thethingything

[thethingything]

i often prefer less appreciated and conventionally "uglier" bugs to the popular ones but even i have to admit blues go hard. this Polyommatus is probably P. celina considering that seems to be the most common species around here, but i don't know how to identify blues. nobody does really, they just make it up for attention

(July 26th, 2024)

[thethingything]

It is not “coddling” to refrain from telling people “I hate you for the way you were born.”

When I say it hurts the feminist cause to consider men our enemy rather than just patriarchy itself, accusations of “coddling” are the most common response I get. I am not asking anyone to put men’s feelings over calling them out for misogyny they enact and perpetuate. I am talking about expressing sentiments in public or to men directly that you despise them for existing at all.

It’s one thing to be traumatized by sexism and vent your feelings about men amongst friends. But normalizing this as a part of mainstream feminism, making it so men have to see these sentiments when they engage with feminist content, drives them away from our movement. You can say men driven away by being openly hated never were going to be feminists in the first place, but I staunchly disagree. It says nothing about one’s views on oppression to not want to be around people who say they consider you an irredeemable monster no matter how hard you try to support them.

This is not about men’s feelings. I do feel that people should care about those too, including because as a transmasc I am extremely aware that seeing these sentiments harms trans men, such as preventing them from being out and transitioning for fear of being hated by those around them. But this is about what is effective in breaking down the structure of sexism. Excluding half the population from being our allies matters. Cis men should be able to use their privilege to shoulder some of the work of fighting sexism. How will they learn how to do so if we ostracize them?

Note: This is not saying that men who see women hating them and respond by becoming MRAs and whatnot are totally fine or women’s fault. It’s just that it is difficult for men to be vocal feminists when people base their feminism off of hating men.

[thethingything]

i love these wacky guys

[thethingything]

Cherry blossom axolotl 🌸

[thethingything]

Hi! This is kind of a weird question but how/why was influenza (and other diseases that we have vaccines for now) so deadly 100-200 years ago? Obviously vaccines help tremendously, and probably immunity over time, but are there other reasons that the flu was a much bigger deal a century ago? Sorry if this is oddly specific, but my current project is historical. Thank you!

This is a very interesting question and there are a couple of different ways of looking at it.

Let's start with influenza:

[Note: it's surprisingly difficult to get good worldwide flu data, so I'm going to use US numbers for the purposes of this post.]

I think the first thing to understand is that unlike many other infectious diseases, influenza is substantially different every year. That means that the immunity that you build in 2017 from either the flu or the flu shot won't necessarily help prevent you from getting the flu in 2023. By then it will be a different enough virus that your previous immunity won't be as helpful. Though it might make it a little milder. But keep reading, I'll give you some fun facts to share at parties:

We name flu (A) viruses based on two different proteins on the surface of the virus. The proteins are "H" and "N". There are 16 different "H" proteins, and 9 different "N" proteins that we currently know of. The combination of the two forms the "name" of a particular flu virus. Think H1N1, or H5N6, or any other combination. Each combination has their own attributes, which contributes to how infectious or deadly they are in any given year. And which ones circulate are different every year.

Just mathematically, that's a lot of substantially different flu viruses. Hundreds of them, in fact. And you have to build immunity to each one individually. You could, say, build immunity to H2N5, but that would do little to save you from next year's H4N3. And not only that, but within a single type there are many smaller variations. For example, say you got H5N3, but then it went and mutated. If you then got exposed again, you might have some immunity to new!H5N3, but it could also be just different enough that you still get sick.

Like I said above, different types of flu virus are deadlier or spread faster than others. H5N1 (a type of avian flu with a human mortality rate of 52%) is terrifyingly deadly but fortunately doesn't spread particularly well, while H1N1 (the star of both the 1918 and 2009 flu seasons) spreads rapidly and kills primarily young adults (weird, since flu usually kills babies and old people).

This is why in 2009 we did the whole "close the schools vaccinate the teens hide the president" routine. Because if it was *that* H1N1 we were all about to be screwed in ways we had never experienced before. Fortunately it wasn't, but thank goodness we did it. Also if you got vaccine #2 in 2009, you are also protected against the 1918 strain of H1N1. You're gonna be a hit at parties with that one.

Now, if you look at only deaths (not the best measure, but one with some emotional punch), within the last decade alone we have years where 12,000 people died of flu in the US (2011-2012) and years where that number is as high as 61,000 (2017-2018). These numbers are similar throughout recent history (relative to population), but then you get years like 1968 (where 100,000 people died in the US) and 1957 (where 116,000 died), and then sometimes you get these wild whopping years like 1918 where 675,000 died (equivalent to 1,750,000 people dying in today's US population). These fluctuations have happened since Hippocrates was around, and probably long before that, and there's really nothing to suggest it's getting any milder in any statistically significant way.

Now, outside of these natural fluctuations, we do have some ways of driving down these numbers. We do have a vaccine. It is different every year, based on our prediction of what the most likely or dangerous types of flus will be this year. Fortunately, you do get to keep this immunity for some time, so you can look at the flu vaccine as a personal collection of different flu viruses you have immunity to- you can collect 2-3 different ones every year in one shot and you didn't even have to catch them!! Yay! Unfortunately, since we never reach herd immunity with the flu vaccine, and we can't perfectly predict and incorporate all the strains that will circulate in a given year, while you do get some protection, it's not ever perfect. But it *is* still worth it.

