Humans Are A Subspecies Of Elf Known For Dying Really Quickly And Being Stressed The Whole Time

draw your fave wrestler like this

phys.org

Scientists discover that water molecules define the materials around us

For decades, the fields of physics and chemistry have maintained that the atoms and molecules that make up the natural world define the char

OKAY THIS ARTICLE IS SO COOL

I'm going to try to explain this in a comprehensible way, because honestly it's wild to wrap your head around even for me, who has a degree in chemistry. But bear with me.

Okay, so. Solids, right? They are rigid enough to hold their shape, but aside from that they are quite variable. Some solids are hard, others are soft, some are brittle or rubbery or malleable. So what determines these qualities? And what creates the rigid structure that makes a solid a solid? Most people would tell you that it depends on the atoms that make up the solid, and the bonds between those atoms. Rubber is flexible because of the polymers it's made of, steel is strong because of the metallic bonds between its atoms. And this applies to all solids. Or so everybody thought.

A paper published in the journal Nature has discovered that biological materials such as wood, fungi, cotton, hair, and anything else that can respond to the humidity in the environment may be composed of a new class of matter dubbed "hydration solids". That's because the rigidity and solidness of the materials doesn't actually come from the atoms and bonds, but from the water molecules hanging out in between.

So basically, try to imagine a hydration solid as a bunch of balloons taped together to form a giant cube, with the actual balloon part representing the atoms and bonds of the material, and the air filling the balloons as the water in the pores of the solid. What makes this "solid" cube shaped? It's not because of the rubber at all, but the air inside. If you took out all the air from inside the balloons, the structure wouldn't be able to hold its shape.

Ozger Sahin, one of the paper's authors, said

"When we take a walk in the woods, we think of the trees and plants around us as typical solids. This research shows that we should really think of those trees and plants as towers of water holding sugars and proteins in place. It's really water's world."

And the great thing about this discovery (and one of the reasons to support its validity) is that thinking about hydration solids this way makes the math so so so much easier. Before this, if you wanted to calculate how water interacts with organic matter, you would need advanced computer simulations. Now, there are simple equations that you can do in your head. Being able to calculate a material's properties using basic physics principles is a really big deal, because so far we have only been able to do that with gasses (PV=nRT anyone?). Expanding that to a group that encompasses 50-90% of the biological world around us is huge.

““I’m not a moral backbone, per say. I’m more of a moral appendix. I’m here, but I’m apparently useless and sometimes I explode.””

— -Our lawful good but also insanely anxious cleric’s player.

A while ago, some people asked me to explain D&D and other RPGs… so of course I had to make it into an infographic!

This is by no means a comprehensive guide. The game can be as simple or complex as you want, but there ARE some pre-established basics you should know about - and those are best discovered on your own terms!

Some resources to help you get started: 

Watch/listen:

★ Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast - a ttrpg game in the Pathfinder system. Beginner friendly! Learn how to play along with the players!

★ Critical Role - a D&D game played by voice actors - Incredibly famous! Highly praised! Both videos and podcasts available.

★ The Adventure Zone - a TTRPG podcast by the McElroy brothers

Read/learn the rules:

📚 D&D 5e Player’s Handbook - pdf

📚 Basic Introduction to Character Races - website

📚 Overview of Character Classes - website

How-to and Tutorials:

🎲 Rolling a character - YouTube video

🎲 How combat works - YouTube video

🎲 Being a good player - YouTube video

And last but not least…

How To Play D&D Online! - YouTube Video

***

Of course, there are tons of other resources - endless writeups, dozens of YouTube videos and blogposts, and entire subreddits dedicated to this information. The important thing is to take things one at a time. Or not - just dive right in! Most seasoned D&D players are thrilled when others want to join them on their adventures and will be happy to help a new player find their tabletop legs. 

I hate that thing some people do where it's like. "I left my wallet on the table to see if you'd say anything" or "I wanted to see if you'd wash the car if I stopped doing it"

Cause like

I dont know about anyone else

But I am perpetually hovering three inches above the strong subconscious belief that everyone knows what they're doing at all times except me, so if you change your normal patterns and I notice, then I will assume it is an intentional choice with a thought-out plan behind it and I will avoid interfering

And if I don't notice, because I won't, because why would I, because not much bothers me and if you don't say anything to indicate you are bothered then how would I KNOW

Ace Attorney has a reputation for "No, your client can't be declared innocent unless you prove SOMEONE ELSE DID THE CRIME. That's the rules." And I don't think that's entirely fair.

But sometimes, man. Some fucking times that reputation is spot on.

Most of its cases are carefully sculpted to preserve some sense of ambiguity as to your client's provable involvement. You can craft a scenario in court that says your client was unconscious in a back room, but you're not given the ability to prove that. AA cases operate on the backfoot, with the prosecution laying out a clear and concise case for "They did it" and the attorney struggling to unwind it.

Finding the killer usually serves simultaneously as the clincher that absolves your client. Instead of "Your client didn't do it BUT WE'LL CONVICT THEM ANYWAY if you can't find someone else who did," it becomes a more clear-cut argument of "My client couldn't have done it because this guy did it instead."

...

And then there's shit like

So we're agreed! The evidence has shown that the defendant was on the other side of a gigantic, impassible ravine from where the murder took place. Therefore, it would be physically impossible for them to even have been present for the murder, let alone the perpetrator of the crime.

So. We're done here, right?

Mmm... no. I'm invested in the plot now. I want to see where this is going.

This fucking justice system, I swear.

You see it's quite simple: if they call the earth Gaia, it's fantasy. If they call it Terra, that's sci-fi

good > finally building the habit of checking my trouser pockets for tissues and stuff before putting them in the washing machine

bad > being unable to do so without saying "what's it got in its nasty little pocketses" in a gollum voice