Untitled

[herainsorcia]

[fox-bright]

That is DIABOLICAL museum design, A++, no notes

[catchyvideos]

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Mirror-Ball Spiders: these spiders are covered in shimmering, mirror-like panels that shift and expand as the muscles of the abdomen contract

Spiders of the genus Thwaitesia are often described as mirror-ball spiders, because their bodies are lined with reflective panels that make them look like tiny disco-balls. These arachnids are also known as dewdrop spiders or sequined spiders.

Above: two different species of mirror-ball spider

The shimmering panels on the abdomen are produced by a digestive secretion known as guanine, which seeps out through the lining of the spider's gut and forms a mosaic of crystalline cells just beneath the surface of the abdomen.

Above: Thwaitesia argentiopunctata and Thwaitesia margaritifera

The crystals shrink and expand as the muscles in the spider's abdomen contract; they often shrink when the spider is agitated, and they expand as it begins to relax.

Above: the panels expanding and contracting

The adaptive purpose of the shimmering effect is unclear, but researchers believe that it mimics the glistening appearance of raindrops or beads of dew, which could allow the spiders to blend in with their environment.

Above: another view of the guanine crystals shifting just below a thin layer of cuticle

The reflective panels may also help to confuse predators, as this article explains:

The spider’s decorative patterning may seem like a dead give-away to predators, but for those looking to feast on this arachnid, the hunt might result in confusion and failure.

“Like a disco ball with lots of different mirrors, the reflective splotches on the spider’s abdomen probably scatter light and make it difficult for predators to see it,” says Robert Whyte, an honorary researcher in arachnology at the Queensland Museum.

Above: Thwaitesia affinis

There are at least 22 known species of mirror-ball spider, and their physical features can vary significantly. In some cases, the silver panels on the abdomen are accompanied by colorful, iridescent spots and scales, and the abdomen itself may have a red, orange, green, yellow, or beige appearance.

Above: spiders of the genus Thwaitesia

These spiders are widely distributed throughout the southern hemisphere. They can be found in the tropical and neotropical rainforests of South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Singapore, and Madagascar.

Above: Thwaitesia nigronodosa

Mirror-ball spiders are not aggressive toward humans, and there are virtually no recorded cases of humans being bitten by the spiders of this genus. They're also tiny, with most individuals measuring just 2-4mm long (roughly 1/10th of an inch), which means that their fangs are often too small to penetrate human skin.

Above: Thwaitesia margaritifera

Sources & More Info:

iNaturalist: Mirror-Ball Spiders

Australian Geographic: This Sequined Spider Glistens in the Light

My Modern Met: The "Mirror Spider" and its Changing Mosaic of Reflective Panels

A Field Guide to the Spiders of Australia: Tiny Forest Jewels: Spectacular Thwaitesia Spiders

Science Friday: How is a Spider Like a Disco Ball?

Land for Wildlife: Spider Sampling Points to a Potential Indicator Genus (PDF)

Royal Society Publishing: The Spider Cuticle

BBC Science Focus: Mobile Disco

[raisinbrant]

@extremely-sleepy-kitty

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

poor, disabled, in need of support

Hi, I'm TDF and I'm physically disabled and living under the poverty line. My income adds up to about 1/3 of the local minimum wage.

I am stuck in bed almost all the time because my physical health is so bad, and I have expenses nondisabled people don't.

Currently my biggest concern is food and toiletries, including a new mouth guard.

I'm very sorry to keep begging, and I feel awful about it, but I need help.

Please, can any adult who is financially secure help me with a dollar towards groceries, or even a whole box of protein bars?

link to walmart cards (for groceries/toiletries etc): https://www.walmart.com/giftcards/

link to food/necessities list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/19QO1LMKKHQ3A

my email is thatdiabolicalfeminist at protonmail dot com

I'm extremely sorry to ask, and I appreciate your understanding!!

🌤🌈🌳

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

would any financially secure adult be willing to help me with $5 towards food this weekend?

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

Hi I'm so sorry to keep asking but would anybody be willing&able to help with $5 towards food or a fan?

The weather is starting to get warm here again and we had to throw our fans out last year due to asbestos contamination.

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

thank you to the person who sent $50! and the person who sent peanut butter and a 4 pack of tp!!

