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latinegro: This is what happens when WOMEN vote. Latinas and...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:12:50 -0500

latinegro:

This is what happens when WOMEN vote. Latinas and Black Women came out in full force…

Detroit approves personal pot use

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:27:40 -0500

Detroit approves personal pot use

sdzoo: Our jaguar family: Mother Nindiri and her cubs Tikal...

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:38:39 -0400

sdzoo:

Our jaguar family: Mother Nindiri and her cubs Tikal & Maderas. (by snoorez)

What’s up?

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:58:48 -0400

What’s up?

Photo

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:15:50 -0400

Photo

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:36:44 -0400

discoverynews: 20 Everyday Things We Have Because Of...

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 20:02:37 -0400

discoverynews:

20 Everyday Things We Have Because Of NASA

Landing MSL Curiosity on Mars has caused controversy about NASA’s budget. Many people are upset that NASA’s mandate serves no practical purpose, and the money could be put to better use. Every year, NASA publishes a list of items developed because of NASA’s work. Here’s a short list from Business Insider:

Artificial limbs
    Baby formula
    Cell-phone cameras
    Computer mouse
    Cordless tools
    Ear thermometer
    Firefighter gear
    Freeze-dried food
    Golf clubs
    Long-distance communication
    Invisible braces
    MRI and CAT scans
    Memory foam
    Safer highways
    Solar panels
    Shoe insoles
    Ski boots
    Adjustable smoke detector
    Water filters
    UV-blocking sunglasses

NASA did not invent:
    Tang
    Velcro
    Teflon

Do you think NASA’s budget needs cutting or expanding?

(h/t alexob)

physicsphysics: rookiemag: Embrace Your Ignorance: An...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 22:02:14 -0400

physicsphysics:

rookiemag:

Embrace Your Ignorance: An Interview With Neil deGrasse Tyson

We talk to our favorite astrophysicist about the crazy new particle, and other stuff.

So many people only want answers. To be a scientist you have to learn to love the questions. You’ll learn that some of the greatest mysteries of the universe remain unanswered, and that’s the fun part. That’s the part that gets you awake in the morning and running to the office, because there’s a problem awaiting your attention that you might just solve that day. You have to embrace the unknown and embrace your own ignorance.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Photo

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:38:35 -0400

motherjones: Abraham Lincoln is totally crushing. (via)

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 21:35:05 -0400

motherjones:

Abraham Lincoln is totally crushing.

(via)

nybg: Happy birthday to a true plant pioneer! Little known...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 21:21:05 -0400

nybg:

Happy birthday to a true plant pioneer! Little known fact: In addition to Carver’s work on peanuts and sweet potatoes, he was also an avid mycologist.

While at Iowa State, he developed a talent for collecting fungal specimens. Since mycology was a scientific discipline that required a high degree of training and sophisticated equipment for proper identification, and Carver had neither training nor equipment, he often sought the aid of trained mycologists. While his preliminary identifications were remarkably accurate, Carver’s real gift was for finding rare and new species. Throughout his career, he sent specimens to numerous mycologists and plant pathologists.

At least 100 of Carver’s fungal specimens found their way to the Garden’s Steere Herbarium, most likely through his friendship with J.B. Ellis. ~AR

uspsstamps:

Happy birthday, George Washington Carver! Born on this day in 1865, Carver improved the economy of the South by demonstrating the commercial possibilities of peanuts and sweet potatoes. His “Movable School” educated impoverished farmers. His stamp was issued 1998 as part of the Celebrate the Century: 1910s stamp pane.

sdzoo: Fun fact: Bamboo is not a great food source for energy...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:06:55 -0400

sdzoo:

Fun fact: Bamboo is not a great food source for energy and is hard to digest. Red pandas need to eat 20-30% of their body weight each day—about 2 to 4 pounds of bamboo shoots and leaves.

Black People Don’t Swim? Cullen Jones Becomes America’s Fastest Swimmer

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:03:21 -0400

Black People Don’t Swim? Cullen Jones Becomes America’s Fastest Swimmer:

notesonascandal:

tehblackbirdishiding:

touchoftea:

I need a moment, sir.

Shazaam!

OK then.

Hey boo.

Black History: On This Day in Black History: July 5

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:02:23 -0400

Black History: On This Day in Black History: July 5:

fyeahblackhistory:

1830 The French occupied the North African city of Algiers.

1852 Frederick Douglass delivered his “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

1884 Germany established the colony of Kamerun (today’s Cameroon) in West Africa.

1892…

dynamicafrica: Happy Independence day to all of our followers...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:01:34 -0400

dynamicafrica:

Happy Independence day to all of our followers from Cape Verde!

5 July 1975

“A people who free themselves from foreign domination will not be culturally free unless, without underestimating the importance of positive contributions from the oppressor’s culture and other cultures, they return to the upwards paths of their own culture. The latter is nourished by the living reality of the environment and rejects harmful influences as much as any kind of subjection to foreign cultures. We see therefore that, if imperialist domination has the vital need to practise cultural oppression, national liberation is necessarily an act of culture.”

Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral

"Ghostlier demarcations, keener sounds": What Today’s Higgs Boson Discovery Really Means

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:00:07 -0400

"Ghostlier demarcations, keener sounds": What Today’s Higgs Boson Discovery Really Means:

scienceetfiction:

thebardofavon:

Alasdair Wilkins:

Earlier today, scientists from the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of a subatomic particle that’s consistent with the Higgs Boson. So, have physicists finally found the elusive particle? Short answer? Yes. Longer answer?…

(A good article about this great discovery.)

"I had a beer in Amherst, at Ziggy’s, so I’m feeling good, feeling steady."

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:58:00 -0400

“I had a beer in Amherst, at Ziggy’s, so I’m feeling good, feeling steady.”

- President Obama, on the campaign trail in Ohio. (via officialssay)

motherjones: theatlantic: Still Confused About the Higgs...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:56:44 -0400

motherjones:

theatlantic:

Still Confused About the Higgs Boson? Read This.

Yes. Thanks, guys.

think-progress: Nothing will irritate your right-wing friends...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:56:17 -0400

think-progress:

Nothing will irritate your right-wing friends more than sharing this post.

Bonus: It’s 100% factual.

nok-ind: Kenyan model Ajuma Nasenyana fights skin lightening...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:52:57 -0400

nok-ind:

Kenyan model Ajuma Nasenyana fights skin lightening and European standards of beauty

From Clutch Magazine – Like many other parts of the world, Africa is no stranger to European standards of beauty. The practice of skin lightening is becoming rampant in many African countries as some folks go to drastic lengths to shed their dark complexions for lighter, “more acceptable” ones. And from advertising and magazines, to TV and film, the black aesthetics are being pushed out, while European standards of beauty — blonde hair, blue eyes — are becoming more mainstream.

“It seems that the world is conspiring in preaching that there is something wrong with Kenyan ladies’ kinky hair and dark skin,” Kenyan model Ajuma Nasenyana told the Daily Nation.

Nasenyana wonders why European skincare companies that push lightening creams are entering Kenya marketing the European standard of beauty.

“Their leaflets are all about skin lightening, and they seem to be doing good business in Kenya. It just shocks me. It’s not OK for a Caucasian to tell us to lighten our skin,” she said.

Despite her beauty and that of women like her, Nasenyana is dismayed that while she is heralded abroad for her dark skin, at home she is seen as less than ideal.