[tarragonthedragon]

i just got the "see where your blood has gone!" email from giving blood but it glitched and just showed me my current location. which. theyre not wrong. that is where most of my blood is

[emil1863]

found a procreate pencil i really like

[carolinawrenn]

Funeral bell (Galerina marginata)

[hope-for-the-planet]

70% Drop in Levels of Forever Chemicals Observed in Seabird Eggs Tracks Regulatory Success

These pescatarian birds are directly exposed to PFAS contamination due to the island's position near the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Over fifty years of data show a peak in PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") content in seabird eggs in the 90s, followed by a decrease as regulations went into effect. The most recent findings show a 70% decrease of most common PFAS.

While continued vigilance a regulation is needed, this data indicates that regulations are working to reduce PFAS concentrations in marine ecosystems.

[walkingproof]

the worst thing you can do is let this world steal your whimsy. protect your whimsy at all cost. don’t let these joyless doofuses steal your magic

[femboy-nation-rise]

Trans women deserve safety and freedom of gender expression however they like.

Trans men deserve safety and freedom of gender expression however we like.

Nonbinary people deserve safety and gender expression however they like.

Intersex people deserve safety and gender expression however they like.

These are not radical views! People everywhere deserve the right to be safe, happy, and practice bodily autonomy! This should be basic!

[the-rat-trapjaw]

[dogpuppy]

[aftertherainstopss]

I hope you never outgrow being excited by bookstores, listening to the rain, flowers and finding the perfect mug.

[vernnillion]

Fungids

[natalieironside]

If ur a US based academic I bet if u could write a good enough grant application u could convince the current government to give you a bunch of money to look for Atlantis or the kingdom of Prester John or something

[hewasmadeofthegalaxy2]

@alchemistwren @tighnarithebotanynerd something to try? :3

[alchemistwren]

I think this approach would be best used when applying for grants through private companies. With how many of them utilize AI to handle administrative work, it may be possible to game the system by including certain buzzwords.

That being said, I am fully exhausted from recent fieldwork and just life in general. That, coupled with the fact that scientists have been "disappearing" here in the United States, is going to make me have to pass on this one.

Although, when it comes to Atlantis, if you include the phrase "fossil fuels", it may be more likely to get picked up, for anyone willing to test both OP's idea and the possibility that AI has polluted our ability to ask for reasonable grants while greenlighting fake ones. It could be an interesting test in and of itself.

[tighnarithebotanynerd]

You're saying you couldn't fool the government? Oh wow, you really are exhausted.

These are the same idiots who thought highlighting text black was the same as redacting information from the Epstein Files and were surprised when people figured out that they could simply de-highlight the text.

We could fool them.

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

"Dogwhistles" are called that based on real "dog whistles", many of which are pitched too high to be audible to most humans, but are still perfectly audible to dogs.

Rhetorical dogwhistles are things that most people would not be able to identify as bigoted because they're INTENDED to have plausible deniability.

The wording changes are meant to be subtle enough that people really can mix them up accidentally when they don't have much information!

So when the gender critical movement calls trans women "transwomen", they're hoping for 2 things.

this usage will spread enough among people who don't know any better, to give transphobes the plausible deniability of not LOOKING like a frothing bigot constantly.

the usage grammatically places trans women in a different category than other women; it's changing "trans" from an adjective to part of a noun to make this distinction.

The more we can avoid this usage, the less deniability have transmisogynists have when using it, and the less rhetorical ground we cede to the degendering and misgendering of trans women.

I don't actually think ceding this ground is LESS divisive than pointing it out politely.

[alchemistwren]

A rule I have unfortunately had to learn the hard way is that anything made in a time of fascism needs to be examined critically because it likely serves a fascist purpose.

It sounds like it should be obvious and perhaps in hindsight, it was, but I just hadn't learned how to see it yet.

[alchemistwren]

Ancestry DNA can sell your genetic data for profit due to weaker consumer protections.

Pokemon GO surveillance scandal, where they use geospatial information gathered unwittingly by players to enhance military operations

Alexa eavesdrops on those who use her in their homes and may even know what room you are in at any given time.

These are a few examples of things that seemed harmless upon release and which has caused issues and concerns since then. If you would have told me that Pokemon Go would be used for military operations down the line when it was first released, I would have assumed it was a Fox News talking point, it would seem so outlandish.

Things that seem harmless and cute and whimsical are not always that way and are, unfortunately marketed as being harmless and even helpful to dissuade even the most critical skeptic from looking deeper.

[tighnarithebotanynerd]

Someone just informed me that Google's AI can summarize your blog and, since it is AI, is often incorrect.

I am not a roleplaying blog, to be clear. I don't "talk about the plant lore of Genshin," I'm a botanist with specific inclinations to mycology, which is what I do discuss and reblog here.

Can we just take AI out back and shoot it or....?

[alchemistwren]

I really do not like the implications of this. I understand Tumblr is public, so it is considered public information, but if there is no pressure on it being correct, it could lie about the users completely and wreck lives or invite harassment.

[tighnarithebotanynerd]

EXACTLY! If it can't be held responsible for misinformation, it should not have the access to provide that misinformation!

[teaboot]

You see I too often sat in school classes and thought “when am I ever going to need this, I’m never going to be an engineer, I’m never gonna be a scientist, I’m never gonna be a linguist” and then I grew up and it turns out a lot of bigots and cults and scams and grifts hinge their entire business model on you just. Not knowing what a protein is or some shit

[metamorphesque]

The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, J.R.R Tolkien

[iamnotlanuk]

it fucking sucks how you can do all the therapy and self healing in the world and you still have to wake up living under a capitalist death cult that's killed community and crushes your soul

[iamnotlanuk]

congrats you want to live and be happy

bad news the world doesn't want that for you

[iamnotlanuk]

I'll still love fully and crawl to hope until my body gives out anyway I guess