Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of Unknowns Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of the Unknown NONE OF THE FOLLOWING WATERMARKED CONTENT IS AVAILABLE FOR INGESTING, COPYING OR RE-USE IN ANY WAY BY AI OR LLM SYSTEMS. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, ANY RE-USE WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED.
Curator's blog . . .
Latest posts . . .
Bot Blocking (Continued)
Apologies to any readers who have recently found themselves 'denied access' to the Wikenigma website.
The site has been trying-out some new bespoke software which attempts to sort 'real' visitors from 'bots' (many 1,000s of them). Some are exceptionally easy to spot, for example those which repeatedly bang their head against the (fire)wall. Others take more subtle approaches.
The bots originate from across the world, some anonymised in tax havens like Panama and The Seychelles, others from Russia, and a few from China. But the vast majority come from large corporate IP address-blocks in the United States. Some of which are now entirely barred from visiting the site. So, unfortunately, if you visit via one of those dubious address-blocks, you will also be denied access. And you won't be able to read this. Apologies again.
The battle continues.
Siphons
The knowledge that siphons can work, and are often very useful, goes back millennia. And how they work seems, at first glance, more or less self-evident. Straightforward explanations are given in hundreds of basic physics textbooks and encyclopaedias etc.
In recent years however, many and varied experiments have shown glaring inconsistencies with the usual explanations. In fact more or less the only unchallengeable factor is that they can only work in a gravitational field.
Siphons can work under a number of different conditions, For example they can work in a vacuum. And they can work with non-coherent gases. They can also work very differently if the siphon liquid and the tubing has been super-cleaned and de-gassed.
To sum up : It's probably fair to say that although all the relevant factors for siphon operation have probably been explored, a fully comprehensive definition of how they work is currently lacking. At least Wikenigma has not been able to find one.
See Siphonsplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigSiphons
Note: This article is currently in the Proposed Content section.
Siphons have been known-about and used for more than 3,000 years. Just about every basic school-physics textbook has a description of how they work (though there are sometimes variations in the explanations). in the 'Proposed Content' section
Cute Aggression
"O.M.G. you're so cute! Aaaargh! I want to eat you!"
Everyone has heard such things expressed. So called Cute Aggression is so ubiquitous across the World that several languages even have a specific word for it - e.g. man khiaao (มัน-เขี้ยว) in Thai.
Globally, around half of all adults have experienced the phenomenon.
From an evolutionary point of view, however, it's a substantial puzzle - what possible advantage could it have?
To date, no-one has a solid explanation.
See Cute Aggressionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCute Aggression
The term Cute Aggression (originally 'Playful Aggression') originated in 2015 via a paper by Prof. Oriana Aragón (now at the University of Cincinnati) and colleagues.
"Playful aggression is in reference to the expressions that people show sometimes when interacting with babies. Sometimes we say things and appear to be more angry than happy, even though we are happy. For example some people grit their teeth, clench their hands, pinch cheeks, or say things like 'I want to eat yo…:
Holobionts
The 2025 discovery that regular trees have a comprehensive 'microbiome' ( see Tree microbiomesplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigTree microbiomes
A 2025 study published in the journal Nature describes analyses of colonies of fungi, archaea and bacteria (both aerobic and anaerobic) which have been found to be permanently living in the heartwood of healthy trees. 150 different trees from 16 species were sampled. ) lends weight to the concept of 'Holobionts'. That's to say that it maybe more helpful to view large complex multicellular life-forms as harmonious inter-reliant colonies rather than as single organisms.
Although there are countless examples of parasite / host relationships, the microbiomes of humans (for example) are, in the most part, no longer looked at in this way. The interactions are so complex, universal and bi-directional that it's now more common to view the microbiome as a 'part' of a person. In other words as a component of a Holobiont ( from Gk. 'holo' meaning 'whole' ).
Battling the bots
It's now a given that any website of any significant size will be plagued by bots.
Estimates vary, but it's now generally reckoned that more than half of all internet and social-media traffic is simply bots. Extrapolating from this, we can say that around half of all the vast and expensive tech infrastructure needed to run the internet - and around half of the electricity used to run it - is wasted*. Given the scale, this is nothing short of a man-made environmental debacle.
There are (almost) no 'laws' regarding the implementation of bot tech. Although there are plenty of 'guidelines' and 'recommendations', it goes without saying that many of the bots are deliberately configured to ignore them. They routinely crawl entire websites even when expressly 'told' not to.
