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Conservation

Scientists confirm two new species of pika in the Himalayas after 20 years of research

Using data collected from 2003, 2023, and 2024, researchers Pan Xuan and Wang Xuming were able to delineate previously unidentified species as Ochotona galunglaensis and O. legbona.

“Our findings highlight the previously underestimated diversity within Conothoa and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of pika diversity in the Himalayan region,” Xuan and Xuming observed in their study, which was published in Ecology and Evolution.

Pint-sized pikas, which resemble hamsters in appearance, are not rodents but lagomorphs, meaning that they are closely related to rabbits and hares.

Good news, but hardly a surprise. Pikas are currently alpine species. That means they are easily isolated and thus prone to speciation. Think of mountaintops as islands, in the sense that creatures dwelling there find it difficult or impossible to move from one to another.

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I potted up 4 asparagus berries from the Charleston Food Forest.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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Poem: "To Allow in More Light"

This poem came out of the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by

janetmiles. It also fills the "As If By Magic" square in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Monster House. It falls between "Secondhand Sight" and "Paper, Scissors, Stone" so reading in that order will make more sense.

( Read more... )

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recurring posts

Hard Things

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

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Sufficiency and Wellbeing Magazine

This is an online magazine that is anti-capitalist and degrowth. It's something you can read when you get disgusted with enshittification and planned obsolescence and all that crap.

Welcome!

This is the Dreamwidth account of Machina - a very-human alterhuman plural system of three people, plus visitors - and it's a hub to keep and link to our personal identity essays and journaling.

We all prefer to be called by our first names if being spoken about individually, but if you need to refer to all of us together, Machina's the way to go - it's one of our (several, disparate) last names, and it's the funniest one to call us by.

We're all adults, so consider this a blanket warning that our writings will likely contain strong language, which we often use amongst ourselves, and the occasional frank discussion of bodies, sexuality, and kink as it relates to our lives. Writing that explicitly discusses sexuality or kink is labeled as (18+) in the title.

All sensitive content (e.g. violence, abuse, existential dread) that we're aware of is warned for in a Content Warning paragraph before the body of the post, but feel free to contact us if you noticed that we let something slip!

System Members

Max (he/they) - Hey! I'm a wereraptor, AKA a human guy who's also a Velociraptor and sometimes the raptor will be a very annoying bird in my general direction. Check out my therianthropy blog if you want to hear more about that!

Jude (they/them) - Hi! I'm a human android who's also like a very nervous dog who needs so much stimulation. I do bite, but mostly it's for fun.

Gavin (he/him) - I'm the token Normal Human Guy, No Added Flavors, but I have a lot to say about it so I'm sticking around. That, and these bastards would miss me.

You can find most of our personal essays crossposted to our system Tumblr blog or our personal website.

Thanks to Dreamwidth's privacy features, this account will contain more personal writing that isn't posted to other websites - made available to view via requesting access, which we grant at our discretion.

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I potted up 12 sweet cherry seeds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I watered some plants on the old and new picnic tables that were wilting, then did the telephone pole garden and a few of the savanna seedlings. I'm annoyed that some plants are wilting so soon after copious watering, because I can't haul that hose around every day, or even every few days. >_<

I've seen a skunk on the patio.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

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Recommendations

I came across this post on Dreamwidth discussing a rant from John Scalzi. I'd like to say a few things about reading and writing. To establish my credentials for the below remarks:

* I have a degree in Rhetoric, that is, writing.

* I'm a professional writer across multiple fields and types of writing.

* I'm a professional editor.

* I have read many tens of thousands of books over the decades. I have inhaled whole libraries. Our house is lined with books; we counted once, it was well over 10,000 then and that was many years ago.

* I am an activist.

( Read more... )

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Basic Income

In a new pilot program, this city will give homeless young adults $1,200 in cash every month for two years

According to the Stanford Basic Income Lab, universal basic income is a periodic cash payment that is given to individuals unconditionally, requiring no work requirement or sanctions to access.

