“In the natural world, anything that is colored so brightly must be some kind of serious evolutionary badass”*…

There are an estimated 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive on earth today; they’ve been around for over 350 million years and ihabit nearly every environment, from deserts to snowy mountains. Their total biomass is massive, estimated to be around 70 times more than all humans combined. Often considered pests, only about 3% of species are harmful to humans; the vast majority are crucial for pollination, decomposition, and as food sources for other animals. (More insect data.)

“Loren” (and here) is a microbiologist fascinated by bugs– and ready to share…

I am incredibly fond of insects. They’re small and usually pretty fast, so it’s rewarding to successfully capture a photo of one. from 2017 to 2023, I was fairly consistent about chasing down bugs and sharing the photos on instagram, but sticking them all in a square grid can only do so much for me (or you). Here, I want to have a little more fun with my photos, and share other bug-related things that I like. There’s a lot! I am not an entomologist, merely a bug fan, so this page in its current state skews more towards the entertaining than the informative, but who knows what it may turn into. Right now there’s an entomology textbook sitting on my coffee table, and plenty of time to read it while the bugs overwinter…

Browse and learn: “The Bug Zone,” via Matt Muir (@mattmuir.bsky.social) and his always-illuminating Web Curios (@curiobot.bsky.social).

* Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

###

As we creep and crawl, we might spare a thought for a man concerned with “bugs” of a different sort, Joseph Lister (1st Baron Lister, OM, PC, FRS, FRCSE, FRCPGlas, FRCS); he died on this date in 1912. A surgeon, medical scientist, and experimental pathologist, he was a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Just as John Hunter revolutionised the science of surgery, Lister’s revolutionized the craft of surgery.

Lister researched the role of inflammation and tissue perfusion in the healing of wounds, and advanced diagnostic science by analysing specimens using microscopes. But his biggest contributions were a function of his application of Louis Pasteur‘s then-novel germ theory. Lister introduced carbolic acid (modern-day phenol) as a steriliser for surgical instruments, patients’ skins, sutures, surgeons’ hands, and wards, promoting the principle of antiseptics. And he devised strategies to increase the chances of survival after surgery by reducing post-operative infections (e.g., segragating post-op patients from pre-op patients who had germ-riddled wounds).

See also.

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This is mind boggling:

Death is the policy

"Under RFK Jr., ‘Make America Healthy Again’ means junk science like ‘survival of the fittest.’"

"In one of his own published books, Kennedy indicates that he does not believe in germ theory, instead subscribing to a version of the abandoned 19th century concept that the “miasma” is the source of disease."

#Antivax #Medicine #FakeScience #RFKJr #Vaccines #CDC #MMR #HHS #Miasma #GermTheory #BrainWorm #PublicSafety #Ignorance

https://www.theverge.com/health/661362/rfk-jr-measles-autism

From “bad air” 🌫️ to microbes 🦠 — the 19th century’s germ theory of disease redefined medicine and public health.

#History #Medicine #Science #GermTheory #Brewminate

https://brewminate.com/infection-and-illness-a-history-of-the-germ-theory-of-disease-in-the-19th-century/

Before germ theory, doctors didn’t believe in microscopic killers.

Then a few brave scientists changed everything.

How 19th-century medicine went from incense to infection control 🦠

https://brewminate.com/infection-and-illness-a-history-of-the-germ-theory-of-disease-in-the-19th-century/

#Brewminate #HistoryOfMedicine #GermTheory #MedicalEthics #TodayInHistory

What illness and death were like before germ theory.

RFK, Jr. touts nutrition and alternate therapies, but this nineteenth-century family tried everything available to save their daughter, putting her through dangerous and painful treatments. What they needed were antibiotics.

"RFK Jr. calls vaccines and antibiotics “patented poisons,” but these are the cures for which Celestia and countless others prayed."

https://nursingclio.org/2025/07/21/dying-before-germ-theory/

#GermTheory #Rfk_jr #Vaccines #histodons #HistMed

Some people I know were aware that #GermTheory deniers were on the rise. We saw them. We tried to warn.

But the scrappy #scicomm folks didn't have any pull.

So here we are. Consequences.

"Sam and Mark Bailey deny germ theory"

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360735211/baileys-and-their-crusade-against-modern-medicine

Germ-Theory Skeptic Goes Swimming in Poop Water, Celsius Founder Gets 12 Years - HTTAY 124 Matt

#httay #rfkjr #germtheory #water #celsius #law #science

https://youtu.be/nRqyKCxs18I?si=JhA_PiRaBWU8OiOv