I'm sure there's some metaphorical relation between this post and this image if you think hard enough
You may or may not have noticed I've taken a break from authoring science-related content. There's no particular reason for this other than getting addicted to Factorio - an RTS game - and generally just needing a breather from the grind of digging into research papers to pick fault in the small print, the trawling through google-found forums to find legitimate news sources and so on.
This came at a fairly good time since SteemSTEM also decided to take a break for similar reasons, and like SteemSTEM, I feel I'm ready to get back into it, because I constantly see annoying things on the internet that are scientifically misinterpretive, and I think up inspirational musings on a daily basis. Most have been lost to the sands of memory unfortunately, but I might as well start collecting again now!
Today I'd like to do an overview of the various series I've been doing over the months here so we can all pick back up from where we left off, but also if there are any new readers out there, this might be a good place to look so you get a good idea about the community I partly represent: SteemSTEM.
So here's what I've been writing about, and what I plan on writing about in the future:
Tree of Life Series
The tree of life series came about when I found a remarkable interactive website logging literally millions of organisms intuitively organised in an actual tree you can zoom in on and find information about where and when they arose. From here, I naturally have to dig into more details and I've been slowly working my way from the dawn of life right up to humanity.
So far we're 7 episodes in and approaching the end, having explored how the three domains are remarkably different but oddly connected, how fungi really are more related to humans than plants, where plants and animals went separate ways, how there are so many areas roadblocked by controversial uncertainties and unranked clades of life, why we're bilaterally symmetrical, why that means we're genetically evolved to be lazy and much more.
The next episode of this will be the next thing I post on Steemit.
Surviving the Extremes Series
A lot of pop-sci digs into things like tardigrades surviving space and cockroaches surviving radiation, but I wanted to look into the more unappreciated survivors out there who choose ridiculously niche environments to stave off competition. This series has been extensive and has explored all manners of environments including spiders at the top of mountains where even plant life cannot survive, archaea in cracks of the earth hundreds of metres below the bottom of the sea, ants and camels that feature adaptations in every single nook and cranny of their bodies to survive, penguins whose circulatory system manages to heat itself up allowing them to keep their feet on frozen tundra, aeroplankton, the billions of organisms surviving so high up in our atmosphere that the radiation from the sun should by all counts destroy them, annnnd so on.
Chinese Pseudoscience Series
Another extensive series that I think is my crowning achievement on Steem. in terms of what I have learnt and what I can show people, there is more information locked away in this series than any other.
It looks into Traditional Chinese Medicine and why we should ALL stay well away from it. I started off looking at the history of TCM, which highlighted how despite Chinese culture often bragging about the lengthy history of it all, scholars back then actually denounced it as nonsensical mumbo jumbo. thousands of years ago. In fact, emperors were known to actively ban the practice and it was only in the 50's and 60's when Mao Zedong brought it back to appease the millions of citizens he simply could not provide real, or 'western', medicine to them. Mao Zedong even stated himself that he did not believe in the practice, but like, whatever bro. From there it's just spread into pop culture because... eh.
I then looked into the actual research out there and aside from most of the research I looked into at great depth being hugely flawed, even according to the authors themselves, the research was often hugely and unforgivably biased, with the vast majority of it coming from China, tested on Chinese citizens, written in Chinese and published on Chinese-only journals. Not only this but the results were, for the most part, over 90% successful across the board. If I recall it was quoted as something like 20% of research done was over 96% positive. Wow.
Further into this series I take huge digs at TCM and the damage it is actually doing. Not only does it not work, such as Acupuncture, Cupping and herbal medicine in general, but it vastly damages wildlife, renders countless species endangered and already endangered species extinct, but it also damages humans.
Many of the potions used are built on the premise of treating something with that thing. Want a bigger sex drive? Eat a dick. You get the idea. What this also means is that literal deadly poisons are used in these potions to attempt to heal ailments, and it seems almost every potion can cure at least 100 different things. How? Simply because it's not regulated at all. Investigations found all manners of poisons, illegal substances, endangered animals and a large array of things that are simply not in the ingredients list, a list that is vastly flawed to begin with.
So even if TCM did work, the lesson from this series is to stay well away anyway, because it's simply not safe for human consumption and you're gambling with life. especially if you're pregnant.
The series has a few episodes left as I look into a few more areas of herbal medicine and such, but I think I've learnt a sufficient amount here. Hopefully you guys did too.
Mobbs' Memoir Series
Well, it's just nice to write about me once in a while. My life is mostly dull as hell but I have had some pretty interesting moments in the past, many interesting stories to share, and this series is just that. Not much more to it!
