#plants from China

[aisling-saoirse]

Princess Tree - Paulownia tomentosa

Today's Plant Profile is a little different, I wanted to cover an 'invasive' that fascinated me.

Before I begin I wanted to dissect my terminology on invasive, the term is often thrown at plants without considering a racialized and often problematic methodology on how we relate to these species. Invasive species are typically advantageous in the face of disturbance and quick to colonize altered areas, the monumental spread of invasives is a direct result of euro-centric land commodification, international trade and colonization. These species would not be as 'destructive' as they are without dramatic change to wildspaces/once-thoroughly-managed landscapes. You don't have to love these plants but understand that they often occupy spaces we disturbed, and that doesnt mean i want monocultures of introduced species but we should analyze what makes them thrive the way they do. I usually cover natives species to a document a dramatic loss I noticed in my lifetime however every plant has a good story behind.

To start let's identify the Princess Tree! Best known for their showy pink-lavender foxglove like flowers, perfect structural form, and massive leaves. This tree can grow up 90 feet, it's extremely fast growing, full trees can form between bricks (see 2 images below). The massive leaves are heart-shaped cataylpa-like often exceeding a foot in size (I see people use them as umbrellas in a pinch). The bark is pretty light in color, younger bark is speckled then becomes furrowed with age. The flowers are rather large, about the size of my palm (image 2), typically growing in large triangular clusters. In fall and winter, flowers typically form this large rough shell (see branch cuttings below) that splits overtime, more about that later.

The Princess Tree has a very rich folklore and introduced history behind it. According to my Chinese classmates the Princess Tree gets it's name from an old story about a beloved betrothed Princess who was transformed into this tree by a trickster, her husband-to-be was transformed into a Phoenix and it's said that when a ruler as great as she returns the Phoenix will land on its branches. I see (mostly western anecdotes) claim that this tree is planted when girls are born and the wood is used as a dowry, my classmates did not agree with this (take note these are landscape students). The wood is very sought-after in east Asia as it is sturdy and light, occasionally some american cities will sell the wood from invasive groves back to China, how fascinating!

The introduced history comes in two parts. The first the tree was initially sold as an ornamental originating from the Dutch east India company, the tree reached America by the 1830s. Due to the structure of the tree itself up into the mid century, modernist designers LOVED this tree, I've seen so many architectural drawings lovingly depicting it's big leaves. The second interesting facet about this tree's spread is that certain Chinese porcelain companies used to use the seed pods as a form of packing peanuts. Since the porcelain was primarily shipped by train in continent the tree quickly took hold around rail lines, if you look in philadelphia the oldest trees are around the railroads. The tree was able to survive in the desolate railway soils because it (like most invasive species) is able to derive nitrogen directly from the atmosphere into its roots. That's why you see these babies growing directly in a brick wall like below, crazy right?

The Princess Tree's native range is central to Western China, not much is know about it's natural habitat because literal millenia of civilization scale landscape changes. What is known is that the tree was typically found in dry-ravines and open valleys. Due to the movement of interesting botanical species the tree found found itself everywhere, even in Catherine the Great's royal garden and eventually into colonial-core markets. In America its currently invasive from Pennsylvania to Florida but can be found in almost every major city.

As said before it typically only invades disturbed locations, it's a pioneer species therefore it's advantageous in areas of full sun, poor soil, and generally super dry. The tree can honestly grow anywhere but typically only thrives in that disturbance niche, it has trouble invading older growth forests. The tree itself usually doesn't live more than 70ish years and after that a new ecology typically sprouts from the area it formerly inhabited, this tree is very good at building a fertile soil network from its nitrogen rich leaves. It must be said that this tree does rootsprout vigorously, and these sprouts can grow a shocking 15 feet in one growing season!!! Trees derived from seed usually take 3 years to reach that size (see my alleyway below)...for basically any oak it would take like 10 years to maybe reach that.

As for ethnobotanical usage, this is invasive so I'm going to recommend you just use this tree to death honestly. The massive leaves are very rich in nitrogen and make great compost. Leaves also make an umbrella in a pinch. The tree is super vigorous and a rapid grower so you can imagine it makes great coppice (and for my silvoculturists: leaves makes good animal fodder). The flowers have a lovely scent and look like foxglove without the poison (and they last a while). The wood is quite light lovely and workable, it reminds me of a lighter colored black locust. Apparently this tree also utlizes C⁴ photosynthesis which utilizing a different compound of carbon to derive energy, that's kind of interesting. It has a lot of great qualities honestly, as far as invasives go I really like this tree.

