Tetiel

Do you cook alot?
Yep. This morning I made dutch babies with lemon zest, cardamom and nutmeg. I really enjoy cooking because it's a major stress outlet for me.

How often do you go out?
Only about once or twice a week?

Whats your favorite food? Whats your favorite food to cook?
Genuinely impossible to say for both because I cook and eat so many weird things.

I try to use unique ingredients to create a twist on recipes - I make a shepherd's pie with rosemary garlic mashed potatoes, ground lamb and beef cooked with Irish Death (dark strong ale from Washington) and Cougar Gold cheese on top (made from WSU and tastes like a Dubliner). I made a savoury bread pudding from sourdough, kale, bacon, caramelized onion, potato, gorgonzola, and syrah. I did another bread pudding with rhubarb and ginger recently. I do a stir fry with a base of ginger, chili paste, and garlic with king oyster, enokitake, cloud ear, and shiitake mushrooms with baby bok choy and brined mustard greens added at the last minute. Oh, and I really, really enjoy making Indian food. I tend to do a palak aloo, aloo gobi, and I serve it on mujadara (mixing lebanese and indian but I don't care).

Almost everything I make takes a huge amount of effort. It's only fun to make food if someone else is there to eat it with me. I need validation lol

What's your favourite cool science fact?

That despite what many people still believe, your genetic code does not determine your fate. There are so many factors involved that make you the person that you are. Many of them, like your genetics, may have been inherited by the circumstances that your grandmother or great grandmother endured but are not actually apparent in your base DNA code. The stressful life that your grandparents had during economic hardship may increase your baseline of cortisol, the stress hormone, causing anything from increased susceptibility to mental disorders to metabolic syndromes.

Health disparities are a real thing. In Baltimore, one neighborhood only a mile away from the other may have as much as a decade lower in life expectancy because of poverty. About 20% live under the poverty line, 64% of those who are African American. Nationally, African Americans experience health disparities disproportionally. As a result, according to Johns Hopkins which extensively studies the phenomenon, African American babies are 9x more likely to die within the first year of age than white babies, they also have the highest rate of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

What I have learned from my studies is that it isn't enough that you end poverty and discrimination now - you inherit the problems from previous generations. What has happened to those who are minorities and impoverished will likely affect them generations on due to the resetting of what the germ cells believe to be normal methylation of DNA (the basis of epigenetics, the regulation of what is actually read from the DNA). My lab is working on figuring out how many generations it takes of outcrossing with normal populations to get rid of disease phenotypes. It's not looking good and it's something we need to really consider when we're treating an entire population of people like shit.

I didn't think I'd quit school. I didn't think I'd be living in Canada. I didn't think I'd get married at 20. I didn't think that anyone would ever beat me to the point that I was limping the next day. I didn't think I'd be separated at 23. I didn't think I'd move back in with my parents. I didn't think I'd go back to college. I didn't think I'd want to be a doctor. I didn't think I'd have a miscarriage. I didn't think the person that got me pregnant would break up with me once I told him. I didn't think it was possible to lose 20lbs in one month from being so much in grief that I couldn't eat. I didn't think I would ever stop wishing I was dead. I didn't think I'd ever stop grieving. I didn't think that I'd ever meet someone that truly loved me and treated me well. I didn't think that anyone would ever believe in me so much that it made me believe in myself. I didn't think that I would ever like chemistry. I didn't think that I would choose research like my mother. I didn't think that I'd enter a science PhD program. I didn't think that I would study systems biology. I didn't think that I'd be researching the epigenetic effects behind DDT and other environmental toxicant exposure. I didn't think that I'd be a part of a team that is revolutionizing the way we think about genetic determinism...

...after the what I've gone through and the way I have been... no, ALLOWED myself to be treated by many people, I never believed that I would be happy. But I am. And I know I deserve to be. For a long time, I didn't think that I would, but I know I'm going to be okay.

Dear Steve King,

Peanut Butter. That is all.

XOXO

If you try to sell something with a disclaimer along the lines of "Individual results can and will vary. These descriptions are not intended to make claims that these products can be used to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease. These claims have not been clinically proven or evaluated by the FDA or any regulatory or governmental agency" I have to seriously resist the urge to verbally smack you around because you're a snake oil salesman preying or being preyed upon by a company that can make claims that are completely unregulated, unstudied, and completely based off of false anecdotes.