What I learnt last week Series
Originally 'What I learnt THIS week', I changed it because I'm lazy and always late. Basically this is a weekly digest of stuff that I've read about and taken note of, summarized and with links provided for further reading. To me this beats what a lot of steemians do, simply copying a news source about the latest iPhone or Space News. Putting it all in one post tot share with everyone allows me to move on to more niche topics the rest of the week, while also learning and teaching people how ridiculously fast our world is progressing, our knowledge collecting.
There has yet to be a week where some astonishing development has come to light that could potentially transform our existence if mass adopted. We live in exciting times and that's what this series is all about.
What's Next
Series are a good way for me to be consistent without running out of ideas too quickly. It helps me find inspiration wherever I walk and helps me become a little more pro at a given topic after digging in dozens of hours over the weeks.
I have had several plans to implement some ideas that have been bubbling for a while now but unlike science-based series, they take a bit more of my creative soul to fully establish, and that's something that drains my blogging energy and confidence at a much greater rate than delving into objective discoveries.
Regardless, I plan on the following:
Dlive-ing games
This is probably the least likely to stick, since I'm not charismatic or funny at all in person, and very shy in general. But I do like games and I think I've found a few that I'd like to share with people. This could also be a collaborative effort with online games but I have no idea so far how to hook up the ol' PS4 and such.
Soundtracks
I've already made a couple of warm up soundtrack concepts but the intention is to create an album track-by-track of fantasy-themed game music. This was actually put on hold because of a very niche problem with my hard drives from my old laptop, in which they are perfectly healthy, but cannot be re-inserted into my new laptop as an external for reasons the internet cannot explain to me. This means much of my software is currently unavailable to me but I hope to get it sorted eventually
Music-ology
A series where I mix music with science and learn about all the stuff I've wondered over the years such as Perfect Pitch, Western Harmony, Natural History, Psychoacoustics and more.
Collaborative efforts
For the longest time I've wanted to collaborate with users on Steemit, be it with games, science, art or music and I will definitely put the effort in eventually...
Storywriting
I once had a series of fiction here, based on a world that went to hell from a virus dropped down the sink in some lab. Conceptually I was very much into it, but as the story started expanding across the new, empty world, complexities started to arise, relationships and character development were lacking and I felt I needed time to fully plot this out. I still want to re-visit this story, but I have other shorts in mind too, something I might actually use to trigger the above collaborative efforts.
Debunking
I want to focus more on debunking pseudoscience. So far I've concentrated exclusively on China, but we all know China isn't the only guilty party here - I just happen to live there. The amount of nonsense I hear from America is something I really want to share my voice on.
Googling Earth
I really enjoy spinning Google Earth around, landing on a random place and looking really as deep as possible into that location, from the people, the wildlife, the landscape, the history and more. I've done this a few times over the time I've been here but I'd like to make more of a habit out of it.
Secret series
This one isn't fully developed in my head yet but it's related to - but not the same as - the debunking series. That's all I'll say for now.
And so...
As you can see, I'm full to the brim with ideas and even without those, the series I've been working on still have some things to say about the world.
I'm going to upvote this post with a bot because the raised visibility might be nice for more like-minded people to have a good overview of my page and perhaps join up, join the SteemSTEM community and share in the potential collaborative efforts.
I just found out Steemstem has paused, for the reason you mean, but I would like to be able to interact with this project, because what I see is very helpful, all knowledge of #science and some others are here
Thank you for your participation in the project, I applaud you
Have a nice day ^^
Yep you gotta stay aware of the posts on steemstem, in case big random changes happen =P Glad you appreciate the work!
Hopefully news changes from Steemstem can be heard as soon as possible
Yep... one can dream
nice
https://steemit.com/fundraising/@jejes/steemit-help-fundraising-for-my-friend-s-father
Hi everyone! pls do help to upvote this post for my friend's father's heart. They need our support right now..
Didn't know you were working on so many different projects. I'm especially intrigued by the Chinese pseudoscience series and might search for some of your past posts on the subject.
Would be nice if Steemit had a function to separate them into 'playlists' or something. One reason why I'm considering condensing each series into some kind of Ebook
My moderate stutter on my own will make matters uncomfortable, i am positive
Maybe we can do a google hangout video session with 6 stuttering fools attempting to talk about simple things =D
I personally enjoyed the "Chinese Pseudoscience Series" a lot because I share the same stand you have about TCM and I've seen what a load of crap this can be in my half semester TCM course xD
Yeahh, It's been great having you join me in the journey with your own personal experiences to boot. It doesn't typically appeal to most readers really so I'm glad you exist to fill the void =P
Hahaha nothing better than mutual hatred towards something 😁
Can't wait to see you dliving, I can already feel the awkwardness!
