The single, simple answer is the one that you don’t want to hear: There is no clean split. Bats are a large and diverse group of flying mammals just like birds are a large and diverse group of flying dinosaurs.

The simplest answer I can come up with (because it’s actually a very complicated and convoluted topic that I wouldn’t truly do just anyway) is: Most birds can fly because they are an offshoot of one group of dinosaurs (avian dinosaurs) that survived the last great extinction when their non-flying non-avian dinosaur relatives did not. Basically the ones that couldn’t fly mostly went extinct. And mammals mostly don’t fly, which is possibly because several groups of vertebrates beat them to it and essentially filled all the niches that would have been available to flying animals, kind of blocking that path for them.

Obviously that’s nowhere near the full story. There are lots of other factors at play, like some of the peculiarities of mammalian and dinosaur physiology that made one group better suited to flight than the other, ramifications of the great extinction that killed non-avian dinosaurs as well as most large animals in general and whole swaths of other species, and so on.

I don’t think of it in that mind frame, to be honest.

To me it’s our bodies that have evolved a general reaction to foreign proteins / materials with an inflammatory response (which can feel itchy), though that’s obviously the watered down way of thinking about it that doesn’t really capture the full picture.

Often times I don’t even know there’s a mosquito on me unless I happen to see it. Some species are just super tiny and don’t seem to cause any pain when they feed. Others are so large that they “itch” (i.e. you can feel their presence) just from them landing on you, whether they have time to bite or not. Either way, it’s not the pain or itchiness that motivate me to keep their populations under control, it’s primarily concerns over the spread of disease.

For most species of mosquito, humans aren’t really their primary target nor are humans the main source of food for them. And, it’s only been in very recent history that humanity has had any ability to control mosquito populations on a large scale, not even a blip on the evolutionary scale. So give it time, maybe those of us who don’t get itchy from mosquito bites are the fittest amongst us from an evolutionary standpoint and eventually those genes that lead to itchy reactions will go extinct. But I don’t think that there’s any significant evolutionary pressure on mosquitos as a result of how itchy or not itchy their bites are.

I’ve never heard of that one specifically and could find no sources mentioning it online. So, I’m being up front when I say I do not know the specific answer.

Having said that, sometimes if we’re building out scenarios in our minds based on an inaccurate or flawed premise, that can also lead to flawed outcome in our logic. For instance, is it actually truly possible to get a 430 on any family member that you want … like just because? And if so, is it possible there are other extenuating circumstances that you might not be considering (ex: Trump is not a family member, none of your family members are president of the United States, etc) which could explain why things might lead to a different outcome between your family member(s) and Trump?

Having said that and given the additional context you provided (i.e. Mental Examination), I’m wondering if it’s a situation where the individual needs to be more of an immediate threat to the health / life of themselves or others before it’s applicable? Even if you did try to make that case (because I know at least some people would), it’s likely not a case where any random person can just make an accusation / report against a well-known public figure to whom they have no clear social ties and expect it to be taken seriously.

Also, this wouldn’t apply to the president of the USA, but even people who legitimately do need some kind of immediate institutionalization often can’t get it when they need it. It would be an understatement to say that the mental health facilities in this country are overwhelmed and underfunded.

I’m not an entemolo intenolo bug scientician and I know nothing of the specifics of this species, so I can’t weigh in there.

However, sometimes these new species have literally been right in front of our faces the whole time, it’s just that they’re barely distinguishable from other very similar and more common relatives.

This is, of course, a vast oversimplification of things, but I remember reading an article about a new beetle being discovered in some random suburb. Essentially the reason the new species was discovered is because someone was counting the number of hairs on the larval beetles’ butts and noticed the discrepancy between two different populations and then realized that they were dealing with two different species, one of which had not been previously described.

I’m not ADHD, but that particular passage using that particular font and those particular colors seemed to speed up my ability to read the text. But when Staments posted below (https://lemmy.zip/post/45655234/20636698) using what looks like the same methodology, it ended up being an impediment. I struggled to even get through the first sentence.