And as various nonprofits and cities across the country experiment with basic income programs, most have found that the money received is largely used to pay for the basic essentials many Americans struggle to afford.

A new pilot program in Boston, Massachusetts wants to find out if the same trend applies for a specific demographic: young adults facing homelessness.

( Read more... )

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blogging,
personal

Monday Update 8-11-25

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Spider Apocalypse
Activism
Fossils
Birdfeeding
Safety
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Thinking
Safety
Moment of Silence: Jim Lovell
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 8-8-25: Icons
Today's Adventures
Inventions
Fossils
Birdfeeding
Bigotry
Birdfeeding
Good News

Food has 34 comments. "Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 48 comments. "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" has 75 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 148 comments.

summerofthe69 is open! You can see the calendar here and the current themes are Alternate Sexy Parts 69 and Kinky 69.

There are no open epics at present.

The weather has been sweltering agan. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mourning dove, a house wren, a male cardinal, and a fox squirrel. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, gladioli, firewheel, orange butterfly weed. Tomatillo and pepper have green fruit. Wild strawberries, mulberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers are ripe. The second crop of blackberries and the ball carrots are ripe.

Current Mood: busy

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Magpie Monday

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Change." Leave prompts, get ficlets!

Change is an immutable element of the universe.

Today, let’s make change our goal. Call it the theme. Big or small, quiet and subtle or dramatic and incontrovertible, what change do you want to see? In the world? In a story with an unsatisfying moment (or worse, ending)?

Current Mood: busy

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Birdfeeding

Today is mostly sunny, humid, and hot. The sky is blue with fluffy white clouds.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/11/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/11/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/11/25 -- We reeled up the garden hose. Yay. Yay.

I am done for the night.

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othercon

Othercon 2025

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: amused

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humor

Humor

This made me laugh.

The True Self

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Spider Apocalypse

This article mentions seeing no grass spiders in a place that typically has them.

Then I realized that I haven't seen any this year either. Usually we have one every couple of feet here, so many it's hard not to step on the webs. They're barely visible most of the time, unless covered in dust or rain or dew. I may simply not have noticed them. But with the ongoing insect apocalypse, it is concerning. I have have seen other spiders spinning webs, though.

What are your spider populations like?

Current Mood: busy

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Activism

How To Make Your City Stronger With 4 Hours and a Shovel

Last month, members of Livable Lynchburg, a Strong Towns Local Conversation group, joined a walk audit alongside city staff, regional planners, and transit officials. At the corner of 12th and Polk, they noticed two stretches of sidewalk that were so overgrown they were nearly impassable.

( Read more... )

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Fossils

Stunning “wonder reptile” discovery rewrites the origins of feathers

An international team of researchers has published a breakthrough study in the journal Nature showing that early reptiles from the Triassic period had unique structures growing from its skin that formed an alternative to feathers.

The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like skull, tree-climbing adaptations, and pigment structures linked to feathers deepen the mystery of reptile evolution.

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

Birdfeeding

Today is partly sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I put out water for the birds. They had drained the small metal birdbath.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, house yard, and patio plants.

EDIT 8/10/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens. I didn't have energy or daylight to pick up the hose, though; I had to turn it off and just leave it out. :/ I'll try to reel it up tomorrow. It's exhausting to maneuver.

I am done for the night.

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author: jude

I'm human I'm human I'm HUMAN I'M HUMAN

Written by Jude Rook-Machina on August 8th, 2024.

A vent piece.

Transcript:

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

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Safety

I stumbled across this today, while researching hormone use on livestock:

Causing trauma to the reproductive tract can induce bleeding, and since blood is toxic to sperm, this may result in reduced conception rates, permanently infertile animals, or animal death.

It makes me wonder if that's a cause undermining conception from rape, which often features internal injuries from microabrasions up to serious tears. If so, an interesting example of self-sabotage.

And then, what about the handful of species where rough sex is normal or even required? A tomcat's barbed penis, for example. Is their sperm different somehow? Or is there some other protective mechanism in play?