Stop The Ban On Blood Donation Of Gay Men

look at that inflammatory process!!

this is a intestinal polyp slide. also check out that hemossiderosis in the hemorraged vessel to right!

'Pet' slime mold keeps this watch ticking

A "living" smartwatch powered by a slime mold needs food and care to function. Can it make us less fickle consumers of technology?

Using a slime mold, an electrically conductive single-cell organism, researchers created a smartwatch that only works when the organism is healthy, which requires the user to give it food and care.

Devices such as cellphones, laptops, and smartwatches are constant companions for most people, spending days and nights in their pocket, on their wrist, or otherwise close at hand.

But when these technologies break down or a newer model hits stores, many people are quick to toss out or replace their device without a second thought. This disposability leads to rising levels of electronic waste—the fastest-growing category of waste, with 40 million tons generated each year.

Scientists wondered if they could change that fickle relationship by bringing devices to life—literally.

After creating the slime mold watch, they tested how the living device affected its wearer’s attitude toward technology.

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ScienceAlert

Man Bitten by Stray Cat Contracts Infection Unknown to Science

The bite of a fluffy cat on the street can be more dangerous than you might think.

In the United Kingdom, a 48-year-old who was bit by a stray feline ended up contracting a species of bacterium that scientists have never seen before. His immune response to the foreign microorganism was a doozy. Just eight hours after receiving multiple bites, the man's hands had swollen to such a great extent that he took himself to the emergency department. His puncture wounds were cleaned and dressed and he was given a tetanus shot before being sent on his way with antibiotics. A day later, he was back at the hospital. His pinky and middle fingers on his left hand were painfully enlarged and both his forearms were red and swollen. Doctors had to surgically remove the damaged tissue around his wounds. He was also given three different antibiotics intravenously and was sent home with oral antibiotics. This time, thankfully, the treatment worked and he made a full recovery. Back at the hospital, however, doctors were busy trying to figure out what had happened. When they analyzed the microorganisms present in samples from his wounds, they found an unrecognizable Streptococcus-like organism.

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Journey to the Microcosmos- Flatworms: Simple Wiggly Tubes

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

Quote Voiced by Jam’s Germs

i found another specimen of a super rare organism yesterday!

this is a rare and remarkable ciliate, a single-celled organism called Metopus verrucosus.

a few neat facts about it:

it’s an anaerobic organism! this means it prefers to live without oxygen

it lives deep in the mud of sulfur- & methane-rich bodies of saltwater. this one was found in the salt marsh estuary on the side of the garden state pkwy in south New Jersey!

it couldn’t survive in these noxious conditions by itself, though! the fuzzyness covering it’s cell is actually a type of bacteria that symbiotically lives on M. verrucosus.

this bacteria has the ability to metabolize sulfur and/or methane, processing these volatile stinky chemicals and turning it into energy, that it then shares with M. verrucosus!

i’m the only known person with this kind of footage of M. verrucosus! the paper The Santa Barbara Basin is an Oasis of Symbiosis has the only other photo i’ve seen of this organism, and it’s actually an HVEM (electron microscope) photo of a cross-section of the cell showing it’s endosymbiotic bacteria.

here are some more photos i took of other specimens:

Strange question for all my biologists out there, no matter what your specialisation is.

Does anyone know any good books about biology? The more accurate, the better, they can be academic essays even, it’s all good.

I’m looking for a Christmas gift for my sister, who is absolutely in love with biology, and she studies it in uni too, it’s not only a hobby.

Unfortunately, having very very little knowledge in hard sciences, I cannot determine whether a book about biology is good or not, not by looking at people’s reviews and whatnot. And… I trust people on Tumblr more.

I’ve read a few reviews of some books, but I can’t decide. Please help a poor soft-sciences-lover in need!

VACCINATE YA KIDS FFS

why do you and others like vaccines so much?

not dying of preventable diseases is actually one of my favorite hobbies