c0nc0rdance
@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social
Molecular biologist from Texas, here to share my meanderings on nature, science, history, politics, and zombies. Long threads a specialty.
😉 Thread.
There's a scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where Scotty trades future knowledge of "transparent aluminum" to an engineer in exchange for enough of the stuff to make a whale tank in a Klingon warship.
So can "transparent aluminum" exist?
Mostly NO, but just a little YES.
So can "transparent aluminum" exist?
Mostly NO, but just a little YES.
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 AM
😉 Thread.
Well, the net result of not learning that concept are a public who believe in genetic determinism, Victorian Era race categories and confusing binary for bimodal. 😔
November 10, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Well, the net result of not learning that concept are a public who believe in genetic determinism, Victorian Era race categories and confusing binary for bimodal. 😔
I think the very smartest kids figure this out empirically by being taught the biological species concept and then being taught all the exceptions.
But the textbooks don't talk about the map-territory relation problem.
But the textbooks don't talk about the map-territory relation problem.
Biological species concept
evolution.berkeley.edu
November 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I think the very smartest kids figure this out empirically by being taught the biological species concept and then being taught all the exceptions.
But the textbooks don't talk about the map-territory relation problem.
But the textbooks don't talk about the map-territory relation problem.
It's a shame there's no career consequence for this kind of thing. No disincentive, no social pressure, no risk to grants or reputation.
Just resubmit with the fraudulent citation fixed.
Just resubmit with the fraudulent citation fixed.
November 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
It's a shame there's no career consequence for this kind of thing. No disincentive, no social pressure, no risk to grants or reputation.
Just resubmit with the fraudulent citation fixed.
Just resubmit with the fraudulent citation fixed.
Biology was forever changed by Photo 51.
And all of this from some 'clever clogs' with an X-ray source, some salt water, a paper clip & a piece of cork.
Somebody tell McGuyver he needs to up his game.
And all of this from some 'clever clogs' with an X-ray source, some salt water, a paper clip & a piece of cork.
Somebody tell McGuyver he needs to up his game.
a man stands in front of a plane that has the letters c-fubo on the tail
Alt: McGuyver as played by Richard Dean Anderson, stands u p from behind an aircraft propeller and smiles at the camera. He's in front of a hangar.
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Biology was forever changed by Photo 51.
And all of this from some 'clever clogs' with an X-ray source, some salt water, a paper clip & a piece of cork.
Somebody tell McGuyver he needs to up his game.
And all of this from some 'clever clogs' with an X-ray source, some salt water, a paper clip & a piece of cork.
Somebody tell McGuyver he needs to up his game.
... a sharp image on a piece of film.
What it revealed was this: fuzzy edges with four distinct "spots" in an X pattern in the interior.
This was compared to the chemical structures worked out for the nucleotides themselves, suggesting a stacked pattern of interacting bases.
What it revealed was this: fuzzy edges with four distinct "spots" in an X pattern in the interior.
This was compared to the chemical structures worked out for the nucleotides themselves, suggesting a stacked pattern of interacting bases.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
... a sharp image on a piece of film.
What it revealed was this: fuzzy edges with four distinct "spots" in an X pattern in the interior.
This was compared to the chemical structures worked out for the nucleotides themselves, suggesting a stacked pattern of interacting bases.
What it revealed was this: fuzzy edges with four distinct "spots" in an X pattern in the interior.
This was compared to the chemical structures worked out for the nucleotides themselves, suggesting a stacked pattern of interacting bases.
She suspended the DNA in a salt solution saturated with hydrogen. She then pumped hydrogen into the diffraction chamber to reduce X-ray scattering by air molecules (hydrogen is invisible to X-ray).
The paperclip with its precious cargo was exposed to X-rays for 61 hours to accumulate...
The paperclip with its precious cargo was exposed to X-rays for 61 hours to accumulate...
Photograph 51, by Rosalind Franklin (1952) | Embryo Project Encyclopedia
On 6 May 1952, at King’s College London in London, England, Rosalind Franklin photographed her fifty-first X-ray diffraction pattern of deoxyribosenucleic acid, or DNA. Photograph 51, or Photo 51, rev...
embryo.asu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
She suspended the DNA in a salt solution saturated with hydrogen. She then pumped hydrogen into the diffraction chamber to reduce X-ray scattering by air molecules (hydrogen is invisible to X-ray).
The paperclip with its precious cargo was exposed to X-rays for 61 hours to accumulate...
The paperclip with its precious cargo was exposed to X-rays for 61 hours to accumulate...
The challenge of crystallizing DNA was this: it needed to be kept stretched thin, but also hydrated.
Raymond Gosling eventually hit on the idea of stretching it on a frame made from a humble paperclip inserted into a cork base.
Rosalind Franklin worked out how to keep it hydrated.
Raymond Gosling eventually hit on the idea of stretching it on a frame made from a humble paperclip inserted into a cork base.
