Possibly untrue science news

I couldn’t get any English subtitles, but I got the gist, I think. Did I hear “flesheaten demon”? Loved the “hieroglyphs”.

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Waiting to find out LLMs have grazed upon these and hallucinated out even more utter garbage. We are so fucking screwed. It will take eons to clear this shit from the system!

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As long as academia (and other institutions) retains/promotes people based on quantity of papers instead of quality this will only get worse.

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It’s laziness. Quantity is easy to, well, quantify. Quality takes actual time and expertise to evaluate, so is not going to happen. Very much like in my field where “quality of medical care” is measured by Patient Satisfaction Surveys. These generally measure how well you did what the patient (or the parents, in my case) want you to do. I have gotten brutal PSS’s from antivaxx parents because I “did not listen to them” or “invalidated my concerns.” Because I am an advocate for vaccines. As one does. It all comes down to making the evaluations easier. Making them accurate is immaterial.

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232271307_A_difficult_case_Diagnosis_made_by_hallucinatory_voices

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I’m going to say that they domesticated humans.

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It’s an on-going process.

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It seems pretty clear that cats did the same. Agriculture → stored grain → mice & other vermin → good hunting ground for small wild cats → “Wow these critters are useful!” → "Gee they’re cute too–Ow, you little . . . " → “But daddy look at all these adorable babies!!! Can we take one home? PLEEEEZ?”

The End

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I think the relationship with dogs can be more of a partnership.

My theory is that cats got into that whole Egyptian worship thing, and the ones we have today are wondering how they fell off the pedestal. :pouting_cat: They’ve been trying to get back on it ever since, but…

:grimacing:

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Sort of like how the Stark children got their Dire wolves…

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Hmm. I think I need to be more diligent about filling out the “how did we do!” forms for our pediatrician. I love that he always checks we are planning on flu and COVID shots at our wellness check at the end of summer. As in “When are you planning on the flu and COVID vaccines? We can schedule you here. (Nurse) is a wizard, very quick!”
And encourages us parents too. “Make sure you remember to get your own shots! It’ll help protect (kid) and you don’t want to be out of action if she gets a mild case”

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I get my flu shot at our pediatrician’s office every year too, for several reasons. One, I figure that’s an easy extra couple bucks for the practice if the nurse jabs me too. Two, I’m a total wimp about needles, and the nurse is so fast and gentle, and I swear she uses tiny little baby needles (and PLEASE do not disillusion me if that’s not true!).

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And @Docosc - our son’s pediatricians run their own practice and we are so.fucking.lucky. to have been referred to them by one of my co-workers all those years ago. Without any corporate pressures, they spend what time they think they need with patients, and are amazing at sneaking sick kids into the schedule. Somehow we also haven’t been completely overcharged for lab work they’ve ordered at UM or St. Joe’s/Trinity.

The flip side of that independence is I get the sense overall vax rates are not as good as they could be at this clinic. When I ordered his HPV series at age 9, one of the nurses said “we wish more parents were like you”. I replied “this virus causes a lot of cancers, I couldn’t forgive myself if he got one of those cancers because I was hanging onto an insane fantasy that he’ll be a virgin forever.”

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images (50)

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#footnotegoals

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I always loved including “Personal communication” in a footnote, when I’d talked with or corresponded with a researcher.

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When throwing punches, mantis shrimp can strike at the speed of a .22 caliber bullet (about 1,316 kmph or 818 mph)—one of the fastest movements in the animal kingdom. That generates a force over a thousand times their body weight.

Their dactyl clubs swish through the water so fast that they create a temporary low-pressure area and form air bubbles in a process called cavitation. When those bubbles implode, they release light and heat energy so extreme that, for a fraction of a second, the water immediately surrounding the punch zone becomes as hot as the Sun. There may even be momentary flashes of light.

So basically, fuck not with the not-a-mantis not-a-shrimp, lest ye die.

Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal - The Oatmeal

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