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lotus-tower · 10 months ago

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The Swiss Cheese Model of Covid Prevention

An edited version of the swiss cheese model tailored towards the measures that you as an individual can take to minimize your risk of infection. Public health is ultimately what its name implies, public, but that doesn't mean you're powerless.

Covid prevention is not all-or-nothing. Think of it as risk reduction, rather than a binary.

Let's go through these step by step.

VACCINES

The current vaccines are meant primarily to reduce chances of severe illness, hospitalization, and death. They will reduce your chance of infection a bit--but not nearly as much as you might think. You should still get your boosters regularly, because avoiding severe illness is of course worth doing.

If you haven't gotten the updated monovalent vaccine yet, go get it. It is not a booster. Think of it as a new vaccine. It's targeted towards the XBB lineages, which are now the most common variants. Your last boosters were likely of the bivalent type, aimed at both the original Covid strain from 2020 and Omicron. The new vaccine is monovalent, meaning it targets one family in particular.

Some studies suggest that the Novavax vaccine, which is a more traditional protein-based vaccine, is more effective and safer than mRNA vaccines, and offers better protection against future variants. Of course, the data we have so far isn't 100% conclusive (the last paper I linked is a preprint). Make of these findings what you will, just something to keep in mind. The new Novavax vaccine's availability is still limited, especially outside of the US.

MASKS

Masking is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself. While it is true that masking and reducing Covid transmission protects those around you, the idea that masks can't protect the wearer is outdated information from the early days of the pandemic when medical authorities refused to acknowledge that Covid is airborne.

The key to protecting yourself is to wear a well-fitting respirator. You want to minimize any gaps where air might leak out. If your glasses get fogged up, that's a sign that air is leaking.

Headbands will always have a tighter fit than earloop masks (and therefore provide better protection). However, you can use earloop extenders to improve the fit of earloop masks. You can find these online. Your comfort in wearing a mask is important, but there are options for compromise.

The above graphic doesn't include elastomeric respirators. While some (like the Flo Mask) are expensive, they can be much more affordable than buying disposables--look for P100 respirators at your local hardware store, but make sure it fits your face well.

For more general information, see this FAQ. For mask recommendations (NA-centric, sorry!), see my list here or Mask Nerd's YouTube channel.

For situations where you need to hydrate but don't want to take your mask off, consider the SIP valve.

Not even N95s are foolproof (N95 means it filters at least 95% of particles--with the other 5% potentially reaching you). Most people will likely not have a perfect fit. There will be situations where you'll have to take your mask off. The key is risk reduction, and that's why the Swiss cheese model is crucial.

If you can't afford high-quality masks, look for a local mask bloc or other organization that gives out free masks. Project N95 has unfortunately shut down. In Canada, there's donatemask.ca.

AVOID CROWDED INDOOR SPACES

This is rather self-explanatory. Indoor transmission is much, much, much more likely than outdoor transmission. If it's possible to move an activity outdoors instead, consider doing so.

If possible, try going to places like stores or the post office during less busy hours.

Viral particles can stay in the air for a considerable amount of time even after the person who expelled them has left. Do not take off your mask just because no one is currently present, if you know that it was previously crowded.

A CO2 monitor is a decent proxy for how many viral particles may have accumulated in the air around you. The gold standard is the Aranet4, but it's expensive, so here are some more affordable alternatives.

VENTILATION AND AIR FILTERS

Ventilation is effective for the same reason that outdoors is safer than indoors. If it's warm enough, keep windows open whenever possible. If it's cold, even cracking them open occasionally is better than nothing. Try to open windows or doors on different sides of a room to maximize airflow.

HEPA air filters can significantly reduce viral transmission indoors. Make sure to find one suitable for the room size, and replace the filters regularly. You want to look for devices with HEPA-13 filters.

You can use websites like these to calculate how long it takes for a device to change all the air in a room. Remember what I said about viral particles being able to hang around even after people have left? If an air purifier provides 2 air changes per hour, that means that after 30 minutes, any potential viral particles should be gone.

If you can't afford a commercial air filter, here's a useful DIY filter you can make with relatively simple materials. The filtration capacity is great--but due to being built with duct tape, replacing filters will be a challenge.

If you have to hold meetings or meet with people at work, having a smaller filter on the desk between you will also reduce chances of infection.

As a bonus, HEPA filters will also filter out other things like dust and allergens!

REDUCE LENGTH OF EXPOSURE IF EXPOSURE IS UNAVOIDABLE

Viral load refers to the amount of virus in a person's blood. If you've been exposed to someone with Covid, how much you've been exposed matters.

You might escape infection if the viral load you've been exposed to is very small. Or, even if you get infected, there will be less virus in you overall, leading to milder illness--and crucially, a lower chance of the virus penetrating deep into your body, creating reservoirs in your organs and wreaking long-term havoc.

A low viral load is also less contagious.

This is the same reason that wearing your mask most of the time, but having to take it off for eating, is still much better than not wearing your mask at all.

RECHARGEABLE PORTABLE AIR FILTERS

You might attract some odd looks. But if you're at high risk or just want to be as protected as possible, small portable air filters can help. Try to find models small enough to take with you on public transportation, to school, or while traveling.

These devices will be far too small to clean the air in the whole room. The goal is to have it filter air in your immediate vicinity. Be sure to angle the device so that the air is blowing in your face.

Unfortunately, rechargeable devices are much rarer and harder to find than normal air filters, and many are also expensive.

The best option at the moment, apart from DIY (which is possible, but you need to know what you're doing), seems to be the SmartAir QT3. The size and shape are a bit clunky, but it fits in a backpack. Its battery life isn't long, but it can be supplemented with a power bank.

NASAL SPRAYS

There's some research that suggests that some nasal sprays may be effective in reducing risk of infection by interfering with viruses' ability to bind to your cells.

These sprays are generally affordable, easy to find, and safe. The key ingredient is carrageenan, which is extracted from seaweed. So there are no potential risks or side effects.

Be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging carefully. Here's a video on how to properly use nasal sprays if you've never used them before.

Covixyl is another type of nasal spray that uses a different key ingredient, ethyl lauroyl arginate HCI. It also aims to disrupt viruses' ability to bind to cell walls. Unfortunately, I think it's difficult to obtain outside of the US.

CONCLUSION

None of the methods listed here are foolproof on their own. But by layering them, you can drastically reduce your chances of infection.

The most important layers, by far, are masking and air quality. But you should also stay conscientious when engaging with those layers. Don't let yourself become complacent with rules of thumb, and allow yourself to assess risk and make thought out decisions when situations arise where you might have to take off your mask or enter a high-risk indoor area, such as a hospital.

Remember that the goal is risk reduction. It's impossible to live risk-free, because we live among countless other people. But you can use knowledge and tools to keep yourself as safe as possible.

#covid #this took a while... i feel like i forgot stuff #but i can't think of what atm

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girlactionfigure · 3 months ago

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1 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - The Development of Multiscale Models for Complex Chemical Systems

2 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Quasiperiodic Crystals

3 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Decoding the Structure and The Function of The Ribosome

4 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences - Repeated Games

5 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – Ubiquitin, Deciding the Fate of Defective Proteins in Living Cells

