thornandalchemyart

[thornandalchemyart]

Literally this is giving me SO many ideas for GameOfShrooms 🥹, ty to the OP for sharing all this!! I feel like I'm back in lab looking at TLC plates under a UV lamp again, but this time it's actually interesting 😂

I just learned that some lichens glow under a black light??! You are The Lichen Blog so I assume ya already know that, but WOW

oh, yeah! this is actually a thing that gets used regularly in lichen identification, too, because lichens are REALLY chemically weird and whether or not a lichen glows (and what color it glows if it does) can indicate the presence/absence of certain chemicals that might be indicative of a species. in ID guides and keys this is usually written in the description of a species as either ‘UV-’ (no glow) or ‘UV+’ followed by the color(s) that it glows and sometimes the actual chemical that’s glowing. this test usually goes along with chemical testing for The Dude in question, where you use a capillary tube to drop various chemicals onto it to see if there’s bubbling or a color change from a chemical reaction. in my experience, chemical testing (aka spot testing) gets used more than UV testing, but it’s still specific enough that having a special setup for radiating The Dudes so you’re 1. able to see the glow and 2. able to do it without blasting your corneas out is like, a perfectly normal thing if you’re going down a path in life that includes blasting various lichens with UV light (a joy and a pleasure).

it also should be noted that these lichens never ‘look’ like they glow?? like, there’s no special indication whatsoever that they glow under UV light. they literally just look like normal lichens, and in the region where i live that means that they’re usually just like, colored brown/grey/green, so 1. im not gonna lie it’s kind of disappointing when they test negative and don’t glow after the key asks for a test and 2. when they do glow and test positive it’s like, Wow. like here’s a set of before/after examples from the Chicago Field Museum on flickr: 

(two sets of Lads arranged into two columns here, with the lichens in regular light to the left and the same lichens under UV light to the right.) remember that for lichen ID, it’s not only a matter of if it’s glowing under UV light, but what color it glows if it does, which can be different depending on what chemicals it’s got going on in there. 

anyway. yeah, they do that. like many lichen-related things we don’t know for sure, but most likely the Dudes who make certain kinds of these chemicals use them as sunblock to reflect super harsh light away from the algae layer and/or use them to make themselves disgusting for any local predators to eat, but i’ll reiterate that lichens have a LOT going on in them chemically (including generating a wide variety of different chemicals that don’t glow), so who knows. they’re just vibing

[thornandalchemyart]

Hey everyone! Thought I'd check back in over here. I don't know if you watched those Tiktok hearings today (not sure if they're still going but from the few hours I watched earlier......OOF to say the least).

I have a bad feeling about Tiktok. I really hope they'll be able to figure something out. But in the meantime, hopefully some of you can enjoy this BTS content!

Here's a preview of one of the designs for the upcoming Whimsical 🍃 collection, dropping next Friday 3/31/23! Made to order basis, hardware color is customizable AND I have fishhooks as well as leverbacks. See below picture for options for stretched ears:

I also am conducting a survey to find out about tunnel sizing if people need those too (survey linked here:

Think of this page as like a free Patreon for now--you'll be able to see stuff probably a little ahead of time before it's posted elsewhere.

If there's a point in time where Tiktok is completely axed, I'll move over here & my IG will probably be no longer. Otherwise, for the meantime, enjoy the spam & BTS before it's published elsewhere! 🦇🦋💜

[thornandalchemyart]

Hiya! Welcome to my tumblr!

This is where I def will post a lot more BTS content, and especially will be the place to follow should Tiktok get banned. I'm still hopeful it won't, but it never hurts to diversify in the meantime!

Anyhow, any specific requests for this next launch (Whimsical 🍃, launching 3/31/23)?

Most of the designs are nailed down but there's still time to sneak in some last minute details if anyone has any thoughts!

By "whimsical 🍃", think mixtures of nature elements mixed with classic stoner culture, like 🍃 leaves, "water pipes", maybe some 🍓 and 🍄, etc. Like I said, most of the designs are pretty nailed down BUT I'd love to incorporate small details from you all as I make things.

Lmk below 🦇🦋💜🍃