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jsooly · 9 days ago

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taken in by the sullys (5) / sully family x human!daughter/sister!reader

synopsis, your birth mother didn’t care to be cautious while pregnant, but at least something good came out of it. ++ spider, and then lo’ak throwing hands for you

+ note! writing these chapters during my commute makes the bus rides sm more relaxing, i’m happy you guys are enjoying the series just as much <33

(1) / (2) / (3) / (4*) / (5 - ur here! ☆)

+ chapters with an * beside it means that it’s following atwow plot line as opposed to disconnected scenarios

2155 (you were four years old)

the first time you ran out into pandoran air without a gas mask on, jake thought you were going to die

pandoran air was filled with compounds that the human lungs couldn't process efficiently—a danger that threatened jake's life once before

after the war ended and the sky people were banished from pandora, there was a lot of things to take care of logistically

inducting jake as olo'eyktan was one of them, along with an agreement with the remaining humans living on the planet

plus in the aftermath of the war, many other forest clans lost their homes or leaders. jake was determined to accommodate all of them as best he could

his preoccupation left you with little supervision and a lot of free time

jake was visiting norm's lab to check up on the status of their relationship with the clans

he carried you along with him for once, hoping it'd be a fun take your daughter to work day

this is how he held you when you were little btw

as soon as he set you loose, you bolted out the lab

you jumped up and slapped a button, dashing outside when the door opened just wide enough to allow you through.

it slowly creaked as alarms began to blare loudly, an automated voice warning them of the sinking pressure overtaking the room's atmosphere.

"holy shit—" jake shot up, wincing as he slammed his head into the ceiling. "norm?! why didn't you grab her?" he rushed through the corridor, and being incompatible with the space started knocking things over left and right.

"i'm sorry, she has so much experience slipping past me!" norm protested, equally panicked as he held his breath. he scrambled out his seat towards the exit door, dodging jake's thrashing tail.

"no, no, no." jake's body rammed into the door just as it slammed shut. he peered out the frosted window and vaguely caught your shape. his fist collided with the access button. "why isn't this door opening?!"

jake rapidly slammed the button before norm stopped him from breaking the circuits completely.

"the cabin is returning to normal atmospheric conditions," norm gasped for air, finally. "it won't open for another—"

jake backed up, crouching into a lunging position. he bounced on the balls of his feet. "i'm kicking the door."

"what?! jake—"

"i'm breaking the damn door, norm. put a mask on. i'm not waiting." jake snapped, grabbing two masks off the wall and tossing one to the scientist. he surged forward and thrust his leg out, his foot flattening against the door and knocking it clean off its hinges.

norm dove for cover, securing a mask over his face just as all sorts of alarms clamored for attention.

jake ducked through the opening, immediately running to you. he dropped to his knees, taking no notice to the blisters and cuts that broke skin as he slid across the dirt towards you. he snatched you up in his arms, turning you to face him and trying to put the gas mask over your head.

you kept swerving him and blocking him with your hands.

"y/n—baby, please stay still." he tried to contain his worry as he grabbed your wrists in his hand and dropped them away from your face.

"stay still, you need..." he slowed his attempts as he realized... you were breathing just fine. "to breathe..?"

you glared at him in annoyance, confused as to why he was trying to smush glass on your face.

"you don't need the mask?" he asked, unsure himself. he paused for a moment, studying you closely. his hand still firmly gripping the gas mask in case he was mistaken. but you weren't coughing or gasping.

he lifted you up, hands nestled underneath your armpits. he put his ear to your back, listening to the sound of your breathing. no whistles. no wheezing. no rattling. just perfectly normal inhale... and exhale.

"huh." jake's eyebrows furrowed, turning you around and holding you against his chest. he looked down at norm, who had just caught up, pointing a finger at you.

"wanna explain what's going on here?"

the nature of your development and birth allowed for certain mutations surface

your birth mother got pregnant with you on pandora, going out in the atmosphere, consuming the fruits, and maybe getting stung once or twice by strange flowers

with how reckless she was while carrying you, it's no surprise your genome was a bit messed up

after norm thoroughly tested you for other variations, he came up with a comprehensive list

jake was never one for reading—he didn't even read the reports and logs that would've helped him be prepared when first going out with grace and norm

but he consumed every bit of information norm offered him, even asking him to print a copy of the document for future reference

"the subject exhibits accelerated peripheral growth wherein measurements taken supersede the average on earth... what the..." jake rattled off, before tossing the document back to norm with a roll of his eyes. "yeah, you're gonna have to do one in english and then get back to me."

"that just means she's growing faster compared to a normal human child." norm deadpanned. "she had a four year old's height when she just turned two. you were there, didn't you notice?"

jake shrugged, rotating you in his arms. "dunno. still looks pretty small to me." he cooed, nuzzling his nose to yours.

"you're almost 10ft. tall. everything looks small to you." norm turned back to his computer, exasperated. “whatever her mother did messed her up pretty badly.”

jake frowned. your birth mother died two years before he arrived on pandora, but he was sure he wouldn’t have liked her. the stories he’s heard was more than enough to form an opinion. he only tolerated her memory because she gave life to one of his most precious treasures.