We also have other feats of modern medicine as backup to the flu vaccine. We have oxygen, antiviral drugs like tamiflu, immune modulating drugs, and technology like ventilators to help keep people alive in ways we would not be able to in previous generations. So that's also an advantage. Unfortunately, these don't always work either, and we are still at the whim of those yearly fluctuations in influenza virus deaths.

And really, if you ask any epidemiologist, covid is just a little trial run for the next Big One. Which is both extremely likely to be a flu virus and which we're statistically overdue for.

TL;DR: The flu isn't getting milder so much as it varies wildly in severity every year. The next major flu pandemic is probably going to be in our lifetimes, so start collecting your flu immunity now if you haven't yet. New collections drop every August and are available until April. Get em' while they're hot. This year's included a 2009-like strain of H1N1 and a delightful H3N2 number from Hong Kong.

As for All the Other Vaccine Preventable Illnesses:

*ahem*

Yes, it's vaccines. It's obviously vaccines. Its basically only vaccines. Anyone who has ever told you it's not vaccines is lying. No other major discovery of modern medicine has ever saved as many lives, prevented as many disabilities, and created as many opportunities for a life well lived as vaccines have. No antiviral drug, no antibiotic, no ventilator can even hold a candle to vaccines. The answer is f*cking vaccines*.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Enjoy this table:

*Yes I do have a masters degree in public health and am a registered nurse that interacts with the public regularly, how did you know?

-Ross @macgyvermedical

[thethingything]

I’m gonna sparkle on this wednesday if it fucking kills me

[thethingything]

dawn dreaming 💕✨ buy a wallpaper or leave a tip / twitter / instagram / shop 

[thethingything]

Today is Wet Beast Wednesday!

Today’s wet beast is: Man-of-war Fish

Olive’s wet beast fact: this little fishy has evolved to live within the extremely dangerous tentacles of the Portuguese Man O’ War. It is here that the fish feasts upon their gonads. Happy Pride.

Stay tuned for more Wet Beast Wednesdays!

[thethingything]

[VIDEOS AND PHOTOS TAKEN: APRIL 27TH, 2024 | Video and Image IDs: A video and two photos of a tan, black, and orange tussock moth caterpillar crawling along a dirty black plastic surface. At around halfway through the video, an orange mite runs past the camera as well /End IDs.]

[thethingything]

Can you identify this caterpillar

Caterpillar ID:

So, this photo was taken in SE Brazil by Joao Burini (Diversidade Brasileira).

It appears to be a moth caterpillar in the genus Cucullia, family Noctuidae.

[thethingything]

The Special Words for the Growth Forms of Lichen

The special words for forms of lichen are almost as good as the special words for the textures of ants. The Foliose, The Crustose and The fruticose. Areolate, Filamentous, Placodioid, Byssoid and Calicioid Who can forget Cladoniform and the Squamulose!

And must we mention the Gelatinous and Leprose?

[thethingything]

my brain is all over the place but I guess this won't stop me from attempting amateur meteorology when I'm meant to be resting

[thethingything]

looking at some weather data maps and oh hey look at that little warm patch

and then in a few days it's forecast to get bigger

I'm sure as shit not an expert but that looks a hell of a lot like the start of a sudden stratospheric warming event and now I'm curious as to how this is gonna go, because with the other ones I've looked at, it's taken about a month from looking like the images above, to looking like these:

and then roughly another 2 to 4 weeks after that before the effects of it reach us down on the surface. that one on the left contributed to the British Isles cold wave in February 2018, and the one on the right caused the North American cold wave in 2021.

it might be too early to tell what it'll end up doing, but I think if we do see any effects from it, it'll probably happen between late December and mid January. it'll be interesting to see what happens at least

[thethingything]

forgot my night time garlic bread in the oven for the length of 2 mythbusters wpisodes and when i opened the oven door it was so thoroughly cremated that i was blinded not by smoke and ash but what surely must have been its Soul as well

[thethingything]

fun fact: this plant loves to move around for some reason. I'm pretty sure it's not from there being any airflow because none of the other plants near it are ever moving, and in the past it's done this when it's been in other locations.

it usually does it more if I move the planter to a new position that gets a different amount of sunlight, and then it usually stops shortly afterwards, but this time it's been doing it for weeks

it tends to wobble a lot, then slow down a bit, then go back to wobbling a lot, so there's kind of a pattern to the movements and I'm fascinated by whatever it's doing, but it's so hard for me to record it in a way that shows it clearly because my hands are too shaky, so this is the best video I've got of it

[thethingything]

NOvember. ive had enough

[thethingything]

I think the fact that our mystery neurological symptoms were already flaring up definitely isn't helping things, not to mention the fact that we seem to get nerve pain as a withdrawal symptom, but god there's just this fucking burning pain all the way down the ulnar nerve in our left arm along with the dull aching and random stabbing pains from the flu jab and it sucks so fucking bad.

I also have a fever and migraine and feel really nauseous but like I fully expected that to happen and also already had nausea as a withdrawal symptom. it would be nice to not feel like we're on the verge of throwing up all the fucking time though, especially since we do have emetophobia