A cranky biologist who means well. My hobbies include long walks off short piers and anything science related.

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 25th, 2023

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  • meyotch@slrpnk.nettoScience Memes@mander.xyzDear Kevin
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    7 hours ago

    Unequivocally yes.

    I got a contest going with my plant systematics cohort (8 credit hours over an academic year, that’s a lot of plant id work). We would see who could come up with the filthiest mnemonics to remember plant families and such.

    Our professor, a brilliant botanist with a filthy mind and tenure, was delighted beyond measure at how well the entire cohort did on the practical plant ID exams. But mostly he enjoyed watching our classroom discussions.













  • I happen to have a reasonable amount of professional experience in plant propagation.

    Here’s the thing, there are many general principles that work, but every plant is different in ways that make it confusing for a beginner.

    So if you want to start out gently pick a specific plant that you want to propagate. Learn how to divide it and make that particular species grow. There are general principles you can learn that will allow you to expand to other types of plants.

    The field of plant tissue culture is accessible to a dedicated home hobbyist as well. There is a learning curve and you need to be comfortable with laboratory type work.

    Or you can break off a bit and stick it in moist dirt. Plant propagation runs the gamut from dead simple to difficult. So begin by focusing on one single kind of plant that you want more of.

    My two cents.

    if the lab side of it interests you, these folks have good videos








  • meyotch@slrpnk.nettoScience Memes@mander.xyzOn trees...
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    20 days ago

    Awesome resource, thank you for posting it.

    Here’s one reason why a hip level perspective would be so helpful as a neuroscience tool. It is an ethical and reversible experimental intervention that could add real experimental power to functional brain-body mapping.

    Combine the perspective shift induced by the virtual rearrangement of sensory input with fNIRS for cortical imaging, perhaps before, during and after the hip-view experience. A company focused on near infrared cortical imaging products

    I am certain a proper neuroscientist could come up with even better and more detailed questions to ask using the method.

    Something like this could even be used as a therapy tool for trauma, perhaps, once the impact of the perspective shifts were understood well. A common trauma response is dissociation and common therapy methods include ways to help people reconnect with their whole bodies again.