If you want to plant this tree...don't <3...there's enough, go to any city to experience it. In Eastern America some good alternatives are northern catalypa or black locust. If any of my Chinese followers know the full Princess story I would love to hear about it! As always happy hunting!

[loworbittourist]

Qinghai Delingha Solar power plant - China 🌏 4K link

[marcusjcoblol]

mornin guysss have some doodelssssss

[ilikethisnamebutter]

Rest in peace my aloe vera plant

[arysthaeniru]

Sometimes, a reading will take me 3 hours when it's only about 15 pages, and it's never really because it's hard, but because I take psychic damage with every other line.

[longroadstonowhere]

fantastic turn of phrase that i came across in one of my readings - '[the plant] is common anywhere that birds fly'

like... such a fascinating way of organizing the world, into places where birds fly and places where they do not, and does that mean that this plant is spread by birds? or is it just a coincidence that the areas of these two organisms overlap?

it's very distracting while i try to study for a vocab quiz, hahaha

[babyjeep]

I’ve just learned about ghost marriages. Feeling many emotions at once about this.

[a-queer-little-wombat]

If I had enough money to live casually and happily for the rest of my life, then it wouldn't matter, sign me the fuck up.

If you got enough money to live happily and comfortably for the rest of your life, but everyone who saw you immediately knew what fandom you are in and understood what that means, would you take it?

[leaslichoma]

Apparently in China peach wood (Along with the rest of the plant) is believed to have properties that repel evil spirits, a little similar to silver in European legends or iron for both European fae and West Asian/Middle eastern Jinn. Taoists sometimes keep swords made of peach wood because of this. This made me realize something. If you took a peach wood stick, and attached studs to it of both silver and iron you'd end up with a club or staff (or mace, flail etc.) that would have the weaknesses of many kinds of supernatural creatures while still retaining effectiveness as a normal weapon (peach is a hardwood and silver's poor edge retention doesn't matter for studs). You could even keep adding new stud materials to get something ridiculous that affects over 120 catalogued folkloric monsters. Since you just need a few little studs you could even get some really expensive materials like meteoric iron (a thumb tip sized meteorite can still cost like 10-20 bucks I think). I could somewhat feasibly make a weapon that affects every monster ever thought to walk the earth, from vampires and werewolves to jinn and jiangshi and even mankind.

[no-passaran]

Genocide experts warn that India is about to genocide the Shompen people

Who are the Shompen?

The Shompen are an indigenous culture that lives in the Great Nicobar Island, which is nowadays owned by India. The Shompen and their ancestors are believed to have been living in this island for around 10,000 years. Like other tribes in the nearby islands, the Shompen are isolated from the rest of the world, as they chose to be left alone, with the exception of a few members who occasionally take part in exchanges with foreigners and go on quarantine before returning to their tribe. There are between 100 and 400 Shompen people, who are hunter-gatherers and nomadic agricultors and rely on their island's rainforest for survival.

Why is there risk of genocide?

India has announced a huge construction mega-project that will completely change the Great Nicobar Island to turn it into "the Hong Kong of India".

Nowadays, the island has 8,500 inhabitants, and over 95% of its surface is made up of national parks, protected forests and tribal reserve areas. Much of the island is covered by the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, described by UNESCO as covering “unique and threatened tropical evergreen forest ecosystems. It is home to very rich ecosystems, including 650 species of angiosperms, ferns, gymnosperms, and bryophytes, among others. In terms of fauna, there are over 1800 species, some of which are endemic to this area. It has one of the best-preserved tropical rain forests in the world.”

The Indian project aims to destroy this natural environment to create an international shipping terminal with the capacity to handle 14.2 million TEUs (unit of cargo capacity), an international airport that will handle a peak hour traffic of 4,000 passengers and that will be used as a joint civilian-military airport under the control of the Indian Navy, a gas and solar power plant, a military base, an industrial park, and townships aimed at bringing in tourism, including commercial, industrial and residential zones as well as other tourism-related activities.

