Your Average Girl

I turn 28 in a month. Exactly.

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:59:26 -0400

I turn 28 in a month. Exactly.

A beluga whale makes and plays with bubble rings.

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:46:31 -0400

A beluga whale makes and plays with bubble rings.

Archaeological News: The groundbreaking female archaeologist

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:45:34 -0400

Archaeological News: The groundbreaking female archaeologist:

archaeologicalnews:

It took more than 700 years, but in 1939 archaeologist Dorothy Garrod became the first female professor at Oxbridge – nearly a decade before women were even allowed to take degrees at Cambridge University. ALICE HUTTON reports on the opening of the first permanent exhibition honouring one of…

Misinterpretations of the scientific process

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:39:54 -0400

Misinterpretations of the scientific process:

jtotheizzoe:

Science is a collection of facts.

Science is complete.

There is a single Scientific Method that all scientists follow.

The process of science is purely analytic and does not involve creativity.

And many, many more here: A wonderful resource of what science is, and what science isn’t from Berkeley. Also see this collection of definitions of science from Brain Pickings.

devidsketchbook: Quilled Paper Anatomy by Sarah Yakawonis You...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:36:21 -0400

devidsketchbook:

Quilled Paper Anatomy by Sarah Yakawonis

You can see more of her work (and buy prints) over on Etsy and Society6.

[Via thisiscolossal]

Archaeological News: World's Oldest Cave Art Found—Made by Neanderthals?

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:35:50 -0400

Archaeological News: World's Oldest Cave Art Found—Made by Neanderthals?:

archaeologicalnews:

Prehistoric dots and crimson hand stencils on Spanish cave walls are now the world’s oldest known cave art, according to new dating results—perhaps the best evidence yet that Neanderthals were Earth’s first cave painters.

If that’s the case, the discovery narrows the cultural distance…

Selection Progress: Understanding the Heart, Soul and Social Science

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:35:15 -0400

Selection Progress: Understanding the Heart, Soul and Social Science:

medicalstate:

In addition to the hard-science and math questions that have for decades defined this rite of passage into the medical profession, nearly half of the new MCAT will focus on squishier topics in two new sections: one covering social and behavioral sciences and another on critical analysis and reading that will require students to analyze passages covering areas like ethics and cross-cultural studies.

The goal is to improve the medical admissions process to find the people who you and I would want as our doctors. Being a good doctor isn’t just about understanding science, it’s about understanding people.

What are your thoughts of this development? Discuss below.

Archaeological News: Amateur archaeologists discover rare 'dinosaur print'

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:23:36 -0400

Archaeological News: Amateur archaeologists discover rare 'dinosaur print':

archaeologicalnews:

Archaeology enthusiasts on an afternoon tour of part of the South Wales coastline have discovered what is believed to be the footprint of a dinosaur which roamed the earth more than 200 million years ago.

The group, led by Karl-James Langford, founder of Archaeology Cymru, were studying the…

tylerknott: Shewalked through the forestin a ray of...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:22:49 -0400

tylerknott:

She
walked through the forest
in a ray of sunshine
that fell
between the
trees.
With a cry,
he looked
in amazement
at her.

-Tyler Knott Gregson-

and her name was stephanie guerrero?

I kid… I kid.

Photo

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:20:40 -0400

jtotheizzoe: Chimps, Bonobos and Us Closest living relative...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:17:49 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Chimps, Bonobos and Us

Closest living relative of Homo sapiens? Easy. Chimpanzees, right? It might not be that simple. With the recent sequencing of the bonobo genome, the distinction between the two species is getting fuzzier, as is the question of who’s a closer relative of humans.

Bonobos are a small population of chimpanzee-like apes that live in a tiny pocket of the Congo. They themselves split off of the lineage of chimpanzees less than two million years ago after their population was cut off by the Congo river. Unlike the rather aggressive chimpanzees, who are far more widespread across Africa, bonobos are … well, rather less so.

Bonobos look so much like chimps (the bonobo is on the right up above) that their behavior is one of the few ways to tell them apart. They are known to settle disputes through sex, the gender combination not always important, with the activity even completed while eating. Sex is their cultural currency. Don’t believe me? Watch this.

