Sterrestel

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%

going to the bigger store because i needed to pick up some stuff my usual store doesnt carry. the cashier is a guy about my age. when it's my turn, i say hi, and he goes EITHER "oh, dressed in pink" or "seeing life through rose-tinted glasses" (and if you wonder how on earth i could mix these two statements: in french it sounds very close. anyway)

i go, "what?"

he goes, "pink."

i go, "what?"

"your shirt. it's pink."

"indeed it is"

"thats a choice. better not go to russia huh"

"what?"

"yeah, they won't like your shirt"

"they are prejudiced against cactii in russia?"

"what?"

(i point to the cactus print)

"no, i mean, people like you, they're illegal. in russia."

"people with cactus print shirts?"

"no."

(i blink unhelpfully at him)

"no, you know. men who dress in women's... colors. they dont like that"

"oh then, we're both in danger"

"what?"

(he blinks at me unhelpfully. i point to his shirt, a delightfully purple-leaning burgundy, which i recognize because i have the exact same shirt in my own wardrobe)

"your shirt. it's burgundy."

"what?? no. no it's not. it's red!"

"oh no, no, trust me. this is the loveliest burgundy i've seen ☺️ and i would know. bye!"

(he was staring at his shirt in a mix of panic and disbelief as i left)

I was forced to understand that I cannot wash myself- i have "high support needs" or "level 3" autism, physical disabilities, and i am chronically ill. i get too overwhelmed, my motor functions and muscle development are really bad, there are too many steps, it hurts me to move like that, my mobility and balance are very poor, i can't reach everything, bending certain ways dislocates my limbs, and i'm so fatigued all the time that I don't have the energy to make it through a shower alone. I really vividly remember once in the middle of a shower getting so exhausted and overwhelmed that i curled up on the floor in the stream of the water. Dressing is hard, too- for similar reasons. It's painful, it takes me forever, i don't have much energy, i hate a lot of textures and smells, and my mobility and motor skills suck. I can't really do buttons, i struggle to tie things, and zippers without pulls are my enemy. Moving the way i have to is difficult. I need help with these things- but that's the thing. The big hush-hush embarrassing subject we don't talk about- needing help washing and dressing. Because that's what old people do, or that's what stupid people do, you can't be like that, you have to be normal, you have to function the way you're supposed to. You can be disabled, but you must be disabled in the pretty, acceptable way. You can't need help with embarrassing things like that. "I'm [autistic] [neurodivergent] [disabled] [sick] and I can do those things, so why shouldn't you?"

Also, Mr. Aldrin had an active military career before his astronaut days and i'd say he hasn't forgotten how to throw a damn good punch -- just look at his wide stance

10/10 well-deserved punch

additional info

at the time, Aldrin was 72 years old, 6 foot 2 inches, and 250 pounds. Sibel (the man he punched) was 37 years old

Sibel has made multiple "documentaries" about the moon landing being fake and has repeatedly harassed the astronauts involved, in this instance getting Aldrin to agree to the above meeting by pretending to be doing an interview on space for a Japanese children's television show

Buzz Aldrin's step-daughter was present, and in addition to being poked repeatedly and aggressively with a bible (Sibrel wanted him to swear on a bible that he went to the moon) Aldrin felt the man following them into the hotel refusing to leave them alone might pose a threat to her

What does it take to make African mythology real? Everything we had. Over 70% of our Kickstarter Backers came from Tumblr. Thank you. Now it's yours.

Spread 2: ✨What are Faerie?✨

TEXT: “Those of us who grew up in Ireland are no stranger to the tales of Faerie folk. The Otherworld of magic bustling right under the noses of oblivious humans, where nothing is certain and all things are possible. They are creatures made up of the raw and unbridled forces of nature, with temperaments, values, and customs incomprehensible to the likes of us humans. Faerie are just as elusive as they are unpredictable, more often than not being very well camouflaged and having the ability choose when and by whom they will be seen.

Many people who go their entire lives digging around in gardens and turning over rocks in search of them usually come back with nothing more than dirty boots and disappointment, which honestly might be best in some cases depending on the intentions of the individual. For although the rewards of the Faerie world are plentiful, the consequences of a Faerie offended are far greater.

But who am I to say anything about the people who don't take every necessary precaution when entering the domain of the Fae? I still find myself running into the forest with reckless abandon, and it was that very habit that led me directly into their path. Stupid, I know. But hey, one doesnt necessarily ever expect to be quite literally hoasted off the ground directly into the giant palm of a Faerie on her daily escape to her treehouse! Now you might argue I should’ve expected as much, considering Fae tend to be drawn in by large displays of emotion, and I was crying that time around.. To which I would counter argue that this wasnt the first time I’d ran crying into the woods, and although the idea of a possible Faerie encounter was always on the back of my mind, I still wasn’t mentally prepared. Luckily for me, that particular Fae would go on to became my closest friend, Aiden, who just so happens to be a part of the race of Fae I would come to most intimately Know.”

WHY SRIRACHA WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND AND NOW TASTES BAD

If you like hot sauces and the like you probably have been a big fan of sriracha... specifically the sriracha made by Huy Fong Foods. But, you may have noticed that since 2020 there have been noticeable times where it was sold out for months and months. Even worse - now that it is back on shelves it tastes like crap.

I did some digging.

All of the peppers for Huy Fong Foods Sriracha were grown on Underwood Ranches in Ventura County, CA. Family-owned farm (since the 1800s) that grew along with Huy Fong Foods. Starting at 400 acres and growing to almost 4000 to support the popularity of sriracha. This was when it tasted good. In the late 20-teens Huy Fong decided to demand money back from the farm for... no one really fully understands why. They then severed the contract leaving Underwood with 4000 acres of hot peppers and no one to buy them.

Meanwhile Huy Fong approached a number of other farms scattered across southern California and had them quickly spin up pepper concerns. This put a massive dip in their supply and they lost a year of sauce-making basically. Then bad weather knocked out a lot of these farms and they lost another season or two. Also the quality and flavor across multiple farms was inconsistent.

Meanwhile Underwood sued Huy Fong, won, received 23 million dollars, hired back their workers, and got back to growing. Additionally they were able to mitigate a lot of the weather issues the last few years through better technique and had bumper crops.

So they made their own sauce - Underwood Dragon Sriracha...

and lord strike me down if it doesn't taste much more like the older sriracha than whatever Huy Fong Foods is making now. Anyways, they don't seem to sell to stores but you can buy directly from their website. I did and I've been putting it on everything.

I wasn't paid to write this... I just like doing exhaustive research about things I enjoy.

(EDIT to adjust Underwood Farms to Underwood Ranches, and change location from Ventura to Ventura County)