#classification of bacteria

[vakilkarosblog]

What are the side effects of microfinance?

Introduction: Microfinance, heralded as a tool for poverty alleviation and economic empowerment, has garnered widespread attention in recent years. While it has undoubtedly brought financial services to the underserved, it is crucial to examine the potential side effects associated with microfinance initiatives. In this article, we delve into What are the side effects of microfinance? and its potential repercussions, keeping in mind the importance of Section 8 Microfinance Company Registration.

Understanding Microfinance: Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services, such as small loans, savings, and insurance, to individuals or small businesses that typically lack access to traditional banking services. These services are often extended to those in impoverished or marginalized communities, with the aim of fostering entrepreneurship and economic development.

Side Effects of Microfinance:

Overindebtedness:

One of the primary concerns associated with microfinance is the potential for overindebtedness among borrowers. High-interest rates and the pressure to repay loans may lead individuals to take on multiple loans, leading to a cycle of debt that can be difficult to break.

Risk of Exploitation:

In some cases, unscrupulous practices by microfinance institutions may exploit vulnerable borrowers. Predatory lending practices, hidden fees, and lack of transparency can contribute to the financial vulnerability of the very individuals microfinance aims to empower.

Social Pressures:

Microfinance programs often rely on group lending models, where individuals within a community form borrowing groups. While this encourages a sense of community and shared responsibility, it may also create social pressures and tensions within the group, particularly if some members face difficulties in repaying loans.

Limited Impact on Poverty Reduction:

Critics argue that the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction is not as significant as initially touted. The focus on individual entrepreneurship may not address broader systemic issues, and the benefits may not reach the most marginalized individuals.

Dependency on External Funding:

Many microfinance institutions rely on external funding, which can create a dependency that leaves them vulnerable to fluctuations in donor support. This dependency can impact the long-term sustainability of microfinance initiatives.

Section 8 Microfinance Company Registration: In the context of exploring the side effects of microfinance, understanding the regulatory framework becomes crucial. Section 8 Microfinance Company Registration refers to the legal provisions that govern the establishment and operation of microfinance entities. Proper registration ensures adherence to regulatory standards, which, in turn, can mitigate some of the potential negative impacts discussed earlier.

Conclusion: While microfinance has undoubtedly made strides in expanding financial inclusion, it is imperative to critically evaluate its side effects. Acknowledging the nuances of microfinance and considering regulatory aspects, such as Section 8 Microfinance Company Registration, is essential for fostering a sustainable and responsible approach to financial inclusion. Striking a balance between empowerment and protection is key to maximizing the positive impact of microfinance initiatives.as

[vivechan]

The Classification Of Plants

The Classification Of Plants The Classification Of Plants Classification Of Plants The Plant Kingdom Is Divided Into Two Sub-Kingdoms, Thallophyta And Embryophyta. Under Thalophyta – Algae , Fungi , Bacteria Are Studied . Algae They Are Autotrophic , That Is, They Make Their Own Food. Algae Grow On Fresh Water (Rivers, Ponds, Springs Etc.) And Fresh Water (Sea Water), Mountains, Trees,…

[solxamber]

Hiii!! first time requesting and I absolutely love your white rabbit and angel one, but what about a jellyfish mc with the octavinelle trio and diasomnia group? Where their head empty an airhead but is actually really smart but gets distracted easily.

Octavinelle + Diasomnia with Airhead! Jellyfish! Reader

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul was prepared for almost anything—except you. At first, your airheaded nature confounded him. You’d stare blankly into space during conversations, occasionally blurting out unrelated thoughts like, “Do you think stars get lonely?” or “What’s the difference between squid ink and octopus ink?”

To Azul, you seemed like an easy mark. Someone too scattered to notice loopholes in contracts or the fine print. But the first time he tried to rope you into a deal, you stared at the contract for an uncomfortably long time, then pointed out five contradictory clauses and suggested a more efficient way to write it.

Azul had never been so humiliated yet so intrigued. How could someone so spacey also be so sharp? He began inviting you to the Mostro Lounge under the guise of needing “assistance,” but it was just an excuse to pick your brain.

He’d grumble when you got distracted mid-conversation to follow a particularly shiny object, but he found himself watching you with a mix of exasperation and fondness. Your unconventional intelligence challenged him, and your whimsical nature softened the edges of his ambition.

Jade Leech

Jade found your airheadedness endlessly entertaining. At first, he mistook it for naivety, but when you casually corrected one of his mushroom classifications while admiring a random shell, he realized there was much more to you.

You fascinated him. The way your attention flitted from one thing to another like a butterfly, yet you still managed to come up with solutions to problems no one else could. Jade often tested your intelligence by subtly steering conversations into complex topics, only for you to surprise him with insightful answers delivered in the most absentminded tone.

“Jade, did you know the anglerfish has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria for its light?” you’d say, staring off into the distance. And just like that, Jade’s carefully laid plan to throw you off would unravel.

He enjoyed the unpredictability you brought into his life. Your head-empty demeanor paired with startling intelligence kept him on his toes, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Floyd Leech

“Oh, Shrimpy’s got no brain cells, huh?” That was Floyd’s first impression of you, and for a while, he treated you like his personal amusement. He’d throw random questions your way just to see what absurd answer you’d come up with.

But the day you absentmindedly explained the physics behind the Mostro Lounge’s faulty pipe system and how to fix it? Floyd was floored. His mouth hung open for a good five seconds before he burst out laughing. “You’re a sneaky little jellyfish, aren’t ya?”

From then on, Floyd decided you were his favorite. He’d sling an arm around your shoulders and drag you around, showing you off like his prize catch. “Shrimpy’s dumb-smart,” he’d declare to anyone who’d listen, grinning ear to ear.

He loved how unpredictable you were, never knowing if you’d say something brilliant or completely off-the-wall. Floyd thrived on chaos, and you were the perfect mix of calm airhead and hidden genius to keep him entertained. He might tease you endlessly, but deep down, he adored you for being unapologetically yourself.