6 Nobel Prize in Economics - Human Judgment and Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

7 Fields Medal Award in Mathematics

8 Turing Award - Machine Reasoning Under Uncertainty

9 Turing Award - Nondeterministic Decision-Making

10 Turing Award - The Development of Interactive Zero-Knowledge Proofs

11 Turing Award - Developing New Tools for Systems Verification

12 Vine Seeds Discovered from The Byzantine Period

13 The World’s Most Ancient Hebrew Inscription

14 Ancient Golden Treasure Found at Foot of Temple Mount

15 Sniffphone - Mobile Disease Diagnostics

16 Discovering the Gene Responsible for Fingerprints Formation

17 Pillcam - For Diagnosing and Monitoring Diseases in The Digestive System

18 Technological Application of The Molecular Recognition and Assembly Mechanisms Behind Degenerative Disorders

19 Exelon – A Drug for The Treatment of Dementia

20 Azilect - Drug for Parkinson’s Disease

21 Nano Ghosts - A “Magic Bullet” For Fighting Cancer

22 Doxil (Caelyx) For Cancer Treatment

23 The Genetics of Hearing

24 Copaxone - Drug for The Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

25 Preserving the Dead Sea Scrolls

26 Developing the Biotechnologies of Valuable Products from Red Marine Microalgae

27 A New Method for Recruiting Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

28 Study of Bacterial Mechanisms for Coping with Temperature Change

29 Steering with The Bats 30 Transmitting Voice Conversations Via the Internet

31 Rewalk – An Exoskeleton That Enables Paraplegics to Walk Again

32 Intelligent Computer Systems

33 Muon Detectors in The World's Largest Scientific Experiment

34 Renaissance Robot for Spine and Brain Surgery

35 Mobileye Accident Prevention System

36 Firewall for Computer Network Security

37 Waze – Outsmarting Traffic, Together

38 Diskonkey - USB Flash Drive

39 Venμs Environmental Research Satellite

40 Iron Dome – Rocket and Mortar Air Defense System

41 Gridon - Preventing Power Outages in High Voltage Grids

42 The First Israeli Nanosatellite

43 Intel's New Generation Processors

44 Electroink - The World’s First Electronic Ink for Commercial Printing

45 Development of A Commercial Membrane for Desalination

46 Developing Modern Wine from Vines of The Bible

47 New Varieties of Seedless Grapes

48 Long-Keeping Regular and Cherry Tomatoes

49 Adapting Citrus Cultivation to Desert Conditions

50 Rhopalaea Idoneta - A New Ascidian Species from The Gulf of Eilat

51 Life in The Dead Sea - Various Fungi Discovered in The Brine

52 Drip Technology - The Irrigation Method That Revolutionized Agriculture

53 Repair of Heart Tissues from Algae

54 Proof of The Existence of Imaginary Particles, Which Could Be Used in Quantum Computers

55 Flying in Peace with The Birds

56 Self-Organization of Bacteria Colonies Sheds Light on The Behaviour of Cancer Cells

57 The First Israeli Astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon

58 Dr. Chaim Weizmann - Scientist and Statesman, The First President of Israel, One of The Founders of The Modern Field of Biotechnology

59 Aaron Aaronsohn Botanist, Agronomist, Entrepreneur, Zionist Leader, and Head of The Nili Underground Organization

60 Albert Einstein - Founding Father of The Theory of Relativity, Co-Founder of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem

61 Maimonides - Doctor and Philosopher

Source

@TheMossadIL

#Israel #Nobel Prizes #Contributions to the World

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covid-safer-hotties · 2 months ago

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Opinion: Better protecting schools from COVID is within reach - Published Aug 17, 2022

This article was incredibly well sourced and correct: Why are these simple procedures not being implemented to keep children and teachers safe two years from publication?

Welcome to the “Live with COVID” era, where living with the virus means not talking about it at all. We’ve been told to pretend it’s over, though those “weird summer colds” and “lingering symptoms” indicate otherwise. Rising case rates, hospitalizations, and deaths. Best Summer Ever 2.0 is ending, which means kids are about to return for their third pandemic September.

Article content In the beginning, we were told that 1) kids don’t get COVID, 2) they do, but it’s mild, 3) vaccines alone will protect us, and 4) COVID does not spread in schools. While true that fewer children die from COVID than adults, they’re generally not supposed to die.

And kids are experiencing disabling long COVID, with estimated rates between two and 25 per cent of all infections, not counting reinfections. While vaccines mitigate the worst outcomes of COVID, they don’t completely stop transmission, and additional measures are required. And of course, as every parent knows, children don’t keep their germs to themselves. They go on to transmit to their teachers, parents and grandparents. Furthermore, outbreaks in schools do spread to the community.

Schools need to be safer for all students and staff, including those with medical concerns and vulnerable family members. Worker shortages are everywhere, education included. Sick teachers can’t teach, and more worryingly, may go on to develop long COVID, resulting in time away or even retirement.

It’s also harder for kids to learn when they’re sick and more absences means losing more time when so much has been lost to the pandemic. Looking at the Calgary Board of Education’s absence data, 6.3 per cent of students were away in April 2022, compared to 2.8 per cent in 2019. This is unsurprising, as there were essentially no protections in schools by June, despite low vaccination uptake and no vaccines for kids under five. No testing, mask mandates (Education Minister Adriana Lagrange outlawed those), enhanced ventilation nor in-room filtration (again, banned by the CBE). Yes, hand sanitizer was plentiful, but that doesn’t stop a virus that spreads through the air.

We can make schools safer for kids and their communities, but it means we have to talk about COVID. We need to acknowledge that COVID transmission is predominantly airborne, so that citizens have a framework for understanding risk. The smoke analogy, used by the Public Health Agency of Canada, and chief public health officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam, is an excellent metaphor.

There are multiple ways to make schools safer. Adequate ventilation, with a minimum of six fresh air changes per hour, mitigates build-up of viruses floating around in the air. Even opening windows/doors can be effective. Ventilation can be monitored through measuring the CO2 concentration in the room, essentially showing how much air one may be breathing in that was exhaled by someone else. Boston Public Schools is doing this and even has a public dashboard to share data. Upgrading filters in ventilation systems helps too, but as of May, the CBE has not completed this at any of their schools.

An additional intervention is filtration units like HEPA filters, or even homemade Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, to remove and trap virus particles. The CBE’s own risk management consultants acknowledged the effectiveness of this intervention.

Article content And we need to reinstate universal masking in zones where high community spread is identified, emphasizing respirator-style (N95 or KN95) masks for everyone. Information released in Alberta showed that schools with no mask mandates had three times more outbreaks than those with masking, confirming similar data from Arkansas and Massachusetts.

Pretending that COVID is over doesn’t it make it so. And it doesn’t help us “live with COVID” either. Yes, people are tired, we all want to move on. But making schools safer is fully within our reach. And until COVID is actually over, we can’t pretend our way out of it. So Alberta parents must demand the safety of their children and their teachers, or our leaders will simply go on pretending.

#covid #mask up #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #public health #still coviding #wear a respirator

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actualbird · 1 year ago

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HI!!! i wanted to ask ur opinion on how the nxx boys sneeze 😭 it was a hilarious thought because i was trying to sleep when suddenly i heard my dad make the loudest, most disruptive sneeze ever and i thought "thats so funny lol WAIT what if the tot boys sneezed".

i generally think the tot boys would be more "a-chooooo...." rather than a nuclear explosion but i need ur opinion. HOW WOULD THEY SNEEZE!!??

scream omfg i love this ask and i remember i actually talked about this with @samsspambox once forever ago so, without further ado

how the nxx boys sneeze

vyn: sneezes normal but my god he's super sensitive to allergies and, most of all, Pollen. which is hell, given that he loves to garden. but his easy workaround is just to wear a mask, and that usually saves him when hes working on his own garden. but come Pollen Season, and all the plants and trees spewing particles into the air, and hes a nose-clogged sneezy mess. his students know that when it's pollen season to not piss him off because he will be so cranky from all the sneezing and also the horrid feeling of only having one nostril unobstructed

artem: sneezes the Loud Dad Sneeze. he is the disruptive sneezer, the nuclear explosion. he is sneezing like how a lion roars deeply to establish its territory lines, except artem isnt a literal lion and does not do this on purpose. his sneezes are LOUD. the type of loud that makes people want to ask artem if hes okay afterwards cuz it's so loud it seemed like it dislodged a rib or something. it's immensely comical, given artem's usual quiet nature, that his sneezes are a force of nature. he could sneeze in his office and people all the way over in the pantry would hear it. he is, and i cannot stress this enough, so fucking embarrassed about it.

marius: the sneeze that keeps wanting to happen but Doesnt happen. you know, the cliffhanger sneeze, the sneezes that are like "ah...aaAAAHH...AAAAAAAHH—" and then the resulting "choo" doesnt happen. and this Not Happening just Keeps Happening. it's agonizing. marius will start a sneeze at 9:55am but the Conclusion Of The Sneeze only happens by 10:03am, once hes already in a meeting with the board of directors. how unsightly, he KNOWS, but the worst part really is the sheer anticipation. what marius would GIVE to have a normal sneeze.

luke: the tiniest kitten sneeze on the planet, and always 6 times consecutively in a row MINIMUM. back during the NSB Days(TM), the fearsome Agent Raven arrived at the training class he handles with a slight cold, saying he'll just monitor and teach and give pointers while socially distanced. the trainees were so scared cuz "wow, hes still coming in even when hes sick, how TERRIFYINGLY DEDICATED, to be expected from the FEARSOME AGENT RAVEN." and then luke steps back and grabs a piece of tissue, obviously rearing for a sneeze, and the trainees thought "oh i bet his sneeze is the Loud Disruptive one, just like his own scary fighting skills, to be expected from the FEARSOME AGENT RAVE—" and then

it's the smallest, cutest sneeze. one after the other. and another. and another. it was like hearing a squeaky dog toy get squeezed several times vigorously. it was like how you'd assume a pixie sneezes. it was like the sound sprinkles and pink bubbles would make if those could sneeze.

once luke is done with his consecutive sneezes (that, for the life of him, he could not stop) he promptly death-glares at the trainees and they all agree to Never Bring It Up.

but the consecutive kitten sneezes still follow luke through his life and all the way up to, yep, the nxx team being able to witness it

mc: awww, it's been so long since ive seen your cute sneeze!!

luke, nose clogged: it's [sneeze] not cute! [sneeze]

marius: it's so cute, i think my heart is melting

luke: shut [sneeze] up!

marius: AAAWWW, is the big bad agent having some twouble? >:3

luke: dont you f[sneeze]ucking patronize [sneeze] me!

mc: do you need more tissue?

luke: PLE[sneeze]ASE

#tears of themis #tears of themis headcanon #vyn richter #artem wing #marius von hagen #luke pearce #im a consecutive sneezer but not tiny kitten sneezes just normal consecutive #asks #anon

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inbabylontheywept · 1 year ago

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Burning Bridges

“I am Kalrose, commander of the Second Armada of the Akaviri. We are on our way to a peacekeeping operation in the Pegasus cluster. Humanity is not our enemy, but it will be if you continue to detain us in your piss puddle agrarian star system. Step away from the FTL launcher and no one will die. Remain in front and we will plow through your craft. Either way you will not stop us.”

