this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
421 points (97.1% liked)

Microblog Memes

5324 readers
2320 users here now

A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.

Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.

Rules:

  1. Please put at least one word relevant to the post in the post title.
  2. Be nice.
  3. No advertising, brand promotion or guerilla marketing.
  4. Posters are encouraged to link to the toot or tweet etc in the description of posts.

Related communities:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
all 44 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 96 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It makes sense.

Not only is it easier to look in someone balls than someone's brain, the fact that it can cross the blood brain barrier is pretty fucking crazy.

It's not like someone said "we gotta find out if this can get inside testicles stat!" It's that between cancer and fertility issues balls are looked at pretty frequently, and we found micro plastics there.

The reason we found it in the brain. Is someone asked if it was possible and that's a big enough deal to go out and look.

[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 43 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

It's much easier to get tissue from testicles than a brain sample. About 10,000 men develop testicular cancer annually in the US. Plenty of test can still be ran on those testicles if the patient consents. Getting a aample of brain tissue usually requires the donor to be dead, and there is a long list of scientists that would loke to stidy brain matter for one reason or another.

[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not to mention that gender affirming surgery increases the likelihood that doctors will have access to testicles for research.

I mean, not by a lot but it's a hell of a lot easier to survive donating your testicles to science than it is your brain.

[–] Shou@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

The amount of people who donated theor body to science is overwhelming. So much, that lots of bodies can't be used. Some niche ectomy doesn't increase the samples here.

Loke To Stidy is my new band name.

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 31 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I guess that's the burning I smell when I think too hard.

[–] stormesp@lemm.ee 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The balls or the brain ones?

[–] don@lemm.ee 18 points 2 weeks ago
[–] Rooskie91@discuss.online 22 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

To be fair, I'd bet that there are more men willing to ejaculate for science than people willing to have their brain analyzed for science.

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 29 points 2 weeks ago

In fact, forget the science

[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I’d ejaculate my brain for science

[–] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

Sapiosexuals rise up. Then ejaculate.

[–] Blackout@fedia.io 21 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

So we're going to start banning plastic right? Will the last human left please turn off the lights.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

fucking helllll, i pretend a lot that i don't care about the downfall of the human race because i'm trying to fake it till i make it into not caring

but between global warming, microplastics, rise in extremism, late stage capitalism, wars and genocides...

i'm really starting to believe we might be one of the last generations of modern humans left.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

We made plastic for your brain, youre welcome.

[–] thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz 19 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I grew up with teachers saying the brain is incredibly plastic so it makes sense

[–] And009@reddthat.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

My mom used to say my brain is monke

[–] wafflez@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Do microplastics actually look like those in the picture? I always thought they were so small we couldnt see them

[–] And009@reddthat.com 11 points 2 weeks ago

Probably a visualisation in terms of weight, not size. Imagine that much liquid ig.

Extremely concerning nonetheless. Lead asbestos level

[–] 1234567ATEUP@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

those came from the ocean

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Why do we find microplastics in humans but not other common substances (e.g. steel, wool, etc.)? I'm not too familiar with why this is happening

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

Any foreign objects made up of substance that are non-reactive can end up embedded in our bodies. Most obviously, there are medical devices that might permanently be left there: screws, prosthetics, artificial meshes and valves and membranes, etc. There are also some foreign objects that come from trauma, like shrapnel. Even tattoos are foreign pigments placed in a particular layer of skin that the body doesn't have a mechanism for clearing out.

But generally speaking, if our body doesn't have the enzymes to break down a substance into constituent compounds small enough to transport out, or if that foreign substance sits in a place where our body doesn't have a mechanism to actually get to, it stays in the body.

The reason why we're talking about microplastics, though, is that these compounds might actually be more reactive than previously assumed. If the plastics don't break down at all, then there's no chemical reaction byproducts to worry about. But if they break down very slowly, and the products of those reactions interfere with our biological processes in those tiny quantities, then we have a problem.

[–] PixeIOrange@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Because Steel and Wool degrade into their chemical components by chemical reactions (like oxidation or mold). Plastic wont, it gets smaller and smaller but it stays plastic. So Steel and Wool "skip" being really small, they become other chemicals nature can work with.

(this might be wrong, pls correct if so)

[–] NickwithaC@lemmy.world -4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Specifically steel and wool are manufactured to be what they are. The process probably involves a step to remove micro plastics.

[–] Wasp@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Your reply makes no sense to me.

[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

It's like that because of the way that it is.

[–] redisdead@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Steel is made by heating up iron and carbon at temperatures where all kinds of plastics would sublimate into gas.

[–] PixeIOrange@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I think he meant the other way, why we humans wont have steel or wool in us

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

(also everywhere else)

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

So those chunks of plastic were in a brain, eh? See that's what happens when you grind LEGO in a blender and then snort rails of it.

[–] NaoPb@eviltoast.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

I just put the small pieces up my nose. No need to grind. Those hand pieces from the little people are ideal. Pull them out the arm and right up the nose. Then a 1x1 block to push it all the way up there.

[–] 1234567ATEUP@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

no, in the ocean.

[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Real talk: the balls are kinda important because it's where the sperm is produced. If that is polluted, it may lead to birth defects or infertility.

Not to mention there's a huge number of humans that don't use the other organ we're discussing.

[–] don@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago

Even now, regular meghan is still thinking about plastic and balls. Nonstop. I’d think that’d be exhausting.

[–] jmsy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

There are macro plastics in my sack

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world -5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

"I can't stop thinking about.." is such a tired trope in posts. I never have believed it a single time.

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"...I never have believed it a single time" is such a tired tripe in comments. I can't stop thinking about it.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This is in some way clever. So much so I'll die obsessed with it