#they outnumber the human population by a factor of two

[cardo-de-comer]

small and big atrocities

imps are lesser demons and they are pretty harmless. they love to mimic humans and bite their heads off.

[bonefall]

i can’t help that feel like 350 calories per cat per day across 5 clans (150 some odd cats!!!) is more prey than there is! even with really generous cooking estimates you’d need to catch a rabbit or two or a large fish or something per clan every single day of the year. i feel like that would really mess up prey populations, wouldn’t it? i know animals have a lot of babies, but 3,650 rabbits’ worth of calories every year (not to mention what other predators like foxes, snakes, and hawks are eating) feels like too much for one territory. are we assuming that there’s more prey than there is or do i just not know how much offspring animals produce?

WELL, there's a lot of factors here, but you are actually organically figuring out something true and horrifying. BB!Cats are sapient, able to understand their impact on the environment and ergo manage it, but feral domestic cats are devastating to local ecosystems.

Not even because of caloric need btw just because of how much they hunt, and their odd behaviors.

The Bad

There is a reason why predator populations are so massively outnumbered by prey species. One rabbit would feed a single cat for days, but one colony is typically 3 - 15 cats. Most predators are solitary, or have "loose" social structures spread out over many partially overlapping territories covering miles (like alligators)! but something changed when cats were domesticated, and they now seek out dense social units unlike their wild ancestors.

That's why the only social wild cats are lions. Lion prides are extremely flexible, ranging from 3 to upwards of 30 members, and their populations are going to depend completely on how much prey they have access to. Even the shocking "infanticide" thing that male lions are notorious for serves an ecological purpose; less lions means more meat, so every cub that isn't yours is a future rival.

(tangent: the largest lion prides actually set up in major migration "hubs," where there is a constant influx of traveling animals. Not really an "ecosystem" where the pride can damage the population.)

But now domestic cats are doing this, in ecosystems that can't support them and never had predators that behave like them. They compete with the local mesopredators ("middle" hunters that hunt small game but are killed by larger predators. Ex: raptors, snakes, caniforms like foxes or raccoons, etc) and put extra pressure on prey populations.

But that's not the worst part.

In nature, there are Predator-Prey cycles. When there's too many predators, they decrease the prey population. When there's not enough prey, the predators starve and their population lowers. Here is a graph of this phenomenon;

In this way, starvation is required for an ecosystem to stay healthy. It's how nature regulates.

But human beings feed cat colonies.

So colonies end up hitting DOZENS of cats. Upwards of 30 in a tiny area. The sizes you see in canon WC and in BB are TWICE the size of what a feral cat colony typically reaches. In the real world, this is because humans feed them. They HAVE to starve to lower the population, and make no mistake, these are slow, painful deaths.

"But, if we feed the colony, then they're not hunting the local prey, right? Because they're not hungry?" INCORRECT. THEY ARE ANIMALS. Cats are not humans with our sense of morality and long-term consequences. Hunting is only partially driven by hunger, it's also driven by prey drive. Even an outdoor cat, who gets all their meals at home, is killing an average of 90 animals a year.

(note: you may hear the number "they kill 3.5 animals a day." That is a misreading of this study which says 3.5 animals a month based on owner reports; but better study shows they only bring about 18% of their kills home.)

I could get into why I'm actually not a big fan of TNR as a conservation strategy because of this, but in a nutshell, the best solution to feral cat population management overall is (expensive) high-intensity TNR (70% or more) PAIRED with (inexpensive) removal/euthanasia and other methods (like banning colony feeding). PURE high-intensity TNR takes up to 30 years to remove a cat colony in computer simulations. And they keep killing wild animals that whole time.

(tangent: you may come across articles that say that killing feral cats doesn't work. This is often based on this Tasmanian case study by Lazenby et all, where they trapped and removed cats, only to find an influx of subordinate "satellite" individuals that filled the vacuum that the previously established individuals left and increased the overall population. This is a well-documented phenomenon of predator control. They don't tell you that this is short-term and also happens with TNR, just over a longer timeline, as discussed in the above studies, and the solution is to mix methods and make sure that these programs are carried out systemically, NOT ONLY in one limited range.)

So... feral cat colonies with totally realistic needs are very harmful to local ecosystems. They are animals, and they are an invasive species. Keep your cats indoors please

The Good

But BB!Cats and Canon!Cats aren't just animals. These are cats with governments and religion. They do understand long-term consequences.

Even on the page in-canon, they show an understanding that prey comes from breeding (unlike, say, a medieval human who believed in spontaneous generation), WindClan doesn't disturb lapwings during their nesting season showing a basic understanding of ecology, and they even have a law against food waste. Like it or not, these aren't realistic cats. They are small humans with a fuzzy little kitty coat tossed over them.

So we can actually reasonably assume that Clan cats are modifying their behavior so they aren't the ecosystem-shredders that their real-world counterparts are, like;

Hunting over a wider area and having a large territory (so to address you directly anon, their territories are not as small as you might think they are)

Taking the pressure off specific areas by sending their hunting patrols to various parts of their territory

Avoiding hunting animals during their breeding and nesting seasons.

Not killing animals that are pregnant or nursing

Leaving baby animals alone so they grow into bigger food items

Not killing what they don't plan to eat

Intentionally varying their diet so they take a little from many populations.

Hunting animals that real cats don't usually target, like fawns, seagulls, and young boars.

Breeding their own prey, if you're willing to do a little domestication innovation

If you're VERY cool, give them fire. go on. do it. 20% to 50% caloric increase is prettyyy cooool~

But also, you may be underestimating just how many babies prey species produce. Let's use rabbits because these things are insane. They weren't lying, rabbits can breed like rabbits.

European rabbits (and all the domestic breeds they are descended from) have a double womb. That means that when they've given birth to their litter of 4 - 12 babies (usually 6), they can already be pregnant with the next. Gestation is a month. These babies are able to leave their mothers at 2 months and can breed by 4 months. They can have 10 litters a year.

So a SINGLE rabbit COULD have well over 100 bunnies a year... but rabbit warrens are usually 10 - 50, mostly females, plus a bunch of bucks who are more solitary and more likely to travel around. And you're gonna have multiple warrens on a territory.

Low litter estimate, small warren; 10 x 4 x 10 = 400 bunnies. Big litter estimate, big warren; 50 x 12 x 10 = 6,000 bunnies.

That said, most estimates say they functionally end up with 20 adult children a year, which then go on to breed at four months. That's still 200 rabbits a year coming out of that small warren ALONE, and isn't counting the fact that those children are also going to have children of their own.

(though, rabbits in particular are facing a massive crisis in england and even across europe because of two diseases that hit them one after another OTL but it's not related to predation.)

Don't forget that a territory also has more than just rabbits. This is also happening with mice, rats, ducks, sparrows, voles, etc. Like I said, if your cats just diversify the prey they hunt in response to population changes, they'll be golden. In BB I even have a role dedicated to this now; the Head of Hunting, who is tasked with assessing this sort of thing.

SO, to answer you directly;

Feral Cats Bad

WC characters have more in common with a small human than a cat

Pure carnivores are pretty demanding on their ecosystems

There is plenty an intelligent creature can do to reduce their impact on the ecosystem

Their territories could still support them along with the other predators

You did underestimate just how many babies prey animals have, though

Overall, they would be fine. You COULD overhunt a territory, but not with basic prey management practices.

[eitherandor-blog]

The Boy in the Bubble

I don't understand what's going on in Israel and Palestine.

I used to say that as a way to excuse my ignorance to the conflict. This was easier than devoting the time to learn and listen. It was immature and myopic to not care enough to educate myself. Easy enough to do when I did not think it affected me and others in my world.

Even though that's no longer an excuse, today I would say I'm also confused. Still learning and ignorant about a lot. However, my confusion comes from a different vantage point.

I grew up with organized religion a part of my life. For me, it was being raised Catholic, a sect of the larger Christian faith. [Please do not embarrass me and ask that I compare and contrast Catholicism with other Christian denominations.] On a weekly basis, my family would go to church, then my sisters and I had catechism classes aka Sunday school. I would do this week in and out, not really sure what I believed or was learning.

What stuck with me, from its constant refrain mid-mass to the lessons and conversations in class afterward, was a theme of peace. It seemed that this was the example set by Jesus Christ, one that we should follow. I don't recall much and would never tout my knowledge of Christianity (then or now). That said, I feel fairly confident that living and acting with peace was a primary tenet.

...

While I did not keep Christianity in my life, I would have regular interaction with some other traditions and faiths. This has mostly concentrated on Judaism. As a kid growing up, I was fortunate to attend many bar and bat mitzvahs. Then a bit older when in college, I went to our local Hillel for Shabbat services and dinners on Friday nights, and joined their improv troupe. Celebrating the high holidays with family and friends has always been an annual invitation for me.

Islam is much less present in my life with even more for me to learn (and let me acknowledge, I have TONS to learn about Judaism too!). I have learned some things on Islam over the years from media coverage, readings, and personal testimony from many sources. From what I have learned and been exposed to, neither Judaism or Islam espouse violence. I don't know all the particulars and recognize that each organized religion has its denominations which expand the points of view. However in my religious encounters, for both Judaism and Islam (not to mention Christianity), they are at the core about unity, community, and faith.

It makes sense to me for people around the world to be transfixed on the devastation and death amounting in Israel and Palestine. What I cannot understand is how the conversation and angle is individually focused on one population and people. I see posts on social media where people remark the violent attacks against Israelis, but say nothing when civilian targets are bombarded and unarmed Palestinians are similarly murdered. Just as supporters of Palestine note the recurring, unending destruction of Palestine's infrastructure and people..but say nothing about the hostages taken and lives lost from Hamas and Palestinian militant groups.

I want a ceasefire. I believe in a two-state solution, acknowledging that the pathway to it seems currently unfathomable and is far more complicated than the outcome may imply. To me, this resolution is due to wanting peace for all sides and people. I think the firepower and backing of the Israeli military, and state overall, exponentially outnumber and dominate what Palestine has. I have a hard time personally using the term "genocide" knowing that Jewish people are hated if not hunted by parts of the world (and Jewish people compose much of Israel, though Judaism does not equal Israel). However, the havoc wreaked on infrastructure and human bodies has truly taken a toll. The numbers are unconscionable. For me the "genocide" label has shock factor, whether or not you accept it. It is the action and death toll that are longer lasting. If this is not an intentional elimination of a population, what is it? How can anyone justify what has happened and continues in the Gaza Strip?

My ideal conclusion though does not mean dissolution of the state of Israel or any wavering support of Jewish people, 'foreign and domestic.' I also would not want to elevate a confrontational and antisemitic rule in Palestine, if that is in fact the core of Hamas, or any government. I also believe in changes to the leadership in Israel that do not propagate fear or detest of Palestinians, whereby the forthcoming government officials acknowledge the harm caused. Palestine should do the same.

From what I read, it seems that there are biased leaders within each government, prejudiced and hating, some wanting annihilation of the other. Derogatory language and allusions to genocide are made by politicians from each region, not to mention select supporters. I don't think I am saying anything new but if people hate each other, the notion of peace and coexistence seems truly impossible.

I have spent some time working in violence prevention on a more local scale in the city of Chicago. One lesson learned- that was also part of our coaching and outreach workers ethos- is that violence begets more violence. That has plainly become a norm for Israel and Palestine too. What "started" on October 7th has heightened attention of this conflict while also bringing it home. Folks are derided for their viewpoints, some threatened for their identity or affiliation with one side or the other. While I want a separate and stable Palestine, that will never justify prejudice against Jewish people or wishing harm unto anyone even of a different side.

The people I know in the States who talk or write about their personal connection to what's happening in Gaza reference their allegiance to one side or the other, without room for any middle. Even though I am not a religious person, figuring out where I fit in the conflict, it makes total sense that folks draw on a shared experience or identity and align with those who possess the same belief system. But just as folks are buoyed in their beliefs, there are people of the same faith who find themselves on the other side of the issue..also because of their religion and spirituality.

There are organizations and individuals who state that because of their faith (in this case, Judaism), they are speaking out against the actions of Israel. Just as we see across religions, people interpret and practice their faith in varying ways. Is it possible Judaism and Islam can be used to promote peace? Can people of other faiths and those who do not practice one see the lives and losses for both Israel and Palestine, all at once? Emphatically we should all reject antisemitism and islamophobia. Why can't we want a home, a safe place, for Israelis and Palestinians?

