#Fluid measurement technology

[liquipvic]

Mastering Precision: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Flow Meters by Liquip Victoria

In the world of industrial processes and fluid management, precision is paramount. Electronic flow meters have revolutionized the way industries measure and monitor the flow of liquids and gases. Among the leading brands in this realm is Liquip Victoria, renowned for its cutting-edge technology and reliability. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the intricacies of electronic flow meters by Liquip Victoria, exploring their features, benefits, and applications.

Understanding Electronic Flow Meters: Electronic flow meters are devices designed to accurately measure the flow rate of liquids or gases passing through a pipeline. Unlike traditional mechanical meters, electronic flow meters utilize advanced sensor technology and digital displays for precise measurements.

Innovative Features of Liquip Victoria Flow Meters: Liquip Victoria electronic flow meters boast a range of innovative features, including:

High Accuracy: These meters offer unparalleled accuracy, ensuring precise measurement in various industrial applications.

Digital Display: Clear and intuitive digital displays provide real-time flow rate readings, enhancing monitoring capabilities.

Durable Construction: Built to withstand harsh environments, Liquip Victoria flow meters are constructed from robust materials for long-term reliability.

Versatility: With options for different fluid viscosities and flow rates, Liquip Victoria meters cater to diverse industry needs.

Easy Installation: User-friendly installation procedures simplify setup, minimizing downtime and operational disruptions.

Applications Across Industries: Electronic flow meters by Liquip Victoria find applications across a wide range of industries, including:

Oil and Gas: Monitoring fluid flow in pipelines and refineries for optimal production and safety.

Chemical Processing: Accurately measuring chemical flows in manufacturing processes to ensure quality and efficiency.

Water Management: Monitoring water usage and distribution in municipal water systems and wastewater treatment plants.

Food and Beverage: Controlling the flow of ingredients and beverages during production for consistent quality.

Pharmaceutical: Precisely measuring the flow of pharmaceutical ingredients in manufacturing processes to maintain product integrity.

Advantages of Liquip Victoria Flow Meters:

Enhanced Accuracy: Liquip Victoria flow meters deliver highly accurate measurements, minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency.

Remote Monitoring: Some models feature remote monitoring capabilities, allowing for real-time data access and analysis.

Cost Savings: By optimizing fluid usage and reducing waste, Liquip Victoria flow meters contribute to cost savings over time.

Compliance: Meeting industry standards and regulations, Liquip Victoria meters ensure compliance with accuracy and reliability.

Conclusion: Electronic flow meters by Liquip Victoria represent a pinnacle of precision and reliability in fluid measurement technology. With their innovative features, durable construction, and versatile applications, these meters are indispensable tools across various industries, contributing to efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness. For More Information Website : https://www.liquipvictoria.com.au/products/pumps-metres-and-fuel-management-systems/fuel-flow-meters/electronic-flow-meters Email ID :sales@liquipvictoria.com.au Phone Number : (03) 9311 7822

[nnctales]

Navigating the Depths: Unveiling the Intricacies of Tunnel Construction Works

Introduction Tunnel construction is a fascinating and complex realm within civil engineering, playing a crucial role in connecting regions, facilitating transportation, and overcoming geographical obstacles. As we delve into the depths of tunnel construction works, we uncover a world where engineering prowess meets geological challenges, creating passageways that redefine connectivity and…

[reasonsforhope]

"A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a real-time air monitor that can detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants that are present in a room in about 5 minutes.

The proof-of-concept device was created by researchers from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine at Washington University...

The results are contained in a July 10 publication in Nature Communications that provides details about how the technology works.

The device holds promise as a breakthrough that - when commercially available - could be used in hospitals and health care facilities, schools, congregate living quarters, and other public places to help detect not only the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but other respiratory virus aerosol such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as well.

“There is nothing at the moment that tells us how safe a room is,” Cirrito said, in the university’s news release. “If you are in a room with 100 people, you don’t want to find out five days later whether you could be sick or not. The idea with this device is that you can know essentially in real time, or every 5 minutes, if there is a live virus in the air.”

How It Works

The team combined expertise in biosensing with knowhow in designing instruments that measure the toxicity of air. The resulting device is an air sampler that operates based on what’s called “wet cyclone technology.” Air is sucked into the sampler at very high speeds and is then mixed centrifugally with a fluid containing a nanobody that recognizes the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That fluid, which lines the walls of the sampler, creates a surface vortex that traps the virus aerosols. The wet cyclone sampler has a pump that collects the fluid and sends it to the biosensor for detection of the virus using electrochemistry.

The success of the instrument is linked to the extremely high velocity it generates - the monitor has a flow rate of about 1,000 liters per minute - allowing it to sample a much larger volume of air over a 5-minute collection period than what is possible with currently available commercial samplers. It’s also compact - about one foot wide and 10 inches tall - and lights up when a virus is detected, alerting users to increase airflow or circulation in the room.

Testing the Monitor

To test the monitor, the team placed it in the apartments of two Covid-positive patients. The real-time air samples from the bedrooms were then compared with air samples collected from a virus-free control room. The device detected the RNA of the virus in the air samples from the bedrooms but did not detect any in the control air samples.

In laboratory experiments that aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 into a room-sized chamber, the wet cyclone and biosensor were able to detect varying levels of airborne virus concentrations after only a few minutes of sampling, according to the study.

“We are starting with SARS-CoV-2, but there are plans to also measure influenza, RSV, rhinovirus and other top pathogens that routinely infect people,” Cirrito said. “In a hospital setting, the monitor could be used to measure for staph or strep, which cause all kinds of complications for patients. This could really have a major impact on people’s health.”

The Washington University team is now working to commercialize the air quality monitor."

-via Forbes, July 11, 2023

-

Holy shit. I know it's still early in the technology and more testing will inevitably be needed but holy shit.

Literally, if it bears out, this could revolutionize medicine. And maybe let immunocompromised people fucking go places again

Also, for those who don't know, Nature Communications is a very prestigious scientific journal that focuses on Pretty Big Deal research. Their review process is incredibly rigorous. This is an absolutely HUGE credibility boost to this research and prototype

[bayporwave]

Utik

The utik (yoo-tik) are a sophont species the rakii came in contact with when they first landed on Tkrin, their second largest moon orbiting Rek. The utik were actually the first to even set foot onto it, as they had no other choice. After suffering massive damage to their ship, the utik were forced to land on the lunar surface and hope to survive or await help. Years later, the rakii show up, which started an a long, chaotic process of attempt of communication and debating ownership.

The bodies of the utik are actually not their true bodies. The actual sophont lies within the pearly cased cockpit. Utik like the Olac bio-mechs, mastered the technical art of bio-technology, having started on a very hot and humid planet. While unlike the Olac who switched to bio-technology as a means to evade a debilitating disease, the utik mastered it for years, working off various symbiotic organisms. Their mech suits, or cyborg bodies you could say are symbiotic, as after their nervous and circulatory systems are linked, the pilot has full control of the suit, having it feed off waste material from the pilot. The suit then takes the waste, replenishes it, mixes it's own formula into it and feeds it back to the pilot. Like a plant, it gets a lot of energy off light and other forms of UV Retaining it for hours. These suits are suitable (ha) for open space, and lunar terran for a limited time. However proper measures are made to keep the suits tidy from "space dust" so no one goes out "naked" and risk exterior damage.

