#our language of science

[keferon]

Ah mmmm well

You know how in mermaid stories, the mermaid is typically the dumber one? I present to you the "and they were both scientists" plot.

Basically the concept is that mermechs and regular mechs can't talk to each other. But luckily even if they speak different languages they still use the same math~

I discovered a bunch of simpatico mer-fics. So. I wanted to do something with this concept too haha. If some physicist happens to read this - feel free to laugh at me. I know nothing about science👍

I don’t know if I’ll continue this thing. Should I. Idk. It’s midnight I might be going crazy lol. I made that cover anyway bc I love making covers hehe

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[lilaccatholic]

Everyone's getting so heated over evolution right now that I kinda want to say I believe in some secret, third thing for kicks and giggles. Get real gnostic on 'em.

Oh? You believe in evolution? And you believe in creationism? Well *I*, the most learned of individuals, believe that we are actually yet still in our larval stage as a species and will only be able to enter the kingdom of heaven when we grow the exoskeletons which will make it so our flesh can handle the gaze of God, like a REAL Christian

[bijoumikhawal]

I keep forgetting to share this, but I found this article by Razan Idris really illuminating on some of the issues I have with other Egyptians and how we discuss Egyptology, and Egyptian identity from ancient to modern. Especially appreciated the mention of tahsin al-nasal.

[gynecologistmsfrizzle]

the sokal affair was fucking hilarious actually and i dont trust anyone who disagrees. if i ever get to TA a course (i dont care what the course is on) im assigning that paper as a reading with no context and the seminar topic will be critical thinking and media literacy

[the-trans-dragon]

https://www.tumblr.com/mousegirlheart/712995877228298240/mouse-yaoi-real

Idk it seems ciscentered, trans excluding to treat “male mice” like a coherent thing — rather than some construct we assign to them like how we assign it with amab people — and then further to conflate 2 male mice together as being yaoi and gay… it reinforces being “male” (amab) as a biological thing not something to do with gender and identity.

Hmmm... I can't seem to see things from your perspective. Is the only issue that it says "mouse yaoi real"?

I reblogged because it's incredibly cool that it happened! It helps dissolve our rigid ideas of sex, in my opinion. One of the biggest trans-exclusionary arguments in my current culture is "women are women because they can bear children," which ties into the ever-present homophobic argument of "homosexuality is wrong because it cannot produce offspring."

The ramifications for this sort of thing are still "up in the air," so to speak, since experiments with mice cannot always be replicated in humans. But the ability to create a viable offspring from a same-sex pair of mammalian model organisms is still a big break-through, especially because of the implications of creating an egg with two X chromosomes from a male skin cell with only one X chromosome! As the CNN article itself explains,

"The proof-of-concept research, the culmination of years of pain-staking lab work, could expand the possibilities for future fertility treatments, including for same-sex couples, and perhaps help prevent the extinction of endangered animals. "

The ability to create viable offspring from "male" cells is a direct wound to the idea that "male" is a rigid characteristic. If I allow myself to daydream, I can ponder other possibilities: could you turn "male" skin cells into other cells? Could a trans woman one day have her own cells used to grow a uterus? Growing entire organs is a wholly different feat, compared to creating a single gamete, with difficulties such as incorporating it into a pre-existing organism (eg, even if you could grow a uterus, could you get it connected to the circulatory system?). It's a far-off daydream, thanks to the current culture's fear of research that questions it's rigid ideas of sex and gender. But it's a daydream that comes closer to being reality when science achieves breakthroughs like this!

I am being overly hopeful. Science is very slow to make progress in regards to sex. Progress is discouraged and poorly funded, and can even be destroyed, such as with the Hirshfield Institution. But seeing science make progress like this, despite the hostile culture, gives me hope in itself.

It's unfortunate that our current vocabulary is inadequate and rife with bias that assumes everything is cisgender, heterosexual, and perisex. In our efforts to understand the unbiased nature of sex, it's important to examine our views for these issues. Does "mouse yaoi real" contribute to cis-centric, trans-exclusionary biases? I dunno. No. Yeah. Sure. It doesn't matter. Or maybe it does.

