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Submitter comment: I'd like to submit this '[s]tudy of defensive behavior of a venomous snake as a new approach to understand snakebite' not for it's topic (worth studying!) but for it's insane methodology, which... well, I'll just let the researcher speak for himself:

[Q: Why did you decide to do this experiment?

A: Snake behavior has been generally neglected as a field of research, especially in Brazil. And most studies don’t examine what factors make them want to bite. If you study malaria, you can research the parasite that causes the disease—but if you don’t study the mosquito that carries it, you will never solve the problem. Up until now, the popular wisdom was that the jararaca would only attack if you touched it or stepped on it. But that was not what we found.

Q: Why did you need to be the victim?

A: The best way to do this research is to put snakes and a human together. In this case, the human was me. We put the snakes inside a ring on the floor of our lab until they got used to it, then I stepped in wearing special protective boots. I stepped close to the snake and also lightly on top of it. I didn’t put my whole weight on my foot, so I did not hurt the snakes. I tested 116 animals and stepped 30 times on every animal, totaling 40,480 steps.]

From the recent (aptly named) interview: Researcher steps on deadly vipers 40,000 times to better predict snakebites

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Frog mentioned

Today I saw a leaf that looked like a frog and I was like haha nice and then it hopped because it WAS a frog and I started crying bc life is really full of everyday miracles including but not limited to experiencing frogs

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Considering getting a Rivian truck as my next vehicle

Nothing says unbeholden to shareholders like stealing from them

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“Now do a silly one”

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“‘As you wish’ was all he ever said. ‘Farm boy, fill these with water…please’ ‘As you wish.’ That day she was amazed to discover that when he was saying; ‘as you wish;’ what he meant was ‘I love you.’ And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.”

— The Princess Bride, 1987

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The bacteria at the waste treatment plant can have a little bit of grease as a treat

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I wish is was born in the late 1800s so I could publish a paper just by fucking around and feeding horses to frogs

“The first experiment to show the significance of thyroid hormone for metamorphosis was done by Gudernatsch (1912), who fed various (horse) tissues to tadpoles and noticed that those fed thyroid tissue went into premature metamorphosis”

Source: Rosenkidle, P. & Ussing, A. P. (1996). What mechanisms control neoteny and regulate induced metamorphosis in urideles? Int. J. Dev. Biol, 40(4), 665-673

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“The first experiment to show the significance of thyroid hormone for metamorphosis was done by Gudernatsch (1912), who fed various (horse) tissues to tadpoles and noticed that those fed thyroid tissue went into premature metamorphosis”

Source: Rosenkidle, P. & Ussing, A. P. (1996). What mechanisms control neoteny and regulate induced metamorphosis in urideles? Int. J. Dev. Biol, 40(4), 665-673

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Oh to be a shingleback in love

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Losing David Attenborough will be ten times as painful as Queen Elizabeth’s passing

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Not one of the girlies but testing a scented product for volatile organic compounds is so funny to me

i learned that in August 2014 Women’s Voices for the Earth commissioned testing of four types of Always menstrual pads, manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The certified laboratory STAT Analysis Corporation analyzed the products for volatile organic compound.

“The results of the testing indicate that both scented and unscented Always pads emit toxic chemicals, including chemicals identified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the State of California Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, and reproductive and developmental toxins. None of these chemicals are disclosed on the product by the manufacturer.” (x)

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Breaking: Investigation into recent outbreak of Bigfoot sightings instead unmasks a team of annoyed wildlife photographers in Ghillie suits

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“Two hundred years from today, some guy will be operating a computer the likes of which we can’t imagine. He will be talking to people on Mars and throughout the realms of outer space and some little gal will say to him, ‘Never mind all that beeping and booping with outer space. Get over here now. I miss you.’ And he will get over there now.”

-Ess, Ess, Mein Kindt by Harry Goldman

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In another life, I bet we were stray cats

Together in a bustling city, lost in an ever-changing world

No home, no possessions, no expectations

And our only sense of familiarity was each other

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My ideal date: a bonfire on the shore of a river

we split a bottle of wine while I identify frog calls

and fall asleep beneath the stars

until a water snake tries to cuddle too, thinking we’re suspiciously warm rocks

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Person interviewing me: “So, do you have any last questions for us?”

Me: “What makes you think you are worthy to judge the value of a man’s soul?”

Them: “Excuse me?”

Me, being forcibly escorted from the building: “THE SCALES OF ANUBIS WERE NOT MADE FOR MORTAL HANDS”

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The sheer ignorance surrounding COVID-19 even after all these years is absurd

As many Americans have died from it as every war combined if you exclude the confederacy because they don’t count