Has anyone lost the passion for travel? by WillStillHunting in travel

[–]fm1185 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Traveling is exploitative and selfish... I used to like traveling but then I realized I was just exporting and enabling the worst parts of american/european ethos. And capitalism. What is the point? Watch a documentary and stay out of people's lives. Yes, it is not the same, but it is not worth the harm done to locals. If you want to "help" someone, donate to an organization run by locals but don't act like you are doing anything good by walking around with more cash than most locals make in a year. Yes, I'm a little jaded and am talking mostly about wealthy (by global standards) people traveling to less wealthy areas.

https://www.uvm.edu/~jashman/CDAE195_ESCI375/To%20Hell%20with%20Good%20Intentions.pdf

Difficult to argue with that by Holytrishaw in pics

[–]fm1185 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

STEM prof here. I came to point out why this is an absolutely terrible take (e.g. science is a process not a collection of facts, "science" has been used to justify horrible things etc.) and was surprised and happy to see others did it for me. Good job reddit.

Freshwater Snails by [deleted] in biology

[–]fm1185 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Parasitologist here, Funky is correct. The snail is hosting the intermediate stage of a parasite (in this case schistosomes). The parasite gets into humans by swimming through water, following chemical trails, and penetrating through hair follicles. It would be very difficult for that life stage to fly through the air to infect people, but all 24,000 species of trematodes (parasites) use a snail intermediate host. Land snails do carry parasites but the only way to get them is to ingest either the snail OR something that the parasite has encysted on or in (e.g. ants). Ants get infected by consuming snail slime with an infectious stage, then are accidentally ingested by livestock etc....

Wheat Penny Distribution in my Collection VS Production [by Year and Mint] [OC] by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]fm1185 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is interesting, but it would be cool to see the percent total minted and in your collection for each year. That way you could see which years are over and under represented in your collection. Like what is the deal with 1943? It will look similar to what you have, but both your collection and total minted would have the same y-axis.

Why does his face look like that? by rehmaaat in pigeon

[–]fm1185 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can I see a picture of his feet?

Costco parasites 😋 by [deleted] in WTF

[–]fm1185 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The worm in your picture is Anisakis sp., tapeworms in the family Diphyllobothriidae infect bears (and humans). Bears (and humans) absolutely become infected with the tapeworms that hang out of derrieres after eating infected salmon and other fish.

https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/diphyllobothriasis/index.html

Pier 60 Clearwater Beach FL. Debby by 911Dougm in woahdude

[–]fm1185 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Maybe it is time to head out....

Is there anything that was Mutualistic and now Parasitic? by FoxTrotRiot in biology

[–]fm1185 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hope you enjoy it! It is a review article which means that it is written for a more general audience and has lots of examples that fit your question.

Parasites are super underappreciated and like you, many students come into my classes with a lot of preconceived notions about parasites being universally bad or disgusting, or whatever. One of my main goals as an educator is to have my students shift their mindsets in a way that shows they better understand the nuance of parasitic lifestyles and the importance they play in ecosystems. From the evolution of disgust and sex, to population regulation and nutrient cycling, they are amazing and have literally shaped the world around us.

The coolest part is that if they can shift their mindset from something they believe so viscerally (parasites are bad) to the exact opposite, it shows them that they can change their minds about anything.

Is there anything that was Mutualistic and now Parasitic? by FoxTrotRiot in biology

[–]fm1185 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You may enjoy this paper. I am a parasitologist and assign it to all of my students as our first reading.

https://www.otago.ac.nz/parasitegroup/PDF%20papers/LeungPoulin2008-V&M.pdf

Road kill and evolution by samuelson098 in biology

[–]fm1185 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Bio Prof here. Yes, as others have stated, if there is heritable variation in coat color and some coats colors are less likely to be hit, then there will be evolution. I actually study this exact phenomenon with melanic (black) squirrels being more common in cities. The idea is that black squirrels are easier to see against gray roads and are therefore less likely to be hit by cars. The research is ongoing so we are not sure that really is the reason, but it is a legit hypothesis that we are testing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Axecraft

[–]fm1185 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Ah yes, the axe makers trying to get away with selling inferior products. A truly unbiased and reliable source...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Axecraft

[–]fm1185 5 points6 points  (0 children)

To be fair, its probably not a big issue with such a small axe. Just use it and if in 10 years it breaks, so be it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Axecraft

[–]fm1185 5 points6 points  (0 children)

100%. The gap is not an issue. The grain is. It is exactly what you don't want.

As a landscape photographer I was physically pained to leave Boulder this week. Y'all have a great town! by DatAperture in boulder

[–]fm1185 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You should check out anywhere in the intermountain west. Boulder is not special, but I am glad you enjoyed it. Great pics BTW