#biology

hasufin:

mikkeneko:

ceekari:

curlicuecal:

Whenever I take a long car ride I end up exhausted afterwards, and I’m always like “why am I so tired? I was just sitting around doing nothing all day.”

But the answer, it turns out, is I was doing something. Riding in a car jars your body in many directions and requires constant microadjustments of your muscles just to stay in place and hold your normal posture. Because you’re inside the car, inside the situation, it’s easy not to notice all the extra work you’re doing just to maintain the status quo.

There’s all sorts of type of work that we think of as “free” that require spending energy: concentrating, making decisions, managing anxiety, maintaining hypervigilance in an unfriendly environment, dealing with stereotype threat, processing a lot of sensory input, repairing skin cells damaged sun exposure, trying to stay warm in a cold room.

The next time you think you’re tired from “nothing”, consider instead that you’re probably in situation where you’re doing a lot of unnoticed extra work just to stay in place.

opening my body’s task manager to see what’s taking up all my cpu

Also, just to add: we should not lose sight of the fact that the mammalian brain is a ridiculously  energy-hungry organ. A human brain makes up 2% of the body’s weight and volume and 20% of its caloric requirement. Thinking isphysical work.

Competitive chess players carb-load before tournaments. And lose weight in the process.

081220 | Going through old notebooks from past years and thought I might share them with you before throwing them away. Hope you guys are staying safe and healthy! Some of you may have started school already while some of you are preparing for school. With everything that’s going on, I wish you guys a great school year. I would love to talk to you guys so please don’t be afraid to message me :)

Theatopsposticus is a small, eyeless scolopendromorph centipede whose last pair of legs are modified into earwig-like pincers it uses to grasp prey.

this specimen was unusually calm when I picked it up so I tried feeding it a dead roach and it accepted the offering

(Florida, 2/11/22)

Hellgrammites (the larvae of the dobsonfly, Corydaluscornutus) are not only fantastic big flesh-eating aquatic grubs, their name is also one of the best words in the english language

btw any terf that reblogs my basic bio vs. advanced bio with a stupid comment gets automatically blocked I’m Asexual/Agender so we’re not going to vibe ❤

it’s almost like bigots pick and choose what to believe based on what fits their ideology

Bacterium being eaten by a predatory protist 2 billion years ago:

I’m getting into major-specific classes and I love it so much

Last weekend I visited the Philadelphia Flower Show with the partner in crime.  I went for the first time in 2014 and thought it was very impressive.  This year I didn’t care for most of the big displays, but really enjoyed the small plant based crafts (like the cute little guy above made out of pressed flowers and leaves).  Having studied sculpture in college, I really enjoyed the 3D pieces made from plant materials.  Reading the critique from the judges was also very entertaining.

When making jewelry, the artists were able to cheat by painting the plant bits, but it is still pretty cool that this is all made from seeds and such.  I love that this was a competition and hope someday to be friends with people that create these items.

I think the 2D work made from pressed flowers was very interesting.  I remember pressing flowers when I was a kid and think that I should revisit it this year when things start growing! 

Aside from the art exhibits, there was also the plant competition.  I love looking at all of the specimens that people bring.  My one complaint about this show was the lighting throughout that area.  There were intense blue lights over most of the plant exhibits and it made everything look strange.  I have color corrected my photos to try and compensate, but in person it was pretty odd.  Even so, this crested Pachypodium Lamerei was pretty incredible.

I have had a soft spot for Bowiea volubilis ever since I encountered them at the 2014 Flower Show.  Mine is only about an inch in diameter, but it has big aspirations.  Here are a few from this year:

I will now end this post with a ridiculous cactus…