I know as a white christian-raised person living in the US, there are particular privileges I hold specific to this war, and the conflict more broadly, that keep me safely in a bubble, immune and unexposed unless I seek to engage. What's become most troubling for how I access the topic is it seems impossible for people to talk in a comprehensive, nuanced way about what is happening, how folks feel, what it means, and how we can all find a peaceful resolution.

Perhaps it is because I am an extrovert or maybe it's the organizer and facilitator in me, but by nature, I strive to talk things out with people, even when we may not agree. As painful as the war is, I wish folks could talk about it more and people were open to talking about it with me. Not because I am an expert or want to debate anyone, but because (1) I learn more, (2) maybe the other person could learn something too, and (3) I believe we affirm our humanity when we connect and communicate even through difference.

I haven't said, written, or posted a lot about this topic because it feels like there is no space for a middle ground, no one interested in discussing the "gray" between the opposing sides and governments. Rather than post and perpetuate a half truth of just one side, I've generally refrained from providing anything public. That is an assumption on my part as I know my silence is perceived differently by some. Let me say clearly then that whether or not we agree, I hope if you're reading this, it won't be the last time we discuss the topic. Because I refuse to be secluded from the real world, all that affects YOU, and the many lived realities outside my own. I don't know what will resolve this conflict, but I am certain that not talking about it will never make things better. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

...

["The Boy in the Bubble" is the opening track on Graceland, an objectively- in my opinion :) - stellar album by Paul Simon. Give it a listen and try out the full CD if you haven't heard it already.]

[trainwiz]

Can I get an overview of the Underspace races again?

For sure my compatrionion.

So first we've got the Vauldwin. Elongated floating rubbery humanoids, they might look human but oh my friend they are not.

They've over fifty different sexes and their reproductive rituals are so utterly inanely complicated that it's lead to a culture that doesn't like to take risks and has a deep focus on family, nobility, and lineage. They think of themselves as artisans, diplomats, writers, and princes, not starchasers and traders. Theirs is a society of circumstance and tradition, and though superficially ruled by a senate, the real power lies in the Thirteen High Houses, old families descended from their last real king. The Vauldwin like to think of themselves as the most civilized of races, having invented swords, sunglasses, and chairs. Look deeper into their history though, and you'll find a race that, despite their claims of abhorring risking their own lives, have a very violent penchant for taking the lives of others.

Across the galaxy are the Ijuni. I'll sum it up for you: Scottish capitalist space lobsters.

The Ijuni are... strange. They possess a form of opt-in racewide telepathy that has no filter, acting more as a public forum and announcement system where everyone in the network can hear everyone else. In a culture where everyone is struggling to get their voices heard, they've become a weirdly unified and spiritual but highly individualistic race whose lives revolve around the practice of "Hiano", literally meaning "to covet". Ijuni are raised communally (families are fraternal) and instead spend their lives achieving some sort of materialistic goal, with no real qualms about doing anything to achieve that. They're mercenaries, traders, and soldiers of the galaxy, and the greatest and riches of them never stop growing, eventually becoming city-sized monsters that live deep beneath the oceans of their homeworld. These are the Largeboys, the great oligarchs that rule and direct Ijuni society.

Head deep in the icy nebula known as the Marren and you'll find the Macrovari. They're not robots, in truth they're a race of hyper intelligent, hyper individualistic single-celled organisms who use robotic suits to interact with the larger world.

Incredibly and naturally skilled at just about anything they put their minds too, the same magic that gives them their intelligence also makes them fly into a homicidal rage when in close proximity to one another. Even distantly, they're cold and hateful towards each other, and Macrovari are utterly incapable of working together (two Macrovari are called an argument, four Macrovari are called a war). Macrovari tend to leave their home systems as soon as they can, while the remaining Macrovari struggle to keep themselves from fighting each other, as well as trying to direct their race towards common interests (which despite their protests, they DO have). Most of the time, they're off serving as the craftsmen and weaponsmiths of the galaxy.

A key factor with the Macrovari is that, provided they don't die, they'll eventually undergo mitosis, splitting off into two new Macrovari that inherit their talents, but not their memories. Squabbles over inheritance happen often in Macrovari space.

And on the last corner of the galaxy are the Ballden. Goofy and highly religious, they are a race of hiveminds. That is to say, each Ballden individual is made up of thousands of beings that contribute to their greater whole.

Each Ballden hivemind initially swells to a population of thousands, before they're loaded into cryogenic caskets to prevent their uncontrollable individuals from further expanding and draining resources. They're skilled at working en masse, and as such Ballden are master shipbuilders, terraformers, and architects.

As mentioned, the Ballden are deeply religious, and their faith revolves around the glorification and reverence of beings known as Denmenvani, a race of sentient suns whom they claim created them. Of course, they're absolutely right about this, and the Denmenvani have both a political and social media presence in the galaxy, and the star that their homeworlds orbit is in fact, the chief architect of their existence. She also runs an advice column.

These four races make up what we call the Union, a vast interstellar military alliance that serves to keep civilization surviving and thriving. They build highways, jumpgates, and most importantly, commission Starchasers to fight back against storms.

Outside of the Union there are a few races though.

Deep within the hellish, permanently enstormed nebula known as the Veil are the Veilers. They're an organic race, but their hellish home has lead them to live their entire lives in nine foot tall, pollution spewing hellish mechanical suits.

Living in what is basically space hell for so long left their society a militarized mess. Everyone serves, everything serves, and everyone survives. Culture, art, and diplomacy are stagnant, consumed by their vast military machine.

But don't assume they're evil. Their situation was one of survival, and upon learning that the Veil was not infinite and that they were not alone in the galaxy, the Veilers became desperate for alliances, friendships, romance. Their vast resources let them construct a tollway through the previously impassable Veil, which has made them very rich, and contact with other races has led them to realize there's more to life than surviving, as they're discovering things like music, love, and cheese.

Of unrelated note is that Veiler females outnumber their males 10-1. And they all have cute British accents.

Contrasting the Veilers are the majestic, graceful, and utterly foul-mouthed crystalline aliens known as the Ast.

Initially the Union mistook them for a race of rogue robots, and firebombed their planet. The Ast were not happy about this. But the Ast are never happy, or sad. In fact, the only emotion the Ast can feel is endless righteous fury. Their race is a highly philosophical one, with an emphasis on choice and freedom. Swear-laden, screaming freedom. Majestic cities, grandiose oceans, and beautiful ships contrast the fact that their national anthem contains the word "motherfucker" fifty one times in the first stanza alone. They don't sleep, eat, reproduce (Ast form naturally in remote glacial beaches on their homeworld), and the only thing they can do is drink copious amounts of alcohol. Despite this, many claim that while Ast might be angry, they are not violent, and often stick up for and use their resources to defend the downtrodden and hopeless.

Finally, the race we don't have a model for are the Us (rhymes with Foos, like foosball table).

A race of sentient fungi, they require corpses to move, exist, and reproduce. They tend to make their lives as the morticians and scavengers of the galaxy, collecting the dead of other races and preserving them. Though pacifist and amiable by nature, other races regard them with suspicion, a fact that hasn't prevented them from establishing the Deadstation, neutral meeting areas that also serve as galactic necropolises and trade centers.

[lorenfangor]

Laws and Customs among the Andalites (aka The Great Andalite Sex Meta)

(a brief ooc note - this meta is written from the perspective of an in-universe human researcher; consider it an early draft of their collected notes. also, I want to note that Andalite culture and customs are distinct from human culture and customs, and their concepts of gender and sex are purposefully different. nothing here is meant to be Good Representation, just what I personally think is most likely when it comes to our favorite scorpion deer. also I have to thank @nikosheba for her invaluable assistance and co-authorship of much of this work because without her this never would have gotten codified - she’s the other person authoring this hypothetical research paper. eventually this will be crossposted to AO3? but in the meantime, here.)

Introduction

This paper is a summary of information collected through a series of detailed interviews with Andalites on the subject of Andalite sexuality and gender, focusing on mating behavior in order to highlight how and why they are different from humans. This is not a comprehensive examination of all relevant factors, but as no scholarship on this subject yet exists, it can be considered a beginning to human xenological examinations of our greatest and first alien allies.

Andalite Gender

Andalites perceive gender as a male/female binary correlated directly with assigned biological sex. Unlike Earth, biological sex does not seem to exist on a spectrum on Andal and its moons, with chromosomal and genetic expression solely indicating ‘male’ or ‘female’.* This means that if there are intersex Andalites, this researcher is unaware of them. Transgender Andalites - meaning, specifically, Andalites whose original assigned biological sex does not reflect their self-perception or their desired social role - do exist, and there is no stigma or taboo against the existence of such individuals, but it is expected that they will become morph-capable and craft a suitable new body for themselves using DNA acquired from consenting individuals and a careful Frolis maneuver. They will then morph that new body, either male or female, and turn nothlit to maintain it. Genderfluid and otherwise nonbinary transgender identity is not extant culturally on Andal, though there is some variance that is socially permissible in gender presentation and expression. The standard, and the enforced social norm, falls along the existing male/female binary. 

Female Andalites are smaller physically than males, with slightly shorter tails and smaller tailblades. Their arms are less robust than those of the males, though their fingers are slightly more dextrous on average. In addition to taking the primary caregiver role in childrearing, they act as scientists, artists, and philosophers. Male Andalites are larger and more adept with their tails but less adept with their hands, and assist in childrearing as well as acting as protectors and warriors at need. In peacetime, female Andalites are cultural influencers, taking an active role in shaping the ethics and focuses of the population at large, as their roles are revered in the ideology and spirituality shared by all of their species. In wartime, males rise to prominence, taking the lead in defense and strategy. There are exceptions to these norms discussed below. 

Though Andalite females are more revered in peacetime than the males, and though their positions in Andalite society are respected and venerated, there is a pervasive patriarchal sexism present in Andalite day-to-day life, largely due to females’ smaller size and inability to face a male in a tailblade duel. Whether or not this is due to the recent war with the Yeerks is unknown, and further research is necessary to track the rise and fall of sexism in Andalite culture. 

*Despite the biological essentialism inherent for humans in the use of ‘male’ and ‘female’ to mean ‘man’ and ‘woman’, there is no solid conception in Andalite society of sex and gender as separate from one another, and therefore this paper will default to language that accurately reflects how interviewed Andalites discuss their society and its members.

Lothren and Anglith

Gender is not the primary factor to be considered when studying Andalite sexuality. There is no taboo against homosexuality, nor an expectation of heterosexuality, and the genders of the individuals involved in any given mating are irrelevant when compared to whether or not said individuals are lothren or anglith. A lothren is usually a male, and is the active mounting partner in the act of mating, and an anglith is usually a female, and is the passive partner who is mounted. The dominant individual in any herd is its highest-ranking lothren, and this position is either awarded due to great cultural achievements or won after many tailblade duels with other lothren. Female lothren are statistically more likely to be homosexual or at least primarily interested in pursuing female anglith for mating, and male anglith are also statistically more likely to be primarily interested in male lothren. This researcher was unable to confirm the existence of mated pairs consisting of a female lothren and male anglith, but multiple subjects stated that such a thing is plausible and socially acceptable. 

As penetration and being penetrated are central to Andalite conceptions of sex, all lothren are in possession of functional penises. Male lothren are born with them or acquire them by going nothlit, and female lothren are morph-capable and have specialized morphs for sexual intercourse created by use of a Frolis maneuver. The question of whether or not male anglith universally have specialized morphs for sexual intercourse remains unanswered, though interviewed subjects stated that they had heard of specific individuals taking this approach. Until further research can be done, the available data indicates that anal intercourse appears to be the traditional method of copulation in male same-sex Andalite pairs.

Male anglith and female anglith have many shared social roles, though it is acceptable for male anglith to act as warriors and soldiers. In peacetime, primarily, male anglith act as additional caregivers for juvenile and infant Andalites, and unlike female anglith they show a great interest in gardening.* Female lothren, for their part, are additional protectors for the herds they belong to, and often provide a balancing influence in herds where females greatly outnumber males. Just as male anglith can be warriors, female lothren can be artists and scientists. Some humans have speculated that the reason Andalite military policy specifically excluded female lothren was so that in the event of danger on Andal, there would be fighters present to act in defense of other civilians; the subjects interviewed for this study all unanimously agreed that this was the primary reason for such a choice. 

