forestofglory: E. H. Shepard drawing of Christopher Robin reading a book to Pooh (Default)
[personal profile] forestofglory
The last several days my foot has been extra painful and I have been very grumpy about it. It’s really unpleasant and I would like to stop being grumpy already. But I have been reading things while trying to rest my foot and distract myself so have some thoughts:

Ghost Circus written by Adrienne Kress art by Jade Zhang— MG graphic novel about, what else: a ghost circus. The story here didn’t really grab me, but I loved the art, especially of the circus performances. (content note: ghost kids, child in peril)

Lumberjanes, Vol. 15-20 by Shannon Watters, et al.— I have now read all of the main series of these! There’s still some extra stories and graphic novels to check out, but the main thing feels complete. Vol 19 where the campers decide to do one last thing before the end of camp was especially charming. The ending was a bit rushed but narratively satisfying. This whole series was very good and fun and I’m glad I came back to it and read the second half.

Gotham Academy Second Semester— The second Gotham Academy series. This one is all one long arc where the first one was more episodic. I didn’t like this quite as much as the first series, which I adored. Its a little bit darker and less fun. But I still love Maps and Olive and their friendship. I’m sad there aren’t more of these, but at least there are a few more stories where these characters show up for me to read. (Maps reminds me of very early Tim and I think it would be fun if they hung out, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.)

Batman, Vol. 6: Abyss by Joshua Williamson et al— I read this because it contains a story featuring Maps from Gotham Academy. That story was great! (Well except for the fact that some of the art of Japanese characters was bordering on racist caricature– that was not good at all!) The rest of it wasn’t bad– a little confusing because so much of it referenced other story lines and I have no idea what’s going on in comics this decade.

Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga— A very sweet MG graphic novel about a girl who really wants a dragon egg. She lives in a world where fairies bring some girls dragon eggs – but it mostly runs in families and she isn’t from a “kindred” family. It’s set in Canada which confused me at first, but works for the vibe. The book says “volume 1” very prominently so I was a little worried that it would end on a cliffhanger but it's a complete story.
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
Do the bones of all Nile crocodiles have the same number of growth marks as their age? And can such growth rings be counted to accurately gauge the age of these reptiles? Is this also an accurate method to use when trying to "age" dinosaurs and other extinct and extant reptiles? No, not according to a Scientific Reports study by Prof Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan and Dr. Maria-Eugenia Pereyra of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. They found that the growth marks in crocodiles' bones cannot be used as a reliable indicator of age. The two UCT paleontologists further caution against using it along with derived growth curves to age extinct vertebrates such as dinosaurs.
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
Researchers at the University of Vienna have uncovered a surprising phenomenon: polymer chains with segments that simply fluctuate at different intensities can spontaneously develop directional, persistent motion when densely packed—even though nothing in the system points them in any particular direction. This "entropic tug of war," driven by fundamental physical constraints, could help explain how DNA organizes and moves inside living cells and may lead to new materials. The study is published in Physical Review X.

(no subject)

5 Mar 2026 06:37 pm
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
[personal profile] beccaelizabeth
After I got so tired yesterday I scheduled today to be Just Resting
but it is still not fun to be tiredness level feelings weeble wobble.

I listened to some more of Big Finish's Dalek Universe. Is okay. I think the ingredients, 10 getting drawn back before the Time War and meeting another Time Lord, are pretty good stuff, but I also think I Am Tired today so Is Okay.

I have been contemplating how to rearrange my bookshelves. There are shelves below bed level that simply never get read, and a lot of authors shelved in weird inaccessible places simply due to alphabetical order. I have forgotten who is down there really. The ideal solution is to move somewhere with enough horizontal space I can get at both sides of the room, or indeed to be a person who doesn't fall out of a single bed so the bed gets thinner, but since neither of those are doable, I contemplate which books to banish below read level.

I think it'll probably be mostly inherited ones. It's not that the classics of science fiction are bad, it's just that I don't think I've read them all even once, and the ones I have read I don't spend much time thinking about. Keeping Huff and Duane and McGuire and Bujold and Cherryh up where I can read them is key, I've reread all of those recently and I still buy their new work. Asimov may just have to deal with the floor height view. But then I feel like that's unfair and I should really reread things I'm sending Below? Just to be sure? But there are so many.

I also moved a bunch of things to make room for the work and that means noticing they exist again, and in some cases wondering why I still have those. But doing anything to not have items is More Work. So at the moment they're all stacked up in unusual places.

I wonder if anywhere still wants VHS tapes.

I'm sorry I'm not very interactive, just, got tired.

With any luck the work with the power tools and testing the fire alarms multiple times a day will be Over and I can sleeps whenever. That'll be nice.
[syndicated profile] mcsweeneys_feed

Posted by Devorah Blachor

“Dubai influencers’ lives of luxury interrupted by Iran strikes: ‘The image of safety has been shattered.’”The Guardian

- - -

Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me. Never did I imagine that my [HOLIDAY / EXOTIC FOOD CRAWL / COMPED STAY IN THIS SIX-STAR HOTEL & SPA] would be interrupted by a war whose geopolitical consequences would be so unfathomable, and whose timing would be so inconvenient to me personally.

