#plos

Drawing of my character Plos in her anthro form. She was previously an F-Zero human Oc.

If you had COVID before, you're more likely to reactivate latent TB. About 2 to 3 billion people (1/4 to 1/3 of the world's population) is latently infected with TB; and we know that they becomes activated in immuno-compromised individuals.

I'm putting the duration for a week but might change it idk.

"Allowing only ‘safe’ ideas to be explored not only holds society back by limiting what we are allowed to think and know, but also taints the public’s faith in the academic process". Reblog with caption 🙃

Plos: With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg!

Photo: Participating in sports is great but certain health risks need to be weighed against the advantages, thinks Swedish researcher Anna Nordström. She has found a link between head trauma and dementia in a study of records for 164,000 Swedes diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. The higher risk continues 30 years after the injury. Shutterstock/NTB scanpix

My article for the week is “The Costs of Saving Nature: Does it Makes Cents?” by Andrew J. Tanentzap. I decided to look at this article because, while you may not like it, economics does play a role in environmental efforts.  Economics is the study of the distribution of resources and as Tanentzap points out economics effects what land will be developed or maintained. The paper goes in depth of the cost and benefit of different uses of tropical forest land.  The paper also mentions how more research and better models will be needed to be made in order to make the best decision. It is a good discussion starter and great place to start if you want to research more about conservation. Link: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003292

More scientific proof bees are super smart buggers ... Repost from today's #PLOS : "When searching to understand human behavior, it can help to think small. A recent study in PLOS Biology shows that bumblebees are also capable of social learning and cultural transmission—a first for invertebrates. String-pulling is a common puzzle for testing vertebrate cognitive ability, but scientists did not know if bees were up to the challenge. Researchers found that bumblebees could be trained to pull strings for fake-flower sugar rewards (videos). While most bees could not learn the task on their own, they could learn the technique after observing trained bees. The string-pulling skill then spread through a colony, even after the teacher was removed, similar to how innovations spread through human communities. This work challenges whether sophisticated learning and culture require large, highly developed brains. Author Lars Chittka pointed to "more and more evidence, both from experiments on small-brained insects and computational neuroscience, that small circuits can deal with exceptionally complex challenges." #bees #beesmart