#i love CULTURE SCIENCE

[otaku553]

Save me yi nine sols

(You should play nine sols it’s very very fun)

[penelope-kat]

Analia the Bee

I made this after finding a bee that I thought was dead, but was actually still alive, barely.

I don't usually name my specimens, but I asked my best friend if she wanted a bee named after her and she said "yes" (btw her name is pronounced "ah-nah-LEE-ah", not "an-NAH-lia").

Of all the animals I've found, this one made me the saddest.

Here are some pictures of the bee right after I found it and thought it was dead:

And here are some pictures I took of it today:

Rest In Peace, small bee friend.

[being-of-rain]

Something that really gives Doctor Who some cognitive dissonance is that it champions science, but it also, of course, loves to make sci-fi stories out of ideas in popular culture. Like conspiracy theories, cryptids, all the stuff you'd see on the X-Files. Lots of stuff that in our world goes against science, and is even dangerous or bigoted.

So the Doctor will be like "science leads," but also all of human history has been masterminded by extraterrestrials, psychic powers are real, magic is real, there's a species of lizard men who rode dinosaurs and now sleep beneath the earth, the loch ness monster is from outer space, every tenth planet ever invented is out there somewhere, aliens built the pyramids and Atlanteans built the sphinx.

[idontmindifuforgetme]

Every single person on the admissions committees for my dream med schools will roll their eyes when I say I want to become a doctor bc I love science and also love the humanity of it all……… but it’s literally the truth

[makerofmadness]

Pancreatic Slut

[balkanradfem]

I started reading the book 'Pests' by Bethany Brookshire. I thought it would be a book filled with information on how to protect your garden without causing any harm to animals. I could not have been more wrong, but soon it didn't matter, because I was drawn in immediately. This book is written by a brilliant scientist, who presents to you, the history, the data, the results and the cultural context of pests all around the world. It starts with squirrels, but then goes on to talk about pythons, pigeons, cats, rats, mice, frogs, coyotes, wolves, elephants, dogs, raccoons, deer, bears – and how they've been seen as a pest, most often for no fault of their own.

I learned about the numerous ways people in the past have created a 'pest' problem for themselves, and how they went on resolving it, and honestly I was shocked  at the most of it. I did not know that human scientists developed specific plagues for animals in order to get rid of them. I also had no idea how quickly humans turned the perception of a certain animal from 'useful' to 'pest', without even realizing they're responsible for the behaviour of the animal in the first place. Also the number of times humans have attempted to introduce a predator in order to get rid of an invasive species – only to immediately cause a new invasive species, absolutely incredible.

I was surprised to find out that some specific animals could be pests at all, for example, elephants. Absorbing the information presented to me thus far, I thought elephants were nothing short of wonderful and welcome in anyone's life – but, the story describes them eating the entire fields worth of grain, in only one night. And due to their size, they're unstoppable. They've destroyed houses, and even killed people, as a result of trying to get to the food. The elephants are a protected species, so the locals have been forced to develop different way of co-existing, namely, to stop growing grain and try to find different ways of survival and sustenance. There have been numerous other attempts to protect the fields from them, but how would you protect anything from an elephant? The only thing they're scared of, are bees. And if there's food to be gained, they'll overcome the fear of the bees too.

Did you know that if mice multiply too much, they'll have a mice plague that will wipe them out, without human interference?  Mice and rats are described as the animals closest to us – because they live where we live, eat what we eat, and learn whatever it takes to find their way in the land of humans. And it seems, we have the same problems as well.

One of my favourite little piece of knowledge in this book: the scientists studying the snakes in a lab name the snakes after Slytherins – so they have Snape, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Bellatrix. It was amazing to listen about Snape the snake.

The author of this book is incredibly unbiased, and shows her love for every animal mentioned, but also understanding and compassion for people who have felt wronged, violated, helpless and cornered by the animal, and how awful it feels to not be able to protect their homes and livelihoods from an animal invading their territory. In author's mind, the animals are not at fault, because all they've been trying to do is survive, get to the source of food, for them this is foraging. For us, it's nature taking from us what we intended for ourselves.

The problem of seeing animals as pests, comes often from the perception of us being the dominating species, and having the right to remove or introduce or change animals, by how convenient and pleasing we find them. She sourced the problems from negative experiences, loss, violation and danger, but also from culture, colonialism, religion, behaviours of the people around us. Most children have no concept of danger or pests – babies in a study would reach out curiously seeing a picture of snake. Perception of which animal is good and which one is bad, comes with culture, experience and the behaviour of everyone else around it. And our collective perception comes from whether the animal is rare, whether it lives close to us, if we have to adjust our lives because of it or not, if we have had negative experiences or not, whether it can hurt us, whether we have something the animal wants (food) and tries to get from us.

I recommend this book to anyone who'd like to know more about the history of humans trying to live alongside – or refusing to live alongside certain animals. And anyone dealing with any kind of pest, or just not understanding why animals act the way they do around humans.