When I first planned this trip, I had no idea that war was even on the horizon. I guess that’s what happens when you get your news from [MEMES / GROK / COTTAGECORE TOK / THE CBS SUBSTACK]. My spidey sense did tell me that something bad was coming, but I thought that was just the effects of the seafood-themed buffet. By the time I put two and two together, all the plane tickets were sold out, while I was still a little drunk from the bottomless ouzo fountain.

I can’t believe how many people around the world are suffering so needlessly. Last night, for example, I was with about thirty other stranded [EXPATS / CULINARY TOURISTS / VLOGGERS / MLM FINANCIERS]. In the middle of an arak pong tournament, we heard sirens and then a boom. Everyone quickly rushed to pour their drinks into pitchers so we could continue playing in the basement shelter. We posted everything live, but there’s still a reel you can like and comment on, if you want to support me during this difficult time. Don’t forget to subscribe!

It’s wild that the skies have been closed for so many days in a row. I admit that I’m beginning to feel restricted and constrained. Ordinarily, I’m accustomed to the complete freedom to [TRAVEL / SPEND MY INHERITED FORTUNE / TAKE CAMEL JOY RIDES TO LUXURY TENT PIAZZAS SET UP JUST FOR ME AND MY ENTOURAGE]. Everything is truly a learning experience.

Like many of you back home, I’m afraid that this war will escalate further. And if there is indeed a conflagration, I know you’re probably asking yourselves the same question: What will it mean for people like me? I’m supposed to travel to at least fifty-eight countries in the next fiscal quarter, and I don’t see how I’m going to hit that target under these circumstances. Why can’t world leaders ever think of the [LITTLE GUY / DIGITAL NOMADS / ME AND MY COTERIE OF STYLISTS, ALGORITHM ANALYSTS, AND PORTABLE-RING-LIGHT HOLDERS]?

It’s really nice when people check up on me, given how worried I am about the situation. I appreciate it when they ask how I’m holding up. It’s especially gratifying when they tell me how brave I am to be enduring this war with my forward-looking attitude and my [GORILLA MINDSET / SIGMA LOOKSMAXXING APPROACH / TOXIC POSITIVITY]. Rest assured, as of this writing, I still have access to [FOOD / WATER / CAVIAR / TANGHULU SKEWERS /THE ACROBATIC GYMNASTIC WORKSHOP IN THE MAIN POOL].

I guess I must learn the deep lesson that nothing, in fact, is under my control. Try as we might to write our destinies, in the end, the [GODS / FATES / LEADERS WHO MEASURE THEIR DICKS] have the final say. That’s a bitter pill to swallow, along with [GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY / REDUCED CONNECTIVITY / MY MITOCHONDRIA-LONGEVITY TABLET].

I’ll say one thing this experience has taught me: The war has made me feel connected to other people. Even though the vast majority of people impacted by the missile and drone barrages don’t have the means to [TRAVEL / MONETIZE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEIR MATCHA DRINKS / SELL PREMIUM REAL ESTATE TO OIL TYCOONS], this conflict just shows how we’re all in this together. And that’s the beautiful and spiritual message I’ll take with me when I leave on the first [JET / YACHT / HOVERCRAFT] out of here.

bluerosekatie: 3D render of a Bionicle character wearing a purple mask. (Default)
[personal profile] bluerosekatie posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: The Protomen
Pairings/Characters: Protoman & Megaman, Protoman & Dr. Thomas Light, Protoman & Dr. Albert Wily
Rating: Unrated, estimated to be Teen and Up
Length: 3,178
Creator Links: ricefu on Ao3
Theme:
Siblings, Science Fiction, Apocalypse/Dystopia, Robots, Androids and AI, Trauma & Recovery, (Not Really) Character Death, Old Fandoms
Summary:
You have heard me tell this story many times before you sleep... This time listen carefully.
Reccer's Notes:
A beautiful and sad character study of Protoman, the older sibling of two tragic brothers in the Protomen universe. It connects his backstory and dives into psyche throughout the canon storyline, including his relationship with his younger brother, his father, and the main antagonist. Although I'm tagging the Not Really Character Death theme for a reason, this is a tragedy, so tread carefully.

Fanwork Links:
The Inevitable Fall of the Firstborn on Ao3
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
From brightly colored textile dyes to persistent pesticides and antibiotics, many modern pollutants dissolved in water—such as Bisphenol A—resist traditional treatment methods. A promising approach uses electricity to power chemical reactions in water over an electrode surface. Much like in a battery, electrodes send and receive electrical current that drives chemical reactions.
[syndicated profile] laughing_squid_feed

Posted by Lori Dorn

On his first day of work at PetSmart, musician Ben Lapidus broke out into a hilarious Metalcore song asking what the “PetSmart” name really means. He specifically wanted to know whether it refers to “Pet Smart” or “Pet’s Mart”.

