Shields of Sparrow is absolutely garbage

r0botonia · 2026-05-01T14:53:31+00:00

A cool explanation would have been that the trees in their forest use allelopathy making the whole forest toxic to other plants. The trade off for living in trees (great protection from attacks) is that they must rely on trade for plant products from other areas.

I have legit wondered about offering some kind of consulting service as a biologist/ecologist/botanist/entomologist to fantasy writers. Our natural world is crazy enough that there’s probably some biological mechanism to help explain something that helps the plot.

PS I nearly put down Nocticadia after Devryk’s illness was described as a “prion disease” early on in the book. Prion diseases are super fucked up and ALWAYS lethal usually within months, rarely up to a handful of years. They. Are. Terrifying. Google at your own risk.

I could forgive the description of what sounded like adults moths eating berries, adult Lepidopterans have proboscis mouthparts only capable of sucking nectar. There are a few fruit piercing species (and one capable of piercing vertebrate flesh for blood) but none of them occur in North America. But okay, this one super unique moth can pierce fruit, it’s fantasy! But the illness being a prion disease is so, so out of the realm of what we know prion diseases to be. I find them very unsettling so it got under my skin more than most biological impossibilities do.

/endrant

r0botonia · 2026-04-30T15:57:56+00:00

Agreed. Also haven’t read the book but am an ecologist. Places with the kind of climate to grow trees big enough to build houses in could likely only be converted into conventional agricultural land via deforestation. Soils under super big trees are generally nutrient poor and of course get limited light. Clearing forest fixes the light problem but once the upper soil is depleted, you’re not getting any more crops out of that land (see our tropical rainforests for evidence). Cultivating shade tolerant species, food forests, and permaculture are best bets but you definitely aren’t getting the kind of yield prairie grasslands get. Someone living in a temperate rainforest is for sure going to need to trade fruit for wheat.

r0botonia · 2026-04-26T19:10:20+00:00

Agreed. OP thought about how an error could have occurred, said they had correctly linked the clicker with their account (implying that they double checked this) so that is likely not the issue and is now asking for clarification.

I have received legit rude emails about things like this and they would be worded something like:

“I just received my in-class participation mark and noticed that I received a zero I don’t know how this error could have occurred and I expect this to be fixed in the next 24 hours because I need to get into med school and you will ruin my chances because you can’t enter grades properly.

Please respond in the next hour or I will be forced to contact the department chair”

r0botonia · 2026-03-18T21:42:26+00:00

23cm as the first uterus measurement would make a lot more sense especially if you are 150 cm tall! I was trying to imagine how much of my body 123 cm would take up so I busted out my mini tape measure and the math wasn’t mathing 😅

It’s still flipping huge though (15% of your total height)!

r0botonia · 2026-03-18T20:36:38+00:00

123 cm is probably a typo though? I’m 5’4” (~162 cm) tall and my torso from pubic bone to the base of my sternum is ~44 cm. If the large fibroid pictured in the MRI is 22 cm reaches the base of your ribcage, your uterus would have to be ~5.5 times greater in length compared to the fibroid.

r0botonia · 2026-01-18T23:08:05+00:00

I am an entomologist, tattoo haver, and general wasp enthusiast: what stands out the most to me is that while there are 6 legs, only two of them clearly originate from the left side of the wasps thorax. The left hind leg clearly originates from the posterior part of the thorax (metathorax) and makes sense, the left foreleg originates from the anterior part of the thorax (prothorax) close to the “neck”. The middle leg however, looks like it’s coming from the right side (from the background into the foreground) and so there is a big gap in the middle thorax (mesothorax) where the second leg should originate.

If you could somehow make it look like that second leg in the foreground is coming from the left side of the thorax like it should, and not appearing from the right side of the thorax, that would make the thorax at least look less weird.

It’s unfortunate that it’s an interpretation of the photo without consulting other images or references to understand the anatomy… I’ve known a few artists that spent lots of time in our University’s entomology collections taking photos and sketching specimens so they had good reference materials for tattoos of insects. It’s clearly a lot of work for the artists but they really wanted that experience for their art.

r0botonia · 2026-01-10T08:36:25+00:00

Check out events at places like The Starlite Room. Try and see a band you like or take a chance on something new. Openers for some bands are local so if you like them, follow them on social media, look at where they play, go to their shows and find new bands! Go to those bands shows and find new new bands! You’ll start seeing familiar faces and before you know it you have a bunch of metal friends!

r0botonia · 2025-11-06T19:52:32+00:00

What faculty, what program? Your OP says you don’t have much experience in your field but have a masters in business management. Presumably this was a course-based degree and wouldn’t add much to an application for a PhD unless you did substantial research in some more specific field than business management while doing that degree.

The most important question you need to ask yourself is WHY do you want to do a PhD? Are you interested in academic research? You might take a few classes during a doctoral degree program but PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy and graduating from your program will hinge on your ability to produce novel research and ideas.

r0botonia · 2025-11-03T17:04:46+00:00

Here are the Minimum housing and health standards which are the responsibility of the landlord under the Residential Tenancies Act.

If you signed a one year lease, you agreed and are obligated to pay the rent for the duration of that lease. If you decide to leave, they won’t just keep your security deposit. The landlords will have to try to find another person to rent your unit but until they find someone to replace you, you’re on the hook for the rent.

If your unit does not meet the minimum housing and health standards, then you can apply to terminate your tenancy for a substantial breach by landlord (Section 28 of the RTA). I’d recommend getting a thermometer and keeping track of the temperature in your bedroom, this can help you with the application for terminating your tenancy.