Chimps do no such thing, to their own recreational detriment.

The sequenced bonobo genome only differs from the chimpanzee genome by 0.4% at the DNA level. That’s within the normal variability of chimp genomes! So are they bonobos or are they chimps? How much of species separation is genetic and how much is behavioral? What, if anything in the small genetic difference leads to those huge behavioral changes? And if they are both so closely related, who is our actual closest relative? This is a debate that will continue.

(via Ars Technica)

Team Bonobo

this isn't happiness.: LIST OF PARAPHILIAS / community's substructure "perversion"

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:16:10 -0400

this isn't happiness.: LIST OF PARAPHILIAS / community's substructure "perversion" :

nevver:

Abasiophilia: love of (or sexual attraction to) people who use leg braces or other orthopaedic appliances
Acousticophilia: sexual arousal from certain sounds
Acrotomophilia: love of (or sexual attraction to) amputees
Agalmatophilia: sexual attraction to statues or mannequins or immobility

So THAT’s what you call them!

my thoughts on the wee hours of Saturday morning…

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:10:27 -0400

my thoughts on the wee hours of Saturday morning…

nevver: I fall. in love. out of love. but mostly- I’m...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:05:20 -0400

nevver:

I fall.

in love.

out of love.

but mostly-

I’m just drunk.

allthingseurope: Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland (by...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:03:25 -0400

allthingseurope:

Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland (by photoriel)

Let us go now!

Fifth-grader banned from giving speech on marriage equality

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:01:46 -0400

Fifth-grader banned from giving speech on marriage equality:

gaywrites:

At a school in Queens, New York, a fifth-grader named Kameron Slade won a class speech contest that earned him the right to compete in a school-wide speech competition. But when the principal found out his speech was about same-sex marriage, he told Kameron to change his topic or be kicked out of the competition.

Here’s an excerpt from his speech (which can be seen in full here), courtesy of ThinkProgress:

Some people are for same-gender marriage, while others are against it. Like President Obama, I believe that all people should have the right to marry whoever they want. Marriage is about love, support, and commitment. So who are we to judge? If we judge people like this, this is a form of prejudice. We must learn to accept all differences.[…]

My mom is very open to me about same-gender marriage. However, some adults may feel uncomfortable and think it’s inappropriate to talk about this to children.I think adults must realize that as children get older, they become aware of these mature issues that are going on in the world. If children read or watch the news, they can learn about things like same-gender marriage, so what’s the point in trying to hide it?

In conclusion, I hope that everyone understands how important it is to respect everyone for who they are. Same-gender marriage is becoming more popular. I believe that same-gender marriage should be accepted worldwide and that parents and teachers should start to discuss these issues without shame to their children.

Wow. This kid is as brave as anybody I’ve ever met, and his school completely cut him off from introducing his peers to what will surely be an important topic as they come of age. Wow.

"We fall like feathers oh, but we can fly like wings if we’re together."

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:00:15 -0400

“We fall like feathers
oh, but we can fly like wings
if we’re together.”

- Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson (via tylerknott)

nevver: Apology kit the last two!

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:58:48 -0400

nevver:

Apology kit

the last two!

Archaeological News: As crisis bites, illegal digs are on the rise

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:56:31 -0400

Archaeological News: As crisis bites, illegal digs are on the rise:

archaeologicalnews:

Prompted by Greece’s severe economic crisis, a growing number of treasure hunters are scouring the country in search of antiquities and other treasures.

The trend, which is more evident in the country’s northwestern Macedonia region, is not only driven by economic necessity but also by the…

The Tangential: What I’ve Learned About Music in Five Years on Last.fm

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:54:54 -0400

The Tangential: What I’ve Learned About Music in Five Years on Last.fm:

thetangential:

When I was a teenager, I listed all the tapes I owned and numbered all the tracks, from one to whatever thousand. I’d then roll a ten-sided die to generate random numbers in that range, and would use those numbers to make randomly shuffled mixtapes. I thought I might be driving a flying car by…

Regina Spektor and the Rolling Stones…