This project means the destruction of the island's pristine rainforests, as it involves cutting down over 852,000 trees and endangers the local fauna such as leatherback turtles, saltwater crocodiles, Nicobar crab-eating macaque and migratory birds. The erosion resulting from deforestation will be huge in this highly-seismic area. Experts also warn about the effects that this project will have on local flora and fauna as a result of pollution from the terminal project, coastal surface runoff, ballasts from ships, physical collisions with ships, coastal construction, oil spills, etc.

The indigenous people are not only affected because their environment and food source will be destroyed. On top of this, the demographic change will be a catastrophe for them. After the creation of this project, the Great Nicobar Island -which now has 8,500 inhabitants- will receive a population of 650,000 settlers. Remember that the Shompen and Nicobarese people who live on this island are isolated, which means they do not have an immune system that can resist outsider illnesses. Academics believe they could die of disease if they come in contact with outsiders (think of the arrival of Europeans to the Americas after Christopher Columbus and the way that common European illnesses were lethal for indigenous Americans with no immunization against them).

And on top of all of this, the project might destroy the environment and the indigenous people just to turn out to be useless and sooner or later be abandoned. The naturalist Uday Mondal explains that “after all the destruction, the financial viability of the project remains questionable as all the construction material will have to be shipped to this remote island and it will have to compete with already well-established ports.” However, this project is important to India because they want to use the island as a military and commercial post to stop China's expansion in the region, since the Nicobar islands are located on one of the world's busiest sea routes.

Last year, 70 former government officials and ambassadors wrote to the Indian president saying the project would “virtually destroy the unique ecology of this island and the habitat of vulnerable tribal groups”. India's response has been to say that the indigenous tribes will be relocated "if needed", but that doesn't solve the problem. As a spokesperson for human rights group Survival International said: “The Shompen are nomadic and have clearly defined territories. Four of their semi-permanent settlements are set to be directly devastated by the project, along with their southern hunting and foraging territories. The Shompen will undoubtedly try to move away from the area destroyed, but there will be little space for them to go. To avoid a genocide, this deadly mega-project must be scrapped.”

On 7 February 2024, 39 scholars from 13 countries published an open letter to the Indian president warning that “If the project goes ahead, even in a limited form, we believe it will be a death sentence for the Shompen, tantamount to the international crime of genocide.”

How to help

The NGO Survival International has launched this campaign:

From this site, you just need to add your name and email and you will send an email to India's Tribal Affairs Minister and to the companies currently vying to build the first stage of the project.

Share it with your friends and acquittances and on social media.

Sources:

India’s plan for untouched Nicobar isles will be ‘death sentence’ for isolated tribe, 7 Feb 2024. The Guardian.

‘It will destroy them’: Indian mega-development could cause ‘genocide’ and ‘ecocide’, says charity, 8 Feb 2024. Geographical.

Genocide experts call on India's government to scrap the Great Nicobar mega-project, Feb 2024. Survival International.

The container terminal that could sink the Great Nicobar Island, 20 July 2022. Mongabay.

[Maps] Environmental path cleared for Great Nicobar mega project, 10 Oct 2022. Mongabay.

[aideshou]

Lately …

[headspace-hotel]

I don't mean it in a creepy way I promise, but I feel a kinship with China, Japan and Korea i wish more people from my region shared, because...we have sister ecosystems!

It's actually amazing, there are so many plant genera that are not closely related to anything else and just have a couple living species: One (or two) from mid latitude Southeast Asia, and one from the Southeastern USA.

For example, the two living lotus species (sacred lotus and American lotus), the two living tulip tree/ Liriodendron species, the Chinese and American sweetgums (Liquidambar spp.) the Chinese and American trumpet vines (Campsis spp.) the Chinese, Japanese and American wisteria (Wisteria spp), the Chinese, Taiwan and American sassafras (Sassafras spp.) I KNOW i'm forgetting many of them because there are so many. Twins!!!!

And there's so many iconic plant groups shared in common between East Asia and SE USA. Like dogwoods, magnolias, rhododendrons, we even have our own bamboo!!!

I think a lot of how strangely familiar each ecosystem would feel to someone visiting from the other one.

And I bet there's a lot of ecological knowledge and insights we could share with each other...

Sister ecosystems...

[reasonsforhope]

Masterpost: Reasons I firmly believe we will beat climate change

Posts are in reverse chronological order (by post date, not article date), mostly taken from my "climate change" tag, which I went through all the way back to the literal beginning of my blog. Will update periodically.

Especially big deal articles/posts are in bold.