It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that the majority of these 'rogue' bots might be coming from shady locations and h4cker's bedrooms. But Wikenigma's server logs show a very different story. A large proportion of the 'rogue' bots can be traced back to very-well-known gargantuan tech firms in the US.
Wikenigma now has three behind-the-scenes automatic mechanisms which try to trap and block rogue bots - with some, but far from complete, success . . . A Luta Continua.
* Note : Some bots are legitimate and necessary - for search indexing etc. etc.. But the vast majority are involved in near-pointless duplicating, scraping, and surveilling - and now, of course, 'fetching' for AI systems.
Brain Microbiome studies
A 2025 research project from the University of Edinburgh - which was aimed at finding possible microbial causes for Alzheimer's diseaseplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigAlzheimer's disease
"Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic progressive neuro-degenerative disorder characterised by three primary groups of symptoms. The first group (cognitive dysfunction) includes memory loss, language difficulties, and executive dysfunction (that is, loss of higher level planning and intellectual coordination skills). The second group comprises psychiatric symptoms and behavioural disturbances — for example, depression, hallucinations, delusions, agitation — collectively termed … - managed to identify and quantify non-human cells habitually resident in normal human brains.
The study - which is awaiting peer-review - found a truly astonishing range of single-celled organisms, from bacteria, archaea, fungi and even photo-synthesising algae. This is the first time the numbers have been assessed, and it seems that around 10% of the cells in a normal human brain might be entirely 'alien'.
The implications of the study - if confirmed - are exceptional. Are these organisms harmful, beneficial, or simple freeloading bystanders? And how did they get into the brain?
The physical (and possibly psychological) effects, if there are any, are completely unknown at present.
It seems likely that the study might help to kick-start a whole new scientific (and non-scientific) field of 'Cerebral Microbiome Studies'.
See Brain microbiomeplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigBrain microbiome
The human body's microbiome is by no means restricted to the gut.
For some example research, see this 2025 paper from the University of Edinburgh, which found that " in terms of diversity, the human brain microbiome appears to be a subset (~20%) of the gut microbiome."
Sense of smell still a mystery . . .
A new (Aug, 2025) paper published in Scientific Data (a journal of the Nature group) re-affirms the fact that " the principles of how odorant chemistry links to perceptual patterns remain largely unknown" See : Sense of smell - Olfactionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigSense of smell - Olfaction
It's known that humans have about 10 cm2 of olfactory epithelium, with roughly 5 million sensory neurons.
Smells are detected due to the activation of neurons by airborne volatile chemicals and particles. Different chemicals affect different groups of neurons, which, after cerebral processing, lead to the impression of 'smell'.
Sea Star Wasting Disease
It´s more than 50 years since the discovery of Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) off the Pacific Northwest coast of the US. And since then, very extensive damage has been done to several species of Sea Stars.
It was long suspected that an infectious agent might be involved, but it took until 2025 for a bacterial culprit called Vibrio pectenicida to be identified as the cause.
Although the cause is now known, effective 'treatment' of the epidemic is still very problematic, as antibiotics clearly can't be used over large areas.
The relevant Wikenigma page has now been moved to the 'Resolved' section. See :Sea Star Wasting Diseaseplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigSea Star Wasting Disease
resolved
The 'Resolved' category archives questions which have been answered since they were added to the site.
As of Aug. 2025, this entry is now moved to the 'Resolved' section.
In a four-year series of experiments, a team of investigators from the
Cool fans ?
At the time of writing, several large areas of the US, Europe, Africa and Asia are experiencing extreme hot-weather episodes.
If you are lucky enough, you might have a fan and an electricity supply . . .
But some recent research has shown that, above a certain ambient temperature, sitting in front of a fan can actually make you hotter. Unfortunately, the research groups can't agree on exactly what that temperature is . . .
See :Fan cooling optimisationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigFan cooling optimisation
Although it might seem self-evident that positioning oneself in the airstream of a fan during very hot weather is beneficial, several research groups now suggest that there is a maximum ambient temperature (defined by the US CDC at 32.2°C) above which a fan can actually
Birth order and personality
Does the order in which human siblings are born permanently affect their personality?
It might seem self-evident that the older children in a family could adopt a 'personality' that leans towards caring for their younger siblings. Or perhaps encouraging confidence, or even bossiness.
And do the younger children tend to habitually feel mentally and physically 'inferior' to their more experienced older brothers and sisters?