The human freighter acting as a makeshift gate in front of the launcher did not move. If anything, it centered itself more, in order to better face the Akaviri flagship head on.

Then it broadcasted back.

“Your ‘peacekeeping mission’ in the Pegasus cluster is a genocide. We will not stand back and let you commit this atrocity. We may not have the men or the ships to destroy your fleet, but we don’t need to destroy your fleet in order to keep you from reaching the battlefield. Our piss puddle’s name is ‘Zion.’ In time, you will call it ‘Home.’”

Kalrose barely had time to ponder the nature of that threat when the launcher fired up. The EM readings on his ship went mad, and in that brief fraction of a second, he realized he’d miscalculated. Gravely.

He didn’t know how many thousands of safety protocols had been bypassed, but the amount of power flowing to the gravitational core in the center of the launcher was easily nine times larger than the maximum rating. A micro singularity formed within the space lens, and cladding ripped itself off the hull before spiraling at near light speeds around the artificial black hole.

Kalrose had always imagined such a catastrophe as something like a fireball, reds and oranges, lots of shrapnel and clanging. Upon seeing it in person, he realized how foolish that was.

Red glows were for pokers left in hot coals. This was, for one brief moment, a star fueled on steel. It was never going to be orange.

It could only be white.

The accretion disk condensed further, the energy of the reactions happening near it somehow fueling the gravitational anomaly at the center. His comm system moved into a death scream as the material’s blackbody radiation moved past the x-ray spectrum, pure friction converting the material to energy more efficiently than even a fusion reactor could manage. The heat generated finally caused a full structural collapse, the spine of the station melting enough to wrap the whole barrel of the launcher around the spiraling singularity, twirling it in loops like thread around a spool. The reaction was accelerating now, even without electricity being able to fuel the gravitational collapse, the radiation pressure alone managing to hold the system in a highly fragile state of tensegrity. He recognized the feedback loop that was happening, radiation fueling gravity, gravity fueling radiation, on and on until-

There was no air for noise in space, but he could almost imagine the roar that the expanding cloud of ionized metal should have made as it blew past. There it was. The end of the loop. It had run out of matter to feed on, so without a balance to the compressive force it expanded outwards.

He was fortunate that the explosion was violent enough to atomize the particles. Even a fragment the size of a grain of sand would’ve been enough to take down his flagship. As a lone ion, it could be deflected by the same magnetic field that kept the crew safe during FTL jumps.

He stared numbly at the monitor.

One third of the Akaviri fleet, stranded in a farming system. Not even a shot fired.

He realized that the comm system’s scream had been replaced with the quiet pulse of an incoming broadcast. He accepted it without question, too lost to even be angry.

“Take your time recovering your senses. When you’re ready, just send us a message back. We’re going to need every hand we can on the harvest. There’s no one out there we can reach for help after this. It’s just...Us.”

#hfy #humanity fuck yeah #humans are space oddities #humans are space orcs #creative writing #bfg #big fucking gun #science fiction #scifi #I wrote this after the Crimean bridge was hit #ploughs to swords #black hole physics #i had a lot of fun describing the explosion #Babylon-HFY

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oneshotnewbie · 10 months ago

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𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐃𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 - 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 / 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

ᕚ---ᕘ

The Superfriends and several other DEO agents gathered in the DEO's bullpen, their faces marked with determination. J'onn, as the leader of this mission, led the meeting. "We have evidence that y/n was forcibly taken to another dimension. Winn and Lena found particles in Kara's apartment that indicate a portal."

Winn nodded and began tapping a holographic representation of various dimensions, which he then made appear on the nearby monitor. "Based on the tracks and energetic patterns we found, I believe she must have crossed over into a parallel dimension."

Lena, her brow furrowed in worry, continued Winn's initial sentence. "There are many dimensions, hundreds. And there are magical portals that allow you to travel between individual dimensions. But we have to find exactly the right one to bring y/n back. The human body genetics are not attuned to other dimensions and if we take too long it can have dire consequences for her."

Winn studied maps and data for signs of anything unusual while Supergirl and the others talked about what the chances were of finding the right portal before he found anything. "It appears that these dimensions are all unstable. There are energy fluctuations that suggest they are not naturally occurring. Someone or something is behind this."

"Can you locate the portal?" the Martian asked and the young man began typing furiously on his keyboard, analyzing more data. "Yes, I can trace and locate the portal's trail. However, it moves through different locations, making it difficult to search, but there is a pattern."

"Good, then let's not waste any time. We have to get y/n back unharmed. Where do we start?" Supergirl was impatient and the chances of her survival in other dimensions made her increasingly tense. She looked at everyone gathered at the round table and waited for the technician's answer on this matter. "Your apartment."

The Superfriends set off, ready to solve the mystery of your whereabouts. They followed the traces of the portal into Kara's apartment, while the magical energies revealed their presence in her living room. Winn positioned himself in the center of the room, the device in his hands beeping in a monotonous sound. "This is where the energy flow seems to be strongest. I'm opening the portal right at this point, get ready."

Everyone involved nodded in unison before positioning themselves a little further to avoid being caught in the first strong vortex of the approach. Winn, with the simple knowledge of his trade, opened the colorful portal, the stream of mixed air forming a strong suction. "There it is, we have to get through it!"

J'onn was the first to walk through the portal. The others followed cautiously, ready for any surprise on the other side of the swirling and pulsating portal as they were carried into a world unlike anything they had seen before. The surroundings were strange, the sky an unreal dark blue and the trees streaked with strange shadows. The landscape was distorted, the colors gloomy and dark, and an eerie silence hung in the freezing air. This dimension seemed threatening and scary for everyone involved.

"Stay here. I'll give you a quick overview from above," the blonde breathed and tried to activate her flight power by jumping, but it was as if the gravity was different in this world. A mixture of confusion and concern spread through her. "My superpowers don't work here."

J'onn also felt the same. His shapeshifting abilities failed and he was unable to establish a telepathic connection with you. "The laws of physics are distorted here. We have to be careful and rely on our other abilities."

Winn, using his technical skills, tried to scan the structure of this dimension to see if this National City was built the same as what they knew. Meanwhile, Lena was also looking at her self-made equipment when she realized that her scientific instruments were also compromised, but they were hitting the traces of your DNA that she had previously borrowed from the DEO laboratory. "The dimension is playing with the laws of nature that we know. We have to adapt and proceed carefully, but I have a trace and it leads directly to her and Alex's actual apartment."

Kara, who knew every inch of the alternate dimension apartments, led the group through the strange looking and empty streets. And as they got close, she felt an eerie pressure in the air. Lena's technology also suggested that it was 90% certain that you were in there, but in relatively poor condition. "Something's wrong."

"Then we shouldn't waste any more time than we've already lost." J'onn ordered and carefully entered the apartment. The lights flickered dimly and the atmosphere was heavy. Not a second had passed when they took a step into it when a figure appeared in front of them that made the blood run cold in their veins.

It was Alex, but not the loving sister Kara knew. This red-haired woman had a cold look in her eyes, and her clothes were surrounded by a deep dark aura. “Where is y/n and what have you done to her?!” Supergirl asked, standing protectively in front of Lena and Winn, who had no combat experience.

The person addressed smiled mockingly and pointed to a captive person who was sitting motionless in a chair with magical and iron chains on his neck and wrists. Her gaze fell directly on you and your tired and exhausted figure, but your eyes met hers, in which there was a silent cry for help.

