The Explosion

Stuff That May or May Not Make Sense. Photography mostly. Sideblog: dave-exclaim-yoooog

[twisted--taffy]

Saw some good ducks on my run

[beemovieerotica]

the cognitive dissonance from people who want the products of modern medicine but get weird about animal research. like im sorry but this is necessary for the survival of the society we currently live in. and the scientists who work on these things are not evil cackling psychopaths. anyone you talk to in animal research has incredibly complex feelings about their work and incredibly complex relationships to the animals in their care. there are regulations and oversight and penalties in place to make the work as humane as possible and scientists are overwhelmingly the ones enforcing and advocating for better care.

[beemovieerotica]

@velvetdemon I'm doing a full reply because I want to give this question the time and space it deserves, and I really do appreciate your curiosity about this.

The short answer: It is deeply unethical. There are nowhere near enough willing patients in the world to be able to do this, and it would be criminal to put them through this.

The long answer: The one side of the equation you're focusing on is: how much of a drug is too much, to the point where it will cause negative side effects or even death? And this is crucial to know. But it's not just a matter of finding out the lethal dosage of a heart cholesterol medication, you need to know that it can actually lower the cholesterol of any living thing. There is no way to know this without giving it first to...a living thing.

But beyond this, I need to emphasize: The goal of a drug trial is to effectively cure people who are already suffering from disease, who are living on limited time.

Drug trials don't just happen on any member of the public, they need to happen specifically on people affected by the disease you're trying to treat. There is at any time a very limited and very marginalized population of the world affected by early onset, familial Parkinson's disease. Because you cannot ethically induce disease in a human being, you are working with, speaking with, and helping patients and their families who are hopeful and desperate for a cure.

If you were to jump straight to human trials from petri dishes, not knowing absolutely anything about how the drug functions in a living, breathing animal body, it would look like this:

We didn't know that minute quantities of the drug interact lethally with x, y, z medication that people are commonly also taking. X number of patients have died as a result.

We didn't know that the drug is fatal to people with [common variant] in their genetics. X more patients have died.

We didn't know the drug exacerbates x, y, z chronic illnesses. X number of people have acquired permanent, lifelong disabilities.

We didn't know the best way to deliver the drug, so we tried multiple ways: the people who received it intravenously are now suffering from a painful, costly, and debilitating condition that did not happen with the ingested form.

I could go on, and on, and on.

The vast majority of these problems can be nearly or almost entirely averted by testing other animals first.

These are all people who possibly could have waited for the normal progression from animal testing to human testing and thus received better outcomes. Some people will pass away in the time it takes to get to that point, and that's heartbreaking, and we all wish science could be faster.

But the cost of expediting science could mean a life of profoundly greater suffering or an even shorter life than the one where no intervention happens at all. And at that point, you have completely exhausted your trust, your goodwill, and your patients' hope, after you've failed to do anything or even worsened the lives of people who are already deeply suffering.

[manslaughter]

hi, i’m an animal research professional. making sure laboratory animals stay alive, healthy, and enriched has been my full-time job for several years now.

animal research is not the mad scientist wild west that PETA wants you to think it is. there are extremely strict federal laws in place to protect the well being of these animals. animal welfare organizations like AAALAC ensure that lab animals are treated with dignity & respect and are given enough specialized care & enrichment to be happy and content in captivity, just like AZA accreditation with zoos.

not a single animal from a zebrafish to a mouse to a dog to a macaque goes unaccounted for. if an animal gets moved to a new cage, paired for breeding, has a procedure performed on it, gives birth, gets sick or injured, dies, etc. it is legally required that this information is recorded and kept on file for the US federal government to access. failing to record & retain this information is very much punishable by US federal law.

let me tell you - if you abuse or kill an animal, even a mouse - you are almost certainly getting both fired & blacklisted from the industry. if you abuse or kill a more ‘advanced’ animal, such as a dog or monkey, you will likely face criminal charges. killing a monkey is as serious and disastrous as a nuclear meltdown. you are expected to reasonably explain every illness, injury, or death of an animal under your care. you must record all of this information. animals that are clearly suffering with low QOL are required to be euthanized according to AVMA guidelines.

research animals are highly expensive. yes, even the "lesser" animals like mice. the cheapest mice will run you a few hundred $ per individual, with some of the most expensive mice i've cared for being $25,000 per individual. in research we have the "three Rs" - reduction (reduce amount of necessary animals to a minimum), refinement (refine processes to ensure research is accurate and animals feel no pain or distress), and replacement (replace animals with non-living research models as they become available). i can assure you no proper research team is wasting animals (*do not* say "b-b-but elon musk--" his research team is actively being investigated for animal abuse by the government).

research methods that do not require live animals are currently being looked into & efforts spearheaded by - you guessed it - the animal research industry itself (notice how the animal rights people are strangely silent & unhelpful when it comes to this?) but current technology is rudimentary and does not compare to live animal models.

