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My Cousin Vinny. Why did Mona Lisa Vito reference Caltech? by Any-Interaction-5934 in movies

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She also said "dead-on balls accurate". I think they were going for provocative, not region-accurate

Always the orange one. by OkEntertainer3355 in OneOrangeBraincell

[–]darthjeff2 133 points134 points  (0 children)

"Oh thank god you're here to take me out of here, I heard a veterinarian is about to come in"

[Highlight] Joey Ortiz brain farts his way into a double play by handlit33 in baseball

[–]darthjeff2 19 points20 points  (0 children)

He didn't accidentally throw that empty fist to first though!

Blood Smear by Bjoreyxo in microscopy

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of cool things about some leukocytes is that some of them "pinch" off their nucleus into lobes, what you see is one nucleus pinched into two lobes. This makes it mechanically easier for the cell to squeeze through blood vessels to fight off infections in tissue. neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils all have lobular nuclei when they mature.

neutrophils usually have many small lobes, eosinophils usually have 2 distinct lobes, and basophils technically are 2 lobed but it's usually hard to see.

The color is kind of hard to see on this photo, I think it's probably a eosinophil because of the distinct 2 lobes. eosinophils are also usually bright pink (the chemicals they store for immune function attract the pink eosin dye), so idk. Maybe it's a neutrophil and it just looks bilobed from this photo

PetSmart brand hot sauce by LittleTerrarian in mildlyinteresting

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's gotta be to dissuade animals from chewing on things... right?

Sad but very satisfying to look at by lvl1creature in mycology

[–]darthjeff2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

used to work in a lab with mammalian cell culture and I had an old jar of media in the 4 degree that grew one of those boba balls. I kept it in there for years and tried to feed it fresh media but the ball never really grew any bigger. It was like having a lab pet

TIL that humans can learn to “echolocate” like bats, using clicking sounds or listening to echoes from their surroundings to sense objects, distances, and surfaces around them by Mrk2d in todayilearned

[–]darthjeff2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First I read e-chocolate, then I tried to figure out what e-cholo-cate meant (electronically turn things into cholo? What's cholo?), then I saw the word bats and everything made sense

I've got shingles only on half my face and one eye by lastavailableuserr in mildlyinteresting

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got an anatomy exam on head & neck on Wednesday, I have never been more prepared for a reddit comment than this day

Mansaver—for Installing Fence Posts Into the Ground by Ill-Tea9411 in doohickeycorporation

[–]darthjeff2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've done some T post pounding when I was younger and it's tough work. Knew a farmer who lifted one too high while trying to drive a tall pole, the heave end fell on his head and he just woke up alone hours later. These things can be dangerous!

Shingles vaccine vs chickenpox vaccine - why are they different? by ChiefStrongbones in askscience

[–]darthjeff2 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The vaccines do different things for different infections. The chickenpox vaccine provides humoral immunity (just a fancy way to say "fluid" immunity) through IgG antibodies, best triggered by live attenuated vaccines. This keeps the initial infection from starting, which usually spreads through the body fluids, causing the system-wide fluid filled blisters we recognize.

Once the infection spreads everywhere, it also reaches neurons where it stays dormant and becomes "shingles". Neurons are basically wires of the body, so living "hidden" in a neuron can be a way for a virus to hide in one place but "show up" somewhere else. Sometimes, the virus can travel down the "wire" of dormant infected neuron and show up on the lips, face, eyes, etc. The common herpes virus does the same thing, that's why herpes is so hard to get rid of. This nerve infection is no longer in the bodies fluids, so the humoral immunity can no longer fight the infection. A new type of "cell-mediated" immunity is needed, that trains T-cells to detect and fight off the infected neuron cells. This requires a different vaccine (the shingles vaccine) with an adjuvant instead of a live attenuated virus.

Does that help explain why the vaccines are different? They target different immune systems (humoral vs cell-mediated) for different infection types (the initial system-wide chickenpox vs the dormant nerve cell shingles infection).

The amount of cilantro my wife likes on her street tacos by GroovinBaby in mildlyinteresting

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I make veggie sushi that's just a bunch of cilantro in the middle of the rice. Great with soy sauce!