(quick sketch of utik 'pooters n screens. NOT ENTIRELY FINALIZED)

However, this isn't their true form. At least they didn't start off like this.

Way before, after they reached the ultimate feat in their development, their star was noticeably suffering, as it was predicted to eventually turn into black hole. While they had years 'till then, there wasn't enough time to perfect their original forms for the long-term space travel. So. as best they could, they learned to carefully strip and reduce themselves to nothing more than squishy muscle and brain matter, beforehand creating living space suits and sleeper pods to maintain what's left. Several ships shot into space just in time before their star went dark and each ship jumped in different directions hoping to find and terraform a new world. This group of utik weren't so lucky, as said before.

Now for the first half of the year, rakii and utik were on some tense terms. A lot of internal debates on who gets the moon. While utik were capable of defense, they weren't in a great position to, and the rakii weren't sure how to proceed with their first extraterrestrial contact. (Non-religious turned contact I'd guess???) UNTIL, one day it was brought ahead that, the utik secrete an anti-radiation slime. Something they came with naturally, just cranked to 10.

At first, the rakii thought to use this fluid as an applicable substance similar to sun-block, required to apply pre-spaceflight. However, it was revealed that they are extremely allergic to it. So skin-contact was a big no.

(Unfortunate rakii subject applying utik-based lotion. Results: swelling in skin, which can further cause blisters and splits)

After several trials, they came to a conclusion of using it as a gel layering in space suits, capable of absorbing radiation and protecting the wearer.

This discovery brought up a plan and a deal. It was agreed, rakii and utik would share the moon, making their first ever alliance, in exchange the utik would allow the rakii to harvest this anti-radiation goop off them, of course while exchanging knowledge, and resources.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

I'm kind of brewing up a headcanon for engine aging where they have two ways they can age, and they're mutually additive. With time they age normally and at about the human rate give or take how hard they've been worked and chance and all those variables, up until they look about 50, no graying besides some slight tinges.

Then, they can also age, including their hairs going gray, as a measure of how conventionally obsolesced they are (for their power source -- all steam engines didn't instantly go gray once diesels were made practical in the 1940s, and diesels didn't come out of the shops gray seeing as electrics were quite popular in the late 19th century).

This is how the Iron Duke replica came out gray, and why Tornado didn't. However, she did still come out looking like an adult woman, and so will 84030; Beachy Head looks in his forties. In order for a new steam engine to come out baby-faced like high tech ones of the 1920s and 1930s did, you'd need to throw the ASTT book at them.

That kind of leads to a fight between various interests in the preservation/broader steam community. It would make running costs, maintenance, and emissions lower, but the fleet that wasn't retrofitted would age even further than they have since 1968, let alone their service days in the 1950s (kinda ruining the immersion during photo ops), while the academics who want to study fluid dynamics and fringe who just want steam of any sort in regular use with alternative fuels as a sustainability thing to replace all oil-dependent diesel traction (of course, renewable diesel does exist, but those of them that know about it would counter that we shouldn't be divesting foodstock to make fuels, when we have plenty of waste offgas and invasive plants to torrefy and burn instead) don't really care about the aesthetics of the locomotives of preserved lines in the middle of nowhere.`

I really the idea of their human features showing age relative to their technological obsolescence.

[booleanean]

Day 9 - Aphrodisiacs - Robots with Dicks

"Oh fuck, yes, yes," Carla panted.

She heard Felix scribble something on his clipboard. For an AI postdoc, he was oddly attached to pen and paper.

The Mk1's chassis had been completed weeks ago. Carla had stared at it, stood in the corner of their basement workshop, waiting for Felix to finish training the AI, until finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"Yes, harder, faster." Carla moaned as the robot's control loop interpreted the commands and thrust into her with greater intensity.

Every inch of it was as good as she could make it, artificial filament muscles covered in variably translucent silicone to visually measure performance, hydraulic actuators in the torso visible behind 3D printed transparent aluminium. Strength was about twice what the strongest human could achieve without modification or drugs, dexterity on par with the best industrial robots from ten years ago, but on a fully mobile base. It was the peak of humanoid robotics, right at the very bleeding edge of technology. Their research paper was going to omit certain additions she'd made to it, though she had been half tempted to see if they could win a Nobel and Ig Nobel for the same project.

Felix looked up long enough from his clipboard to stroke her hair.

"Feel good?"

"Oh fuck yes, I'm close."

Even the penis attachments were works of art. Integrated in a special modular pelvis, she'd created two prototypes. The one that was rocking her world right now was a basic steel shaft with an internal set of ducting keeping it at body temperature, and a separate network of microtubules dispensing lubrication along the entire length. Pressure transducers and temperature sensors fed back into the control loop, letting the robot respond to her physiological responses as well as her voice commands.

She was saving the other prototype for the full AI integration test. The basic functionality worked the same as a mammalian penis. Silicone stood in for flesh, with a body safe hydraulic fluid for blood, filling corpora cavernosa made of custom designed aerogel. It even had realistic skin that slid along the basic structure. The sensors were also inspired by biological systems, with increased density in the tip. The piece de resistance was a realistic set of testicles, weighted properly, that contained most of the operating mechanics and a fully functional ejaculation system tuned to mimic anything from a pathetic little dribble to a pressure and volume any porn star would sign away their immortal soul for.

She already had plans for another, more futuristic attachment with a direct magnetic nerve stimulator for the clit and g-spot.

"Fuck YES!" Carla screamed as she came.

The sensors in the robot's dick tripped the control loop into a new regime, keeping the same pace perfectly, matching her thrashing movements, letting her focus on nothing but her own pleasure. The impassive face, silicon lips pressed tightly together, eyes scanning her face mechanically, pulled her out of the moment a little but the perfect fucking it was delivering got her close to the edge again right on the heels of her first orgasm. Just before her pleasure peaked, the robot pulled back out of her completely and sat back on its heels between her legs.

"CONTROL LOOP FAILURE, SAFETY MODE ENGAGED."

She screamed her frustration at the abrupt feeling of emptiness and ruined orgasm so tight on the heels of such a good one.

"Fuck, that sucked." Carla tried to catch her breath. "Mk1, go stand in the corner."

"COMMAND UNCLEAR, PLEASE RESTATE."

She pushed it off the bed with her foot, the basic inverse kinematics keeping it stable as it shifted to the floor. At least that was still working.

"Walk forward four paces, turn forty-five degrees clockwise, walk two more paces, then go into standby mode."

Carla pulled at Felix's shirt, trying to get it off over his head while he tried to hold on to his clipboard.

"Are you going to take notes, or are you going to fuck me? The Mk1 clearly isn't up to the task yet."

He froze, then tossed his clipboard aside. They kissed as he fumbled his pants off. He was inside of her seconds later, rock hard. They'd fantasized together about being with other people, but never wanted to make it a reality. The fantasy was hot, real people was too far for both of them. When they'd been working on the Mk1 together, Carla had suggested a little side project. Felix clearly really got off on seeing her with it, he was rock hard.

"Yes, fuck me, fuck me." Carla rocked her hips against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. She held his gaze, urging him on. Within minutes, he had her back at the edge, years of being together had taught him exactly what she liked. She held herself there, holding back, waiting for him.

"Cum in me, fill me, yes, YES!" Carla felt Felix stiffen inside of her and then warmth flooded her. She let go and screamed his name as she came, "Felix, Felix, Felix!"

When he collapsed on top of her, she stroked his back. He was still inside of her, and she could still feel the occasional twitch of his cock.