Malleus Draconia

When Malleus first met you, he found your airheaded nature oddly calming. Unlike others, you didn’t seem intimidated by his presence. Instead, you’d blink at him in wide-eyed wonder before blurting out random thoughts like, “If dragons hoard treasure, do they also have snack stashes?”

At first, Malleus assumed your absentmindedness was due to a lack of understanding. But during one of your meandering conversations, you casually corrected his misconceptions about a historical event—one even he hadn't noticed. He realized you weren’t just carefree; you were deeply knowledgeable in your own peculiar way.

Your ability to switch between whimsical musings and sharp observations fascinated him. He found himself seeking you out for your unique perspective, even if you occasionally got distracted by a passing butterfly mid-discussion.

“Child of Man, you are quite… unique,” he’d say with a soft smile, finding solace in your unorthodox approach to life.

Lilia Vanrouge

Lilia thought you were adorable. Your head-empty demeanor reminded him of the carefree youths he’d seen in his centuries of life. He’d often pop out of nowhere to startle you, laughing when you gasped and then immediately got distracted by a question like, “Why is it called a jump scare if I didn’t jump?”

But it didn’t take long for Lilia to notice the flashes of brilliance hidden behind your seemingly aimless chatter. You’d drop profound insights into conversations as if they were afterthoughts, leaving him pleasantly surprised.

“Oh-ho! You’re sharper than you let on, aren’t you?” he’d tease, ruffling your hair affectionately.

He loved how unpredictable you were, and he often encouraged your tangents just to see where your mind would wander. To Lilia, you were a delightful enigma—one that made his long life all the more entertaining.

Silver

Silver appreciates your calm presence, even if he sometimes struggled to keep up with your wandering thoughts. He’d sit quietly as you mused about the stars or wondered if birds dream, finding your voice soothing no matter how odd the topic.

He initially thought you were simply a kind but scatterbrained individual. However, when you offhandedly helped him improve his sword stance with an unexpectedly insightful comment, he realized there was more to you than met the eye.

“You notice things most people overlook,” he said, his tone soft with admiration. From then on, he started paying closer attention to your words, knowing they often carried hidden wisdom.

Silver respected your unique way of thinking and found comfort in your presence, even when you got distracted mid-sentence. To him, you were a gentle yet brilliant soul, someone who brought unexpected light into his life.

Sebek Zigvolt

Sebek was baffled by you. At first, he couldn’t fathom how someone so easily distracted could survive at Night Raven College, much less so many Overblots. He’d often lecture you, only for you to nod absentmindedly and then ask something completely unrelated, like, “Do crocodiles ever get lonely?”

It drove him up the wall. He thought you lacked focus, which was unacceptable to him. But then, during a heated argument about magical theory, you calmly pointed out a flaw in his reasoning that left him speechless.

Sebek stared at you, wide-eyed, before clearing his throat and crossing his arms. “Hmph! I see you’re not as oblivious as you appear,” he muttered, trying to mask his begrudging respect.

Despite his initial frustrations, Sebek grew to admire your hidden intelligence. He’d still scold you for your airheaded tendencies, but deep down, he appreciated your unique perspective and the unexpected wisdom you brought to the table.

Masterlist

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Disease Template

Because you are a sick bastard that wants to maim, injure and kill thousands or millions or even billions of people characters in your story.

I did a ton of research to create this list. And I'm probably the only one really interested in it. I created the three major classes: Parasites, viruses, and bacteria. I also considered genetic factors.

I looked up a lot of wikipedia pages on various diseases, looked up parasites of various types (the type that kill, maim and bother), looked up CDC pages, and also fictional diseases to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Cholera, foot and mouth, Scarlet fever, Huntington's chorea, Huntington's, Foot and Mouth, etc. So Congenital and pandemic type—you have to strike off items of made up congenital/genetic diseases, but that shouldn't be too difficult. (N/A it)

Slight note here, but I am kinda sick (haha) of people using Zombie virus type of things to reinforce colonialism, Neoliberalism, and pro-oppression narratives. Haha, white person getting attacked by zombies because they are going to take over and that white person is a Southern US person doesn't quite read like you think it does considering that zombies were an allegory about becoming slaves. Looks like a slave uprising, in which case, the zombies should win over that white person's butt. The original Zombie Mythology was supposed to do the exact opposite. I would hope that people would honor and remember what the original mythology was about.

So when you do diseases, etc, think about *how* you are going to portray it and the people who have it carefully. I've done some of that work. Also, this isn't ND sort of things or creating a new ND. Creating a new ND, I think takes a lot more knowledge and thought since it doesn't affect everyone.

Should not have to be said, but please don't steal the template and then say "I came up with this idea". I genuinely took weeks of research to come up with this list. It's free, link it/reblog it if you like it.

Disease Name

Name Information Scientific Name:

Scientific Classification:

Name Meaning:

IPA Pronounce:

Common Names:

Common Name Meanings:

Subspecies:

Taxonomy Who Discovered it:

Date of Discovery:

Subsequent Famous Scientists:

Anatomy Pathogen Type: (Bacteria/Virus/Parasite) Body’s Biome:

Cell Target:

Symptoms:

Severe Version:

Severe Version Symptoms:

Subtypes:

Symptoms:

Complications:

Epidemiology Origin species:

Species Found In:

Geographical Origin:

Geographic Hotspots:

Transmission: (Water, air, food, rodents, fleas, mosquitoes, water droplets, etc) Infection Rate:

Incubation Time:

Carrier Rate:

Resistances: (heat, cold, drugs) Infected Population Number:

Inflicted Population Type: (Female, males, children, Elderly) Mutation Rate:

Death Rate:

Diagnosis and Treatments Diagnosis Methods:

Severe Version Diagnosis:

Medicines:

Folk Cures:

Vaccination:

Prevention Methods:

Mortality Rate:

Post Disease Syndrome:

Post Disease Symptoms:

Additional Notes:

Human Relationship Stigma Level:

Social Impacts: (Can they donate blood, etc) Visibility:

Public Awareness:

Misconceptions:

Economic Impact:

Famous Deaths:

Famous Art:

Mythology/Religion:

Literature:

History Major Outbreaks:

Pandemic Dates:

General:

Miscellaneous Background:

Notes:

[historicalbookimages]

🦠 Beiträge zur Kenntniss der fossilen Bacillarien Ungarns Nagy-Tapolcsány, Buchdruckerei von Julius Platzko, 1886-1905. Original source Image description: Historical scientific illustration depicting nine detailed, labeled drawings of fossilized bacillaria (diatom bacteria) from Hungary. The intricate sketches display a variety of shapes: circular, semi-circular, fan-shaped, and elongated oval forms. Each specimen shows fine, repetitive patterns of dots and lines, highlighting the cellular texture and structure. The page includes numbers 224 to 232 near each drawing, indicating classification or identification. The style is precise and stippled, typical of 19th-century scientific plates, emphasizing the microstructure of these fossil microorganisms. The illustration is from the period 1886-1905, printed by Julius Platzko in Nagy-Tapolcsány.