“i wouldn’t say messed up. more like…” he pondered, watching the fluorescent ceiling light sparkle in your eyes. “upgraded.”

long story short, your lungs had adapted to draw more oxygen from pandora's atmosphere; you were growing faster; your athletic capacity was just below superhuman; and your senses were abnormally receptive.

whatever your birth mother exposed herself to while you were in there made you a little less human.

jake and neytiri had their suspicions. there was something up with you—how else could you have kept up with neytiri's rigorous training at a young age, human and all, otherwise?

it was almost fitting. you were one of the only two human pandoran natives. children actually born on pandora.

as you grew, you continued to hone your abilities to compete with the na'vi children, but at some point you hit a ceiling.

a little less human was still human at the end of the day.

spider

the other only human born on pandora was miles 'spider' socorro

given how similar your situations were, you were surprised at the drastic difference between your lives

you were two years older than him—he was born just before the first pandoran war

he had adoptive parents, the mccoskers, just like you had the sullys

the mccoskers were residents of hell's gate as per jake's surrender list until the RDA returned under ardmore's command

they left with their own family, spider left behind

spider was then his own boss, doing as he pleased and going where he pleased

above all, he was inseparable from the sully kids—an unspoken, invisible brother

sometimes, you felt awkward when interacting with him because you got lucky with the sullys while he was considered a 'stray'

unlike lo'ak or kiri, you weren't particularly close to him as a friend, but you looked out for him just as you did for the others

"hey," you caught up to him as he was leaving.

spider spending the entire day with the kids was routine. from dawn to dusk, sometimes into the night, he was by their side. you and the kids loved him, and he loved you guys too.

"oh. hey." he turned, awkwardly standing in place. "what's up?"

"wanted to catch you before you left." you loosely gestured to the sky. "it's pretty dark out. i'll walk you home."

he blinked, surprised by the consideration. you felt pity pool in your stomach.

"oh. yeah, thanks." he nodded. you could see a thought cross his mind. he quickly backtracked. "but—but if i'm keeping you, i'm okay to—"

"spider," you smiled, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and beginning to walk alongside him. "you're not keeping me. we’re two of a kind so we gotta stick together, right?" you bumped into his side playfully.

he felt at ease, relaxing. "yeah." spider chuckled. he glanced at your face before dropping his eyes. "it's so crazy how you can just... breathe the air. i'm jealous." gesturing to his exo-pack, he continued. "gotta lug this thing around all day."

“the reason why is way less cool, promise.” you muttered, reflecting on your birth mother.

friendly chatter and a few minutes later, you arrived at the human base. you dropped spider inside to his bunk.

he collapsed against the mattress with a lengthy sigh.

you laughed at his antics. “it’s tough keeping up with them, huh?”

“oh, please, i could outrun ‘em any day.” he huffed, grinning lopsidedly.

you pat his shoulder. “make sure to eat something before bed.” walking out, you waved goodbye. “see you tomorrow.”

he felt warm—seen. he waved back. “bye.”

despite the two year age gap, spider saw you as a maternal figure

i mean, you were the only one that willingly made yourself available to him consistently

he would NEVER admit this, though, to himself or anyone else

kiri was a very close confidant, neteyam and lo’ak were brothers, and tuk was the baby

you were the only young adult that made him a priority for care and support

he would be eternally grateful for that, because no matter what he would experience, he knew you were in his corner just like any of the other kids

it made him feel part of something when he had nothing

omaticayan dissent

it was no secret that there were some that disagreed with their clan leaders’ choice to adopt you into their family

and while their hatred and caution was valid—they’ve had many sky people deceive them before—it was poor to direct that anger onto a child

you were essentially a trash bin for their bitterness, a figure to focus their resentment when there were no other ‘bad humans’ around

and despite proving your usefulness time and time again, it was becoming increasingly clear that they were never going to accept you as their own

for jake and neytiri, it was a delicate balance of hearing their people and curbing their behaviour

for your siblings, though? it was gloves off. immediately

“what’d you just say?” lo’ak hissed, grabbing the shoulder of the omaticayan boy and spinning him around.

if there’s one thing about lo’ak, it’s that he rocks for his family.

“lo’ak.” neteyam warned, spawning behind the youngest sully son as if he was summoned the minute lo’ak threatened trouble. “mawey, brother.

lo’ak shoved neteyam’s arm off his shoulders, pointing an accusatory finger at the boy. “he just said—“

“how can you call tawtute a sister?” the boy contorted his face in disgust. “she does not belong here. all the other children know it.”

“olo’eyktan decides who belongs and who doesn’t. that is none of your business.” neteyam said coolly. “she does her part and keeps to herself.”

the boy made a yeuch sound, shuddering. ignoring neteyam’s subtle offer for truce, he continued. “they made a demon who can breathe among us. what’s next, one who can connect with our great mother? you ask yourself what else must they have in store.”

neteyam wanted to set the guy straight, but ever the oldest son, he kept his composure. “our mother and father raised her more na’vi than human. if she had different loyalties, she would have left long ago.”

“well—“

“let it rest.” neteyam cut him off firmly, his expression blank.

the boy could not continue to argue against the chief’s son when he put down a hard boundary. he snarled, baring his teeth at both sons.