Big picture:

Mature trees offer hope in world of rising emissions (x)

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant (x)

Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives (x)

Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected (x)

The exponential growth of solar power will change the world (x)

Sun Machines: Solar, an energy that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge (x)

Wealthy nations finally deliver promised climate aid, as calls for more equitable funding for poor countries grow (x)

For Earth Day 2024, experts are spreading optimism – not doom. Here's why. (x)

Opinion: I’m a Climate Scientist. I’m Not Screaming Into the Void Anymore. (x)

The World’s Forests Are Doing Much Better Than We Think (x)

‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (x)

Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (x)

Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought (x)

Yes, climate change can be beaten by 2050. Here's how. (x)

Soil improvements could keep planet within 1.5C heating target, research shows (x)

The global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt (x)

The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past (x)

Scientists Find Methane is Actually Offsetting 30% of its Own Heating Effect on Planet (x)

Are debt-for-climate swaps finally taking off? (x)

High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (x)

How Could Positive ‘Tipping Points’ Accelerate Climate Action? (x)

Specific examples:

Environmental Campaigners Celebrate As Labour Ends Tory Ban On New Onshore Wind Projects (x)

Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa (x)

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution (x)

Rewilding sites have seen 400% increase in jobs since 2008, research finds [Scotland] (x)

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West (x)

Waste Heat Generated from Electronics to Warm Finnish City in Winter Thanks to Groundbreaking Thermal Energy Project (x)

Climate protection is now a human right — and lawsuits will follow [European Union] (x)

A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (x)

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII [United States] (x)

These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

Century of Tree Planting Stalls the Warming Effects in the Eastern United States, Says Study (x)

Chart: Wind and solar are closing in on fossil fuels in the EU (x)

UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (x)

Countries That Generate 100% Renewable Energy Electricity (x)

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

India’s clean energy transition is rapidly underway, benefiting the entire world (x)

China is set to shatter its wind and solar target five years early, new report finds (x)

‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis (x)

Largest-ever data set collection shows how coral reefs can survive climate change (x)

The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What Does It DO? [United States] (x)

Good Climate News: Headline Roundup April 1st through April 15th, 2023 (x)

How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon (x) [Brazil]

Loss of Climate-Crucial Mangrove Forests Has Slowed to Near-Negligable Amount Worldwide, Report Hails (x)

Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala (x)

Climate adaptation:

Solar-powered generators pull clean drinking water 'from thin air,' aiding communities in need: 'It transforms lives' (x)

‘Sponge’ Cities Combat Urban Flooding by Letting Nature Do the Work [China] (x)

Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala (x)

A green roof or rooftop solar? You can combine them in a biosolar roof — boosting both biodiversity and power output (x)

Global death tolls from natural disasters have actually plummeted over the last century (x)

Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be (x)

This city turns sewage into drinking water in 24 hours. The concept is catching on [Namibia] (x)

Plants teach their offspring how to adapt to climate change, scientists find (x)

Resurrecting Climate-Resilient Rice in India (x)

Other Masterposts:

Going carbon negative and how we're going to fix global heating (x)

[merletka]

Collaborated with amazing writer @alexcors and illustrated her fanfic about Damian Wayne. You can read it bellow! 💚

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

– Concussion, multiple beatings, fracture of the collarbone, two ribs and the radius of the right arm, with multiple fragments. Do you have anything to say to that, Robin?

– This dealer raised his hand himself, covering his worthless face. What?

– You beat the suspect to a pulp! Batman barked at his son. – No patrols until Cantelli is transferred from the intensive care unit to the general ward.

– But…

– That's all.

Damian clenched his teeth, but at the last moment decided not to fight with his father over a small dealer. Cantelli wasn't worth it. And therefore, having drowned himself, the boy just fell asleep.

***

The morning began with the usual five o'clock wake-up, a workout with pruning the squalid park art that Damian disapproved of in his garden. And he was already tired of explaining to Pennyworth that the enemy could be hiding behind large figures! Then a walk with Titus on a leash, Alfred the cat on his shoulder (because the mustachioed one did not want to wake up in any way) and a red-haired squeaking lump in his hands.

The kitten was dragged by a Red Hood a couple of days ago, startling Damian at first by pronouncing his full name without hesitation (few people in the family could pronounce Hafid ibn Ksufash Dami al Ghul even from the third time), and then by an attack of compassion for the animal. However, the boy quickly recovered from the shock, named the red kitten Roy Harper and now did not miss the opportunity to tease brother with the phrase "You gave me your accomplice, Todd."

