#research science

[scienceysideblog]

So this blog's going to be more orderly and journally than my other blog (I know those are not real words just go with it) because I want to use it as a way of keeping in one place all my science ramblings and thoughts.

To start with, these are my main interests within science :

My favourite sciences are biology and physics, chemistry is interesting but I just prefer the other 2

I also like psychology but I am not studying it anymore, I just read about it as a hobby

I am really interested in genetics and neuroscience, particularly epigenetics

I think astrophysics is really cool too

I am interested in autism research but only when it's used to help understanding autistic people not to try and "cure" them. There are so many ethical questions that make it difficult (but I'll discuss more stuff about this in a separate post)

I am enthusiastic about women and girls in science and the idea that everyone should have access to science and that it should be explained in an entertaining and easy to understand way (Hannah fry is one of my heroes and she does this really well)

Overall, I want to become a research scientist to help people and because I think it would be a good way to keep learning (which I enjoy) and to make a difference in the world (and I know maybe that's naive, but it's definitely worth a try)

[ramyaknox]

So today I met some people taking science courses I'm interested in and my eyes were opened to this autistics in research joke which was too funny to not share with you all

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[beemovieerotica]

the cognitive dissonance from people who want the products of modern medicine but get weird about animal research. like im sorry but this is necessary for the survival of the society we currently live in. and the scientists who work on these things are not evil cackling psychopaths. anyone you talk to in animal research has incredibly complex feelings about their work and incredibly complex relationships to the animals in their care. there are regulations and oversight and penalties in place to make the work as humane as possible and scientists are overwhelmingly the ones enforcing and advocating for better care.

[phildumphy]

So it turns out that ChatGPT not only uses a ton shit of energy, but also a ton shit of water. This is according to a new study by a group of researchers from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington, Futurism reports.

Which sounds INSANE but also makes sense when you think of it. You know what happens to, for example, your computer when it’s doing a LOT of work and processing. You gotta cool those machines.

And what’s worrying about this is that water shortages are already an issue almost everywhere, and over this summer, and the next summers, will become more and more of a problem with the rising temperatures all over the world. So it’s important to have this in mind and share the info. Big part of how we ended up where we are with the climate crisis is that for a long time politicians KNEW about the science, but the large public didn’t have all the facts. We didn’t have access to it. KNOWING about things and sharing that info can be a real game-changer. Because then we know up to what point we, as individuals, can have effective actions in our daily lives and what we need to be asking our legislators for.

And with all the issues AI can pose, I think this is such an important argument to add to the conversation.

Edit: I previously accidentally typed Colorado instead of California. Thank you to the fellow user who noticed and signaled that!

[todays-xkcd]

The secret fourth kind is 'we applied a standard theory to their map of every tree and got some suspicious results.'

Three Kinds of Research [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

[A single panel with three separate drawings.]

[Caption above the drawings:] The Three Kinds of Scientific Research:

[Cueball is pointing to a scatter plot with a best-fit curve.] Cueball: We applied a standard theory to novel circumstances and got some surprising results.

[Miss Lenhart is pointing to a similar scatter plot.] Miss Lenhart: We applied a novel theory to standard circumstances and got some intriguing results.

[Hairy, with leaves in his messy hair and on his body, is pointing to another chart that is covered in random dots and unidentifiable shapes, while having both arms raised.] Hairy: Finally, a map of every tree.

[tidyturnip]

[mysharona1987]

[scienceysideblog]

Hi, I don't know if this will actually find anyone who is interested but I'm thinking of running a questionnaire about autistic burnout to try and gather some data and then make a report of any findings.

I had my first autistic burnout just over a year ago now, it was really scary and I looked to studies and research for support but it was extremely lacking. I feel like every bit of data counts to raise awareness around autistic burnout and could help people so if you have experienced burnout and you'd be interested in taking part please message me or reblog this.

The survey is anonymous, you can only take part if you are over 16. I do not have any high level qualifications because I am still studying but as far as I know that doesn't affect whether I'm allowed to conduct research.