[s-sputnik-k]

me: starts watching x-men (2000), is excited to finally be getting into the proper xmen release order

also me: has to immediately pause and take a long sigh and repeat to myself "it's based on comics from the 60s, it's fiction, it's fun sci-fi/superhero stuff, it's fiction, it's made up" when the first line talks about evolution making humans the 'dominant species'

I think I just need to rant, bc I love x-men but even in the newer films the repeated talk about humans being superior or dominant just really irks me. like at this point I think it's not even malicious, it's just genuine ignorance or misunderstanding of evolution (or a rule of cool situation, which is fair enough because, again, it is fiction). but evolution is LITERALLY just becoming more suited to your environment through natural selection. that's all it means

like, first of all, what is the metric for superiority? is it complexity? because I'm sure there are single cell organisms that are extremely suited to their environment. there are also mushrooms with thousands of sexes (my information did come from tumblr, ik, misinformation central, but I do tend to read into the fun facts I learn here afterwards)--we are definitely not the most complicated organism we know of. hell, fungus is so complicated, we put it all in one category when really, we have no idea what most of it has in common other than the fact that they aren't a plant, animal or bacteria (simplified bc I'm not bringing up a classification chart for this)

so maybe it's about longevity. I mean, humans have only existed for, what, 300,000 years? there are so many living things that have existed for significantly longer! and even if we assume optimistically that humans will last much longer into the future, we still aren't winning on an individual lifespan basis. there are literal sea sponges that live longer than us

so, alright, fine, maybe it's about intellect--that is one of our best traits as a species. but intelligence is just one of many, many factors in a particular living thing's evolution. for many creatures, it's better that they aren't intelligent. I'd be willing to bet there are creatures that have evolved to be less intelligent after it became unhelpful. our massive, energy intensive brains are extremely draining (not to mention dangerous in childbirth); some animals can't even justify having colour perception, why would they need to be able to do algebra? it's like if honeybees decided to measure the evolution of all animals based on how well they spread pollen or make honey. like, it's just not a helpful or relevant metric unless you are a honeybee

so, yeah, humans aren't more evolved, we aren't better evolved, we're just. evolved. we are what we are, based on changes in our environment, random mutations and natural selection. and Charles would KNOW THIS but I understand that talking about human evolution and how it led to mutants having cool powers is an engaging way to start a film about, yknow, human evolution and mutants with cool powers

so, I do eventually finish my heavy sigh and unpause the film. because I love these characters and this story, so I will simply close my ears the next time charles says the word dominant, and pretend it didn't happen so that I can enjoy the film without going on another rant

[ghostshipglamour]

So Your Chief Surgeon Set Fire To The Dance Floor: How Fucked Are You?

a badly done summary of current and historical care by me #notadoctor

Descriptions of burns under the cut (not very graphic), historical in italics

tldr:

I: Burns primer

Burns comes in superficial, partial thickness (either superficial or deep) and full thickness (reaching the fat) (Carter, 2022)- that correspond to the older first-second-third degree classification.

Superficial burns will not scar nor blister;

Partial thickness burns (both types) will blister, leak interstitial fluid and scar; the superficial partial type is often more painful than deeper burns because well. if the nerve ending isn't there anymore, it can't relay pain

Full thickness burns look dry, comes with a loss of sensation and form thicker scars (Carter, 2022)

It can takes a few hours to a day for the real depth of the burn to be revealed. The time it takes to heal will vary depending on the depth, location and affected structures (Carter, 2022).

From Dr Ashurtst in 1862: “ if half or even one third the body surface was involved in the burn it was almost assuredly fatal.” (Hattery et al., 2015), so if your cold boy had his clothes on fire he's probably not coming to the fun walking trip ahead.

The 1800’s conception of it was different, as stated in this excerpt from (Hattery et al., 2015) :

“In the 1800s, burn pathophysiology was thought to occur in three stages. The period of congestion occurred in the first 48 hours, followed by the period of inflammation from day 2 to 14, followed by the period of suppuration. Baron Dupuytren added a fourth period: exhaustion. He advocated that burns affect different skin areas differently—severe burns were less likely on the areas of the exposed skin, pointing to the thin epidermis of the areas habitually covered. He also suggested that there were six degrees of burns, the fifth being those involving structures such as fascia and muscle. The sixth degree was described as being a carbonized, easily breakable limb […].”

II: What Does kill You

Immediately, the more deadly aspects will be shock (hypovolemic shock), suffocation and, in our case, being trampled or stabbed. The smoke combined with the crowd crush is a special hell.

Then in the near future it’s going to be the infections that does you in- you have a great door open for bacteria and delicious dead tissues for it to snack on.

Other things that may kill you are metabolic imbalances (loss of proteins, magnesium, phosphate, potassium); and hypothermia (one that’s particularly interesting for the arctic) (Carter, 2022).

Since the skin is a barrier against infection and for thermoregulation, these things will keep being an issue even further in the healing process. The deeper the burn, the greater the infection risk (Jeschke et al., 2020).

III: What you should do : comparing historical burn management to current day wilderness options (it’s unfair to compare them to hospital care when they barely have a doctor)

Get it wet. Running water or wet bandages works. Ice or ice water have worse outcomes on the healing.  The goals are to clean the wound, limit the “spread” of the burn, and limit pain. Wet bandages are the one thing that will help pain: otherwise, you want no air nor friction on it (Bitter & Erickson, 2016).

