A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Personally I find it pretty neat that as megafauna we are host to entire little ecosystems. It's a calming thought to imagine yourself like some large tree, home to little families of various creatures, bacterial and fungal colonies growing on you. We are thoroughly integrated into the ecosystems in which we live.
They're not harmful, they're just living their mitey little life.
I, personally, am wholly against most of my DNA existing solely it can replicate itself. So what if getting rid of it is more effort than keeping it? I want it gone from my body. Goddamn freeloaders...
Pretty much everything looks horrifying on a scanning electron micrograph.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex
My fave parts (edited for brevity):
The adult mites are 0.3–0.4 mm (3⁄256–1⁄64 in) long. Each has a semitransparent, elongated body that consists of two fused parts. Eight short, segmented legs are attached to the first body segment. The body is covered with scales for anchoring itself in the hair follicle, and the mite has pin-like mouthparts for eating skin cells and oils that accumulate in the hair follicles.
... and ...
The mites are transferred between hosts through contact with hair, eyebrows, and the sebaceous glands of the face.
Ohhh good.
Wait, 0.3mm is huge, you should be able to see that. I don't think this is right.
Maybe we do see them, but mistake them for bits of skin or dirt.
Agreed. 1/64th of an inch is .016". An average human hair is .003" in diameter, that would be as long as five hairs wide. You wouldn't even need a magnifier to see the largest ones.
3⁄256
Who uses inches at this scale? I mean, really, Wikipedia.
"Hand me my 1/256th inch ruler." --nobody
I learned recently that machinists used to use fractions to indicate tolerance, like a dimension given as 5/16 could be ±1/32 of an inch, because anything less than 9/32 would round to 4/16, and anything more than 11/32 to 6/16.
It can still happen, but usually at the customer's request/requirements. We actually use inches at a much smaller scale, but use decimals instead of fractions.
3⁄256
Please don't let the Amish at my work know that such small increments of size exist. They'll ask me to cut my trim to that level of tolerance
mouthparts
Josh & Chuck just got a tingle down their spines
Found out about these when I was a kid. I was thrilled. When I was very little, my mom owned a grooming shop, and I basically had 1 million pets. Then she closed down, and we just had our dog and a cat. Weird little 5 year old me loved the idea that I had thousands of little pets that's slept on my face and came out to play while I slept
That's the best possible reaction to this :)
I will admit that since I've started wearing glasses, my eyes often burn really badly (I don't know if they're related or just weird timing), and I sometimes wonder if my little friends are pissed about the change and getting into my eyes. Lol
You may be allergic to the metal (IIRC nickel) in normal metal glasses if that's what you have. For people with that, which is common, titanium is the only metal kind that will work.
They're from Zenni, but they have no bottom frame. I have no idea what metal they're made of. I'd really never considered that
Almost all contain nickel and nickel allergies are common. I have it!
I figure you'd also have a rash if it was a sensitivity strong enough to make your eyes burn, but the only other things I could think of I feel you'd already have figured out... Not blinking enough cause no wind on your eyes to help trigger blinking, eyelashes getting in your eye, or eye fatigue from the correction and not taking breaks to look at something far away..
I wonder if the lenses are off gassing? They're a type of plastic. But most likely I think I just have a face that the US would try to deliver democracy to if they found out about lmao
Maybe you're allergic to something in your glasses
That's interesting. I hadn't really considered that. It really only happens towards the end of the day, I just assumed it was a buildup of oils/skin cells/daily detritus that isn't getting either blown away by air, because the lenses are blocking it, or dried out for the same reason. They're Zenni frames and lenses
Do you wear a belt? Do you develop a rash on your underbelly where it touches the buckle?
Can you guess how I learned I was allergic to nickel?
Nope, no rashes that I've noticed. But I stopped wearing a belt last year. No good for my body shape. Lol. Swapped it for suspenders, so now I look like a simple country lawyer. Lmao
Little homies up in there cleaning things and living their best lives. I ain't mad at that.
Besides, all the yeast and bacteria maken good company for them, so it's all good.
Just make sure you wash your face still, otherwise they build up and cause problems
Looks just like me if I don't shave. :3
Don't shave /jk
it's too late midterms are here and now i'm a demodex
He looks like a cute lil garbage pail kid type of thing.
Ugly cute. I like the little guy.
Shit
I can’t stop laughing, I’m going to share this with so many people.
Time to scrub my face with a cheese grater
AaaaaAAaaaaaaaAaaAAaaaaaaaaAAAAaaaaaa
breathes in
AAAaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAaaaaaaaaaaAAaaaaaaa
lovin u is complicatED, lovin u is complicated 🎵
It's cute, like a version of the tardigrade.
Ballsack looking ass
Is it too late to drown myself in napalm?
How come there's never little ape like creatures?
Because the fanfic would lead us further away from our path to god.
I am a world god! Civilizations have risen and fallen on me!
I am the planet now
friend shaped