Cat paws anatomy studies ~

Another interesting thing about cats' paws - they have whiskers on them! These are called carpal whiskers and are usually barely noticeable. I noticed them as tiny "pimples" when I was collecting photos of hairless cats for refs.

Another dream comic. Had a dream where I was tied to a chair in a dark room and some hooded figures killed me after I begged for my life—but then I got caught in a time loop and so I kept trying to figure out what I could say to get them to not shoot me but they killed me no matter what I said. Started just shouting random stuff eventually.

Official Time Loop Post

- cannot be killed in a way that matters (time loop)

- want to know the name of god (you fungal piece of shit)

Congrats op you're their mushroom

Assorted key frames from Dungeon Meshi Episode 17 compared with their final versions!

From this original twitter post

god I fuckign love ocs. my characters. my friend's characters. the characters of mutuals ive never spoken to. the characters of artists ive followed and maybe spoken to a little more. the characters of complete strangers I see in passing and think "aw that's cool". if you have ten fans I am one if you have one fan it is me etc etc. I love you

Submitted anonymously

idk who needs to hear this rn but suffering is not noble. take the tylenol

One time when I was younger I was refusing to take headache medicine and my mom said “the person who invented that medicine is probably so sad you won’t let them help you” and now every time I find myself denying medicine I just imagine the saddest scientist making those big wet eyes like “why won’t you let me help” and whoop then I take the medicine

scientist when you don't take the medicine they developed to help your pain

As long as you are taking a SAFE dose of it, then it's *good* for you. Pain is bad for the body. The inflammation from prolonged pain can worsen chronic issues and make it harder to heal.

Ibuprofen is best for pain that has inflammation, while acetaminophen doesn't help with inflammation but is more broadly effective on other types of pain. As long as you are taking the recommended dose, you can even take them TOGETHER, since they have different mechanisms of action.

You do need to be aware of how much and how often you are taking any pain medication. Overdoses can be very painful (even lethal.) And if you are in chronic pain often enough that you need more than the safe dose, then you need to look into other medications to manage that pain.

(Also, if you are specifically taking Acetaminophen/Tylenol for your go-to pain management, getting some NAC and taking that with it reduces the risk of overdose AND may strengthen the effect.)

One other thing: NSAIDS (ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen being the three big ones) can cause digestive issues with chronic use, including stomach ulcers. That doesn't mean "don't take them," it means "if you're at the point where you're on them all the time, every day, constantly, you should talk to a doctor about either reducing that risk or switching to another medication that doesn't have those side effects."

I don’t have the source for this table anymore but I felt it should be added to this post.

Also please please please consult your doctor if you are on any other type of medication that put large strains on your liver or kidneys before taking any kind of NSAIDs as they can recommend alternatives.

Yes Chronic Kidney Disease and liver disease prevent the use of NSAIDS entirely. Please remember this. Tylenol is the least harmful to these organs. If migraines are your problem, ask neurologist about the triptan drug family. Downside with these is nausea.

I feel that it is worth bringing up again:

As a scientist, this is the way I feel when people in pain don't take the medication that was developed to help with pain:

Especially because as a scientist, I know that pain sensitization is a thing, and that experiencing pain for long periods of time can even train your whole nervous system to be even more reactive to potential pain. So if at all possible, I want my friends who are experiencing pain to try to control that pain as much as possible.

So if you are in pain, and you do not have any massive kidney and liver strain that prohibits you from taking a NSAID or paracetamol/Tylenol?

Please take the pain medicine. Please. Pleeeaaaaaase. I'm a scientist.

yeah i'm a scientist who specializes in designing new pain meds. suffering is not noble, this is exactly how i look when y'all don't manage your pain:

take the meds! i became a scientist in this field explicitly to help people! i became a scientist because i too experience chronic pain and i failed out of literally all pain meds on the market. those of us in this field, we make these things to be used. be safe, follow doses, and if you have questions, ask your doc and pharmacist!

i hope that the discussion about student protests does not get reduced to "privileged rich kids faffing around at an ivy league school." setting aside that tenuous claim, over the last week, protests have erupted over the entire country. a few days ago, riot police beat, pepper-sprayed, and arrested NYU faculty shielding students; protests started at the university of southern california when the admin cancelled the valedictorian's speech; encampments appeared at the university of southern carolina, UT dallas, the university of maryland, the university of new mexico, IUPUI, virginia tech, the university of virginia, the university of illinois, the university of north carolina — chapel hill, the university of pittsburgh, uc berkeley, the university of michigan — ann arbor, MIT, emerson, tufts, the university of rochester, rice, swarthmore, the new school, vanderbilt university, with students arrested; students protested or walked out at miami university, northwestern, temple, the 5 claremont colleges: pomona, pitzer, scripps, harvey mudd, and claremont mckenna, stanford, washington university in st louis, students were arrested at ohio state, students were confronted by riot police at cal poly humboldt, after which they occupied campus, students were arrested at the university of minnesota — twin cities, after which faculty walked out; and yes, there are protests at the other ivies, most notably yale, with students facing mass arests after encampments, but there is also an encampment at brown, protests appeared at cornell, princeton faculty issued a statement of solidarity while students are preparing an encampment, and harvard banned the undergraduate palestine solidarity committee. there are thousands of students who are protesting for palestine across the entire country, facing harassment, arrest, and suspension in return

as many have noted, this 11-hour-old post is an incomplete list. the situation on the ground continues to rapidly evolve: harvard set up an encampment despite the ban; UT austin students are getting brutally assaulted by the police, prompting faculty to declare the first university-wide strike

✦ Ad Astra ✦

Art by OHA

what do you meaaaaaaan this is baby sturgeons youre lying to me.... you just Shrunk him

Climb time! Feat. @bowelfly's magnificent weevzard, Quercus

when the sunbeam hits JUST right

@nature-nerd-sarah

That blanket rules and I wish I had the attention span to make one

This belongs in a children's science museum as an interactive exhibit.