flora_explora

@flora_explora@beehaw.org

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The New Guy⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  I would think it doesn’t really matter. A “species” isn’t a true characteristic of the world, it is rather the concept we develop in order to differentiate one type of organism from others. In so far the species in this example is brand new, because we didn’t know a type of organism like that could exist. And frequently a species might be split up into two or more species. The real world isn’t changing, we just update our understanding of it to better match what we see.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mood⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s not totally untrue. Iirc the first cat memes were postcards people send each other at the beginning of the last century. I guess the difference is that postcards and letters only reach a single address, tweets can reach many people at once

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What goes here?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  So having a foot doesn’t count as having a leg also?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Bog⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Wolf spiders are harmless, so there is hardly any incentive to invest in another solution I’d guess…

  I wish they weren’t so shy though, it’s really hard to take good photos of them because they are so fast.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Average plant behavior⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s because of domestication and growing plants outside of their natural habitat that they get sensitive. Also, apparently some sensitivity is by design:

  Modern roses emerged in 1867 with the development of the first hybrid tea, according to the American Rose Society. These varieties tend to have a reputation for being fussy, requiring constant attention.

  “The conception is that they’re not tough, that they require spraying, that you have to have the perfect culture. And a lot of that has been breeding; to breed these perfect flowers, but they bred out characteristics that made the rose easy to grow in our backyards,”

  (From the OP’s article)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Molluscs of the Multiverse: molluscan diversity in Magic: The Gathering⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I wish there was a queer MTG group in my city where I could play in. I tried playing with some straight cis dudes once and it was just such a strange experience…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨here there be lions⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Actually that’s not true, male lions are usually hunting alone and in dense vegetation. Newer studies show that male lions actually hunt as much prey as female lions! It’s just harder for us to track that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨LPT: Go get a shot, now.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Same in Germany. Last year I asked some people who got vaccinated if they think I also should get another shot and all of them told me that I’m not in a vulnerable group (or a caretaker) so I shouldn’t bother. So we basically repeat what we know from the normal flu (influenza) and just vaccinate vulnerable people. I’m not sure if this is the best way to do it, because I think many people die each year of the flu as well. However, death statistics are hard and I couldn’t find any reliable data on this either.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨#FGLAE⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I would lean more towards focus stacking. If you see for example @alexis_orion’s photos or videos on youtube, you can get even better shots in macro-photography (even handheld!).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨REDRUM⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Wow, great article!!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Zotero is still better.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Ah thanks, I needed this to get what the symbols are! :)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, many people are busy, but yeah it should usually work. ResearchGate makes this even easier, because you can directly see who is requesting a paper and sometimes as an author you’ve got the paywalled paper already uploaded in researchgate.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mosquito Sprites⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If you read the actual paper, you can see that it is indeed a serious study where they try to understand how mosquito feeding and reproductive behavior works.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Broccoli Blooms⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Wait till it flowers! It has a really nice inflorescence, although I think other Lactuca species are more beautiful overall :)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China has built the world’s largest bullet-train network⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I doubt it would be hard to actually have better train infrastructure in Europe (and some countries do). For example, as a German, my perspective on this is that our government just doesn’t care to invest in most infrastructure because it isn’t seen as prestigious enough. The only projects that do get build are some shiny new additions that no one needs, like a new train station in Stuttgart that has been in planning for over 3 decades, will cost many billions and has seen huge protests against it from the start till today. But any project that is just basic maintenance, be it for cars or trains, just gets ignored and postponed. The German Autobahn is just as defunct and on the brink of collapse in many parts of Germany as its train network. And our infrastructure ministers have been corrupt and utterly incompetent for many decades now.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Actors that have been the least believable scientist castings, I’ll start.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Oof, this was extremely painful to watch. I hadn’t seen this actor actually acting in anything before and didn’t realize how bad he was…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I hope you like TICKS⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, it’s both though. Sone days it is really rough to keep working just because you can’t take all the abuse by the all insects anymore. And some days you’re just in a state of bliss because you spend so much time in nature and feel connected to it. And even more days you realize how fucking repetitive field work really is and that you need to do the exact same thing for the next weeks/months over and over again…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I should call her.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes! When I did electron microscopy, we had to cover the fix the samples and cover them with a very thin gold layer beforehand.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨born 2 l8⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, I’m crocheting one so jokes on you :)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Expert here.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Isn’t it

  3

  2

  1

  4

  in this example?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨When life gives ya lemons.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  It is different if it is a passive or active process though. The initial question is, in how far lemons benefit from this evolved trait. The benefits might be very different between passive or active evolution here. If it were passive, lemon plants might benefit by avoiding some disadvantageous animal species feeding on them. As it is active though, the benefit is that they are grown more by humans. The feedback loop between evolution and trait selection is very different if it is active or passive I’d say.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Magic Rocks⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  When I started paying closer attention to all the small insects around me, I felt like I was in an alien world. There are so many otherworldly and bizarre looking creatures just outside your door, you just have to get used to looking for them :)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨the living dead⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Hm no, the problem is much more at the roots of science than you think. Most of biology is based on humans’ biased assumptions and expectations. For example, only when queer theory was developed did biologists really grasp how much deviant the animal kingdom in regards to sex, gender and sexuality actually is.

  Just think how many layers deep this is: humans exist -> develop social structures -> develop social constructs that feel essential -> try to describe their own biology through the lense of all the prior layers -> develop awareness about some social constructs -> revisit their own biology but still with a lot of biases

  What you express by saying that it isn’t possible anymore to just speak about biology is imo rather an expression of denying certain advancements we’ve made. Our ideas and models of biology a few decades ago may have been simpler, but not more true. We’ve just realized to some extend how complex biology is and how our prior models have made many poor assumptions.

  EO Wilson is having his own concepts and biases of human societies and projects them onto this pseudoscientific narrative. He is obviously not aware of his own position in society and how it shapes his assumptions.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨you and me baby ain't nothing but mammals⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Surprisingly short list regarding the millions of described species!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Apple sues YouTuber who leaked iOS 26’s new “Liquid Glass” software redesign⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Apple’s whole business model is creating hype around their products. And if this hype is preemptively damaged by leaking secrets that would otherwise feed the hype, they clearly are negatively affected by this. I don’t say any of this is good, that’s just their business model. And capitalism of course…

  Your example wouldn’t really apply here either, because you aren’t a world famous company billions of people know.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨poaceae⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  What kind of fruit a plant develops is something entirely different to what a grass is though. And these are all taxonomically different groups (palms, bananas and grasses).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨poaceae⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  At least both Musaceae (Bananas) and Poaceae (Grasses) are both monocots. But that’s where their taxonomic proximity ends. They are not even in the same order (Zingiberales vs Poales)…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Thoughts??⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Came here to say this :)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bisexual Flowers⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes, bisexual means something else in both contexts…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨EVERYBODY IS DOING SOMETHING⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, if it works for you, great. But that doesn’t mean that it will work for anyone else.