Rosalind Franklin worked out how to keep it hydrated.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The challenge of crystallizing DNA was this: it needed to be kept stretched thin, but also hydrated.
Raymond Gosling eventually hit on the idea of stretching it on a frame made from a humble paperclip inserted into a cork base.
Rosalind Franklin worked out how to keep it hydrated.
Raymond Gosling eventually hit on the idea of stretching it on a frame made from a humble paperclip inserted into a cork base.
Rosalind Franklin worked out how to keep it hydrated.
... reveals an electron density map of the crystallized substance.
Biomolecule x-ray mapping was popularized by Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to have won a Nobel in sciences.
Like Rosalind Franklin, she worked under J.D. Bernal, and would later be Margaret Thatcher's research supervisor.
Biomolecule x-ray mapping was popularized by Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to have won a Nobel in sciences.
Like Rosalind Franklin, she worked under J.D. Bernal, and would later be Margaret Thatcher's research supervisor.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
... reveals an electron density map of the crystallized substance.
Biomolecule x-ray mapping was popularized by Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to have won a Nobel in sciences.
Like Rosalind Franklin, she worked under J.D. Bernal, and would later be Margaret Thatcher's research supervisor.
Biomolecule x-ray mapping was popularized by Dorothy Hodgkin, the only British woman to have won a Nobel in sciences.
Like Rosalind Franklin, she worked under J.D. Bernal, and would later be Margaret Thatcher's research supervisor.
X-ray diffractometry (XRD) reveals the inner structure of a molecule by seeing how X-rays interact with the electrons in it.
A substance is crystallized or semi-crystallized, held in place in front of a pinhole X-ray source, with a detector or film plate behind it.
The pattern on the film...
A substance is crystallized or semi-crystallized, held in place in front of a pinhole X-ray source, with a detector or film plate behind it.
The pattern on the film...
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
X-ray diffractometry (XRD) reveals the inner structure of a molecule by seeing how X-rays interact with the electrons in it.
A substance is crystallized or semi-crystallized, held in place in front of a pinhole X-ray source, with a detector or film plate behind it.
The pattern on the film...
A substance is crystallized or semi-crystallized, held in place in front of a pinhole X-ray source, with a detector or film plate behind it.
The pattern on the film...
Others have already expanded on this, but if you want a trusted site, this is the IUCN, which maintains the official Red List of endangered animals.
Humpback whale on road to recovery, reveals IUCN Red List
Some large whale species, including the humpback, are now less threatened with extinction, according to the cetacean update of the 2008 IUCN Red List. Most small coastal and freshwater cetaceans, howe...
iucn.org
November 9, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Others have already expanded on this, but if you want a trusted site, this is the IUCN, which maintains the official Red List of endangered animals.
The Northern white rhino, unfortunately, has native range in war-torn parts of Central Africa: Chad, Sudan, DRC.
Armed guerilla groups, some funded by poaching, insufficient government stability to set up trophy-hunting funded conservation efforts.
They were doomed by the legacy of colonialism.
Armed guerilla groups, some funded by poaching, insufficient government stability to set up trophy-hunting funded conservation efforts.
They were doomed by the legacy of colonialism.
ECOWAS and the management of political transitions in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso: Adopting a three-dimensional approach for stability and sustainable democracy and development – ACCORD
Examining measures for strengthening democratic transitions in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso by analysing responses at the national, regional and international levels to ensure rapid restoration of co...
www.accord.org.za
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
The Northern white rhino, unfortunately, has native range in war-torn parts of Central Africa: Chad, Sudan, DRC.
Armed guerilla groups, some funded by poaching, insufficient government stability to set up trophy-hunting funded conservation efforts.
They were doomed by the legacy of colonialism.
Armed guerilla groups, some funded by poaching, insufficient government stability to set up trophy-hunting funded conservation efforts.
They were doomed by the legacy of colonialism.
... and the money can go back into conservation to protect the animals from illegal poaching, create preserves for them to thrive, while providing jobs & support for the local community.
The areas where the Southern white rhino has thrived possessed the infrastructure to make this possible.
The areas where the Southern white rhino has thrived possessed the infrastructure to make this possible.
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
... and the money can go back into conservation to protect the animals from illegal poaching, create preserves for them to thrive, while providing jobs & support for the local community.
The areas where the Southern white rhino has thrived possessed the infrastructure to make this possible.
The areas where the Southern white rhino has thrived possessed the infrastructure to make this possible.
And the southern white rhino is a great example.
Rich people like trophies. Poor people need money.
Controlling the exchange of trophies under the direction of conservationists & wildlife biologists means that the hunting doesn't damage the population's genetic diversity...
Rich people like trophies. Poor people need money.
Controlling the exchange of trophies under the direction of conservationists & wildlife biologists means that the hunting doesn't damage the population's genetic diversity...
Sustainable utilisation | Save the Rhino
What is the sustainable use of wildlife? We look deeper into this topic.
www.savetherhino.org
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
And the southern white rhino is a great example.
