Zadr but girlies :p
Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised.
Every year, researchers try to predict the four influenza strains that are most likely to be prevalent during the upcoming flu season. And every year, people line up to get their updated vaccine, hoping the researchers formulated the shot correctly.
The same is true of COVID vaccines, which have been reformulated to target sub-variants of the most prevalent strains circulating in the U.S.
This new strategy would eliminate the need to create all these different shots, because it targets a part of the viral genome that is common to all strains of a virus. The vaccine, how it works, and a demonstration of its efficacy in mice is described in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“What I want to emphasize about this vaccine strategy is that it is broad,” said UCR virologist and paper author Rong Hai. “It is broadly applicable to any number of viruses, broadly effective against any variant of a virus, and safe for a broad spectrum of people. This could be the universal vaccine that we have been looking for.”
>i ask the science news publisher if the breakthrough is in humans or in mice
>they don't understand
>i pull out a diagram describing the difference between human trials and mouse studies
>"it's a good study, ma'am"
>i read the article
>it's in mice.
when people who want to be vaguely progressive say 'nature' all secular style but it's painfully obvious they mean 'god' while thinking they don't mean god
"natural behaviour" "the natural body" "nature intended" "nature created" no da fuck it didn't
“Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.”
- Yuval Noah Harari
"programmers and computer scientists are all trans women" is not true. the truth, from experience, is that if you go into a coding or computer science class there will be maybe one closeted or stealth trans woman surrounded by the worst men you will ever possibly meet.
you gotta get her out of there, only you can save her. convince that girl to drop out of university NOW.
My hypothesis is that in like 10 years gen z is gonna have a big cult boom the way the boomers did in the 70s
It’s already happening on tik tok. There’s a fun new thing going round that’s citing common symptoms of depression and anxiety as signs you’re about to have your awakening and that you are actually an alien and the reason you don’t feel right is because you’re home sick for your own galaxy. So that’s fun.
agreed, and i don’t mean this in a “haha gen z is so dumb they’re gonna join a tiktok cult lmao” i mean that conditions are perfect for the formation of cults right now.
- high unemployment and a lot of underpaying, pointless jobs = people are looking for things to do with their life, a purpose
- skyrocketing cost of living = most young people will not be able to live on their own, meaning some will end up in a group living situation with people interested in recruiting them
- it’s a time of great cultural and political upheaval, nothing feels real, people are desperate for meaning and human connection. cults promise that
- there is a new wave of acceptance and understanding for ways of life outside the norm, which is great! …except for when cult leaders tell you abusive and controlling practices are just their culture, their religion, their lifestyle, their beliefs, their tradition, and if you disrespect it you are the problem
- social media influencers have already shown us how easy it is to build a cult of personality and attract people from anywhere in the world who are interested in the exact brand you are selling
- spirtuality is having a boom, as are things like astrology, crystals, tarot, meditation, energy… those things aren’t bad on their own but they are often used as tools of cult spaces
- wellness. i think a lot of people are already in wellness cults. you can make people do a lot of things in the name of “wellness” and a big factor of maintaining a cult is keeping members in a state of decreased cognition….. like say, with regular fasting
- i think people are just unaware in general of how cults function, especially because the satanic panic was a big stupid false alarm that convinced the youths that dungeons and dragons or doom were gateways to cults, which are scary evil child murdering, satan-worshipping gangs. people don’t know how to spot them in real life.
[ID: Spongebob wrestling meme format. Buff Patrick labeled “predatory cult” flexes and growls in a wrestling ring at a stern, buff Spongebob labeled “my intelligence”. In his corner Mr Crabs is labeled “my education”. Final panel shows Patrick and whistling Spongebob walking out hand-in-hand, both labeled “rationalizing why this isn’t really a cult” /ID]
(This is actually more relevant here than standalone.)
Our popular media has tended to portray people in cults as ignorant or as losers when that’s really not how they work. Cults don’t want dead weight they have to support; they want talented, clever, energetic people they can exploit to siphon wealth and labor out of.
Some are religious, but some are political. You find yourself moving into a house full of Maoist revolutionaries because capitalism really is that awful and ecological collapse is imminent—but for some reason, the leader of the self-crit sessions is also the person everyone else in the house is in a polyamorous relationship with, and they can’t see anyone else outside of the house without her approval. Or you need a little extra money and you get told you’d be so good at selling Keto products. You’re a natural, and after you get through these first tough months, the leg under you will be developed enough you only have to work if you wanna hit bigger goals. Etc.
Loneliness, a lack of purpose, and desperation all make you susceptible to cults no matter how smart you are. In fact, your very clever brain is also extremely capable of redirecting your thoughts away from realizing you’re being exploited and abused because, after all, you’re not some idiot, are you?
We’ve got a ton of very clever young people fully aware that they’re going to have to suffer through decisions of the selfish dead, and they’re going to crave salvation of all different kinds because the future is going to suck, and it won’t have been their fault, and they won’t be able to do anything to stop it.
You may be thinking still “I’m not one of those WEAK MINDED FOOLS who would join a cult” let me remind you that there’s no one type of person who joins cults. But lots of people who join cults do so when their life is in some kind of crisis and they are extremely vulnerable, seeking a place to belong or escape.
Right now, I have a place to belong and I’m happy and I am hyper vigilant about high control environments and I probably wouldn’t join a cult…but if I had recently lost my job? My partner passed away? If a handful of my friends who function as family left Texas? If my house burned down? If I began struggling with addiction? If I became very ill? Who knows what I would do if just the wrong kind of predatory group bumped into my life at just the wrong time?
All cults start with some level of reasonable introduction. The whole boiling frog metaphor…none of us are as bulletproof to social manipulation and control as we may wish we are. Our circumstances impact us greatly.
I very much think we are not only going to but are already seeing modern cults in a big way. And it’s interesting how many of them are led by women. Gwen Shamblin Lara. Teal Swan. Mother God.
its 1am. I dont have the energy to get into it
Next time around
Ok real talk. I read about cults and was like “oh I would never join one” and I STILL nearly joined one out of desperation and hopes they could fix my depression. Even as the alarm bells were ringing in the self help group sessions, “oh I haven’t given this a fair try”, “I have no better ideas on how to improve myself”, “Everybody is so friendly here!” And I nearly nearly went through the entirety of their induction process.
The straw that broke the camels back was that for you to continue into the next step of the induction you had to convince a certain number of people to join the self help groups. Didn’t I want them to explore and be better? Didn’t I want to share all these cathartic emotional experiences I’d just had? Didn’t I love them enough to convince them to go to this life changing event?
And I just went. “Stop trying to force more people into this group. This is suspicious as fuck. Also there is so much crazy pressure from everyone to conform”.
So I left in the middle of the induction process. And later realized yeah that’s a cult. I nearly joined a cult.
To a cult, we are all lobsters in a pot
i really want my creator friends to know that please! just do your thing! make that gifset! write that fic! do that photoset! create that edit with the song everyone uses in theirs! just do it because i want to look at it! i'll appreciate it! i'll forever be in awe of your talent! it breaks my heart whenever i read your tags or posts about how unconfident you are with your works... because dear Lord, all of you are my inspiration. so, please! don't give up and just make everything you want to make! i'll always root for you! 🥺❤️