Fossil skull of Bulbasaurus held in a hand beside a ruler against a black background.

NB! · Science · Palaeontology · Pop Culture · Nature · Humour

German palaeontologists find skull of new dicynodont Bulbasaurus phylloxyron in Africa

The skull of Bulbasaurus phylloxyron, a representative of a new variety of herbivorous mammal-like reptiles, the dicynodonts. It was dug up in Africa by German palaeontologists, who did not name it after the Pokémon!

NB! · Books · Observations · Mores · Humour

A rare erotic edition of 1721, "The Pleasures of Coition", by a French poet named CELEBRATED BONEFONIUS

A rare erotic edition of 1721, "The Pleasures of Coition", by a French poet named CELEBRATED BONEFONIUS. And that is not a pseudonym! In 2003 the book was sold at auction for $420, and I regret that it was not I who bought it.

NB! · Archaeology · Museums · Humour

A Vase in the Shape of a Mouse

A vase in the shape of a mouse. 3rd century AD, Britain. The mouse's body is wound about with a cord in the form of a snake

NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour

Elegant Skating Positions from a Manual of 1830

Elegant skating positions from a manual of 1830. What is a rink without a hat and an umbrella?

NB! · Art · Pop Culture · Humour

A cat of soft-paste porcelain from the Saint-Cloud manufactory of the late seventeenth century has simply found out what she is worth

NB! · Observations · Science · Humour

A week of leave, taken to finish my first work since the dissertation, has come to an end

A week of leave, taken to finish my first work since the dissertation, has come to an end. I never did finish: there are 4 chapters written, and 8 in draft. Is that not a tragedy! Do get distracted along with me: https://clck.ru/AWjYs

NB! · Art · Humour

In the Year of the Rooster, Sleeping in a Bed with Roosters Promises Vigour and Good Omens, Especially One from the Eighteenth Century

Books · Observations · Humour

The name Azor in Grétry’s opera “Zémire et Azor”, in Fet’s palindrome and among dogs

It has become clear. It was a misapprehension. Azor is the name of the monster in André Grétry's comic opera "Zémire et Azor", which predates our own tale of "Beauty and the Beast". I might have known so simple a thing. Azor is an

NB! · Books · Observations · Humour

Wanted to share a French comic with Azor the dog

Wanted to share a French comic with Azor the dog. How this name, taken from Fet's palindrome, came to spread all over the world is a mystery to me, but it really is known in many countries

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Society · Humour

Wikipedia reports that a Moscow law of 1997

Wikipedia reports that a Moscow law of 1997 (in force until 2002) prohibited the distribution and display of images of fasces as Nazi symbolism. But on the coat of arms of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, the fasces look rather well

Observations · Science · Education · Humour

Most people see only a colourless spot through a microscope, as in the school laboratory

You cannot simply glance into a microscope and cry "Eureka!" Most people will see nothing there but a colourless smudge. Recall how you gazed in vain at onion vacuoles in the school laboratory, slyly reporting that of course you had seen everything

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

The allegory is that the mind can see what is hidden

The allegory is that the mind can see what is hidden. But why does the devil have his face between his legs?