“lo’ak, ‘yam—“ you approached them, oblivious to the tension. “mom’s calling for dinner.”

lo’ak seethed silently but after catching neteyam’s firm look, he swallowed his pride.

they walked past the boy, giving him a lasting glare while following behind you.

“freak.” the boy mumbled under his breath when you were out of earshot.

without hesitation, lo’ak shifted his weight and launched his fist across the boy’s jaw.

he got an earful, naturally

the scuffle continued until neteyam was able to break it up

after apologies were forced, lo’ak was subject to your father’s favourite punishment—grounding

you shooed kiri and her unhelpful teasing away, taking over lo’ak’s treatment

you dabbed the cloth to his forehead. “what’d he do?”

lo’ak winced, leaning away from the burning sting of the ointment. remaining silent, he glared at the floor.

“hm?” you egged him on. “you know you can tell me.”

“i…” he began with a sigh before changing his mind. “never mind. doesn’t matter.”

jake sully was a girl dad through and through. in his eyes his girls could do no wrong. he saw a youthful recklessness in his sons, something they undoubtedly got from him, and feared they would go down a path he couldn’t save them from. he was very hard on them, sometimes unfairly so.

you forcefully turned his head to look at you. “course it matters, dummy. you’re telling me the way the boy described it was how it went down?”

his chest rose and fell rapidly as he got worked up again. “he was talking shit about you.” he glanced at you, wondering if he’d get told off for cursing. when you didn’t speak, he continued angrily. “again. i was gonna let it go, i swear! but he ran his mouth right in front of you! how did you not hear?”

“you did this on my behalf?”

“yes! all of them have said something at some point. they don’t have any shame. it’s not fair.” he grumbled, his posture sinking.

you dropped in the spot next to him. “you know i’m proud of you, lo’ak, and i’m grateful you thought to defend me. but you don’t need to get into fights.” you pleaded, trying to catch his annoyed gaze. “cuz then both of us lose.”

he groaned and crossed his arms. “i just— if i feel like this… i just think you would feel ten times worse.”

like this. like an outcast. it was the first time you really considered that it was the truth. growing up, you simply accepted it as a fact of your life.

you softened when you observed his tormented expression. you leaned against him to let him know you understood—that the two of you were more alike than it would seem. you remained there in each other’s company until you were called for dinner.

. . .

thanks for reading <3

taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed): @dae-dreamer @delirious-dolce @strawbaerriesvt

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covid-safer-hotties · 4 months ago

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Also preserved on our archive

Whenever you hear someone trying to blame kid's poor test scores "post pandemic" on "lockdowns," show them this.

By Dr. Sushama R. Chaphalkar, PhD.

New research shows that mild COVID-19 alters brain structure and connectivity in key areas responsible for memory and cognition, emphasizing the lasting effects on young people’s brain health.

In a case-control study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive tests to examine brain structure, function, and cognition in adolescents and young adults with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared to healthy controls in a pandemic hotspot in Italy. They identified significant changes in brain regions related to olfaction and cognition, with decreased brain volume and reduced functional connectivity in areas like the left hippocampus and amygdala, which were linked to impaired spatial working memory. Notably, no significant differences were observed in whole-brain connectivity, suggesting that these changes were localized rather than widespread.

Background COVID-19, primarily known for respiratory symptoms, also affects the central nervous system, leading to neurological issues like headaches, anosmia, and cognitive changes. MRI-based studies reveal anatomical brain changes in COVID-19 patients, such as reduced gray matter and decreased volume in regions like the hippocampus and amygdala, often linked to cognitive deficits.

While research mostly focuses on severe cases and older adults, a majority of infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, occur in adolescents and young adults who also experience long-lasting cognitive symptoms.

This age group, undergoing key brain development, is impacted by changes in spatial working memory and brain structure, which are crucial for cognitive functions shaped by social interactions, significantly disrupted by the pandemic.

Given that this is the largest and most understudied population affected by COVID-19, understanding the brain and cognitive impacts in adolescents and young adults is vital.

Therefore, researchers in the present study compared anatomical, functional, and cognitive outcomes, utilizing a longitudinal design that allowed them to assess both pre- and post-infection differences, in COVID-19-positive and negative adolescents and young adults from Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot during the pandemic.

About the study The present study involved participants from the Public Health Impact of Metal Exposure (PHIME) cohort, a longitudinal investigation of adolescents and young adults in northern Italy. Between 2016 and 2021, 207 participants, aged 13 to 25 years, were included in a sub-study with MRI scans and cognitive tests. After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, 40 participants (13 COVID+ and 27 COVID−) participated in a follow-up study, which replicated the MRI and cognitive assessments.

The mean age of participants was 20.44 years and 65% were female. COVID+ status was confirmed through positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests within 12 months of follow-up. Neuropsychological assessments used the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to evaluate spatial working memory.

MRI and functional MRI data were acquired using a 3-Tesla scanner, processed, and analyzed for structural and local functional connectivity using eigenvector centrality mapping (ECM) and functional connectivity (FC) metrics. Whole-brain functional connectivity metrics showed no significant differences between COVID+ and control groups, indicating that the observed changes were specific to key brain regions rather than generalized across the entire brain.

