#soft biology

[spicymochi]

silly seal

[theyshapedlikefriends]

Sunlemon Fluffies Maguro (S)

[slanecc]

study date (ft. just me)

[coff3ddart]

Drozzy 🛐

Me tomó casi 7 horas hacer esto💀

[crimsonlovebartylus]

barty and regulus being that academic couple that will spend hours in the library, and call it a date because they're spending time together. they will hold each other hands, flip each other pages, while still focusing on their own work. 🥰

[spookygibberish]

I've sort of developed a strange relationship with the concept of "realism" in the things I make.

Something I was very into as like, an eleven year old (im not implying this was immature to be into, just that it was formative for me), was speculative biology specifically for dragons, and now, specifically in the case of dragons I find a lot of attempts to make them biologically plausible fully missing the appeal of dragons at all.

Thinking specifically about the supernatural elements of JoM and where the line is drawn. The dagnyds are made from the remains of godlike entities, and are not entirely earthly animals. They have a supernatural origin. It would be fully justified in giving them magic abilities or making magic an aspect of the setting, but have absolutely zero interest in doing so. It doesn't interest me. I think about shit like healing powers or glowy energy attacks and my reaction is just "what does this even add? Why do I need this? Does this make things more interesting?" And it simply doesn't. Healing is more interesting as a prolonged process, combat is more interesting with teeth and claws and metal and blood. These are options which are more realistic, closer to real life, but the realism isn't what makes them interesting: it's physicality.

When I design a creature for this world, I am not thinking about making it biologically plausible, and yet, I try to design things which look like they could 'move under their own power'. There is a sense of heft and mechanical "soundness" which I value more than realism, but often also aligns with looking 'realistic'.

I would say that it's better to serve a narrative than strive for absolute realism, but I don't actually write stories, although I do have ideas for them occasionally. I guess a version of this which is more relevant and applicable is that i prefer to strive for a particular vibe.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: spiny softshell turtle

It may be neither Flat Fuck Friday nor Turtle Tuesday, but because this is my series and I can do what I want, I'm talking about a very flat turtle. The spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) is the most widely distributed and possibly the most common softshell turtle in North America. Its range covers most of the Eastern half of the USA and stretched into Canada and Mexico. There are 6 subspecies separated by geography and hybridization can happen in places where their ranges cross. Hybridization has also been known to happen with the Florida softshell (Apalone ferox). The subspecies are the northern (A. s. spinifera), gulf coast (A. s. aspera), Texas (A. s. emoryi), pallid (A. s. pallida), Guadalupe (A. s. guadalupensis), and black (A. s. atra) spiny softshells.

(Image: a spiny softshell turtle seen from above and to the side. It is a turtle with a wide, flat shell. Its head and one foot are visible. The head is skinny and has an elongated nose. The foot is wide and flat, with webbed toes. The turtle is an olive green with black dots on the skin, yellow stripes on the face, and dark spots on the shell. End ID)

The thing that makes a softshell a softshell is the lack of keratinized scutes on their shells. This makes the shells smooth and leathery. The center of the shell has a layer of solid bone user it, but this does not extend to the edges of the shell, making it less rigid. Softshells are the fragile speedsters of the turtle world. Their shells are a lot lighter and often more streamlined, allowing for faster movement both on land and in water, but they provide less defense. Spiny softshells have spiny projections along the front edge of the carapace (upper shell), with males having more than females. They are some of the largest North American freshwater turtles. Females can reach a carapace length of 54 cm (21 in) and 11 kg (25 lbs) while the smaller males max out at about 25 cm (10 in).

(Image: a spiny softshell being held by a person, seen from the front. The leading edge of the carapace is visible, showing off the small spines. End ID)

Spiny softshells have wide, flat, paddle-like feet with three claws and an elongated nose that acts like a snorkel. The turtles are born a bright olive color with striped faces and dark spots on the shell. Males keep their juvenile coloration for their entire lives while females grow darker ad lose many of their markings. It can be very difficult to tell females of different subspecies apart, while males and juveniles can be distinguished by their markings. Smooth skin and highly vascularized membranes in the cloaca, mouth, and throat allow the turtles to breathe by diffusing dissolved oxygen from the water into their blood.

(Image: a male and female spiny softshell facing each other. The male is less than half the size of the female and has an olive colored shell and skin, with dark spots on the shell. The female is a uniform muddy brown color. End ID)

Spiny softshells are generalists able to live in a wide range of habitats. They prefer streams, rivers, and ponds with muddy or sandy bottoms and high visibility, but can live in most freshwater habitats. Softshells are diurnal, spending their days basking and feeding. Being turtles, they are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature matches the surrounding temperature. To warm themselves up, the turtles bask in the sunlight. They can often be found resting on exposed rocks, logs, sandbars, or shorelines. While not particularly social animals, the turtles will bask in groups. When threatened, softshells will attempt to swim away and/or bury themselves. In the right sediment, a softshell can bury itself in under a second. Because their shells are less rigid, softshells have to actively defend themselves when cornered and will bite and scratch. People have to be careful when handling them. They brumate (that's hibernation for reptiles) during winter. While brumating, they bury themselves underwater and slow their metabolism and oxygen requirements. In this state they can fully sustain themselves on oxygen absorbed through their skin or special membranes.

