Friends, sometimes my New York Times morning newsletter delivers wonders.
Sure, a lot of it is about how democracy is crumbling around us, and needless to say, that’s a bummer. (Vote! Vote! Vote!) But I still like it to start my day, to keep me up to date with what’s going on in the world and, at the very least, see if today is the day I finally nail the Connections.
But every now and again, I find a perfect little gem of information buried within the chaos, and today, we HAVE to talk about the toadlet, a new frog species discovered in Brazil that is the second-smallest vertebrate EVER discovered on Earth.
Obviously, a new small frog, especially when you call it a TOADLET, is always cause for celebration. But what really tickled me are the quotes from the article, which features a lot of very important scientists saying a lot of very important things about an extremely small frog. Because I love you, here are some of the highlights.
“There are untold numbers of unknown tiny frogs out there,” says Mark Scherz, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
UNTOLD NUMBERS OF UNKNOWN TINY FROGS! What a world we live in!
Dr. Toledo’s team also ran specialized high-resolution CT scans on the toadlet to uncover more about the inner workings of how a frog could still be a frog when it is this miniaturized.
How can a frog still be a frog when it is this smol? What IS a frog? Are we frogs? God, I love scientists.
“Miniaturization allows frogs to live in a whole new world that larger frogs simply can’t get into,” Dr. Rowley said.
Is this the point of that one movie where the people get real small? (The concept of that movie made me uncomfortable on a visceral level, but I guess in my head, it’s cool when it’s frogs.) It’s a whole new frog world, baby!
Truly, as the memes say, there are cathedrals everywhere, for those with eyes to see.
Look, this is a hella scary week. I’m already in a panic, and election day isn’t until Tuesday. Plus, we probably won’t have the results right away. I’m not saying we bury our heads in the sand and pretend the world isn’t happening around us, because there’s still plenty we can do. (Again, especially, VOTE.) But eventually the work will be done, and in that time, you’ll probably be glad you know about tiny frogs. The world is full of wonders. Don’t forget, in our darkest and scariest hours, to seek them.
I’m leaving you with one book recommendation today, because I feel strongly enough that you need it in these trying times that I don’t even want to GIVE you other options. There will be no explanation. (There is only Reputation.) I love you. Let’s do this.