"Of course! There was no path from the 'partner orgasm occurring' state into the 'partner orgasm starting' state! God damnit, I forgot to account for multiple orgasms in quick succession. Fuck."

Felix kissed her, muffling her last word. He pushed up on his hands, hovering over her, still inside. "The tensor farm should be done testing the latest model by 8pm. If this one is all green, we can probably have it installed by 10 and give it another shot with the AI this time."

"I'll rewire the state machine for the control loop in case there's any red tests still."

This had been their sex life for the last couple of months, since they started the project to build the ultimate sex bot. After, often with Felix still inside of her, they'd discuss ideas about what they could change, or features they had to have. This was the first time after a field test though.

"Did you like watching me with it?"

"Oh yes. God damn, that was hot."

"Would you ever want to try it? Both cocks are self lubricating, you know."

"Mmm, maybe. I want to see if we can get a threesome mode working first though."

After dinner they guided the bot back onto its stand in the basement workshop with a dozen cables leading to various parts to extract telemetry, recharge, and provide data connections for reprogramming. Carla was getting distracted trying to rewire the state machine, each possible transition suddenly causing both real and imagined sense memories. Felix looked tastier and tastier as she worked. He was futzing with parameters, rerunning partial tests on subsystems. The tests had all been green, but he'd had ideas to get everything optimized before their first live test.

By 2am, they had the first version of Felix's AI uploaded to the Mk1. She and Felix had curated a lot of videos from Pornhub over the last couple of months, finding performances they liked. Lots of hotwife scenes and threesomes, some bisexual stuff, but mostly relatively vanilla scenes. Carla had added some scenes where the male performer was a bit more rough than Felix was comfortable with doing himself, spanking and pinning wrists above heads. For vocal interactions, they'd retrained a large language model on erotica and textual descriptions of the scenes in the porn videos, generated by an off the shelf accessibility AI.

There wasn't any actual universal intelligence in the robot of course. This was a sexy version of an AI chat bot that most phones had built in now, combined with a convoluted control loop for its physical interactions. Simply a very clever way of giving the impression that something was smart, when really all it was doing was basic pattern recognition based on a predefined dataset.

"Want to give it a shot?" Felix asked, but Carla shook her head.

"I want you, not the bot."

Shutting the bot down for the night, Carla drew Felix upstairs back to their bedroom. As they made love, they teased each other with all the amazing things they'd do with the robot tomorrow and in the weeks to come.

The next weekend, Carla really had to admit Felix had been right. Her control loop version of the robot's software was good. It got her off just fine, but it was impersonal. As its designer, she had a hard time focusing on herself as she felt it roll into new control regimes. The AI felt much more human. He looked at you, used his hands for more than balance, and even showed some imperfections in his motions. He got (artificially) winded, slipped out, fell over, all the things a real human partner would do. The experience was so much more realistic, she sometimes forgot it was a robot fucking her if she couldn't see him.

She sat at her desk in their upstairs office now, working on the more serious portion of her research. They had run a series of strength and dexterity tests that afternoon, characterizing the robot's ability to maintain precision while assert force at different levels, and she was processing the data. Felix was downstairs in the lab, tinkering with parameters and adjusting the training data for the next version of the AI.

Carla heard the neighbor plug in his bass guitar, the amp turned way up. She muttered under her breath about people not respecting their tools. Didn't he know he could damage the speaker like that? The noise wasn't too bad, but listening to Seven Nation Army played by a spirited amateur over and over again didn't really appeal either. Her noise cancelling headphones were in the basement with Felix though, so for now she'd just suffer through.

Her phone beeped halfway through the neighbor's warmup.

Felix: Robot reacting to bass music. Carla: "music" Felix: He's getting better. Anyway:

The next message was the robot's dick, the biomorphic one, clearly at half mast.

Carla: Is he on? Felix: in standby Carla: Odd. Sensors recording? Felix: Yup, caught it before the buffer flushed. AI parameter log too. Carla: nice

Before she could really get back into her work, the neighbor finished Seven Nation Army. The next tune he played was the Pornhub sting. She almost spat out her drink. He did a pretty good version, though the lack of drums made it not quite perfect.

Before she could get back into her work, Felix yelled from down in the basement.

"Carla, come take a look at this!"

The Mk1 was standing in its alcove, still docked to all the various wires and cables. Felix was standing in front of it, studying the biomorphic cock. It was throbbing like a real one would.

"Remember how it was at half mast during the first song the neighbor was playing? Despite it being in standby? I think I figured out the reason."

The neighbor, who had just finished House of the Rising Sun, chose that moment to play another couple of Pornhub opening stingers. The Mk1 responded, humping the air slightly, his cock throbbing.

"You didn't cut out the intros on the training data so—"

"— now every time it hears bass music, and the Pornhub riff in particular, it gets aroused. It's still in standby, it's barely drawing current, but there's enough residual charge in the artificial muscle fibers for, well, this." He gestured at the robot's midsection, still rocking back and forth.

"Aren't the tensor cores supposed to be off?" Carla watched a slow drop of lubricant fall from the tip of the twitching robot cock.

Felix shook his head, "Some stay on to parse voice commands."

She reached out, touching the silicone cock. It was slick, the lubricant dispensers clearly activated. It was interesting to see that it was apparently simulating precum as well, despite that not necessarily being the focus of their training data. The artificial dick twitched at her touch, and she grasped it firmly, stroking up and down. A slow trickle of fake cum was leaking out the tip now, covering her hand.

"So we're thinking bass guitar is a robo-aphrodisiac then? Because you trained it on videos with Pornhub intros?"

"Mm-hmm."

"That's hilarious."

"And means I have to remove the intro from over fifteen hundred videos, and then retrain and retest the entire model." Felix sighed heavily. "Again."

"There's an ffmpeg command for that, surely."

"The trimming, sure."

Carla kept stroking the robot's cock, watching the artificial foreskin slide back and forth over the head.

"Seems like a shame to waste this though. It really shouldn't be erect out in the open air for too long, it's designed with the idea of at least some counter pressure. Also, it would be a shame to not gather some extra data. It might be interesting to have a robo-aphrodisiac function, though maybe something more specific that won't just trigger if someone forgets to unplug their Bluetooth speaker when they're going to rub one out."

Felix grinned at her, then nodded.

Carla pulled her sweat pants and top off, standing naked in front of the mechanical man. "Mk1, wake up."

The Mk1 went through his wakeup sequence, part mandated by technology, part for show because they were both massive nerds. The cables, mostly plugged in along his arms and back, ejected and retracted into the alcove like Neo waking up in the real world for the first time. The sound effect of Seven of Nine's alcove powering down at the end of her regeneration cycle played, and Mk1 took a single step forward.

"Hello Carla, nice to see you again. What would you like to do today?"

Felix had campaigned long and hard for the robot to say "Please state the nature of the sexual emergency" but eventually she had put her foot down. The chances of that ending up in a version they showed off at their defense were too high, and while Robert Picardo could get it, the Doctor was a bit too acerbic for her tastes.

She walked over to the mattress they kept in the basement for quick tests, standing at the foot. She was in the mood for something a bit more rough than just the vanilla stuff they'd tried with the bot so far, and this heightened state it was operating in seemed to be a perfect opportunity to try that out.

"Take me. Be a little rough."