*It is important to note that as a herd species, Andalites discourage individual expression of personality and interest, and indeed their genetic development seems to actively select against behaviors that do not fall into a spectrum of community-accepted traits and practices. Stereotypes are not harmful for Andalites as they are for humans, and generalizations are far more accurate. All interviewed subjects spoke at length about their desire to be part of a greater whole, and how their lives were actively shaped by their need to be accepted by a herd.

Season-Mates and Bonded Mates

Superficial human observation would indicate that like many species on Earth, Andalites mate for life, and form what could be described as nuclear families with two parents and children. This is not universally true, however; Andalites have two forms of relationships, and both can produce offspring. A season-mate is a mate taken out of necessity with the mutual understanding that the coupling does not specifically indicate a long-term partnership, though if there is a child conceived, the parents remain together for the first year of that child’s life before the male departs and the female joins with other season-mated females to collectively raise their young, with support from male anglith and the herd at large. A bonded mate is closer to a human spouse, and bonded mates swear oaths of fidelity to one another and forge a telepathic link that increases their capacity for thought-speech and shared emotions. Children born to bonded mates have two parents for the whole of their childhood as well as that same collective support of the herd. Neither method of conceiving and raising children is considered to be ‘better’ or more moral, and Andalite-authored psychological studies have indicated that as long as there is a herd present for a child to grow up within, there is no substantial difference in development, overall health, or emotional resilience.

Both season-mates and bonded mates can be either heterosexual or homosexual - as stated above, there is no taboo against same-sex pairs. 

Andalite Mating Behavior

Note: All Andalites interviewed for this study currently live on Andal in large herds composed of several smaller family groups and unaffiliated individuals; it is this setting that will be discussed in this paper. Mating behaviors aboard Dome Ships are yet to be fully examined, though further study may reveal that they are much the same.

All Andalite anglith have a yearly estrus cycle that centers around early spring, regardless of whether or not they are female. This is believed to be so that all members of a herd go into season at the same time, thus preserving unity in the population as a whole. There are no reports of what humans would call truly asexual Andalites. While some individuals are completely uninterested in sex and romance, all are drawn to copulate by the yearly estrus cycle. Hypothetically, someone repulsed by or not desiring intercourse could spend this time in and out of morph, as morphing breaks the rut or the heat, or offworld, though none of the interviewed individuals were aware of any Andalites who partook in this behavior.

The first member of a herd to go into heat is the anglith mated to the dominant lothren (traditionally called a Prince in peacetime) and when they* are fully in heat, their lothren drops into rut. All Andalite herds have their own social dominance hierarchies, and each herd has its own place in a greater dominance hierarchy that places every herd on the planet into its own position. When the other lower-ranked anglith in the herd scent their Prince in rut, they too go into heat, which causes the lower-ranked lothren to then drop into rut as well. 

What follows is a period of anywhere from one day to one week, in which unmated lothren and anglith size one another up and match together while bonded mates retreat to their own scoops and engage in sexual intercourse. Bonded mates will traditionally hang ceremonial ribbons on the trees bordering their scoops, thus indicating the presence of a lothren in rut and/or an anglith in heat. Unmated Andalites in search of either a bonded mate of their own or a season-mate will hang ribbons should they find a suitable partner.

Lothren will spar with one another using tailblades to win the right to mate with a particular individual anglith, and anglith will spar with one another in the same manner for the right to mate with a particular lothren. Even bonded mates are sometimes challenged in this way, if the lothren or anglith is particularly desirable or famous.

After all who can match up with one another have matched, and pairs are established, they will retreat to the lothren’s scoop, and ribbons will be hung. The anglith then runs across the scoop, pursued by the lothren, and will either be caught and mounted or will spar with the lothren until they yield, at which point they are mounted. If the anglith truly does not want to engage in intercourse, they will fight off the lothren attempting to mate with them, and depart. This is very rare in modern Andalite society, but was said by interviewed individuals to have once been common in past millennia. If the lothren does not satisfy their partnered anglith sexually, this is also cause for combat, as sexual pleasure is expected.

Lothren rut lasts for three Andalite days, or roughly two and a half Earth days. Should any lothren or anglith enter into a scoop where a pair of Andalites are mating, they will be fought off. For this reason the lothren does not sleep or eat during their rut - it is more common for an unmated lothren to attempt to win an anglith by combat than for an anglith to make such a challenge, and if an anglith were to do such a thing, the lothren could reject them without combat. The mated pair will copulate many times, only stopping for the anglith to rest and eat and drink. When the rut is over, the anglith will complete a season-ending ritual and the lothren will rest before completing a ritual of their own a day later. Unmated lothren and anglith will drop out of season when the last mated pair is finished regardless of whether or not they have copulated. Once both a lothren and anglith have completed their season-ending rituals, they will take down the ribbons bordering the scoop, and rejoin the herd at large. If a child has been conceived, it will be known after five Andalite weeks, and as a result most season-mates in male-female pairs remain together for that length of time.

After the spring season has passed, Andalites do not experience intense sexual arousal that would drive them to mount or be mounted in intercourse for the rest of the year. There are other intimate behaviors that they engage in to strengthen their relationships with their bonded mates or for recreation, including grooming, the intertwining of tails, and the sharing of fantasies and erotic thoughts, though these usually do not result in copulation. 

*As anglith and lothren can be either male or female, gender-neutral pronouns are used in this portion of the paper.

Andalites and Humans

An Andalite lothren mated to a human, as was the case with Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and his mate Loren, will respond to their mate’s scents and sexual interest regardless of what time of year it is. Humans are primates, and are on a menstrual cycle rather than an estrus cycle, and therefore are always in season and sexually available. Had Prince Elfangor not taken a human form and gone nothlit, it is reasonable to assume that he would have dealt with near-constant rut. It is unknown whether or not human anglith go into heat, though preliminary data suggests that they at least enjoy the experience of lothren rut and do not find it undesirable, and are unusually receptive to the attentions and intentions of their mates. There is no data available on humans taking the lothren role mated Andalite anglith, but it is the opinion of this researcher that the majority of humans who pursue Andalite mates do so because it is their desire to be mounted rather than do the mounting. Preliminary data also suggests that specific humans responsive to Andalite pheromones and desires, or scenting as anglith to interested Andalite lothren, do so because they are already sexually attracted to Andalites, not because there is an innate compatibility between the species.

It is not known whether or not an Andalite and a human in their original forms can procreate. Andalite nothlits are fertile in human form, and human nothlits are fertile in Andalite form, but no mated human-Andalite pair has conceived a child while the two species are in their original bodies. Analysis is ongoing as to the viability of our species’ genomes. 

Impacts on Andalite Sociology

Due to being a herd species with yearly estrus cycles and social structures dependent upon the presence or absence of traditionally male sex organs, Andalites are not sexually conservative by human standards. They openly discuss mating and sexual pleasure, and they are frank about the roles that biological urges play in their society. They will say directly if they believe a behavior is motivated by a desire to mate or by sexual interest, and they are confused by the idea that subtlety or concealing one’s interests could be the preferred approach taken by humans. To them, openness means a healthier herd, and this researcher observed many comments such as “They need to mate and clear their heads,” or “He’s probably in pre-rut, he’s being short-tempered.” They value self-control and self-awareness, which manifests as a desire to deal with sexual urges quickly and immediately, preventing them from impacting both smaller family groups or larger herds. 

Whether or not the Andalite tail translates directly to a human phallic symbol is as of yet unknown. Andalite lothren certainly view the tail as a sign of virility and strength, and the larger size and greater strength of male tailblades is prized, but as females and male anglith also possess tails and tailblades, the comparison cannot be said to be direct. Where the metaphor can be argued to be strongest is in discussing the vecol, or specifically, the vecol who has lost a tailblade - this loss impacts both sexual function and social standing, with other Andalites responding to it as if the afflicted individual has been visibly castrated and lost their virility. See the next section for greater detail. 

Sexual Function and the Vecol

Vecol is a word that can be loosely translated as ‘fatally disabled’, though it often specifically means ‘an individual who has lost their tailblade’. Vecols are expected to isolate themselves from Andalite society and dissolve any bond they might have with a mate, regardless of if they’re anglith or lothren. The reasoning for this seems to be historical - in the past, disabled members of Andalite herds were vulnerable to predators or disease, and injuries such as broken legs or dislocated joints would drastically shorten lifespans and reduce quality of life, and leaving disabled individuals alone would reduce the chances of the herd as a whole being negatively impacted. Advances in Andalite medicine and social ideologies and the advent of peacetime have meant that vecols now are solely individuals whose tailblades have been lost due to accident or injury, but they are still expected to act as if they are dead to their people and isolate themselves from their herds and mates and families. This researcher is not commenting upon the ethics of this cultural norm, nor defending it.

A lothren vecol is unable to fully drop into rut and copulate with an anglith in a way that would satisfy them and end their heat, and an anglith vecol is unable to go into heat. As a result, it can be stated definitively that the presence of a tailblade is crucial to Andalite sexual function regardless of gender or sexual position, even in situations where tailblade combat is not required. This provides some explanation as to why the custom of isolation still exists - a mated pair incapable of ending a rut or a heat would eventually feel immense psychological stress that would negatively impact them and would spread to their herd thanks to the communal Andalite lifestyle and the telepathy all Andalites possess.

Conclusion

Andalite sexuality is distinct from human sexuality, but not so uncommon as to be totally unrecognizable. There are also questions raised about evolutionary biology and evolutionary theory that must be asked when it comes to the presence of yearly estrus cycles on two planets, as well as similar behavior in two completely genetically distinct types of herd species. As this is a small study with a sample size of only a few dozen individuals, more data is needed before conclusive answers can be stated, or before solid conclusions can be argued. But as an introduction to Andalite sociology and sexual politics, these interviews are illuminating and worth examining on a deeper level.

[arcticdementor]

Dating and the process of mate selection have changed. The rise of hook-up culture, proliferation of dating apps, and ever-increasing age of first marriage are evidence of this. This current situation can be summarized along four parameters:

Increasing female achievement.

Growing variability in male status and competence.

An evolutionary desire among females to marry up.

The globalization of the sexual marketplace and resultant collapse of local status hierarchies.

Together, these conditions have created pronounced imbalances in the modern sexual marketplace. Put plainly, an increasing cohort of successful women are chasing a shrinking number of high-value, commitment-averse men.

At a cursory level, much of this can be explained by sex ratios and partner availability. However, the underlying structure of modern mate selection is fundamentally mathematical. For us to truly understand the causes and consequences of the modern sexual marketplace, a bit of math is required.

…

According to evolutionary psychologist David Buss, the dangers of our evolutionary past favoured females who were highly selective of their mates. To both survive childbirth and raise healthy offspring, early human females needed to evaluate a man’s current position as well as his potential and future trajectories. Consequentially, females typically mate above and across dominance hierarchies whereas males typically mate below and across them.

…

Let us consider height. According to one study, women were most satisfied when their partner was 21cm taller. This is corroborated by other studies which found that 49 percent of women preferred dating taller men and that the shortest man a woman would date was 5 feet 9 inches. Moreover, a study of undergraduates reported that only four percent of women would accept a relationship where the woman was taller. In general, tall men are more likely to obtain attractive partners, less likely to remain childless, and have a greater number of children relative to short men.

However, height isn’t the only factor which determines access to the sexual marketplace. Financial prospects matter as well.

A 1939 study found that American women rated good financial prospects twice as highly as males when gauging the value of a marriage partner. This finding was replicated in studies conducted in 1956 and 1967. Moreover, David Buss, attempting to replicate these studies, surveyed 1,491 Americans across four states in the mid-1980s. Once again, women valued good financial prospects in a mate roughly twice as much as men did. This gender difference has not changed. In fact, a 2014 Pew Research survey reported that 78 percent of unmarried women placed a high premium on finding a spouse with a steady job. Only 48 percent of men shared this view.

…

Furthermore, researchers from the University of Aberdeen found that males could move themselves two points higher on a bespoke attractiveness scale by increasing their salary tenfold. For females to achieve a similar two-point effect, their salary would need to increase by 10,000 times. The socioeconomic status of a man is a major determinant of his attractiveness to a woman, but the opposite is not true.

What happens when a woman out-earns her husband? One study found that marriages where the wife out-earned the husband were 50 percent more likely to end in divorce. This is corroborated by Finnish researchers who concluded that whereas “a husband’s high income decreased the risk of divorce … a wife’s high income increased the risk at all levels of the other spouse’s income, but especially when the wife’s income exceeded the husband’s.”

