Bioslut

A tumblr by a godless, polyamorous, humanist biologist with socialist leanings.

[bisexual-bifurcations]

Women: we need to support girls in stem early White Man: we need to just say everyone is welcome and support everyone together Women: but that doesnt work, minority groups need extra attention because there are societal issues from infancy telling them they aren’t expected in stem White Man: *continues to argue*

[drawingwhatever]

Show an example of teachers or faculty of schools telling minorities they aren’t welcome.in stem or discourage it. You won’t find.much. why??? *whispers* because there is nothing holding you back except your self.

[bioslut]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/10/nobel-scientist-tim-hunt-female-scientists-cause-trouble-for-men-in-labs

Did you miss this super high profile example from just two years ago? A lot of these incidents aren’t so public, but they happen. And there’s the underlying attitude behind them that the professors and other people in power don’t overtly say, but does doesn’t mean the issue doesn’t exist. Selection for that internship or undergrad research position, the more promising project, pushing students to apply for funds or submit work to more prestigious venues, etc.

[adventuresinchemistry]

did i tell you guys about how the prof who’s director of graduate studies told us at a town hall meeting about unionization that the department is disappointed in the quality of graduate students it gets and acted like that was somehow our fault for not being good enough and not theirs for not being a good enough program to recruit the top students?

because that happened 

[bioslut]

You know what might help recruit quality graduate students? A union. In my experience, people like being paid more and getting better benefits.

[political-cartoons]

American followers–want to have some fun with President-Elect Donald?

For whatever reason, the Donald administration has put up a public survey about peoples’ priorities in his first 100 days.

So if you’re from the US, you should take it, and if I may–I suggest that (among many terrible options and ideas) you say that making childcare tax-deductible, lobbyist bans, and veterans’ healthcare are all very important, and that Keystone XL, offshore drilling, etc. are not important to you.

At worst, you waste 5 minutes of your time; at best, enough people take it and he gets steered into a less insane direction. The dude does not seem to have a good idea of what he’s doing, and you can imagine that public opinion is going to be very important to him because he is an insecure man-child, so maybe you can influence some public good, capisce? Throw me a reply if you end up doing it. Have fun!

[bioslut]

Dead Blog

Well, I have not been updating and honestly don't foresee any regular updating in the future, so I'm going to call this blog dead. But, that's alright, I got to share some interesting things and hopefully somebody got something out of this.

[fyeahanatomy]

First MRI birth video reveals what childbirth looks like from the inside

(CBS News) Recently released video of a woman giving birth is providing people with their first look at what childbirth looks like from the inside.

Using an cinematical MRI, which takes multiple images of the same body part and then stitches them together to create a movie, German scientists at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin were able to create the first film to show what the interior of the birthing process looks like.

While images of the birth and the study were previously published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the birth occurred in November 2011, the video wasn’t available for public viewing until today.

Because researchers used an MRI, which is not known to omit ionizing radiation, there was not the same radiation risk for the mother or fetus compared with other scans.

NewScientist reports that the video will give researchers more information about the fetus as it travels through the birth canal. It shows the fetus’ location in regards to the pelvis, and can help doctors learn more about how to deliver and manage labor. For example, videos like this may be able to show doctors when a fetus will need to be delivered by cesarean delivery well before it may be too late. Researchers also hope that this method can be used to make real-time videos that can instruct others through virtual reality about safe birthing methods.

[bioslut]

I've been reading

a blog called barfblog, written by Kansas State University professors. As the title implies, it is focused heavily on food safety. It also includes a bit of the science behind it, including but not limited to microbiology, medicine, and environmental health. In addition to the science, there is a bit on policy as well. It's quite interesting, go take a look at it.

[bioslut]

On Centrists and Moderates

So, today I read this:

And in many ways they're worse than Republicans, because at least with a Republican one knows what one is dealing with, and one can fight them toe-to-toe. But the pearl-clutching centrist, on the other hand, is actually worse: they're the ones who actively marginalize the champions of the dispossessed and allow the rapacious Right to continue its pillage unimpeded while calling for greater civility from the victims.