J'onn tried to make telepathic contact with you again, but it was as if there was an impenetrable barrier between you and him that he couldn't break through. Alex laughed darkly. "You can't do anything. Here I am the ruler and you are powerless. I'm sorry, but she's mine now."

The Superfriends now faced a tough challenge that tested not only their skills, but also Kara in the deepest ways. She stared at the woman as she maintained her defensive position and began to negotiate in a calm but firm voice. "Alex, please. We know that you have lost your wife and miss her dearly. But our y/n.. She doesn't belong here, she will die if she stays here any longer. This dimension is not meant for her!"

Alex smiled smugly and took long backward steps towards you. She knelt down in front of you, her fingers gently caressing your chin as she looked into your eyes. A veil of tears covered your eyes and you flinched away from her touch. "She will stay here and take my wife's place. Same character traits, same looks. I just have to train up the evilness in her."

While the redhead turned away from you, Lena took the opportunity and slowly crept into an adjoining room that led her directly to you. Supergirl didn't notice anything at first, but the other two men did and tried to keep Alex in check with distraction.

Lena quietly reached your side, but remained hidden in the doorway and whispered soothing words to you. "I'm here, honey. You just have to hold on a little longer."

You nodded slightly, restricted in your movements as your eyes reflected fear mixed with hope. Winn was currently watching the portal's activity on his monitor, keeping track of the time they had left before the portal would close forever. "It's now or never, guys. We don't have much time left." He whispered, pressing his statement.

J'onn drew attention to himself by walking towards her and threatening her in her personal space while Supergirl charged forward and incapacitated her with a well-aimed blow to the neck. Using his technical skills, Winn deactivated the energy sources of your bonds, which the redhead had enhanced with her powers, and the power on your neck that emanated from them began to fade.

At that moment Lena freed you from the chains and you gratefully threw your arms around her neck, barely able to hold back your tears. While the black-haired woman tried to calm you down, Alex was persistent and tried to recover from unconsciousness, but Supergirl kept her at a distance to keep you safe, placing the chains that had once adorned your neck around her. "She will not stay here but will leave this place. You will no longer have any power over her."

Lena stood at your side, a gentle smile on her lips as you slowly propped yourself up with Lena's help. You felt too weak, as if time in this dimension was sapping your strength, and she put an arm around your waist to help you walk. "Darling, how are you feeling?"

You tried to smile, but the exhaustion was clear in your eyes and face. "A little weak, but I think I'll survive. Thanks for saving me."

"The Superfriends always stand up for each other," the blonde suddenly spoke as she carefully stepped closer to you and gently pulled you into her arms, rubbing her hands soothingly over your back. "It's good to have you back."

"Thanks, Kara. For everything." You whispered imperceptibly and she let go of you, gently wiping tears from your cheeks that still seemed to be lost. "Not for that, you're family. But we have to be careful now, y/n/n. Returning from this alternate dimension will be very stressful on your body."

You nodded weakly and exhaled deeply. You leaned heavily on Lena as she slowly moved with you through the dark atmosphere. The air seemed to shimmer here and the surroundings seemed unreal and threatening to your eyes. The forces of this world pulled on you as if they were trying to devour your energy and you latched onto the black-haired woman wearily, the dizziness momentarily taking over you.

"We shouldn't stay here too long and move faster. The portal will close soon," said Winn, keeping a close eye on the surroundings while at the same time analyzing the remaining energy flows. Supergirl and J'onn were currently forming a protective barrier around you and Lena, feeling the strangeness of this atmosphere deep in their consciousness. "Not just because of that. It's been too long for Y/n, her body can't take it much longer. She's about to pass out."

"We have to hurry," Supergirl spoke composedly, her words swallowed by the murky air. "Y/n, we're almost there. Hang in there."

You nodded weakly and concentrated on moving forward step by step as the atmosphere continued to sap your strength. When you finally reached the portal, Lena sat on the floor with you and gave your exhaustion a break. The other two stood guard, ready for any unexpected turn of events while Winn took control of the technology. "I will ensure that no further portals can be opened into our dimension after we return."

Looking back on these negative experiences, your thoughts turned to the days you had overcome here. Only a warm hand from Lena on your shoulder let you out of them again, a touch of relief sparking within you when you saw a black vortex of wind open up in front of you.

Seconds later, you returned to the correct dimension. The swirl of paint closed right behind you and the young guy completed his job by locking it securely. It disappeared, and the eerie world of the alternate dimension was now safely locked away. You leaned against Lena, exhausted, before you briefly tipped over and J'onn caught you just seconds before you hit the ground. "She needs to get medical attentions immediately. I will fly her, meet me there.“

ᕚ---ᕘ

When you got to the medical department, J'onn immediately lowered you onto a stretcher and was happy to see that you were still conscious. Doctors immediately had their hands on you, trying to stabilize your condition with fluids and watching you to make sure you hadn't suffered any serious effects from the trip.

You closed your eyes briefly, not noticing when your real Alex reached the DEO's medical department, which she was allowed to leave a few hours ago, and quickly walked over to you before sitting down next to you. A relieved but also worried smile crossed her face as she gently stroked your hair and she carefully leaned over you, wrapping you in her arms. "Are you okay? Are you in pain? I missed you so much."

Returning the firm grip, you felt the love and concern that Alex felt for you and you also noticed that the burden was visibly lifted from your shoulders as you held her safe and sound in your arms. "I missed you too. And I'm fine. I'm just really tired and weak."

Suddenly you both let your emotions flow and she hugged you tighter, as if she could keep you close to her forever. You closed your eyes again, sheltered in her arms, feeling the familiar feeling of safety that only Alex could give you.

The silence in the room was only broken by the gentle breathing of both of you. Alex finally broke her silence, just whispering in your ear with a loving intensity. "I thought I had lost you. Thinking about it for the last few hours has been unbearable."

With the last of your strength you held her even closer to you, placing soft kisses on her hair as her head rested on your chest. "I'm here, babe. I'm with you again. Nothing will ever be able to separate us."

The redhead lifted her head to look deep into your eyes. Your eyes met, and in that moment the full depth of your love and the fears you had endured were reflected on both sides. "I love you so much," Alex confessed, her voice broken by emotion as tears began to dance on her cheeks.

You smiled, a mixture of happiness and gratitude filling your body. You lifted your upper body briefly and pressed a kiss on her lips, full of passion, tenderness and all the love and care that you felt and carried within you for her. The world outside the medical ward seemed to disappear for a moment and only your love mattered.

After reluctantly breaking away from your kiss, she placed her forehead against yours and enjoyed the closeness of you. "We've been through so much together," Alex whispered. "But that was definitely the hardest thing I've ever had to overcome."

You nodded in agreement and looked for her hand, linking it tightly with yours. "You are my rock, Alex. I am so grateful that you are by my side and it is so nice to be with you again, where I belong."

The tears of relief shone in Alex's eyes and their love was on full display. A smile played on her rosy lips. "And I'm grateful that Kara brought you back. I wouldn't have known what to do without you."

You gently wiped a tear from Alex's cheek and gave her another kiss on her wet cheeks. "We always found each other, didn't we? No matter what happens, we always end up back together."

The redhead lay down next to you in the empty space, her hand placed gently on your chest to feel the still slow but steadily improving heartbeat as she snuggled against you. Her head rested on your shoulder and so the two of you remained in your embrace, aware that an unbreakable connection existed in your hearts.

The Superfriends stood respectfully behind the glass as you shared one last loving kiss before falling asleep. The air seemed to be filled with love and warmth, and the others felt that they were witnessing a very special moment. They shared a moment of joy.

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boots-with-the-fur-club · 10 months ago

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So, the first chapter of that fungus fic I have blew up! Thanks for the kind comments, you guys got me motivated to write the second chapter! If you don’t want me to tag you in the next one, just let me know. Here is chapter two of No Fun in Fungus.

@daboyau

@theawesomeninja-xd

@nights-flying-fox

@phoebepheebsphibs

“There was really something in here….and I just treated him like he was crazy.” Mikey frowns, staring up at the creature.

Raph blinks away the last bits of sleepiness and takes a step back.

“It…is it just me or does it look like….?”

“Y-Yeah. Let’s leave it here and tell Donnie.” Mikey holds onto Raph’s arm while still holding the battle shell.

“Good idea, big guy.” Raph carefully stays in front of Mikey as they leave the room.

Even as the doors close behind them, he continues making sure he could protect him from all angles.

Only when they hear screaming does he drop it in favor of picking Mikey up and running with him to medbay. Mikey panics, knowing that Donnie’s biggest defense was currently in his hands.

