Gregory's Server
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16 posts total
Alt-text is really a big cultural differentiator for Mastodon. Twitter has it, but it's pretty rare to see people use it. Threads doesn't have it at all! And with regards to scicomm specifically, it's a perfect example of how accessibility improves the experience for everyone. I can break down a dense, hard to understand figure that people with vision would still find confusing. To me, alt-text is a non-negotiable requirement of good science communication.
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  @dantheclamman I also like inserting my interpretation of my photographs on alt-texts. They should be mandatory. @dantheclamman I believe #Threads has the feature, but maybe not the culture? Apparently, on Threads, if you don't add alt-text then it gets added for you. https://oslo.town/@chrismessina@mastodon.xyz/110738855683029994 When I'm reading sci-fi, and they yet again choose to exit the spaceship without proper protection or biocontrol @dantheclamman I read Buzz Aldrinβs first memoir a few years ago, and the part that stayed with me (beyond the frank talk about mental health) was that all three astronauts were put straight into quarantine for two weeks, and Buzz had to call his wife and ask her to bring him some of his underpants from homeβ¦ not something Iβve ever seen in scifi despite how compelling it is tbh  New report in The Lancet finds pollution is responsible for a staggering 9 million deaths per year, which would mean it causes 1 in 6 deaths. A nearly incomprehensible level of human suffering. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00090-0/fulltext @dantheclamman This is a shocking statistic. By comparison there have been ("only") 7 million Covid deaths - in *total* (according to the WHO https://covid19.who.int/?mapFilter=deaths) @dantheclamman Go swimming off the LA coast and that number increases significantly I suspect being a DDT dumping ground and all. My office is downwind from a Costco bakery, so I get hit with a powerful cinnabun smell every time I walk outside. It's basically the only type of pollution I approve of.  @dantheclamman When I walk past durian stalls in Singapore, I like to inhale deeply too. π It is the time of year when we should bring tidings of good cheer May your datetimes always be in ISO 8601 UTC, and your shapefiles in a well documented projection. If you want a scientist to read your email, just include "Decision on manuscript reached" in the subject line. They will wake up in a cold sweat and be compelled to open your email.
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 Caption after the fact: a meme of Bernie Sanders, once again asking for you to use ISO 8601 time format These days, when I see a datetime column in a csv I have taken to proactively exploding into component pieces and rebuilding as a clean datetime. Just fed up. The amount of water a clam filters is called the clearance rate. This rate is typically measured in liters per hour per gram of clam mass. The clearance rate can decline if the bivalves "clam up" in response to stresses from temperature or salinity. They can also be reduced if the clams' gills are clogged by non-food particles, such as during a storm. The clams may increase clearance rate if they sense more plankton in the water, or if they are trying to bulk up before spawning! #clamfacts *wipes brow* Bivalves aren't afraid to put their foot down! Many clams have a fleshy tongue-like appendage called a foot. They can use this to dig, drag themselves around, sense their environment, and a couple even secrete acid from their foot to bore into coral! Gif is of a cockle, which have a particularly muscular foot #clamfacts You know you're heavily invested in this #scicomm thing when all your rpg characters have maxed out science and persuasion stats. Currently playing through The Outer Worlds as a huge dork, just like in Fallout.  @dantheclamman my instinct in every RPG is to build out my character as close to "a poet who doesn't leave the house much" as possible "Extreme digestive plasticity suggests that eating com- |
@dantheclamman π€