It sounded familiar,

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

[bioslut]

Doomed Government Program Finds Contaminated Spinach

The discovery of Salmonella in bagged organic baby spinach that led to a nationwide recall Tuesday has been attributed to a small government testing program that, ironically, is set to be eliminated in the 2013 federal budget plan. 

The Microbiological Data Program, a network of 11 labs that screen fresh produce for pathogens, discovered the contamination during routine testing, according to a program employee. The program, also known as MDP, has been fighting to survive for years as the produce industry has lobbied to have it eliminated.

So, we have a pretty cheap program which employs people throughout the country and it actually improves quality of life for Americans. Sounds like the perfect thing to destroy. Fuck this bullshit and fuck the produce industry. I've worked in produce quality control and it's pretty awful. There simply is not enough regulation to ensure it really is safe to consume.

[stfuconservatives]

Hint: believe it.

[bioslut]

He is, and it's terrible. We desperately need more spending to get people re-employed. This isn't strictly Obama's fault and it is a good thing to refute right wing lies, but the premise behind this kind of argument is that government spending is a bad thing. It isn't, government spending means roads, schools, clean water, safe food, municipal parks, national parks, and scientific research.

Money is not a real resource, it doesn't truly exist, but labor is and we are underutilizing it. We need to expand the monetary supply (or greatly restructure it) so we can get the country working again.

As an aside, I never really could understand why it's a good idea for a business to invest in its infrastructure and employees, but it's a bad idea for a government to do the exact same thing.

[drfrankscali]

“Dan’s Dissection” watercolor 14x19

Danny Quirk is a good friend of mine and we work together on illustrations for my publications. You may be familiar with his “self dissections” but this is his newest illustration depicting a diabetic with insulin pump. I spoke with him earlier and he gave me permission to attach this to my tumblr account as he does not have one. This image is copyrighted by Danny Quirk and I had permission to post directly from him. Please reblog. -Dr. Frank Scali

Danny’s Illustration page on facebook

Dr. Frank Scali’s Medical Illustration page on facebook

[bioslut]

This is a fantastic image.

[atheist-overdose]

My good deed for the day.

[thehackerformerlyknownas4chan-d]

I fucking hate anti-vaxers.

Fantastic reply.

[stfuconservatives]

“They also contain the influenza virus itself”

YOU DON’T SAY!

OK, if you’re a grown-up who doesn’t understand how vaccines work, you don’t deserve to have any. And you certainly shouldn’t be warning people about them.

-Jess

[bioslut]

Oh no, those fuckers still need them. I don't care about their health, but herd immunity is a vital component of vaccination. If I had my way, there would only be medical exemptions for vaccines.

Also, the mercury in vaccines isn't elemental mercury and it isn't the mercury which causes advisories for eating fish (methylmercury and ethylmercury). This is like saying that table sugar and rubbing alcohol are the same thing because they're both carbon or saying that water is explosive because it's hydrogen.

[bioslut]

Some Food Safety Things

Okay, I am currently working in food safety and have done so in the past so I like to tell myself I am qualified to talk about it. In this case, I'm going to talk about some things that people really need to do when eating out or preparing their meals at home so they can avoid getting sick.

In semi-random order:

Wash your hands. This one is not in random order, this is the absolute most important thing. Wash them with soap and lather your hands together for at least 20 seconds before rinsing off the soap.  When you are going to eat your meal, wash your hands or at least sanitize them with alcohol. Other important times to wash them are before touching ready to eat (RTE) food or after touching raw meat. Raw does not mean dripping wet, it means uncooked, the ground beef in your freezer still counts as raw and you can get just as sick from it frozen as you can from the juices it will eventually drip.

Very much related to washing your hands is cleaning food contact surfaces. For instance, use clean silverware and plates or bowls or whatever is appropriate. Do not touch them with dirty hands, especially if you are touching a part of it which will come in contact with any food. Other surfaces may include a counter top or a cutting board. If anything which touches RTE food comes in contact with a non-sanitized surface, wash it.

