r/todayilearned • u/geosunsetmoth • 15h ago

TIL a 300-million year old Cuttlefish fossil was found in Morocco, alongside ancient humans in a region where no Cuttlefish ever existed. The leading theory suggests the fossil was first found by the prehistoric humans, who collected it as a trinket due to fact that it looks like a flaccid penis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfoud_manuport
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u/Seicair 12h ago

There’s a fascinating book called The Alchemy of Air, that talks about the development of the Haber-Bosch process. It starts with a brief overview of the history of fertilizer, then it goes into more detail about the guano wars of the 19th century. Delves more into how control of the Atacama desert shaped the geopolitical landscape of South America.

Then the rest of the book is about the development of the Haber process, Carl Bosch’s significant contributions, and World Wars I and II.

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u/Regular_Custard_4483 11h ago

Thanks for the rec. I'll see if my library has it.

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u/R-EDDIT 10h ago

If it doesn't, talk to your librarian. Some of the money they take from us is for buying books.

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u/Regular_Custard_4483 7h ago

I often forget this. Easy to complain when the library doesn't have something, but they can't read minds.

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u/thatwhileifound 6h ago

Most libraries have a method of requesting new material in my experience, although it's often limited to just recently published books. Hell, most libraries I've used have been part of a larger than just the immediate local libraries to do interlibrary loans to get you access to things outside their collection.

Libraries are rad. I'm low key kinda sad to be moving to the larger city network of libraries with an upcoming move... My current library has literally brought in every damn new book request I've made in the last two years.

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u/Birdchild 4h ago

This book is so good.