By eight in the morning, Damian had time to check on the bat cow, comb Goliath, lose the nimble red Harper and find him sleeping peacefully in the cowshed. In general, Batman's heir successfully redid all his affairs, even phoned each Teen Titan individually and gave valuable instructions. On little things like different time zones, young Wayne habitually waved his hand, and everyone also grabbed a moral slap on the back of the head for trying to be indignant:

– Do it, Beast!

– Buzz me here again, Bug!

– The aliens were not given a word.

– Witch!

Damian belatedly realized that arguing with Raven was not worth it, because the importance of portals to any part of the world is difficult to overestimate. Fortunately, he knew about the weakness of every member of his team, and in Raven's case, it was sweets. Especially his sweets, with honey and spicy notes, which the girl fell in love with from the first bite. He will have to share again… She's definitely a witch!

At nine o'clock sharp, Pennyworth served breakfast, with tea in fine china, brown sugar, a slice of lemon and... an envelope?

- You have received an invitation, Master Damian.

- It's not interesting, - the boy muttered, finished with the meal and dryly told him not to disturb him. He was going to decide the fate of the world here, and they came with some kind of invitations!

However, the plan to destroy all (crossed out) almost all people did not come to mind, but the world itself lay perfectly on paper with watercolor paints, fortunately the view from the window was conducive to this. Up to a certain point.

– Todd!

- Hello to you too, Gremlin, - the Red Hood replied, climbing into his brother's bedroom through the window, while unsuccessfully clinging to the tulle with the toe of his boot.

- Pennyworth will bury you for this.

– Yes, yes, and will plant roses from above. Not that I mind much, but that's not the point right now. Get ready to go out.

Damian took a deep breath and unleashed his entire supply of Arabic obscenities on his brother, knowing full well that Jason would understand him. Unfortunately, the pressure of the negativity did not take him back out the window, he had to take up a katana.

– Put the skewer down, shorty, the meat has just been sent to marinate.

– Will you leave on your own or will you be thrown out in parts?!

– Shut up and listen to me, - Todd barked, casually showing off his pistols with the safety off. – In short, Alfie organizes a family get-together, with meat and without a fight. Dad promised to be, I'll bring a replacement, the Gotham crime storm in a thong will come running himself. You got the simplest thing – to lift your little ass off the chair and walk to the place. You can take the menagerie with you.

- I'm not going to any gatherings with my father," Damian muttered, but he put away his saber. – So you can get out and report your failed mission. I'm not leaving my room today, basically!

- No questions,– Jason agreed surprisingly easily. - But if you walk out the door, you're going to hang out with everyone, okay?

– Tt.

–That's settled,– Jason grinned, ducked out the window and disappeared.

Damian managed to exhale with relief, when suddenly something buzzing flew over the windowsill. Titus reacted first, barking loudly at the wasp's nest rolling on the floor!

- You're dead, Todd! - Damian yelled, unceremoniously grabbing the cat and rushing out the door with him and the dog.

***

- No corpses,– Grayson repeated calmly but firmly (for the fifth time!).

- I'll beat him up so that no Lazarus Pit will help, - the boy grumbled into the phone, the call to which stopped him from righteous revenge.

– Alfred said it clearly, without a fight. Let's get together with the whole family, have a nice time, have a delicious meal.

– Tt.

– We have chosen a picturesque place by the lake, you will like it.

–Okay, - the Batman heir finally gave up. – But only because painting was part of my plans today.

– It's wonderful, – judging by the sound, Dick broke into his trademark smile. – You will draw a beautiful landscape.

– I'll paint it! Artists paint with paints, you idiot.

– And I love you, little brother.

– Tt.

