Blasting Off to Planet Geek

they perform as well as expensive HEPA air cleaners, and are comparatively VERY inexpensive. all you need is a box fan, 4 air filters, a piece of cardboard, and some duct tape!!!!

can we? 🥺

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid, can only infect cells expressing a certain protein called ACE2

ACE2 is expressed widely in nasal cavity epithelial cells but not in olfactory sensory neurons. 

Seo et al. (2021) studied potential nasal targets for SARS-CoV-2 using golden hamsters as a model organism (commonly used as a proxy for humans in virology studies)

They found ACE2 expression in the main olfactory bulb epithelium (MOE, your “normal” nose organ) as well as the vomeronasal organ (VNO)

Several cell types in the VNO were able to be infected and they also found significant inflammatory activity (macrophage activation, apoptotic cells, etc) 

The specifics of how covid actually causes dysosmia are not known for sure but epithelial damage by local inflammatory immune responses likely plays a role, especially because sensory neurons themselves are not affected (Bilinska, & Butowt, 2020). Therefore I would suggest a potential similar effect of VNO dysfunction as we see in the main olfactory bulb

From Seo et al.: “Considering the function of the VNO, infection and subsequent pathologic changes may affect the behavior of Syrian hamsters”

If it stands to reason that omegaverse individuals have functioning VNOs similar to members of the animal kingdom, then it is more than reasonable to conclude that covid may cause them to lose not only their main olfactory function, but also their VNO function as well

 References: (1) (2)

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

1 [https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/7123389]

CHARACTERS KISSING HALL OF FAME GALLERY:

Here’s the general art style Chinese mountains are drawn in:

And here’s how some of them actually look:

Washington Post is paywalling the article but it looks like Taylor Farms — a consumer bagged salad brand that also supplies produce to grocers and fast food chains like Taco Bell, Walmart, McDonald's, Chipotle, Burger King, KFC, and Meijer —may be at least one of the sources of the current cyclosporiasis outbreak.

To 2025:

Hell, they even cover the devastating heaviness of MASS SHOOTINGS without censoring or watering anything down.

They've been doing this for YEARS, and it's ALWAYS handled with dignity, respect, seriousness, understanding, and love.

Or how about when someone is put into the foster care system because their home isn't safe anymore and their needs aren't being met?

Maybe some discussions about group therapy/getting help and support?

Hey look! Here's a segment about gender expression vs taught expectation, including unlearning harmful biases and what to do when you hurt someone on accident because you didn't know it was wrong!

Look! The topic of race and diversity! The importance of unity and equity!

They even also have a more allegorical take on discrimination and being looked down on for who you are, featuring Big Bird. The conflict is about how he's not being let into a club because the one bird running the club personally decided he didn't want someone like Big Bird there.

Big Bird goes out of his way to keep changing parts of himself in order to "prove" he can fit into this club if he just changed enough. The truth comes out though, and there's nothing he can do to gain the approval of that bird. He will never be good enough in his eyes, and Big Bird starts to hate himself. His real friends see this finally put their feet down, emphasizing that you should never change yourself just to fit into one singular narrow idea someone else has.

There's A LOT of different situations this can be an allegory for. Racism, sexism, homophobia, basically ANY form of exclusion is put on full blast in this 15 minute clip. Sesame Street can be both blunt and allegorical when approaching difficult topics, and it NEVER misses or looses the point.

It does an exceptional job in both styles of representation WITHOUT watering anything down. The more sanitized everything gets, the more radical Sesame Street is suddenly considered, hence why so many "particular groups" want it gone. Hmmm! I can only imagine why that could be, in this current political climate! (I'm being sarcastic)

When Sesame Street is suddenly labeled as "questionable" or "politically/agenda motivated" content...it says A LOT about where we currently are and who gets to decide what's "best" for kids or not. Don't fall for the censorship and topic-dodging excuses that are covered by the "But think of the children!!!" movement. Never fall for it, because you know which side you're on if you do.

Sesame Street proves kids can be taught and trusted with learning about these topics when it's handled with the right amount of understanding and care. It shows what all this "controversy" is all really about. What it's always been about, actually.

men just love to run their fucking mouth about what women do or do not want without even once considering consulting any actual women on the matter

it's all desperation. i do really believe ed zitron's rot economy idea, that the tech sector has been searching for a new internet or iphone or whatever that blows up and changes the world and they get to keep the profits so they'll uplift any garbage (hence nfts and the metaverse) to try and astroturf that. and relatedly, i think nvidia and the cloud compute companies and the ai companies are just passing the same dollar back and forth to create big numbers that paper over how bad the economy really is. it's all an attempt to keep the infinite growth hack going.

And it honestly makes me so mad whenever he’s referred to like that

Because to Clark, Krypton is a concept. It’s an idea. It’s like how we grow up with myths like Atlantis—we have never and (most likely, in our case, but I’d like to hold out hope lol) will never experience it in real life.

And Clark was never really Kal-El; he was always just. Clark Kent. The human boy from Krypton.

And then you have Kara.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up speaking Kryptonese.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up celebrating their holidays.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up eating their food.

Kara Zor-El, who, on the day that she left Krypton, had school the next day.

Kara is the last person alive who remembers a dead planet and actually lived on it.

Whereas to Clark, Krypton was a story, an ideal, a concept, to Kara, it was her entire world.

And she’s just. She’s such a heartbreaking character.

Because, think about it; she was fifteen years old. The ground was shaking. Buildings were collapsing. People were screaming, people were crying, people were scared, people were confused, and people were dying—her people, her friends.

And her parents told her to get into a pod. Told her that she needed to protect Kal-El. Their last request to her was to make sure that he was safe.

And they sent her away.

And she wonders why? Why her? Why, out of everyone, was she chosen to get to live, when everyone—everything that she knew was going to die, and there would be no one left to remember it but her?

And then she’s knocked off course.

And she spends two decades—two long, agonizing decades—alone in the dark.

And then she finally she finally manages to make it to Earth. She hasn’t aged a day—she’s still fifteen years old, and she’s lonely, and she’s confused, and she’s terrified, and she hurts, and she wants to go home, she wants her parents, she wants her friends. But she knows. She knows that she’s never going to see them again.

And when she gets to Earth, she’s still alone. She doesn’t understand what anyone is saying and no one understands her. And she doesn’t find Kal-El. Because Kal-El doesn’t really exist. She finds Clark Kent, all grown up. Clark Kent, older than her. Clark Kent, who doesn’t need her to protect him.

And…she failed. She failed her parents.

She wasn’t there. She didn’t see him grow up. She didn’t protect him, she didn’t keep him safe.

And her home, her family, everything she ever had and everything she ever loved is…gone. But she’s still there.

And she must resent her parents, because who wouldn’t? If they hadn’t sent her away, it wouldn’t have made a difference in her cousin’s life. Really, the only difference that it would’ve made is that she wouldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t be suffering. She wouldn’t have to live knowing that everyone else was dead. She wouldn’t feel the guilt of it.

But she does. She does and she misses it and she misses them and she dreams of it. No matter how long it’s been, she’ll still dream of Krypton, and she will until the day she dies.