Furthermore, a study of Swedish couples reported that when the wife contributed 80 percent or more to the total income, the divorce risk was twice as high as when she contributed less than 20 percent. Curiously, one study also found that men who were not the primary breadwinner were more likely to use erectile dysfunction medication relative to men that were.

…

To this extent, researchers, analysing 120 personal dating ads, found that education was one of the two strongest predictors of how many responses a man received from women. The other was income. Moreover, researchers in Australia reported that women were more likely to initiate contact with a man if his education exceeded hers. Indeed, researchers from Ghent University also reported that women on Tinder were 91 percent more likely to “like” the profile of a man with a master’s degree compared to a man with a bachelor’s degree. The cliché that women prefer to marry doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs is not a pithy truism. It is a derivative of hypergamy.

…

Hypergamy is an evolutionary fixture. Hating it is tantamount to hating thermodynamic laws or Archimedean axioms. It simply is. Moreover, it is hypergamy that created the competence hierarchies that are used to structure human societies. If seeking to reproduce with choosy females galvanizes a man into conquest and self-actualization, are we not better for it? But what is the effect of hypergamy when females outperform males?

…

But it’s not just the US; the UK, Panama, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Cuba, Jamaica and Brunei have some of the highest female to male ratios in higher education.

Young women are also out-earning young men. According to data compiled by the Press Association, women between the ages of 22 and 29 typically earned £1,111 more each year compared to males in the same age group. As it stands, women contribute $7 trillion to the US gross domestic product per year and are the primary breadwinner in 40 percent of US households.

Crucially, the more professionally successful a woman is, the stronger her preference for successful men.

In a study of financially successful newlywed women, researchers concluded that “successful women place an even greater value than less successful women on mates who have professional degrees, high social status, and greater intelligence.” This trend is also present in cross-cultural contexts. Separate studies of 1,670 Spanish, 288 Jordanian, 127 Serbian, and 1,851 English women all found that high resource women desired mates with greater status and more resources. In general, single women are three times as likely as men to say that they wouldn’t consider a relationship with someone making less than them.

When paired with the ground truth of hypergamy, the growth of female attainment (and comparative stagnation of male attainment) amounts to a law of diminishing returns. The more a woman achieves, the less suitable mates she has to choose from. It is, indeed, difficult to marry above and across dominance hierarchies if you sit atop your own. This difficulty is further compounded by the fact that older high-powered women must compete not only among themselves but with younger women for a fleeting number of high-value men.

…

Successful women face a shortage of demographically superior men to marry. Indeed, the nascent decline in marriage has been attributed to a putative shortage of economically attractive partners for unmarried women. Applying data imputation methods to national survey data, researchers found that unmarried women face an overall shortage of partners with either a bachelor’s degree or yearly income exceeding $40,000.

…

While this observation is far from novel, what is not well understood is the extent to which this imbalance is likely to worsen.

In 2012, there were 88 employed college-educated young men for every 100 college-educated never-married young women. Among never-married young adults with a post-graduate degree, there were only 77 men for every 100 women. In addition, the ratio of employed men to young never-married women has consistently declined. In 1960, there were 139 employed men for every 100 young never-married women. As of 2012, this ratio sits at 91 employed men for every 100 young never-married women.

If you think these ratios are troubling wait till you see what they look like in 20 years. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait that long.

…

Together, these figures point to a lonely future for many educated, career-oriented young women. While some might be understandably sceptical of my findings and conclusions, they are corroborated by a 35-page report put out by Morgan Stanley in 2019.

Cleverly titled the Rise of the SHEconomy, Morgan Stanley forecasts that 45 percent of working women between the ages of 25 and 44 will be single and childless by 2030, the largest share in history. Single women are expected to grow by 1.2 percent annually from 2018–2030 compared with an 0.8 percent growth for the overall US population. By 2030, the percentage of single women will outpace that of married women.

While some of these women may very well eschew the tenets of hypergamy and settle for a man below their financial and educational station, many will seek out a high-value partner. This is where things truly become onerous.

…

If we keep within the parameters of this model, this group of women effectively outnumber their desired partners by a factor of 34. Moreover, if each man is paired with a single woman, this leaves 32.8 million women without a mate. This is a staggering imbalance.

…

According to a study of the dating app, whereas men “liked” 60 percent of female profiles they viewed, women liked only 4.5 percent of male profiles. Moreover, women, on average, viewed 80 percent of men on dating apps as below average in attractiveness. Importantly, one study, seeking to quantify the prospects of success on Tinder, determined that “the bottom 80 percent of men (in terms of attractiveness) are competing for the bottom 22 percent of women and the top 78 percent of women are competing for the top 20 percent of men”.

While power law distributions occur naturally in a multitude of settings, it is my contention that its presence on Tinder is by design. The app’s core algorithm is not calibrated to produce equal outcomes. This is a function of its use of the ELO rating system.

…

Tinder’s financial metagame is contingent on the facilitation of a power law distribution among its users. Given that the top 78 percent of women on the app are vying for the top 20 percent of men, Tinder will do everything it can to keep these men swiping. It cares little for the bottom 80 and 22 percent of men and women as these users do not generate much traffic.

This power law imbalance in the sexual marketplace is one possible explanation for the increase in male sexlessness. According to the General Social Survey, the share of men younger than 30 reporting no sex has nearly tripled from eight percent in 2008 to 28 percent in 2018.

…

Over the past few months, I’ve attempted to create a mathematical model to describe this imbalance in the sexual marketplace. Mathematical modelling is a useful investigative tool for understanding human behaviour.

Though I designed several linear, polynomial, and threshold models, none were able to adequately capture how men and women selected their mates. Fortunately, I came across a 2016 paper by evolutionary psychologists Daniel Conroy-Beam and David Buss which proposed the use of a Euclidian integration algorithm to determine how mate preference and selection were linked.

The problem with my earlier models was that they treated mate preferences in isolation. Potential mates do not present themselves one trait at a time. Rather, we evaluate potential mates based on a bevy of traits.

…

This mathematical model offers key insight into our unbalanced sexual marketplace. The number and weight of a woman’s mate preferences is negatively correlated with the number of eligible mates that are available to her. Thus, the distance of a prospective mate to a woman increases with each new preference she adds. Put simply, the more you demand, the less you receive.

More generally, there’s a disconnect between what women want and what is actually available to them. Whereas greater male attainment increases the number of romantic options a man has, greater female attainment reduces the number of options a woman has.

This imbalance in the sexual marketplace is not a good thing. A society teeming with lonely women and sexually frustrated men is one hurtling toward disaster. It is imperative that we, as a society, think carefully about solutions to this burgeoning crisis.

[nasa]

Your Gut in Space

Finding the Right Balance for the Microbiota

Trillions of microorganisms live on and in the human body, many of them essential to its function and health. These organisms, collectively known as the microbiota, outnumber cells in the body by at least five times. 

Microorganisms in the intestinal tract, the gut microbiota, play an especially important role in human health. An investigation on the International Space Station, Rodent Research-7 (RR-7), studies how the gut microbiota changes in response to spaceflight, and how that change in turn affects the immune system, metabolic system, and circadian or daily rhythms. 

Research shows that the microbiota in the mammalian digestive tract has a major impact on an individual’s physiology and behavior. In humans, disruption of microbial communities has been linked to multiple health problems affecting intestinal, immune, mental and metabolic systems.

The investigation compares two different genetic strains of mice and two different durations of spaceflight. Twenty mice, ten of each strain, launch to the space station, and another 20 remain on the ground in identical conditions (except, of course, for the absence of gravity). Mice are a model organism that often serves as a scientific stand-in for other mammals and humans. 

Fecal material collected from the mice every two weeks will be examined for changes in the gut microbiota. Researchers plan to analyze fecal and tissue samples after 30 and 90 days of flight to compare the effects of different durations of time in space. 

With a better understanding of relationships between changes such as disruption in sleep and an imbalance of microbial populations, researchers can identify specific factors that contribute to changes in the microbiota. Further studies then can determine proactive measures and countermeasures to protect astronaut health during long-term missions. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

[ginnyzero]

Women in Media; the Power of Perception

Wonder Woman is a success! Doctor Who is a woman!

And there are certain segments of the population that still aren’t happy. Wonder Woman wasn’t buff enough! Doctor Who isn’t a woman of color. Instead of celebrating that a female led superhero movie is inspiring little girls everywhere and making huge amounts of cash at the box office or celebrating after 12 incarnations of white men, the thirteenth Doctor will be female! These are things to be celebrated. It means, we hope, that the fact that 50% of humanity is female and we want our stories to be shown is making an impact on the minds of folks in media. That women can be just as successful as men as action heroes and leading roles.

There still is a long way to go. Women are still hypersexualized more often than not. They are held to higher standards than men. They’re still regulated to roles that are more stereotypically considered female instead of leadership positions. It is still a step forward. And I don’t think that step should be trashed for not being big enough.

Because media plays an important role in changing our society and the way society thinks. By changing the way women are portrayed in media we can change the perception of society slowly over time. Right now the perception of women in society through the lens of media is still pretty dismal. (Fate of the Furious is a really good example of this, five women, and I’m lost if any of them had real agency or power. Okay, I’ll give you Helen Mirren.)

Here is the power of male perception. Dr. Stacy Smith of USC Annenburg did a study about the ratio of men to women in a room and how men felt about the number of women versus the number of women actually there. When there were 17% women in the room, the men felt that there were an equal, that’s 50-50, amount of women to men. And when there were 33% of women in a room, the men felt outnumbered.

Then, add to that study the idea and fact that most people in positions of power in the media are men. Think about the perception. To male executives, if 17% of the media put out has a main character being female, that could to them feel that it’s an equal distribution of female main characters to male main characters. And if 33%, that’s one third of the main characters are females, then the females now outnumber the men in their mind. In an ensemble cast of say 6 people, instead of casting 1 to 1 male to female, there is going to be 5 to 1 male to female because that would be 16.6% female. Because men, who are in power, see that as an equal female representation.

Male executives. Male writers. Male producers. Male directors and so on and so forth. They do this without even realizing it because they have a subconscious perception of what equality looks like.

And of course, if more females get more roles, they’ll push back to try and put more projects through with male leads in order to get back to the perceived ratio they feel is “equal.” When it’s grossly, grossly not.

There are more complications than just that of course. One of the other major contributing factors is the belief that women can relate to men better than men can relate to women. Instead of writing their characters as people first and gender second, characters are first defined by gender and then by their other traits. And male executives feel that women can relate to men just as well. (Honestly, I can’t. I don’t have one of those things between my legs and I’d really rather not. I will take my periods over that any day of the week. Thank you.) Let’s be real, men are perfectly capable of sympathizing with female characters if they would think of them as human beings first and women second. Just as women for years have been sympathizing with males because they’re human with human wants, needs and emotions.

I know, as a consumer of media like books, video games and movies that I am more likely if there is a female character available to me, to gravitate to the female over the male character in a title of the same genre. The problem is most the time I have to make do with a male character because there aren’t any female characters in my preferred genres. (Urban Fantasy being an exception to this, however, many of the female leads I find are simply not to my taste.)

My preferred genres being science fiction, fantasy and action/adventure. Genres that the target market is considered primarily males 18 to 24. Which is ultimately bullshit because girls like unicorns, magic and laser swords and explosions just as much as boys. (See Wonder Woman and Star Wars.)

Now, as a writer, I’m not particularly happy that for the first two books of Heaven’s Heathens if you go by the titles and the back copy the main characters would be considered men. I know, intellectually, that I’m an ensemble writer and that Savannah is just as important if not more important than Gideon and Rodeo. It’s just the way the story played out and the titles worked that it made more sense to push Gideon and Rodeo forward first as “focus” characters. I also know realistically that if I want male readers that they may be more likely to pick up a motorcycle themed werewolf book if they see a male on the back copy. It doesn’t make Savannah any less of a main character and if anyone bothers to read the book, they’ll find that out very quickly. Serpent’s Smile is her book to be the “focus.” (If I had the money I’d be spending a couple hundred bucks on a pretty painted cover like ones out of the 80s with both Gideon and Savannah on the front.)

