What do the words chthonic, eldritch and preternatural have in common?
Some Lovecraftian opening sentence, perhaps? An obscene mélange of tentacles and Welshmen?
No — but then again, maybe yes. They all occur in a News and Views item in today's Nature, by that Senior Editor and master of purple prose, Henry Gee. What's more, they got there as a result of a bet, upon which was riding a hug and a pint.
From the top, then:
But with [the] publication [...] of the draft genome sequence of Branchiostoma floridae, one of the 25 or so recognized species of amphioxus, this eldritch organism is set to re-enter public life.
The age of genomics has rescued the amphioxus from chthonic obscurity, as new data
Such studies reveal the amphioxus genome to be, in fact, of preternatural importance
A round of applause is called for. You don't get philosophers of science talking about this sort of japing, do you?
Comments
An obscene mélange of tentacles and Welshmen?
You got me bang to rights, mate.
Posted by: Henry | June 20, 2008 12:38 AM
Yup, it was the tentacles and the Welshmen. Bang to rights. I'll come quietly, officer
Posted by: Henry Gee | June 20, 2008 01:56 AM
You want me to delete one of those, Henry?
Posted by: bk | June 20, 2008 06:29 AM
Slipping this past the subeditors? Nature's subeditors are pretty cool dudes I will have you know.
And Henry is one of their favourite editors as he not only meets his deadlines but provides copy in the bank. An increasingly rare and much treasured quality.
Posted by: maxine | June 20, 2008 07:00 AM
I should point out, Maxine, that I said nary a word against your sub-editors. It was that other bloke. ;)
Posted by: bk | June 20, 2008 07:13 AM
Sorry bk. Mea maxima culpa. Don't blame it on the sunshine. Don't blame it on the moonlight. Don't blame it on the good times. Blame it on increasing middle-aged cognitive dysfunction. And, oh yes, the Welshmen, but only the ones with tentacles. Please feel free to delete either or both my comments.
Aw, shucks, Maxine. The cheque is, as they say, in the post.
Posted by: Henry Gee | June 21, 2008 08:36 AM
I will not hear a word against Henry Gee: he reinstated the science fiction section at the back of Nature; he can be Welsh AND chthonic for all I care!
And I remember hearing of a competition among a bunch of immunologists - strange folk; don't get out much - won by one John Moore, who managed to get the phrase "eclectic gallimaufry" into the pages of Journal of Virology. In an article which starts with the phrase "Despite being able to use the Bonzo coreceptor..."
Posted by: retroid | June 26, 2008 05:58 AM