hair haiku and limerick - poems 29 and 30

long strands brown and white

stretch from twelve seasons of growth

hair like a lion's mane

***

he grew his hair so long

though many thought it wrong

it looked so damn fine

in the spring sunshine

made him feel like King Kong

jail haiku and limerick - poems 27 and 28

metal door clangs shut

hours pass safe from winter cold

until cell opens

***

a man once went to jail

it left him feeling frail

but once back in bed

at his own homestead

he enjoyed his new tale

Greetings to my readers in Brazil

 Congrats, you knocked Singapore and Russia off their perch to claim the number 2 spot. 

This Bud's (or Xingu, your pick) for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw

This one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XnQYHlXuEY

My global audience for the past 6 months

 

Extraterrestrial amino acids from the Murchison meteorite and their possible uses (HMT - hexamethylenetetramine as the precursor)

Original paper:  Extraterrestrial hexamethylenetetramine in meteorites—a precursor of prebiotic chemistry in the inner solar system

Diagram from here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20038-x?fromPaywallRec=false

All nine alien (forgive the hyperbole) amino acids contain a complex ring structure with four nitrogen atoms. 

In my dictionary of important organic compounds, I noted that similar molecules containing only CHNO with only four nitrogen atoms include: pentamidine, telmisartan, irinotecan, rifampicin, vinblastine, and others.

https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2023/11/dictionary-of-useful-organic-compounds_11.html

The aforementioned compounds are mostly either antifungals or antibiotics derived from fungi, yet their chemical structures are totally different from the alien amino acids. 

It would be worthwhile to see what medicinal purposes these alien amino acids and related compounds might have. HMT (was discovered in 1859 by Butlerov and an industrial process for its synthesis exists.

While some medical uses of HMT are known (it has been used to treat urinary tract infections), I do not think the properties of its amino acid cousins have been studied to the same extent. 

Hired Raygun - part 7

I could go on forever about what happened out there, but since life is short, I'll skip to the end. 142 and I fought side by side in many more battles in our perilous journey across the stars. He, my best friend, died horribly. We were fighting our way out of the digestive tract of a gigantic alien beast when he stumbled into a pool of its gastric juices. He was dissolved alive while I frantically tried to pull him to safety. When my mind told me he was dead and gone, I flew into a berserker rage and shot my way out of the monster's guts with my machine gun and a few warp grenades.

When I got back to the ship, I got a brain scan from the psychologist machine and was found to be unfit for further service. Thus, I was quickly discharged and unceremoniously dumped like a bag of trash at the interstellar spaceport from which I came.

At least my brother was there to pick me up. Since he was a military test pilot, our family agreed he should be the first human I met once I got back to earth.

We didn't say much as we drove home, but he read my mind. We stopped at a late-night diner. When I got out of the car, I couldn't help but look up at the stars. The sky will always be my favorite souvenir.

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