Raph barges in, seeing Donnie sitting next to Leo on the med bed and tossing a thick medical book at something scurrying around on the floor.

“Be careful! Don’t come any closer!” Donnie frantically warns as it misses.

“What’s going on!?” Raph shouts.

“It’s in the room! Either New York rats got even more mutated or it’s a creature I don’t know and both thoughts are equally terrifying!”

Mikey stares hard at the floor, his hand carefully changing its grip on the battle shell.

“Go robo arms!” He tosses the shell as a blur rushes towards Raph.

The arms pop out, grabbing whatever it is and lifting it up so that it can’t escape.

“Good shot Mikey!” Donnie cheers as he gets down from the bed.

“It looks just like what was in my room….” Mikey comments.

Donnie stops.

“Leo wasn’t just seeing things?”

Mikey shakes his head sadly.

“He really was protecting me.

Donnie frowns for a second, then sighs.

“Oh great, he’s going to brag about this forever.”

Mikey smiles softly. He’s aware this is probably an attempt to make him feel better.

“I think we can let him have this one.”

Raph looks at the both of them in confusion.

“Can someone explain everything to Raph?”

Donnie and Mikey tell him all about what happened.

Raph sets Mikey down and goes over to Leo, picking him up and cradling him before sitting down on the bed.

His eyes trail down the cracks on his plastron.

It doesn’t go unnoticed by Donnie and Mikey.

Mikey feels his lip tremble.

Donnie’s fists tighten.

He pulls his goggles down to look over the intruder still in a metallic grasp.

“There’s a mystic energy surrounding it, and spreading. Its particles are going into the air. Luckily it’s not enough to effect us yet, but inhaling said smaller particles could have lesser effects.”

“But what does it actually do?” Raph questions.

“As you know, I hate working with incomplete data. I’m going to have to test it first in my lab.”

“We’ll go with ya. Who know s how many others of those things are runnin around?”

Donnie’s face seems to grow conflicted, biting the inside of his cheek.

It was hard to hide his emotions when he actually wanted to.

“I don’t know if Leo is in the right condition to be moved around so much.”

“We can’t just let you go alone. It’s too dangerous.”

Donnie sighs.

“Right. Fine. Let’s go.”

Raph gets off the bed and picks up the vitals monitor that Donnie set up.

Donnie grabs a metal pole from the medical supplies and slides the shell out of the room so that he doesn’t have to get his face close to pick it up.

Out of habit, Raph attempts to stay in front of or by the side of Mikey and Donnie.

The two don’t allow this.

Donnie stays in the front while Mikey purposefully walks slow.

Neither of them planned it with each other. It was a silent agreement that they were not going to let anything come near Raph or Leo.

Eventually they make it to Donnie’s lab.

He has the doors close behind Mikey while Raph gently lays Leo on a bed in there.

He makes sure that the monitor is still well connected to him.

Donnie gets the shell and creature into an analysis chamber. It closes shut before the process begins.

He taps away at his computer until something pops up.

“The particles seem to be spores that release a toxin which effects different parts of the brain. The main ones are the hippocampus and the amygdala.”

“Uh….and what does your science brain know about those parts?” Raph questions.

“The hippocampus handles a lot of things so that isn’t good, and the amygdala….is in charge of fear.”

Mikey tenses.

“So….it could cause nightmares?”

Donnie nods.

“Since there was one in your room, it’s the most likely cause of your and Leo’s nightmares. Judging by his reaction they must have been intense. What was yours about?”

Mikey looks down.

“Is it really going to help to hear what I saw?”

“As much as it might be painful, yes. We need to be aware.”

Mikey wrings his hands together.

“In the first one, L-Leo….Leo said he hated me because I….I-I’m why you…..died. You got crushed by that freaky train monster.”

Donnie’s eyes widen before he glances away.

“So we can assume that they’re not based in any capacity of truth in the slightest.”

Mikey smiles very softly at hearing that.

Raph gently pats his head.

“Was there another one? You said first like there was a second.”

“It was….back when the Krang made you fight Leo….e-everyone but me was dead.“

Mikey can almost feel the fear that flashes through Raph through the explanation.

He, to his credit, tries to avoid it showing so that Mikey doesn’t get guilt over talking about it.

“That is never gonna happen, Raph swears on his bears.”

Donnie lifts up his goggles and puts his hand to his chin.

“They’re both dreams about the Krang. There could be some kind of connection.”

Mikey hides his face in his shell a bit.

“For once I hope you’re wrong.”

Raph puts his fists together.

“If their chewed up bubble gum lookin faces try to mess with us again, they’ll wish they were still trapped in that prison dimension.”

Donnie goes back to typing on his computer.

“I could create a tracker for these things using the pollen sample, and a way to combat its effects wouldn’t hurt.”

Mikey sighs in relief.

He could always count on his brothers, even if that made him feel bad after the fact.

Even if he didn’t believe Leo at first.

He brings his head out of his shell and suddenly sees something making its way from the under side of Donnie’s computer desk.

“Donnie! Look out!”

Donnie is barely able to making a noise in confusion before he gets grabbed back, basically pulled off his feet, by Raph.

This, however, leaves the snapping turtle wide open for the mushroom to jump at and land on his face.

Mikey and Donnie shout as a spore cloud gets sprayed in his face.

Raph grabs it off and throws it as hard as he can away, making it stop moving. He starts coughing from inhaling so much at once.

“Raph! Are you okay!?” Mikey asks with extreme panic.

Raph wipes at his eyes.

“Don’t worry big guy, it’ll take more than weird dust to take me down.” He turns to smile at Mikey before his face falls.

Mikey hadn’t seen him this terrified since Leo talked about closing the portal.

Raph’s breathing grows heavy.

Donnie quickly moves in front of him.

“Raph, what’s going on?”

Raph tears up, hand shakily raising up to put Donnie’s cheek in his hand.

“It’s….it’s gonna be okay, alright? I’m here, R-Raph’s here!”

Donnie and Mikey are both entirely confused.

They have no way of knowing what their brother is seeing.

Both of them are blind to the pink, wriggling tentacles in his vision.

Donnie doesn’t know that there’s Krang around his jaw, spreading onto his shoulders and even infecting his goggles somehow.

Mikey is unaware of the pink goo covering his right eye, or the grotesque mouth replacing the palm that was normally hand in hand with one of his brother’s.

Most of all, nobody would be able to truly understand just how much it was taking him to not run, not be so scared that he shuts down.

He never told a soul what the Krang made him see when they tricked him into revealing their lair.

Despite how he suffered, what hurt him worse was how he failed his family. He wasn’t strong enough to fight against it.

He doesn’t know what he’ll do if he messes up again.

Donnie carefully moves Raph’s hand away and squeezes it.

“Raph. You have to tell me what you’re seeing.”

“Y-You don’t feel it? It doesn’t hurt?….You can talk? I couldn’t….”

“You couldn’t?….You think we’re krangified.”

Raph blinks some tears away.

“Y-You’re…..not?”

“Listen to me Raph, it’s only a hallucination. We’re okay. Close your eyes and just focus on me.”

“Dee, I can’t, I-I just can’t, what if somethin happens? I have to be able to protect you, Mikey and Leo!”

“The best way you can do that is to trust us.”

Raph inhales sharply.

“Okay, okay….” He closes his eyes.

Donnie moves Raph’s hand back up to his face, allowing him to feel that there were no regularities.

Raph seems to relax slightly.

“There’s nothing there. The Krang aren’t here, they’re gone.” Donnie insists.

“Mikey, could ya say something too?”

“I’m here Raph! I’m all good. We both are.” He puts Raph’s other hand on his face as well, nuzzling into it.

Raph slowly, nervously, opens up his eyes and smiles when he sees the normal faces of his brothers.

He pulls his hands away and hugs them tightly in relief.

“Quick thinking, Donnie.”

Donnie smirks slightly.

“I take payments in the form of being the top of the turtle pile and extra chances to pick the show we watch during hangout time.”

Him and Mikey feel the rumble of chuckling from Raph.

“Looks like we sorta figured out a way to snap each other out of it.”

“And we know we can hear each other when it happens.” Mikey adds.

“I’d rather stay on the safe, scientific side and create something to eradicate all these pests.” Donnie interjects.

Raph opens his mouth to talk, but stops short when he looks behind them.

“Guys, more got in!” He turns the two around so they can see.

Somehow, a group of the creatures slipped in and we’re just waiting there and staring at them.

The group scream in a high pitched way as Donnie tries to get the doors opened.

Once they are, Raph grabs Leo and everyone runs out together.

This is the thing that finally wakes him up.

He groggily lifts his top half up from over Raph’s shoulder.