Give fluids (re: hypovolemic shock if the burn is deep/large enough). If you don’t have IV’s, drinking will do in small sips (water+salts). If the mouth is not an option you can shove it up their ass, aka proctoclysis (Jeschke et al., 2020).

In the 1800s, physicians were aware of the dehydration issue: one physician recommend giving ice chips to melt slowly, or small amounts of carbonic acid water (Hattery et al., 2015).

Dress the wound with something that lessens bacteria and retains moisture. Honey has pretty good evidence going for it!

In the 1800s, they had different recipes depending on physician’s preference: olive oil and limewater, a liniment of turpentine, a saturated solution of the carbonate of soda… (Hattery et al., 2015). It’s unclear if a dressing was applied after the solutions .

Pain management: historical options are mostly brandy and opium (Hattery et al., 2015). Hot .

As needed, someone should perform debridement, AKA cutting off dead tissue to help the rest heal.

IV: Life Took The Lemons Away -add scurvy to the mix

A burn heals in 4 overlapping phases:

Haemostasis in the first 24 hours (blood vessels shrinks and clotting happens), Inflammation in the following week/month (removal of debris and release of growth stimulants), then proliferation (new connective tissue grows) and, finally, remodeling (Jeschke et al., 2020).

BUT. IF YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE SCURVY. You can’t synthesize collagen. There is no new connective tissue created (Maxfield et al, 2023). Your burn will stagnate in the first stage. Added to that, a vitamin D deficiency weakens your immune system (Maxfield et al, 2023), so the pre-established infection risk just got that much worse. Nice!

Sources:

Carter, D. W. (2022, november 3). Burns. Merck Manual Professional Edition. https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/injuries-poisoning/burns/burns?query=burns

Bitter, C. C., & Erickson, T. B. (2016). Management of Burn Injuries in the Wilderness: Lessons from Low-Resource Settings. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, 27(4), 519-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2016.09.001

Hattery, E., Nguyen, T., Baker, A., & Palmieri, T. (2015). Burn Care in the 1800s. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 36(1), 236-239. https://doi.org/10.1097/bcr.0000000000000112

Jeschke, M. G., van Baar, M. E., Choudhry, M. A., Chung, K. K., Gibran, N. S., & Logsetty, S. (2020). Burn injury. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 6(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-020-0145-5

Maxfield L, Daley SF, Crane JS. Vitamin C Deficiency. [Updated 2023 Nov 12]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493187/

[ladyiristheenchantress]

Sick Day Magic

It may come as a shock to some that I am, in fact, a human being and not a 500 year old oak tree with internet access. /j

Being human, and actually being alive, means you will get sick! Exploring biology for my biomed degree has taught me a lot of things about virus's, bacteria, and how exactly they work! For example: All living things can be effected by virus's, they are nanometers big for that reason, and not much is known about their origins here on earth which is really cool! With that said, every living thing gets sick, and with that we can pair magic to help us through our sick days!

I know I am, simply because I am writing to you now while on sick leave from all 3 of my jobs. Currently the summer flu has hit our home really hard, so lets talk about recovery!

Obvious disclaimer before getting started: Doctors, medical professionals, and health organizations are here to help you. This post is not to discourage you from using modern medicine, or seeing a doctor when you need one. I actually am very much against using spiritual bypassing to discredit medical research, especially as someone who is entering the medical field. If you are sick it is always important to speak with your doctor before trying any holistic remedies, especially if you are on medications that can conflict with herbal supplements. Know the warning signs for when symptoms escalate. This post is mainly about illnesses that can be treated at home and go away within a couple days or weeks (cold, flu, etc)

Lets get started!

How do living things get sick?

To keep this as simple as possible, living beings get sick from small organisms in a couple different classifications. You have virus's, bacteria, fungi, or parasites, and they all have one goal: to use your body as a host! Some things cant reproduce on their own like virus's so they hijack your cells, some things feed off of you and your daily body functions like parasites! In all, we are exposed to all sorts of pathogens, and our body will react with the nasty symptoms like fevers, chills, coughing, vomiting, and more because your body is trying to fight off all the pathogens using your body to reproduce. There are some circumstances where medical intervention is required however, for things like the common cold, flu, and sore throat you can find remedies over the counter!

All living things get sick, including tree's, seals, and even grasses. These pathogens are really good at evolving with us!

What did people do historically?

Before the introduction of germ theory in the 1860's, and the introduction of modern medicine in the 19th century cultures all around the world were still evolving to combat common sicknesses! From medieval Europe using cupping and leaches which assisted in medical standards and theories, to indigenous tribes using the herbs around them to pave the way for medications, cultures all over the world had their own tips and tricks for staying healthy!

In general most cultures followed a 3 way system, prevention, coping, and resistance, where methods were followed to assist in times of sickness. Often times they had distinct prayers and rituals, and would combine it with local remedies and folklore to help the general population.

Later on, herbs would pave the way for medicine as scientists discovered exactly what about an herb could help someone and isolate it into a pill, salve, or tincture!

What is some illness prevention magic?

When getting vaccinated create a prayer or chant to not only take your mind off it, but also for a metaphysical boost

leave offerings to gods of health during cold and flu season by your front door, and leave offerings to spring gods during pollen season by windows

have fire tonic, elderberry syrup, and lions main mushroom tinctures prepared (reminder: always consult a doctor)

Keep crystals like jade, green aventurine, and carnelian by your bed for health

Keep fresh flowers in the home, as scents can represent healing

Visualize sickness being repelled away from you as you practice hygiene

keep sigils in your shoes to 'draw illness back to the earth'

Mundanely make sure you are also having regular checkups (if you cant afford to see a doctor regularly, see what option you have for free clinics, or public health options like medicaid in the US), going to see your dentist because the teeth has a lot to do with health, and practicing good health habits can all be really helpful with preventing illness

What is some illness coping magic?