I come out from reading this, feeling no more wise on how to keep the pests out – except for, don't leave the food outside the house where animals can get to it, that's the #1 reason for most scenarios – but feeling way more understanding and at ease about animals that are perceived as pests. I know solutions  that have been tried to deal with them, I know what didn't work, and I know how badly some collective solutions can become. I understand we need to find a way to live with them as our neighbours, not enemies, not violators of our property. And most often, just being responsible about where you leave your food, how much animals you tempt to come close to you, how you reward them for interacting with you, is more than a half of the solution.

[ratofthewoods]

I sometimes do not understand how people cannot have multiple ships for the same character (not in a mean way I just genuinely don't know why someone wouldn't want to do this w a lot of ships). Like, you're saying you don't have fifty versions of this character in your head each one w different relationship dynamics? That's wild bro.

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

To Shape A Dragon’s Breath

YA fantasy

a young Indigenous girl finds & bonds with a dragon hatchling - the first time in many generations for her people - and is required to go to the coloniser’s dragon academy in their mainland city, to learn how to raise her dragon and the science of its magic

historical inspired setting on the cusp of industrial revolution with steampunk vibes

bi polyamorous MC, Black lesbian SC, nonverbal autistic SC

[bywandandsword]

I signed up for a class on Native American Folklore this semester, mostly because the options of classes I could take were extremely limited. I think the topic is super interesting and I'm not made I'm taking it, it just isn't really related to my area of study

But then, another class I was enrolled in got cancelled, and I was scrambling around looking for a replacement and I was lucky enough to get a spot in a class called North American Environmental History, which will have an emphasis on colonialism and indigenous dispossession. There's also apparently a whole week where we're going to explore how folklore can be used as a source in environmental history and now I'm Intrigued and looking for ways I can incorporate this into my larger research projects

[gingerswagfreckles]

the way everyone on this site just assumes all atheists r ex-christians is really fucking gross lol. and frankly just goes to show how christian-centric 99% of you still are.

[chippdhearts]

I'm watching csi for the first time and I'm currently on s8 but I have a dumb question lol. why did sofia disappear without trace? is she coming back?

not a dumb question at all! This has never been properly explained (to my knowledge) they just yanked her away from us 😭

In all seriousness I suspect it was to do with budget, because they would have been paying her a main cast member salary, and possibly some other BTS logistical stuff. At that point they had a LOT of main cast members. I'm not sure if they knew Jorja was going to leave at the point where they would have been making the decisions about who to renew and stuff.

From a story POV, they literally never explain her leaving. As a whole they did a HUGE disservice to her character imo. They could have developed her a lot more and a lot better. I think because she was largely there, initially at least, to create tension between grissom and sara (a huge ick for me but we won't go into that) it caused a lot of fans not to warm to her at the time. And then in s6 and s7 I don't think they did enough with her character to make people (at the time) really feel strongly about her either way, so they just.... got rid of her. (last in, first out.) I'm still extremely bitter about this, as you can probably tell, because I TRULY think that she would have been a very beloved character if they just put in a little more work.

Also, we get little moments of her with Cat and Sara. But they def wanted to pit all the women against each other and I feel this could have... not happened. (This is a huge tangent, I am so sorry. But also I could talk about this for 5 days.)

To answer your question simply, yes, she comes back. More in depth answer below the cut but this will be minorly spoilery for you, so you can choose to read or not.

She comes back for ONE guest star towards the end of season 11. They SORT of explain where she's been, in that she's got a new rank when she comes back, deputy chief, so we can esentially say that she was away somewhere else climbing the ranks. I think we decided that deputy chief was one step below the under sheriff so she was doing SOMETHING to further her career in the 3-4 years that we didn't see her. But they don't really touch on it beyond that.

[buhbyebabyblue]

the anthropology to mortuary science pipeline goes so hard

[tetrameryxx]

I need the old person gym I go to (right next to senior center) to be open later than 4. thank you.

[bardinthezone]

Night Vale and the Power of Stories

So I’ve been losing my mind about this latest arc. Full hyperfixation. Studying for finals? Calling my parents? Enjoying other hobbies? Eating?? Who’s she, never heard of her. There is only the “#wtnv spoilers” tag.

Anyways, inspired primarily by this post, this post, and this post, I have been thinking about Night Vale as a place of stories.

Night Vale is a deeply weird place. It is a place where all the crazy conspiracies and contradictions and creepy crawlies can coexist (try saying that 5 times fast), and it is built on stories.

We know from “109: A Story About Huntokar” that Huntokar singlehandedly saved the town from nuclear destruction in 1983. This in and of itself is beautiful, tragic, terrifying and wonderful (I could write a whole essay on the lasting effects of the Cold War on the American psyche and how that’s impacted our media, but that’s not what this post is about). But what Huntokar says in describing this moment is fascinating: “ The people of Night Vale huddled, waiting for the end to their story.” The use of the word “story” here is so poignant and poetic. This was her town, a narrative she had lovingly followed since its inception, with an ever rotating cast of characters, finally seeming as though it would come to an end. And yet she managed to continue their story. The people of Night Vale, of every alternate universe Night Vale, are kept alive because Huntokar wanted to keep the narrative going. It is a town kept alive-- inverted and shattered and bizarre, but alive-- because someone saw the tale coming to an end and wasn’t satisfied with that. Night Vale is a place of stories.

