Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness

I haven't read the paper that this article is based on, so I'm sure I'm missing something, but my immediate thought upon reading that researchers "discovered a direct correlation between instances of bad grammar and subjects’ Heart Rate Variability (HRV)" was that this is less about how "our bodies go into stress-mode when hearing misused grammar" and more about our bodies going into stress-mode when we encounter a norm being breached.

Especially with the way most of us associate grammar with school, and thus our early years and related traumas.

Also, grammar snobs tend to be seeking comfort in the Single Correct Way to do things, and there are a number of reasons for that (insecurity, lack of control in other aspects of their lives, using language as a proxy for their bigotry because they really don't like non-white/young/multilingual/female speakers of English).

What is it we're really reacting to when we react to "bad grammar"? It's social constructs we've been taught, and I'm sure all kinds of those have physiological effects on us.

The term “plant blindness” was introduced in 1999 and is defined as “the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment—leading to: (a) the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere, and in human affairs; (b) the inability to appreciate the aesthetic and unique biological features of the life forms belonging to the Plant Kingdom; and (c) the misguided, anthropocentric ranking of plants as inferior to animals, leading to the erroneous conclusion that they are unworthy of human consideration.”

Unfortunately, the term is difficult to replace, as it encompasses several phenomena that can be grouped into four categories: attention, attitude, knowledge, and relative interest.

the word “disparity” in the term is especially important. I am often asked why plant awareness or plant unawareness are not sufficient to describe what was previously known as “plant blindness.” The reason I opted to include “disparity” is because the root of the issue is that people do not notice plants in their environment as often as they do other organisms (namely animals). I wanted to highlight that there is, in fact, a disparity between how we notice and treat plants and animals in our visual cognition processes. This disparity is then what causes the other components of PAD: when we do not notice plants as often as animals, we tend to be less interested in them, less knowledgeable about them, and we have a less positive attitude toward them.

• Pictures like this can provide a dose of awe amid the doom-scrolling, a tiny break from a reality that itself feels like an alternate timeline for 2020, much in the same way that the sight of a fuzzy comet called NEOWISE has dazzled stargazers around the world in recent weeks. These are temporary delights. The comet will eventually fade from view, not to return for thousands of years, and the solar system in the new photograph is too far away to ever visit. But turning our attention to something otherworldly, even for a few moments, can distract us from pandemic despair.
• Hörst says she and her colleagues often talk about how Titan rain might smell, making predictions based on their knowledge of the chemicals in its atmosphere. Compounds made of hydrogen and carbon would smell like gasoline, and cyanides like almonds. Some elements in the raindrops might resemble the smoky scent of barbecue.
• Jupiter’s atmosphere is difficult to photograph for the same reason a puppy is: It doesn’t stay
• Kaltenegger told me that she gets a version of the feeling that struck me when I read her paper, the shock of recognition that we might be someone else’s exoplanet. When she is out for a walk at night, she looks up at the sky and wonders who might be looking back. She hopes that our presence, a small absence of starlight in the distance, prompts them to feel as curious as we have felt, and to take a closer look. Charbonneau has had a similar thought—could our planet be intriguing enough to attract the attention of some other life-form? “It’s nice to be noticed, after all,” he says.
• Schmidt curates the cosmos and hangs them in the ether of the internet, where people can pass through, like museum visitors, and tilt their heads at a particularly impressive bit of space that, for a moment, might make them feel small, but in a reassuring way. “I just hope that their life has improved for even just the few seconds that they took to look at it and they thought, Wow, that’s out there,” Schmidt told me.

This artwork is etched onto a metal plate attached to the deck of the Mars Perseverance rover. The image depicts all of the rovers which have driven on Mars. On the far left is the Sojourner rover (1997), followed by twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity (2004), then Curiosity (2012), and Perseverance (2021). The rovers have gotten larger and more capable of exploring challenging terrain. Also pictured is Ingenuity, a helicopter which could demonstrate the first powered flight on Mars.

See an image of this plate in the cleanroom.

In fact, this antisocial fish-punching phenomenon – which scientists term "active displacement" of fish – occurs in the midst of collaborative hunting efforts, in which octopuses and fish team up to chase and trap prey together.
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In much the same way as you or I might try to elbow-out fellow diners at a buffet, this 'partner control mechanism' therefore seeks to establish a sense of control and dominance in a food free-for-all. It's just that partner control – when delivered by an octopus – is a tad more brutal than your average buffet queue experience.

"To this end, the octopus performs a swift, explosive motion with one arm directed at a specific fish partner, which we refer to as punching," the researchers explain in a new paper.

"From an ecological perspective, actively punching a fish partner entails a small energetic cost for the actor (i.e. octopus), and simultaneously imposes a cost on the targeted fish partner.
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"While we can't yet know for sure why octopuses are randomly punching fish like this, at least one of the theoretical explanations given suggests octopuses may have some serious attitude.