I'd love to get both food AND a full size fan this weekend, if any financially secure adult feels like making my Pride wish come true? 💖🥺🙏🌈

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

still hoping for help if anybody who can safely afford it is willing 💖💖💖

[picsthatmakeyougohmm]

[karazorsel]

I’m sorry to do this again, but I’m really desperate and my wife and I are starving. We haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning (it was a box of mac and cheese) and we aren’t scheduled to be paid until the 11th. I currently owe my personal cashapp account money. (I’ve borrowed from them unfortunately but it wasn’t enough to last us.) so I can’t accept any payments there, but below I’ll link my wife’s ca$happ (her name is Caitlyn) and my p@ypal. If anyone could send us like $20-$30 dollars (or anything extra if you’re feeling generous) so we can get some breakfast when the stores open, I would owe you my life. I promise I plan to pay all of this back once we’re in a better situation. I’m so sorry to do this.

ca$happ | p@ypal

[karazorsel]

12 PM UPDATE: It’s been 7 hours and we haven’t had any luck. We ate some rice earlier but it’s not holding us over. Someone, anyone, please 🥹

[redstonedust]

ive been thinking about how some trans spaces and media lack representation of bottom surgery and itd be nice if we could talk about and depict it more. but my attempts to formulate this into a coherent thought lead me to standing in front of the microwave idly thinking "we should normalize men with penises" as if thats a brave new frontier nobody has ever considered.

[depsidase]

[animentality]

[arrowandaxe]

[bee-in-your-binnet]

Coyotes trying their damndest to get domesticated

[byjove]

everybody: you’ve got to advocate for yourself in medical settings!

medical professionals when a patient advocates for themselves in a medical setting (x100 if that patient is a part of any minority): damn. you’re a hypochondriac crazy bitch who has every mental illness and is seeking every narcotic in existence. that’s the only reason you’d be disappointed in the care you’re receiving here. in retaliation, we will be even less helpful and less sympathetic. our jobs are hard. people are dying. we don’t have time to deal with anyone who is slightly inconvenient for us.

[byjove]

Yeahhhhhh. Whenever someone comes online to speak about a negligent, discriminatory or extremely unprofessional and uncomfortable experience they had in a medical setting, medical professionals tend to swarm them just to remind them over and over again that their job is sooooooo hard and patients are soooooo mean to them and that there are soooooooo many sicker people, like the sicker patients aren’t also being humiliated and abused, like hospitals do not stabilize people and dump them back on the street to die, like deaths due to medical errors aren’t a major problem, like racism, ableism, classism and misogyny isn’t rampant in the medical system from the top down, perpetuated systemically and individually by providers. So many doctors and nurses hate to admit they’re wrong, they hate to admit they’re complacent, they hate to admit that their patients are all people, often having the worst day of their life.

[beardedmrbean]

[theconcealedweapon]

The assholes openly admit it. The whole point of college is to enforce the hierarchy. When those who were supposed to be low on the hierarchy started going to college, the assholes get angry and want to make them suffer for challenging the hierarchy.

[parkchanwoohoo]

When you feel discomfort at a marginalized group but feel that expressing so would be wrong, it is very common to come up with "progressive" justifications for non-involvement.

Oh, no, my non-involvement with Black art is because I'm not Black. Black people have gone long enough dealing with appropriation and people like me (non-Black) have taken up enough Black spaces enough. So really, I'm actually doing a good thing by non listening to Black music, watching Black movies, reading books by Black authors.

No, you see, trans people are so chronically fetishized and belittled that it's normal for me to feel suspicious and wary to see trans people in sexual contexts, intimate contexts, nudes, artwork, etc. It would be best in fact if I did not engage in erotic or romantic works involving trans people at all.

The insidious part of these kinds of justifications is that they are often based on actual issues that minoritized people will openly discuss, but have a convenient "side effect" (really, it's the Whole Point) of allowing you to silo yourself away from groups you are not involved with or comfortable around while patting yourself on the back saying you're actually doing a good thing by segregating your tastes, hobbies, and preferences to an exclusive diet of mainstream hegemonic art

[thestuffedalligator]

“When we were kids, the Phonics Wizard came to our town to show off how the letter E can change the sounds of vowels. He turned a can into a cane, a pin into a pine. This one kid had a cap and he changed it into a cape, that kind of thing.

“And we loved it, we were all having a great time, but then he saw my sister and I, and he just got this - this look in his eyes, and then-”

She hesitated, worrying the coarse material between her fingers. “Things got pretty bad after that,” she muttered. “I know it’s silly, but I try to keep - her - comfortable. We don’t know if she can still hear us, or see us, or if she’s even still in here, but I like to think she is. I talk to her when I can, I leave music on when I’m out of the house. I tried to convince my parents to bring her with us when we went to Disneyland, but they didn’t - didn’t really take that well.”

After a moment, she put the ball of twine back onto its pillow. “Anyways. They tried to arrest the Phonics Wizard, but he had a plan in case something went wrong and he turned it into a plane and flew away.”

[depsidase]

[polishwave]

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

[Polish. A red writing on the wall saying "no smoking" changed to "beating meat compulsory" with a black sharpie]

[hungwy]

Another reason why trains would be good is that most people are not good at driving