Author: @alexcors

[freeabortionslol]

Sassy Man Apocalypse (luke hughes x gf!reader)

summary: you and your bf luke finally have a night for yourselves after not seeing each other for two months, but your drunk friends decide to crash it

warnings! sassy luke (obvi), heated makeout, suggestive, mentions of alcohol, mentions of smoking, fluff, slightest bit of angst

a/n I feel like the makeout is so poorly written so pls ignore that. also I can just imagine luke being contributing to the sassy man apocalypse so I wanted to play off that. pls look up "himym robin Canucks" on yt so u understand what scene im talking abt. anyways happy reading!

wc: 2.5k

You and Luke were ready for a night in, just the two of you. He’d been in New Jersey for two weeks and you couldn’t handle missing him any longer. When he told you he was going to fly out to come visit you, you were nothing but ecstatic. Jumping up and down on the other line of the facetime as he laughed at you in joy. Now the two of you were lying on the couch watching How I Met Your Mother for the 6th time. It didn’t matter that you were sick of the show because all you could think of was the chest you were lying on. When Luke was away you missed him more than you cared to admit. The bed felt cold and empty without him by your side, but you were forever grateful that he was finally here. You were both cozied up on each other wearing hoodies and sweatpants. Your head lying on his chest while his hand gently stroked your back. Your arm was wrapped around his torso like he might leave if you were to let go. You started to feel your eyes close slightly at the comfort of the moment. Everything about it was perfect down to a T. Luke was watching the tv as he grabbed another handful of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee bowl. 

“Robin is so overdramatic. There’s no way the Canucks are THAT attractive.” He shook his head at the tv and you tilted your head to look up at him, stealing a kiss on his jawline.

“Well when a New Jersey Devil walked into my apartment this afternoon, my panties just about dropped so hard there was a hole in the floor halfway to China.” You smiled at him and he began to laugh slightly. Luke grabbed your chin and pulled you closer to him, so he could plant a kiss on your lips. It was soft and sweet at first, but deepened quickly. You pulled back for a moment, letting yourself get a couple of breaths in, but he quickly went back in. He firmly grabbed your waist, pulling you onto his lap to straddle. Your hand moved to the nape of his neck, running a finger through his hair. His tongue swiped your bottom lip, causing a slight moan to escape from the back of your throat. Luke took this as a signal to move his hands down to your ass, pulling you up closer to his groin. A groan escaped his lips when you moved your hips slightly against him. Your left hand moved further up his hair underneath his hood, while your right began to travel down to his chest. You tugged at his curls which caused him to move his hands back to your waist, flipping you over under him. With your legs wrapped around his waist pulling him closer, he removed his lips from yours to begin placing a trail of wet kisses down your neck. You had one hand tangled in his hair, with the other clawing at his back for more attention. He wanted to tease you, make you want it more than you already did. His hand started to make its way up your shirt when he found the sweet spot on your neck. A very soft “Luke” leaving your lips as he began teething at your skin, letting his hand trail up to your breast. You gave him a noise that he knew was only reserved for him as you grew hungry for his touch. Just as the moment was growing more intense by the second, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You decided to ignore it, and Luke started slowly pulling your sweatshirt off. You were both entranced in each other as you felt him pulling up the cloth on your bare skin, until you felt your phone buzz about ten more times. As much as you wanted to let him keep going you let out a quiet “Stop.” Luke’s lips leaving your neck in an instant as he buried his head into your shoulder in defeat.

“What is it?” He groaned out clearly frustrated. You pulled your phone out of your front pocket, to see ten new messages from your best friends Amelia and Maddy. 

Mads: dronk dronk dronk need ride and warm bed

Meels: lorst my shnoes feet hurrrtttttt

Mads: pleeeeeaaassseeeee we are downtown and no money for uber 

You pointed the phone towards Luke to show him the several messages you’d been sent. He scoffed at the sight, and buried his face further into your neck.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” He whined and let out a frustrated groan. A part of you wanted to ignore the messages and let him dive into you, but you knew if you were drunk in the city at one in the morning with nowhere to stay, you’d be scared. Without having to ask, Luke got off you and stood up holding his hand out for you to take. 

“Baby, I can go alone if you want. I’ll just find them a shitty hotel or something.” You said with a tone of sympathy as you let him pull you off the couch. You gave him puppy eyes hinting at the fact that you did not want to go alone.

“You think I'd let you go out in the city at night alone? You’re crazy.” He gave you a smirk and held his grip to your hand as he walked to the front door, grabbing your car keys on the way out. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drive to downtown only took about seven minutes. Luke was settled in the driver's seat with his hood up. One hand gripping the steering wheel, and the other rested in yours on the center console. He pulled into a street parking spot to wait for the two girls. You sent them a message letting them know you were there. The car was quiet for the most part, the soft sounds of Lord Huron playing from the radio, but that all changed when the backseat door opened. Amelia and Maddy were laughing relentlessly about something stupid probably. The car quickly filled with the stench of cigarette smoke and tequila. Luke gave me a glance that said “Save me” and I returned an apologetic smile.