Statistical analysis involved the use of pairwise Student's t-tests, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, linear regression, two-waves mediation analysis, negative binomial regression, and linear regression, all adjusted for covariates.

Results and discussion Significant differences were observed in the two groups regarding the time between assessments, COVID-19 symptoms, and vaccine status. The research identified five localized functional connectivity hubs with significant differences between the two groups, including the right intracalcarine cortex, right lingual gyrus, left frontal orbital cortex, left hippocampus and left amygdala, which is vital for cognitive functions. Only the left hippocampal volume showed a significant reduction in COVID+ participants (p = 0.034), while whole-brain connectivity remained unchanged, reinforcing the localized nature of the brain changes.

The left amygdala mediated the relationship between COVID-19 and spatial working memory "between errors" (p = 0.028), a critical finding that highlights the indirect effect of amygdala connectivity on cognitive function in COVID+ individuals. This mediation analysis underscores the role of specific brain regions in influencing cognitive deficits, as only the indirect effect was statistically significant for spatial working memory errors. The orbitofrontal cortex, involved in sensory integration and cognitive functions, also showed decreased connectivity in COVID+ individuals, supporting previous findings of structural and functional changes in this region during COVID-19.

The study is limited by small sample size, lack of diversity, potential confounding factors due to the long interval between MRI scans, treatment of certain subjects as COVID-negative based on antibody testing beyond the 12-month threshold, and the possibility of non-significant findings in mediation analysis due to these factors.

Conclusion In conclusion, the findings indicate persistent structural and functional alterations in specific brain regions of COVID-19-positive adolescents and young adults, including changes in gray matter volume and localized functional connectivity, which correlate with diminished cognitive function, particularly in working memory.

Further research is necessary to evaluate the longevity and potential reversibility of these brain and cognitive changes post-infection, enhancing our understanding of post-COVID outcomes and informing future interventions and treatments. The longitudinal design of this study, with pre- and post-COVID data, strengthens these findings by allowing direct comparisons over time, offering robust insights into the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent brain development.

Journal reference: COVID-19 related cognitive, structural and functional brain changes among Italian adolescents and young adults: a multimodal longitudinal case-control study. Invernizzi, A. et al., Translational Psychiatry, 14, 402 (2024), DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-03108-2, www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-03108-2

#mask up #covid #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #public health #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #still coviding #wear a respirator #long covid #covid conscious #covid is airborne #wear a fucking mask

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milk5 · 7 months ago

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On the Skidelsky/Fuller post I reblogged, I absolutely welcome automation given the following criteria:

1. The output is identical or, holistically, more positive than human labor output

2. This automation occurs within an economic system in which GDP growth (or similarly fraught metrics) is not the primary objective

3. The automation aids the sustainability of nature and humanity

The USA's agriculture industry is a wonderful example of modern automation failing all three of these criteria. Throughout the entire industrial revolution, agriculture has trended away from being a society-wide confederation of family/community-scale, labor-intensive smallholdings to our current reality of a small number of monolithic industrial farms that are maintained by astoundingly few people who operate increasingly complex and expensive equipment.

Our massive-scale industrial farms are fantastic at what they were designed for; they grow as much of a staple crop as possible without regard to human or environmental health, doing so using minimal labor. Fundamentally, it is an extractive industry. Fossil fuels are extracted to power the machinery, processing, and logistics systems. Nutrients are extracted from the soil to the point that crop growth can only be sustained with heavy amounts of industrial fertilizer input. Entire ecosystems are sacrificed when forests are cleared to be exploited and repeatedly battered with pesticides. This is all primarily to produce soybeans, feed corn, and cotton to then process into products like factory farm livestock feed-slurry, corn syrup, junk food, and sweatshop garments. Secondarily, it is to produce flavorless, nutrition-void produce that can be sold year-round. Consistency is the goal, although one may find that nature itself is curiously inconsistent.

This case study of automation's failings can be traced back to a few major factors:

1. Old-style agriculture work is disagreeable to the USA's perverted fascination for infinite GDP growth; each farm laborer that can be replaced by a machine is a potential worker that could move into a city (or suburb) and put in the same amount of hours at a higher-dollar job. It's just opportunity cost, and this is more-or-less what Skidelsky and Fuller find offensive about our current labor zeitgeist; instead of the now-jobless laborers being free to pursue their interests, they are instead shoehorned into some shitty desk job that produces a relatively greater amount of money to be leeched by executives and shareholders -- this is "more productive" to our economy on the basis of GDP growth and thus must be prioritized over agricultural labor.

2. Industrial approaches to large-scale agriculture are inherently reductive to an extreme extent. Nature is far more complex than Liebig or any other enlightenment thinker ever imagined. Industrialization is great at making cars or computer chips or Gucci jackets or whatever, as these are things that can be standardized with relative ease. Nature cannot be tamed and standardized in a similar way; ecosystems, particularly soil ecosystems, can vary massively even in small areas of the same climate type. Our agriculture systems cope with this simply by ignoring such factors and reducing crop growth to a formula. In X region, plant Y variety of Z crop on A date and apply a regimen of B-type fertilizer and C-type pesticide on D date etc etc. This is the most egregious reduction of something in all of history.