And Cecil. Cecil Gershwin-Palmer is such a wonderful enigma. He’s a deeply troubled man, he’s the town’s beloved radio host, he is the voice of Night Vale. As the town’s only (?) regular source of news, he carries incredible weight in shaping the public’s perception of reality. It is his radio show that keeps the people informed through all of these earth-shattering events-- it is Cecil who, for as goofy and cringefail (thank you @bigcommunist for that phrase) as he can be, has been responsible for keeping his citizens safe. In “227: A Word With Dr. Jones,” Dr. Janet Lubelle notes that one of his traits is “town leadership.” When Cecil speaks, things happen. He rallies the people, against Strexcorp or the Beagle Puppy or Steve Carlsberg and his dry, dry scones. Hell, he says “weather” and everyone stops, or sometimes (Like in “204: Audition”) it literally saves his life. @lostboywriting raises a fascinating theory about Cecil having inadvertently brought the Faceless Old Woman into existence through his repression of his complicated relationship with his mother-- and while this contradicts with the backstory presented in "The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives Inside Your Home," who’s to say that both origins can’t be true, with how splintered and fractured Night Vale’s existence (and especially relation to time) is? Perhaps Cecil, as the Voice Of Night Vale, is capable of changing the world more than he knows.

Either way, this is why Dr. Lubelle’s Explaining of the town has so much of a tangible effect on it-- because she’s coming in and using something “empirical” to change the narrative. That is why she’s so threatening-- because how do you argue with the facts? How do you argue with science? She is using logic to insist that her reality is right, that these stories and poetics used to keep the town alive are meaningless. That it would be better for them to not exist than to exist outside her narrative. She said it herself-- she cannot imagine that anyone thinks differently to herself about anything, and she is all to happy to provide any who disagrees with an Explanation. No matter the cost.

In 227, Cecil remarks that “Science is not good or bad, as language is not good or bad, as religion is not good or bad, because humans are not inherently good or bad.” This sets up a fascinating play between science, language, and religion that I think is perfectly encapsulated by Dr. Lubelle, representing science, Cecil, representing language, and Huntokar, representing religion. Whether she knows it or not, Dr. Lubelle is directly undoing all of the hard work of Huntokar, and attempting to use Cecil as the most powerful tool at her disposal.

And this works in conjunction with my distinction of the What vs. the Why. We can take the incursion point of November 7th, 1983, and view it through both lenses. From Huntokar’s perspective, we get the Why: Night Vale was in danger, and it needed saving, so she saved it. But from Dr Lubelle’s perspective, we just get the What: Night Vale was the target of a nuclear missile. Nuclear missiles are unstoppable by any force known to science. This is a town that should have been empty for 40 years.

I posit a world in which Dr. Lubelle reduces Night Vale to what it “should be:” A town ruined by nuclear destruction. The empirical facts, the anchors that held Night Vale down to reality, the threads that Huntokar broke-- Dr. Lubelle is seeking to tie them back together. And with the Voice of Night Vale on her side, Explained and ready to share the Truth, of course she can make that happen. Perhaps Huntokar takes center stage again to show that science is not the end-all-be-all. Perhaps Carlos steps in to replace Dr. Lubelle as the Scientist in this equation, to provide a good alternative to her callous methods. 

Or I could be totally off-base with that prediction. I imagine the bodies being dug up in the sand wastes and the murals of flesh will play a major role in the finale. Maybe she’ll uncover the splintered realities of Night Vale and won’t know how to explain them away. Hell, people keep hyping up a Desert Bluffs return, what with the Sandstorm tapes and the talk of doubles-- Maybe Kevin and Lauren will be the “religion” in the triumvirate, and drive Dr. Lubelle mad with their unrelenting fervor. Who knows? I have my theories, but I’m just excited to see where this all goes.

.

Also from a meta perspective, this is 100% harkening back to all those early-days fan theories that “Night Vale is a normal town and Cecil is just off his rocker” (Thanks @maxgicalgirl for that one!). Welcome To Night Vale is a show that has never been about continuity and tight lore-- it’s about spinning a fun narrative, it’s about the poetry, the music, the aesthetics; it’s about everything that Dr. Lubelle HATES. From a meta perspective, Dr. Lubelle is every theorist who tries to ruin the magic of a story, who nitpicks it endlessly because it doesn’t adhere to how the “real world” functions. She doesn’t care about why story elements are included, she just needs what’s included to adhere to her worldview. And I can’t wait to see her get taken down, no matter how it happens.

Thanks again to @maxgicalgirl, @lostboywriting, @eclipse-song​, and everyone who’s been sharing their thoughts about the latest arc on tumblr. I would not be writing this without y’all!!

[jynjackets]

I finally watched The Creator and holy shit why didn’t any of you tell me it was going to be that beautiful

[cannibal-nightmares]

I love leaving them with more questions, not because I want to confuse people, but because I want to provoke curiousness in others; not for me, but for the pursuit of knowledge in the immense and endless "in general"