What do whales and women have in common?
HEX Science: always asking the killer questions
It’s one in the eye for ageism this week. It turns out that after hitting menopause, female killer whales go on to be group leaders, relied on by the rest of the pack for their survival savvy and food-sourcing know-how. They also live a whopping 40 years after ‘the change’, while the males are winding down (and, we can only assume, taking up crown green bowling).
The researchers say that “the value gained from the wisdom of elders can help explain why female killer whales and humans continue to live long after they have stopped reproducing". While this info is unlikely to make life easier for Hollywood actresses over 50, it’s heartening to know that somewhere, females over a certain age are considered to have value beyond incontinence pad purchases. Normally we don’t condone comparisons between women and whales, but this is one we can, er, get behind.
What other air punch fodder have we got for you this week? Well, knitting could help with science, for one thing. Also Dolly Parton reworks Jolene for the vaccine-dodgers, there’s a new podcast celebrating vaginas, and we encourage you to throw tampons around to raise awareness for endometriosis. Or something.
Lead on…!
TIT BITS
Keeping abreast of the latest news, views, and research
Gut feeling
Science has a fascinating theory about what might cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Turns out it could result from certain infections in pregnancy, one being a nasty little critter in the gut that kicks off an IL-17 immune response that reaches the foetus. This article tells the story of how gut microbes might cause ASD and other neural disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s – and modifying gut bacteria may be a potential treatment. It’s early days, but it’s an exciting area of research… and we’re going to go out on a limb and say it sounds more plausible than 5G signals causing ASD.
We kid you knot
Crafters, brace yourself: knitting has hit a whole new level of nerdery thanks to physicist (and knitter) Elisabetta Matsumoto. Inspired by an “unusually knotty stitch”, Matsumoto started working out the mathematical rules of certain stitches, and hopes to put together a dictionary of knits – which could, among other things, provide a scaffold for building human tissue in the future. Kinda makes Rorschach Tess feel shallow for just wanting to knit the perfect cat jumper.
Computer says ‘low’
It seems biases in the movies are so obvious even R2D2 could spot them. An AI system developed by Carnegie Mellon University identified clear biases in the language used in Hollywood and Bollywood films – including a greater frequency of male pronouns and an association between beauty and fair skin. Of course, women have been pointing this out for years, but apparently a robot has more authority...
Something in the water
Urinary tract infections (including cystitis) are very common, affecting more than half of women at some point in their lives, and – much like the Terminator – have a nasty habit of coming back. We’d feed UTIs to the Kraken but (as 50%+ of you will know) even her toxic tentacles are no match for the stinging power of cystitis. We're excited to hear that scientists at Duke University may have hit on an answer: a new vaccine that can clear UTIs in mice, and stop them recurring. Our enthusiasm was diminished, however, when we found out that the study involved adding the vaccine directly into the bladder through a catheter. Bit of a pisser.
TO THE KRAKEN 🦑
Excuse us, there’s a bucket outside we’ve got to be sick into
Our favourite sea terror has had some pretty meaty dishes of late, so she’s trying a plant-based snack for variety: namely, the recent cover of Tatler.
There are several elements of this that are tough for us to swallow. If their ‘How to Stay WelI: Immunity Special’ doesn’t just read “GET A FUCKING VACCINE AND STOP BLAMING POOR PEOPLE”, then we’re happy to start sharpening the guillotine now. ‘Dress Up to Wash up’? Allow us to chuck up.
For us, though, it’s the article about Carrie Symonds that really triggered our gag reflex. We’re all for women in power, but while she may be a “conservationist and political activist”, and the PM’s fiancé, it'll take more than crowning her with a gigantic Sloaney headband to convince us that she’s queen. Unless of course they are citing her decorating tastes as a sign of her influence, in which case we’ll bend the knee with Lulu Lytle. (We thought we had to dismantle endemic sexism to become a powerful woman in the UK, but perhaps you just need to paint your living area the right shade of green).
We know this kind of thing is typical of Tatler, but it still made us dry-heave. Of course, that’s why our dear HEX Kraken is here – to choke down this kind of fawning bollocks so you don’t have to.
HEX EDUCATION
Time to end the endo stigma
Endometriosis can have a devastating impact on those affected – and is about as common in women as diabetes and asthma. Despite this, half of the UK doesn’t know what it actually is, and the average time it takes to get a diagnosis is a shocking 8 years (we can’t help but wonder if it would take this long if it affected men). Pissed off yet? Here, have some fun facts:
The good: It’s Endometriosis Awareness Month!
The bad: 62% of women between the age of 16-24 don’t know what endometriosis is, and 45% of women are unable to name any symptoms of the condition. 80% of 16-24-year-olds would also put off seeking medical help, for reasons including embarrassment, and not thinking it’s serious enough.
The ugly: What we need is more education, and more research into how to better diagnose and treat endometriosis. Instead medical journals give us assaults on our blood pressure like THIS (retracted after seven years) pile of blatantly objectifying misogynistic drivel attempting to masquerade as science.
This March, you can help #EndoTheStigma. Tell your friends, fundraise, write to your MP, lose your shit on twitter, throw tampons with endo facts written on them from the window of a moving bus – whatever feels right.
More things steering our whale pod this week:
The launch of the Vagina Monopod Podcast | Dolly Parton singing 'Vaccine' | Va Va Womb vagina festival | Cat-in-a-cup earrings
The HEX Science team
🧬Jean Splicer | ☢ Marie Fury | 🧠 Rorschach Tess | 🔬 Rosalind Frankly