#this is ?? so cool !

[headspace-hotel]

im reading a lot of research about the mycorrhizal network because this is a HUGE emerging area of research and there is so much new stuff coming out its sooooo neat

So basically "the mycorrhizal network is how trees send each other nutrients and help each other" is wrong,

but the main reason people were mad at it—because they thought everything in the ecosystem is selfish and competitive acting for its own interests—is much wronger.

How come?

Well...fungi aren't just a postal service for trees. They have lives of their own! Plants aren't just controlling the mycorrhizal network to send nutrients where they want, they are communicating with the fungus and negotiating the terms of that relationship.

The genetic basis in plants for forming the mycorrhizal symbiosis is old. REALLY old. Like, "before plants even came onto land" OLD. Other forms of symbiosis, like what legumes have going on with the Rhizobia, are using the same genes to do their thing. There's a LOT of genes involved with creating the symbiosis, including some redundancies just to be safe, and we're only just now starting to understand them.

Why so many genes? What are all these genes for? Everything! Communication chemicals, hormones the other partner will respond to, flipping switches in the other partner's genes. There was a lot of arguing over which partner, the plant or the fungus, was "controlling" the partnership, but this question turned out to be total nonsense. Both symbionts have to recognize each other, respond to each other, prepare for symbiosis by adjusting how their genes are expressed, form the symbiosis, and continuously negotiate the relationship by exchanging chemical signals. Both can actively select the partner that offers the best benefits. There's even experiments where it's been shown that if the fungus turns parasitic, the plant will start secreting fungicidal chemicals. (But also the mutualist fungi in the experiment outcompeted the parasitic one when the pots were seeded with both.)

Mycorrhizal symbiosis is an incredibly intimate relationship. Like, the fungus produces special organs that literally grow inside the plant's cells, and the plant is actively participating in allowing this to happen. The plants and fungi have genes for hormones used by the other species, they have soooooo much stuff encoded in their DNA for interacting with their symbionts, it's like, blurring the lines for whether they're even separate organisms. There are SO many chemicals involved in communication between them and we only understand a few of those chemicals.

This is SO MUCH COOLER than if the plants were just using the fungus as a passive conduit to communicate with and support each other. The fungus is actively participating!

We were fools and assumed there had to be one partner that was "in control," but both plant AND fungus have to initiate and to some extent they're each engaging on their own terms! Or maybe it's better to think of them as one and the same organism?

We're also finding out that there's a lot more types of mycorrhizal symbiosis than we thought (at least five) and a lot more variety in how it works.

And that's not even getting into fungal endosymbionts—fungi that live inside plant cells completely instead of having part of them be outside and in the soil. They aren't considered mycorrhizae because they're fully inside the plant cells and not connected with any soil fungi network but they do a lot of complicated things we don't understand and interact with the plant's other symbionts.

Fungal endosymbionts produce a lot of chemicals that are useful to the plants in some way, and it turns out, that a lot of them kill cancer. Seriously, we've gotten a LOT of anti-cancer drugs from these guys. I think it's because they have to bypass the plant's immune system, but they also fight each other/other little guys that get inside plant cells, so they kind of...are part of the plant's immune system?

And what's MORE

Is that plants and fungus aren't the only things part of this system! There's also bacteria that are symbiotic with the plants and fungi! Even the endosymbiont fungi have bacteria that are endosymbionts inside THEM. Double endosymbiosis.

I think I read one paper saying the bacteria use the fungi to get around? Like that's how Rhizobia find their way to the legume roots in the first place? Have to double check that one

[spidey-webs]

I've seen ten billion arts of the Bats being cool and scary in the dark which I do love BUT

HOW COME I NEVER SEE ART ALONG THE LINES OF THIS??????

this is way scarier holy shit

[disastersappho]

aabria’s misfits and magic 2 creature personifications of schools of magic: a guide

weugan- evocation. magic of amplification. rewards healing, intensifying, leaning into your strengths.

hellbenders- conjuration. magic of creation. rewards calling forth new things into existence, materiality, physicality.

qohlye- divination. magic of knowledge and truth. rewards seeking and questioning.

tadeshacourt- abjuration. magic of curtailment. rewards protection, dampening, concealment.

seegenpelater- enchantment. magic of convincing. rewards justification, manipulation, and mentality.

bat w/fishtail (name TBA)- transmutation. magic of alteration. rewards change, diversification, adaptation.