Liebig's reduction of agriculture to the NPK model, just three elements, is good for achieving the singular goal of making your plant of choice come out of the ground, but it ignores all the nuance of soil, climate, and evolution. The other factors don't matter. Modern lab-designed fertilizers often feature a plethora of additional micronutrients, but the goal is still to produce a healthy crop, not healthy soil. Soil itself is an organism, it is something that must be nurtured to be healthy; industrial pesticide/fertilizer regimens are to the soil as feed slurry/antibiotic regimens are to factory farm animals.

Natural processes are, itself, the greatest form of automation for agriculture. Plants and animals that are native to a region have evolved to grow there regardless of human intervention. It is our disruption of these processes that forces agriculture to be labor/resource-intensive. This isn't to say that everyone must immediately abandon all non-native foods and adopt a primarily undomesticated Ötzi diet, but instead, it's worth considering that the complexity of modern technology is not even close to being at parity with the complexity of nature; nature has a several billion year head start. There is no way to flawlessly "tame" it with technological solutions, but a comfortable middle ground can certainly be found.

If sustainable, climate-friendly food production is the primary objective of agriculture, this is far more easily achieved by small, ecology-considerate farms than massive, largely automated industrial farms. A healthy soil ecosystem will aid in growth, flavor, nutrition, and, (quite importantly) carbon sequestration. Broadforking, shoveling, and wheelbarrow-pushing is absolutely more labor intensive than sitting back in a huge John Deere tractor with GPS-based autopiloting features, but the extra labor can turn a woefully extractive process into one that is instead highly regenerative.

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singularscissor · 9 months ago

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Bright Crown is a highly experimental orbital iterator project. They were built in space in order to study and make use of conditions there.

A lot of words about their structure and how it works under the cut:

Their facility is consists of three main portions: the outer 'habitable' ring, a second concentric 'conduit' ring, and the central neural core.

Normally, the entire structure rotates along the outer/hab ring, in order to generate centrifugal artificial gravity (which is far more efficient than using gravity cores). This is particularly important, because the hab ring is home to an ecosystem of purposed organisms. These are designed to automate many processes, such as waste recycling, maintenance, handling of inbound supplies, etc. In times past, small research teams also lived in the hab ring.

Skipping the conduit ring for the moment, the neural core is where most of the stuff you'd normally expect to find in an iterator is located: neurons, processing strata, memory conflux, all those parts which actually form the brain of the iterator. And of course the focal puppet chamber.

Since the neural core is at the center of the spinning structure, it is not affected much by the centrifugal artificial gravity. Therefore, it can effectively utilize the natural low gravity environment as opposed to maintaining a constant antigravity field, as land-based iterators do. Additionally, heat sinks radiate heat directly into the vacuum of space, eliminating the need to use water as coolant.

However, water is still needed for use by the internal biological processors and neural tissue. Thus we arrive at the conduit ring, placed in between the hab ring and the neural core.

Without luxuries such as atmosphere and the ground, water on Bright Crown must operate on an artificial closed system. The conduit ring is a series of pipes, filters, and reservoirs intended to form a rough equivalent to the natural land-based water cycle.

Each section can pivot independently of the other sections and the overall spin of the station. While idle, the conduit ring spins slowly on its pivot (this helps it process water).

Bright Crown follows a similar cycle system as land iterators, where water is 'expelled' at regular intervals; only in this case the water is expelled into the conduit ring rather than the atmosphere. When enough water has been used, the conduit ring locks onto the neural core, and the entire station begins spinning along the conduit ring instead. The same method of artificial gravity is thus used to push the water out of the neural core, flooding the conduit ring.

But, keep in mind, the conduit ring could be at any point in its rotation when a flush cycle begins. Changing the spinning direction of the entire structure disrupts the hab ring's artificial gravity, and would generally not be great for anything living there (it would throw them around like they're in a giant washing machine). So there are shelter areas throughout the hab ring which are protected by antigravity cores, which suppress the spinning forces.

#i'm not sure if that's how physics works but at least it's sorta plausible? maybe?#also let me know if the green is too bright/diagrams are hard to read #rain world #rw #rain world art #rw art #rain world iterator #rain world oc #bright crown #my art #singularscissor

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seotoolblend · 9 days ago

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#website #e commerce #business #business growth

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ideas-on-paper · 1 year ago

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Theories about Legion's "mini headlamps" (N7 special)

A very happy N7 Day to all of you Mass Effect fans!

Although I still haven't finished Mass Effect 3 (I just haven't been able to pick it up again after the Rannoch arc), I nevertheless wanted to do something special for this occasion, and I thought to myself that I might as well devote a quick study to a subject that's been on my mind for quite a long time: the purpose of Legion's three additional "mini headlamps".

You see, aside from the big, obvious flashlight in the middle, Legion also possesses three smaller lights at the side of their head. Ever since discovering these, I've been wondering what exactly those are for. I've observed that they glow red when Legion is under "stress" (an effect which is unfortunately not present in the Legendary Edition) - or rather, in situations that require a lot of processing power - but as far as their practical function goes, I could only guess. However, going through the ME3 dialogues again, I noticed a small detail which could potentially explain what exactly those small lights are - and in addition, give us a little insight into how Geth perceive the world visually.

