Mastodawn

This is a good idea. Just wrote to my state reps, governor, and board of health. #disease #PublicHealth #WHO https://newrepublic.com/post/206103/illinois-california-world-health-organization-donald-trump

Individual States Join World Health Organization After Trump Drops It

Illinois is the latest state to take this step.

The New Republic

Kylee Nov 14

Harro Jansz Nov 12

Lago di Sorapis

One of the most stunning places I've been to in the Dolomites. Last year I was here on a warm summer day. Earlier this autumn, though, the lake looked radically different, being completely frozen over. Both times, I did the easy hike up (route 215), and the considerably harder hike down (route 216 & 213). The latter offers the most sensational views over the surrounding mountains and is very well worth the effort. You mustn't be afraid of heights, though.

📷 5D Mark IV · 16-35mm
⚙️ 16mm · f/22 · ISO 200 · 1/200s
📆 2025-10-03 · 13:16

#landscape #landscapephotography #mountains #mountainview #mountainscape #lake #mountainlake #frozen #cold #snow #larch #trees #autumn #fallcolours #vanguard #canon #5dmarkiv #1635mm #italy #italia #dolomites #dolomiti #veneto #lagodisorapis #puntasorapis

Kylee Nov 14

old roadside pictures Nov 13

cornice and brick, rapid city, south dakota, 1987

Kylee Nov 14

BrianKrebs Nov 13

This is pretty wild. Checkout.com got hacked by a group that claims to be Shiny Hunters again. Checkout said in blog post that it would not be extorted by criminals.

"We will not pay this ransom.

Instead, we are turning this attack into an investment in security for our entire industry. We will be donating the ransom amount to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Oxford Cyber Security Center to support their research in the fight against cybercrime."

Far too many victim firms just pay up, to get back to business as usual asap. Imagine if a fraction of those victims instead paid into a fund for research that actively disrupts these groups.

https://www.checkout.com/blog/protecting-our-merchants-standing-up-to-extortion

Protecting our Merchants: Standing up to Extortion

Our statement detailing an incident concerning a legacy system. We outline our commitment to transparency, accountability, and planned investment in cyber security research.

Kylee Nov 14

Pottery by Osa Nov 14

This was my student’s first time making glaze. Exciting! They’ve finished building their pieces which are now ready to be bisque fired and we’ve made a small amount of glaze to test on little tiles before we apply it to the larger pieces. I referred them to http://glazy.org, an amazing, free international database of glaze recipes & materials, to search for cone 6 glazes that caught their eye. I love demystifying a process that can seem intimidating at first. #ceramics #GlazeChemistry

Kylee Nov 14

You can purify DNA with A PAPER TOWEL. Mind blown, definitely trying this in my intro bio course. https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003916 #science #biotech #pcr

Nucleic acid purification from plants, animals and microbes in under 30 seconds

Author summary Nucleic acid amplification has proven to be indispensable in laboratories around the world for a myriad of applications from diagnostics to genotyping. The first step in any application aiming to amplify DNA or RNA is the extraction of nucleic acids from a complex biological sample; a task traditionally requiring specialised equipment, trained technicians, and multiple liquid handling steps. It is this complexity of current nucleic acid isolation methods that limit the use of many DNA amplification technologies outside of the modern laboratory environment. Therefore, in this study, we investigated new materials and approaches to simplify nucleic acid extraction. We found that cellulose-based filter paper can be used to rapidly bind nucleic acids, retain them during a short washing step to remove contaminants, and then elute them directly into the amplification reaction. We then adapted the cellulose filter to create a dipstick that can be used to purify nucleic acids from a wide range of plant, animal, and microbe samples in less than 30 seconds without the need for any specialised equipment. The speed and simplicity of our method makes it ideally suited for nucleic acid amplification-based applications both within and outside the laboratory, including limited resource settings such as remote field sites, developing countries, and teaching institutions.

Kylee Nov 4

Ars Technica Nov 4

Some stinkbugs’ legs carry a mobile fungal garden
A dedicated organ grows the fungus, which deters parasitic wasps.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/some-stinkbugs-legs-carry-a-mobile-fungal-garden/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Kylee Nov 4

MissConstrue Nov 4

I could not have written a more clear and cogent recap of the #Republican plan to destroy the middle class that has been in progress since FDR rescued us from the oligarchs the first time.

Today is voting day. Go throw sand in the cogs of their machine.

https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-great-american-heist-how-reagan-99e

The Great American Heist: How Reagan, Trump, and Their Billionaire Backers Stole the Middle Class

A 50-year project to turn the world’s strongest democracy into a playground for the rich...

The Hartmann Report

Kylee Nov 2

#caturday (no I don’t normally allow this, and she didn’t get any more!)

Kylee Sep 25

Students concerned about being too wobbly in pottery class:
“It’s not giving noble gases, I’m not sure what —“
“It’s giving group I.”
#chemistry #PeriodicTable #pottery #science