#functions over with

[wyrmfedgrave]

Hundreds of Mysterious Giant Viruses Discovered Lurking in The Ocean : ScienceAlert

230 'giant' sea viruses identified after 1st been noticed in 2013. They were unknown to scientists, until a massive study, across the globe, was started.

Research focused on understanding microbe diversity, in an effort to find ways to manage algal blooms.

Thanks to an advanced genome data- base & a computer study, scientists found fresh insights on how these viruses grow & spread.

These protists (algae, amoeba & flagellates) are human health hazards & are known to kill phytoplankton (tiny photosynthesizers found in most waters & they produce most of Earth's oxygen)...

569 new proteins were also found out - 9 of which hijack their hosts' own photosynthesizing functions!

This allows the viruses to steal the energy they need to survive... Such proteins & genes are usually only found in multicellular organisms.

These viruses use infection vectors.

Which indicates a more complex strategy that allows them to survive in a wider variety of hosts!

We've only scratched the surface when studying the oceans...

Each drop of seawater teems with viruses & other microbial life - some of which help protect us from the more dangerous microbes.

There's still countless marine life to be cataloged &, to be out in context with our health...

This study created a framework to improve existing tools, which better allows monitoring pollution & disease germs in our waterways.

End?

[thesaltyace]

Y'all I did NOT know this about Harris, and I think it's really critical that we all listen and understand as we approach this election. Video at the end.

This creator's video describes how progressive Harris was as a prosecutor -- actively going against the grain to the point she was accused of being soft on crime. Accused of being a social worker, not a prosecutor. She calls it being smart on crime. She's pushing for systemic changes to give real pathways to reintegrate incarcerated folks back into society and prevent their past from continuing to haunt them moving forward.

"Kamala's a cop" is a catchy dismissive response usually used to shut down conversation rather than add nuance. But this kind of reform is ESSENTIAL to work towards a present and future that treats incarcerated people with value.

I fell for it in 2020 and have thought "Kamala's a cop" without further inspection since - and I'm sobered by the realization that (you guessed it!) I'm not immune to propaganda.

A better system only follows liberal democracy, because library democracy allows for exploration of better systems. If authoritarianism takes hold, it will not allow for the exploration of better systems. We will have to fight tooth and nail just to try to get back to liberal democracy, and I suspect we could not achieve it in our lifetimes.

Harris isn't perfect. But she's a hell of a lot better than many leftists have led me to believe. Don't let perfection be the enemy of good. Don't let perfection be the enemy of harm reduction.

We can either help elect Trump and usher in authoritarian fascism, or we can help defeat him and pull things back in the direction we want to go. Not liking the choices doesn't absolve you from participating and doing the most good you can with the options available.

I'll link the original video in the replies. The original video has captions if you need them.

[stemmmm]

the scene people keep screaming about from chapter 5 of theseus' guide

[chiropteracupola]

everybody say THANK YOU MUSEUMS WHO PUT THEIR COLLECTIONS ONLINE so that we can DRAW THE THINGS WITHOUT BEING IN LONDON

[kooldewd123]

mumbo yells at grian while skizz ascends to the heavens

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*peering down at my own genetic sequence* uh-huh uh-huh bold choice bold fucking choices my friend

[a-loose-collection-of-ants]

Viridian City seems fun

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS Severance AU: Get me out of here.

[urbeautifulandiminsane]

[canisalbus]

May I offer a little drawing of your dogs?

.

[benevolenterrancy]

au where Li Yu teaches Prince Jing modern CSL, based on @skygemspeaks's au over here because after seeing how eagerly Li Yu takes to teaching him pinyin in bk4 I think they both deserve it!

[likesdoodling]

Was listening to music after studying today, so I figured I'd draw some tiny maglors to round out the day :)

[puckinghischier]

I’m a firm believer that quinn would be the kind of boyfriend who’d use the pink sugar lip balm you left at his apartment bc he misses you and bc it smells good

you’d meet up with him for lunch or something, not having seen him in a few days due to each of your crazy schedules, and you’d notice his lips looked a little…shinier than usual.

he’d give you a quick peck in greeting, noticing the tacky nature and slight sweetness of his lips, but just thinking he lathered them in flavored vaseline or something, knowing how dry his lips get during the season from all the exposure to the cold temps.

during lunch you wouldn’t be able to focus on anything but his glossy lips. and how they almost looked…pinker than usual. all the staring would have you realizing your own lips seem dry, fishing around in your purse for your trusty lip balm.

“what’re you looking for, honeybee?” he’d ask while signing the receipt the waiter had just brought, hearing you let out a frustrated huff, your favorite tube of lip gloss nowhere to be found.

“can’t find my lip balm. s’my favorite one, too,” you mumble out, still searching, determined to find it.

