Otter's Rock

apparently, cats' kidneys tend to be the thing that takes them down, something about their bodies being unable to self-clean their kidneys, and the vaccine is supposed revitalize the body's ability to do just that. It would be very VERY fucking cool to have cats suddenly reaching 30 years of age be the normal thing.

dude cracked the case about WHY kidneys fail, across the board as far as i can tell. turns out there's a specific molecule whose job it is to attach to waste and signal macrophages to come eat it. it remains inactive in cats for some reason, but the molecule is still there. basically what he's done is found the switch to activate them. this will be profound not only for our domestic babies, but for big cats too - especially cheetahs!

although his research was focused on cats, it's already being used to develop drugs for humans too!

on top of that, since these molecules are tags for waste, this could also dramatically lower the rate of fatty liver disease, liver cancer, urinary crystals, rheumatoid arthritis, and even some neurological cases! like, they're hoping it may have an impact on parkinson's and alzheimers, but it DOES have an impact on stroke recovery. like. holy shit.

furthermore, he's insisting that the feline drug be affordable if and when it rolls out onto the market. he wants this to be something anyone can get for their cat!! idk how much sway he'll have over the human drug, but hopefully enough that it, too, won't be that expensive.

annnnnd in his research that he's still doing for the human side of things, he's found a potential link between this molecule and estrogen. in the 20,000 samples he's tested, women between ages 10 and 29 had the highest amount of this molecule present in their blood (a higher amount means Something Fucky is going on, essentially. There's a higher amount of waste the body is trying to clean out) but it drops down to be almost equal amongst men and women after menopause. it hasn't been looked into yet, but fuck, just the fact it's noted and known and probably WILL be looked into soon??? imagine if this is what leads to figuring out all the various ways the ovaries and uterus fucks with people and how to fix it. or even like, maybe there's something about estrogen that makes it work better. who knows! but it's rad the link is there to be researched :D

As for the study itself, the 360 day follow up on stage 3 kidney failure kitties showed that the control had a survival rate of about 20%, while the test group had a survival rate of 80%

For once I'm not actually doing a bit; those "any resemblance to real persons living or dead" disclaimers genuinely exist because of Rasputin.

The heat’s been brutal this summer but we still gotta eat! If you’re like me, heat might suppress your appetite, and the last thing any of us want is to sweat over a hot stove and oven when it’s already boiling outside. Here are some of my favorite hot-weather recipes to keep hydrated and fed with when the weather is unbearable! (All recipes should be un-paywalled).

NYT’s best gazpacho (lives up to its name!!)

Persian cold cucumber soup (if you like tzatziki you will like this!)

Eric Kim’s cold noodles with tomato (infinitely riffable Korean flavor profile — for a creamier and less brothy take, try these cold sesame noodles too)

Vietnamese chicken and herb salad (this is an excellent time to get a rotisserie chicken so you don’t have to turn the oven on)

Radish sandwiches with butter and salt (and in a similar vein, if you dig this flavor combo you should try this Polish cottage cheese dip on some good rye bread or even crackers)

It’s still a little early in the season, but you can never go wrong with a BLT (or, if you don’t eat bacon, try this tomato furikake sandwich in its place)

Infinite iterations of pasta salad! You can use anything you got but here is a template I like.

Assorted dense bean salads. This back pocket canned salad is a weird combo of jarred ingredients but it slaps, this hoagie-inspired one is super satisfying, and cowboy caviar is a classic for a reason.

Poke bowls! Canned tuna mixed with some kewpie mayo and sriracha is a budget-friendly riff on the usual ahi and makes everything taste like a spicy tuna roll, but use whatever proteins you like, this is more of a loose template.

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

Okay, one, she's cute as hell.

Two, the immediate introduction with her using the proper form of address for Bruce (Mister Wayne) and Damian (Master Wayne) is delightful.

Three, tsk-tsk all these articles calling her butler when she clearly introduced herself as the majordomo (the gender-neutral term).

Four, I can definitely see the possibilities in a character like this -- hell, the closest thing I have to a DC OC fills basically this exact same role -- and I'm glad they didn't try to stick Julia in the position. That would've been doing her a disservice. So I'm interested to see where they go with this.

Wanting to change a thing about your sex might mean you're trans, or you might think of it the same as body modification. I don't think it's my business to care which and I think it's a travesty that there are so many barriers to doing something harmless with the flesh you are born with.

"Hardison, this thing cannot be in my pantry, get it out of here"

Reverse heist where Parker places it on display in the British Museum

Records changed to make it look like it was wrongly identified as early work by someone who later became intensely famous and respected, and like a lot of money was paid for it

Assorted experts in colonized countries alerted to embarrassing "mistake"

General mockery ensues throughout the art world

Press joins in general mockery

Parker steals painting BACK along with a few other minor artifacts (that happen to quietly find their way back to rightful owners)

British Museum reports actual thefts, is accused of trying to run an insurance scam as no one would take notoriously fake painting

Painting mysteriously appears in background shot of tech billionaire's home interview

Immediate trending topic + virulent online mockery of billionaire's horrible taste

Billionaire doesn't go to jail, but suffers massive reputational damage for unprovable but highly suspicious link to art theft / scam

Billionaire's stock plummets, potentially lucrative deal to buy social media site falls through as result

Painting goes missing AGAIN

At this point every rich person with an art collection is terrified of being linked to the theft

Numerous stolen / looted art items preemptively returned

Meanwhile, painting reappears in Eliot's pantry

Dammit, Hardison!