Fortunately, the Dawn Warrior doesn’t have this problem. Roxana is firmly the main character, thank you. But that’s written for a slightly different audience, the romantic fantasy type audience pioneered by Anne McCaffery and Mercedes Lackey.

I can just hope that in the future that the perception will change enough that writers like JK Rowling won’t have to go by their initials anymore. That there will be more equality in Hollywood in front of and behind the camera. That it won’t be commented up that there is more than one female in an ensemble cast or a superhero movie starring a woman does well at the Box Office.

Success of women in media will hopefully breed more success and more strides forward. So, let’s not degenerate what we have and move the goal before success has had a chance to sink in to the minds of those in power. One step at a time!

[jbk405]

Y’know, this rant’s about ten years out of date, but I’ve got to get it off my chest: I am not happy with the way Stargate Atlantis wrote the defeat of the Ancients by the Wraith 10,000 years ago.  It just doesn’t make sense.

As introduced and explained in “Rising”, the SGA premier episode, the Wraith are supposed to have technology that “rivaled” the Ancients (The Ancients’ own words).  This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s superior -- or even directly equal -- to Ancient technology, since it’s also established that the Wraith had vastly superior numbers in the war with the Ancients, but to say the Wraith ‘rival’ the Ancients then it’s got to be at least in the same ballpark.  However, as shown throughout the series, the Wraith not only aren’t in the same ballpark as the Ancients, they’re not even in the same sport.  They’re so far behind that it’s not like comparing a jet fighter to a prop fighter, it’s like comparing a jet to a glider.

Hell, in some areas the Wraith are even technologically deficient when compared to the Goa’uld, the technological scavengers who were outpaced by modern-day Earth after only eight years of research and development.  Wraith hyperdrives are less efficient and slower than Goa’uld ships, and they seem to lack any frontline military shielding technology.  As we see throughout SGA, an attack that a Goa’uld Ha’tak literally shrugged off without concern in their first attack on Earth (SG1 “The Serpent’s Lair”) is capable of disabling (Effectively destroying) a Wraith Hive Ship in one hit.  There are some areas where the Wraith in fact are more advanced than the Goa’uld, but still....come on.

Much is made in the episode “Underground” of the fact that there are at least 60 Hive Ships throughout the galaxy, which is certainly a threat to the resource-strapped and isolated Atlantis expedition, but once we see how (relatively) weak they are it becomes almost laughable to think that this force defeated the Ancients at the height of their power.  During the Battle of Antarctica in “Lost City” (SG1 season 7) a single Ancient chair platform was shown to be able to destroy thirty Ha’taks in a single stroke, so I cannot help but wonder why sixty Wraith ships should prove at all difficult when you add in the extensive satellite defense network the Ancients were known to possess.  You can also add whatever mobile units they had; with their power I can’t imagine it would take more than five Ancient ships to destroy the entire Wraith fleet.

As SGA continued and this clear preponderance of power became obvious to everyone, even the writers, they started writing in explanations and justifications for how it happened.  They had stories about how the Wraith used cleverness and trickery to out think the Ancients, who had become complacent in their power.  They implied that the Wraith at the time of the war had much greater forces that they have disposed of in the intervening years after resources became scarce.  Ultimately, it was revealed that the Wraith used stolen Ancient technology to rapidly increase their numbers and overwhelm the Ancients unexpectedly.  Etc.  But none of these really work once you examine them critically: Yes the Ancients were arrogant (This is a recurring theme of the series), but the war lasted for over a century; eventually they’re going to lose enough of their overconfident leaders to attrition or even old age and have new blood coming in.  Yes the Wraith may have built down over the past 10,000 years, but unless we’re talking a factor of a hundred then even their heavier forces back then should have been laughable compared to the Ancients.  Yes, they used stolen ZPMs and cloning chambers to rapid-breed footsoldiers, but frankly this is the least-worthy explanation because footsoldiers don’t serve any function in a space war.  As presented, I simply cannot accept the Wraith as having defeated the Ancients in any sort of pseudo-equal confrontation.  Not as a clash between two empires.

What they should have done was never give the Ancients an empire in Pegasus in the first place.

As established in SG1, the Ancients who first came to the Pegasus galaxy were refugees.  A plague had swept through their civilization in the Milky Way (Possibly unleashed by the Ori), and after trying many different pathways to a cure (Including time travel) they realized that they could not prevent their own demise.  Many of their number Ascended in this time, many more succumbed to the disease, and finally the last of them took their cityship and fled.  I bold the word “fled” because it needs to be clear that this was a last-ditch hope to save their lives, practically done in a panic, and they even left behind their own people who had been infected.  This wasn’t a planned colonization or exploration of a new galaxy, this was them staring at their own extinction and trying a Hail Mary pass to save something of their society.  Add this to the way they had already started to Ascend back in the Milky Way, and the Ancients should have already been on their way out when they arrived in Pegasus.

After settling in Pegasus they should have turned their efforts to Ascension en masse as the inevitable next step.  They know it’s possible, and it’s the goal their society has been working towards for millennia.  Now that they’re out of the pressure of the plague threat and imminent death it should have been the focus of their scientific and philosophical development, and precluded the sort of wide-scale settlement and resource exploitation which lead to a galaxy-spanning civilization.  They could still explore space to seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and they could still seed stargates and human evolution on planets across the galaxy as a means of legacy and hope to have a successor to follow in their footsteps after they’re gone (They did as much in the Milky Way after the plague using the Dakara device), but why would they build new cities and regrow their population when they’re already in the process of leaving this plane of existence?  They could retain Atlantis itself as their home, a place to pursue Ascension and to guide the younger races in their infancy, but why would they need more?

In this way, when they encountered the Wraith and the war began, it’s not a galaxy-spanning civilization facing the monsters, but the last lingering survivors of a single city.  Without the resources to construct a fleet of Aurora-class battleships, or the population to crew them even if they could build them.  Without the ability to absorb even light casualties or replenish them to learn and adapt to combat.  Already suffering from a bunker mentality since they were  planning to abandon this existence anyway, so they’re hesitant to try any daring or offensive actions.

Now the Wraith vastly outnumbering them makes sense; sixty ships is quite a lot when you only have one or two, instead of a fleet.  The Ancients being unable to adapt to the war or emotionally prepared to accept the bloody costs required makes sense if they’re already a dying people who’re expecting an imminent peaceful end.  In this scenario the Wraith wouldn’t be the species that kicked down the Ancients’ door and beat them up, but would instead be the ones who came and smothered them in their sleep, which lines up very well with the species as we see them throughout Stargate Atlantis.

This wouldn’t just help justify the backstory, it would also explain a lot of individual episode plots as well.  Throughout the series the expedition keeps stumbling across desperate, half-completed, and hastily abandoned off-the-wall scientific gambits that the Ancients were trying to find some way to defeat the Wraith.  Unstable power sources (”Trinity”), exploding tumors (”Sunday”), genetic engineering (”Tao of Rodney”), time travel (”Before I Sleep”), hyperdrive disruption (”First Contact”/”The Lost Tribe”), MiniDrones (”Harmony”), etc.  Given how these all seemed so slip-shod and rushed into service, something which the characters themselves remarked upon, it makes much more sense to think of them as springing from unsupported and desperate research carried out in rushed isolation than as products of a wide-spread and fully-functioning R&D civilization.

If they hadn’t felt the need to hype up the Wraith as THE Big Bad of the franchise, treading very heavily on their legacy as the ones who Defeated the Ancients to emphasize their threat, they could have had a much more logical foundation for the series.  They could have told many of the same stories without any modification, and not strained credulity when this supposedly unstoppable force kept being stopped.   The Wraith still could have been shown as a dangerous and powerful adversary, given credit for overwhelming even the weakened Ancients given just how advanced the Ancients were, just not been sold as having somehow used analogue sticks-and-stones to defeat a nuclear power.

Alas.

[canaryrecords]

"On the wedding day of Yanko and Katshka, the silence of the camp is broken by the sound of a screeching violin, followed by the wailing of a clarinet and the grunting of a bass viol. Above the discord of noise made by those instruments is heard the voice of the bridegroom, who leads the dance with the song: 'I am so glad I have you, I have you, and I wouldn’t sell you to anyone.' If you enter the house of the bride, you will find it full of sweltering humanity, all of it dancing up and down, down and up, while the fiddlers play and the bridegroom sings about 'The sweetheart he is glad to have and wouldn’t sell to any one.' Usually the Slav dancers provide the notes and the bank notes also; for at the end of the piece half a dozen stalwart men will throw themselves in front of the musicians, each one of them demanding in exchange for the money tossed upon the table, his favorite tune to which he sings his native song. The result is, half a dozen men, each singing or trying to sing, a different song, all of them pushing, crowding, and at last fighting until in the middle of the room you will find en entanglement of human beings which beats itself into an unrecognizable mass." Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant (Fleming H. Revell) 1906 All of the performers on this collection were born in the late 19th century in a geographical region bounded east to west by the cities of Budapest to Odessa and north to south by Bucharest to Vilnius - an area a little larger than the combined square mileage of Texas and New Mexico. Around 1900, this region was the intersection of three empires, the Austro-Hungarian, Prussian, and Russian, and today includes all or part of ten countries. The period 1890 to 1930 saw the largest wave of immigrants that the United States has ever seen. By its peak in 1907, nearly 15% of the U.S. population was foreign-born with more than half of foreign-born population having arrived from Eastern Europe. The 1940 U.S. census found that 3,569,360 people living in the U.S. spoke Polish, Russian, Slovak, or Ukrainian as their first language, only 200,000 fewer than the number of people for whom Italian was their native language. This does not count native speakers of Yiddish, Hungarian, Czech, Rumanian, or Slovenian. In a 1982 essay on ethnic recordings in the U.S., Pekka Gronow showed that Columbia Records - one of two major record labels in the U.S. before the Second World War - released 1,856 discs for the Polish, Russian, Slovak, and Ukrainian markets between 1923 and 1952. Add to this thousands more released by Victor and numerous smaller labels, in addition to the other Eastern European ethnic/language groups, and it becomes clear that tens of thousands of performances by Eastern Europeans were released in the U.S. by immigrant performers in the first half of the 20th century, greatly outnumbering those by Southern (Italian, French, Greek, etc) and Northern (German, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, English, Irish, Scottish) European immigrants. It was in this era that America built its lexicon of racial slurs: polack, hunkie, russki, kike, etc. for the Eastern Europeans, dago, greaser, wop, etc. for the Southern Europeans. The polite press avoided these terms but argued openly about the presumptions underneath them: Are they criminals? Are they mentally inferior? Are they prone to violence and drunkenness? Are they capable of assimilation? Can they be trusted? Social scientists appeared before Congress and argued, using reams of data gathered from prisons and insane asylums, that America’s integrity, our very moral substance, and the future of the country’s “breeding-stock” would be irreparably denigrated by the continued influx of Eastern and Southern Europeans at the rate things were going. In response, in 1924, the Johnson-Reed act was passed, setting quotas on the number of immigrants allowed in based on their nation of origin. Those numbers were designed to reset the ethnic makeup of the U.S. to what it had been before 1890, namely predominantly White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. And those quotas stood for four decades, so that baby boomers lived most of their lives in an America that was more predominantly native-born than their parents or grandparents had. The repeal of the quota system has allowed for increasing immigration over the past forty years to the point that we are, once again, approaching the level of a 15% foreign-born population, and, once again, we are publicly discussing the same questions: “Can they ever be like us?” “Won’t they take over and make a mess of things?” and, worst of all, “Aren’t they basically violent/ criminal/ inferior/ sick/ bad people?” These have always been questions of power and, inherently, questions arising from fear of the diminution of power. The individuals who played on these recordings were predominantly Slavs - Catholic, Greek and Russian Orthodox primarily, possibly some Protestants - as well as Jews and Roma, speakers of a half-dozen languages and ethnic identities who did not always get along with one another. In the U.S., all lived, at the time of these recordings, near the industrial hubs of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, where the mines, mills, and factories often worked men six days a week for twelve to fourteen hours. William P. Shriver’s book Immigrant Forces: Factors in the New Democracy (Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 1913) estimated that the average Lithuanian, Slovak, Polish, South Italian, or Hungarian man over 18 earned $400-$450 a year; 43.5% of the foreign-born population earned under $400 a year. One factory owner said the wage was 16 cents an hour. Asked by an inspector, “how long to they last?” He replied, “Well, they’re no good after forty-five. But you ought to see these Polish women and children work when they’re put to it. Why, a woman and a half-grown girl will feed the whole family, and the man too.. The stockyards are full of them.” The average cost of a record - two songs at a total duration of about six minutes - in the 1920s was between 75 cents and a dollar. Kate Holladay Claghorn’s The Immigrant’s Day in Court (Harper & Bros, 1923) notes: “A clever and heartless scheme, playing upon the immigrant’s homesickness and loneliness was reported to the New York State Bureau of Industries and Immigration [1915]. An offer was made through the foreign press to sell a phonograph ‘with records of your national songs in your own tongue’ on payment of $5 and the balance on small installments. On receiving the machine by express with instructions to collect on delivery the entire amount of the balance. The immigrant, usually unable to pay so large a sum, had to allow the express company to take the machine back, so that the phonograph company retained both the machine and the original payment. A great deal of money was collected in this way. The fraudulent transactions of one man in this line of business was found to have netted him about $125,000 a year, and it was learned that he kept an emergency deposit of $30,000 to be used for legal services should he be arrested. The man, when caught and convicted was fined $750.” Of thee I sing.