“oh! is it this one? you left it at my apartment, in the bathroom,” your head snapped up, seeing the small, pink tube in-between his fingers.

relief washes over you. you were worried you were going to have to go buy a whole new tube, not wanting to spend another $25 when you had just bought that one a couple of weeks ago.

“yes! that’s it! thanks, q,” you happily take the tube from his fingers and apply a thin layer of the tacky ointment to your lips. when you taste the familiar, sweet flavor, the same you tasted on quinn’s lips when you first sat down to eat, it’s like a light bulb went off.

you look up at your boyfriend, the slight shine to his lips still present, even after eating a meal.

“quinn…why did you-” you start, staring at the pink tint to his lips, making sure you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing. ��are you wearing my lipgloss?” you finally ask him, a hint of amusement in your voice.

quinn’s cheeks instantly flush. “well…when i found it i didn’t know what it was and took the cap off to smell it, and it smelled really good. then i figured out it was lip gloss and it was pink sugar flavored, so i put some on my lips to see what it tasted like,” he shrugged, not meeting your eyes. “plus i missed you, and it tasted like your kisses, so i kept wearing it. it makes my lips really soft, though.”

you fight the urge to laugh, ginding it adorable he likes wearing your lip gloss because he misses you.

“guess we need to get you your own tube, then, don’t we? because i love you, but i’m not sharing mine,” you tell him, watching his head raise in excitement, bright eyes latched onto yours.

“really?” he eagerly asks you.

you shake your head at him. “mhmm. if it’s pink sugar gloss you want, it’s pink sugar gloss you get. c’mon, we have a pit stop to make on the way home,” you stand, arranging the signed receipt and tip where the server could see it.

quinn bolts out of his own chair, practically skipping over to you in happiness.

when you walk out of the beauty store 20 minutes later, three tubes of pink sugar lip balm richer, you laugh at how quinn all but runs to the car, sitting down in the drivers seat and flipping the mirror down, applying the sweet salve to his lips.

“how do i look,” he turns his head towards you, puckering his lips dramatically.

you giggle at the action, loving how excited he is to have his own lip gloss to wear. “sweet enough to kiss,” you respond through your laugh.

the words earn you another small kiss, feeling the tackiness of both of your lips smearing together, tasting the sweetness he said reminded him of your kisses.

he gives you a toothy grin before settling back in and starting the car, ready to go back to his apartment and spend the rest of his day off with you. he pauses right before he merges into traffic, though.

“just…do me favor,” he looks over at you, almost worried looking. “don’t tell guys about this,” he references his teammates, knowing they’d have a lot to say about their captain wearing matching lip gloss with his girl.

“wouldn’t dream of it, sugar lips,” you wink at him, earning a small groan from him, another laugh erupting out of you.

[paracosmicka]

being in a relationship must be so embarrassing thank god I’m a naturally distant and isolated introvert, like imagine having to explain the pile of peeled skin that mysteriously appears on the bathroom floor every night to your partner…. awkwardddddd

[superbat-lmao]

Damian becoming the Leslie of the Justice League.

Obviously he becomes and stays a civilian doctor, but he also becomes one of the go-to doctors if one needs to be summoned to the Watchtower.

He is already trusted by most of the superhero community, and while you’re not supposed to operate on family, beggars can’t be choosers.

It also means that he eventually teaches field medicine to new League members or trains other hired League doctors on protocols for supers.

I agree with him getting out of the vigilante scene and becoming a civilian, but the League works with civilians. And it would give him an excuse to have easy access to his family members medical files and treatment plans.

[draconicred]

Hey, system originals and hosts--or whatever word you'd use. And anyone else who needs to hear it.

It's ok if you want to put your headmates first, before even IRL connections you have. It's not wrong. You're not "cringe". You're not evil or selfish or "worsening your condition" by default. You share your body with your headmates. Whether you view them as parts of your'self' or not, you share a singular form you all have to coexist inside of. People outside your body shouldn't get a say as to what you do with it.

It's ok if you want to do things for them that you wouldn't otherwise do with your life. It's ok if you need to make compromises together about what path you wanna take, and change up some life plans until you can all agree or at least be okay with them. It's ok if the closest connections to anyone you have are those within your own body. It's ok to not want to be close to people unless they accept everyone in your system.

You're not anti-recovery. You're not "giving up" your body to some evil parasite. You're not "throwing your life away because of an illness". You're not bad if you "make everything about your system" because those people are a part of your life as much as any other friend or partner or coworker, you should be able to talk about them.

If you want to make decisions about your body as a collective, please do. You can live a happy and fulfilling life, connected closely with your headmates and all being happy together. It doesn't have to be a struggle 24/7. There will be good days, there will be bad. You won't always agree easily. Things can be difficult, but you aren't wrong for wanting your system to be as big of a part in your life as you yourself are.