When sick, keep lavender and chamomile under your pillow as a sleep aid

Contrary to popular belief: Don't burn incense when you have a stuffy nose because the smoke will irritate your nose, instead use a humidifier and optionally put essential oils in it for drainage

take healing spiritual showers

create soft broths, and plain foods using kitchen magic and infusing it with intentions

Optionally if you are having trouble eating because of vomiting or fever, enchant your water bottle with healing energy with even just a simple chant

Put cold or hot compress on pressure points, optionally while you rest research what those pressure points symbolize and how you can translate that into your healing rituals from bed

visualize a healing green or blue light enveloping places that may hurt like joints or the head

Listen to gentle music or healing subliminal during naps to draw out illnesses

enchant your tissue box so every tissue you use is one less you have to use later

create a salve using willow or birch bark, camphor, mint, and chamomile for a soothing joint pain relief

Enchant medications with chants or sigils on the bottle

Mundanely, we see a lot of spiritual hacks, don't put garlic in your nose (The only reason you think it works is because it irritates your nose lining creating mucus), don't use elderberry (It puts your immune system in over drive when you are already sick and actually hinders the healing process), its better to limit herbal and holistic approaches other than things that are rich in things your body needs like fruits, veggies, and electrolytes!

Recovery goes into this much like prevention, our bodies begin to process and understand the invaders making it less likely for you to get infected by the same problem again, however as mutations grow, make sure you are taking care of yourself!

Spiritually, your body is a temple, and its the only one you have, love it and it will love you back, take care of it and it will take care of you back. As a human being I recognize the struggle that concept can be. Its easy for someone to say "just sleep lmao" without having insomnia for example. In general, finding a routine that works for you, your body, and your mind is very important! You are a spiritual being, but you are also human! Don't let people try to sell you the idea that modern medicine is out trying to hurt you, because there are people out there like me who will stand for making the medical field a safer and better place! Don't let people try to sell you the idea that your sickness is because of "bad karma" or that your "low vibes" or something silly like that because the truth is, you get sick because you are alive. Cherish being alive in all of its forms.

Fair winds friends!

And remember, if you took nothing away from this I will say it again, Cherish being alive in all of its forms.

Tip Jar

[nightingaleinberkleysquare]

—————————-——————————————

Common name: Anglerfish (I'm mainly talking about general deep sea angler fish in this post)

Scientific name: Lophiiformes

Habitat: mesopelagic (twilight zone) and bathypelagic (the midnight zone) zones

Diet: crustaceans, small fish - they are carnivorous

Feeding habits: ambush predators

Classification: Ray-finned fish

Genus: Lophius

Conservation status: most species are considered least concern; only one species (the spotted handfish) is critically endangered.

Extra info: there are over 200 species of anglerfish.

What you think of when you typically think of an anglerfish are the females. They experience sexual dimorphism, the females being large and having a rod-like extension on their foreheads, unlike the males who are much smaller and don't have the rods on their heads.

They can swallow prey up to twice their size.

Male anglerfish latch onto the female and are eventually fused to the female, and lose their eyes, and all of their internal organs except their testes. The females tend to have five or more males fused to their bodies.

(I couldn't find many photos sorry)

As this is bioluminescence Monday, I obviously have to mention the bulbs the females have attached to their heads. The light from the bulbs is caused by small glowing bacteria called photobacterium.

[monarch-afterdark]

Titan History: Scylla

Welcome once again to Monarch: After Dark, the digital gateway between you and the organisation dedicated to understanding and navigating this troubled new world we live in.

While our inquiry into Janos Biotech continues, we return to the regularly scheduled "Titan History" series, where we break down all you need to know about the creatures we now share our world with. For today's communication, we look to the most recent Titan crisis and examine one of the casualties; the Lovecraftian scavenger, Scylla.

(Pictured above: Scylla rampaging through Rome, prior to being confronted and executed by Godzilla, circa. 2027)

Monarch Database File: Scylla

Monarch Designation: Titanus Scylla

Height: 341 feet

Weight: 20,000 tons

Nature: Bio-Corrosive

Behavioural Classification: Destroyer

-----

A colossal cephalopod Titan that appears to have crawled out from the depths of the Cthulhu Mythos, Scylla is among one of Monarch's more recent discoveries, noted as 'Titan 024' in our database. Her discovery was recent enough that, during the construction of Monarch Outpost 55, a proper containment field for Scylla was unable to be constructed. Some of the outpost's operatives erroneously believed she was dead when they found her dormant in Arizona.

Scylla is known to us as a Titan scavenger, able to break down the carcasses of deceased Titans and convert the nutrients into a lethal waterborne bacteria. This ability led to the implementation of new protocols for Monarch's pathology teams when cleaning and disposing of Titan remains. She can also emit an incredibly dense fog-like pollutant, which she uses to feed on radiation sources or cover her while she evades an attacker, and can emit liquid nitrogen from her body. The latter ability in particular has been cited for cooling down the Antarctic ice and stabilizing global sea levels.

Scylla is also surprisingly intelligent, able to take the wreckages of ships and craft them into temporary shells for her body, and is remarkably agile in her movements, enabling her to take on opponents such as Godzilla with ease.

(Pictured above: The Moai statues of Easter Island. It is believed by Monarch these were built by the Rapa Nui people to ward off Titans like Scylla)

Like with most Titans, not much is known about Scylla's activities prior to 2019 outside of what mythological records allow. It is known that, at some point, Scylla made landfall on Easter Island. Feared by the Rapa Nui people, they erected the Moai status as megalithic scarecrows to deter her, and presumably other Titans as well.

When Scylla was awakened by Monster Zero in 2019, she erupted from beneath Monarch Outpost 55 and made her way to Arizona's capital Phoenix, where she rampaged through the city. She was pacified by the ORCA device's activation in Boston, and was among the few Titans present to witness Godzilla become the new Alpha, bowing down to him as he roared into the sky.

Between this and her next known sighting, Scylla enjoyed a deal of popularity among humanity once Monarch's record of her went public, even becoming a trending topic on social media platform Twitter once her Greek origins were confirmed.