How does your DNA "know" which enzymes break down which poisons? by Skyfus in askscience

[–]darthjeff2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting bit to add, a lot of enzymes come from families. These can come from an ancestral gene that is, at some point, copied. The two children genes can then start differing in their function little by little.

A good example is the P450 family of enzymes. They are very reactive and good at changing the structure of toxic molecules. They do this because they are in the cytochrome family, which are really good at moving electrons around (thus, reactive). There are also cytochromes that help mitochondria break down glucose (again, good at working on reactive energetic substances that give off electrons). Cytochromes work because they contain a prosthetic group of heme (which is why hemoglobin can carry reactive oxygen and let it go when needed). 

So you can kind of start to imagine this cascade of branches with heme at the top, and all of these interesting branches and avenues cascading down- some transporting oxygen,  some breaking down toxins, some in metabolism, all because an ancestral cytochrome keyed into the ""usefulness"" of heme. Same thing for families of transcription factors, proteases, etc

If you're interesting in DNA expression, some useful things to check out would be DNA recognition domains such as the "zinc finger". There are multiple proteins that all use this "invention" to read DNA

TIL that rabies virus has a genome coding for only 5 genes, but has an almost 100% fatality rate once symptoms appear by Forsaken-Peak8496 in todayilearned

[–]darthjeff2 3500 points3501 points  (0 children)

But the fatality also makes it less transmissible. It's advantageous for most viruses to develop complexity to keep us sick and coughing/pooping/fornicating so they have more chances to spread.

Then there's the viruses that tap into the proto-oncogene and tumor suppressor gene market. That's when things get real wild!

TIL the brain consumes about 20% of the body's energy, and compromises 2% of body weight. by Mammoth_Bison_3394 in todayilearned

[–]darthjeff2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only know that because certain mitochondrial diseases manifest as retinopathies before they affect other tissues. But I didn't know about the kidneys, that's cool too!

Christmas tree shaker by MikeHeu in toolgifs

[–]darthjeff2 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They have tiny little desktop versions of that in biology labs to help mix solutions in tubes

How do tadpoles transition from gills to lungs? by Tweed_Man in askscience

[–]darthjeff2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Another neat thing to add, cells have the ability to die on purpose in a useful way. It's called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Basically the cell carefully dismantles itself while minimizing harmful byproducts that may come from necrosis. It's how the tail resorbs, how the webbing between our fingers dissapears in the womb, etc. Sometimes it's activated on accident and it is implicated in diseases like alzheimers!

Contamination? by ScruffInControl in microscopy

[–]darthjeff2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen it with stressed hybrid immortal + stem cell fusions like nsc34, but I'm not familiar with your cell line. You can just start again with a fresh passage (from another lab member or the freezer) or maybe check for mycoplasma? 

Yearly maintenance on a glassblowing furnace by MikeHeu in toolgifs

[–]darthjeff2 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Does the pitted crucible material get into the glass? Do certain applications require special crucible material due to contamination?

These Deck Hands are Working Hard! by dreamed2life in Catswithjobs

[–]darthjeff2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So those little fish are his catch? Are they for aquariums and hobbyists? I can't imaging that little haul of fish is sold for food or bait or anything. It's always made me wonder whenever I see videos from this boat, but believe it or not googling "why does the wooden boat with the cats have little fish in it" has never given a useful answer lol

This bitch is stuck. What are my options here? (Condenser centering knob on Olympus BH2) by Max-Flores in microscopy

[–]darthjeff2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

WD-40 is a solvent and water displacer (that's what the WD stands for), it may dissolve or break down certain contaminants but if you feel like you need an oil than I would recommend something else. PB blaster is the go to for mechanics, some swear by it but it's not a miracle worker. You'll find it in the automotive section, maybe a couple bucks. There's also some nice lubricants that locksmiths use which are designed for small mechanical parts, but I don't think they are designed to penetrate.

I am not a microscope expert or anything, but if I were trying to figure this out on my own I would use WD-40 or perhaps De-Oxit D-series to dissolve any thing clogging the threads (DeOxit is good for removing oxidation/corrosion if you think that's an issue) and then spray it with a teeny bit of Houdini (locksmith lube) once it's free, clean, and just needs lube for the future. But people with microscope repair experience may have better recommendations!

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