from Zagorath@aussie.zone to science_memes@mander.xyz on 06 Oct 11:48
https://aussie.zone/post/25429351
A series of Tweets, each a reply to the previous.
1. ABC News @ABC: Scientists have discovered a giant new species of stick insect in Australia, which is over 15 inches long and researchers say may be the heaviest insect in the country. [With a picture of a brown stick insect among some green leaves.]
2. mary @theoceanblooms: can I ask a question: how does something like this go undiscovered until now
3. soul nate @MNateShyamalan: Entomologist here đââď¸đ¤đ Great question! It may seem surprising that the scientific community could miss an entire bug species after all this time, especially when itâs THIS big. The answer might surprise you more đ Letâs dive in đ𧾠(1/?)
4. soul nate @MNateShyamalan: he look like stick (2/2)
Text Transcription
threaded - newest
How could an animal that has perfected <evading detection> evade our detection?
Truly the noodlest of noodle scratchers.
But humans love to pick up sticks. How has nobody picked this guy up by accident?
They probably have.
But if you came across a random bug, especially a big one like that, wouldnât you assume other people already knew about it? I would.
I mean sure you might take a pic and send it to a few people, but they would probably also assume itâs known.
: gathering kindling:
: grab a good looking stick:
: it suddenly thrashes about and bites you:
: drop it whilst shitting pants:
: tell no one:
I wish there was some kind of âUnitendified species discovered! +5 achievement pointsâ thing in real life. As it is, unless the correct people pick it up, odds are nobody would know or care if itâs a known species.
Do you take the time to carefully identify and classify every bug you come across? I donât have the skills for it, nor frankly the enthusiasm to spend time acquiring and applying them, and Iâm confident that applies to most people.
âwhat is collective knowledgeâ
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/e452fd7e-7e96-4c8f-a1ff-bb4a4b2b3d52.webp">
Why do they wiggle tho
Itâs like heâs trying to juke me out. I bet he breaks ankles
maybe its windy?
because sticks wiggle in the wind. itâs all part of their masterful ploy
Just what I was hoping to see
People put far too much faith the idea that we as a society know most, or even all there is to know. Humanity has advanced far and increasingly faster in recent years, but we still know basically nothing in terms of the grand scale of things to discover and know.
Even now, our methods of discovering things like new species are far less advanced than people like this probably imagine - it basically boils down to time, persistence, and luck.
That, and every grad student and upwards worst nightmare: funding
We donât even know how much there is to know or if such a limit can exist at all
...listen...
âŚhereâŚ
Thatâs no excuse, if we all grab a random stick to check if itâs an undiscovered species of stick insectsâŚ
Howâs that concealment trick of yours working now Mr. Dickinsect? On the random luck scale we are equals!
Last time this meme came up I had the perfectly worded Disco Elysium quote ready, but Iâve forgotten it. So just pretend I said it right now.
Wow. That was perfect. Iâm a better man for the timing of that quote
I almost became a better man for it but then I found drugs
I keep hearing about the game but your quote finally convinced me to find the time and play through it myself.
You wonât regret it! The game really is a singular experience.
I donât know the specifics of this particular insectâs origin story, but for a surprising number of insects & arthropods, the answer can be summarized as ânobody bothered to look closely enoughâ.
Sometimes thatâs a literal fact â the critter is so well disguised, lives in a remote or hard to reach location, or is so uncommon that nobodyâs ever noticed it before. But with surprising frequency, itâs a case where previously undiscovered species have been right under our noses (or feet or rocks in our suburban yards) this whole time and we simply did not realize it. Itâs not that we donât notice them, just that nobodyâs ever taken the time to really study them enough to spot the differences from one closely related species to the next so we simply assumed theyâre all the same.
For example, there are species of beetles that about the only reliable way to tell them apart is to count the hairs on their butt when they are larvae. As adults, they are nearly indistinguishable. Now imagine that nobody ever took the time to study larval butt hair.I guess what Iâm saying is, we need more funding for bug butt hair and general bug butt hair awareness, because itâs a thing.
.
This work comes from unpaid internships or you are paying to get your masters.
You could also look at insect penises for a living, a very common way of identifying species in various insect groups ;)
Without going into what âspeciesâ means exactly - because I know thatâs complicated - can you explain why those beetles are different species despite being nearly identical as adults? Is it just that they cannot interbreed?
Iâd be terrible at discovering new species because I would assume anything I found was already discovered and exhaust myself looking for it in databases.
Thatâs probably a big part of why this took so long to be described by science.
The answer is that we donât fund science at the rate that we should, especially not bug science. Want discoveries? Gotta pay someone to actually do the work.
Looking for weird sticks doesnât make anyone rich though. Think of the economy for once.
Think of the stockholders!
And whatâs with the stickholders?
Theyâre entomologists!
Wonât anyone think of the
shareholder value!You mean that scientists donât just hang out outside during their free time and go looking for new species? Thatâs not how it works?
Thatâs definitely how the government would like us to work. But we would like piles on cash in the form of a living wage, thanks
Sorry, the best we can do is fascism, open corruption, and rampant anti-intellectualism.
Is that⌠the Insulindian Phasmid?
If that was found in Australia, itâs
One or more of the above. No exceptions.
They live high up in the tree canopy. Not like people missed a monster bug walking down the trail.
Wasnât there a story where scientists sprayed a whole tree with insecticide in the rainforest and they discovered tenths of new bug species?
Yes. Also, tenths of newly extinct bug species.
Bug if true
He long
He not that thicc
And most importantly
He look like sticc
With your permission Iâm going to cook up some beats and use this verse as a hook.
Go for it.
I hereby waive all copyright and related or neighboring rights together with all associated claims and causes of action with respect to this work to the extent possible under the law.
Something Beautiful is Going To Happen
We pay millions out to researchers just to look at sticks, leaves, and rocks to determine if they are bugs or not. Wait, thatâs wrong âŚ
I miss that guy, must be on threads
Dude types like chatgpt
Or ChatGPT is modeled after this kind of excited teacher behavior as a base for the way it interacts with users
The math checks out.
15 inches?! Thatâs a BRANCH insect
New TV game Insect Cake or the real deal?