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of Scylla engaging the United States Coast Guard and Godzilla over possession of a nuclear warhead, circa. 2020)

Around the end of 2020, Scylla appeared off the coast of Savannah, Georgia in search of food. Her hunger led her to a discarded nuclear warhead, which she fought with the US Coast Guard for possession of. Godzilla arrived shortly after and successfully drove Scylla away after a short brawl. She then made her way to a frozen lake at the tip of South America, claiming it as her new territory. Like with all other Titans, Scylla then returned to dormancy, seemingly under Godzilla's instruction.

She did not stay dormant, however. In 2027, Scylla was lured to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India by a reactor beacon created by Skull Island trophy hunter Raymond Martin, who (as Monarch later discovered) wanted to use her to occupy Godzilla's attention so he could proceed with his plans for Hollow Earth. After feeding on the radiation there, she would travel to other locations around the world and feed there, Godzilla always one step behind her.

Scylla attacked the United Kingdom Nuclear Labs in Preston and the Aviano Air Base in Italy, feasting off whatever she could find. Her ravenous feeding had caused her to cease cooling the planet's oceans, and Monarch instead found that she was heating the areas she attacked, causing damage to the ozone layer. After an attempted trap by Monarch failed, she was finally cornered by Godzilla in Rome and killed by a point-blank blast of his atomic breath following a short skirmish.

(Pictured above: An X-Ray scan of Scylla, part of a compiled bioacoustic database Monarch has on all Titans, circa. 2019)

-----

And there you go! While Scylla's passing means we may not be able to learn more about her, unless new data is found or another of her species emerge in the future, we do take some pride in knowing some people out there came to embrace Scylla, rather than fear her as most would.

Until next time,

Monarch: After Dark

[replicantapologist]

How do phylogeny and taxonomy relate to each other?

I'm writing this because phylogeny is a very dear concept to me, and I hate seeing it being misunderstood. And because @glitter-stained asked me to elaborate on a vague post lol.

(and then I turned it into sort of an exercise too).

Now, I know that this is super super niche, and that for 99.99% percent of the people, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I saw a post which implied that phylogeny and taxonomy are concepts which are opposite to each other, or that using one excludes using the other, and that's not at all how things are.

So, what are taxonomy and phylogeny?

Taxonomy

We love putting things in neat little boxes and classifying them, saying this is a fish and this is a dog and so on. If I asked you to think of a fish and of a canine, you'd think of two very beings. Right?

Taxonomy is the science of creating those boxes. Then we put the things that are similar in the same box (which would be classification, but the two parts of this task are intertwined, of course). I guess 😬.

You may be familiar with Linnaeus' classification, with its hierarchical categories of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Linnaeus' system had three kingdoms - plants, animals and minerals.

The taxonomy system we use nowadays is based on Linnaeus', but with some changes. For example, we don't use kingdom anymore (the broader hierarchical category being the three domains: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya (everything that isn't bacteria or Archaea, basically)). Of course, we only classify living beings.

There is a method to that creation of boxes and deciding in which box to put something.

Linnaeus, for example, grouped organisms by their physical traits. That led to boxes that don't make sense anymore nowadays. For example, Linnaeus put Fungi in the plant kingdom. I guess that, looking at the visual of plants and fungi, that would make sense...

But wait, why does it not make sense to put Fungi and plants together anymore?

Well, that's because nowadays we believe that the most correct way of grouping organisms is by reflecting their inferred evolutionary relationships.

And how do we do that? By constructing phylogenetic trees!

Phylogeny

A phylogeny is a hypothesis of evolutionary relationships between organisms of different species.

These guys here:

Getting into the details of how to make phylogenies is extremely outside the scope of this post (and is a hot topic in Biology. People have gone to war because of this. Rivalries were born because of this. Academic insults were exchanged because of this). Basically, we collect data about organisms (used to be morphology, now we are in the era of molecular phylogenies, but this also is a hot topic) and use models to determine how the changes of certain features reflects their evolutionary relationships.

An important concept, however, is that of monophyly.

A monophyletic group is a group of lineages which comprise their ancestor and *all its descendants*.

Using that image above, for example:

B and C form a monophyletic group, which well call BC. Because it includes the ancestor (the node) and all of its descendants (in this case, species B and C).

Now, A and B don't form a monophyletic group, because this group doesn't include all the ancestor and all of its ancestors (C is left out). The group AB is what we call a paraphiletic group.

And I'm saying this because sometimes, we used in the past a phylogeny that we have now determined to not best reflect the evolutionary relationships anymore. For example, in school I learned about the group "Bryophytes" which is useful when were studying similar plants, but that does not include a group comprising an ancestor and all its descendants. "Bryophytes" is a paraphiletic group.

Why am I talking about that?

Well, because inferring monophylies is of one of the goals in the construction of phylogenetic trees. Sometimes we can't determine that, sometimes we have different hypotheses for how to resolve the tree (yeah, war, rivalries and academic insults too), but we want to solve that. In the ideal world, we'll have a tree only with monophyletic groups, and that is what will allow us to... CLASSIFY THINGS.

And that's how we reconcile taxonomy and phylogeny.

Taxonomy and phylogeny are friends! Or, they should be. Then again, this is perhaps a good moment to say that I am veeeeery Dobzhansky biased, and I take his "Nothing in Biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" words to heart. But so does Biology in general nowadays. Modern taxonomy is phylogeny based.

In the platonic world, we have all monophyletic groups resolved (always keeping in mind that these trees are *hypotheses*, and that we can always find ones that better describe the evolutionary relationships).

Look at this beautiful phylogeny of flowering plants (angiosperms) by level of order:

Now, I not only mentioned fishs and dogs above because they were random examples hehe.

You see, this arbitrary thing of creating boxes leads us to funny situations where the technical term for a thing doesn't correspond to the popular one. If you are pedantic enough. And funny 👍.

Case in point: Sarcopterygii.

If you look at Wikipedia, this group will be defined as follows:

Sounds very much like a fish, doesn't it?

But let's take a look at the phylogeny of Sarcopteriigy:

Look who's there in the right corner...

Tetrapoda! (Which comprises amphibians, birds and mammals). Which includes dogs.

So...

This entire post, just to say that I, typing this post, and you, a human reading this post, and a dog, are fish! This is what happens when we put thing into boxes 🤷‍♀️.

