#with a bit of science and biology

[markscherz]

Oh you like frogs? Name every frog then

Current tally: 90 (1.18% of all described frogs)

[fleshwizard]

wish me luck for my presentation /exam

[batemanofficial]

can i say something controversial. the way people (especially american liberals but that's a whole nother can of worms) act about animal testing is sooooooooooo unhelpful. like is cosmetic testing on dogs/rodents/primates harmful and unnecessary? yes, in many cases! but does that mean all animal testing - for any application - should be categorically banned? no. animal testing is a vital process in many, many medical and research contexts and is conducted under a very strict set of standards, ergo applying "animal abuse" as a blanket label to all instances of animal testing is reductive at best and shows a flagrant lack of understanding of medical ethics on the part of the population. and don't even get me started on how slippery of a slope it is to go from condemnation of animal testing to just flat out eugenics

[vexedallay]

Something that bugs me is how everything Rae does is called science. Like, this man was basically a conspiracy theorist who happened to strike gold with his theory and had a vague notion of scientific method at the start of s1 and at the current point in time he's more of a historian/family drama counselor. The closest he's ever come to science (to my knowledge) is when he was experimenting with the sculk, which probably should've been given to sherb anyways, since they (as an alchemist) are probably the best equipped to handle mysterious substances. Not saying the outcome would've changed but my point stands. The reason Rae is the man everyone goes to with their problems is bc in s1 he was the best equipped to handle the issue, being the one who knew the most abt the end. When we hit s2 stuff, though, the science/research based problems should've gone directly to sherb.

Not to say I don't love with my entire heart what heyhay has done with raes character, but sometimes it feels like everything ic is important for is the problems they have rather than the solutions they can offer, and that hurts my little icarus-obsessed heart

[realcleverscience]

Really glad the iron in our blood is not magnetic. that doesn't sound pleasant.

[fruitsyrups]

ca n we all agree that human bonnie would not be a baker btw

[grimaom]

jool in every episode (5/17) “why should i do your selfish and unnecessary work?”

↳ S03:E07 thanks for sharing

[iftitah]

my mom's college is sooo nostalgic 😭

[allamalad]

OK I KNOW THIS IS RANDOM LEGITIMATELY HILARIOUS TO ME AND I THINK SFW VORE PEEPS ON THIS APP WILL FIND IT FUNNY HHAJSMDBSH

OOKOKOKOKOKSO LIKE, ok so I learned this in my ap bio class (I love the class so much its fun)

basically in a nut shell it's that when there were two types of cell, eukaryotic and prokaryotic (animal and plant type cells) (bacteria type cells). yk they'd just do cell stuff.

But one day one Eukaryotic cell ate a prokaryotic cell through endocytosis (basically taking it into the other cell body whole), but for some reason that cell wouldn't get digested inside the other cell.

These two cells then proceeded to create an endosymbiotic relationship, the inner cell providing energy to the outer cell while the outer cell basically provided protection. This theory exists because the mitochondria not only produces atp, the substance that provides energy to the cell, but also because it has its own DNA instead of having the same DNA the rest of the cell has. Oh also the mitochondria has a double membrane.

All of this science supports the theory of endosymbiosis, aka the theory where a cell vored another cell and caused a critical step in evolution lol.

[silverwolf1249]

kryptonians have wings and need them to live au:

Wing au where all kryptonians are born with wings, and can hide or reveal them at will. If they lose their wings, their health deteriorates until they either die from the stress the loss of their wings causes, or they end it themselves.

The Kents are surprised when they find a winged baby in a spaceship crashing in their fields one day, but they love him all the same and name him Clark. They didn't let him out much until he was a bit older and figured out how to hide his wings, it was simply too risky.

As a toddler, Clark's wings were incredibly fluffy and full of down, still growing in. What you could see of his feathers were greyish blues, a rusty tone highlighting the upper parts of his wings. He wasn't able to do much more than flap them about until he turned thirteen, when his adult plumage came in.