Before, he'd always asked for confirmation before initiating anything sexual. It hadn't been hardwired, but the AI training data was heavily incentivized towards asking consent first. This time though, with three long, powerful strides he was inches away from her. The intensity of his movements were a little scary, but she had the utmost faith in her and Felix's work. Still, she took a half step back reflexively.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Felix asked.

Carla stood staring at the Mk1, transfixed by his gaze. She knew it was just servos and cameras and tensor cores running a neural network, there was nothing there, but she still couldn't look away.

"I need this," Carla whispered.

With that, Mk1 took one more step, pushing her over and onto the mattress. He guided her down as they tumbled, cushioning her fall a little and making sure her head didn't hit the ground, but it was still an intense experience.

Decided to fight a little, she tried to push him off. He gathered her wrists in one hand and effortlessly pinned her arms above her head.

"Pause," Carla said.

Immediately, the Mk1 froze. He still held her, but the pressure on her wrists was lower, and he held all his weight off of her.

"Good, that still works just fine. Resume."

The intensity the Mk1 showed was unreal. She'd enjoyed him before, but with this added level of robotic arousal added on top, she could finally completely lose herself in the act. There was no room for thinking about kinematics and control loops, muscle fiber force limits, defects, or additions to the training data. There was no worry about her partner's pleasure, no anxiety for her own performance. All that was there was her own pleasure, pure and uncomplicated.

She fantasized about a future where a Mk2 and Mk3 could join in with the Mk1, taking turns getting her off, letting them recharge and refuel in shifts as they spent an entire day teasing her from orgasm to orgasm.

Mk1's synthesized voice, indistinguishable from human despite being produced by a speaker rather than a voice box, let her know how good this felt for him. All artificial of course, but so necessary for a realistic experience. Soft moans, grunts, little gasps. Even simulated breathing growing shorter as he exerted himself. It had still sounded artificial to her previously, but now it just went straight to the pleasure center of her brain, letting her enjoy the moment even more. She came, crying out as he whispered her name in her ear.

Just as her wrists were beginning to hurt, he shifted, pulling her legs up against his chest. The new position let him reach new and interesting places inside of her, the intentional curve she'd put on his cock letting him hit her g-spot. As she approached her second orgasm of the afternoon, he started moaning louder, grunting. When she came, so did he. The twitching of his cock was entirely lifelike, his orgasm forceful enough she could feel it deep inside of her.

She lay there panting, and he emulated her, letting her bask in the moment. Felix had sat next to her on the mattress, watching her closely. She could see his erection clearly in his sweats.

"That looked intense," he said when she looked over to him.

"Oh yes. We definitely need this feature."

"Would you like to continue?" the Mk1 asked.

Carla flicked her gaze down to Felix's sweats then looked him in the eyes. "Join us?"

Felix grinned and started pulling his shirt off.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

The problems I have with HP's world building and the Wizarding World as a whole can be summed up perfectly with Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. Sounds like a appropriately whimsical treat for a secret magical society. But, they beans flavoured like bodily fluids. We know there's ear wax and vomit flavoured beans, but I bet there are... other flavours.

And the question is, why? Why do that? Why sell something to children where there's a chance they might end up eating a bean that tastes and smells exactly like human shit.

Like, obviously, Rowling wrote it as a funny bit in a children's book that I doubt she expected people to dissect and nitpick over twenty years after she wrote it. But, in-universe, it shows that wizards just lack basic common sense. it's a wonder they made it to the 21st century without going extinct.

As weird as it sounds, I actually find the wizarding world fascinating in that it makes an eerie amount of sense: it's just not what JKR nor anyone else thinks it is/what it's supposed to be.

There's a larger post to be made but to me the wizarding world reeks of an extremely isolated and inbred society, complacent in their use of a technology they no longer understand and slowly forgetting aspects of that technology including the underlying fundamentals, neighbors to very different societies they feel threatened by for all they won't admit as much, and a society that has roots in western traditions but missed out on much of the Enlightenment/Post Enlightenment British history.

So, we see a world that's like Britain but... not...

The professors are there to teach, not go provide emotional guidance or emotional intervention of any kind with the students (read anti-bullying measures). There doesn't seem to be a child welfare or any kind of welfare system in place (orphans get a stipend to attend Hogwarts, but we see no mention of a wizarding orphanage/foster care system or money allotted to those like Ron Weasley who are poor but not Muggleborn). There are two historians ever mentioned and from what we see of Hogwarts a History it is not a modern western historical approach that's covered there. Everyone's extremely closely related and there are no actual positions beyond those a) made for yourself through entrepreneurship b) the ever bloated Ministry. They have no understanding of Muggles at all and those who claim to or wish to tend to be... grossly offensive is the only word I can think of.

It's a great satirical world of a decaying society and, most important, not quite one we'd be familiar with.

But this has nothing to do with your actual question (well, it does, but it's tangential).

To get back to the damned beans, from what we see, the wizarding world loves practical jokes and slapstick humor. Given they're wizards, serious injuries seem relatively easy to repair. If you start vomiting slugs all day, there's a potion for that. If you lose your bones, there's a potion for that. Blow off your hands, there's probably a potion for that.

What that means is that physical injuries in the wizarding world tend not to really matter. Unless you're using dark curses (see Bill's torn up face in HBP), you can probably get whatever it is fixed quickly. Which means that wizards find slapstick style practical jokes very funny.

Which gets us back to the candy.

The beans aren't alone, there are also the acid pops that actually burn through your tongue, blood pops that taste like blood, chocolate frogs which will jump away from you, ice mice that do... something I forget, but point being that we see wizards get very excited about the prospect of not only magic in their candies but some element of danger/just awfulness with it.

That's the exciting gamble of the beans. Sure, you might end up with a nice flavor, you might, but then you could end up with vomit or diarrhea flavored. When the latter happens, you can make a big show to your friends, "OH NO, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! OH HELLS, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! THIS IS THE WORST! I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN!" and everyone laughs at and with you over your terrible rotten luck over getting the vomit bean while Jimmy over there got strawberry.

It's kind of like a demented version of playing one of the first few editions of Mario Party: someone's going to be fucked over, that's just how the game goes, the delightful enjoyment of it is seeing who the loser is and lording it over them when you steal all their stars they eat the vomit bean.

Basically, you're kind of right about Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean. They exist because it's funny, I just think the wizards find it funny too.

[sevenofninehouseofmusiker]

First Contact canon says that Borg cubes are hot (39.1C and 92% humidity) but I don’t think that makes sense. I’ve always headcanoned Borg drones and xBs as cold, with little/no blood flow (but maybe some other fluid). The cold (like cryogenesis) preserves the remaining organic matter in a drone, and would keep the technological components functioning (like server rooms — all the money goes to venting heat and humidity). So in my mind Borg cubes and such would actually be incredibly cold.

EXCEPT FOR when they’re diseased/infected.

Okay now I’m going to tinfoil hat for a second here: what if we only *think* Borg cubes are always that hot, because the only times people have been able to measure it (aka people have been on a Borg cube) the observer effect skewed their perception. They assume it’s always that hot, but actually that was the cube’s inflammatory response to weaken and subdue foreign bodies (aka the Starfleet crew members who’ve been on cubes)

The goal is to burn out the infection before they burn their own cells (drones) out. It’s a very risky approach to killing off infections and surviving illness, but it’s incredibly effective — which is why we do it.

So maybe the Borg learned and adapted it from us.

And the lil security drones whose whole job is just targeting and destroying intruders are T cells?!

