Sarang S Desai

Veterinarian | Veterinary Pathology | ...curious forever... | here to learn |

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

In the 1990s, Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard made a groundbreaking discovery that challenged everything we thought we knew about how forests work. While studying managed forests in British Columbia, she noticed something puzzling: when birch trees were removed to promote the growth of valuable Douglas firs, the firs did not flourish as expected, they actually struggled and grew more slowly.

Determined to understand why, Simard traced the movement of nutrients using radioactive carbon isotopes. What she found was astonishing. Trees were actively sharing resources through vast underground fungal networks known as mycorrhizae. These delicate, thread-like fungi connect the roots of different trees across the forest floor, forming a complex web that allows the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients, and even chemical signals, sometimes between entirely different species.

She discovered that older, larger trees often serve as central "hubs" or "mother trees," supporting younger saplings by redistributing vital resources and helping the entire ecosystem remain resilient. When these key trees are removed, the underground network weakens, and the health of the remaining forest declines.

Simard’s research overturned the traditional Darwinian view of forests as battlegrounds of ruthless competition. Instead, she revealed a far more sophisticated reality: forests operate as highly cooperative systems where trees communicate, support one another, and even warn neighboring trees about threats like drought, disease, or insect attacks.

What appears to the human eye as a silent, still forest is, in truth, a vibrant, interconnected living network, built not on isolation and rivalry, but on deep connection and mutual aid.

[University of Oxford @UniofOxford]

CONFIRMED: Oxford University Press has named ‘rage bait’ as the Oxford Word of the Year 2025.

#OxfordWOTY

[CDRI-Academic Affairs Unit @cdriacademy]

Congrats to Dr. Madhav Nilakanth Mugale @Maddy120121 , Principal Scientist @CSIR_CDRI , for being awarded the prestigious ICMR-DHR International Fellowship for Young Indian Biomedical Scientists (2024-25)! 🎉👏 He will pursue advanced research at Wexner Medical Center, USA.

[Thomas Reis @peakaustria]

"No piece of art has ever emotionally affected me the way this robot arm piece has. It's programmed to try to contain the hydraulic fluid that’s constantly leaking out and required to keep itself running...if too much escapes, it will die so it's desperately trying to pull it back to continue to fight for another day. Saddest part is they gave the robot the ability to do these 'happy dances' to spectators. When the project was first launched it danced around spending most of its time interacting with the crowd since it could quickly pull back the small spillage. Many years later... (as you see it now in the video) it looks tired and hopeless as there isn't enough time to dance anymore.. It now only has enough time to try to keep itself alive as the amount of leaked hydraulic fluid became unmanageable as the spill grew over time. Living its last days in a never-ending cycle between sustaining life and simultaneously bleeding out... (Figuratively and literally as its hydraulic fluid was purposefully made to look like it's actual blood).

"The robot arm finally ran out of hydraulic fluid in 2019, slowly came to a halt and died - And I am now tearing up over a friggin robot arm 😭 It was programmed to live out this fate and no matter what it did or how hard it tried, there was no escaping it. Spectators watched as it slowly bled out until the day that it ceased to move forever. Saying that 'this resonates' doesn't even do it justice imo. Created by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, they named the piece, 'Can't Help Myself'. What a masterpiece. What a message."

Extended interpretations: the hydraulic fluid in relation to how we kill ourselves both mentally and physically for money just in an attempt to sustain life, how the system is set up for us to fail on purpose to essentially enslave us and to steal the best years of our lives to play the game that the richest people of the world have designed. How this robs us of our happiness, passion and our inner peace. How we are slowly drowning with more responsibilities, with more expected of us, less rewarding pay-offs and less free time to enjoy ourselves with as the years go by. How there's really no escaping the system and that we were destined at birth to follow a pretty specific path that was already laid out before us. How we can give and give and give and how easily we can be forgotten after we've gone.. How we are loved and respected when we are valuable, then one day we aren't any longer and we become a burden...and how our young, free-caring spirit gets stolen from us as we get churned out of the broken system that we are trapped inside of. Can also be seen to represent the human life cycle and the fact that none of us make it out of this world alive. But also can act as a reminder to allow yourself to heal, rest and love with all of your heart. That the endless chase for 'more' isn't necessary in finding your own inner happiness.”

- James Kricked Parr

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

As a teenager Myron Scholes developed eye problems and found it hard to read. Instead he had to teach himself to think abstractly and be a good listener.

He was awarded the prize in economic sciences in 1997. Wishing him a happy birthday today!

[Aniruddha Belsare @anyadoc]

Tanmanyi Patharkar writes about canine rabies in India in the Spring 2022 issue of the Public Health Advocate: 'India's rabid epidemic'. https://t.co/fd44Uk3FQi

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

Human Rabies: notifiable disease in India.

[Ed Yong is not here @edyong209]

I can't say enough good things about this @JenSeniorNY story. The multifaceted examination of grief; the raw, aching humanity of it all; the heartbreaking details; the wisdom and beauty crammed into tiny clauses; the sheer craft on display...

https://t.co/gk67HKFnQr

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@edyong209 Congratulations!

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

"We are not making science for science. We are making science for the benefit of humanity."

- 2008 Medicine Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who discovered the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with Luc Montagnier. Their discovery has saved countless lives.

#ScienceDay

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

#pathology #veterinary Art & Science of Pathology!

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@MidwestVetPath
Read this one. 👍. https://t.co/X5YBg08iaF

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@ShefVaidya @mlrlitfest Recently read काठ, सार्थ. Sincere respect Dr SLB Sir.

[NPR @NPR]

🌳 When Nalini was a young scientist, she wanted to study the canopy. She remembers advisers saying: "There's no science up there you need to know."

But over the years, her work has illuminated a unique world hidden in the treetops. From #NPRShortWave:
https://t.co/8fW0OecvTg

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@startupindia @atul1chaturvedi @Dept_of_AHD @investindia @PanditPranav

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

https://t.co/NaS93FN77Z

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@pickover 5

[Vala Afshar @ValaAfshar]

These robot bees can pollinate plants 🐝

[Sarang S Desai @desaisarang]

@atul_kulkarni As a matter of fact, world's oldest profession per se; isnt it so?