That time was absolute hell on all the Kents, his parents not knowing much on how the help the itching and pain Clark dealt with as he molted and his feathers fully grew in. Martha and John poured over multiple books on birds and their wings in hopes that Clark's wings were similar enough for the information to aid them.

Clark had to take an extended leave from school due to an "unfortunate case of pneumonia". It all turned out alright in the end of course, and Martha absolutely cooed at her son's new plumage, vivid dark blue with vibrant red mingling amongst the upper portions of his wings (colors that would later inspire those of his uniform as superman)

Growing up, Clark knew he was different, no one else had wings, and he had been told constantly by his parents to keep his hidden. He learned very early on that it was because he wasn't from earth, but that didn't make his parents consider him their own any less. He later found out about all his other abilities he gained from absorbing the sun's solar energy, but his favorite ability was always the wings he was born with.

Sure, he could fly without them, but why would he? His wings were a part of him from the very beginning, and flying with his wings just felt so much more right than flying without them. When he found the Fortress of Silence, he learned more about his wings from the Jor-el hologram, discovering how important it was to keep them safe. He still decided to keep them out as Superman though, his near invulnerability extending to his wings as well, and he was loathe to fly without them.

Years down the line, and after having been a part of the Justice League for over a year, Superman was suddenly very aware about his wing's vulnerability after another Kryptonite incident with Lex. Superman worried, and ended up confiding in Batman about his concerns. This was Batman after all, he knew all of Kal's other secrets and weaknesses, what was one more? He still didn't know the man's name, but he would trust him with his life, and for now that was enough.

Thankfully, Lex had yet to figure out just how important Clark's wings were to his continued existence, but even if he never learned the truth, any lucky shot to his back could take him out permanently. Batman listened to it all and told him that while he would tell him to put on wing covers to shield them, suddenly having them one day would be incredibly suspicious. There wasn't much they could do other than to make sure Clark's back was always protected.

Of course, this wasn't a long term solution, and it caught up to them not even a few years later. Superman finally got hit with that lucky shot, and Bruce wasn't able to get there in time to shield the other's back. By that point, the core justice league members had learned of Kal's achilles heel, and panicked when they noticed Superman lying on the ground face down, his back torn to shreds and wingless. Batman however, was calm, cold and clinical as he ordered them to bring them to the watchtower infirmary and get a room with two operating tables prepared for surgery.

When Superman, unconscious from the pain, was set up in an operating room, the Justice League looked around, wondering what was next? Only to spy Batman removing the top parts of his armor next to the other operating table. Wondering what the hell was going on, they were absolutely shocked when a pair of wings burst out of Bruce's back, and they were identical to Superman's.

Despite the questions bubbling within them, they soundlessly leave the operating room to let the watchtower's medical team enter and get down to business. Hours after the surgery is over, they visit Bruce to get their answers. He's sitting up in his bed, unable to lie on his back, the two new neatly stitched incisions on his back preventing him from doing so.

Still under the influence of painkillers (not strong enough to cloud his mind of course), he slowly explains. When he learned of Clark's weakness, he did more research into it, using his at the time new connection to the computer in the Fortress of Silence to learn more about Kryptonian biology. He wanted to figure out if there were any ways to prevent Clark's death if he actually lost his wings one day.

Eventually, he did find the solution. On Krypton, wing transfers were rare, but the cases were well documented in the Fortress' database. Whoever sacrificed their wings would die, but so long as the person who had lost their wings received a transplant within 24 hrs, the one who lost their wings would survive with no lasting impact. The wings had to be removed within those 24 hrs as well, or the wings would be rejected, and both participants would die.

And Bruce was the guy with all the contingencies, both for if he would need to take down his allies, and to save them. He sneakily stole a few dna samples from Clark, and did his own research and testing. He eventually managed to replicate Clark's wings, but he knew that unless they were attached to someone, the transplant wouldn't work.