And they remember all the species they’ve encountered previously, so they *adapt* their defenses accordingly when they run into repeats

So Borg ships are kind of alive, and kind of large organisms with immune systems made up of the drones that live on them, and the Queen had a very special sort of symbiotic relationship with the ship through which she can manipulate all the moving parts and cells. They’re like bees or something.

Like, she can manipulate the ship itself as well as all the moving parts. She interfaces and *connects* with it in a way no other drone or organism can.

It’s kinda symbiosis????

they’re bees! or something! and despite all their big talk about biological and technological superiority, they still depend very heavily on some very basic matter and organisms, and the sum can only be as perfect as its stolen parts.

So I have a headcanon:

Let’s pretend cubes are actually fucking freezing. Like server rooms (I mean that’s kind of what they are, after all)

And similarly, drones are cold to the touch, maybe even cold “blooded” ?

Like. The nanoprobes, plus whatever other fluid that information and energy travel through their bodies in would be cold, to preserve all of their implanted tech. And the cold would also preserve the organic matter after the severe trauma of assimilation, keep the inflammation down and suppress the drone’s organic body’s immune response in addition to the stabilizing lithium ions.

Seven grew up traveling through space with her parents, and then she “slept” in the cargo bay on her first “home” post severance, so she’s accustomed to the cold.

And a paraphrase of a song lyric got me here: “and I’ve been freezing since the day I walked away”

Because, ultimately, Seven did get to choose to walk away from the collective herself (tho not the first time she was briefly severed, of the first half a dozen times Janeway chose for her. And she eventually walked away from Janeway herself.)

And there’s something here about being part of a collective — two, even, counting voyager — and still not having felt that warmth of family, of shared space, of connection. Even her bio family was more concerned with pioneering science than keeping each other safe and their child tethered to a home, connected to some kind of community. They walked away from that when they left their colony, robbed Seven of it when they took their young daughter with them.

Anyway, Seven chose not returning to the collective. Seven chose not leaving voyager for think tank, not staying in the delta quadrant and instead returning with voyager to their home. Not hers.

And then she chose abandoning the idea of Starfleet instead of trying futilely to plead her case and having to prove herself to another body of people she didn’t belong with, wasn’t human — wasn’t *warm* enough, in interaction and constitution — enough for.

She chose herself over that collective, too.

Seven chose to walk away from Bjayzl — after she’d probably traumatized her beyond recognition, but still.

And she spends years as a ranger on her own, on ships that are falling apart, and she probably has to prioritise which systems to repair.

And she probably never bothers to fix environmental issues that affect the ships heating.

Maybe it gives her an advantage against enemies that board her.

Maybe it numbs her, emotionally but also all her aches and chronic pains and nerve damage.

Maybe it makes her stiff, rigid, unyielding, keeps her from bending to someone else’s will ever again. Maybe it keeps her distant, emotionally and physically. She’s always been cold to the touch anyway. People always startle when they touch her.

And No one touches her now, anyway.

Maybe it reminds her of her roots, of where she belongs, where she’s eventually going to end up (drifting in space, because burying an xB is asking for pollution and graverobbers). Maybe it reminds her who she is.

And people have always found her cold in the way she interacts, all objective reasoning and no immediate friendly warmth. Starfleet probably saw that as a shortcoming, a lack of diplomatic and relational ability.

She’s always defaulted to honesty and efficiency, doesn’t have time anymore for faux warmth and developing familiarity.

Where Raffi is all warmth. Immediate affection, bundles of soft blankets (all of which have stories, were gifts from people or were her friends when she had none), smoke and sweat and desert sun, hot hands and beaming smiles, emotions that just radiate off of her physical body, heat that lingers in places she’s spent any amount of time, traces of her everywhere she lays her hands and lends her ear and offers her shoulder.

Raffi knows how to lie and manipulate, to keep the lines open in case she needs something next time, who can keep a mark wrapped around her little finger or keep an all out war from breaking out with a little sweet talk and several favors from friends

Raffi knows how to get close, how not to burn a bridge. How to hold Seven’s stone cold heart in her hands and keep it intact despite her heat, protect it from the external elements, the freezing harsh vacuum of space, of all that space Seven holds between herself and everyone, everything else. Raffi is the one to gradually coax her into relaxing, even basking in warmth

if human intrusion on a cube warrants an immune system-esque response, then maybe Seven initially responds to Raffi that way too. Like, just inherently.

I’m talking body being unreasonably warm when Raffi’s around, maybe a little shaky, getting flushed and lethargic and feeling…off. (But not necessarily negatively!)

And Seven is afraid of being vulnerable, of sitting still and getting attached and falling ill. She can’t afford to let someone in.

So she quarantines from the probable source of her symptoms — except actually maybe she likes how Raffi makes her feel, and maybe she feels worse when Raffi’s not around.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

does/can type 1 diabetes exist in Time Lords/Gallifreyans? or would the technology be advanved enough to cure it?

Does diabetes exist in Time Lords?

In humans, diabetes is a condition characterised by issues with insulin production (Type 1) or insulin resistance (Type 2). For Gallifreyans, while their advanced biology provides some natural defences, they're not completely impervious and deal with a slightly different set of issues:

1️⃣Type 1 Diabetes in Gallifreyans

Manifestation and Symptoms:

In humans, Type 1 diabetes is characterised by the immune system declaring an unprovoked war on pancreatic beta cells, reducing or halting insulin production. For Gallifreyans, a similar autoimmune response could theoretically target cells or mechanisms involved in their glucose regulation - namely, X1 blood cells.

Given that X1 cells are responsible for transporting glucose, an autoimmune attack might disrupt this process, leading to irregular glucose levels despite their naturally higher baseline (8.9-11.7 mmol/L).

Symptoms might include a rollercoaster of energy levels and cognitive hiccups due to glucose imbalances.

Diagnosis and Management:

Gallifreyans would be born/loomed with Type 1 diabetes, possibly due to genetic predispositions or anomalies during the looming process.

Diagnosis would likely involve advanced biometric scanning and analysis of blood composition, focusing particularly on the functionality of X1 cells and their glucose transport capacity.

Treatments could involve cellular regeneration, genetic editing, or immunotherapy alongside your standard spacey-wacey machine™* to regulate glucose levels or cure it completely. And, of course, the simplest way to cure anything is regeneration, but it is probably a bit drastic and not a guaranteed fix if the condition is inherent in their genetic makeup.

2️⃣Type 2 Diabetes in Gallifreyans

Manifestation and Symptoms:

Type 2 diabetes, typically associated with insulin resistance, is far less common in Gallifreyans due to their efficient glucose management and general physiological Certificate of Excellence. This condition could develop at any time in a Gallifreyan's life, potentially due to lifestyle factors or physiological changes.

It might manifest as a reduced efficiency of X1 cells in glucose transport despite normal insulin production. Basically, the X1 cells have suddenly become slackers.

Symptoms could be subtler and might include reduced efficacy in their regenerative abilities and a slight decrease in overall vitality.

Also, because their homostatic mechanisms are so 'on-fleek', they'll start trying desperately to compensate, most notably in physiological cues, including dietary adjustments, increased exercise, stress management, and fluid intake adjustments.

Diagnosis and Management:

Preventive measures would likely be a key focus, with monitoring of individual health parameters to detect any early signs of insulin resistance.

Treatment could involve lifestyle interventions, although these might be more about fine-tuning. Additionally, advanced therapies to enhance X1 cell function or counteract insulin resistance at a cellular level could be employed. And you can always rely on your spacey-wacey machine™ for a complete cure.