(Image: a spiny softshell turtle buried in its hunting strategy. Only the head is visible above the sand. End ID)

They are primarily carnivores and will eat anything that can fit in their mouths. Aquatic insects, crayfish, worms, amphibians, mussels, snails, fish, and more are on their plate. While capable of fast swimming, they are not pursuit predators. They employ two primary hunting strategies. The first is to bury themselves in the sediment and wait for prey to come by. The second is digging in the sediment to find worms and other animals. Fish have been known to follow digging turtles around to feed on animals unearthed by them.

(Image: a spiny softshell in captivity. It is swimming at the surface of the water in a tank, amongst artificial leaves. End ID)

Spiny softshells mate in spring. Males attempt to woo females by swimming over to them and bumping heads together. The male then sits on top of the female to mate. Unlike most species of turtles, the males do not grab onto the female's shells during mating. Eggs are laid between summer and early fall and will hatch next spring. The female will dig a nest in sandy or gravelly banks and bury the eggs once they have been laid. She provides no further care. Females will typically mate multiple times each year, with each mating having a different nest. The juveniles take 8 to 10 years to reach sexual maturity and they can live up to 50 years in the wild. Many turtles determine sex by the temperature the eggs are incubated in. This is not the case with spiny softshells, who have genetics based sex determination.

(Image: a group of 5 juveniles. The photo focuses on two who are sitting next to each other. One has its front right leg on the shell of the other. They have similar coloration to an adult male. End ID)

(Image: a newborn emerging from its egg. The egg is round and white, looking like a ping-pong ball. Only the head of the turtle has emerged. End ID)

Most subspecies of spiny softshell are classified as least concern or near threatened by the IUCN, meaning they are not in danger of extinction. The exception is the black spiny softshell, also known as the Cuatro Ciénegas softshell, which is critically endangered. The primary threats to the turtles is habitat loss due to human activity. Adults have no natural predators outside of the Florida and adjacent state populations, which are prey to alligators. Juveniles are eaten by a variety of animals including fish, snakes, raccoons, and herons. People will also eat the adults. Because it can take a whole decade for juveniles to become reproductive, losses in population take a long time to replace. They have been introduced to areas outside of their native range, most notably the western USA. Most of these introductions are due to people releasing pet turtles into the wild.

(Image: someone holding a juvenile. The shell is 2-3 times the size of the human's thumb. End ID)

[anarcho-physicist]

After 4 years of work, I've finally published my very first peer-reviewed theory paper: Design rules for controlling active topological defects

(and it's open access! :D)

I am sooo excited to finally be able to share this! I'll probably write some more in the future about what it was like to work on this project, but for now here's what I want to say about it:

I think this work is a beautiful example of how the long, meandering paths of curiosity-driven research can bring us in completely unexpected directions, yielding new ideas and technologies that might never have been found by problem- or profit-driven research.

We started this project because we were interested in the fundamental physics of active topological defects; we wanted to understand and develop a theory to explain their effective properties, interactions, and collective behaviors when they're hosted by a material whose activity is not constant throughout space and time.

Along the way, we accidentally stumbled into a completely new technique for controlling the flow of active 2D nematic fluids, by using symmetry principles to design activity patterns that can induce self-propulsion or rotation of defect cores. This ended up being such a big deal that we made it the focus of the paper, for a few reasons:

Topological defects represent a natural way to have discrete information in a continuous medium, so if we wanted to make a soft material capable of doing logical operations like a computer, controlling active defects might be a really good way of putting that together.

There have also been a number of biological systems that have been shown to have the symmetries of active nematics, with experiments showing that topological defects might play important roles in biological processes, like morphogenesis or cell extrusion in epithelia. If we could control these defects, we'd have unprecedented control over the biological processes themselves.

Right now the technique has only been demonstrated in simulations, but there are a number of experimental groups who are working on the kinds of materials that we might be able to try this in, so hopefully I'll get to see experimental verification someday soon!

[witchofthesouls]

Do you think Cybertronians would be more or less physically affectionate than humans, overall? On one hand, they have the whole EMF thing which acts as another sense. On the other, they're made of metal, and often are often fully armored, so what they can feel would be limited.

It's hard because of EM fields as well as frames with advanced capabilities of perception through sigma abilities and frame differences.

Honestly, it's just dependent on the interpretation.

Personally, I like it being a very culturally shaped behavior that can be driven by biology.

I like to think that Iacon is the birthplace of Cybertronian Functionism from its past. The Quintessons consolidated power there by using it as a massive land site and trading hub and most definitely take advantage of the associated history with the Thirteen Primes. So, it's believable that Iaconians have strict standards of moral behavior and would value rigid control of expressionisms. No surprise if they seem cold or impassive to mecha from other city-states.