Eventually he made the conclusion that if anyone was to carry the spare pair of wings, it would be him. This was untrodden territory, but thorough testing had shown that Kryptonian dna was compatible with human dna, so at the very least, Bruce wouldn't die if he implanted the wings into himself.

Whether he would die or not if a transplant was required however, was uncertain. While humans didn't need wings to survive, Bruce couldn't be sure how the Kryptonian wings might affect human biology once implanted. Hell, he wasn't even completely sure if the transplant would work. The intermingling of human and Kryptonian dna from the wings could render the wings useless once removed.

There was just no way to tell unless Kal actually needed the transplant, and there was no way Bruce would let that risk fall on anyone else. In the end, it seemed like Bruce's gamble had won, since other than the gashes on his back, there were no other negative effects to his health, and it looked like Kal would make a full recovery as well.

As you can probably imagine, the justice league were not happy with his explanation at all, and neither were his family or Clark when he woke up(Alfred in particular was upset that Bruce had never told anyone what he had done, the batkids were just pissed and terrified for nearly losing their dad and they wouldn't even have known until much later). At the same time however, they understood why Bruce did what he did, self sacrificing idiot that he was. None of them could imagine a Batman without a Superman. Clark though, also couldn't imagine a Superman without a Batman by his side.

They were friends, Clark would even hesitantly call Bruce his best friend, but the incident had changed some things. Clark had always thought that Bruce had reluctantly became friends with him after Clark kept bothering him to be more social when they started the justice league. He knew that Bruce trusted him with his life, he wouldn't have revealed his identity to him otherwise, but the fact that he was willing to die for a chance to save him...Clark had just never saw that happening, until now he supposed.

He just wanted to know why? Why put himself at risk like this when he wasn't even sure he would survive the surgery? When he wasn't even sure if it was possible to transfer the wings to him? So he confronts Bruce one day, practically ambushing the man in the Batcave one night. And Bruce, as emotionally distant and secretive as the man can be, answers honestly, "I care about you." he tells Clark, looking away from the other to hide how vulnerable he felt, "There was no way I was going to let something like this kill you. Not if I had the possibility to prevent it. A chance is greater than none at all."

And suddenly, Clark realizes that he was awfully, terribly, and wholly in love with Bruce. How he had never noticed it before he wasn't sure, but this near death incident had made him reflect on many things, it would of course also make him reflect on his relationship with Bruce as well. And without even thinking about it, he finds himself kissing the other man.

For a second, there's no response, but then Bruce answers in kind. Clark feels his wings, wings that Bruce had risked himself to create and transfer, pop out of his back. They flutter a bit, before wrapping themselves around him and Bruce. And everything feels so, so right, like everything was going to be okay.

It wasn't of course, he and Bruce definitely had to discuss their relationship and how it might affect their current lives, both of them were still recovering from the surgery, and Clark's wings didn't really feel like his just yet, despite looking exactly the same. He was also pretty sure the other Justice League members were going to be ridiculously overprotective over him for a while after being so close to losing him, same with Bruce for being reckless and secretive as always. But for now, he let himself indulge in this one perfect moment.

[hopeheartfilia]

ive been switching lanes waaay too fast this week. Anyway having some mini identity crisises over how little i actually understood about nuclear fusion

[quiveringdeer]

Got to help out with some birdbanding today!!

Caught last, this feisty lil Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus.

Notorious squirmers known for escaping the bag when you try to take them out for measuring but we got our data from this one and a lil paparazzi moment!

Caught two Carolina Chickadees, Poecile carolinensis.

We believe they were a mating pair, didn't get photos of the second which was a lady but she was building an egg which we could see through her brood patch!! It was wild! We let her go pretty quickly after.

And also our lil Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina.

Our permit allows us to play calls under very specific conditions and when I played one from my phone before setting it up on the blue tooth speaker this lil dude dive bombed my head! He was stays ready apparently!