Disclaimer: Before going into this, I should mention that I have no technical education in robotics, laser scanning, or any related areas of engineering. I based my conclusions solely on what information I could find on the internet, as well as my own reasoning and observations.

[Potential spoilers for ME3]

LADAR/LiDAR scanning and three-dimensional perception

To start off, what basically led me on this track was this comment by Tali in ME3:

Their AI lets them use extremely detailed ladar pings. Xen's countermeasure overwhelmed them with garbage data.

First off, we need to clarify what exactly ladar is. LADAR, more commonly known as LiDAR, stands for "Light amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation detection and ranging" - or, in case of LiDAR, "Light detection and ranging/Light imaging, detection and ranging. It's a method for measuring the distance, speed, and surface structure of objects by the means of laser scanning, usually with beams in the infrared spectrum (there are different wavelengths of light in use, however). Essentially, LiDAR is based on the same principle as the echolocation of bats, the only difference being the use of light instead of sound. Every LiDAR system consists of three integral components: a transmitter, a receiver, and a timer. The transmitter will send out a laser beam, which will be reflected by the object it hits; afterwards, the reflection will be registered by the receiver. Because the speed of light is a known constant, the distance of the object can be deduced by the timer, which will determine the delay between the light impulse being send out and the reflection being captured, also known as "time of flight".

However, because each laser beam only represents the coordinates of a single point, multiple laser beams are necessary to create a detailed 3D map of the environment. Some LiDAR lasers, like those used in automated vehicles, pinwheel to collect data in a 360° radius, generating a 3D image of all objects in the vicinity, including cars, pedestrians, and other obstacles. This results in multiple "points" forming a "point cloud" together, digitally depicting the surroundings on a 3D level. Because each laser emits hundreds of impulses per second, this technology enables you to take highly precise measurements in a very short period of time. LiDAR technology is not only utilized in autonomous driving, but also all kinds of other areas too, like archaeology, topographical mapping, and monitoring of vegetation growth.

Now, with this in mind, my theory is that Legion's small headlamps are the transmitter and receiver components of the LiDAR system - more specifically, I think the transmitters are located on the right, while the singular light on the left is the receiver. However, since we know that normal scanning LiDAR requires multiple laser beams for a detailed 3D image, the question is why Legion would only have two of them implemented. Personally, my suspicion is that the Geth might be using a flash LiDAR: Flash LiDAR is a different type of LiDar emitting a single wide, diverging beam, similar in shape to the beam of a flashlight. By projecting the reflected light onto a sensor array, a flash LiDAR can create a complete 3D environment without the use of multiple impulses. In addition to being very compact, flash LiDAR sensors have no moveable parts, making them extremely resistant to any kind of vibration - an undeniable advantage in all situations that require quick movement, such as combat.

Analysis of atmospheric composition with LiDAR

Still, that doesn't explain why Legion would have an additional transmitter on the right side of their head. We do know, however, that the laser scans with LiDAR are precise enough to not only measure the exact distance between objects, but also analyze the density of particles in the air: Because the molecules in the air cause the light from the laser beam to backscatter, LiDAR is also utilized in monitoring air quality and detecting fine dust, being able to determine traces of atmospheric gases such as ozone, nitrous gases, carbon dioxide, and methane. Depending on the wavelength of light used, the LiDAR system might be more or less precise in measuring molecular backscattering. For that reason, LiDAR systems using multiple wavelengths of light are most efficient in determining the exact size distribution of particles in the air.

With this in mind, let's take a look at Legion's opening line in ME2 upon entering the Heretic station:

Alert. This facility has little air or gravity. Geth require neither.

Going by what I explained above, the reason why Legion was able to tell there is no oxygen in the atmosphere isn't because they have some built-in chemical sensors to analyze the air's components - it's because they can literally "see" the particles in the air.

Thus, I think the second transmitter on the right side of Legion's head might use a different kind of wavelength specifically intended for the detection of atmospheric particles, perhaps in the UV-spectrum (the general rule is that the shorter the wavelength, the higher the resolution of the 3D image is, and since UV has a shorter wavelength than infrared, I imagine it might be used for this purpose). Meanwhile, the big flashlight in the middle might be a photoreceptor, being able to detect "normal" light visible to humans. In addition, the Geth are probably able to see UV-light (since the Quarians are able to see it, it would be logical to assume the Geth are as well), and maybe even infrared and other wavelengths. To summarize the function of all of Legion's headlights, I imagine it works roughly like this:

The two lights on the right side of Legion's head (marked with a red and magenta line) might be LiDAR transmitters, using infrared and UV-light, respectively; the single small light on the left (circled with green) might be the LiDAR sensor/receiver, while the big light in the middle (circled with blue) might be a photoreceptor (Source)

The effect of Xen's countermeasure (and potential means to bypass it)

It might be difficult to imagine from a human point of view, but judging from the information that the Geth use LiDAR as their main method of depth perception, Tali describing Xen's invention as a "flash bang grenade" actually makes a lot of sense: If you're normally able to observe your surroundings down to a molecular level, it would probably feel very disorienting if you're suddenly not, not mention being unable to tell whether an object is far away or close by (which would be absolutely devastating if you suddenly come under attack).