[falsepoeticisms]

Watched Mary, Queen of Scots today and I have so many thoughts about male dominance and how it continues to exist in a system where the female is literally on top, and also in spite of the fact that female humans are in fact the ones in charge of reproduction/mate choice. I can only think of the fact that males are physically stronger and so can simply get their way more easily--that seemed to be a key reason that was portrayed in the film (also the fact that the men simply outnumbered the women... I don’t understand how it could have made any sense for a Queen’s court to be 100% made up of men without a single woman in it?!?!)... 

So I’m trying to think back to what I learnt about sexual selection and how things work in different mating systems in the animal kingdom. This article seems a good starter on the topic.

---

“It is true, of course, that there are some readily visible physical differences between men and women that seem to a large degree genetic in origin, and some would argue that these mandate different roles and statuses for the sexes. In most (though not all) populations, the average male is taller than the average female, both at birth and after puberty, though the average difference between the sexes is a matter of inches, while the normal range of variation within each sex is more than two feet. Males are also heavier and seem to have greater physical strength, though again the variation among individuals of the same sex is far greater than the average variation between the sexes. But physical sexual dimorphism cannot explain the different roles of the sexes, and far less male dominance, as Leibowitz points out in this volume and elsewhere. Although males tend to do the fighting in many primitive societies, women do as much "heavy" work as men, if not more. Western history testifies, moreover, that the strongest workers and best warriors often serve the dominant members of society, who may be physically very weak. Among a group like the seventeenth century Iroquois, a strong emphasis on male physical prowess was fully compatible with a high position for women, and indeed there is little evidence that men in most foraging societies use either their strength or their weapons as a means of controlling women.

Some authors argue, however, that males are innately more aggressive than females. Although recent studies have repudiated the idea that there are significant sex differences in intellect, analytical powers, social skills, or personal motivation, there does seem to be a strong difference in physical aggression that appears at least as early as the kindergarten years. Some observers suggest that this is partly biological in origin.

Attempts to demonstrate a biological tendency toward aggression (as opposed to a biological capacity, which obviously exists) have centred on studies of hormones. High levels of the male hormone testosterone have been correlated with high levels of aggression, and injections of testosterone increase fighting behaviour in rats. But a hormonal explanation of sexual inequality is hardly admissible, since even in animals aggression does not guarantee dominance and in many societies aggressive individuals are social outcasts or face severe sanctions. In addition, cross-cultural studies show some important variations in rates of male aggression. Margaret Mead found that women among the Tchambuli were more aggressive than men, that women and men were equally fierce among the Mundugamor, and that neither men nor women were aggressive among the Arapesh. The explanation for such variability can only be that socialization is more significant than hormones in determining appropriate behaviour among both men and women.

The explanation of social behaviour such as aggression by a single biological factor, moreover, reflects a central weakness of almost all biological determinism. The methodology of such reductionist theories generally involves introducing a disruption of the organism's normal functioning and then explaining the normal working of the organism by its response to the disturbance. The result "confuses the nature of the perturbation itself with the 'cause' of the system's normal functioning." If, for example, injection of a hormone increases aggressive behaviour, it does not follow that the ordinary levels of that hormone in the animal cause its other aggressive behaviour. Thus, injections of the female hormone oestrogen also increase fighting behaviour in rats while injections of testosterone into the pre-optic area of a male rat's brain stimulate maternal nest-building behaviour. 

Studies of humans do not show consistent correlations between hormone levels and aggression. Even where correlations are found, it is unclear whether the aggression or the hormone level came first. When low dominance monkeys are placed with monkeys toward whom they can safely act aggressively, their testosterone levels go up; when they are returned to an established group to whom they must defer, their testosterone levels fall dramatically.

Even granting that hormone levels or other chemical changes in the body affect mood, the interpretation of that mood and the behaviour it "induces" depends upon the social environment. Researchers at Yerkes Primate Centre, for example, were able to locate an "aggression centre" in the brain of chimpanzees. When this was stimulated electrically in laboratory animals, increased fighting resulted. However, when this was done in monkeys who were released into the wild the result was increased grooming behaviour. Similarly, people injected with adrenalin (the "fight or flight" chemical), but placed in a peaceful setting, displayed sociable behaviour. As one of the pioneers in hormone research has concluded: "Hormones are often necessary but never sufficient cause for the occurrence of behaviour."

All human behaviour, of course, has a biological base, else it could not exist. But the dominance in humans of the cerebral cortex means that what we do with our biological capacities is almost entirely a matter of learning. The difference in aggression between boys and girls should be considered in light of the different socialization given them. Significantly, Sears, Maccoby, and Levin found that the greatest parental distinctions between kindergarten boys and girls were made in the area of permitted aggression. Many studies have shown that people's sex role expectations determine their earliest assessment of infants' capacities and behaviours (even at one day old), creating differences where none can in fact be measured by any objective criteria, and undoubtedly establishing a number of self-fulfilling prophecies. The vital impact of expectations can be seen in studies of persons born as hermaphrodites: in ninety-five percent of the cases the person's sexual identity and corresponding social behaviour depended not on actual genetic makeup but on the choice the parents had made in rearing the child as either male or female. This was true "even for those individuals whose sex of rearing contradicted their biological sex as determined by chromasomes, hormones, gonads, and the formation of the internal and external genitals."

We conclude that evidence is lacking for clearcut mental or temperamental differences between the sexes. Even where such differences may be established, it is by no means justified to assume, as most of these theories do, that a sex difference explains a sex inequality. This is a conceptual leap made by a number of other authors, who start from the fact that most societies do recognize and define different social and symbolic functions for the sexes. These authors argue that the origins of inequality lie not in naturally different abilities or temperaments, but in cultural attempts to explain or control women's central role in reproduction. Woman's biology does not make her weaker, less intelligent, or more submissive than man, but it does make her society's source of new members. According to this school of thought, cultures tend to interpret or organize motherhood in ways that accentuate differences between the sexes and lead to sexual assymetry. There are quite a number of variations on this theme, offering a cultural or symbolic explanation for gender inequality.”

[hopefulfestivaltastemaker]

November 15, 2020

This is my weekly round-up of things I am up to. Topics include Planetary Protection, energy R&D, natural gas bans, and chance meetings.

Planetary Protection

Robert Zubrin has a new article out criticizing a recent manifesto calling against “violent colonial practices” in space exploration. I encourage you to read both to better understand the issue.

Zubrin is an engaging author who I always enjoy reading, but he does have a tendency to portray things in a very black-and-white manner. One of the authors responded here. Nevertheless, I have a very hard time reading the manifesto as anything other than an argument against space activity. It sets out a list of prohibitions that are so sweeping and so vague--colonialism, capitalism, resource extraction--that it is impossible to meet them in such a manner that humanity retains spacefaring capability.

In environmentalism, I have been very critical of the tendency of some academics to focus on population control, degrowth, and socialism as “solutions” to climate and other environmental challenges. Such manifestos tend to be written with very similar rhetoric.

Energy R&D

This week I’ve continued work on the project of identifying opportunities for energy R&D, though I am still without tangible numbers to report. A few points on this project are as follows.

I decided to go with a two part deployment system for each technology. The first part is to wait for the R&D to be concluded, which can take anywhere from 5-40 years. The second part is deployment, where the technology achieves 2% of its theoretical market share every year for 50 years. Both the R&D time and theoretical market share are based on subjective judgments, rooted where I can in the literature. However, neither of these figures are uncertain enough that they would have a major effect on the final numbers. These numbers matter mainly because of the discount rate; longer lead times mean lesser value today.

The price is by far the most important variable and what makes the difference between a technology being a worthy investment and not. For example, I have fusion at land at 13 cents/kWh, which is quite expensive, based on several sources. It follows that investment in fusion is not financially worthwhile. If I instead say 5 cents/kWh or 1 cent/kWh, it’s an entirely different story. That seems to be an inherent problem with this exercise. The rate at which a new energy technology deploys is highly sensitive to price, and for things in the future, we really don’t know what they’re ultimately going to cost. Not even for things that already exist but could be cheaper through learning-by-doing.

(The exception is tidal power, which has such a small theoretical market share that it isn’t a worthy investment despite the relatively cheap potential price.)

There are other factors that are important but I’m not really able to include. Earlier I looked at the work of Ayers and Warr and other authors, which demonstrate how new energy deployment, much more than cheaper energy, is a driver of long-term economic growth. This may be true in the future, where if we crack fusion or space-based solar power, a kind of civilization would be possible that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. But my model is based entirely on new technology displacing old technology and not contributing to new demand.

San Francisco Bans Natural Gas

Not quite, but the city did ban natural gas hookups in new construction. This prompted me to wonder on Twitter what assumption the city was using about the cost of mitigated carbon emissions, but then I remembered that Richard Meyer did a similar calculation a couple years ago and found a value of $572/ton nationwide and $485/ton on the West Coast.

Now, the obvious objection to this study is that it is from the American Gas Association, an organization with an obvious financial stake in what happens. That may be, but I cited the only such figures I know of. What bothers me most about advocates of the gas ban is the lack of curiosity of what the policy costs. If such an advocate has done a cost-benefit analysis that I know of, I would cite that too.

An appropriate cost of carbon mitigation is on the order of $100/ton. That’s the upper bound on mainstream estimates of the social cost of carbon, and most emissions can be mitigated at a cost of $100/ton or less. Climate change is one of several major long-term problems facing humanity, and cost-benefit analysis is the tool we use to determine what solutions, for each of these problems, makes sense. The decision to forego cost-benefit analysis is a decision to exacerbate other problems at the expense of climate change, or even to exacerbate climate change when cheap solutions are foregone in favor of expensive solutions.

Chance Meetings

We are coming up on a full year of the COVID-induced shutdown, and with cases in the United States and some other countries exploding out of control, the end is not in sight. So I thought this would be a good time to muse about chance meetings, a major casualty of the shutdown.

One of the major justifications of cities and urbanization is agglomeration effects, and in particular the chance meetings between people that such effects induce. This is why, according to urbanists such as Richard Florida or Ed Glaeser, Zoom meetings cannot be a substitute for conventions, academic departments, luncheons, and other events that bring people together. Agglomeration effects are well-established empirically, but the cause of them is not nearly as well established. In particular, whether chance meetings are a major factor behind agglomeration effects is a hypothesis that “feels” true but turns out to be quite difficult to pin down rigorously. Instead of data, one often has to look to biography or personal experience to find the evidence. One has the feeling of the magic that New York or Los Angelos can bring to a person who is struggling to break into a field, even if one cannot prove that the person wouldn’t be better off in Omaha.

I can relate a story from my own life. In 2014, I did a data science program in New York City, a career path that ultimately hasn’t panned out. One day, we were looking over a blog post put out by OkCupid, about which men and women are successful on their site. After looking at the post seriously, we devolved into some banter. The post observed that men are more likely to be successful when they don’t look for someone significantly younger, and men are more successful on the East Coast than the West Coast. I observed that the effects were probably nothing more than the numbers of men being greater at lower ages and on the West Coast. A bit of Googling confirmed this to be true. I got curious what the situation was internationally and found that single men outnumber single women in most countries, but Eastern European countries were the exception to the rule.

A curious bit of trivia, and one that I filed away for two years. In 2016 I decided to act on that information, signed up for an international dating service, and the rest as they say is history.