“LUUKKEEEE I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE COMING!” Amelia screamed in a way that echoed throughout the car.

“Can you please use your inside voice? You’re making my ears bleed.” Luke stared only out the front windshield, earning a loud laugh from Amelia in the backseat. He tightened the grip on the steering wheel, slowly rubbing circles on your hand as he pulled out of the parking spot. You turned around to face the drunk girls while they recapped their night which was filled with sugary shots and random makeouts with nameless men. Luke drove in silence while you giggled with the girls. You laughed at how drunk they managed to get in the span of two hours, but Luke was clearly not amused. 

“Luke, I'm hungry. Can we stop at Taco Bell?” Maddy slurred through her sentence, letting her tongue out of her mouth for a slight dry heave.

“No. We have food at the apartment.” His speech flattened, clearly annoyed.

“But I haven’t eaten all day and I want a crunch wrap.” She whined as she kicked her feet against his seat, which earned you a death stare from Luke. You only shrugged at him.

“I’m not responsible for your eating habits, Madeleine.” Maddy let out a frustrated grown, slouching back into her seat. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting the girls into a house was more of a challenge than the two of you expected it to be. Maddy marched in perfectly, but Amelia was so stubborn and felt that her seat in the car was more comfortable than wherever you intended to move her. Luke slung his arm around her waist, letting her fall limp onto him, while you placed a hand on her back worrying that she’d manage to fall over. When the four of you entered the apartment, Luke immediately let go of Amelia, already annoyed by her presence. The two girls ran to the kitchen with you and Luke following close behind. Maddy found herself settled on the countertop while Amelia began to rummage through the cabinets. Luke sat on a barstool at the kitchen island and you claimed the spot standing next to him. He pulled out his phone and opened instagram, trying to distract himself from the loud girls, screaming in his girlfriend’s kitchen. You placed a hand on his back, slowly rubbing circles around the fabric of his hoodie. Luke tilted his glance from his phone to see Amelia pulling his favorite bag of chips out of the cabinet.

“No. Those are mine.” He gave her a stare that could kill. She turned around slamming the bag of chips on the counter, giving him a disgusted look.

“So, you say there’s food at the house, but we can’t eat it.” A slight sassy tone to her voice. Luke nodded his head with eyes widened, as he bit on his bottom lip. Amelia rolled her eyes and placed “his” bag of chips back into the cabinet. You gave him a slight nudge to which he looked over to. You gave him a look that sent him the memo “don’t be a dick” and he heard it loud and clear. Luke sighed and put his hands over his face.

“Why don’t we just order a pizza?” He muffled through his hands. The two girls started cheering, jumping up and down. You smiled at him before running to your bedroom to get your laptop. When you returned, Luke held out his hands signaling you to give it to him. He placed the laptop on the counter and started typing into the search engine. You wrapped your arms around him, resting your head on his shoulder while looking at the laptop screen. You could smell his cologne coming off his neck, and in all honesty it made you wish your friends never called. 

“Luke, what's your venmo?” Maddy asked from the counter, earning a big grin from luke.

“I got it.” He said as he smiled and nodded his head like he was the hero that saved everyone. Amelia clapped her hands in joy, as you planted a kiss on his cheek whispering “Love you Lukey.” into his ear which made him blush profusely. 

“We got that NHL card paying for our food tonight.” Maddy shouted, holding her hand out to Amelia for a high five. Luke responded with a triumphant fist to the air. You could tell that even though he wanted it to just be the two of you, a part of him was having fun with your friends. When Luke closed the laptop after ordering the pizza, you sat down at the stool next to him. You grabbed his hand and began tracing over his fingers with your thumb. The scent of liquor and cigarettes had been replaced by your pumpkin spice candle that was centered on the island as the night began to quiet down.

“Hey Luke, are there any hot guys on your team?” Amelia asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Uh I guess some of them are good looking.” He said, not looking up from his phone.

“Can you set me up with one of them?” She gave a mischievous smile at Luke whose eyes were still glued to the instagram reel he was watching.

“No.” He deadpanned.

“What? Whyyyy?” Amelia groaned and let her shoulders slump.