“Ugh, I feel like the teapot after getting used for sports ball….”

“Leo!” Donnie, Mikey and Raph yell in unison.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it-….wait, that thing in Mikey’s room!”

“We’re running from a bunch of them now!” Mikey explains.

“There’s more!? Where are they coming from!?”

“No current clue about that!” Donnie answers.

“We should warn dad!”

“He went to his Hidden City poker night! We won’t be back until tomorrow!”

“Then I can just portal us to safety-“

“No!“ The others yell at the same time.

“You guys! This is not the time for me to keep up the promise! Let me just get us to April’s and then you can yell at me later!” He looks around for something to turn into a sword.

“I thought you learned to trust us, Leo!” Raph says angrily.

“I do trust you! That doesn’t mean I can’t tell when you guys are making bad decisions because you’re too focused on me! So stop running and let me make sure we’re all safe! Me included!” Leo pushes up from his shoulder.

Raph slowly stops running, followed by Donnie and Mikey.

They were all aware that they might have been a bit suffocating with how they hover over Leo ever since he did what he did.

To his credit, he hasn’t complained even once until right now.

And also to his credit, it was for good reason.

Raph gently sets him down.

“Leo….I’m-“

“Nope, no “I’m sorries.” I don’t need it. I’m not mad. You guys know how much I love being the center of attention.” He smiles as he kneels down to look more.

Raph smiles as well.

“Here, take the pole I got from the med bay.” Donnie suggests.

“Always got just what we need.” Leo takes it and then has a sword in his hand.

As this interaction is happening, Mikey looks a bit into the darkness of the area in front of them.

He’s horrified when the darkness takes shape and starts squirming.

A horde of creatures begin wriggling out.

It’s too late to do anything as the others also notice.

A spore cloud envelopes them.

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allthebrazilianpolitics · 2 months ago

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São Paulo Registers the Highest Daily Inhalable Pollutant Levels of the Decade

In 2024, the state registers the highest daily concentration of pollutants resulting from drought and fires

The state of São Paulo recorded in 2024 the worst daily levels of inhalable pollutants of the decade, according to data from the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb), analyzed by Folha. These are invisible particles, harmful to health, and derived from various sources.

This year, fine particles from fires and those originating from soil and industrial processes showed daily concentrations 42% and 51% above the air quality target set by Cetesb, respectively.

For this calculation, the report only considered continuous monitoring stations from 2014 to 2024.

#brazil #politics #environmentalism #brazilian politics #environmental justice #brazil forest fires 2024 #image description in alt #mod nise da silveira

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zombiethingy · 9 months ago

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lone monster

Written for the @steddiemicrofic prompt ‘edge’

wc: 509 | rated: T tags: upside down, Eddie has powers, fix-it of sorts | cw: no [AO3 link]

Eddie isn't dead.

He's not alive either, or free.

He's bound to the land once known as Hawkins, now but a wasteland of lifeless fragments, the results of the ground splitting open like an eggshell, the upside down spewing poisonous air and directionless monsters out to topside.

He's one of them now; a monster.

Just before his final breath left his lungs, his powers had reached out to the consciousness that almost became his grave, bound themselves to it, offering his might in turn for his life.

Particles collected around him, patching him back together, feeding him their strength, altering and empowering. But One noticed the commotion and rushed in to press parts of himself into Eddie's being, to make him his slave.

Before the last bits of his control vanished, Eddie released an agonizing cry, putting in his authority to tell all living things to get the hell out of there, to leave the circle of One's influence and get to safety.

Then he built mental walls as strong and impenetrable as he could manage, the outer one to keep One prisoner in the hell of his own making, the inner one to give his own self a place to shrink back to and hide away in. Then he let his body be taken over and puppeteered, trusting that he couldn't harm any living thing anymore.

While his body was steered to upturn and destroy, Eddie observed, sharing his power with the might inherent to this place, offering tiny pieces to information, directions to turn the surroundings more hostile towards One and his creations. He felt triumphant whenever one of the creatures slipped from One's control, dropping to the ground like its strings were cut and dissolving into nothing but dust before One could regain it.

One by one they vanished, reabsorbed, and used to rebuild what once was – until the only monsters left were Eddie and One.

Eddie remained behind the wall, let his body be used while he kept monitoring the power balance, and waiting for One to make a mistake.

Then One channeled his powers into Eddie to destroy their dimension from the inside out and breaking free of its bounds; Eddie knew it was time. They destroyed One instead.

Eddie let his walls crumble, reaching out to the boundaries of his conscious to feel for any living creature. There isn't one; he's alone.

Having done his deed, he curls up where his home used to be, feels the presence of this world wrap around him like a blanket and settles in to spend eternity with dreams of what could have been.

Until he feels a tickling at the edge of his conscience. He opens his eyes to Steve standing before him, body bruised and broken like the day they parted, Eddie’s blood still coating his hands.

"Eddie," Steve gasps, reaching out desperately.

The touch sets him ablaze, making him feel alive again. He reaches back, pulling until their lips meet in a kiss. Eddie feels the presence dissolve into content ripples.

He’s free.

#steddie #stranger things #steddiemicrofic #steddiemicroficfebruary #fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie ficlet #that one was so hard to edit down - but I did it!#fics by zombie

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nasa · 1 year ago

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Roman's primary structure hangs from cables as it moves into the big clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

What Makes the Clean Room So Clean?

When you picture NASA’s most important creations, you probably think of a satellite, telescope, or maybe a rover. But what about the room they’re made in? Believe it or not, the room itself where these instruments are put together—a clean room—is pretty special.

A clean room is a space that protects technology from contamination. This is especially important when sending very sensitive items into space that even small particles could interfere with.

There are two main categories of contamination that we have to keep away from our instruments. The first is particulate contamination, like dust. The second is molecular contamination, which is more like oil or grease. Both types affect a telescope’s image quality, as well as the time it takes to capture imagery. Having too many particles on our instruments is like looking through a dirty window. A clean room makes for clean science!

Two technicians clean the floor of Goddard’s big clean room.

Our Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland has the largest clean room of its kind in the world. It’s as tall as an eight-story building and as wide as two basketball courts.

Goddard’s clean room has fewer than 3,000 micron-size particles per cubic meter of air. If you lined up all those tiny particles, they’d be no longer than a sesame seed. If those particles were the size of 16-inch (0.4-meter) inflatable beach balls, we’d find only 3,000 spread throughout the whole body of Mount Everest!

A clean room technician observes a sample under a microscope.

The clean room keeps out particles larger than five microns across, just seven percent of the width of an average human hair. It does this via special filters that remove around 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns and larger from incoming air. Six fans the size of school buses spin to keep air flowing and pressurize the room. Since the pressure inside is higher, the clean air keeps unclean air out when doors open.

A technician analyzes a sample under ultraviolet light.

In addition, anyone who enters must wear a “bunny suit” to keep their body particles away from the machinery. A bunny suit covers most of the person inside. Sometimes scientists have trouble recognizing each other while in the suits, but they do get to know each other’s mannerisms very well.

This illustration depicts the anatomy of a bunny suit, which covers clean room technicians from head to toe to protect sensitive technology.

The bunny suit is only the beginning: before putting it on, team members undergo a preparation routine involving a hairnet and an air shower. Fun fact – you’re not allowed to wear products like perfume, lotion, or deodorant. Even odors can transfer easily!

Six of Goddard’s clean room technicians (left to right: Daniel DaCosta, Jill Bender, Anne Martino, Leon Bailey, Frank D’Annunzio, and Josh Thomas).

It takes a lot of specialists to run Goddard’s clean room. There are 10 people on the Contamination Control Technician Team, 30 people on the Clean Room Engineering Team to cover all Goddard missions, and another 10 people on the Facilities Team to monitor the clean room itself. They check on its temperature, humidity, and particle counts.

A technician rinses critical hardware with isopropyl alcohol and separates the particulate and isopropyl alcohol to leave the particles on a membrane for microscopic analysis.

Besides the standard mopping and vacuuming, the team uses tools such as isopropyl alcohol, acetone, wipes, swabs, white light, and ultraviolet light. Plus, they have a particle monitor that uses a laser to measure air particle count and size.

The team keeping the clean room spotless plays an integral role in the success of NASA’s missions. So, the next time you have to clean your bedroom, consider yourself lucky that the stakes aren’t so high!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

#cleaning #cleancore #science #NASA #tech #technology

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littleredpencil · 2 days ago

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Work Song

Type: Oneshot Fandom: VLD Pairing: Shiro/Adam

Based on an ask suggesting that Work Song by Hozier is an Adashi song; just two tired soldiers who deserve to finally have some peace together.

