T. L. A.

THE SEX UNEDUCATED: Tell Your Immigration Story

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:09:53 -0500

THE SEX UNEDUCATED: Tell Your Immigration Story: transqueery: An estimated 267,000 people are...

mehreenkasana: International politics explained in one image.

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:57:04 -0500

mehreenkasana:

International politics explained in one image.

Corporate Control of Human Genes Before Supreme Court

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:44:07 -0500

Corporate Control of Human Genes Before Supreme Court: the-lone-pamphleteer: The Supreme Court will...

jtotheizzoe: You’re looking at a brain. But not...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:31:24 -0500

jtotheizzoe:

You’re looking at a brain. But not really.

Connectograms are an intersection of data, neuroscience, design and art. This represents the inter-brain-region connections of 110 right-handed men, with various color codes indicated to show how strong those connections are in various ways. The Wikipedia page can decode the regions around the edge for you.

Studying the wiring of the brain is essential to understanding it. But it is not sufficient to understand it. We love to share beautiful images of brain mapping studies (I do it all the time), but relying on mapping alone is like clicking through Google Maps and saying you’ve been to Paris.

There’s just something missing, right? And that something is us. Except that we must be in there, because we can’t exist outside of that. But why can’t we distill our “us-ness” from the map of all the pieces?

But does this map show you a brain? Does it show you a person? What’s the difference?

scienceyoucanlove: Solar Storms, With a Chance of Proton...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:18:11 -0500

scienceyoucanlove:

Solar Storms, With a Chance of Proton Showers

This large solar flare, produced by an active region of the sun (AR9077), triggered magnetic storms and knocked out satellites when it created a solar storm on July 14, 2000. Nicknamed the Bastille Day Event, it was the third largest storm of its kind in the past 30 years, and the biggest solar radiation event since 1989. The Slinky-like loops represent magnetic field lines.

The orbiting Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) satellite captured this close-up image after the flare erupted. Recorded in extreme ultraviolet light, it covers a 230,000-by-77,000 kilometer area on the sun’s surface and shows a one-million-degree solar plasma cooling down.

malformalady: A real-life ‘grease imprint’ of a pigeon which...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:05:13 -0500

malformalady:

A real-life ‘grease imprint’ of a pigeon which crashed into a kitchen window. The image, spotted by Stuart Milligan, clearly shows the outline of its head, body and wings.

sagansense: Shore crabs get stressed by noisy neighboursThe...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:52:14 -0500

sagansense:

Shore crabs get stressed by noisy neighbours

The heavier the shore crab, the more stressful they find shipping noises in the surrounding area.

According to a study published in Biology Letters, exposure to recordings of ship noises increased oxygen consumption in the crabs indicating higher metabolism attributable to stress. It also found that the response did not diminish over time implying crabs were unable to get used to their noisy neighbours.

“We found that the metabolic rate of crabs exposed to ship noise was higher than those experiencing ambient harbour noise, and that larger individuals were affected most strongly,” said Andy Radford, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Bristol. “This is the first indication that there might be different responses to noise depending on the size of an individual.”

According to the study, the lift in metabolic rate could affect growth as well as requiring the creatures to forage for more food increasing the risk of predation. As a result it may be more profitable for the fishing industry to give crustaceans the silent treatment.

“Since larger crabs are affected more strongly by noise this could have implications for fisheries in noisy areas,” said Steve Simpson from the University of Exeter. “Also, many crustacean species, particularly prawns, are grown in aquaculture, so if acoustic disturbance has a metabolic cost then operational noise in farms may impact on growth, and quieter farms may be more profitable.”

image: Shutterstock

robbiethewabbit: wow look at how dutiful and loyal to her faith she is, she must have chosen what...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:39:10 -0500

robbiethewabbit: wow look at how dutiful and loyal to her faith she is, she must have chosen what...

theongreyjoy: friendly reminder that human tragedy isn’t a fucking contest.

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:26:51 -0500

theongreyjoy: friendly reminder that human tragedy isn’t a fucking contest.

colchrishadfield: People ask to see stars - my camera does its...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:13:27 -0500

colchrishadfield:

People ask to see stars - my camera does its best in dim light. Our atmosphere glows in the dark.

"Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of ecstasy;..."

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:47:31 -0500

“Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of...

vicemag: The People of Guerrero, Mexico, Have Taken Justice...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:34:32 -0500

vicemag:

The People of Guerrero, Mexico, Have Taken Justice Into Their Own Hands

above: Militia members in Cuautepec, Guerrero, where they gathered to take an oath to defend their communities against organized crime. Photos by Carlos Alvarez Montero.

On January 5 in El Potrero, a small town in the Mexican state of Guerrero, a man named Eusebio García Alvarado was kidnapped by a local criminal syndicate. Kidnappings are fairly common in Guerrero—the state, just south of Mexico City, is one of the poorest in the country and the site of some of the worst violence in the ongoing battle between the drug cartels and Mexican authorities. Guerrero’s largest city, Acapulco, is known to Americans as a tourist hot spot. It’s also currently the second most dangerous city in the world, according to a study released by a Mexican think tank in February.

Eusebio’s kidnapping, though, was exceptional. He served as the town commissioner of Rancho Nuevo and was a member of the community activist organization Union of Towns and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG), and the brazenness the criminals showed in snatching him up pissed off his neighbors so much that they took matters into their own hands.

Gonzalo Torres, also known as G-1, the leader of the UPOEG militia in Ayulta.

The day after Eusebio was abducted, hundreds of people from the nearby towns of Ayutla de los Libres and Tecoanapa decided that they could do a better job policing their communities than the local authorities. They grabbed whatever weapons they had—mostly hunting rifles and shotguns—set up checkpoints at entrances to their villages, and patrolled the roads in pickup trucks, often hiding their faces with ski masks and bandanas. Overnight, UPOEG transformed from an organization of advocates for better roads and infrastructure into a group of armed vigilantes operating without the endorsement of any branch of the government. The kidnappers released Eusebio that day, but UPOEG’s checkpoints and patrols didn’t disappear with his return. In fact, there was a groundswell of support. Five municipalities in the surrounding Costa Chica region followed suit and established their own militias. Soon, armed and masked citizens ensured that travelers and strangers weren’t allowed to enter any of their towns uninvited.

These militias captured 54 people whom they alleged to be involved in organized crime (including two minors and four women), imprisoning them inside a house that became an improvised jail. On January 31, the communities gathered on an outdoor basketball court in the village of El Meson to publicly try their detainees. The charges ran the gamut from kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, and homicide to smoking weed. More than 500 people attended, and the trial was covered by media outlets all over the world.

Continue

thinksquad: California’s prisons have become overcrowded -...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:21:55 -0500

thinksquad:

California’s prisons have become overcrowded - holding almost 150% more inmates than the buildings were designed to hold. These crowded conditions have subjected inmates to what some call cruel and unusual punishment. If Jerry Brown does not reduce the number of people in these prisons by roughly 9,500, then he could face a possible contempt of court charge.
http://rt.com/usa/prisons-state-court-california-775/

sagansense: “Our time will be remembered, because this was when...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:08:42 -0500

sagansense:

“Our time will be remembered, because this was when we first set sail for other worlds.”

Carl Sagan, 1987

scinerds: Thanks to Stanford University’s aptly named Clarity,...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:55:53 -0500

scinerds:

Thanks to Stanford University’s aptly named Clarity, scientists are now able to scan the brain for unobstructed views of neurons and their connections. In this scan, aided by a green fluorescent protein, one is able to see the axonal and dendritic branches of neurons within the hippocampus.

"As the Senate prepares to debate a gun-control bill for the first time in two decades on Monday,..."

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:42:56 -0500

“As the Senate prepares to debate a gun-control bill for the first time in two decades on...

glorybetohim: Greatest pic of mah life, creds to @djtheshot.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:30:02 -0500

glorybetohim:

Greatest pic of mah life, creds to @djtheshot.

Photo

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:17:01 -0500

ryandonato: Victo Ngai

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:03:56 -0500

ryandonato:

Victo Ngai

Photo

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:50:56 -0500