“Because I would never want to put them through that.” Amelia’s mouth gaped wide open as you and Maddy giggled at Luke's comment. You could see a slight smile creeping up on Luke’s face which relieved you, knowing that he wasn’t entirely miserable.

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After about twenty minutes, the pizza had arrived and the four of you were now in the kitchen snacking on the greasy food Luke and graciously paid for. The four of you were casually throwing jokes around, most of Luke’s being at Amelia’s expense. He thought it fit best knowing that she had come in and ruined your perfect night in. Maddy was still sitting on the counter with a plate under her slice. She tried to eat without one, but Luke made sure that no pizza sauce was going to get on the linoleum you had moped earlier that day. When Luke finished his slice, his hand made its way to your thigh, painting figures with his thumb. You decided since everyone was finishing up with their food, and it was almost three in the morning, it was time to discuss sleeping arrangements. You told the girls that they would either have to share the love seat in the living room, or make a palette on the floor.

“What? Are you kidding? We both can’t fit on that couch, and there’s no way you’re gonna make us sleep on the hardwood floor.” Maddy whined from her spot on the counter.

“Yeah, we thought we were gonna sleep on the floor in your room, or we’re you guys gonna fuck?” Amelia finished the bite of her pizza crust as she spoke, and Luke returned a deadpan stare.

“Well we were planning on it.” She groaned at Luke’s response and you gave him a playful smack to the shoulder. “But I guess anything fucking goes with the two of you.” Luke crossed his arms in frustration. The girls grew smiles as you leaned your head into Luke’s shoulder, giving his arm a squeeze. 

You and Luke made your way to the hallway closets rummaging for blankets and pillows for the girls, and threw them into the room. Luke insisted they had to set it up themselves since he’d already done enough for them tonight. The girls shuffled into the room already on the floor setting up their palette, and you made yourself comfortable in the bed. You flopped onto Luke, resting your head into the crook of his neck while your arms wrapped around him. He grabbed the remote and turned How I Met Your Mother on the bedroom tv. The same episode you had been watching earlier. As the show began to play in the background, you planted a kiss on his neck and whispered a “Thank you.”

“If this is how I get to end my night, I will take care of your drunk friends all the time.” You gave him a smile and he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead. You let yourself fall into a deep slumber as Luke stroked his hand up and down your arm. The quiet noise of the tv playing in the background, and the subtle laughs of your best friend’s from the floor, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I get it. When I see Luke’s brother, my panties drop harder than that.” Maddy let out during the same scene you and Luke had watched earlier.

“Shut the fuck up. Go to sleep.” Luke said as his eyes started to flutter shut, at the feel of your breath on his neck soothing him to sleep.

[beakers-and-telescopes]

With the fast fashion industry… how it is… finding sustainable ways to make fabric is super important.  Fibers from synthetic fabrics make up 35% of the microplastics that make their way to the ocean.  Natural fibers sourced from plants or animals are much more environmentally sound options, including silk.

Currently, the only way to get natural silk on a large scale is to harvest it from silkworms.  You’ve probably heard about the strength and durability of spider silk (it is 6x stronger than Kevlar!) but as of yet there hasn’t been a good way of getting it.  Raising spiders the way people do silkworms isn’t really an option.  Spiders need a lot of room to build their webs compared to silkworms, and individual spiders don’t produce that much silk.  Plus, when you put a whole bunch of spiders in captivity together, they tend to start eating each other.

Attempts to artificially recreate spider silk have also been less than successful.  Spider silk has a surface layer of glycoproteins and lipids on it that works as a sort of anti-aging “skin”- allowing the silk to withstand conditions such as sunlight and humidity.  But this layer has been very tricky to reproduce.

However, as scientists in China realized, silkworms produce that same kind of layer on their silk.  So what if we just genetically modified silkworms to produce spider silk?

That is exactly what the researchers at Donghua University in Shanghai did.  A team of researchers introduced spider silk protein genes to silkworms using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and microinjections in silkworm eggs.  In addition to this, they altered the spider silk proteins so that they would interact properly with the other proteins in silkworm glands.  And it worked!  This is the first study ever to produce full length spider silk proteins from silkworms.

The applications of this are incredibly exciting.  In addition to producing comfortable textiles and new, innovative bulletproof vests, silkworm generated spider silk could be used in cutting edge smart materials or even just to create better performing sutures.  In the future, this team intends to research how to modify this new spider silk to be even stronger, and they are confident that “large-scale commercialization is on the horizon."