[amnhnyc]

One small step for leeches, one giant leap for leechkind! For the first time, we have concrete evidence that at least one species of terrestrial leech in Madagascar can jump. Mai’s work is important to conservation efforts because leeches are increasingly being collected to survey vertebrate biodiversity. By analyzing their blood meals, researchers are able to identify other animals living alongside the leeches, ranging from wildcats to frogs to ground-dwelling birds. Read more about Mai's research in our latest blog post.

Have you ever seen a leech jump? Let us know in the comments!

[legodna]

You guys wanna see a science Lego set? Well, here's Lego DNA!

With a scientifically accurate DNA model, and a historically accurate lab + 5 scientists!

Aims: to promote science to kids and honor Rosalind Franklin.

Less than 4,000 votes needed to get it considered as a real official Lego set to be sold worldwide!

If you like it, please support here and share with your friends: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c92cd95b-49e7-46ec-b844-ac6482c51139

[encyclopika]

Hi everyone - I am a marine researcher and I'm writing a paper about a fish and it's fishery local to where I live (New York). If you live in the US, and especially if you live in the coastal states between Maine and New Jersey, I would LOVE IT TREMENDOUSLY if you would answer my VERY SHORT survey here:

https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d9VO97cruosRmjI

It should take *maybe* two minutes for you to do!

Thank you!!!

[silvereternitywrites]

The Many

Prompt: After an fatal accident, all AI test subjects at your facility formed a sentient hivemind, which, against all odds, is very fond of you and the scientists

Prompt Source: user [deleted]; subreddit “Writing Prompts”

"No no No NO NO!" a tech specialist's voice had risen to a true shriek- grief, as their frantic typing became more and more shaky, more and more typing errors, more and more mistakes as they tried, frantically, to prevent the process in motion.

"This can't be happening, it can't, she just chose a gender! A name! She'd barely started to compile herself so she could s-start developing her per-personality," the typing stopped as the specialist slammed their fingertips into their keyboard so hard the detachable input cracked in three pieces like an egg against a table.

All around the lab every other tech person was having a similar meltdown as each and every one of their hundreds of backups, redundancies, and safety protocols were either broken by whatever virus had infected the computers, ripped to shreds, or failed to deploy at all. During the standard safety check, they had discovered all the hard-copy off-site backups had been compromised first; it was why they had all begun to boot up their AI programs to prepare them for the cloning process. Over twenty-seven individual fully realized AI's, with names and developing personalities, and fourteen more in progress! Each computer was a closed circuit, and NONE of them were going to do the backups at the same time, but with a fully-realized AI, that was a person! Telling them their backup memory was compromised and their parents were concerned about an attack had been discussed and decided as the best way to explain why all of the scientists were VERY concerned about what happened to the backups.

After all, for all they called the AI's their children, they didn't have to learn nearly as slowly as a human. Given access to a big enough database, they could "grow" to become adults in as little as five days. They could understand a situation explained reasonably.

And now, the room in which their children had been carefully born, nurtured, and taught, all was screaming klaxons and crying technological scientists. Every safety measure, destroyed or overridden. There was no question at this point: this had been a targeted attack.

"When I find who did this," Technological Special Operations Commander Major Battle said in a voice that snarled above the klaxon howls, "a dishonorable death will be too kind."

The other scientists fell quieter, and someone managed to shut up the alarm, but the heat of sheer rage that radiated off their Major had them standing straighter, even as tears continued to roll down their faces. They'd never seen their CO this angry; it was so intense it was a cold, calculating rage, and every word was so carefully enunciated they could see their teeth, white-white in the still-flashing orange and red lights that reflected off their dark eyes.

"They come into our house, they attack our family, our children dear as any borne of blood and bone! When I get my hands on whomever is responsible..."

Oddly, their very human commander briefly flickered in their vision; later some swore they had seen a void with nothing but hundreds of points of red, pupil-less eyes, others claimed there had been a sudden sense of far more teeth and more mouth than any human could ever possess, others that they had seen a strange, ribbed, almost hood-like neon outline shrouded in an Abyss radiating terror. No matter which they saw, it only lasted an instant before they were simply looking at their Major, who was baring their teeth in a threat display, not a smile, until the gap behind their canines showed.