Still, that doesn't mean there are no potential alternatives: Radar, which has been in use longer than LiDAR, is another method to determine the range, angle, and velocity of objects. Due to radar using long-waved micro- and radio waves, the measurements are generally a lot less precise than those with LiDAR; despite this, radar still has its use during inclement weather, when LiDAR systems are very prone to disturbances by dust, mist, and rainfall. Furthermore, LiDAR can only provide measurements up to 200 meters, while radar is more efficient at greater distances. In fact, most modern autonomous driving vehicles work both with LiDAR and radar, in addition to a conventional camera (the only vehicles that don't use LiDAR are those from Tesla, which have a reputation of being unsafe). So, it's only reasonable to assume that the Geth don't rely on LiDAR alone, but use various technologies in combination with it to compensate for each one's weaknesses.

Interestingly, a type of 4D radar is currently in development, intended to be used in autonomous driving. It provides 3D images with a similar resolution as LiDAR, at a potentially much cheaper cost. Still, whether LiDAR or 4D radar is the better choice for autonomous driving is still a heatedly debated question, and only time will tell which of both systems comes out on top. Nevertheless, assuming Xen's "flash bang grenade" only targets the Geth's LiDAR sensors, I wonder if they could've potentially found a way to adapt and bypass it, given enough time.

Anyway, that's the material for a different kind of analysis - for now, I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive into the science behind the Geth. Thank you all for reading and have a nice N7 Day! :-)

#mass effect #mass effect legion #geth #mass effect lore #lore theories #lidar technology #my contribution to N7 Day

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assistedge · 2 years ago

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#invoice processing using rpa #invoice processing with rpa #rpa invoice processing #invoice rpa #rpa for invoice processing #rpa invoice automation #invoice automation rpa #rpa invoice processing case study #invoice extraction with rpa

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wanderersrest · 3 months ago

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Diabolos Est Machina Part 1: Defining Artificial Intelligence

Special thanks to my sister, who helped inspire me to do this series.

Welcome to the first part of Diabolos Est Machina, the series covering AI ethics in relation to the Devil Gundam! Today, we'll be covering the basics of artificial intelligence! Yes, that's right! This is actually a school lesson!

Something to also keep in mind is that artificial intelligence is a broad field, so we will have to do a lot of defining today. We're going to take a look at what artificial intelligence is, the different concepts that make up the field of artificial intelligence, and why we would create an artificial intelligence in the first place.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence (AI for short) is a field of study in computer science that focuses on allowing a computer to perceive the world around it as if it were a human. As we are all aware, computers are not sentient beings. The idea behind AI is to make it so that a computer can perform certain tasks where complex decision-making is concerned. At its most basic, an AI is practically a large nest of conditional statements (If X Then Y Else Z). In fact, calling it an AI is even a bit of a misnomer; a more apt name would be Complex Information Processing, but that doesn't roll off the tongue the way Artificial Intelligence does.

When created, the AI is like that of a baby. And like all babies do, the AI needs to learn. And the way most AI today can achieve this is through Machine Learning, since using just conditional statements would be exhausting and prevent the AI from being able to change its outputs dynamically. Machine Learning is a pretty broad and complicated subject itself, but the gist of it is that Machine Learning is the means by which an AI can learn how to do a given task. If you've ever heard of things like Neural Networks (NN) or Large Language Models (LLM), they are both applications of Machine Learning.

The AI has to be trained with a given data set in order for it to be able to accomplish a given task. To understand this a little bit better, lets take a quick look at a field I am actually pretty knowledgeable on: Computer Vision. Computer Vision, as its name suggests, is the field of AI where the general goal is to make a computer able to perceive visual data using cameras. So for something like facial recognition, we would need to train the system on a data set of some kind. So we train the AI on a data set consisting of two things: faces and not faces. The goal during the training phase is to reinforce the AI (in this case our facial recognition software) on what is or is not a face. We repeat this training process until the AI is able to differentiate faces from non-faces.

So, Why Make An AI? What's Its Purpose?

Like any form of automation, the purpose of AI is to perform tasks at a more efficient rate than what humans are capable of achieving. In a more positive light, AI is useful in its ability to remove the human element from dangerous, and in some cases outright impossible, tasks. On the other hand (and I'm willing to bet this is probably what you know AI for dear reader), AI is also used by major corporations to force people out of their jobs for the sake of the bottom line.

Another purpose for the existence of AI is in research, specifically when it comes to understanding how human consciousness works. The idea, like most constructed models in general, is to create a sort of simulacrum of how human intelligence works. There are, of course, a couple of issues with this.

The first is that we don't really know how human intelligence works, so how would we even be able to create something that models human intelligence if we barely understand human intelligence in the first place?

The second problem is that, as they currently stand, AI systems are not very smart.

Okay, IBM Watson is kind of smart, but that was almost ten years ago. Yes, I can feel myself aging rapidly...