My slight stutter alone will make things uncomfortable, I'm sure
You could always say you were breaking due to bad internet in China :)
But seriously, do you have any issues with ISP? Need to hear it first hand.
Well I'm in Shanghai so I likely have better raw internet than anyone in England, but I do have to go through a VPN to access anything useful (even images on steemit usually fail to load without it), and VPNs are always under attack by the government, making things very slow and unreliable.
I guess it depends on the day of the week and the mood of Xi Jinping!
Does it mean internet in Shanghai is very much better that that in England?
Yeah for the most part I'd say so. England is slower than most of Europe for a start, and Shanghai is a mega international hub, so it makes sense.
OMG!!.. am tripping for Shanghai right now. One of my dream is to be on a very fast an unlimited connection. I envy you right now.
So many ideas, so little time, so many dull real-life tasks to perform every day...
Pull your socks up and get back to work, mister! We need to push one another! ;)
Oh yeah I have to work for steemstem too. DOH, cancel everything
I was referring to our personal writing, but since the team is back in action, yes: Do some steemstem work too!
And with the beer challenge being over there is no excuse to get drunk and unable to concentrate anymore :P
Ah heh, well you say that, but @trumpman just nominated me for yet another challenge... I might need a drink just to make myself sound interesting enough for that -__-
That's a lot you do and plan to do. I wonder where you find time to do it all plus curation. Welcome back.
Thanks =)
Well it's not so much precisely because I break them into series. This way I only need to post one of each every week or so - no specific schedule =)
Considering you call yourself lazy, I suppose that a schedule would not work for you :)
Well done. I hope the Chinese people are treating you well :P
Just a VERY flexible schedule =P
Wait, so you don't personally know anyone who has had success stories from getting some acupuncture?
Of course people can get something out of acupuncture, but not for medically valid reasons; it's a placebo. You can get the same effects from a soft spoken doctor in a welcoming environment handing you over a bottle of water every morning, and you can literally get the same effects using toothpicks, pretending to be needles, but poking the body in random places (The idea is supposed to be that you pierce specific 'qi' pathways).
Placebo is a very real and powerful phenomenon
Haha... You're back now. I hope to get back to what I learnt this week too but I've been too lazy these days, it's because of my exams though. I should be back fully to steemSTEM this week hopefully.
Seems we all out-did ourselves ^__^
😁
Glad to have you back :)
The break was one we really needed.
Yep, I'm already feeling the energy to write is back =)
True :)
Be back in full swing, monster..! 🐲
Ur series are cool, one thing specially caught up my mind,
that Googling Universe thing sounds interesting...! 👀
I never thought abt something like this before..! Bt i guess i should explore some maps too...! 😃
thx fr the idea..! 😁
And yes, a warm welcome to STEM world to everyone out there...! 🤗
trust me, u won't get bored reading science, ever..!!
~ Tennis Girl 🎾🎾
yeah the google thing is one of my favorite things to do when bored and lazy. Even Rhett middle of the ocean unlocks surprising secrets. You should try =D
I will try for-sure..! 😁
Not going to lie... I do not want to say how many hours I have put into that game. At one point (a little over a year ago) I started building a mod that incorporated uranium into the game, along with plutonium and radiation.... Anyways it added another mutation factor (radiation exposure) and nuclear plants that if weren't kept cool enough then they could meltdown... It never left the testing phase before the devs added in uranium themselves and it kind of disappointed me seeing how they did things tbh....
Anyways I hope to see you continue to author posts, I know a lot look forward to them.
haha no surprise there, this game is a programmers dream I reckon! I feel like I've played it too well though. I'm barely 20 hours in and already have blue red green and grey Ppotions coming out the wazoo and almost all the research complete other than the last few colours, of which there isn't much to research, just upgrades mostly... An I too efficient?
I haven't played recently but I don't think the 1 hour 59 minute and 57 second speedrun is possible any longer. Otherwise, no 20 hours isn't too efficient.
Have you figured out trains yet? I remember that was probably the most infuriating thing because it wouldn't work for some reason (even copying designs directly from the tutorials) then by removing and readding the signals it would suddenly work for no apparent reason.
Anyways my favorite world I had started in an area that had a giant mass surrounded by lakes (I will either see if I still have it to take a screenshot of the map or else I will make a basic ms paint looking thing showing the idea of what it looked like) and had walls connecting each of the lakes with gun towers and laser towers behind the walls to prevent spitters and biters from attacking my industry. In the center was a dessert with a ton of oil so I set a trainstation there and named it Halliburton station and just... It was a great map, spent probably 30 hours before I got the satellite launched then I got a bunch of mods and spent another 20-30 hours making the ultimate paradise.... I have issues
Haha no it sounds awesome haha. Would be good to see. As for trains, I did just today struggle with them but got the signalling working in the end, I'm quite intimidated by the logistics section which i haven't even touched yet.