This is the (more) niche version of the "Dinosaurs are still alive because the avian dinosaurs are birds, only non-avian dinosaurs are extinct" joke. (The technical basis in the same: monophyly).

This one:

Anyway. Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

Anyone who made it this far, feel free to ask any questions and/or complement and/or correct anything 🥰

[blorbologist]

Okay so - as a blorbologist, I would like your assistance. I thought I knew the difference between a blorbo and a babygirl but I am questioning my precious understanding.

I always thought blorbo was a morally grey loveable cranky character and babygirl is a cinnamon roll. Basically blorbo was the “could kill you” end of the “cinnamon roll to could kill you” spectrum.

Please enlighten me- am I correct? What is the different between babygirl and blorbo. Thanks.

(Imagine, if you will, a little toad in a labcoat)

Before I say anything, I need to make it clear that all tumblr-related classification is constantly evolving with trends and time, like some antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So a lot of the definitions tend to be malleable! For the sake of simplicity, I'm using Urban Dictionary as my definitions, informed by my own time in fandom, though it can lag behind fandom trends and lack nuance. So take the following with a grain of salt:

A blorbo is your favorite character; it is a definition free of any connotations in regards to their morality, attractiveness, or how pathetic they are. Blorbos are usually from fictional media, but I've rarely seen it apply to celebrities. Your blorbo could be literally any character ever, regardless of screentime or role in the story - or even the actors portraying them!

Meanwhile, babygirl is a far more restrictive term that generally is intended somewhat ironically; the babygirl is, in fact, not a baby nor a girl, but an adult man*. The babygirl is usually also attractive to the poster (but might not fit media standards of what's attractive). Babygirl is more universally given to both characters and real people (e.g. Pedro Pascale), and can apply to men* anywhere in terms of morality (though you will find some communities lean toward babygirl being as ironic as possible and applied to only morally grey or evil male characters, vs others that mean it a bit more genuinely).

(I say men* because, at least from my observation, more and more babygirls are breaking the gender binary and are not actually characters/people who ID as men. But it's 'historically' been a fandom term predominantly given to men.)

Now, you'll notice that neither blorbo nor babygirl matches up really well with the 'could kill you' <--> 'cinnamon roll that could kill you' scale you presented in your ask! I think the definitions you might be looking for are 'poor little meow meow' (awful/morally grey character/person who is absolutely not a poor little anything) and a 'cinnamon roll' (firmly good, often infantilized character/person).

This graph by @luulapants helps get the distinction across well (though I've seen people's blorbos be cinnamon rolls and poor little meow meow, so I would quibble with blorbo being implied to be the middle ground between the extremes).

TLDR; blorbos are favorite characters, babygirls are usually attractive adults, poor little meow meows could and likely would kill you, and cinnamon rolls are good (and would probably be sad if they killed you). Your blorbo can be a babygirl, or a poor little meow meow and a babygirl and a blorbo at once!

Hope it helped! 🐸

[jomindraws]

And the final group of animals, last and very certainly least (at least in the sense of size), the Equidarience. Very ancient animals so far removed from other ones that it not only is its own class and phylum, but also its own superphylum as well. This group not only acts as some "archaea" would act on earth, but also primarily consumes bacteria and fungi that are thermophilic (typically in hot vents or brimstone pools like Yellowstone-esque environments)

Superphylum Equidarience

A taxa of animals possessing a toroidal nucleus and distinct nodes of function consisting of colonial unicellular cells.

(AN2 C5) Clade: Grandequidarience

A clade of animals bearing the ancestors and relatives of the phylum equidarence.

PHYLUM EQUIDARIENCE

The only extant phylum of Clade Grandequidarience occupying thermophilic niches in hydrothermal vents and volcanic hot springs.

Class Equidarience

Class of equidarience that consume thermophilic autotrophs within hot vents, sulfur-rich volcanic hot springs, and hot microhabitats such as vugs.

And with that, that concludes every class of Animal on Jom'Gol !! I will make a size comparison chart eventually of all these different classes so you can see how big they truly are (or VERY small). Once again this is not EVERY animal, but simply one representative of each Class of organisms. In the Linnaean sense, each Class has Orders, and each Order has Families, and each Family has Genera, and each Genus has Species (and each species has subspecies sometimes, etc.). I am still using these Linnaean terms even though my phylogenetic classification relies on how RELATED they are like traditional cladistics, not just shared properties.

I doubt I will be able to get every species in my lifetime or even every genus but I will damn well try ! So please stay tuned to any more creatures I will create on this lovely planet Jom'Gol !!!

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me thus far and your comments keep me wanting to continue this project !!!!

[booksbluegurl]

Day 4/100 days of Productivity

5th April, 2024

Academia

I did 157 questions of Biological Classification. Out of which were 112 correct and 45 were incorrect. There were 229 questions in total, but I couldn't finish them all.

Finished 2 lectures, 2 hours each of Mechanical Properties of Solids. I also read the notes after every 30 minutes of content to remember all of the formulas and relations.

I did an NCERT based flashcards study of Biodiversity and Conservation. There were around 93 flashcards but I did it twice so that it atleast feels to me that I learnt something.

I made a revision sheet of the points I couldn't remember in Biodiversity and Conservation.

Revised biology revision sheets.

Read short notes module of zoology for my test on Sunday.

I'm planning on making short notes of my chemistry content and just revise it everyday. The biggest struggle isn't solving questions, it's remembering the houseful of information.

I'm unable to bring myself to study Organic Chemistry. It's just sooo lengthy and I'd also need as much time to stamp it on my mind as it does to have and understand the material.

I'll also start doing previous year questions, so that I can just be prepared. I realized that what I need for my exam is an extensive revision of all the content matter in the week before my exam.

[I need to share this: I was doing questions about bacteria and had a question on mycoplasma,if the statement's true or false, and I read "mycoplasma is the smallest and way less living organism" instead of wall less. And its so funny to me🤣🤣]

Non Academia

Watched another Mina Le video about how fashion is often discriminatory towards older women. I think that the more we entertain the idea of being scared of aging, the more we're pushing ourselves into a prison we might not be able to get out of. I mean, is aging scary because you have wrinkles and saggy skin or is aging scary because you're body isn't functioning well enough? Or both? I'm just tired of our looks gaining more attention in the battle against aging.