Again, regeneration is an unnecessary drastic solution, but unlike Type 1, it would be effective in completely curing Type 2.

⚕️Holistic Approach

Gallifreyan medical technology approaches things more holistically, considering the interplay of their unique blood components, endocrine functions, and immune responses. The use of advanced diagnostics, personalised medicine, and possibly even real-time monitoring and adjustment of physiological parameters would be standard practices in their healthcare system.

🏫 So ...

In Gallifreyan society, while diabetes may not be as prevalent or manifest in the same way as in humans, it's a condition that their medical technology is well-equipped to manage. And if it can't manage it, there's always regeneration, but don't be wasting those bodies, now.

*A spacey-wacey machine™: any piece of equipment that can magically do future-y things because, well, sci-fi.

Related (kind of, not really):

Do Time Lord-specific disabilities exist?: Types of disabilities specifically for Gallifreyans, both known and theoretical.

Can disabilities persist through regenerations?: The nature of inherent and regeneration-specific disabilities.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[galaxyharlot]

Having a day and need to distract myself so I'm going to over analyze a throw-away line from Speed Racer 2008. Any mention of Speed Racer in this essay is in regards to that movie.

Before reading this understand that Speed Racer is a movie about macro economics effecting the individual. Any science talk is just flavor to that, and studies like this take a lot of liberty.

"Pops. Thats a Bernoulli Converginator!" "Transponder Shmonder. You want real kick you go Bernoulli."

What the fuck is a Bernoulli Converginator and why is it a big deal.

Now. First assumption. Bernoulli is a companly like Edison Motors or Tesla. Named after someone famous in the history of physics and electronics and speed.

I'm watching a video about Spider-Man 2, and how to make a good sequel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCVYDrtecDY

In it we hear Doc Ock talking to Peter about Bernoulli, and Peter asks "Did Bernoulli sleep before he found the curves of quickest descent?"

I'm going to assume that this was a well researched line, because Spider-Man 2 tries to be at least somewhat accurate with its real world physics, I think.

Looking it up, the Bernoulli family lineage has a lot of mathematics in it. Daniel Bernoulli is who we're talking about in regards to Speed Racer, for sure. His findings lead to the invention of the carburetor.

Sidebar: He was friends with Euler. I wonder if Speed Racer Universe has a company called Euler. They created a theory that explained how steel can bend without cracking. The racing cars in Speed Racer, the T-180, are essentially jets with wheels. They don't turn the wheel to turn the wheels. They turn the wheel to turn the engine.

Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or the fluid's potential energy

Another sidebar, apparently Mach is the measure of how fluids relate to the Bernoulli Principle. No clue what that relationship is. From what I can garner, it has to do with the idea that going faster fucks with the pressure of air impacting the thing going fast.

Actually, I don't think thats a sidebar. I think that can lead to the answer of "what the hell is a Bernoulli Converginator". We have an answer to what the Bernoulli half is now. Its short for Bernoulli's Principle, which has to do with Mach speeds and how they influence the pressure around something going fast.

That leads to the next question, what is a converginator? Converginator as far as I can tell is something that the Speed Racer movie came up with. So, lets break it into its principle parts. Converginate and "or". "Or" is usually a suffix that means "something that does the thing being modified". Convergence is the act of unifying, in multiple definitions. So, this is a device that unifies bernoulli's principle.

What the heck does that mean. We know that it makes things go fast, and its a power supply, and it has kick. Another throw away line with lots of weight becomes important here.

Actually, rolling back a bit first. Some more bits about the converginator. When they get the Mach 6 Car going, it starts up sounding like a V12 Engine. Or as Speed puts it, "Sounds beefy Pops."

So something about it has something similar to gearing. The design of it reflects that too. It looks like a scifi version of 6 piston engine. T-180s are all electric. So what the heck is making that noise? For right now, I'm going to either assume magnets or something causing a lot of increase or decrease to pressure.

Might be important to talk about why they're using a Converginator. The finale of the movie showcases the battle between new technology optimized by a company, and a dedicated practice working with the tools they know for the customer they know. The company they're up against created a car that uses something called the Transponder. I'm going to ignore that for now, or until this essay decides its suddenly relevant. What we need to focus on now is how a Bernoulli Converginator works to Speed's abilities and knowledge.

Now, onto that important throw away line. Speed spins out, and his car stalls, and these races don't do pit crews. He has to figure out how to get it running again, and he can only rely on the foresight of Pop's designing, and his own knowledge of that design. That foresight leads to him remembering that he can jumpstart the car with the Bernoulli Converginator. So, this thing has to be making power somehow. Either that, or its messing with potential energy.

The fluid in this case is probably air, given that aerodynamics is important. This thing can turn air pressure into electricity. Thats pretty damn cool. It reduces the pressure of the air around the car, and turns that pressure into electricity. Converting that air's potential energy into kinetic energy. This lines up with the movie I think, cause when Speed does that, he fuckin zooms. Cars don't just magically go faster than their top speed. This guy didn't just jumpstart his car. He made a mario panel speed boost to the finish line with an expert supermove that only the bernoulli converginator can do.

[warningsine]

A small new trial published in the journal Nature Medicine describes what would be two firsts for Parkinson's disease, if they pan out: a diagnostic test and a potential immune-based treatment that works similarly to a vaccine. The research is still early, but researchers are excited by the prospect of advances for a disease that lacks good diagnostics and treatments.

The target of both innovations is alpha synuclein, a protein that takes an abnormal form in Parkinson's patients—aggregating in their brains and destroying nerve cells involved in motor and some cognitive functions. While researchers have long known that these proteins are involved in the disease, finding ways to measure and target them has not been easy.

The (potential) Parkinson's vaccine

The Florida-based biotech company Vaxxinity developed a vaccine, or what it calls an active immune medicine, to train the immune system to attack only abnormal versions of the protein—which are improperly folded—and not the regular forms. This would essentially help people's bodies treat themselves.

“The idea is that patients should recognize their own misfolded proteins, and it is personalized because their own immune systems are doing the work,” says Dr. Mark Frasier, chief scientific officer at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which funded the testing part of the study.

The Parkinson's test

The new diagnostic test for Parkinson’s, which was developed by researchers at University of Texas and Vaxxinity, uses samples of cerebrospinal fluid to measure a person's levels of abnormal alpha synuclein. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants it full approval, it will become the first test for diagnosing Parkinson's. (The FDA classified it as a breakthrough device in 2019, a status that expedites access to innovative technologies where there is unmet need.) “Without [such a test], you’re kind of shooting in the dark,” says Mei Mei Hu, CEO and co-founder of Vaxxinity.

Alpha synuclein has been tricky to measure in the body for several reasons, says Frasier. While everyone has the protein, abnormal forms of it occur in relatively small amounts, so they're harder to detect via imaging. This type of alpha synuclein also tends to clump inside cells rather than outside of them, making it even harder to see. If clumps are large enough to become detectable, they can look structurally similar to amyloid or tau—the proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease—so imaging tests might misdiagnose people with Alzheimer’s rather than Parkinson’s.