Anyways, the science is really really really really cool. I have other thoughts on the matter, but my vocabulary feels inadequate to verbalize them, and instead I am just taking a moment here to talk about the science a little, explain how it can be utilized as a step towards trans healthcare, and emphasize the importance of celebrating these things.

[gay-impressionist]

Heyo! I’m the anon that asked about being non-binary and using neo pronouns in French. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!! I’m non-binary myself and I had absolutely no idea as to how my gender would translate in French. I’m really glad that there are pronouns and inclusive language even if it can be only used in small circles right now. I think it’s really cool that French feminists and queer people are creating their own ways of promoting gender equality in a language that has extremely strict gender rules and wording. I’ll definitely be using this info going forward!!

Happy to help 🥰

And yeah, so much queer/feminist joy when I'm surrounded by people who use inclusive language. It's both feeling seen and being able to experience progress in real time, it's an awesome sensation

[timothylawrence]

This is mildly offtopic but I feel like we need Arab rep in scifi that is just like. The spaceship's navigator or resident hyperspace mathematician or whatever. I'd imagine locating Mecca while in another galaxy would require some pretty complex calculations.

Medieval Arabs basically created maths as we know it. Why the fuck is the Arab stereotype fucked up racist bullshit and not this

Hahaha yeah a lot of modern day math is from the “Arab world” (Algebra -> Al Jabr). I’d love to get more anything Arab rep but alas the current western mindset towards the SWANA world is… not awesome. So I doubt we’d get anything beyond the millionth yellow filter “war story”.

Astronomy is also huge in islam :)! we base our prayers on the suns positions and our calendar year is based on the moons phases :)!

Also Arab =/= Muslim, the swana region is rife with other religions (: I personally wouldn’t want Islam represented by non Muslim writers/creators for obvious reasons lmao but I’d love some smart Arab girl rep wahhh

[shorelinnes]

I do think the whole "whenever an idol says something that contradicts the narrative in my head it's actually the company forcing them to say it" thing has been getting a little out of hand lately...

[cupuasu]

was looking at the school systems in latin america and i think our ministries of education should come together n decide some sort of standard fr bc what a mess

[shamemp3]

sociology and anthropology are everything to me … like they are so broad because they are the study of humans and their lives and interactions and feelings and etc etc and its broad enough that you can have a class about genuinely ANYTHING because sociology is engrained in everything around us…and the message my profs leave us with every time is that the human experience is so unique and dynamic and yet universally there are still so many similarities and connections that keep us bonded together. and these studies make us find bits and pieces in humanity literally everywhere like you can look at a piece of string or like garbage on the floor or be placed into the strangest situations and have the most mundane interactions on the street and you will find yourself going like ‘:] wow humans are so interesting and this world is so interesting. why did this happen what made this person like this?’ like!!! ​i just like how broad this study is and how every class can be abt smth completely different but the main idea will always be about the human experience and connection. i love my major sorry im done now

[keferon]

Simpatico merformers au part 2 haha

Oh, well. When I decided to touch quantum physics with a stick I really didn't expect to see real physicists im my reblogs ahahahahah mmmmm oh my fuckin god what am I doing I don’t have enough brain cells for this kfjvnvj

Anyway. Drawing them is fun. So I drew more~

Hey. Hey Chromedome. Do you have..do you maybe have some very specific mer in your mind to be concerned about? Hm? Maybe?

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[nerdie-faerie]

The uni major uquiz is making its rounds again so people are being loud in my notes again which is a lot but @corianten left this in the tags

And yeah no that exactly what happened. Just a bunch of us crowded in their tiny kitchen drunk making a uquiz about being students in uni and for the next week one of them would ask me about people's responses at breakfast

[ethan-is-obsessed]

My inspiration is Wednesday Adams.

[autoneurotic]

rememberrrr when i thought i would always wracked with and controlled by anxiety/ptsd/depression and that i would always be stuck in jobs that i hate and that hated me personally and now here i am like, 2 and a half years into unemployment because my beautiful partner gets paid well and i can make art, something i’ve wanted to do for ever and used to do a lot, AND squeeze out a minimal living from it?? like hello.

[blue-cat-shitposts]

Funniest thing you learn about people when playing TTRPGs is that apparently nobody can spell and nobody can do math

[aroacehanzawa]

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley would be so good if it was good