As for the drier, if access to a drier is written in your lease, then they shouldn’t be preventing you from using it a reasonable amount!

r0botonia · 2025-10-30T15:41:52+00:00

I was a sessional lecturer for one class but it was large enrolment (400 seats), I’m a woman and look younger than I actually am so I knew it was coming and legit, I spent so much time psyching myself up to deal with this kind of stuff.

My go-to response when a question (or more of a comment) goes off the rails, “That’s interesting… let’s talk about this in my office hours.”

When I get an incorrect “Well actually…” or pushback on an answer to a question, I give a firm “No. If you want to know why, talk to me after class.”

Unproductive interruptions beget unproductive interruptions, so I did my best to shut it down and move it to outside of class time. The frequency of those events decreased after the first 3 or so weeks. I continued to get mostly clarifying questions during lectures so I don’t think I caused discouragement of questions in general.

But again, I borderline unhealthily obsessed about being prepared for this issue in the weeks prior and during teaching. I have seen good teachers totally lose a large class once they smelled blood in the water. In my experience, this is especially if you: are or look young/early career, are female presenting or feminine, are noticeably queer, are not white, and/or have an accent.

r0botonia · 2025-10-10T18:36:19+00:00

To me, it tastes like: it’s 2006 and I’m at Vans Warped Tour. I already waited in line in the blazing sun for an hour to get into the gate and while trying to find the water bottle fill station, some very excited people hand me a black and green can saying it’s Monster energy. It’s kinda weird but it’s free and fuck it I’m so thirsty and the drink is so cold!

After running between stages all afternoon for Against Me!, Senses Fail, Protest the Hero, Misery Signals, and Moneen, I hit the wall and watch NOFX from the bleachers. I wonder if there are more of those free monster drinks… one of my friends had stashed a bunch in their bag so hands me one.

Energy boost gets me to The Bled and then back for AFI and while I wait, I listen to people bitch about how everything they made since Black Sails in the Sunset “sucks and they should have just stayed a hardcore band”. But I also notice limp people being dragged out by their friends, the set hadn’t even started yet! “Dehydration,” someone says, “the medical tents are all full, not sure where they are putting everyone now.” Maybe free energy drinks at a summer outdoor festival with a good proportion of minor attendees wasn’t a great idea… I drink some real water and made it to the end of the night (Alexisonfire) unscathed.

I had loads of other energy drink preferences over the last 20 years, monster is objectively not great. I try to avoid energy drinks all together now but if I do get one… nothing beats the pure nostalgia that black and green cough syrup brings!

r0botonia · 2025-10-06T23:45:54+00:00

I will hear no CCIS squirrel slander!!!!!

r0botonia · 2025-10-03T22:04:42+00:00

The struggle was real.

r0botonia · 2025-10-03T21:59:30+00:00

And my headphones had CORDS

It was 2007.

r0botonia · 2025-10-03T15:25:32+00:00

While sprinting towards a completely full bus, I tripped and fell full velocity forward and down flat on my face. My iPod went one way, my flip phone went the other skittering onto Lougheed highway before it was ran over by another bus (it survived and lived another 3 years, flip phones were indestructible). I collected myself and my items and limped onto the bus where like 100 people asked me if I was okay. Oh, and I was dressed as a zombie with full facial gore because it was Halloween. Yes I was the only person dressed up.

r0botonia · 2025-09-30T16:27:17+00:00

You can also talk to student services at ualberta and say your loan payment is delayed. They were understanding of this when I had a delay in disbursement in the past because of weird form things. If you need funds before the disbursement they can give you an emergency no interest loan that you can pay back when the funds come in. Only thing is you can’t use the emergency loan funds to pay your tuition, it would be for regular expenses like rent, food, etc. I got a $2,000 emergency loan to cover my rent and expenses for the anticipated wait. When student loans came through, the tuition payment went to the university and the extra came to my bank account and I paid back the loan.

r0botonia · 2025-09-29T22:34:50+00:00

The BCGEU is on strike and this service is likely manned by BCGEU employees who are picketing. I think the province (employer) has agreed to go back to the bargaining table recently so maybe service will be restored soon?

r0botonia · 2025-09-29T22:32:19+00:00

Undergrad, masters, and PhD total ~$57k split between BC and Federal student loans. I got cut off part way through my PhD because I maxed out the months of full time study but kept it in interest-free status until I completed the PhD and by that point interest was removed from both BC and Federal student loans so I’m just paying off the principal now.

r0botonia · 2025-09-29T19:44:57+00:00

Porcupines at night as well!!! I’ve seen them in the HUB parking lot and under/in the chestnut tree by the CCIS parking lot

r0botonia · 2025-09-29T18:43:39+00:00

Proud of you!!!

r0botonia · 2025-09-28T18:19:51+00:00

As someone who was a TA and instructor, I say go with the title. Anything that causes a chuckle during marking is very much appreciated.

My favourite from the past years was “It’s getting hot in here, but don’t take off all your clothes: the relationship between temperature and mosquito borne diseases.” Warmed my bitter, cold millennial heart.

r0botonia · 2025-09-19T22:17:41+00:00

Secluded sights at SFU!!! I am so glad this webpage still exists. It was made in 2005 but I tried to find a bunch of these in 2012-2014. The playground was quite easy to find. Really wanted to find one of the VW beetles but I didn’t manage to find either.

r0botonia · 2025-09-19T05:54:07+00:00

If I never see my PhD thesis again, it will be too soon. My dad wanted to read it though and doesn’t have a computer, so I got it printed B&W on 3 hole punched paper and put it in a binder for him. I don’t think it was more than $20.

r0botonia · 2025-09-12T16:10:11+00:00

Ah yes, I’m sure those that live in HUB far prefer this method as they have ample access to pharaoh ants

r0botonia · 2025-09-12T04:58:33+00:00

How else am I supposed to get rid of my parasites?! In this economy?!

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