----------

The house was old. Its wooden floors creaked and it had no right angles, the supports hidden away by plaster walls sagging and shifting as every new year brought further settling of the foundation. The furniture was sparse, chosen for efficiency rather than comfort, but as bare minimum the shelter the house provided, it might as well have been a fairy tale castle.

Because it was on Earth. Solid ground beneath his feet and familiar constellations overhead.

Shiro stepped out of the aging shower, inspecting his reflection in the cracked, foggy mirror. White hair, tired eyes, scarred face…he both looked and felt far older than his twenty-six years.

He dripped off a bit on the threadbare shower mat, knowing that the warmth of the US west’s summer was going to hit him in earnest as soon as he was dry. This place didn’t have any air conditioning, adjusting to it from the climate-controlled vessels of space travel was going to take some time.

When he did dress it was in borrowed clothes, a pair of fatigue pants and black t-shirt that was a little bit snug on him. He had always been more muscular than the shirt’s owner, but now that he didn’t have any of his own clothes it showed. He had a uniform, given to him by the Garrison when he’d returned, but it remained folded in the newly issued duffel bag until he needed to go back to base.

He left the small bathroom, wincing as he felt the age of the stairs under his weight on the way down. They would definitely hold him but they still felt rickety in spots, and after all he’d been through the last thing he needed was to break his neck falling down the stairs.

The house was mostly empty, but clean. The faded walls were wiped down regularly and there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen, and the few pieces of furniture were taken care of. Shiro passed through what had once been a sitting room, now filled with communications equipment. He stopped to look at a pair of monitors, one showing radar readings for the area and another displaying the slow, steady readouts of the many probes buried out in the ground around the property.

The lights in here were dim, meant to help keep the small house hidden from night fliers. Shiro made his way carefully through, out the back door into the warm night, leaning against the worn railing of the old back porch. The sky was clear above, the stars sparkling like a sea of diamonds, and the horizon was lit by the orange glow of the Garrison’s particle barrier in the distance.

Between here and there was open desert plain, he could see the destroyed ruins of the city to the east of the base. He knew there were other small houses out there, secret human communications stations like this one, but by design they would be impossible to pick out in the night.

This was a world that had become accustomed to Galra occupation, where life had begun to continue around the trespassers in its own way. They had become such a fixture on this planet that the men and women who manned these stations did so with very little fear, long-since adjusted to the patterns of their oppressors.

He heard the sound of a vehicle approaching, and not one of the Garrison’s. This was an older style car, and as he leaned out over the railing he thought he could make out what might be a Jeep. The back door opened then, and Curtis joined him on the porch. He was dressed similarly to Shiro, in fatigues and a dark tank top instead of his usual officer’s uniform.

Curtis had been the one to invite Shiro to join him on recon tonight. Tomorrow the Paladins would be attempting to summon their Lions and would be attacking the six known Galra bases, this would be the last quiet night on Earth one way or another. They were gathering atmospheric data and monitoring both enemy and any local human chatter, and Shiro had been under the impression it was only two soldiers per comm station at a time.

“Do you have a guest?” Shiro asked, pushing away from the railing and turning to Curtis. He knew there were still people out here, the Galra tended to flock to the cities they’d overthrown and avoid the less domesticated areas. Every now and then they swept the outer areas to try and capture a few more, but for the most part these unorganized outliers were more trouble than they were worth.

“Am I interrupting some regularly scheduled conjugal visit?”

“Not quite,” Curtis grinned, climbing carefully over the porch railing and dropping down onto the dusty ground below. “Visitor, yes. For me, no.”

Shiro didn’t know what that meant. He moved down to the far end of the porch, following Curtis, watching curiously as he flagged down the oncoming Jeep.

“Sometimes, soldiers who go missing in the line of duty get found when we liberate work camps,” Curtis said, moving out of the way as the Jeep turned onto the narrow, dusty road to reach the house. “Every now and then, one of them decides that since their tour of duty is up they’d rather just disappear instead of coming back to the base.”

The Jeep came to a stop about ten yards away. Shiro could see the shadowy outline of the driver climbing out, but he didn’t know who would go out of their way to retire in obscurity only to return on the evening when the fighting was really about to get started.

It only clicked a split second before the new arrival came around the Jeep and became visible in the starlight. Even in the night, even after several years and with only the barest sliver of a moon in the sky, Shiro recognized his face. It was the same face he’d woken up next to on so many content mornings, and the same face he had mourned recently on a memorial wall of the dead.

There was a jagged scar running down the right side of his face, but other than that and a few new laugh lines he was the same. The only real difference was that he wore jeans and a light jacket instead of anything even remotely resembling military attire.

Shiro was jumping the porch railing before he even knew what he was doing, closing the distance and throwing his arms around the slightly smaller body. The surprised laugh that rang out when he lifted Adam clear off his feet was like music, the arms that embraced him tightly back felt like coming home.

“They said you were dead.” It was like Shiro’s tongue had stopped working, like his throat didn’t want to let any words make their way past his lips. “They said your plane crashed, I saw your picture on the memorial.”

“Yeah, well, they said you died in a crash too,” Adam answered. Shiro felt a kiss on his temple, such a tiny, simple gesture that brought with it a huge wave of happiness. “You’re breaking my ribs.”

“Sorry! Sorry,” Shiro lowered Adam to his feet, putting his hands on the other man’s shoulders and shoving him back so he could get a good look at him. Thinner than he had once been and much more scarred than at first glance, but otherwise in one piece. Healthy, whole, and as beautiful as ever. “Where were you? Why aren’t you at the base where it’s safe?”

Adam pursed his lips and turned his gaze past him at Curtis, who shrugged slightly.

“I didn’t tell him anything. I’m going inside, though, and you guys should soon too. They’ll have an hourly fly-by soon.”

He disappeared inside, leaving them alone. Shiro turned his attention back to Adam, who looked almost guilty.

“My plane went down in the first attack, but I ejected. I got picked up in a sweep of the area and stuck in a work camp, until the military raided it. I ran into Curtis before any other soldiers that knew me, he told me Sam Holt warned Sanda what would happen but that she sent us out anyway.”

He hesitated, rubbing one arm, and Shiro imagined there was probably more scarring under the fabric there.

“My tour was up by then and I didn’t owe them anything. And I didn’t think I could serve under her. So I just left…there’s a small colony out in the cliff caves, the Galra don’t go out there. I grow plants and teach kids, and engineers are always useful when you’re rebuilding civilization. It’s kind of nice, if you can ignore the bloodthirsty aliens everywhere.”

“They had you in a work camp,” Shiro repeated, feeling a flood of concern. His eyes traced over the scars again, wondering how many had been from a rough ejection landing and how many had come at the hands of Galra overseers. “How long?”

“A couple months,” Adam said it almost absently, as if it weren’t important. His attention was on Shiro’s arm, he started lifting it and twisting it to look at it with a mix between an engineer’s curiosity and a loved one’s worry. “Your arm…your hair…what happened to you?”

“It’s…a long story,” Shiro looked from his arm up to the sky, remembering the threat of hourly Galra flyovers. “We should go inside and talk there.”

He hesitated, then held out his good hand. He and Adam had parted on unhappy terms but not angry ones, two people who loved each other but were being pulled in opposite directions by circumstance. There was a very good chance this entire planet could be wiped out tomorrow if things went wrong, Shiro did not want to waste what might be his last chance to say all the things the memorial wall had made him realize he should have said.

Adam hesitated for a moment as well, and Shiro could read on his face that it was for similar reasons. His hand was warm when he did reach out to take Shiro’s, their fingers lacing together as they headed into the house. There was a lot for both to say, and it was going to be a long night.

* * * * * * * * * *

Three years later

The sun was setting when Shiro finally left the Garrison, extracting himself from the celebrations more than six long hours after the Atlas had made berth. The end of the war had come with the defeat of Honerva, and although Allura had her hands full with a colony of confused and betrayed Alteans, the obstacles the Coalition faced were much smaller.

The Blade of Marmora had rebuilt itself over the last few years and wrestled power from the imperialists, and the more violent of the Galra had been reduced to pirates at the edges of civilized space. There was work yet to be done but the majority of Galra civilians were in favor of peace, and were not violent and bloodthirsty like the regime that had ruled them for so long.

Planets of the Voltron Coalition were beginning to form what they were calling the Galaxy Alliance, and peoples who had so far been only military allies were becoming political and social ones as well. The seat of the Galaxy Alliance was slated to be founded on Arus, where the Arusians not only welcomed the return of Princess Allura but actively offered to share their planet as a new home for the lost people of Altea.