On top of it, the Cybertronians that came to Earth had been shaped by warfare in an inconceivable scale to us. Even if friendly, the Autobots (and Decepticons) are under war-time footing and fully militarized. A lot of social and cultural mores will be reshaped as newer generations are raised into it.

(Begs the question if either of them have civilian counterparts? As well if there's been a cultural schism on the definition?)

Then there's the question of how to describe EM fields? Is it like a vibe check? Active and passive emotional exchange? Something that touches over senses as well? I do like the idea that EM fields act like chakra sense in Naruto. The fanfic that delve into it are amazing, like the vivid imagery from Umei_no_Mai and chesire_carroll on Ao3. Plus, it gives me the glee to hammer more lore, like really powerful sparks are capable of overwhelming others via field onslaught.

Also, soft bodies. I know it's a controversial one, but I really, really like the idea that Cybertronians do have a body of protoform with musculature under their armor.

[frogposting]

tucked-in toad!

reblog him and u will have good slumbers 4 eternity……

via twitter

[holo-dolphin-seapunk]

[therottenkingsreckoning]

Some fresh fluff for y'all, ft. Eddie, Frank, and their newly-hatched twins 💕

A bit of necessary context: I've been working on a spec-bio living puppet thing called the Periaĺka, or Soft Folk. Their children aren't born in the way mammals are, but formed and hatched from the donated flesh of the parents placed inside a silk cocoon. These two are demonstrating the bonding purr of parent to newborn, and the ways in which the endorphines can make you quite emotional!

Definitely won't be the first time I post about these fine fae, there's plenty more I can say about them :) Don't worry about the other projects though, I haven't abandoned them, I'm just doing this too now.

[coff3ddart]

¿Les gustan los caracoles?

[averlym]

the one who pulls the strings (click for better resolution!)

from adamandi by @melliotwrites,, consider this my pitch to get you all to watch it

[slanecc]

hi from munich

[sinfromlokislair]

a friendly alien who really, REALLY wants to make friends with this adorable human they’ve found on their planet. the little guy is trying to crawl away, a fresh injury on his leg keeping him from running. his suits been breached and he’s going to slowly suffocate. but he doesn’t want to die like this. his crews left him behind and he’s scared. there’s no one coming to rescue him, and now a predator from this planet is going to crush him. he tries not to cry beneath that helmet as it picks him up by his leg, curiously looking him over. the shift makes him cry out in pain, his injury freshly jarred from the shift.

the alien sniffs him a few times, getting to know him. male, youthful, stressed. it finds his wound and licks at it, earning distressed cries from the human. poor thing. He won’t last long in this environment. better hide him so one of the thieving scavengers doesn’t take him from it.

it opens its mouth and he screams. ignoring his frightened cries the alien engulfs his helmet, quickly moving down his body with its stretchy maw. a nice thing about its flesh is its elasticity—it could easily fit him and more inside of it. his shoulders squish right in, followed by his waist, then his legs, one still bleeding right out on the aliens tongue. He tastes metallic. the blood is unpleasant, and the alien spits it out onto the ground. gross.

with its new friend squishing into the first of it tight, squeezing stomachs, the alien gets on the move, feeling the human thrashing within it. first is the chamber filled with gluey substances, which coat the human in a mixture so thick it’s difficult for him to move. once he’s properly cocooned, he’s squeezed to the next chamber, where the walls light up. small, living bioluminescent organisms free themselves from their homes in the walls and move over him, secreting acid from their jaws to break down his suit. he can’t move, and yells the entire time, instantly holding his breath as they work through his helmet. but he can’t hold it for long, and finally gasps for air as they crawl off of him, his body successfully stripped to nudity.

he can’t breathe. he panics and thrashes as the stomach squeezes him, sending him to a chamber even lower. the walls are blue and it’s full of a thick, gelatinous liquid. he tries to keep his head above it to no avail. he sinks below, inhaling the stuff and coughing as it enters his lungs. His chest burns and fills with fluid, and he tries to scream, air bubbles escaping his mouth as he kicks to try to swim—

wait a minute. he can breathe. With this stuff in his lungs, he can breathe. he pauses for just a moment, looking around panicked. how is this possible?

The entire body shifts. A light from above alerts him to something looking down on him—it’s the alien. he’s in a translucent sack, a storage crop of sorts that diverts from their stomach. he meets their strange, glowing gaze, his heart hammering in his chest.

the alien promptly hugs its gut, rubbing its cheek against him through its own flesh. he doesn’t quite comprehend what’s going on, but this thing is keeping him alive—and looking at his wound, the fluid seems to be healing it. What the fuck. he looks at the alien, which gives him a sort of catty smile as it nudges him through its flesh.

Seems he’s going to be around for much longer than he thought. And it doesn’t look like he’s leaving this chamber anytime soon…