StringTheory

This same relative also argued that cis men would go through transition just so they could be at the top of their sport (because they’d beat all the women) or so that they could get scholarships ear-marked for women (because they would be smarter than all the women and would win the scholarships). Somehow that seemed reasonable to them? How on earth!?!?

I got into a very strange argument with a relative (who doesn’t know any trans people -at least none they are aware of). They were absolutely convinced that ANY man is better than ALL women at all things. Athletic, intellectual, creative; men are inherently better at all of it.

Therefore, in their mind, anyone who was a man/boy at any point in their lives will be better at everything than a cis woman ever could be. So trans women will always dominate no matter what.

The profound misogyny at the base of their argument was flabbergasting.

Good.

I worked in a fairly large clinic (office assistant type stuff) and always wondered why the top-surgery patients looked so much “better” than the mastectomy patients. Finally I asked one of the doctors, and he explained that top surgery is quite different than a mastectomy, with different protocols and goals and results.

Someone with training and experience performing mastectomies can’t just step in and do a top surgery.

So abused kids grow up to have smaller hippocampi, but not every person with a small hippocampus also has major depression?

I’m gonna be really shallow and judgmental and just say her picture is creepy, too. What a bizarre pose and expression.

This is the cool part:

But histotripsy foils cancer’s cloaking efforts by destroying its cell walls, leaving the tumor antigens in plain sight for the body’s immune system.

This effect was detailed in a pair of papers published by the U-M research team between March 2022 and January 2023. They demonstrate that the sound waves used to break down cancerous tumors in rats also helped trigger the rats’ immune response. After histotripsy destroyed 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume, the rats’ immune systems cleared away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of animals.

That immune response occurred throughout the body, not just in areas targeted by the histotripsy treatment, resulting in the reduction of tumors far from the treated area.

The immune response is key. Without it, histotripsy is just yet another way to destroy a tumor without curing the cancer.

There have been similar studies looking at “feeding” mannose to solid tumors. The starve-the-tumor-with-fake-nutrients option has a lot of potential.

Not sure I want my neighbor pawing through my mail, or “accidentally” losing my ballot, or borrowing” my packages.

Privacy and security in the mail is crucial.

People are people. Human nature isn’t going to change just because the culture shifts to solarpunk.

Coffee makes me incredibly hungry (any caffeine does). This would backfire on me soooooo bad.

I have to wonder if an extra cup of any liquid per day would help avoid weight gain. You hear so much about people misinterpreting thirst as hunger - they eat instead of drinking.

Something like the Forest Schools and outdoor schools/daycares now. Students outdoors and engaging with the real world and each other nearly all the time. Nothing stripped to dry and abstract isolated bits (and boring) but always learning concepts in context and seeing how they interact.

You can add pockets to the pants you buy, too. This video by Morgan Donner is adding several examples of types of pockets to skirts, but the process is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pE_nrHKd58

And there’s this one by Bernadette Banner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlzJj1EHiY

Thigh pockets are really great for phones. You can make visible patch pockets or subtle welt pockets and you can customize to the size of your phone.

300+ days a year of sunshine, all they need to do next is pop some solar panels up on those roofs!

You can rent a furnished studio short-term for 2 days minimum at $99/day, and you get the same transportation benefits as residents do during your stay. Honestly, I’m considering this for a vacation during the winter. This walkable community idea is fascinating to me and I want to check it out. https://culdesac.com/