link salad

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Parasite protects parasite from parasites:

The species in the genus Septobasidium form relationships with scale insects. [...] These insects are plant parasites and suck plant sap through long tubes that the insect inserts into the plant. In turn, Septobasidium grows over the insects, fungal hyphae penetrate the insects and absorb nutrients from them. The scale insects are immobile and it would seem that this is simply a case of parasitism with the fungus getting all the benefits, but there are benefits to the embedded scale insects. [...] It has been shown that, in at least some cases, the fungal covering over the scale insects is deeper than the reach of the ovipositors of parasitic wasps that seek out scale insects.

Speaking of scale insects:

They have been used as sources of dyes (cochineal scales, gall-like scales, giant scale, and lac scale), of shellac and lacquer-like substances (lac scales and giant scales), of candle wax (soft scales), of the manna of the Israelites (mealybugs), of pearls for necklaces (ground pearls or giant scales), and even chewing gum (ornate pit scale).

Lovechess:

Based on the Greek and Trojan epos, LoveChess takes you to a place where the gods have sex on the chess board.

Circolwyrde Wordhord:

This glossary, which complements several printed sources of its kind, is intended for Anglo-Saxonists and other speakers of English for whom the language of the computer world has become alien and largely incomprehensible. It is intended also for technical writers who strive for greater clarity and simplicity in their writing.

(I may have to name our next database server "cneomæglicgifhordonweald".)

Wilson A. Bentley:

A self educated farmer, Bentley attracted world attention with his pioneering work in the area of photomicrography, most notably his extensive work with snow crystals (commonly known as snowflakes). By adapting a microscope to a bellows camera, and years of trial and error, he became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal in 1885. [...] In 1931 his book "Snow Crystals", containing more than 2400 snow crystal images, was published by McGraw-Hill but has long been out of print. A soft cover copy, identical in all respects, can be obtained today from Dover Publications, Inc.

The art of chicken sexing:

One feature of expert chicken sexing that has attracted the interest of philosophers (e.g. Brandom 1998) and psychologists (e.g. Harnad 1996) is that the chicken sexers report that in many cases they do not know on what basis they make their discriminations [...]

"If I went for more than four days without chick sexing work I started to have `withdrawal symptoms'. Several of my students have expressed the same feeling when they have not sexed chickens for a week or so."
-- R. D. Martin, author of The Specialist Chick Sexer