As a final goodbye, Blue Sky Studios came together and gave Scrat a send off on their own terms.
He finally got his nut.
a photographer captured a wild black vulture preening a northern caracara. while this interaction may seem strange, considering the birds are not in the same family, they are both scavengers and regularly interact over meals of carrion.
source: (x)
🐸🚨New Frog Just Dropped!🚨🐸
Meet the ✨Most Beautiful Tree Frog✨, Guibemantis pulcherrimus, a new species described by my colleagues and me in the journal Zootaxa this week. The scientific name 'pulcherrimus' literally means 'most beautiful'. It's a close relative of Guibemantis pulcher (just 'beautiful', ha!), but has more little spots and less pronounced lateral blotches. It's found in the northeast of Madagascar, where it lives in Pandanus screw-palms.
THIS OCTOPUS IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.
Sleep is a fundamental biological function present in all vertebrates and most invertebrates. Octopuses are really complex animals, displaying active and inactive sleep states similar to those of vertebrates. In particular, octopuses have active sleep states during which they display sequences of camouflage patterns, while remaining relatively quiet and unresponsive to external stimuli. Some scientists have speculated that these states could be analogous to dreaming in mammals.
Now, researchers have recorder what is believing an octopuses having nightmare. During a month, researchers recorded a male Brazilian reef octopus (Octopus insularis), and they detected four brief episodes were identified during which the octopus abruptly emerged from sleep, detached itself from its sleep position, and engaged in antipredator behaviors, despite no predator was present. The longest of these episodes resembled the species-typical response to a predatory attack, suggesting that the animal may have been responding to a negative episodic memory while sleeping.
However, these are just conjectures, as it is hard to be sure, according to scientists, who claim that more studies are needed to ensure that they really are nightmares.
- Gif from video: Eric Ramos et al
- Reference: Ramos et al., 2023. Abnormal behavioral episodes associated with sleep and quiescence in Octopus insularis: Possible nightmares in a cephalopod?. bioRxiv.
- video can be seen here
Wait I have something to contribute to in the mammal bias convo.
In the past I've referred to bugs as animals in conversation and people correct me and say, "it's an insect". YAH I KNOW, BUT I CHOSE ANIMAL BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE BETTER DESCRIPTION FOR THE CONVERSATION. BUGS ARE ANIMALS. I CAN CALL THEM ANIMALS. I can't think of an example rn as to why I'd call an bug an animal/refer to all insects as animals, but it's an interaction I've had a couple of times now.
But it like- why are people so resistant to calling bugs animals????
BUGS ARE ANIMALS!!!
Not only are they animals, but they make up MOST of the animals
This comes from: University of Florida, Thomas Earth Center Institute -The Insect Effect: Insect Decline and the Future of Our Planet
And that's not including archanids, which I think is colloquially lumped in with bugs.
Also! I'll be talking about meat and I'll refer to fish or bird meat as just meat because I'm talking about meat in the broader sense of, "flesh that comes from an animal." Like colloquially, I know meat tends to be mammals but like- why do I need to preface it with "fish meat" or "bird meat" while "meat" inherently implies mammal??? MEAT IS MEAT!!!
Yup!
People really are thinking that the only animals that matter are mammals! Or, if they're a little more enlightened, vertebrates.
It's really, really, REALLY sad.
Most animals are insects!!! 9 out of 10!!!!
Nine of your ten fingers!!!
that one finger left encompasses EVERYTHING ELSE. Not just vertebrates, EVERYTHING.
How many animals are vertebrates?
Less than 7 out of every 200.
How many are mammals?
LESS THAN 7 OUT OF 2500.
MAMMALS. ARE. NOT. EVERYTHING.
oh beautiful planet...oh planet of Creatures...oh planet of Life...
Gets on iNaturalist
Searches for insects
Sorts by faves
Starts crying because life on Earth is so much more wondrous than the mortal human mind has the capacity to hold or imagine
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy swagful symmetry?
there are thousands of bugs this cool and we haven't even found them all...
[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled “immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]
a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”
There's no right or wrong path to learning about and identifying as ace or aro. Everyone's path is different, and some are closer to popular narratives but not all.
Tumblr Migration 2: Reddit Boogaloo
We all know about the Twitter immigrants, but there seems to be radio silence on what's happening now with Reddit users from certain subreddits doing a similar thing.
What's happening?