Watched first half of this video, it's a documentry on Ankor Wat.

We need to realise, especially when we're entangling ourselves into this web of pursuit of success and academic validation, that our everyday live, our fun, our happiness, our rest, are all important. We need to stop ourselves from almost being on the brink of our limits, from falling down out of hopelessness. We do that by attaching ourselves to the present.

Look at the sun, look at the trees. Feel the cool air of your A.C. or your fan. Sit still, eat with patience. Don't try to run when you're doing something which is non productive enough. To give your best at something, you'd need good rest to have enough energy to do your best.

- Tanishka.

Day 3

Day 5

Pictures from pinterest. Credit to the owners.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

I have a question about the abandonment of the Linnaean taxonomy, please. Under the clades system, do we still use genus and species? You know, for nomenclature and such?

Sorry to be one of the ignorant people asking what is probably an obvious question.

you're fine! I don't mind honest questions. It's when people assume they know things and try to correct me in my notes that drives me up the wall.

in my master's degree, I took multiple classes about all of this, including one where we discussed different species concepts and whether or not species are even real. fun fact, they are not - they are us trying to describe nature in ways we can all understand. but they're still us putting boxes around that which cannot be boxed.

Genus and Species are sticking around primarily bc they're THE names we have for organisms. if we got rid of them, we'd have no way to talk about anything.

in an ideal world, we would redefine species to be the smallest independent evolutionary unit. but we don't live in an ideal world.

in living organisms, animals you'd never expect are able to hybridize, completely fucking up reproductive isolation as a way to figure out independent evolutionary units. plants are constantly cross pollenizing, birds and mammals have extensive hybrid zones, and then there's whatever the fuck ray finned fish can do.

bacteria ruin everything even more with horizontal gene transfer, essentially preventing us from being sure we know their lineage at all

then, when we look at the vast majority of species that have existed - ie, everything that is extinct - we can't even figure out reproductive isolation to any degree because they are very, very, very dead. if a species is older than 2.5 million years - so, most species - we don't even have DNA to look at. so we have to use their shapes, which can often lead to us not realizing a species is actually a juvenile form of another (see dracorex and pachycephalosaurus), or that they're different sexes of the same species (see what we thought moa were before we could sequence their genomes - the size disparity between male and female moa lead to them being considered separate species). Morphology and context behind it is all we have, but it's like using a 1990s computer today - good enough, but we know we're missing a lot.

so, yeah. genus and species are staying around purely because we need them, but species are being defined as clades. genera... look, I'd love for genera to be clades, but then that means that nothing ever leaves them, right? so everyone's classification would just be lists of genera. but having them be paraphyletic feels weird. I don't know. we'd have to come up with a whole new naming system. At least for the other linnaean ranks, we can just determine which are real clades and assign those names to those clades, and throw the other names out. but with this... we either have to accept paraphyly, or come up with a new system. or make them be clades, and suddenly genera names are like last names in Spanish-speaking countries...

[catboybiologist]

Random question: do you have a favorite theory as to how multicellular organisms formed? Mine is the Cell Symbiosis theory

Do you mean endosymbiosis for the formation of Eukaryotic life?

Endosymbiosis is basically as "proved" as anything can be without a time machine. For those that don't know- mitochondria and chloroplasts have a lot of features of independent bacterial cells, including their own genome, and processes that occur along their membranes that also occur along bacterial membranes (like the ETC itself), and much, much more. So the reasoning goes that these more complex organelles evolved as independent organisms that were then engulfed by larger prokaryotic cells, which then become the Eukaryotes we know today over time. But there are still single celled Eukaryotes around that have these organelles, so this is orthogonal to multicellularity.

As for the rise of multicellular life, this is really cool because we actually have multiple independent examples of multicellularity arising from symbiosis, and there are extremely simple examples of bacteria being multicellular- and yeah, it was essentially starts as independent cells becoming symbiotic to each other. My favorite is cyanobacteria:

The basic idea is that cyanobacteria are nitrogen fixers, meaning that they can take atmospheric nitrogen and turn it into ammonia or other nitrates that are bioavailable to other organisms. It's a crucial choke point in the nitrogen cycle, and somewhat rare- The family of enzymes that do this, however, are extremely sensitive to oxygen and can't function in its presence. Most organisms don't bother, and just eat something else to get their fixed nitrogen. But what's the solution if you do want to fix nitrogen?

Some cyanobacteria only exist in small "chains" of cells- no more than a dozen, attached together in a line, with some permeability to their membranes. Then, the roles are divided. Most of the cells function as normal, photosynthesizing and producing oxygen as usual. But a single cell in that chain is designated as the nitrogen fixing one- it shuts down photosynthesis, makes itself impermeable to oxygen, and starts expressing nitrogen fixing genes. Essential energy carrying molecules and other important stuff gets shuttled in from neighboring cells, and fixed nitrogen compounds get shuttled out.

This is so fucking cool to me. It's an extremely simplistic, stripped down version of multicellularity and tissue specialization. It's impossible to know what exactly happened to make the majority of Eukaryotes multicellular- and it probably arose multiple times within Eukaryotes themselves as well, and there are some funky examples of simple multicellularity in protists (the shadowy grab bag taxonomic classification that contains horrors most biologists dread to touch). But it was probably something like this- a small clump of cells started adhering together, and slowly became more specialized to increase energy efficiency.

Similar bacteria also exist in the roots of some plants (which is one reason crop rotation is important), but the cyanobacteria in the ocean do the overwhelming majority of nitrogen fixation on this planet.

Fun fact, this is why the Great Oxygenation was so devastating-it's thought that when some bacteria had the bright idea start spitting out oxygen and the atmosphere became filled with it, nitrogen fixing bacteria populations plummeted. And at that time, it's thought that these bacteria constituted the majority of life on earth. Woopsie. A small fraction of them, however, developed systems like this, and they've kept the entire food web going ever since.

This spun off on a tangent, but I hope it's the kind of thing you wanted when you dropped this ask!!