So I have to wonder if there’s more to it than just randomly putting a character or few in bold at the start of each word – like maybe it’s also highly dependent on things like the font being use and making sure to use specific words and phrases that are conducive to this technique.

Give me Anomolocaris or trilobites any day.

That’s no way for a lady to talk.

Since this is Science Memes, I’m feeling emboldened to geek out a bit.

In my part of North America, there are a lot of pollinators besides bees “sexing up” the apple trees. I’m guessing it’s that way in many other parts of the world, too.

On the coolest days, you might not see any bees at all, but the flower flies (aka hover flies) will still go for it. On the warmest days, bees may even be in the minority of pollinators. I see all kinds of different fly species, a multitude of different wasps, many types of beetles, and sometimes even moths and butterflies – weather depending. Plus, even that time of year, there are often other bee species which are active besides just the invasive non-native honey bees.

Regimbartia attenuata. Common name “Bronze Beetle” because it pretty much always takes turd place.

Not to get too serious, given the topic and the community I’m in, but…

There’s a saying along the lines of “You can’t reason someone out of a position they did not reason themselves into.” And the overwhelming majority of the time, it’s completely true.

Ridiculous as it sounds, there are large numbers of people out there who believe that being gay is a choice. These people legitimately feel like any recognition and representation of homosexuality risks turning people gay.

You can spend all the time you want asking them when they chose to be straight and logically explaining things to them, it almost certainly will not matter.

I see this from two different perspectives:

1. There are some ingredients I just don’t like the taste of. But, in some recipes and if prepared properly, I’m fine with them. Green beans are an example. I don’t like them. But creamy green bean casseroles are fine and vegetable soup with green beans is totally acceptable.

2. Then there are things like desserts that I’m picky about because if I’m going to screw up my metabolism and caloric intake for the day, it better damn well be worth it. I’m not going to waste my time on a substandard sugar and/or fat filled treat. I’m going to skip on that dry cake, jello salad, faux ice cream, fake chocolate sludge, etc.

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought it was more of a generalized mammal meat allergy rather than just read meat.

I live in a tick-heavy region of the USA where allergy is now fairly common. As in, introverted homebody me with a small social circle, but I know at least 5 people who have contracted it. 20+ years ago, the first time I heard about it, there was a degree of skepticism in the general population, but it’s at the point now where almost everybody knows someone who is affected by it.

If there’s any good news to be had, some people have discovered that it lessens in severity or even goes away after some time (usually takes many years).

Almost literally, the moment Trump was sworn in as president, the same exact folks who spent the prior 8 months of their lives blaming Biden for the high cost of eggs suddenly had an epiphany that the president does not directly control the price of eggs. And then when the president DID specifically and directly affect the price of groceries as a result of tariffs, those same people suddenly insist that grocery prices are based on complex and rapidly changing global socioeconomic phenomenon that cannot be predicted nor controlled and besides this is still Biden’s economy because it was so broken that Trump hasn’t been able to fix it yet (even though he promised to have it all sorted out in a timeline of days).

They live in a separate reality, void of fact and logic, and I honestly have not figured out a way to reason with that. As wiser folks have said much more eloquently than I could, you cannot reason people out of something they did not reason themselves into.

How do you know if someone owns a Steam Deck? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

So anyway, a couple years ago I bought a Steam Deck. And since I bought it, virtually all of my gaming is on the Deck. Prior to that, virtually all of my game time was on a Windows PC. So, for me personally, there’s been a big shift towards Linux for gaming.

