plurality of virus, ballet dancers, Ghost Shark, and a rouge cuddling fox.

As a budding virologist (ah HA!) talking today with peers, the question emerged: what's the appropriate plural form of the word 'virus'?
To the google! Basically, 'virus' used within the context of being self-replicating, (eventually) infectious genetic material in a protein shell (to paraphrase the esteemed Peter Medawar's timeless quote; "a piece of bad news wrapped in a protein coat") or a bit of self-propagating computer code, is a Latin loanword. In the original Latin, it meant "poison", and there was no need to to make that plural. However, while virus might mean an amount of virions (the accepted singular form, meaning a single particle of protein-covered RNA or DNA ), there can be a collection of several different sorts, thus the need to pluraize. The most common, and turns out correct, pluralization is to add an '-es' suffix, making it viruses. Occasionally, the terms 'viri' or 'virii' are used; these have been defined/documented as incorrect; it's a second declension (entry in a pattern of grammatical inflection based on use) of an irregular Latin word, so things get a little complicated.'Vira' might be semi-accurate, though not used.So. 'Viruses' is it.


Is it just me or has photography of ballet dancers in-real-life become a thing lately? i've come across mentions of Jordan Matter's work in a couple different places. Also bearing mention is the work of Benjamin Von Wong.

In keeping with a recent shark cinema theme, the SyFy channel recently released Ghost Shark, the OTHER mega blockbuster theatrical masterpiece. This was recently reviewed (including GIFS) in highly entertaining fashion here (warning, spoilers). Also, a toss in google indicates that there might be a sequel in the works.

Having been talked down from catching a young fox to keep as a pet, i was delighted to read account of one sneaking in a cat door and snuggling with an English guy while he was asleep. Upon realizing it wasn't his girlfriend nuzzling his neck, the guy was pretty startled and even got a picture before the fox left. See? They WOULD make good pets!