szescstopni @szescstopni@qoto.org

“About four-in-ten U.S. adults believe humanity is ‘living in the end times’”

- Why fix the climate when we won’t live long enough to regret it?

I just can’t. Why the hell is what these people believe my problem???

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/12/08/about-four-in-ten-u-s-adults-believe-humanity-is-living-in-the-end-times/

A reporter just sent me a link to this: https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LmD-lumen-orbit-data-centers-in-space

He wants to interview me about some fucking start-up company's planned 16 km^2 solar panels and fucking *AI data centers in orbit*

I think maybe I'll just walk into the middle of my hayfield and scream for a while instead. @Jason want to join? (Others are welcome too). Screaming begins in 5... 4... 3...

Tomorrow I will begin my participation in a medical study for the coming 19 days, testing a compound meant to treat multiple sklerosis. The specific compound name is RO7268489, which has been tested on 67 people in four previous studies as of yet. Both the FDA and the EMA have not approved this compound for a treatment.

Multiple sklerosis (MS) is caused when a protective coating on nerve cells (called myelin) is damaged in the central nervous system. A majority of approved drugs for the treatment of MS only influence the immune system in a way that relapse rates are reduced. The compound I am testing targets mechanisms in the brain responsible for worsening the disability, hence improving neurological functions.

My study is the fifth of this kind, ever, and is conducted in Groningen (Netherlands) by the ICON plc, a private healthcare intelligence and clinical research organization trading at the Nasdaq. The specific code for the study I'm participating in is PRA-RPUBIU40-0H13WG.

This compound is well tolerated in doses below 2mg, and due to unwanted side effects¹, the medical company sponsoring this study has decided to only continue testing below that dosis. Before this, it was tested until 6mg.

This part of the study is a “Multiple Ascending Dose” study, meaning it's supposed to evaluate safety and tolerability of the compound on the human body, as well as how quickly it gets digested, or how the human body generally responds to it (pharmacokinetics). Three groups of the compound are tested, each divided in two subgroups, one of which truly takes the compound, the other gets the placebo.

Group 1 gets 0.2mg of the compound
Group 2 gets 0.6mg of the compound
Group 3 gets 1.0mg of the compound

I am part of group 2 (b), which has 6 subjects taking the real drug, and two taking a placebo, meaning there's a 25% chance I'm simply drinking a glass of water for three weeks.

The research facility aims to also see the effects of the compound in the body (pharmacodynamics).

In order to do so, they will take cerebrospinal fluid samples through a lumbar puncture three times throughout the study.

If anything happens to me in the coming four years as a result of the effects of this compound or study, I have an insurance of 650,000 € (same amount is paid out to my family in the case of me dying).

Whatever I'll experience throughout the coming weeks is what multiple sklerosis patients will have to listen to as disclaimers whenever they'll take this medicine once it's approved.

I'll document everything I experience, both side effects and my overall thoughts, in this thread. That is for both my own sake, and maybe to document a piece of medical history, if it ever comes that far. Additionally, this may not be something you hear of a lot, hence I wanted to put it out there.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them!

_{¹ Side effects include: anxiety attacks & increased heart rate, hyperventilation, motor unsteadiness, severe paranoia, trouble speaking, trouble completing sentences, trouble verbalizing thoughts and a feeling of loss of control (which lasted 3-5 days until full recovery), increased suicidal tendencies}

The menstrual product ad trope of a jubilant woman going rock climbing or bungee jumping or doing athletic feats is associated with the 1980s, but it's in fact way older than that. This menstrual product ad from the late 19th century shows a very jubilant woman going cycling.

Another postwar German poster that I want to use with students, and I’d like some help from German speakers with the translation. What I have is:

Might my little basket be on your mind?
It has my beloved Silesia inside!
Inseparable it always remains with me,
As waste and wild it would find itself with you.

I’m really unsure of that last line, though: “säh’s aus bei Dir” is giving me trouble, as AFAICT it literally means “it sees out with you.”

I wondered what this was last week when they were paintng it, and now I know - it's a tribute to ace Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann.
Definitely one for the ⛏️⚒️
#science #geology

My former employer, @OCCRP , just went live with their new website, and it is pretty slick!
https://www.occrp.org/en

This is bitter-sweet for me.

On one hand, so glad to see them have a new site, finally! The old site was a mess.

On the other: I had designed and built the infra that hosted their site through Panama Papers (arguably OCCRP's big break). Infra that did not rely on external CDNs or "DDoS-protection" providers.

That infra is no longer in use as of today. Replaced by Google. 🥲

Tak sobie myślę, że z tymi kotami to była naprawdę jakaś siła wyższa.

- Zobaczyłam je przez okno z 10 piętra. A ja nawet nie stoję często przy oknie, a szczególnie nie rano.
- Chociaż zawsze wszystko rozkminiam jak pojebion, wtedy coś mnie pociągnęło tam bez myślenia. Ubrałam się i poszłam.
- Udalo się złapać wszystkie 3. Konkubent cudem usłyszał Bobcia na wieczornym spacerze.
- Udało się dobry znaleźć dom dla dziewczyn bez rozdzielania ich.

Strasznie dużo tych zbiegów okoliczności. 🥹

Nigel Farage doesn't like them being called "The Farage Riots."

What a pity.

#FarageRiots

As a Blind person i never thought i would be on social media savoring photos. But the communal Mastodon alt text game is so strong that sweet, poetic or silly descriptions abound on my timeline. Thanks to legions of people who take time to write a meaningful description of the ephemera they post, i learn so much about insects, plants, buildings, memes — all dispatches from a dimension of the world that i otherwise wouldn't experience. If you're wondering whether anybody reads these things: YES.

The Imam in Liverpool who opened doors to protesters reports on how it went. Spoiler: Happy Ending

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-MC-i_oWiZ/?igsh=MWlqZnhvbXczNHo3Mw==