Now, was I successful in romance because of the time I spent in New York? If so, then only indirectly and in a manner that is impossible to prove one way or the other. Still, when I look at the bigger picture, it is hard not to attribute some the success I’ve had in life to the time I’ve spent in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, even if it didn’t feel that way at the time.

[selfcaredoc]

Mostly Preventable...

"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. "  -- Robert H. Schuller

Self-Inflicted Pandemics

As we all face the current pandemic that has affected many aspects of our lives over the last 10 months, I want to remind everyone that this is a scenario based on the infectious nature of our current health challenge, but also bear in mind that we have been facing other pandemics for decades.

What is Pandemic?

An epidemic is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region. A pandemic is an epidemic that is spread over multiple countries or continents. These diseases do not need to be infectious in nature and can be the result of poor choices for our health over a long period of time. What I am talking about are chronic diseases, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

Four non-communicable diseases, namely cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the world, accounting, respectively, for 17, 7.6, 4.2, and 1.3 million deaths based on the latest available global epidemiology data.

NCDs kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to over 7 out of 10 deaths worldwide as reported this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Once confined to high-income countries, NCDs are now the leading cause of death in developed and developing countries alike.

One in two adults worldwide (50%) have at least one chronic condition, with 33% of adults with two or more. Disease rates from these conditions are accelerating globally and advancing across every region and pervading all socioeconomic classes. It is estimated that the four major non-communicable diseases will be responsible for 75% of worldwide deaths by 2030.

Chronic diseases are interrelated, have common risk factors, and are largely preventable. Both the WHO and the CDC estimate that 80 to 85% of our world’s biggest killers can be prevented.

Chronic diseases have common risk factors. There are non-modifiable factors such as heredity and age and modifiable factors. Chronic diseases are primarily environmental, not genetic in origin. That is the good news as each of us can be stewards of our own health with healthy self-care practices.

Within the context of the Self Care Awakening, we discuss four main inter-related factors that are responsible for many of the health challenges we face from NCDs.

Water Matters

Dehydration has been called “the Mother of all Epidemics and is the first step we need to take in addressing chronic disease”, as stated by Gina Bria, Cultural Anthropologist. Nearly 75% of us are chronically dehydrated each day. This varies a bit by country and regions but in large we do not drink enough water to maintain healthy hydration.

Failure to drink enough water has been linked to may NCDs including chronic fatigue, joint pain, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, headaches, kidney disease, and hypertension.

  Sleep Matters

Inadequate or poor-quality sleep has been called a Global Epidemic of Sleeplessness according to the WHO. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls INSUFFICIENT SLEEP a public health epidemic.

Research indicates that inadequate or poor-quality sleep has been associated with many health risks, including heart disease, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.

Dr. Matthew Walker, neuroscientist and author of the book Why We Sleep, states, “I used to suggest that sleep is the third pillar of good health, along with diet and exercise, but I don't agree with that anymore. Sleep is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain and body for health."

Weight Matters

The obesity epidemic is actually a worldwide pandemic that has global implications for health and disease. In one of the largest studies ever to examine obesity rates across the globe, researchers found that more than 60% of men and 50% of women were either overweight or obese according to the WHO. A 2016 study published in the Lancet, reports that this is the first time in human history that obese people outnumber underweight people. The data, which was pooled from studies, surveys, and reports looked at 19.2 million men and women from 186 countries, and shows stunning changes in less than 40 years, with an increasing average body mass index in multiple countries from 1975 to 2014.

Excess weight and obesity have been called the world’s largest health risk. Weight issues have been implicated in over 100 different chronic diseases, including our largest killers. At least 2.8 million people each year die because of being overweight or obese.

 Body Burden Matters

Environmental pollutants adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. These pollutants can be transported by wind and water, while generated in one country they can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The list of environmental toxins that exist in our environment and bodies is huge. Environmental toxins are all around us. We get them from the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink, in addition to the many products we use in our homes. Toxins have been found in beauty products, household cleaners, carpets, furniture, mattresses, household dust, and even in foods and products from natural sources.

It is estimated that each of us has over 200 environmental toxins in our body and 93% of us have potent endocrine disruptors such as BPA’s in our body.

Environmental toxins have been implicated in many of the chronic diseases that affect millions of people globally. 

 Chronic disease or NCD’s have been called self-inflicted Pandemics. The answer to this problem is self- care and an active wellness lifestyle. We will be discussing solutions to this pandemic of chronic disease on our next Healthy by Choice masterclass Tuesday, October 13th at 6 PM/PT, 9 PM/ET in the Self Care Awakening Virtual Classroom. You will need to use password Nikken1 to join the class.

 Healthy by Choice

[blues-sevenfold]

World Building: Population Ratios in Daemon Universe and Balloon Universe (And Other Stuff)

* Before I get into figuring out the population of the sapient species in this universe, here are a few things to consider. The Atlantean apocolypse is believed to have occurred about 12 millennia ago - at which point, a few thousand Atlanteans were temporally displaced into the present (about five centuries ago). A few millennia afterward is when humans evolved to have daemons.

* There was a significant period of time between the two occurrences that humans were warring with each other. However, humans have not been at war since they had daemons. The human and daemon typically learn, at the very young age, that if they attempt to harm each other - they are only harming themselves!! From that, they learn the basic ethics of mutual respect and cooperation without needing to officially be taught that. As such, they quickly learn to apply such ethics in other relationships.

* As humans *are* natural predators, they still eat meat (although, vegetarians do exist). However, they don’t partake in excessive hunting or factory farming. As such, neither bears nor birds have been an endangered species. I had to go to Quora to ask about the global bear population, as Google wasn’t being of much help in that answer. The answers I’ve gotten were quite enlightening in regard to why it *is* difficult to really calculate the total amount of existing bears (only eight bear species in real life are still extant [non-extinct]) - and it turns out that the total bear population in real life is significantly less populous than humans.

* Two factors drastically reverse the bear-to-human population ratio. As birth control is much more globally embraced in the Daemon Universe, coupled with the fact that forced human breeding had not occurred in recent history - the human population has decreased by about half. So, while there are estimated to be about 10 billion humans in real life, there are only about 5 billion humans in Daemon Universe and Balloon Universe. By contrast, due to a lack of bear hunting (particularly after all bear species have evolved to become sapient), large bears have grown to outnumber humans by about two-to-one - while smaller bears have grown to outnumber humans by about four-to-one. So, as there are about 5 billion humans, 10 billion large bears, and 20 billion small bears.

* Monkeys are about 80% as populous as humans, so there are about 4 billion monkeys. Lemurs, by contrast, are about five times as populous as humans - so there are about 25 billion lemurs.

* Side note on homo sapiens classifications:

mortals are “homo sapiens mortalis” (plural form “mortali”)

mages are “homo sapiens magus” (plural form “magi”)

Atlanteans are “homo sapiens atlantis” (plural form “atlanti”)

* Now, as for birds, the number of birds in real life does significantly outnumber humans. Birds are believed to outnumber humans by about 40<->60-to-one, and that’s even with considering how several bird species are endangered due to the tendency of humans to hunt them in recent history. As birds (including the non-sapient types) are not so vigorously hunted - and only game fowl (such as chicken, turkey, and quail) and water fowl (such as duck, goose, and swan) are used for human food - the bird population would be, at the very least, twice that amount. That, combined with the human population being reduced by half, would increase the bird-to-human ratio by about 400%.

* As in our world, the passerines are the most populous and the most abundant in species. Passerines are the ubiquitous perching type of birds that are often colloquially referred to as “songbirds” - which include sparrows, bluebirds, and robins. In our world, parrots are said to be the direct sibling of passerines - under the classification of Psittacopasserae. In Daemon Universe and Balloon Universe, parrots actually more resemble passerines in shape and size - and are considered distinct from passerines proper by (usually) being a bit more brightly coloured, sapient, and capable of speech and complex language.

^ Daemon birds, always passerine in form, are called “passerdaemons”. The main difference is that passerdaemons have a solid bright coloured body, whereas parrots can have from about two to four (sometimes five, rarely more) colours on their body. This does not include the beak and legs, which are usually a bright slightly-yellowish orange (about a 40° hue) - or, in the rare case of parrot daemons, a bright strong-blue azure (about a 220° hue).

^ I’m gonna use this mountain bluebird photo as the approximate template of how parrots and passerdaemons look in Daemon Universe:

^ This bird strongly resembles Jimmy Reed’s passerdaemon. The azure is the right hue, value, and saturation - but there isn’t that white patch at the bottom. Also, the beak and legs would be a bright yellowish orange (about a 40° hue).

* There are about a hundred times as many parrots as there are humans. We posit that there are 500 billion parrots to 5 billion humans. Non-daemon parrots are classified as “psittacine norma”, whereas daemon parrots are classified as “psittacine invertere” Only about 0.5% of psittacine norma have a psittacine invertere upon daemon settling. Psittacine invertere would add about 2.5 billion to the sapient bird population. (^ Passerdaemons would add about 1.5 billion to the sapient bird population.)

* This, granted, is a rather rough estimate. As this world is largely a solarpunk and clockpunk setting - thereby the sapient population at large are much more ecologically minded than the folks in our world are. Christopher Columbus has never even existed in this world, whereas Leonardo di Vinci was an inventor of clockwork machinery instead of a painter. Furthermore, the solar engine was invented in lieu of the steam engine by the late 17th Century. “Thomas Edison” is an unremarkable name, whereas the name “Nikola Tesla” is quite renowned. Moreover, solar lighting has been in usage for nearly two centuries.