Rich people like trophies. Poor people need money.
Controlling the exchange of trophies under the direction of conservationists & wildlife biologists means that the hunting doesn't damage the population's genetic diversity...
Rich people like trophies. Poor people need money.
Controlling the exchange of trophies under the direction of conservationists & wildlife biologists means that the hunting doesn't damage the population's genetic diversity...
I'll state this up front: I hate to see wild animals killed by hunters. It makes my stomach churn a bit.
But the cold reality is that it funds conservation, creates political support & can be good for the population as a whole.
Trophy hunting is where capitalism + conservation intersect. 😔
But the cold reality is that it funds conservation, creates political support & can be good for the population as a whole.
Trophy hunting is where capitalism + conservation intersect. 😔
Trophy hunting: Is it beneficial or detrimental to conservation and can killing wildlife for a trophy ever be justified? - Discover Wildlife Trophy hunting: good or bad?
Does allowing wealthy tourists to kill wild animals actually
help conservation? James Fair investigates the pros and cons of trophy hunting
www.discoverwildlife.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I'll state this up front: I hate to see wild animals killed by hunters. It makes my stomach churn a bit.
But the cold reality is that it funds conservation, creates political support & can be good for the population as a whole.
Trophy hunting is where capitalism + conservation intersect. 😔
But the cold reality is that it funds conservation, creates political support & can be good for the population as a whole.
Trophy hunting is where capitalism + conservation intersect. 😔
So two populations on the brink of extinction, but one went extinct (barring a scientific miracle), while the other flourished & has reached numbers that require they be introduced to new preserves.
Why? Political stability & conservation funded by trophy hunting.
Why? Political stability & conservation funded by trophy hunting.
a baby rhino is playing with snow in a zoo enclosure .
Alt: a baby rhino is playing with snow in a zoo enclosure .
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
So two populations on the brink of extinction, but one went extinct (barring a scientific miracle), while the other flourished & has reached numbers that require they be introduced to new preserves.
Why? Political stability & conservation funded by trophy hunting.
Why? Political stability & conservation funded by trophy hunting.
By contrast, the Southern white rhino is an unquestionable conservation success. From fewer than 20 individuals in 1920, there are more than 18,000 in the wild.
Their status went from Endangered to Near Threatened in 2002. They're now the most populous of the five rhino species on Earth.
Their status went from Endangered to Near Threatened in 2002. They're now the most populous of the five rhino species on Earth.
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
By contrast, the Southern white rhino is an unquestionable conservation success. From fewer than 20 individuals in 1920, there are more than 18,000 in the wild.
Their status went from Endangered to Near Threatened in 2002. They're now the most populous of the five rhino species on Earth.
Their status went from Endangered to Near Threatened in 2002. They're now the most populous of the five rhino species on Earth.
That is a happy pup right there.
November 9, 2025 at 10:12 PM
That is a happy pup right there.
I'm not confident in my answer here:
What I suspect is the range of non-migratory populations is small and largely coastal, near heavily-traveled routes for fishing & cargo boats, while migratory whales spend more time in the vast deep spaces between coasts.
What I suspect is the range of non-migratory populations is small and largely coastal, near heavily-traveled routes for fishing & cargo boats, while migratory whales spend more time in the vast deep spaces between coasts.
November 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I'm not confident in my answer here:
What I suspect is the range of non-migratory populations is small and largely coastal, near heavily-traveled routes for fishing & cargo boats, while migratory whales spend more time in the vast deep spaces between coasts.
What I suspect is the range of non-migratory populations is small and largely coastal, near heavily-traveled routes for fishing & cargo boats, while migratory whales spend more time in the vast deep spaces between coasts.
Such a joyous thing to see a whale spouting! It's easy to see why the Māori held them sacred.
These individual species recoveries can lead to healthier, more robust food webs, sometimes in the most paradoxical of ways.
These individual species recoveries can lead to healthier, more robust food webs, sometimes in the most paradoxical of ways.
The global whaling industry experienced a boom c. 1840-1950 as technology allowed whalers to hunt the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
Under standard models, we would have expected krill populations to have *exploded*.
Instead, they DROPPED exponentially.
Let's talk about the KRILL PARADOX.
Under standard models, we would have expected krill populations to have *exploded*.
Instead, they DROPPED exponentially.
Let's talk about the KRILL PARADOX.
November 9, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Such a joyous thing to see a whale spouting! It's easy to see why the Māori held them sacred.
These individual species recoveries can lead to healthier, more robust food webs, sometimes in the most paradoxical of ways.
These individual species recoveries can lead to healthier, more robust food webs, sometimes in the most paradoxical of ways.
Yes! Gill nets especially, because of the risk of entanglement.
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Yes! Gill nets especially, because of the risk of entanglement.
Just a man and his horse 😀
November 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Just a man and his horse 😀