[starryyskies]

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING HE SAID YES

Hey wait a minute this isn't in the AU's script

Anyways. I am feral for them

I wanted to do more for this little kiss animation (Bubble interrupting by popping behind the damn couch and Pomni getting flustered), BUT THIS HAS ALREADY TAKEN ME A WHOLE TWO DAYS TO MAKE WHICH IS TOO LONG FOR MY STANDARDS

Plus, CSP Pro only allows up to 24 frames, so. AND PLUS PLUS, THIS IS TECHNICALLY MY VERY FIRST EVER FULL-FLEDGE ANIMATION

here's the gif version for people to be totally responsible with:

reblogs def appreciated because ueuueueueueue,,,, this took me a while to make and I was so close to tearing my hair out surprisingly animation is SUPER hard wow who could've ever thought

[urlocalrobber]

Does anyone wanna know abt my Riddlebat cowboy au 😞

[kuro-is-doodlin]

"Of course this is what you are. Callous, aimless, manipulative."

Have a sif painting. Because I really wanted to try and paint for once. Acrylics are nice to play with actually !

So now, I have a spooky boi on my bedroom wall, judging me, ready to strike. They're staring right now.

So Yeah! This was a blast to paint! Even though I focused on that and did nothing else for 5 hours straight to finish it, resulting in, well. Big eepy! It took around 6+ hours to paint so I'm quite happy, and will probably do that again.

Alright, buy bye, have a flat colored one for the road !

[lucdoodle]

Oh man the Buggy wink scene!! I had to draw it!

[brightyor]

By the tears in my eyes. This sent me home

Blue skies

[updatingranboo]

ranboo is in a tweet from the official saw account!!

[hotstreak2k3]

"LEGO The Legend of Zelda: Deku Tree 2 in 1" will be released on Sunday, September 1st.

It includes four minifigures: Adult Link and Child Link from "Ocarina of Time," Link and Princess Zelda from "Breath of the Wild."

I am so excited for this! How about you?

[dividingcosmos]

IF SOMEONE HAS SOMETHING LIKE THIS SEND IT TO ME RN ‼️‼️

I need more lost light ends up in other continuities content. Give me the G1 bots being terrified of a ravage that can talk and a Grimlock that has made friends with deceptions. Give me animated ultra Magnus getting teased mercilessly for being short compared to the lost light bots. Give me prime Optimus being faced with the fact that megatron can change. Prime ratchet being horrified that he robot married a decepticon and is on speaking terms with megatron. Give me the lostlight crew staging a prison break in earthspark after seeing how GHOST treats its prisoners. LL megs telling armada starscream that he’s proud of him. Bayverse bots being confused and swerve calling out racist stereotypes. Rewind making a scrap book of all the dimensions and bots that they meet. I just want lost light silliness.

[dreamscaper]

via mourninghair

[felassan]

Ghilan'nain's face watches her Siege of Weisshaupt from a storm in the sky.

On DA Day 2023 BioWare said:

"To the far west, three Grey Wardens patrol the Anderfels. Tremors have been causing disturbances of late. Their cause is unknown. Upon the distant horizon, a storm of ominous intent brews and darkens the skies."

they were being literal about the storm of ominous intent darkening the skies.

The storm in this concept art of Weisshaupt is a Ghilstorm.

[skyward-floored]

Pspspssp, they went back in time. The area they were in before had ruins of the same pillars that they are in now :3

Whoa wait whuh

Well butter my biscuits, you’re right. Wow. That’s so cool!!!!

Also those little statues on the upper parts there look kinda like the one Twilight used earlier to distract Warriors and Hyrule!!

(Images via @linkeduniverse)

[vannyzdomain]

AAA UR ART IS SO PRETTY

Anthro Brightbill 🦆

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