Read More: Michael J. Fox: Chasing Parkinson's Treatments

The test overcomes those hurdles by cleverly exploiting normal forms of the protein. Parkinson’s experts believe that tiny amounts of abnormal alpha synuclein circulate in the spinal fluid of patients, but are too small to be detected through imaging. To run the new test in the study, researchers take normal forms of the protein in the lab and add them to samples of spinal fluid from patients; that prompts any misfolded protein that might be present in the samples to pull the normal proteins into misfolded aggregates, amplifying the signal for the abnormal form. Scientists then use a fluorescent probe to detect how much antibody to the misfolded protein patients generated, resulting in a biomarker, or stand-in for the treatment effect.

This test would be a critical advance because it makes it possible to identify patients with abnormal alpha synuclein at the earliest stages of the disease, when treatments might be more effective.

With more data from patients, researchers hope to further refine what different levels mean, so that the test will be able to tell not just if a person has Parkinson's but whether someone might be at a greater risk of developing it. Currently the test is only used in research studies, but more results like these—as well as data on whether the same process can be applied to blood samples—could speed the test to getting approved for wider use.

What the study found

The trial—conducted by researchers at the University of Texas, the Mayo Clinic, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Vaxxinity—included 20 people with Parkinson’s. It was just designed to test the safety of the approach, so the study only provided hints about the treatment's effectiveness. Everyone received three shots over nearly a year; some contained the treatment at different doses, and some contained a placebo.

Overall, people receiving the vaccine generated more antibodies against the abnormal alpha synuclein protein than those vaccinated with placebo, as measured by the Parkinson's test. Antibodies started to ramp up about four months after the vaccinations began.

“What is unique about our technology is that it can stimulate the immune system to produce very, very specific antibodies against toxic forms of alpha synuclein, and do it in a safe way, which is reassuring,” says Jean-Cosme Dodart, senior vice president of research at Vaxxinity and senior author of the paper.

According to the test results, about half of the patients in the trial showed high levels of antibodies against the misfolded alpha synuclein, and most of these patients received the highest dose of the vaccine. They also scored the highest on motor and cognitive tests. There were too few patients to adequately assess any changes of Parkinson’s symptoms, but the researchers believe that longer follow-up with those tests, and potentially more frequent or higher doses of the vaccine, could lead to improvements in those scores. “The results are very, very encouraging,” says Dodart.

“This paper demonstrates that in a small number of people, the vaccine is having an impact on misfolded alpha synuclein, which is really exciting,” says Frasier. “We are now in the biological era for Parkinson’s disease."

[cinnamonest]

You mentioned Dain getting the Pomeraniussy but does Dottore sleep with the rat girl in more ways than one

Mmyes getting that rodent coochie is the endgoal here

At first though, he’s going to frame it as something for experimental, research purposes. Hybrids have much less qualms with nudity compared to people, many feel more comfortable without the scratchy, pesky clothing, and only wear it because human society insists they have to.

It starts with something tail-related. Like most mammals, your tail is an extension of your spine, directly connected to the bottom of your back, surrounded by flesh. But unlike other mammals, it has no fur, and the bright pinkish color to it is a different tone from the rest of your skin. Yours, sadly, cuts off right in the middle, a blunt end rather than gradually narrowing down to a tip like it used to at full length.

But with a human body, you’re still sensitive to touch. His hands move across the bottom of your spine, it makes you shudder. But it’s important.

Or so you think. You don’t question it. He knows what he’s doing, you assume, this must be necessary. Getting you to strip down every day, running hands up and down your sides. He grabs onto your nipples, pinches and pulls at them in an attempt to get you to make that signature little squeak. Tolerance testing, he says. Although your tolerance never seems to improve, as you always squeak the moment he pulls (or sometimes even before – he does this test so often that your poor nipples are getting sore to the touch).

And as for him, well, he’s thinking to himself that he really had the right idea when he told the underlings to acquire a rat. If you were a human with a normal understanding of things, you’d be thrashing around, calling him all sorts of awful names… although that could be cute, too.

Likewise, he’s looking to better understand the difference between hybrid and human bodies, so he has to run other test on you. Measuring your proportions, including internal ones. So, be good, don’t squirm (or else), sit down and put your legs up into the surgical stirrups… it’s easier and less technologically involved to just use his fingers. Curls them inside of you… yes, you seem to have the same sensitivities in the same locations as a human would. And if he does it long enough, stimulates various parts of you at the same time, eventually you spasm and shudder and sometimes even squirt some fluid out of you. You apologize the first time that happens, but he says it’s fine, that that’s actually good.

In truth, the hybrid body has been studied and documented thousands of times... but you don't know that, nor do you stop to think through it logically. You also can't tell the difference between when he's actually writing something on the paper versus just making a quick scribbling motion, as it turns out. Eventually he stops even doing that, and you don't notice.

You go through similar tests daily. You never think to mention it to anyone, and besides, even if you did, the underlings would just stiffen and act like it’s totally normal rather than dare cause issues.

Eventually, though, you are told you will be contributing to a very important study, in which you will be the subject of observation. Cross-species gestation and birthing. Very important, big leaps for medicine or something, the same repetitive verbiage that he always uses to quell any protest on your end, the lines come out without having to put any thought into it. Getting to breed with human masters is also seen as a good thing to your kind, it means they love and appreciate you, so if anything, you’re enthusiastic.

…It does hurt a bit though. Some hybrids like dogs or cats will have extra durable flesh on their jugular and shoulders, because their kind bite when they mate. Yours doesn’t… so you’re not prepared for it. You didn’t know humans bite when they mate. You assume it’s a normal part of the process, much like the continual grabbing and pinching your nipples again, pulling on your tail, all sort of little things to get you to make that little squeak, over and over, euphoric to the ear. Sometimes you’re given injections beforehand that change the way things feel, make you warm, make you dizzy.

You’re allowed to rest after a while, though… and although he’s always oddly quiet afterwards, he still picks you up, wipes off the various fluids, puts you back in bed to rest, gives you a pat on the head and scritches behind (what remains of) your ears. It makes you feel useful. And although he used to get up and go back to working on other things while you sleep, sometimes if you shuffle over and squeak in protest loudly enough, he’ll stay with you for a while. You hope it’s not too demanding.

[fennfromthefen]

Home

FFF prompt 265: galaxies away

@flashfictionfridayofficial

JD7⁷, or "Judy" as the human on board had been most recently calling it, was the navigational system of the Galactic Gate. State of the art technology, all employed for the passengers' safety. Real-time re-routing and autopilot. A state of the art system the human was currently using without permission. Their hands were clenched around each control stick, desperately pulling them in each direction, with seemingly no regard for how dangerously they were making the ship move. They were barely even sitting in the seat correctly.

'Human, Stop this at once!' The pilot of the ship, Kragbnai, hang onto the door frame of the cockpit. 'You can't do this, hijacking a passenger rocket. Passenger safety comes first, not where-ever you've ranked it.'

Rhys didn't bother responding. He had come up with a system a few years ago: if the crew on board insists on referring to him by species, he would insist in not listening. He quickly glanced at the nearest screen. 'Go check if there's anymore power anywhere we could re-route to the engines, will you?' Before Kragbnai could reply, Rhys made sure to add in a cheery thanks to extinguish any chance of arguing back. He watched the pilot scramble for an answer before grudgingly getting to work. Rhys gave them a cocky smile for extra measure, enjoying teasing before joyously talking to JD7⁷ about his home planet, returning to navigating.

