vivisextion:

Cytokines are the chemical messengers in the body released by the immune system. It suggests that inflammation, which produces cytokines, may be the contributor of psychological disorders such as depression. Cytokines can cross the blood-brain barrier and produce psychological effects. A strong piece of evidence for this theory is that research studies treating patients with depression by giving them aspirin or other anti-inflammatory medication has reduced their depressive symptoms.

This explains why Will Graham’s symptoms alleviate whenever he takes aspirin, especially because we know he has inflammation in his brain (although his condition is probably far more severe because the brain itself is inflamed). However, this theory refers to inflammation anywhere in the body, as it will produce cytokines.

Edit: if anyone would like journal articles about this, I have access to medical and psychological journals and I’d be happy to send, just drop me an ask.

This is fascinating stuff, and offers an interesting mechanism for the connection between my depression and my auto-immune allergy.

[Psychologist] Wismeijer isn’t exactly sure why BDSM practitioners might be psychologically healthier than the general public. They tend to be more aware of their sexual needs and desires than vanilla people, he said, which could translate to less frustration in bed and in relationships. Coming to terms with their unusual sexual predilections and choosing to live the BDSM lifestyle may also take hard psychological work that translates to positive mental health, he said.

Study says: let your freak flag fly.

Thought you would be interested in this series.

Thank you, Zilly. I am indeed quite interested.  Anyone without a strong stomach should definitely avoid this documentary on the Body Farm, America’s premier corpse decay workshop.

thisistheverge:

NASA is funding a 3D food printer, and it’ll start with pizza

NASA is funding research into 3D-printed food. Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor received a $125,000 grant from the agency to build a prototype 3D printer with the aim of automating food creation. It’s hoped the system could provide astronauts food during long-distance space travel, but its creator has the loftier aim of solving the increasing food shortages around the world by cutting down on waste. The software for the printer will be open-source, while the hardware is based on the open-source RepRap Mendel 3D printer. 

They shoulda started with tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Just one man’s opinion.

(via slashseeker)

Apparently today is my columnar basalt day.  This is a picture of Nan Madol, a city built out of basalt columns, ruined capital of a lost empire.  The buildings extend down into the sea, each one forming its own artificial island.  The islands are connected by a network of canals, and protected by an artificial reef/wall, also made of columnar basalt. This is by way of being wicked awesome.

Picture is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.  More info here.

mr-r4d1c41:

Minecraft?

Oh sweet! I’ve seen these Devil’s Tower formations before, but never considered that they might have entire nifty ecosystems on or in them.  These remarkable huge columns form when magma cools very, very slowly inside the chimney of a volcano.

(via pybun)

carpeumbra:

Most creatures do in general.

Colorful = Poisonous

I really am wondering why the flying fuck humans are so attracted to colorful shit.

Poisonous insects and frogs etc. are like gang members, flashing their colours to show that they are dangerous.  However, our monkey-ape-thing ancestors were not predators, and mainly ate fruit, which are more like streetwalkers, with attractive colours.  Fruit are all saying “check out how ripe and luscious I am, my seeds are mature and ready for you to consume and fertilise in your poop.”

Okay, so the metaphor falls apart around there.  We like bright colours because they remind us of delicious fruit.

(via thedemoncloset)

jtotheizzoe:

thesciencellama:

Elements
By KcD Studios - on tumblr

These are the characters that illustrate the comic book of life, one chemical at a time.

This is amazing.  Such expressive characters, and a sincerely welcome wealth of body types and face shapes.

thequarksoup:

Petitioning the US House of Representatives House Science Committee: Remove Rep. Paul Broun

Rep. Paul Broun publically and vocally has stated that he does not agree with the most basic tenets of scientific process and critical thought. He is incompetent scientifically and damages the Committee and its purpose with his presence.

We the undersigned respectfully request Rep. Broun’s removal from the committee immediately. 

“All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell… And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.”

-Paul Broun, Republican Member of the House Science Committee

Yes, good.  For Sagan’s sake, oust this idiot.

(via slashseeker)

cranquis:

(summary of an online lecture on Pharyngitis, by Dr. Robert Dachs MD)

One of my favorite examples of how the US Healthcare system + the US general public is addicted to antibiotics…

• 40 million doctor visits for “Sore Throat” every year in US, and 25% (10 million) of those visits end in a diagnosis of pharyngitis.
• Among adults, 70% of pharyngitis diagnoses get treated with antibiotics…
• BUT: in adults with pharyngitis, only 10% are actually caused by Group A beta-hemolytic Strep (GABHS).

Antibiotics overkill? Absolutely! But why are we Americans so freaked out about getting antibiotics for strep throat? Read on for common medical reasons for treating strep throat with antibiotics — and statistical evidence that most of these reasons are pretty unreasonable…

Read More

All right, this is like a “go forth and sin no more” for me.  I’ve gotten strep throat at least once a year since I was a little kid- not pharyngitis, proper strep- and I’ve always been afraid that it would give me a fever and leave me blind, like Mary in the Little House on the Prairie books.  However, medicine HAS come on a bit since then.  Next time I get a sore throat, I will try to tough it out.

theoddmentemporium:

Raining Animals

Raining animals is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals “rain” from the sky. Such occurrences have been reported in many countries throughout history. One hypothesis offered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds traveling over water sometimes pick up creatures such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles. However, this primary aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed or scientifically tested.

Sometimes the animals survive the fall, suggesting the animals are dropped shortly after extraction. Several witnesses of raining frogs describe the animals as startled, though healthy, and exhibiting relatively normal behavior shortly after the event. In some incidents, however, the animals are frozen to death or even completely encased in ice. There are examples where the product of the rain is not intact animals, but shredded body parts.

Some cases occur just after storms having strong winds, especially during tornadoes. However, there have been many unconfirmed cases in which rainfalls of animals have occurred in fair weather and in the absence of strong winds or waterspouts.

See also Lluvia de Peces.

[Image: Raining Snakes (Oh the horror of it all!) during a Renaissance storm, 1680]

There was a rain of frogs in my hometown when I was a kid.  The ones that landed on the grass were mainly OK, but the ones on the road… man. I will NEVER forget the smell.

(via somuchscience)

What is happening in that first .gif, and can I do it to all my windows?

(via banimals)

lostbeasts:

Tracks provide evidence that complex life existed 585 million years ago- 30 million years earlier than first thought. These were made by ancient slug-like bilaterians, meaning they had a front, back and sides, unlike the other sponges and such that lived alongside them. This is the earliest proof of animals complex enough to move during the Precambrian era.

AaaaaAAAAAA Ediacaran fossils!  They’re just slug tracks, but these things consistently blow my goddamn mind.

(via somuchscience)

drtanner:

pieconspiracy:

kittiecupcakes:

thespockyhorrorpictureshow:

latinegrasexologist:

the future

holy fuck. terrifying and exciting.

SO COOL

I want a 3D printed house.

fluidexchange:

Teen girl from Egypt has just reinvented space travel

Egyptian Aisha Mustafa, 19, has dazzled the physics world with a new invention that could launch spacecraft off the Earth’s surface and soaring through space without any fuel. Space is filled with a billowing sea of…

Did this young lady just invent warp drive?  I think she did.

(via squishysound)