some research animal fun facts (US edition):

all species of animals are only allowed to have one single major surgery performed on them in their entire lifetime.

institutions with nonhuman primates must have a behavior program in place (run by knowledgeable primate specialists) to ensure that they are happy and receiving enough daily enrichment and social interaction.

institutions with dogs are required to have physical exercise programs in place. this means every individual dog gets a substantial amount of leashed AND free-roaming exercise daily, including playgroups with other dogs.

a majority of nonhuman primates get to retire to sanctuaries like peaceable primate sanctuary, and almost all dogs get retired and adopted out by organizations like homes for animal heroes. some institutions will also adopt out unneeded young rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, etc.

some strains of mice glow neon green (or orange or blue) under UV light. this is not harmful to them and is commonly seen in cancer research.

so yes, you can rest knowing that laboratory animals are treated with the utmost respect by their caretakers. and you can stop this awful, ignorant talk of human experimentation that will only end in the abuse of nonwhite people, LGBT people, disabled people, indigenous people, and so many others. please just take a look at this wikipedia page if you think “ethical” human experimentation can exist.

[digitaldiscipline]

Thank you for the wonderful explanations (and also the lagniappe of Neuralink getting scrutinized and stink-eyed).

[findingfeather]

The ethics of experimental treatments with humans are already really fraught and full of pitfalls and the vast majority of people involved really are trying as hard as possible to make them not so, because - you'll be shocked to know - people who need medical treatment and aren't served by something that already exists tend to be a bit desperate.

That in and of itself, inherently, right there, introduces a MASSIVELY dangerous power dynamic. And that's WITH all of the care and, in fact, the animal testing being discussed above. It's already fraught and risky, and it only goes downhill from here if you require human testing earlier.

[headspace-hotel]

most damaging idea of the 21st century: the conviction of vast numbers of people that human history will end within our lifetimes

climate change represents world-altering tragedy if unchecked, but not even in the worst-case scenario does it mean “literally everyone dies”

yet so many people have jumped already to “it’s over, the world is going to end, we can do nothing about it” and are just paralyzingly cynical. How do I explain that the power to imagine a future is essential for creating it

[headspace-hotel]

you know the thing where trauma can cause you to just. not expect to live much longer so when you get to 30 you don’t know what to do because you thought you’d be dead by 25

That is happening to all of us right now on a society-wide scale

[headspace-hotel]

A lot of people are like. REALLY angry at me for suggesting that “be depressed and do nothing” isn’t necessarily the only response to climate change.

this, this, this, this, this, this, and like, 700 other sources will tell you that most of the effects of climate change will be reversible even if we pass the ‘threshold’ of a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperature

BUT. Even if the worst happens, it will be important to be doing things other than wallowing in misery???

I’m not trying to be callous but for people living today it’s wildly unlikely for the results to be “literally immediate death.”

People will get displaced from their homes by rising sea levels. We have like, years, probably decades, before that happens. It seems so fucked up to decide that we should do nothing, because we’ve already decided they’re going to die anyway????

If a bunch of us are going to die, why not die trying to help each other? Why not try to make sure fewer people die? Why not do something that might reduce someone’s suffering or give them food or clean water or a place to sleep?

I don’t know how to explain to you that people need socks during the apocalypse

[starship-goldfish]

Important.

[wyrm-town]

Literally even in the most severe, cynical, and immediate predictions made by scientists rapid climate change is far away from now. If it does happen it’ll take effect over the span of a decade or so, no a day.

And there’s still hope! Did you know the hole in the ozone layer is closing? It was actually caused by one specific chemical that’s been banned. A lot of endangered wildlife populations are growing because of so many efforts to protect them. Many mining companies are being prevented from mining in our remaining clean waters and forests. We have all the technology we need to reverse this crisis, it’s just a matter of implementing it.

It will be ok. Things are improving. People are getting on board. Don’t lose hope while we still have a chance to use it.

[headspace-hotel]

My mom was just reminding me earlier about Copper Hill, Tennessee, which I encourage y'all to look up

In the 1980’s, the area was absolutely devastated by copper mining, to the point that the land had a “Martian” appearance. It was utterly devoid of vegetation and wildlife. No trees, no grass, no frogs, nothing.

I own a historical fiction book, A Bird on Water Street, about how the area was restored. The astonishing thing about this place is that people were able to fix the damage.

In a lot of ways in the 80’s and 90’s, many species and environments were successfully saved from the brink of disaster.

Does anyone remember DDT? As the above poster said above, CFC’s contributing to the ozone hole? Do y'all remember how saturated the 1970’s were with lead and asbestos and all sorts of toxic shit? Getting specific chemicals banned or working to save specific species DOES HELP.

I’m begging everyone to research conservation projects going on near them, like, in or near their hometown. The state of Kentucky very successfully reintroduced elk to the mountains after they went extinct there. There are examples like this everywhere.