The Atlas’ deployment as the Coalition’s main warship was finally over. The long, exhausting campaign against the last vestiges of Zarkon’s empire had come to an end, and the ship had finally come home.

Shiro drove past houses that hadn’t been here three years ago, past a new mall that was under construction and along the winding road that was now spotted with driveways. He saw fenced-in yards with children’s toys on the lawns, a group of teenagers standing outside one house laughing, a couple pushing a baby coach and walking their dog.

There were still ruins, not everything had been rebuilt, but three years ago this had been nothing. Now he saw life.

And, as he pulled to a stop and parked in front of a familiar old house, in the distance he saw the ships.

The Atlas was easy to see from her size alone, but her two smaller sisters were visible as well. Built for speed and power, they had proven necessary when some of the Galra imperialists had attempted to retake Earth in the Atlas’ absence. The planet had not been untouched by the continuing war, but it had been far better defended than it had been in the days of Sendak’s invasion.

The Eris and the Nemesis, chaos and retribution, glinted elegantly in the dying rays of sunset. The fact that there was no Jeep parked outside of the house already meant that the head engineer of the Eris was still on duty.

Shiro leaned back against the car to take in the few for a few more minutes, the vision of a world that could finally be at peace. The fingers of his prosthetic hand toyed with the gold ring settled on the fourth finger of his good one, scratched and dented from his tendency to constantly play with it.

It was his reminder, in those stressful or lonely moments, of what he was fighting for. Of what was waiting for him back at home.

There had been no honeymoon, not even a wedding night. Just their last minute decision to make it official only a few hours before the Atlas had been scheduled to launch. Three years of contact only through long distance messages and video chats, but to Shiro it made no difference. He got to wake up each morning with the knowledge that Adam was alive, and that he was waiting for him to come home.

The front porch was far more solid when Shiro finally went inside, finding the spare key tucked up on top of the door frame. The porch stairs and railing had been replaced and several of the floorboards were new, and all of the wood was newly sanded in preparation to be stained. The communications equipment was gone when he stepped inside, the windows now framed with curtains instead of boarded up to keep outsiders from seeing any light.

The air smelled faintly of sawdust and paint as he moved through the small house, out of the living room and into the kitchen. This room was finished, probably the first one Adam had tackled, cheerful yellow walls and white cabinets and counters that made it bright and welcoming even now as night fell.

The stairs didn’t creak as he went up them, taking a look at the two small bedrooms up here. One was filled with tools and building equipment, a pile of two-by-fours and a stack of drywall against the wall. There were cans of paint and varnish, drop cloths, and a table saw ready for action.

The second bedroom was finished. Unlike the kitchen this one was far more calming, carpeted to quiet the noise and with light dampening curtains to let occupants sleep in. The furniture had clearly been bought used, there was no way the elegant old style could have been found new anywhere, but painstakingly refinished and restored to its original glory.

Shiro looked in the drawers of the bureau out of curiosity and couldn’t help but smile. The left ones, which had always been his when they’d lived together, were stocked with clothes. They all still had tags, only recently bought with the homecoming of the Atlas in mind. He went through them and pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt.

The bathroom had been made slightly bigger and updated. The shower he took was far more luxurious than the last time he had been here, a plush, soft shower mat waiting for him to step out and a new medicine cabinet that showed him his reflection.

Somehow, at almost thirty, he looked much less tired and far more happy than he had three years ago in the cracked, foggy old mirror.

Shiro noticed the new banister on his way down the stairs, and the fact that the treads had all been replaced and no longer sagged in their middle. The whole house was a work in progress but to be honest, he was glad it wasn’t finished. He looked forward to putting some work into it, to adding his own touches and helping make it what they wanted it to be.

He could hear music when he reached the first floor and padded along through the house, following it to the back door. He stepped out onto a finished back porch, slightly larger than it had originally been and now with actual stairs to go down instead of having to jump the railing. They led out to a yard that was now fenced in, where he could see that decent soil had been put out in preparation to start landscaping.

It was lit by the stars above, and by the warm glow of the string lights that ran along the porch ceiling. To his right, where there had originally been nothing, there was a hanging swing bench with two little end tables, occupied by a tired engineer who had kicked off his boots but was otherwise still in uniform.

Adam was sagged down on the bench, arms resting across his stomach, with one foot resting on an end table and lazily swinging himself with the other. He had an open beer in one hand and his glasses pushed up into his hair. He gave a smile, tired and maybe not as bright as it might have been earlier in the day, but it lit up Shiro’s entire world.

“You’re two days early,” Adam complained. “I was still on assignment out of state.”

“I was in a bit of a hurry to get here,” Shiro smiled. “I had some things on my schedule.”

“Oh?” One eyebrow quirked up a bit, the corner of Adam’s mouth curving up teasingly. “Hot date, maybe?”

“Man, I sure hope so.”

Adam finally gave in, setting down his beer and getting up. Shiro expected him to come in for a hug but instead Adam reached up to cup his face, thumbs running lightly across his cheeks, then pulled him in for slow, deep kiss.

It left him breathless and giddy, his stomach fluttering and his chest feeling as if it might burst. There was so little in his life that made him really happy and he sometimes forgot what it felt like, until moments like this brought the feeling crashing over him again.

When they parted it was only for Adam to pull back slightly, leaning his body into him instead. Shiro wrapped his arms around him and held him close, feeling almost dizzy as Adam rested his head on his shoulder. They fit together so perfectly.

“Welcome home. How long do we have?”

How long. Adam meant how long until his next deployment, how long until he was taken away again on some other long-term duties. No complaints about him being gone for three years, no demands that he stay. This was the reality that he’d been too proud to consider so many years ago, that Adam leaving him had never been about wanting to be chosen over Kerberos. It had always been about Shiro’s health, it had always been about trying to keep him alive, it had never been about not understanding his ambitions or wanting to hold him back.

Here they were, about a decade later and potentially in the same position, and all Adam wanted to know was how long they had before Shiro left again. But this was something Shiro had already thought about in recent days, long and hard.

“I was thinking that maybe it’s time to transfer to a smaller ship,” Shiro said slowly, lightly rubbing Adam’s back. “Spend a little while helping secure trade routes and help set up the Alteans on Arus. Something that would only take me off planet for a few days at a time.”

Adam pulled away to regard him with a frown, and Shiro thought he looked painfully lovely. His glasses were still shoved up into his hair and he was barefoot, his uniform jacket tossed off on the swing leaving him in a t-shirt that showed off a body full of vivid scars.

“You love leading the Atlas. Exploration and pushing boundaries, that’s your thing. You won’t be happy playing security guard for supply ships.”

“I don’t know, I think it could grow on me,” Shiro answered, looking up at the sky. The stars were out, constellations he could name off by heart and find his way by, safe and familiar. “I’ve done everything I ever really wanted to do. And now I’ve been a Voltron Paladin, Captained the first space-worthy Earth warship, and led the victory in a ten-thousand-year-old, universe-wide war.

“All before I was thirty. Now I’ve broken every record there is to break, I think I can take a rest.”

Adam didn’t say anything. Shiro wondered if he’d said something wrong, and when he looked back down from the sky he was startled to see the other man’s expression. Adam looked like he was trying not to cry.

Shiro didn’t have to ask why as he pulled him back into another hug, holding him tightly while he tried to fight back tears. Adam had been through a lot in his life, he’d spent a good portion of young adulthood helping care for a sick boyfriend then lost him to a universal war; he’d fought in an invasion he’d failed to hold back and nearly died, had been held in a Galra work camp, and had watched their home planet burn firsthand.

Takashi, how important am I to you?

That was the question that had played in Shiro’s head over the last few days, over and over again. It had been asked almost ten years ago and it was only now that Shiro found he really had an answer.

More important than anything else should have been the reply. Life hadn’t been that simple back then, but it certainly was now.

The radio had gone to a commercial while they’d been standing there, but now it went back to music. Shiro didn’t know the song, but he started moving slowly to it, pulling Adam along. The night was warm, a soft breeze stirring the leaves of the potted plants hanging over the porch railing. The curtains were closed in the kitchen, leaving the glow of the string lights the only light for him to see by.

He had never thought they’d be here when he was younger. Shiro had expected to die young, and after Kerberos he’d never thought he’d get back to Earth. When he’d arrived and found Adam’s picture on the memorial wall, he had known it was really over.

But here they were, both back from the dead. Two people who had defied the universe’s efforts to put them in their graves, and made their way back to each other out of sheer spite.

They were tired. They were still hurting. They both deserved a chance to finally settle down and rest, together.

#VLD #Voltron Legendary Defender #LRP: VLD #LRP: VLD Oneshot

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