Also, the aliens barely attack me at all, not sure if that's normal. They do attack but l ike, one small one every hour or something. Otherwise they keep to their own business and attack if I approach which I figure is fair enough. Disappointing though since I have all this flamethrower ammo, laser turrets, shotguns, armour piercing rounds galore....
Just wait, it wasn't until around 5-30 hours before the attacks started happening nearly consistently. When the evolution factor rises to like 0.4-0.6 they start attacking regularly, and when its above 0.7 then its almost constant.
They will also get bigger, build more bases, and yeah.
This is a creative representation of what it was kind of like (though it was a lot bigger than this makes it look) and had way more resources and everything. The black is supposed to represent oil and the red is biters and stuff. It isn't perfect or to scale but I think you have an idea where there were like walls connecting the bodies of water and everything to prevent attacks in the main area. Btw the starting zone was just above those two lakes in the center of the dessert and that dark green is supposed to be coal because I already used black
By the way I did reply to this in my head when I was just waking up yesterday, just forgot to actually type. It was essentially along the lines of 'you lucky f***'. it looksl ike something you made yourself, mental. Flat desert landscape is like an hours' drive from where I am. Constantly having to grenade my way through forests. Urgh
Wow, you have engaged in so much. It's a pity I just joined steemit as I have no inkling about all the series you have mentioned. I will surely keep tabs from now on.
good to know! That's a whole bunch I already started and finished that never got a mention here, and I'm really thinking of an e-book of my old stuff so people don't miss out... Unless steemit improves it's interface one day...
Yeah, you should work on the e-book. It would be nice for someone like myself.
And your stories, do you intend to focus on it now?
I'd say near future. Music creativity has higher priority at the moment!
You mean the musicology series or do you produce sound?
compose and produce yeah. Musicology will tie in with my science series in some way. Busy busy!
Oh... That's cool
Wow..i like this writing..i love science...so beautiful blog..
Inspiring! You have a lot of interesting ideas. Good luck! :D
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All of these series are definitely awesome in all entirety...And I especially love the google earth series as it makes me feel less lonely and more closer to the rest of humanity lol, and also the WILTW series for it's especially informative and expository nature...with so much going on in the world of science and technology these days it could be a real struggle to keep up the pace, so I really appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I also really look forward to your collaborative series though...it sure would be fun as well. Can't wait!
I feel the opposite sometimes with the Google Earth thing. Every time you zoom in you realise how much nothing there actually is. The vast majority of spins end up on completely empty desert and ocean for thousands of miles around, or dense forest where you see nothing but trees, thousands of miles... its pretty crazy.
Glad you're keeping an eye on this page!
Haha as much as I really hate to admit it...you're damn right! Could be a major pain in the butt most times when that happens. Pretty crazy indeed! + You're welcome...if I don't keep an eye on your page who will??? :p
We share a lot of interests, looking forward to your future posts. I've heard that when Chinese medicine does seem to work, it is because real drugs have been added to it.
Hahah perfect observation, well done =P
Sounds like you're going to be releasing some pretty cool stuff, I can't wait to read more!
Well I hope so! Anything to raise the quality average on this platform =P
you sold your soul to the devil :(
This will be interesting, particularly the secret series. Resteeming!
Thanks!
Curious about your music series. I'll follow!
Cool, I'll try not to let you down!
Il make sure to join SteemStem as these topics all sound like something I wouldn't want to miss.
Awesome. simply join the discord and use the tag 'steemstem' to search that kinda content, or use it yourself if you can =)
I think that, it's really good thinking and brilliant decision.I hope you will succeed. Go ahead
Now i know how to interact to steemstem via my science-related contents formatting. Thank you! BTW i enjoyed reading your content and have learned today.
You're welcome! See you on discord =)
It quite obvious mixing music with science, it pretty cool.
Plenty to be getting on with :D :D
its really very helpful. appreciate your wonderful work
Wao nice that's good for steemit users it's very helpful
I like your post
let me resteem
Beutifull picture
Nice picture contu job
Thanx for sharing
wauuu very beautiful view buddy, I am newcomer friend please help me good friend
Hello How r u PLs Given me Vote pls pls
Music saves Human soul.
Nice post i like that follow u steem frnd
Follow back stay bless
Godddddd
I like this follow u steem frnd
Follow back stay bless