Things look bad and they’re scary but they would be a lot worse if the people before us hadn’t worked their asses off trying to preserve the world for us. People are out there working hard to save the world right now.

There is still time.

[headspace-hotel]

Conservation success stories of 2021. Last year, several species believed to be extinct were rediscovered, long-dead preserved specimens of endangered ferrets were cloned, and several species that nearly went extinct had population explosions.

[twisted--taffy]

My dad grew up in Copperhill. When he was a kid you could see the whole Copper Basin from space it was so, well copper colored (literally, there’s satellite pictures). His dad was kinda the first version of an environmental worker the mine had. We were just down there after Christmas for my gma’s funeral. It’s green now. And it’s because every single project- school service projects, scouting projects, church projects, etc. -was planting trees. Obvs closing the mine and stuff helped enormously. But massive amounts of the Appalachians down there were re-planted by hand. By people like my dad, as a high school kid in a school with a graduating class of 32 people.

This is what it looks like now.

Sometimes all it takes is a bunch of people really dedicated to planting a whole bunch of trees.

[allonlifesjourney]

Though the pandemic has slowed it, I feel as if it’s a growing-to-be-known fact that I am amassing a fairly decent collection of mugs. There is no collective pattern to their designs except that they are all very applicable to me. (The same has been appropriately said about my home too.) A lesser known fact is that there is a particular order in which I use them. It can vary slightly, but it always follows this one rule. The mugs used first are always the ones given by loved ones. Picking one up is picking up a piece of a friend.

There are phrases I say a certain way because a friend says them that way. I take my tea the way I do because a friend took his that way when I’d never had tea before. Sometimes if I’m awake late enough I start thinking about making peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches. I fold straw wrappers in zig zags. I sing through my music even when its not for voice to find the phrasing. If I see the full moon, I have to say, ‘she beautiful, she gay’. The way I move, the way I laugh, the way I play music, the way I am me, is an amalgamation of who I love.

Christmas is about small things happening in small places that mean big things. A baby is born to common people in a barn in a tiny town. I drink hot chocolate and look at Dolly Parton, or ducklings, or rainbows, or a dog, on my mug. Both of these are Love.

As Christmas Day comes to an end, take the last few moments to find the parts of you that are not you, but are the Love of others in you. There will be more than you realize, and more than you discover, because there is more Love around you, and more Love in you, than you know.

Peace to all. Merry Christmas.

[twisted--taffy]

Just seems right

[norwoodcosplay]

The Companion Cube is Complete!

Set on castor wheels, the cube lights up with over 20 customizable colors and patterns and has removable logo plates for easy conversion from a weighted companion cube to a normal companion cube. Additionally, the top logo plate can switch between a holed one when supporting Wheatley and a solid one when the cube is used alone. The cube supports the pole for Wheatley and carries all the battery packs.

[twisted--taffy]

Look at the thing I did and check out my other blog for how I made it!

[twisted--taffy]

My Cats Are: Weird AF

[twisted--taffy]

My Cats Are: Family

[twisted--taffy]

My Cats Are: Adorable

[twisted--taffy]

My Cats Are: Photogenic

[twisted--taffy]

Chicken Cake for suprise party for friend

[twisted--taffy]

I have no explanation.

[twisted--taffy]

Some animals are the weirdest of creatures.

[twisted--taffy]

The signs of the scattered buildings are lit, but you don’t see their glow as you drive through the mist. The only light your mind registers is the bleeding streaks of green and red on the rain soaked road and the traffic lights that peer at you through the fog ahead. You don’t see yellow and you wonder if it’s broken or if it’s timing or if yellow doesn’t work here. The drive home takes years but you don’t recognize the time. You don’t want it to end. When you reach your garage you pull inside the dry space just to walk back outside. The rain washes the day off your face, and something urges you to turn off the lights and let the fields take you. You go back inside to family and bed instead. It’s harder than it should be to draw the shades. You won’t remember that tomorrow.

[twisted--taffy]

If I choose to do but one thing in this lifetime, let me dedicate it to you.

[twisted--taffy]

Well, on the fact that it takes an awful many strokes of a paintbrush to make something that ins't white white, but it only takes seven to paint a rainbow.

[twisted--taffy]

Run your fingertips along my ribs and feel their edges as though they were the hills and valleys of a weathered stone wall. Use my clavicles for rock climbing and my hips for hiking. Cup your hands around the slopes of the muscles in my shoulders, in my arms.

Push against the salt flats of my belly and the mountains of my legs. Brush away the softness of my breast for the strength of my muscle beneath it. Brush your hands alongside the curves of my vertebrae, where the scars of my heart emerge to change the moulding of my skin.

Trace the sharpness of the lines of my body like you did the edges of the geodes we found. Feel the power that I have put into my body, not the fragility society has pulled from it. I am not a woman; I am no man. I am the storms we weathered, the summits we climbed, the rivers we swam across. I am the wilderness, can you see?