That and I will gladly munch on GMOs.

I blind people with science.

I have a friend who is autistic and through her, I've gained a huge perspective about what it's like. Ableist organizations like Autism Speaks are absolutely horrible because unlike their name implies, they don't listen to people who are autistic. Their mission is to cure what they consider a disease but many autistics advocate that they are instead a part of neurodiversity and they happen to not be neurotypical. Autism speaks not only supports finding a cure, but also a way to prevent autistic births from happening, a mission that some in the autism community believe is like promoting genocide. Very often, the focus is on the parents and how "hard" it is to be a parent of an autistic child, often speaking like said child isn't in the room. Just because someone is non-verbal or can't easily express their thoughts, doesn't mean they can't listen and understand.

It's actually -really- sad how autistic people are treated in today's society. The anti-vaccine movement calls them damaged children. Many medical outlets call them diseased. Yet, does anyone ask an autistic if they want to be "cured?" I was thinking of going into neuroscience for a while to focus on early childhood disabilities like autism to try to find a treatment to help calm down overstimulated nerves, but then I actually asked someone who was autistic and they said they wouldn't take it if they had a choice. They said that when the world was quiet, they could see the most beautiful patterns and connections, things they know allistics can't see. They wouldn't want to ever numb that aspect of them and lose what makes them who they are.

I get that. I really do. It's too bad more people don't take the time and actually have a conversation with someone that's autistic before making vast judgments. Oh, and before there are comments about the non-verbal thing, many autistics communicate beautifully by typing instead of speaking and that's primarily how I've gotten to know some of them as adults. Otherwise, I primarily worked in autism and lifeskills classrooms as a substitute paraeducator.

Your sister is anecdotal, but she clearly wasn't eating right. Hypoglycemia is a medical condition she should have been seeing a dietician for. People do have different basal metabolic rates, which just means every person has to adjust according to their own needs. It's something people should be aware of, and something they very much can work around.
Not always, but it's not exactly common for weight not to be in someone's control. The average person does not have gastroporesis. It's a rare disease.

Yes, there are anecdotes, but I'm really not understanding why you're dismissing different metabolic rates. Also you -did- ask someone to list medical conditions and those were just a few. My sister ran cross country and track. While she COULD have eaten all day throughout her classes, I don't think it was exactly feasible for her. She was also dealing with severe tonsil issues at the time which could have easily contributed.

I've known many thin people in my life that eat a normal volume. I've seen the same of obese people. There is nothing wrong with that. But I also never said it was a privilege, either. Just stating that there are genuine medical conditions as to why someone may be lean or obese. My lab I'm working on my PhD is working on a transgenerational epigenetic link between DDT exposure in utero and increase in obesity. We've found consistent results in the F2 and F3 generations. My point is that someone's body is someone's body. You can't just look at someone and judge their health based on size because there are true genetic, transgenerational epigenetic, and other environmental factors involved that increase the susceptibility of disease.

So no, some people cannot help the way that their bodies are and getting back on topic, that very viewpoint that you have is kinda privileged in itself.

Reference:
http://bmcmedicine.b...741-7015-11-228

*coughgeneralchatcough*

Disorders include hyperthyroidism, inflamed tonsils, appendix problems, dysmenorrhea, ovarian cysts, cancer, intestinal parasites, stress in certain individuals, viral infections, bacterial infections, intestinal disorders like Crohns which cause malabsorbtion of nutrients, celiac disease, gastroparesis, and the disorder that I have called Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. Considering 90% of serotonin is utilized in the digestive tract to cause peristalsis, mood disorders can cause problems with digestion such as IBS which is why it has such a high comorbidity with depression and anxiety.

Thin runs in my family but didn't necessarily reach me. My father's side had all boys that were incredibly athletic and rail thin. My sister was the same way. When she was 16 she had tonsil problems on top of it until she got the removed and once was 5'10" and 118 pounds. She was always teased and accused of being anorexic despite what I knew where she ate like a ravenous dog whenever she came home from track or cross country. She was hypoglycemic and genuinely couldn't get enough calories in her sometimes to support her basal metabolic rate.

