“If I discover a scientific idea, surely someone else would’ve discovered the same idea had I not done so. Whereas, look at Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” — if he didn’t paint “Starry Night,” nobody’s gonna paint “Starry Night.” So, in that regard, the arts are more individual to the creative person than a scientific idea is to the one who comes up with it — but, nonetheless, they are both human activities.”
Did you know the Easter Island heads have bodies?
Yup it’s true. And some are as tall as 10 meters (33ft)! The Moai have overly large heads (3/5 the size of their bodies), and because of photographs taken in the 50’s of the slopes of Rano Raraku (where the statues are buried to their shoulders) many (including me) are lead to believe that they are only heads!
Check out the Easter Island Statue Project (http://www.eisp.org/) for more info on the excavation, Easter Island history, and more pictures!
(via scinerds)
source | source | source
Black wolves do not occur naturally. A 2008 study at Stanford University found that the mutation responsible for black fur occurs only in dogs, so black wolves are the result of gray wolves breeding back with domestic canines. The mutation is a dominant trait, like dark hair in humans, and is passed down to the majority of offspring. It is not entirely clear what benefit black fur has for the animals; they do not seem to be more successful hunters, but do show a marked improvement in immunity to certain infections.
(Source: doublejawed, via twentythreesaransdreaming)
Hominid: Mountain Gorilla by Laurel Roth.
Check out the amazing job of this artist here. Absolutely stunning.
Aerogel, also know as frozen smoke, is the world’s lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. If you hold a small piece in your hand, it’s practically impossible to either see or feel, but if you poke it, it’s like styrofoam. It supports up to 4,000 times its own weight and can withstand a direct blast from two pounds of dynamite. It’s also the best insulator in existence.
(Source: kcjo, via yesterdaysmeme)
“Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is yellow, or what a dream is, or how deep you can dig a hole, or when is the world’s birthday, or why we have toes. Too many teachers and parents answer with irritation or ridicule, or quickly move on to something else. Why adults should pretend to omniscience before a five-year-old, I can’t for the life of me understand. What’s wrong with admitting that you don’t know? Children soon recognize that somehow this kind of question annoys many adults. A few more experiences like this, and another child has been lost to science. There are many better responses. If we have an idea of the answer, we could try to explain. If we don’t, we could go to the encyclopedia or the library. Or we might say to the child: “I don’t know the answer. Maybe no one knows. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll be the first to find out.”
Carl Sagan (via justinlongoz)
(Source: skaterboytae, via beckysanspants)
“The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
Neil Degrasse Tyson, in an AMA on reddit, responding to a young man who asked how to find motivation in life. (via thefreenomad)
(Source: fishingboatproceeds, via freshmouthgoddess)
Anyone who thinks sex education is unnecessary needs only to go on a fanfiction site and see some of the things people think actually work as lube.
(Source: lord-kitschener, via masteradept)
The Quietest Place on Earth Will Drive You Insane Within 45 Minutes
There’s a small room in Minnesota thatblocks out 99% of all external sound. That’s an impressive number! Also impressive: nobody can take more than 45 minutes alone in the room before they go nuts.The Daily Mail describes Orfield Labs’ anechoic chamber—perfect for making extremely sensitive audio measurements. But also perfect for sending you into a hallucinatory hell so hellacious you’ll need a chair:
‘When it’s quiet, ears will adapt. The quieter the room, the more things you hear. You’ll hear your heart beating, sometimes you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. ‘In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound.’ And this is a very disorientating experience. Mr Orfield explained that it’s so disconcerting that sitting down is a must. He said: ‘How you orient yourself is through sounds you hear when you walk. In the anechnoic chamber, you don’t have any cues. You take away the perceptual cues that allow you to balance and manoeuvre. If you’re in there for half an hour, you have to be in a chair.’
That sounds swell. Just the serene quiet of you, your thoughts, and the unceasing pounding of the human heart. Your brain can’t take it, apparently, and begins to fabricate sounds that aren’t really there—completely delusional noises meant to block out the churning of your own horrid biomass.
(Source)
whoa.
Ingredients of life
Illustrations of Chemical compounds by Rex
An ultra-cool set of posters! Dopamine is the one I am most familiar with and it’s a very interesting chemical not only because it causes our emotional responses, but because it controls the ‘reward system’ of our brain which in turn motivates us to repeat actions that we enjoy (even if they are not good for our overall health, as is the case with chemical addiction).
But rather than dwelling too much on the more serious effects of these chemical responses, focus more on the greatness of the posters!
I love how simple Happiness is, and how completely complicated Love is.
(via neverlandnow)
Neil deGrasse Tyson, why are you *so* quality?
Neil DeGrasse Tyson is just the best.
true facts.
It is my dream to be a movie trailer narrator. That would be a sweet job. FYI. My voice is like silk.
perfect observer
(via masteradept)
A lesson about the timeline of the dino age, from Brian Switek:
Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus and their neighbors roamed western North America about 150 million years ago. This slice of time falls in the latter portion of the Jurassic. The traditional representatives of the latest Cretaceous scene—Tyrannosaurus andTriceratops—did not evolve until about 67 million years ago. By themselves, these dates are just labels, but think of them falling along evolution’s timeline. About 83 million years separated Apatosaurus fromTyrannosaurus and Allosaurus from Triceratops. The so-called Age of Mammals—which began when the non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out—has been going on for about 66 million years. Less time separates us from Tyrannosaurus rex than separated T. rex from Stegosaurus.
We like to think of the Age of the Dinosaurs as one, big happy reptile party. But it’s important to realize just how looooooooong they were around compared to the time since the great extinction. We are closer to T. rex than he was to stegosaurus.
(via desliz)
Julia Margaret Cameron, Charles Darwin, 1868
From the National Galleries of Scotland:
This photogravure is part of a book of twenty-five portraits titled ‘Alfred, Lord Tennyson and his friends’. Published in 1893, it features the likes of Thomas Carlyle, Sir John Herschel and Charles Darwin. Darwin is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in the history of science. His research conducted during The Beagle voyage from 1831-6, marked a definitive period in his life and formulated the beginnings of his investigations into evolution: “it determined my whole career”. In 1859 Darwin published ‘On the Origins of Species’, which shattered established beliefs and proposed his theory of evolution. Darwin met Tennyson and the photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, in 1868 whilst visiting the Isle of Wight.