Yo, I got a question. Is it Pet Smart or is it Pet’s mart?

subscribe to the Laughing Squid Newsletter

The post A Hilarious Metalcore Song About What the Name ‘PetSmart’ Really Means was originally published on Laughing Squid.

[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
Genes that play a key role in the formation of an infectious organ used by parasitic plants have been identified by plant scientists at RIKEN. This discovery fills a gap in our understanding of how parasitic plants infect their hosts. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
Biology textbooks explain that cells follow a universal rule when processing gene transcripts to make proteins. Non-coding snippets of RNA are bracketed by a guanine-thymine (GT) nucleotide sequence on one end and an adenine-guanine (AG) sequence on the other—unmistakable signposts telling the cell exactly what sequences to leave out and what should stay in.
[syndicated profile] laughing_squid_feed

Posted by Lori Dorn

Classic television essayist Amazing Fun Facts analyzed the classic show Gilligan’s Island, specifically noting how the polymath Professor was never able (or never wanted) to repair the S.S. Minnow, despite the many other ingenious inventions of his own design.

We explore the ultimate paradox of the Professor on Gilligan’s Island. He was a scientific genius—he could build a washing machine, a Geiger counter, and even a radio transmitter out of natural materials—but he could never fix the Minnow and get the castaways home.

This particular plot hole has been debated for decades. Maybe he didn’t have the skills to repair the boat, or perhaps the Professor considered island life to be better than the real world.

The professor wasn’t incompetent. He was overqualified for everything except the thing that mattered. He could build a nuclear reactor but not repair a boat ….specialized knowledge doesn’t transfer across disciplines. Even when you’re supposedly a polymath genius. Or maybe, just maybe, he could have fixed it all along. He just chose not to…. The professor could build anything except a reason to leave. 

The Professor Gilligan's Island

via Miss Cellania

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The post Why the Professor Never Repaired the S.S. Minnow to Get the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Castaways Home was originally published on Laughing Squid.

runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
Photograph of two adorable Vietnamese toddlers in identical denim overalls and dinosaur sweaters, text: Siblings, at Fancake.
[community profile] fancake's theme for March is Siblings! Assigned, chosen, other, it doesn't matter what kind of siblings they are as long as they're wearing matching dinosaur sweaters. jk

If you have any questions about this theme, or the comm, come talk to me!
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
All complex biological systems—like the DNA, RNA and proteins constantly being copied and built within our cells—are prone to errors. That means as life evolved to be more elaborate, it also had to evolve error-correcting strategies.
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
To misquote a famous song, "Diamonds are industry's best friend." Cubic diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth and is used in everything from precision cutting tools to high-performance semiconductors as well as expensive jewelry. But there is a rare and potentially tougher form called hexagonal diamond (HD), which has long been the subject of theories and debate over its actual existence. But now researchers from China claim to have created this elusive form of carbon in the lab.
[syndicated profile] phys_breaking_feed
Astronomers have analyzed the images collected by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to investigate a galactic open cluster known as NGC 2158. Results of the study, published Feb. 25 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide essential insights into the population of binary stars in this cluster.

Rest Day

6 Mar 2026 04:00 am
tyger: Shiny glaceon sprite, with colours reduced to bare minimum, plus a mauve bg (pokémon - shiny glaceon)
[personal profile] tyger

Yup, took today pretty easily. ...well I did do SOME painting, just enough to finish the second undercoat (at least mostly, will need to look at it in the daylight), but that was enough to prove that nope, shouldn't do more than this! Fingers are feeling somewhat better, though they're still way more stiff than usual, but my wrist is more obviously sore, so you know. :/ Still needs healing.

I did wrap a bandage around my wrist while I painted, and it did help. Mostly in the 'stop moving this thing so much' way - if I've got it on I can feel it and stop before it hurts, kinda thing. Still, better to just rest it some more I think. Hopefully it'll be feeling more normal tomorrow!

Other than that I did have a call with the stupid job people today; I have to do a stupid "short course", which I've done before, it's just How To Jobhunt 101. At least you can do it online now, so I don't have to go anywhere and can do stuff while it's on. Knitting, if nothing else. It's not for a couple of weeks, though, and is only two days a week, even if it is for five fucking weeks, ugh. So, not really looking forward to it, but it'll be a change so I guess that's something.

But for now, is sleepytiem! I think tomorrow my priority's going to have to be cooking, rather than painting, which is annoying - mainly because wrist still ouchy and I was going to grate some more stuff to throw into the pasta sauce I'm planning on making, hahahaha. Should probably use the food processor, like [personal profile] alatefeline said...

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