A glob of 99M-year-old amber trapped a zombie fungus erupting from a fly

Post by pfdietz » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:33 PM UTC

throwup238 wrote: post #39

Ifkaluva wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poplar is considered junk wood? This is news to me. I’ve seen plenty of poplar furniture.

It’s too soft to be of much use except the odd piece of furniture (for which it is pretty terrible because it dents too easily). As a woodworker finishing it also sucks because the fibers tear too easily. Its grain pattern looks bland at best, it ages poorly, and its color is too inconsistent from tree to tree. That said, it’s one of the most stable woods so it doesn’t warp much which is why it’s a popular base mater…

Post by kjkjadksj » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

andrewflnr wrote: post #13

n_kr wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trees, for example, have separately evolved at least 100 times. Can you explain more? Sounds interesting

Trees are barely a firm category of plant at all. It's basically just tall plants with woody stems. Plants can gain and lose woody stems without too much trouble (relatively speaking, over evolutionary time). So any time a plant species currently growing soft stems can benefit from being really tall, they have a good chance of evolving into "trees".

Post by DHRicoF » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 5:22 PM UTC

climb_stealth wrote: post #15

dclowd9901 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently visited the national history museum and finally got a sense of the _weirdness_ of prehistoric trees. No bark, a green trunk (utilizing photosynthesis), tall like a palm tree. I'd love to see something like that now.

That sounds awesome! The oddest trees I have come across had big thorns like roses all over the trunk. Kind of hard to see because the trunk is so big, but you'd very quickly notice leaning against it. That was in a botanical garden in Australia. No idea what they were or how common they are. Blew my mind.

Post by jackgavigan » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 5:48 PM UTC

bluepuma77 wrote: post #56

"Cold Storage" by American screenwriter David Koepp comes to mind, a comedy splatter novel. I don't usually read such books, but this one was funny and entertaining.

Post by reactordev » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 6:40 PM UTC

nosioptar wrote: post #44

reactordev wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Last Park - because zombie Jurassic creatures is the last thing this world needs.

We already have a bunch of Jurassic zombies. Most people call them senators.