But even Watson has the same problem as most AI systems, which is they are reliant on the data they are trained on. And because the data they are trained on is almost always a very specific type of data, it means that most AI systems are only good at doing one specific task and pretty much nothing else.

"But Kaien," you might ask, "What about Artificial General Intelligence? If we just made a system that could handle different tasks instead of just one then-"

NO. It's already enough of a pain in the ass to make an AI system that can handle one specific task really well. The idea that we are close to any kind of general AI that can do a multitude of tasks (let alone do them well) is, to be frank, something a snake oil salesman would tell you. Even when they handle tasks that they are supposed to be good at doing, AI systems can and do fail.

A prime example of a specific AI system failing is Amazon's Rekognition being used by the ACLU to highlight how a facial recognition system can incorrectly flag non-criminals as criminals due to systemic racial biases. It's surprising if this is your first time hearing about facial recognition in a major capacity; not so much if you know that computer vision software can and will occasionally label cats as dogs.

To put it bluntly before moving on: as they currently stand, AI systems in general are nowhere near ready to be used as a replacement for humans in pretty much every scenario where corporate ghouls try to sell them for.

Conclusion

As we wrap up this section of Diabolos Est Machina, you might be asking yourself "But why the Devil Gundam? Couldn't you cover something more iconic like HAL-9000 or Skynet?"

And to be frank, enough ink has been spilled over HAL-9000 (heck, there's an interesting paper you can read that focuses on AI ethics through the lens of HAL ), and Skynet isn't particularly interesting in my opinion due to it being more of a generic "AI overlord who is evil and wants to wipe out humanity." At least AM was an actual character...

And now to sound like a complete hypocrite, the Devil Gundam is interesting. Hear me out: a lot of this stems from the fact that a lot of the plot of G Gundam revolves around various superpowers (including THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST, MASTER ASIA) trying to get their hands on what is basically an AI-operated super weapon. Which is interesting, because the Devil Gundam's primary purpose was not to be used as a weapon. And next time, we will turn our focus onto the history of AI in fiction! Complete with HAL, AM, Atom, and even Skynet (without the flippant remarks this time, I swear). And most important to us: the JDG-00X Devil Gundam!

Also Hashmal might get a reference, as will the AV-0.

#anime and manga #mecha #mobile fighter g gundam #jdg-00x #devil gundam #dark gundam #artificial intelligence #diabolos est machina

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ogma-conceptions · 1 month ago

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Why Should You Do Web Scraping for python

Web scraping is a valuable skill for Python developers, offering numerous benefits and applications. Here’s why you should consider learning and using web scraping with Python:

1. Automate Data Collection

Web scraping allows you to automate the tedious task of manually collecting data from websites. This can save significant time and effort when dealing with large amounts of data.

2. Gain Access to Real-World Data

Most real-world data exists on websites, often in formats that are not readily available for analysis (e.g., displayed in tables or charts). Web scraping helps extract this data for use in projects like:

Data analysis

Machine learning models

Business intelligence

3. Competitive Edge in Business

Businesses often need to gather insights about:

Competitor pricing

Market trends

Customer reviews Web scraping can help automate these tasks, providing timely and actionable insights.

4. Versatility and Scalability

Python’s ecosystem offers a range of tools and libraries that make web scraping highly adaptable:

BeautifulSoup: For simple HTML parsing.

Scrapy: For building scalable scraping solutions.

Selenium: For handling dynamic, JavaScript-rendered content. This versatility allows you to scrape a wide variety of websites, from static pages to complex web applications.

5. Academic and Research Applications

Researchers can use web scraping to gather datasets from online sources, such as:

Social media platforms

News websites

Scientific publications

This facilitates research in areas like sentiment analysis, trend tracking, and bibliometric studies.

6. Enhance Your Python Skills

Learning web scraping deepens your understanding of Python and related concepts:

HTML and web structures

Data cleaning and processing

API integration

Error handling and debugging

These skills are transferable to other domains, such as data engineering and backend development.

7. Open Opportunities in Data Science

Many data science and machine learning projects require datasets that are not readily available in public repositories. Web scraping empowers you to create custom datasets tailored to specific problems.

8. Real-World Problem Solving

Web scraping enables you to solve real-world problems, such as:

Aggregating product prices for an e-commerce platform.

Monitoring stock market data in real-time.

Collecting job postings to analyze industry demand.

9. Low Barrier to Entry

Python's libraries make web scraping relatively easy to learn. Even beginners can quickly build effective scrapers, making it an excellent entry point into programming or data science.

10. Cost-Effective Data Gathering

Instead of purchasing expensive data services, web scraping allows you to gather the exact data you need at little to no cost, apart from the time and computational resources.

11. Creative Use Cases

Web scraping supports creative projects like:

Building a news aggregator.

Monitoring trends on social media.

Creating a chatbot with up-to-date information.

Caution

While web scraping offers many benefits, it’s essential to use it ethically and responsibly:

Respect websites' terms of service and robots.txt.

Avoid overloading servers with excessive requests.

Ensure compliance with data privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA.

If you'd like guidance on getting started or exploring specific use cases, let me know!

#web scraping #data scraping #python #full stack developer #web hosting

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