#in the wake of the news

[sohannabarberaesque]

In the wake of a major outbreak of poisoning by "country liquor" in India

SECRET SQUIRREL, explaining things precisely to Morocco Mole, his sidekick and confidant: If I may be clear about it, Morocco, "country liquor" is a local term, and a very ironic such at that! MOROCCO MOLE: How ironic, Secret Squirrel, is "country liquor"? SECRET SQUIRREL: Morocco, such may call to mind American hillbilly moonshine or Irish poteen; in these parts, however, "country liquor" will sometimes use labels similar to recognised international brands of high-end exotic booze, but with deliberate manipulation to avoid the possibility of a copyright-infringement claim, as if the use of methyl alcohol and other weird and unwholesome ingredients wasn't bad enow! MOROCCO MOLE: So what exactly is the problem with this methyl alcohol? SECRET SQUIRREL: For one, Morocco, methyl alcohol, alias "meth" or "denatured alcohol," is derived from the wastes of papermaking; and for another, it's dyed blue to serve as a warning against human consumption! MOROCCO MOLE: And yet you wonder how exactly humans still fall for such "exotic booze", unaware that such is bound to blind or kill them in the end....

[stargirldotcom]

-despite everything, there is still love

@arthoesunshine/ @artsheila/ @daisies-on-a-cup/ @gayarsonist / @hjarta/ @yunawinter on twitter/ @bakwaaas/ @death-born-aphrodite/ anon on gentleearth/ @classicnymph on twitter

[markscherz]

Meet the seven new frog species we just named after iconic Star Trek captains!

Artwork by A. Petzold, CC BY-ND 4.0

At the right time of year along rushing streams in the humid rainforests that stretch the length of Madagascar's eastern and northern mountain ridges, otherworldly trills of piercing whistles can be heard.

Are they birds? Insects? Communicator beeps? Tricorder noises?

No, they're little treefrogs!

Boophis janewayae. Photo by M. Vences, CC BY-SA 4.0

Until recently, we thought all of the populations of these little brown frogs across the island were one widespread species, Boophis marojezensis, described in 1994. But genetics in the early 2000s and 2010s showed that there were several species here, not just one.

Now my colleagues and I have shown that they are in fact eight separate species, each with unique calls!

These whistling sounds reminded us so much of Star Trek sound effects that we decided to name the seven new species after Star Trek captains: Boophis kirki, B. picardi, B. janewayae, B. siskoi, B. pikei, B. archeri, and B. burnhamae.

Photos of all new species described by Vences et al. 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0

I subtly and not-so-subtly built some Star Trek references into the paper, but probably the best one is this one:

'Finding these frogs sometimes requires considerable trekking; pursuing strange new calls, to seek out new frogs in new forests; boldly going where no herpetologist has gone before.'

— Vences et al. 2024

There’s a real sense of scientific discovery and exploration here, which we think is in the spirit of Star Trek.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that there are at least two Trekkies amongst the authors (including yours truly). As fans of Star Trek, we are also just pleased to dedicate these new species to the characters who have inspired and entertained us over the decades.

On a personal note, this marks a milestone for me, as it means I have now described over 100 frog species! I am very pleased that the 100th is Captain Janeway's Bright-eyed Frog, Boophis janewayae (if you count them in order of appearance in the paper)—she is probably my favourite captain, and I really love Star Trek: Voyager.

You can read more about the discovery of these new species on my website! You can also read the Open Access paper published in Vertebrate Zoology here.

[anna-scribbles]

emma dupain cheng on the brain😽🎀

more:

[cleolinda]

Louisiana students Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson wowed their teachers in 2022 when they discovered a new way to prove the 2000-year-old Pythagorean theorem in response to a bonus question in a high school math contest. But that was only the beginning.

A volunteer at their former school, New Orleans’ St. Mary’s Academy, encouraged them to submit their work on the famous mathematical theory to a professional conference, and in March 2023 they became the youngest people to present at the American Mathematical Society’s Southeastern Sectional conference in Atlanta. Their appearance elicited a wave of media coverage, including a spot on “60 Minutes.” The pair also received symbolic keys to the city of New Orleans and a shout-out from Michelle Obama.

Now Jackson and Johnson, who started college last year, have notched another achievement: authoring an academic paper detailing their original proof — plus nine more. Their work published Monday in the scientific journal American Mathematical Monthly.

Bonus:

[vulpinesaint]

everybody come here and take my quiz rq we're just gonna take a normal walk through a normal garden

[parisoonic]

Demo has had many careers - tattoo artist isn't one of them.

[smeagles]

someone met gerard at a movie theater again i can’t believe this

vampsneverhurtu on twitter

[squidthusiast]

We know what you are 🫵🏳️‍🌈

[buckleydiazmp4]

starting a collection

[otaku553]

Luffy week day 3:

Sleep/Sunflower

[sohannabarberaesque]

Lest we forget about Loopy De Loop selling himself as "ze good wolf" in the name of challenging negative perceptions and stereotypes against the lupine race by example--only to have such backfire with hilarious consequences.

[stargirldotcom]

comments from tiktok about siblings

[meat-fr]

"they're not graceful", "they're not elegant", "They're not angelic"

-and i took that personally (as a challenge!)

[bluechanas]

gal pals :3

[pinacoladamatata]

you change.... everything