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c0nc0rdance Profile picture
@c0nc0rdance
Apr 15 • 8 tweets • 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
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What do cabbage, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens & kohlrabi have in common?

If you said "they're the same species of plant, selected for different qualities", you're correct!

Let's talk about the chameleon of the vegetable world, the #Brassica! Image
They're all Brassica oleracea, derived from the wild cabbage, which is itself part of the wild mustard FAMILY.

Brussel sprouts are cultivars selected for unopened lateral lead buds, broccoli & cauliflower for the unopened flowers, kale for leaves, kohlrabi for enlarged stem. Image
That's the basics, but there's an even larger family of Brassica whose genetic intercompatibility have produced endless combinations of cultivated crops!

Let's talk about the "triangle of U", named for 1935 paper by 'U Nagaharu' where he presented a theory of Brassica genetics. Image
The basics:
There are 3 diploid species
(AA) Brassica rapa:turnip, napa cabbage and bok choi
(BB) Brassica nigra:black mustard (popular in curries!)
(CC) Brassica oleracea: 'cabbages' Image
These three diploids (N=2) can be hybridized to produce the following allotetraploid (N=4) hybrids:
(AABB) Brown mustard
(AACC) Rapeseed (which we call "canola" in the US) & rutabaga
(BBCC) Ethiopian mustard Image
Canola is one of the most commercially significant vegetable oils, produced by cross-breeding a turnip and a cabbage!

It's even possible to cross all three to produce allohexaploids (N=6), although these hybrids haven't been commercialized. Image
So why is Brassica genetically flexible?
A theory: they're all related to an ancient hexaploid (N=6) plant that gave rise to the diploid lines we know today, so gene organization between these chromosomes are intercompatible.

Like old friends reunited after millions of years. Image
If we want to fully complete our dive into the Brassica family, I should mention they're also ornamentals like Erysimum (the wallflowers), they're the primary plant research model (Arabidopsis thaliana) & maybe most importantly, the firey spices horseradish, wasabi & mustard. ImageImage

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More from @c0nc0rdance

c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 15
You've no doubt heard that the Great Library of Alexandria was destroyed in a fire & with it, centuries of knowledge, learning & prose.

But that's not the actual story. The TRUE story of the destruction of the Great #Library of Alexandria has more to teach us than the #myth. Image
First, the Library itself: commissioned ~280 BCE by Cleopatra's ancestor, Ptolemy I Soter, general to Alexander the Great.

The Library was part of a complex of buildings, the Mouseion, dedicated to the Muses, in the city center/royal quarter. Image
Ships docking in Alexandria were searched for books, if found, the owner was compensated & a copy made by scribes.

Royal silver purchased entire libraries from the cities of Athens & Nineveh. At its height, it held between 40,000 and 400,000 separate works. Image
Read 10 tweets
c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 15
Almost all women of Ancient Rome dyed their hair, some to henna red, to blonde with guano or ash & vinegar, but the most bizarre was a fermented paste of leeches & vinegar for a black hair dye.

All prostitutes were REQUIRED to be blonde (at all times) under Roman law. Image
Men were a little less likely to dye their hair, considering it a sign of vanity, but a fashion in the Imperial age was to dust one's hair with gold dust.
The fashion in Roman Egypt was jet black hair, which symbolized beauty:
"In order to darken the hair, a mixture of lead oxide, slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and water was used. A paste was thus obtained, which was then rubbed into the head."
Image is a mummy covering. Image
Read 4 tweets
c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 12
Touching this bird will result in numbness & tingling in extremities.

Prolonged contact or ingestion can result in paralysis or death.

Let's talk about the #birds that can kill you with a touch.
This is the hooded pitohui, 'Pitohui dichrous' & it contains in its tissues & feathers the neurotoxin homobatrachotoxin.

The same toxin is found in species of poison dart frogs & they likely acquire the toxin from the same source: Choresine beetles.
This is a Melyrid beetle. It contains very low levels of batrachotoxin. By eating a diet high in these beetles, the toxin is concentrated in tissues.

How the bird remains unaffected is unclear, but likely involves evolutionary change to the target receptor.
Read 8 tweets
c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 11
I hate engaging in this kind of Internet drama, but there's a principle that's important to medical & science communication:

In the late 1980's, there was a switch in HIV/AIDS education replacing:
"gay men" with
"men who have sex with men" (MSM).

Why? Aren't they the same?
One focused on identity & the other on behavior.

Not every man who had sex with men considered themselves gay. The medical advice for "gay men" created an imprecision & potentially an identity barrier that feeds confusion.

So medical comms focused on the BEHAVIOR alone.
MSM includes gay men and also the other diverse groups that were actually at risk. It's not taking the place of more specific labels, just being more inclusive.

I'll fight for precise language like "birthing person" in medical contexts because it avoids confusion, is inclusive.
Read 4 tweets
c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 11
What does an old CRT monitor have in common with a WWII battleship?

To get to the answer we have to talk about the importance of electromagnetism in WWII naval strategy.
During WWI, the combined German, British & American navies placed more than 200,000 mines to strategically block shipping, narrow sea lanes to concentrate naval force, and blockade seaports.

Most were cheap "contact mines" & minesweeping was slow & dangerous.
At the end of WWI, the British began developing "influence" mines that could detect the magnetic field that comes from a metal ship moving through Earth's magnetic field.

A 'dip-needle fuze' responded to the passage of large magnetized steel hulls without the need for contact.
Read 11 tweets
c0nc0rdance Profile picture
Apr 11
Thomas Jefferson kept a flock of 40 sheep on the front lawn of the White House, among them a polycerate (4 horned) Shetland ram that attacked pedestrians who tried to cross the square.

After it killed a little boy, they moved it back to Monticello.

yup: KILLER POTUS RAM
Image of the White House circa 1796 below, to show "President's Square" was surrounded by a low fence.

You can read the full account here, but there's not a lot of detail beyond personal correspondence. The little boy who was killed is not identified.
https://t.co/oLjVU4mGV8monticello.org/research-educa…
In case you want to skip the primary source, you'll want to read this:
"One William Keough wrote Jefferson that 'in Passing through the President's Square I was attacked and severely wounded and bruised by your excellency's ram—of which I lay ill for five or six weeks.'"
Read 4 tweets

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