Hopefully those genuine medical conditions and my own anecdote help understand that yes, some people are genuinely that thin and really, really wish they weren't.

Cara, as someone who has lived in both Canada and America... particularly even knowing supposed "rough areas" of Toronto like Jane and Finch and living in the Rexdale area of Etobicoke, as much as I wish it were, Canada is not America. America makes me want to puke sometimes in comparison. Canada made me wake up from the small town white girl upper middle class listening to conservative radio to and from school every day persperective. Canada takes care of its people - white, black, brown, whatever color. The government has made incredible apologies for how it has acted in the past. It has and will continue to make leaps and bounds, being progressively decades ahead of other nations on its hemisphere on a wide variety of issues - medical rights, marriage equality, health disparities, gender equality.

As much as I genuinely hate saying this, your anecdotal experience in Canada does not really apply to what is going on right now in America. I wish it were valid. I really wish it were, but we're not there yet. Consider this - America's slaves fled north to Canada specifically because Canada didn't allow slavery. That was the very point of the underground railroad. Canada has always treated those of African descent better than America has.

You're absolutely right, thank you for clarification. You'll never catch me saying "fuck the police", mostly out of respect for my grandfather. However, I will proudly say Black Lives Matter to anyone that asks.

I think it's been said best by Trevor Noah - "In America, if you take a stand for something it's like you're automatically against something else... But with police shootings, it shouldn't have to work that way. For instance, if you’re pro Black Lives Matter you're assumed to be anti-police, and if you're pro-police, then you surely hate black people. When in reality, you can be pro-cop and pro-black."

So, the BLM movement is honestly causing cops that had no previous racial biases to become biased/frightened, and cops that already have the bias to have their bias confirmed and strengthened. So, in that sense, BLM is just causing more racism. So, the few violent BLM people to me are like the few violent cops. Screwing their cause and making the other side more frightened for their lives than they should be.

Maybe I can explain this better since there appears to be massive levels of misunderstanding.

Careful with that statement. The problem isn't the occasional violent protests or a few bad apple cops. That's a distraction. What do you honestly expect people to do when an unprecedented amount of people have been gunned down this year despite crime going down as a trend for decades? Say someone shot someone else. That person dies. The person who shot them gets paid vacation as a punishment and is never prosecuted. People are going to get angry. In some cases, violently angry especially when this just keeps happening and it doesn't seem like peace gets anything done. A kid with a toy gun, a kid with a bag of skittles, unarmed men, men who are lawfully armed but without brandishing their weapons, and I could go on for a long time. Yet you are becoming dangerously close to victim blaming here. Deep seeded racism caused many of these killings. Fear of people just because of their skin color with assumptions of violence occurred way before BLM did. When this has been going on for decades, hell, CENTURIES, you can't blame someone's racism on the people that racism systematically oppresses when they're rising up because enough is enough. That's the easy, guilt-free way out that only benefits one side and does nothing to fix the problem. Is violence helping? No. But the BLM movement as a whole is not causing racism. They're victims of racism rising up against racism.

Assuming all black people to be violent is racist. Judging the same of all cops is wrong as well. Don't blame victim for someone else's prejudice, . :\

I really hate when people say something like "Obama is the worst president in US history" -- that may or may not be true, but the only reason they ever give is "He's a piece of shit that is ruining this country!", or they include that he's black, and try to make it seem like that is an indicator of his leadership skills and what not. I never ever hear any actual constructive, and non-bigoted criticism of him as a president. I just don't get how people can be so fucking dense/racist...

And often it comes from the same people that are all MERICA and RESPECT AUTHORITAH... except Obama's.

I wanted it to be directed at facts on costs and laws, such as in the last 6 months the EU parliament have spent E4.1m on deciding if oven gloves are not thick enough.  For me details like this should have been reported on.

Not a Briton, but I'm getting my PhD in biomedical researcher for preventative medicine - had you considered the cost burden of thermal burns throughout the EU from substandard oven gloves? How about lost production from missed work days? Worse yet, should someone whose profession is cooking, a loss of a job due to disability should the burns be bad enough. Grant money is NOT easy to come by and someone had to write a very long request for that funding. I'm willing to bet it wasn't frivolous. It's quite possible that this had become a public health issue and a burden on the health care system.