[jayjamjary]

Istg the second I get to college (soon) my eyes will be peeled for research opportunities. LET ME IN THE LAB LET ME IN THE FEILD AND BY GOD LET ME INTO THE MORGUE!!!

I was literally jumping and dancing because the college I'm going to sent everyone with an email for their college (including people who haven't actually gotten their yet like me lol) something about like a fair or something for presenting research like YES LET ME IN THERE PLEASEEEEEEE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

I love science so much pleaseeeee let me in pleaseeeeeeeeeee I have not spent every single year of school up to this point looking like a total nerd for nothing let me innnnnnn I want the scienceeeeee.

Clawing at the door. Clawing a hole through the door. Let me in. I'm in the honors college so hopefully that will lead to Opportunities!!!

[faithfromanewperspective]

I just graduated from university! Survived the showy formalities and ableist speeches. Now send me asks about my degree!

[thebananasaurusartblog]

Decided to recycle an old species of mine; Vraelith.

They are an omnivorus intersex designer species on the planet Vrael. They have several subspecies of varying niches and vast colonies across the planet, reigning as the only species with complex reasoning and technological advancements. They were engineered specifically to populate Vrael, with almost all of the fauna closely related to their genetic sequences but forcibly evolved to fit specific niches. Most the creatures evolved overtime to adapt with a great many extinctions as their designers succeeded and failed. Eventually the planets designer abandoned it's creations, leaving everything to adjust and fight for itself.

Despite the sci-fi, Vrael has it's magics… though not in the typical spell casting methods. Everything exists on a little-understood energy, highly charged energy, which the planet's non-liquid crystalline core is made of. Energy can be 'used' through only the most adept Vraelith who are born under extraordinary circumstances- but they don't fully understand it. When something is made or born, energy from the planet is transferred into it and when it dies, said energy returns to the planet's core, keeping it charged.

I'm still working on refining all their world, lore, and species info, but I have 6 pages and a billion sketch pages. I'm no biologist or science wizard but I'm having a good time again lol.

[transingthoseformers]

Fun fact! The helplessness of fresh offspring is usually inversely proportional with parental care in nature. Like how kangaroo joeys are breathing jellybeans, meaning their mothers have to carry them around and nurse them for quite a while. Humans are born like 100% undercooked compared to most placental mammals, so (usually) a lot of instinct is dedicated to these screaming shit machines— so much that certain people will lactate if they hear a baby cry. Lizards and sharks on the other hand, those motherfuckers are born running/swimming, lest they get eaten by mama or otherwise spawn killed. Even toed and odd toed ungulates are somewhat in the middle of this graph, with moderate results in each category. Of course, there is individual variation— ie the longstanding practice of dairy cows lacking on the parental details and my colorful slang for human infants.

Of course, there are other factors at play such as offspring mortality rate, how many offspring are had how often versus the 💙quality of offspring💙, how long does the species typically live, are there weird sex based skews and other outside factors. Though, take this post with a grain of salt (meaning, all of this is pulled out of the research stored up my ass)

It is all a balancing act of getting the most bang for your buck. "How can I put the least amount of resources into getting offspring that is likely to survive?" Biology is a bitch like that.

Why is this relevant to the transformers? Because of mechpreg fics and how they depict sparklings. Cybertronians are naturally a long lived species. Longer lived than quite literally anything on earth. In fics, I have seen sparklings being demonstrated as either Super Squishy baby beans, or practically lethal feral animals. I have also seen fics where it's a very rare occurrence to have a sparkling, and I have seen fics where they quickly have a brood (in fact I'll see fics with multiple pairs of twins or triplets)

This decision will have consequences later on

I think you can see exactly where I am going with this. Now, I could write this off as well fanfiction authors not being biologists and wanting some quick fluff in their stories, but no you get Riot being a devious asshole today. If a fic sways towards sparklings that develop rather quickly / are born frequently / often come in multiples or litters, considering the Cybertronian life cycle, wow does nature expect those sparklings to die via intense predation, low parental instinct, or otherwise unstated factors.