Reddit is restricting their API later this month and killing off third-party apps. An AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the CEO Steve Hoffman was held and it was clear that he would continue with the changes.
In protest, thousands of subreddits across the site are planning to go dark for 48 hours on June 12th. Some are planning to continue indefinitely until the changes are reversed.
Okay, so how does this affect Tumblr?
Some subreddits (mainly queer and left-leaning meme ones, don't worry too much about Reddit Atheists™ overrunning us) are encouraging their users to jump ship to our beloved - and beloathed - hellsite. There will be another influx of new users and many will be unfamiliar with how the site works.
What do us Tumblr users do?
Show them how to use the site; introduce them to the site's culture, tell them to reblog shit and curate their dashboard. Sorta like how we welcomed Twitter users back when they flocked here. Kungpowpenising optional.
I'm new from Reddit, what do I do here?
CHANGE YOUR PROFILE PICTURE AND BANNER TO SOMETHING OTHER THAN DEFAULT BECAUSE THIS SITE IS FILLED WITH BOTS AND YOU MIGHT BE MISTAKEN FOR ONE. This is the FIRST thing you should do after getting a blog.
Other folks can help you with stuff like curating your dashboard or creating sideblogs (or you can look shit up) but please, PLEASE just give yourself an icon and reblog some stuff so people don't mistake you for a bot
This is one of the first posts I've seen after trying to look at Tumblr again, so I've decided to head their advice and reblog this. I don't even know what a reblog is but I'll find out in time. It's a learning process
a reblog is what you just did! it's similar to a retweet on twitter and it's the main way things spread on tumblr
Also as a note to new Tumblr users--Tumblr recently made the change where blogs made after May 8 have their dashboard default to an algorithm-based "for you" tab, rather than the chronological "following" tab as has been the case for the entirety of the site's existence. If you don't want Tumblr to become yet another Tiktok/IG/FB clone beholden to the whims of the algorithms, make sure your dashboard tab is on "following" rather than "for you" so you get to see the people you're actually following as they post, rather than whatever the algorithms think you should see. The chronological feed is an important part of what sets this site apart.
In a Malaysian boutique, a small group of seamstresses sit at clattering sewing machines, stitching bright flowers and leaves into kebayas, traditional blouses worn by women around Southeast Asia. The kebaya is currently having its moment in the spotlight as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand — in a moment of unity — have jointly nominated it for the UNESCO prestigious intangible cultural heritage list, with a decision expected in 2024.
What makes kebayas special is that they are worn by women of all ethnic backgrounds in a diverse region, according to Lim Yu Lin, who co-runs the family business her grandmother founded in 1955.
“It’s not only meant for one culture,” she told AFP.
Suited to hot tropical weather, the intricately embroidered blouse is usually long-sleeved, and ranges from loose-fitting to semi-transparent, figure-hugging cuts.
A kebaya can cost as little as USD 7 (SGD 9.50) for a simple, machine-made design, to around USD 1,200 (SGD 1,622) for a more intricate handmade piece.
The kebaya: A national symbol and potential UNESCO heritage icon?
Indonesia picked the centuries-old kebaya as its national dress for women after it declared independence from the Netherlands in 1945.
A color-changing lizard, a thick-thumbed bat, a venomous snake named after a Chinese mythological goddess, an orchid that looks like a Muppet, and a tree frog with skin that resembles thick moss are just five of the 380 new species described by scientists in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia in 2021 and 2022, according to a new WWF report.
The report documents the work of hundreds of scientists from universities, conservation organizations, and research institutes around the world who discovered 290 plants, 19 fishes, 24 amphibians, 46 reptiles, and one mammal in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. This brings the total number of vascular plants, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals described in the Greater Mekong region since 1997 to 3,389.
We need everyone's help right now to protect the rainforest and Indigenous People
The Amazon Rainforest is under a massive threat. I know you've heard this a million times, but this is different. There is a piece of legislation that will decimate the rights of Indigenous people of Brazil, who have been protecting the rainforest. It's unfathomably bad. It has majority support. And they're voting tomorrow. As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."
The thing you can do—and I know this sounds overly simple—is sign this petition—and tell your friends to do the same: SIGN HERE.
As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."
Again, this bill has majority support. You may be wondering, why will a petition signed by people who don't live in Brazil make any difference? Because it will give those opposing it political air cover. It will show the world is with them.
But we need a LOT of signatures.
Please do this simple act and spread the word.