The other big change that’s coming for a lot of people I know: end of Windows 10 support. Honestly, the majority of people I know who still have a traditional Windows PC are using machines that can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. These computers are perfectly functional and do everything the users need them to do, and they have no inclination to go out and buy a new computer just because. Especially in this economy. Additionally, there are quite a few people with computers that are capable of running Windows 11, but they have no desire to upgrade to a worse experience and an experience that is randomly different in a myriad different ways for no good reason. Both groups are ripe for the picking in terms of a switch to Linux. No, the year of the Linux desktop is not here, but the conditions for such a change are building. And this Steam data may present a picture of the larger trend. Who knows?

Same here, I’m in the Southeastern USA. Monarchs are one of those species I pay attention to, and this spring we had a bumper crop around here. I’ve never seen so many of the caterpillars and adults in the past 10 years or so I’ve made an effort to look.

Granted, that’s also true for the handful of other butterfly and moth species I keep tabs on, they’re all having a really good year this year it seems. Luna moths, several different swallowtail species, Gulf fritillary, regal moths, hummingbird butterflies. About the only thing that I’ve seen less of this year are the giant hummingbird hawk moths.

But these things do tend to ebb and flow. One year certain “bugs” are everywhere, the next year they’re hardly seen. And with the monarch lifecycle being what it is, one good year like this one, even if it’s good in more than one region, isn’t a guarantee of long term success.

Unfortunately, I’m certain I’ll end up watching this due to circumstances beyond my control. But in my defense, watching it will ultimately spare me from having to watch Another Sandler Movie Part Two, so overall it’s a price I’m willing to pay. The things I do to keep the peace.

Really depends on the situation.

If I’m just feeding myself, I have no issue with going outside and foraging for food. I don’t hunt, but I’m not the type that needs an animal based protein main entree in my meals, so it works/worked for me to collect wild vegetables, fruits, and fungi.

And from there, I eat whatever is cheapest. Grocery store mark-downs and deep-discount sales would guide my decisions. If an acquaintance was giving away food, I’d take it. When the food bank is doing a giveaway and it was close enough for me to visit, I’d go there and take what they had to offer.

At my poorest, when I had no access to a kitchen, peanut butter sandwiches were a mainstay. Tuna sandwiches were next best, but more expensive. At the time, powdered milk was a bit of a luxury, but it definitely helped wash down the peanut butter and was way cheaper by volume than fresh milk.

A lot of stores and restaurants, at least where I live, will have condiment packages out in the open. Don’t go hog wild, but my experience is nobody cares/notices if you grab a few packs of whatever items are out: ketchup, mustard, mayo, honey, hot sauce, soy sauce, salt, and pepper – in moderation – so those can be free to you to use for meal prep.

When I’ve just been broke and/or saving money, my main protein was usually chicken. I’d just buy whatever was cheapest on sale, and try to stock up a bit or get rain checks. Then I could cook that in a crock pot and literally have meals for days. Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, turkey usually goes on deep discount and there are almost always a myriad of programs that just give them away. If you have room in your freezer and a crock pot, then you can be set just from that.

Add in some rice and/or beans/legumes to soak up the flavor when cooking meats.

Eggs were also always a solid choice, pretty versatile because they could be hard boiled, scrambled, fried, mixed into other things like noodles, or used to cook/bake other dishes.

Potatoes were another cheap source of carbohydrates, something that goes on sale often enough that I could usually find a deal, and if properly stored (cool, dark, dry) they can last a long time. Plus, they can go into the slow cooker with some chicken thighs and both ingredients benefit flavor-wise.

So, meals would be whatever combination of those things you can physically obtain. Your meal items don’t have to have a name. If you have potatoes and mix those with scrambled eggs and mix in some wild dandelions, that’s still a meal even if that’s not going to show up in a recipe book. If you boil some noodles and add in some mayo and a pinch of rosemary from a bush you saw down the road, that’s still a meal. Basically, just get creative with what you’ve got.

In the end, it doesn’t even matter.

Must’ve had some damned good insurance if it only cost him $10,000.

Really, I just want to figure out a way to make a stable, livable income without having to become a corporate wage slave again. The corporate wage slave part is negotiable.