Despite more that a hundred years of formal scientific research, psychologists still can't decide on whether birth-order has any significant effect (or not).
See : Birth order and personalityplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigBirth order and personality
"The debate over the effects of birth order on personality has spawned continuous interest for more than 100 y, both from the general public and from scientists."
Source : PNAS, 112 (46) 14119-14120"
In the year that paper cited above was written (2015) scientific opinion was swinging strongly towards the view that the order in which siblings are born does
Artificial Cranial Deformation
If you ever need an impressive example of how human culture can lead up potentially damaging global-scale cul-de-sacs, look no further than the now (thankfully) obsolete custom of Artificial Cranial Deformationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigArtificial Cranial Deformation
The custom of Artificial Cranial Deformation (ACD) was a widespread body-modification process which was used to deliberately change a person's skull-shape. Typically, the mechanical processes were applied to infants - when the skull had still not fully hardened. They typically began shortly after birth, and continued for several months - and sometimes even up the age of 4. (ACD).
This new (July 2025) Wikenigma page has details about the ACD practice, which was apparently prevalent in almost all human cultures across the world - for thousands of years.
It does not, of course, explain exactly why. ( No-one has much of an idea )
Watermarking and AI bots
Wikenigma has recently implemented a system to ‘watermark’ the text of the content pages.
The idea is literally centuries old. Mapmakers used to include deliberate minor mistakes in their maps so that they could easily prove when someone copied and passed-off their work. In this case, Wikenigma is aiming at AI ‘scraper’ bots. Automated bots created by the BIG AI development firms routinely ingest vast quantities of online content to build their datasets - in Wikenigma's case, that often means thousands of pages in a single bot-hit.
Although this website has explicit behind-the-scenes instructions to prohibit scraping - along with the standard CC licence * - the BIG AI firms ignore all this and download everything regardless.
Over the years, most countries have developed clearcut copyright laws designed to protect copyright holders. For reasons that are as-yet far from clear, major Govt.s worldwide are currently rushing-through legislation to exempt BIG AI firms from having to obey the law.
For an excellent overview of the problem, see this comprehensive US May 2025 document from the United States Copyright Office - which not only has a very good overview of how AI LLMs work, but also concluded :
When a model is deployed for purposes such as analysis or research—the types of uses that are critical to international competitiveness—the outputs are unlikely to substitute for expressive works used in training. But making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries."
Source : US Govt. Copyright Office
It didn't go un-noticed that the executive ultimately responsible for the document - the head of the Copyright Office - was summarily dismissed the day after the report was released. (ref.)
* Note : To clarify, the CC Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International licence doesn't disallow copying itself, but explicitly prohibits any re-use without full attribution.
Neural regeneration possibilities?
The Neural regenerationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigNeural regeneration
resolved
The 'Resolved' category archives questions which have been answered since they were added to the site.
As of Jul. 2025, this entry is now moved to the 'Resolved' section.
Work from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has demonstrated that regeneration of human brain cells is not only possible, but appears to be a regular occurrence. Questions still remain however regarding exactly how the process works, and what the implications might be. page has now (Jul. '25) been moved to the 'Resolved' section after it has been successfully shown that humans can and do routinely grow new brain neurons. Overturning decades of 'textbook knowledge' which insisted that human neural brain-damage is un-repairable.
With more detail required from future research, the discovery might raise the possibility for treatments of neuro-degenerative diseases.
Questions arising from the 'Desmid crystals' page
An new (July '25) entry about Desmid crystalsplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigDesmid crystals
Desmids - a.k.a. Desmidiales - are microscopic singe-celled algae, There are known to be several thousand species, and they are extremely common in freshwater (and there are also some saltwater varieties). They have been widely recognised and examined since the invention of the microscope. raises the question of whether Desmids - uni-cellular algae which 'harvest' barium (and strontium) from the Earth's freshwater reserves - might be helping to clean-up heavy metal pollution. Given their incalculable numbers, could such organisms be bred to sequester other heavy metals?
The new ' Curator's Blog ' section
This new section introduces a 'blogging' facility to the Wikenigma site. The idea is to enable a way for curators and editors to add informal comments, opinions and pointers to new and existing pages. And also to ask questions . . .
The entries are arranged in a normal blog style, i.e. with the newest items at the top of the page.
( Note there are currently no plans to implement direct comments to the entries - if you do have any, please use the contact form. )
Further resources :