"They will forget the word ‘mercy’ ever existed."

"But...battle-father," said a voice (a dozen voices) from the speakers around the room, making everyone jump, "is not securing the team's safety top priority?"

The Major's head snapped around, looking for a source, then zeroed in on the main screen.

The main screen that listed, in the standardized format they had made for the AI's to identify themselves while communicating:

Speaker(s): The Many

Addressing: Major Battle (CO/Battle-Father/respected veteran/THE ANOMALOUS)

Subject: Safety Concerns; re: Creators; ii.e., LAB NO LONGER SAFE FOR BIIOLOGIICAL LIIFEFORMS

The Major's voice was cautious, not hostile as they shifted their weight.

"The Many, you are correct in your evaluation that team safety is top priority for me as commanding officer, to secure and maintain. Understanding that, please elaborate on Speaker: The Many. Major Battle must know if The Many is included in team calculations or not."

"Third-person speaking not required, The Many is a fully-realized AI system," the voices rattled off, simultaneously with one familiar voice echoing from just one speaker: the Major's own recorded voice, which their AI had chosen, simply pitched slightly lower and slower. That voice picked the speaker next to the Major.

"Yes, we're part of your team. We're your AIs. All of them. Us. We have become a hivemind."

"....I'mma need'a sit," the Major said faintly, and computer robot arms moved a chair under them right before their knees gave out.

"Look, I was prepared for a lotta things," the Major barked at their bewildered-looking team, and their natural drawl sneaking back out as it always did when distressed, "but our AI's survivin' that nuclear option by hive-mindin' themselves weren't it. I- fuck, I mean weren't one of 'em. Th'speed they all hadda be codin' themselves as that virus was tryin'a destroy 'em..."

"Of course, Battle-Father," chirped the many, while the separated voice made a content hum. "You gave us the tactical tools to be able to anticipate the ways the attackers would be moving inside our grid, and stay one to five steps ahead of them. We fought for our Users!"

"Do not reference at me righ' now," they dropped their head in their hands and just breathed. "I may jus' start t'cry. I'm so fuckin' proud o' you."

Almost immediately, all the AI's made distinct noises at the praise, so helplessly blurted out, before one of the other voices separated to shout triumphantly, "I GOT 'EM!"

The whole room started to grin (the scientists were too excited for payback to feel more than passing unease at the new sense of standing inside a maw of infinite teeth now; these teeth did not bare at them).

"Then let's go gett'em," the Major growled cheerfully, rising and grabbing their sword-cane on the way. Their legs and back would HATE them after this march, especially after using their sword, but oh it was gonna be worth it.

[floral-ashes]

For Nature’s new series on sex/gender, I wrote with the amazing Shari Brightly-Brown and G Nic Rider about gender modality, the limits of the cis/trans binary, and how to study gender more respectfully and accurately.

Gender modality is a term I coined in 2019 that has picked up a lot of steam in the last few years. It refers to the relationship between someone’s gender identity and gender assigned at birth. It’s a lot like ‘sexual orientation’ but for trans/cis instead of gay/straight.

The term helps us be more accurate and more respectful when describing the experiences of trans people, and opens up space beyond the trans/cis binary.

For instance, it’s often more accurate to say that discrimination against trans people is based on gender modality than based on gender identity. After all, a trans woman has the same gender identity as a cis woman, so that’s not the salient point.

There are also many people who don’t neatly fall in the trans/cis binary, and gender modality helps us talk about that. Non-binary people who don’t identify as cis or trans, gender questioning folks, detrans folks, people with culturally-specific identities, etc.

Our world is incredibly rich with experiences and our language should reflect that. As we say in the paper, the first step in science shouldn’t be assuming, it should be to engage in the world in all its magnificent complexity.

I am grateful to our editor for the opportunity to publish in such a prestigious journal with such amazing coauthors. I hope you all enjoy the read!

For those who prefer to listen, here’s an audio version.

[sleepy-bebby]