Thursday: Hili dialogue

February 12, 2015 • 4:34 am

It’s Darwin Day, today, and I’m off to Mississippi to spread the Good News of Evolution. Posting may be light until I return Saturday evening, but, like Maru, I do my best.

In honor of today, there’s a special Hili dialogue. But first an explanatory note from Malgorzata

This dialogue may be rather incomprehensible for WEIT readers. On Listy it is placed just by an article by Ed Yong in which a uterus of a pregnant platypus plays a prominent role.

*******
Hili: It’s Darwin Day today.
A: So what?
Hili: Nothing, I’m thinking about a pregnant platypus.
A: Have you reached any conclusions?
Hili: Yes, God works in mysterious ways when you are looking for the right uterus.
P1020158
In Polish:
Hili: Dziś Dzień Darwina.
Ja: I co?
Hili: Nic, myślę o samicy dziobaka w ciąży.
Ja: Masz jakieś wnioski?
Hili: Tak, niezbadane są wyroki boskie jak poszukujesz właściwej macicy.

20 thoughts on “Thursday: Hili dialogue”

  2. Thanks, Hili. I did not expect to have a reason to Google “platypus reproduction” this morning, but I did: it is just as weird as everything else about a platypus!

          1. And they have no stomach!

            All these years a zoologist in Oz, and I never heard that fact until reading WEIT [the book] for the first time this week – I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a bookshop, so never got round to it till following the author’s recent subtle telepathic command to pre-order the Albatross.

            …actually I misremembered, because Firefox tells me I’ve previously seen Ed Yong’s story about it. Oh well, blame my bias against physiology; the only platypus I ever actually caught was a single tooth.

  3. It’s also Lincoln’s birthday today. One of my favorite quotes.
    “Lincoln emancipated slaves and Darwin emancipated science.”

    1. Two of the greatest of the 19th century and nearly at the same time. And actually, Lincoln was nothing but evolution his whole life.

  5. It appears that Hili possibly prefers the warmth from the monitor “sandwich”. Perhaps she can be encouraged and conditioned to rest there with a small and soft blanket.

    Of course, this means as the editor-in-chief, she can now much more effectively micromanage Malgorzata and Andrzej. :-).

  8. Happy Darwin Day! Personal anniversary– One year ago today I first visited this website, a coincidence that came from my interest in Darwin, and a friend sending me a link to the Huffington Post on Darwin Day that had a link that led me here. Until that time I had not heard of this website or book or Dr. Coyne. Now one year later, (thanks to learning about it on this website) I am halfway through Dr. Mohamed Noor’s on-line course Intro to genetics and evolution, and such is my newfound genetic literacy that yesterday I downloaded the pdf of Warren Booth’s article on bedbugs and found it fascinating. My story almost begins to sound like a case against free will! Though I am more likely to express that idea as a Vonnegut character did in the Sirens of Titan, “I am the victim of a series of accidents.”

    Happy Darwin Day to all, and thank you for the intelligent comments, which I have enjoyed greatly over the past year.

    4. On behalf of Professor Ceiling Cat and, I’m sure, all of the readers here, we are all pleased (the real Ceiling Cat purred loudly when He read your comment) and wish you good luck and continued education in the best of all areas of biology!

    5. And happy Darwin, Lincoln, Anniversary day to you Marilee with many thanks for introducing ME to this site!

  9. In a fit of coincidence, when I was having my daily swim my ears were assailed by Bill Bryson (or his reader for “Short History …”, whoever) reminding me of Darwin’s birthday. Meaningless coincidence, but I did cough and splutter a few gallons of swimming pool.

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