Allergens may be important if you are preparing something for somebody with a food allergy. If you lice with this person, it's easiest to just keep the food out of the house. If this person is a guest, clean your kitchen well and if you make food containing the allergen, make it after you made everything else and keep it separated. Personally, I wouldn't use the allergen at all, too great of a risk of contamination.

Cook all meat to its recommended temperature. Do it. Cooking is a kill step, which destroys harmful microorganisms, but it only works if it is cooked long enough

Unless you have bought pre-washed produce (the bag will tell you) rinse it with water. It doesn't matter if it is conventionally farmed or organically farmed either.

[stfuconservatives]

From a friend’s FB wall. Hehe. -Jess

[bioslut]

I don’t think so. He has taken the position that it is for the states to decide. This is not pro-gay, this is not advocacy. This is useless.

[harpnotes]

You know what? It’s better than the Bush people actively trying to get rid of gay marriage. Seriously, I’m sick of all of this bitching and moaning if things aren’t perfect. I’m sorry, but do you really in your heart of hearts think that a person who said “Guess what, America? We;re gonna have some REAL equality starting NOW!” and proposed a bunch of insta-changes would stand a chance to get elected? No. We have to go slowly at first and applaud when people do good things, and most of all, we have to be patient. Whining about how “this is useless BAW I want national gender neutral bathrooms in every McDonalds NOWNOWNOW” is going to get you nothing but disappointed. Recognize baby steps. And for love’s sake, stop bitching out people who are actually on our side! P.S: I realize that some people honestly just want to complain and be angry about something. I respect that. If you are having your own private “I’m being negative” time (which we all want sometimes) then I retract my statement.

[bioslut]

People who won't vote for Obama based on full support for gay marriage won't vote for him no matter what. Your criticism is stupid and makes you look like a disingenuous liberal. The state's rights argument is toxic and is no less toxic coming from a Democrat.

[bioslut]

An amoeba engulfs and starts to digest two paramecium.

[silver-sppoonn-deactivated20140]

This is not photo shopped! (To my own amazement). This is a “Dolion”. This dog/lion is the result of DNA testing and only 3 dolions are within exsistance.  Individual strands of DNA from each creature must be combined and re-inserted in to a host egg. This picture is of the first dolion named Rex.

[bioslut]

You are looking at an April Fool's Day joke.

http://listverse.com/2008/04/01/top-10-bizarre-genetically-modified-organisms/

This list was an April Fools Day joke for April 1, 2008. Items 10 and 9 are real, the rest are entirely made up.

This critter was number 4.

[bioslut]

GMO Testing

This looks really cool.

Lumora's bioluminescence technology, known as BART, uses luciferase, the same enzyme that lights up fireflies  As part of the detection procedure, the luciferase is coupled to DNA detection so as to light up when it detects specific DNA and RNA sequences. By using DNA signals that are specific to genetically modified crops, the system can detect even low levels of contamination.

This would be a really simple assay to use and can be useful outside of detecting GMOs. One example listed in the article was pathogen testing. It would be fantastic to just be able to swab some food item and see if it has something like O157:H7. I could see this technology having clinical benefits as well, wanna see if something is antibiotic resistant? Just check for the appropriate plasmid. Back to food, it could be used to easily test if you're really buying the fish you think you are, odds are good you're not. I just personally would want to know who sensitive and accurate this method is, but I think it has promise.

[bioslut]

Jon Stossel is a Terrible Human Being

That was supposed to help disabled people in the work place. 51 percent of the disabled were employed when they passed the rule. Now it’s down to 32 percent

Let's look for confounding factors. Right now, the unemployment rate is 8.1% and in June of 1990 (one month before the ADA went into effect) it was at 5.4%. The numbers are from Google. Now, is it maybe possible that the ~3% difference in unemployment makes it more difficult for people with disabilities to find a job than it does for somebody able-bodied? Oh sure, the discrimination is supposedly illegal, but that's not going to stop all of it and I'm sure the employment rate of disabled people would be worse without the ADA.

What Jon Stossel is doing here is lying, he is using poor methodology in order to promote his twisted libertarian view of the world. That is why he is a terrible human being.