'Judy said she'd finally located home, and couldn't ask permission for a detour considering the distance, but-'

Every word Kragbnai heard just left him more confused. The human's gushing focusing on green-filled forests one minute, death-traps of barren land the next. He was starting to believe this was all some elaborate lie. Where he came from, good old Lorinvgi, the sky definitely wasn't designed to release fluids, and the ground definitely wasn't meant to vary dramatically in properties. Just glorious plains, supplying much needed food and materials to its gracious inhabitants. Its children, if you would like to believe. He glared at Rhys for a while, trying to make sense of his ramblings. He needed to be reminded he was a subordinate here. Not a captain, not a pilot, not even security. 'I'm in charge, move over.' Kragbnai pushed his way in front of Rhys, trying to pry his hands off the controls. 'Where are you taking us, anyway? Spontaneous joyride?'

‘“Judy” is just code. An it. Not a she. And… just why? We’re not even in the right galaxy.’

Rhys finally released the controls from his grip, limply slumping into Kragbnai’s chest. He titled his head down to rest his face against their shoulder, muffling his voice. 'I just want to see home.'

Kragbnai hadn’t been able to think of a reasonable response. A maintenance worker can’t just barge in, demanding to take the passengers hundreds of galaxies away from their destination on a whim, it’s irresponsible! “Want to see home”, the passengers want to stay close to theirs. To know where they are, that they can get back home. Kragbnai looked at the monitor showing the path the human- Rhys was attempting. Rhys’ arms found their way around Kragbnai’s body, squeezing his waist. He twisted his head around to look at Kragbnai, still partially talking into his shoulder, ‘Please?’

[bleachbleachbleach]

Holy Hospital Monitor!

Was anyone else besides me utterly surprised when we saw Rukia and Renji in the trauma center and then we got a shot of a very modern looking patient monitor???

It wasn’t the presence of the monitor that surprised me — more of that fact that I never considered shinigami to have biological bodies. In my mind, they are made up of reishi particles that happen to take the approximate form of a human body. Why would their vital monitoring equipment look anything like the ones for humans?? This is still utterly amazing to me. I couldn’t help but see how their bodies might work though.

Taking a closer look:

First of all, the top and bottom monitors on the left side read exactly the same, so LOL? Renji and Rukia are of one heart/mind/soul and apparently also, vital signs. Let’s just assume the bottom monitor is a duplicate of one patient for some reason. We are told that both patients are “stable” but I don’t think "stable" necessarily means “identical” LOL.

At first I thought this monitor belonged to Rukia, because we get this shot while she is talking. However, upon closer examination, it has to be Renji’s because he is the only one on a ventilator. And this monitor set up is measuring end tidal CO2 (EtCO2), which is only possible if there’s something on the face to measuring breathing. Although, I guess it is possible that Soul Society has made some medical/technological advances so that they would have a non-invasive way of measuring breathing. But Rukia is also talking during this scene, which would mess up her breathing anyway, and the monitor remains steady the entire time. So, back to Renji. 

EtCO2: End tidal CO2. At 42 mmHg this falls within normal range. But, this is… not exactly a normal waveform. The breaths are a bit short  with somewhat of an obstructive/bronchospasm pattern. Someone should probably take a look at him to make sure he’s breathing correctly and there’s nothing wrong with the ventilator.

BP: Blood pressure. I’d like to point out this is very close to that 120/80 number that gets cited all the time, which is at the top end of what is considered “normal.” The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is 95, which is also normal and means there’s good perfusion to the organs and extremities! Renji gets a gold star for textbook blood pressure. Considering he had some massive blood loss though, I would be very surprised if he had normal blood pressure… I suppose they could’ve given him a blood transfusion and probably got him on a really impressive fluid regimen and pressers lol. The waveform on the big monitor looks kind of weird too though? The dicrotic notch is pretty flat and the waveforms are pretty spaced out… Maybe they’re measuring from a central line that’s in a distal extremity, like a foot. As for the waveform on the small monitor… I think that’s supposed to be another arterial blood pressure but LOL it looks like it’s coming from a different person. It’s on a different scale, but the pulses look way faster regardless.

SpO2: Oxygen saturation. At 97% this is a normal reading. This measures the amount of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin, so this suggests shinigami have normal blood like humans…? I have no idea what’s going on with the waveform though, because this doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen. The waveforms are facing the wrong way….? 

HR: Heart rate (and ECG/EKG). 72bpm is a normal heart rate for an average adult human. However, given that Renji is 1) unconscious and 2) in very good cardiologic shape, this seems a little high to me. I have no baseline to compare this to though. Maybe shinigami have little rabbit hearts or something and this is a low resting HR. This EKG reading though… OH BOY. People spend many years learning how to properly read EKGs, so I’m not even going to try and diagnose what’s going on here. There’s a whole lot of noise in the R-R interval (the line between the tall peaks), which could be indicative of some kind of fibrillation, except it’s also regularly irregular. Suffice to say, this is not what a normal waveform looks like. Maybe this is proof of shinigami hearts working differently?

Conclusion: Well, all the waveforms are consistent (stable), if a little wonky by human monitoring standards. The numbers (EtCO2, BP, HR, and SpO2) all read normally too! Interesting to consider that maybe no matter what, the metrics needed to sustain life are the same as they are for humans, but the internal workings of the body (the pattern waveforms) are completely different!

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Novel measurement technique for fluid-mixing phenomena using selective color imaging method

A novel measurement technique has been developed to visualize the fluid flow and distribution within two droplets levitated and coalesced in space using fluorescence-emitting particles. This technique enabled the estimation of fluid motion within each droplet, thereby revealing the internal flow caused by surface vibration when the droplet merging promotes fluid mixing. Details have been published in Scientific Reports. Generally, handling liquids requires containers. However, ultrasound technology can create a "lab-on-a-drop," an ultracompact testing environment, where multiple liquid droplets of several millimeters in diameter can float and mix in space, without the influence of a container. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba have developed a technique for merging two droplets, which are challenging to mix due to their small size in this lab-on-a-drop setup, and a method to measure their mixing using a selective color imaging method.

Read more.

[abnormaldemisexual]

Violetta works with The Vees, not by contract. She's kind of the "middleman" and only ever works with Velvette if she asks her too. They sell her wool, which is a lot of profit from people wanting yarn and degenerates. She makes a sweet syrupy fluid that they sell as well, and it's great on pancakes! She's light on her hooves so Vox got her that Bell collar.

Velvette sees her as annoying but takes into consideration that she deals with Val and Vox's tantrums less because of her. She's pretty good at keeping them from going apeshit, knowing how to stroke their egos...so to speak. She looks good in a lot of her outfits. (Calls her Wooly Bitch if she can't remember her name, )

Vox, who she mostly works for when Valentino doesn't need her, is "fond" of her. She's surprisingly adept in technology, and knows her place. Loving the worship she gives him. They have a lot of arguments and disagreements, all of which lead to some good angry fucking. (He calls her Flossy even though she hates it, his actual nickname for her is Viola. She calls him Flatscreen Fuckboy for good measure.)

Valentino, who she really works for, is questionably attached to her. Nefarious reasons or not. Reasoning for her being his second best employee. She's great on camera, loves the job, and an absolute crazy bitch because she loves the pain he dishes out. Despite her cutesy look she's a hardy and strong demon. (Sweet Sucker is her stage name, Val calls her Sweetness in privet, and Pastel Whore outside of that. She calls him Shepard Valentino or Mr. Valentino, he never told her to. She just does and he loves it.)

With her not being under contract they actually don't know what her powers are, they'd be worried if she wasn't such a submissive ewe.

Exactly what she wants them to think: