How Blind People Describe Animals, Plague Myths About “Ring Around the Rosie,” and Radiation Shields Made from Fungus

Learn about how blind people can describe what animals look like, how “Ring Around the Rosie” probably doesn’t reference the Plague, and why scientists used Cladosporium sphaerospermum, a radiosynthetic species of fungus, to build a radiation shield.

Ring Around the Rosie probably doesn't reference the plague by Kelsey Donk

• Mikkelson, D. (2000, November 17). Is ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ About the Black Plague? Snopes. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ring-around-rosie/
• Opie, I. A. and Opie, P. (1985). The Singing Game. Oxford University Press. https://archive.org/details/ibald00iona/page/221/mode/2up

Blind People Can Describe What Animals Look Like — But How? by Sonja Hodgen

• Tantibanchachai, C. (2019). Flamingoes, Elephants and Sharks: How Do Blind Adults Learn About Animal Appearance? News from The Johns Hopkins University. Jhu.Edu; Johns Hopkins University. https://releases.jhu.edu/2019/05/21/flamingoes-elephants-and-sharks-how-do-blind-adults-learn-about-animal-appearance/
• Kim, J. S., Elli, G. V., & Bedny, M. (2019). Knowledge of animal appearance among sighted and blind adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900952116

We might be able to use fungus as a radiation shield by Cameron Duke

• Ryan, J. (2020, July 26). Self-replicating Chernobyl mold could protect the ISS from space radiation. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/self-replicating-chernobyl-mold-could-protect-the-iss-from-space-radiation/
• Shunk, G. K., Gomez, X. R., & Averesch, N. J. H. (2020). A Self-Replicating Radiation-Shield for Human Deep-Space Exploration: Radiotrophic Fungi can Attenuate Ionizing Radiation aboard the International Space Station. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.16.205534

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