* Folks do not need to wait until a particular season or holiday to see colourful lights at night. The combined usage of stained-glass windows and solar lighting allows everyone to enjoy the spectacular colourful lighting (sans the light pollution) during their night travels anytime. Different communities may have different themes, so many enjoy inter-community traveling at night.

~~~~~

Paragraphs with * apply to both Daemon Universe and Balloon Universe.

Paragraphs with ^ apply only to Daemon Universe.

[biomedgrid]

Biomed Grid | Prejudice to the Environmental Balance Exacerbate the Outbreak of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis after the War against Daesh in - Al-Ramadi, Al-anbar Governorate

Introduction

Not only in third world countries but also worldwide, the problem of environmental pollution has become one of the most serious problems facing a human. Seriously get when decomposes nature’s elements that have been in an unnatural way. Iraq suffers for many years from major disasters, thus demonstrated the complexity of development a wide variety of negative effects, problems and several diseases, such Leishmaniasis. It is zoonosis Protozoa disease [1,2], transmitted from reservoir hosts via bite of adult sand fly and perhaps affected Some 70 animal species, including man where living in the vicinity [3,4]. However, Leishmaniasis is classified as; a neglected tropical disease NTD [5]. Cutaneous form (CL) is the most common, caused by Leishmania tropica and L. major, globally distribution [6]. Cases of this disease in US service personnel have follow military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan [7]. In Iraq WHO, revealed 2978 and 2486 infected cases during 2011 and 2012, respectively. Like other cities of Iraq Ramadi, the capital of Anbar governorate entered the war against Daesh, resultant destruction at all levels, and tens of reports about complexity environmental issues. From this point, the objectives of our study were to assay the prevalence of Leishmaniasis in the Ramadi city resultant from created conditions associated with increased environmental pollution after war.

Materials and Methods

In Arabic: ( ديا لرما ) Ar-Ramādī; also formerly rendered as Rumadiyah or Rumadiya),representing almost one-third of the size of Iraq, about 110kilometers west of Baghdad. It is the capital and the largest city of “Al Anbar” Province. The city is one of the most famous cities in Iraq, gained significant prosperity due to strategic location on the Euphrates and the road west into “Syria and Jordan”[8,9]. A desert climate have most rain falls in the winter [10]. The average annual temperature in Ramadi is 22.4 °C (72.3 °F). This city has been fought extend several times, during the two world wars and again during military campaign (2015-2016) against Daesh which led to escape of thousands of Iraqis from the city of Ramadi [8,9,11]. The study done in cooperation with information system / Anbar Health Directorate, were a questionnaire applied on randomly selected data from population who lives in refugee camps or returned to their houses destroyed during the fighting. Concerning sanitations level and affairs of families with respects of medical services that coverage the study area as shown in the Table 1. Statistical analysis was used for analyzed data was evaluated by SPSS version 14.0. The significance calculated at the level p˂0.05.

Table 1: Show the Items of the Questionnaire Used in the Present Study.

Results

Irrespective of the tested conditions, the average of the calculation was found by (205) infected cases. This value varied slightly with regard to the gender variable, included male (52.68%) compared to females (47.32%) but no significant value P ˃ 0.05. Whereas significantly differences observed according to age group, the highest percentage of parasite positive (31.71%) at age group ranged from 19-25 years and the lowest percentage in less than one year and (1-7) years (0.98%) and (3.41%) respectively. The highest percentage among housewife (34.63%) and less percentage among teacher (5.37%) for occupations mentioned above respectively, other has gradually from free work to students, then finally children (Table 2).

Table 2:Shows the demographical features of infected cases.

Concerning areas and residency, type of construction, seems to have significant effect on morbidity with parasite. Therefore, data obtained showed that people who lived in Brick and mud or destruction houses were associated with highest morbidity (56.59%), while in Tent (43.41%) (Table 3).

Table 3: Shows type of construction of infected house.

Table 4:Shows percentage of monthly morbidity of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Incidence of CL fluctuated according to degree of temperature during seasonal period and from day to night to obtain the data on study sample. It appeared significantly affect P˃ 0.05 in November and December (12.19%) both for each, compared to April, July 2016 and their percentage (2.44%) and (2.92%) respectively. Moreover, irrespective of tested temperature, there was a significant increase in the percentage of morbidity due to environmental pollution, during the first months of 2017, March, April and May (9.75%) for each as compared with percentage recorded during 2016 (Table 4).

Table 5:The site of skin sore according to sex patients.

Table 6:The number of skin sores in patients according to sex.

A cutaneous leishmania sislesion observed in many parts of body’s patients. However, a difference in the percentage of skin infestations noted, including face, hand, and arm and leg (Table 5). The skin lesion appeared high at face for females (1-2) and males at face and right leg 3 and 1-3 respectively compared to other site of body (Table 6). There was a significant correlation between the numbers of skin abrasions and present dead or alive parasite at the site of infection.

Discussion

Answers all items of questionnaire as shown in Table 1, leave negative impression, at the time of preparation the present study. As resultant from military operations after the War against Daesh, either direct or indirect have a significant impact for leaving population suffered from unsuitable housing, poorest sanitation and nutrition, in addition to environmental pollution, which led to prejudice of the natural ecological balance and exacerbates the outbreaks of Leishmaniasis. Globally further than five million persons deadly each year because varies diseases or events related to environmental pollution [12]. Studies done in Iraq during 2004 until 2008 demonstrated that 1,655 and 1,711 individuals have infected with CL and VL respectively. It was ˂ 1 per ten thousand among these infected cases found in A-Anbar province. 217 cases were diagnosed with L. during the first three months of 2014 [13- 15].

Concerning the infected persons, the actual number fails to report fully, it may significantly higher than were recorded. Knowing there are many infections not disclosed for several reasons. The review of literature identifies only 20% recorded. Males outnumbered females 108(52.68%) vs. 97(47.32%). the male sex more susceptible to infection than female because more exposed to the vector than female; perhaps linked with socioeconomic status [16]. These results agree with [17] have suggested that women have lower exposure to parasite 7(38.89%) compared to men 11(61.11%). Similarly, previous work has demonstrated that CL infections were more prone to develop in males because of more social activity and interaction with internally displaced persons, whereas females always remain covered because Islamic rules and thus are less prone to sand fly bites [16]. Moreover, higher percentage of infection (31.71%) at age group 20-27 years. However, data obtained have demonstrated that age groups were independent factor associated with positive parasitic infection. Young are more susceptible to the infection than adult is. Previous work has noted least 70% of infected cases were children, aged 0-18 years [13]. In Mediterranean 1-4 years more susceptible, in china from 4-10 years, in India adult 20-26 years is corresponding to our study. Studies on epidemiology of CL outbreak in waraffected Waziristan areas, showed youths (1-15 of age) were more susceptible [18]. Regardless of the occupation, our results showed homemaker and free work were higher percentages of exposure to the parasite (34.63%) and (33.17%) respectively. With respect (Table 4) results, showed the number of CL were the higher (12.19%) during November and December, these results interpret; abundant cases of disease In Iraq be found in November, December and January after incubation period. Elsewhere the report of WHO, were revealed that the ZCL in Iraq between December and March. Anyhow epidemiological scheme varies in various from region of the world. Shed light on role of temperature, highest infection occurs at low temperature. The Warm and moderate weather; improve the opportunities to raise give new cases of disease, in both agricultural area, and cities indoors [3] and outdoors [19]. A variable results demonstration great impact of ecological, physiological and behavioral factors on the incidence.

At that time after the war against Daesh, the bettering control measurement and surveillance act as great challenge for repairing and rehabilitation infrastructure [14]. Regarding skin lesion, the highest number laid on the face for both sexes. While previous work recorded, greatest case lesions based particularly at the limbs, in addition to faces and even mucosa [17]. These differences due to influence of the host, were the insect bite the exposed parts of the body. A study done by [18] showed that 11 of 18 patients had only one lesion, mostly on the face.

Conclusion

War directly related on the disrupting of basic infrastructure. The disease is capable of linked with natural ecological system imbalance, synergistic with bad personal environmental hygiene. Actually, the exact health situation in area’s study is more complex and cannot give based on a restricted data. To stay the complex relationship between life and non-life within the ecosystem is stable as a way for perfect balance of the universe. CL more prevalent in study area and new cases are increasing day-by-day resultant from both disease and environmental pollution.

[historybehindassassinscreed]

In Game:

Chichen Itza, located on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, is a former Mayan city, having been one of the largest of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization.  Boasting a mix of architectural styles from across the empire, the site was known to include contributions from members of the First Civilization believed to have fought on the front lines against the human rebellion. As a result, the region was rich with ancient relics, leading the Templars to set up an excavation site there during the 18th century.

In the 1750s, the Templars discovered proof of First Civilization artifacts being located in the caves beneath Chichen Itza. They subsequently organized a large-scale slave trafficking operation, bringing in workers from various locations, such as Cuba and Louisiana, to live at their community and take part in the excavation of ancient ruins. The Templars kept the slaves under their thumb through false promises and threats of harsh punishments; despite this, most workers still seemed largely content with their living conditions.

In 1769, the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, having noticed the disappearances of slaves and vagrants in her native city of New Orleans, traveled to Chichen Itza to discover the extent of the Templars' plans. Whilst there, she uncovered evidence that her mother, Jeanne, had been living in the settlement and discovered a map leading to an artifact hidden deep within a cenote.

Unearthing a fragment of the Prophecy Disk inside a chamber constructed by the First Civilization, Aveline was then confronted by Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer, the dig site's leader. Despite being outnumbered, she defeated de Ferrer's guards and killed him, thus liberating the community in Chichen Itza from Templar influence.

However, another Templar by the name of Diego Vázquez later intended to reclaim the work site, causing Aveline to return to Chichen Itza in 1772. There, she made peace with her mother, who had previously fled in fear of her daughter, and decided to retrieve the second half of the Prophecy Disk. Aveline used a canoe to further explore the cenote and came across another room built by the First Civilization where she recovered the final piece of the artifact. Following this, she attempted to convince her mother to return to New Orleans, though Jeanne refused, settling to look after Chichen Itza's newly formed community instead.

Due to the Templars' excavation efforts, many relics of minor importance, such as Shards and Rings, were uncovered; as a collection, they provided Abstergo Industries with an accurate representation of life preceding the Toba catastrophe. Although Chichen Itza is under federal protection, being a popular tourist attraction, the company intends to do further research once they secure an agreement with the Mexican government.

In Real Life:

Chichen Itza ("at the mouth of the well of the Itza people") was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archaeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico.

The layout of Chichen Itza site core developed during its earlier phase of occupation, between 750 and 900 AD. Its final layout was developed after 900 AD, and the 10th century saw the rise of the city as a regional capital controlling the area from central Yucatán to the north coast, with its power extending down the east and west coasts of the peninsula. The earliest hieroglyphic date discovered at Chichen Itza is equivalent to 832 AD, while the last known date was recorded in the Osario temple in 998.

The Late Classic city was centered upon the area to the southwest of the Xtoloc cenote, with the main architecture represented by the substructures now underlying the Las Monjas and Observatorio and the basal platform upon which they were built.

Chichen Itza rose to regional prominence towards the end of the Early Classic period (roughly 600 AD). It was, however, towards the end of the Late Classic and into the early part of the Terminal Classic that the site became a major regional capital, centralizing and dominating political, sociocultural, economic, and ideological life in the northern Maya lowlands. The ascension of Chichen Itza roughly correlates with the decline and fragmentation of the major centers of the southern Maya lowlands.

As Chichen Itza rose to prominence, the cities of Yaxuna (to the south) and Coba (to the east) were suffering decline. These two cities had been mutual allies, with Yaxuna dependent upon Coba. At some point in the 10th century Coba lost a significant portion of its territory, isolating Yaxuna, and Chichen Itza may have directly contributed to the collapse of both cities.

(Image source)

According to some colonial Mayan sources (e.g., the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel), Hunac Ceel, ruler of Mayapan, conquered Chichen Itza in the 13th century. Hunac Ceel supposedly prophesied his own rise to power. According to custom at the time, individuals thrown into the Cenote Sagrado were believed to have the power of prophecy if they survived. During one such ceremony, the chronicles state, there were no survivors, so Hunac Ceel leaped into the Cenote Sagrado, and when removed, prophesied his own ascension.

While there is some archaeological evidence that indicates Chichen Itza was at one time looted and sacked, there appears to be greater evidence that it could not have been by Mayapan, at least not when Chichen Itza was an active urban center. Archaeological data now indicates that Chichen Itza declined as a regional center by 1250, before the rise of Mayapan. Ongoing research at the site of Mayapan may help resolve this chronological conundrum.

After Chichen Itza elite activities ceased, the city may not have been abandoned. When the Spanish arrived, they found a thriving local population, although it is not clear from Spanish sources if Maya were living in Chichen Itza or nearby. The relatively high population density in the region was a factor in the conquistadors' decision to locate a capital there. According to post-Conquest sources, both Spanish and Maya, the Cenote Sagrado remained a place of pilgrimage.

In 1526 Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo (a veteran of the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions) successfully petitioned the King of Spain for a charter to conquer Yucatán. His first campaign in 1527, which covered much of the Yucatán Peninsula, decimated his forces but ended with the establishment of a small fort at Xaman Ha', south of what is today Cancún. Montejo returned to Yucatán in 1531 with reinforcements and established his main base at Campeche on the west coast. He sent his son, Francisco Montejo The Younger, in late 1532 to conquer the interior of the Yucatán Peninsula from the north. The objective from the beginning was to go to Chichen Itza and establish a capital.

Montejo the Younger eventually arrived at Chichen Itza, which he renamed Ciudad Real. At first he encountered no resistance, but the Maya became more hostile over time, and eventually they laid siege to the Spanish, cutting off their supply line to the coast, and forcing them to barricade themselves among the ruins of the ancient city. Months passed, but no reinforcements arrived. Montejo the Younger attempted an all out assault against the Maya and lost 150 of his remaining troops. He was forced to abandon Chichen Itza in 1534 under cover of darkness. By 1535, all Spanish had been driven from the Yucatán Peninsula.

Montejo eventually returned to Yucatán and, by recruiting Maya from Campeche and Champoton, built a large Indio-Spanish army and conquered the peninsula. The Spanish crown later issued a land grant that included Chichen Itza and by 1588 it was a working cattle ranch.

Chichen Itza entered the popular imagination in 1843 with the book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens (with illustrations by Frederick Catherwood). The book recounted Stephens' visit to Yucatán and his tour of Maya cities, including Chichen Itza. The book prompted other explorations of the city, and since then has been studied vigorously by archeologists.

(Image source)

In modern times, Chichen Itza remains a popular tourist destination for people visiting the Yucatán.

Sources:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/terminal-classic-in-the-maya-lowlands-collapse-transition-and-transformation/oclc/61719499

https://www.worldcat.org/title/monumental-ambivalence-the-politics-of-heritage/oclc/68416845

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/483

http://www.haciendachichen.com/Chichen-Itza-Yucatan.htm

https://www.locogringo.com/mexico/ways-to-play/mayan-ruins-archaeological-sites/chichen-itza/

Various history classes I’ve attended throughout much of my life