the needles will stop your heart. The bright red berry tastes very nice and isn't poisonous but the seed, if just one seed has a crack in it and you swallow it it will stop your heart in about thirty minutes. German kings have used it to kill themselves after being defeated by R…

If they die within 30 minutes, you would never see the scat of those who crack the seeds.

There has to be a term for these very specific claims. 30 g in 30 minutes? Give me LD50 numbers.

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#16

Post by franciscop »

A bit of a tangent but I've read this phrase almost verbatim in another article[1] today:

> "This study is really good," says Sunghwan Jung, a biophysicist at Cornell University who studies the mechanics of animal movements and was not involved with the research. It shows, he says, that the guts of these animals "are very special."

The other article [1] quote:

> It’s “an impressive step,” said Jack Szostak (opens a new tab), who studies the origins of life at the University of Chicago and was not involved in the research. “I don’t know of any other effort to put together an artificial cell from biological components that has progressed so far.”

Are these editorial guidelines to get an independent read? Just coincidence? I don't think they are LLM bits because I expect better from these magazines, but it's too eerily similar.

[1] https://www.quantamagazine.org/for-the-first-time-a-cell-bui...

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#17

Post by vlian2088 »

>Hu speculates that because the animals climb up on rocks and logs to mark their territory, the flat-sided feces aren't as likely to roll off from these high perches.

and those who of them who shit cubes ended up more likely to procreate...?

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#18

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

xattt wrote: post #15
zhoBEENG wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they die within 30 minutes, you would never see the scat of those who crack the seeds.

There has to be a term for these very specific claims. 30 g in 30 minutes? Give me LD50 numbers.

Taxine alkaloids[0]

  The estimated lethal dose (LDmin) of taxine alkaloids is approximately 3.0 mg/kg body weight for humans.[27][28] Different studies show different toxicities; a major reason is the difficulty of measuring taxine alkaloids.[29]
It goes on to say that rats are ~20mg/kg, which would put a human at somewhere less than 1.4grams.

Which is close enough to, "any exposure at all will kill".

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxine_alkaloids

Re: How do wombats poop cubes? (2021)

#20

Post by idiotsecant »

xattt wrote: post #14
comrade1234 wrote: post #3

I climb a lot around the forests where I live in Switzerland. In one area there are a lot of yew trees - deadly to mammals. Just 30 grams of the needles will stop your heart. The bright red berry tastes very nice and isn't poisonous but the seed, if just one seed has a crack in it and you swallow it it will stop your heart in about thirty minutes. German kings have used it to kill themselves after being defeated by R…

There was a yew bush on my walk to primary school. When berries were in season, I used to pick and squish the berry between my fingers because the shape was unique (berry with a seed that sticks out‽) ands its slimy feel. Thank goodness it never amounted to anything more, even through transdermal absorption.

Oh wow I think we had these on the way to school when I was a kid too. Everyone told us not to eat them so we used to put the berries in our mouth and spit them out to show how tough we were. Wow we were very very stupid kids.
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