Today in Science

The good thing about science - Imgur

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:00:12 -0400

The good thing about science - Imgur

Losing Yourself in Fiction Makes YOU the Character

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:40:49 -0400

Losing Yourself in Fiction Makes YOU the Character:

Ever make a decision based on how you felt from reading a book? Not that weak-willed, you say? Well you probably are! Think about it, like that time you read Harry Potter and rode a broom around? Or when you read Lord of the Rings and were a giant nerd. You’re such a nerd, nerd.

Move Over, Yerba Mate, Cahokia Black Drink is Here!

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:38:53 -0400

Move Over, Yerba Mate, Cahokia Black Drink is Here!

Squid Detaches Arms to Distract Predator

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:43:00 -0400

Squid Detaches Arms to Distract Predator:

When attacked, this squid leaves its arms in the predator. There are some barbs on its arms that can detach and distract the predator long enough for the squid to get away. If I were a squid, I think I would just be the ink kind, as that seems painful.

Science Shows Climate Change Real for Million-Billionth Time

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:06:16 -0400

Science Shows Climate Change Real for Million-Billionth Time:

Climate change and global warming is a real thing. All the science proves it, aside from the scientists at the Shell and BP labs. But seriously, people need to stop with this “It’s not real” bs, as it’s clearly a thing and if you think otherwise you’re either a neanderthal or have an agenda that involves getting super rich. So go to hell.

Confirmed: Homo Sapiens Weren't the Only Humans

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:40:27 -0400

Confirmed: Homo Sapiens Weren't the Only Humans:

At least two other kinds of cavemen existed, homo rudolfensis and homo erectus. And they all lived at the same time, proving that humans evolved the same way animals did, with derivative factions

Sharks Do Their Own Dental Work

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:09:00 -0400

Sharks Do Their Own Dental Work:

Or rather have fluoride in their teeth. Nature just puts it there because nature prefers sharks to humans because sharks are cool and don’t need gross teeth. Humans need gross teeth so that they look weird and then nature doesn’t feel bad when they’re killed by awesome sharks.

Amazing Unknown: The Heliosphere

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:38:42 -0400

Amazing Unknown: The Heliosphere:

The first instalment, possibly the last because I’ll forget, in a series called Amazing Unknown - crazy stuff that exists that I’ve never heard of before. Today: The Heliosphere! A bubble of charged particles that surround our solar system. FACT: Voyager 1 just reached the Heliopause and will soon head into interstellar space. It was launched in 1977. Just read the wiki article.

Fraking May Cause Earthquakes

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:06:01 -0400

Fraking May Cause Earthquakes:

The worst thing just got worse. Fraking has been correlated with earth quakes. Can we get some alien overlords to preserve earth as a natural park already? I mean seriously, how crazy is this?

Total War USA 2020

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:24:24 -0400

Total War USA 2020:

Cyclodynamics is history as science, and a new breed of data-centric rogue historians is advocating data use to predict cycles. Are we just a bunch of numbers, or does humanity have free will? I ask that like you won’t say free will, you predictable bag of chemicals, you.

Epic Mars Mission Fails

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:14:45 -0400

Epic Mars Mission Fails:

Curiosity made it to Mars, despite the improbability of making it, but these missions didn’t. You know why? It’s INSANELY DIFFICULT.

Level Up! The Richter Scale of Puzzle Difficulty.

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:12:39 -0400

Level Up! The Richter Scale of Puzzle Difficulty.:

Some elderly (I’m assuming) scientists have done a bunch of math to create a scale to determine how hard puzzles are. So far the hardest sudoku is like 3.5 out of 4. Big whoop.

This animated short describes the environmental impact of...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:05:13 -0400

This animated short describes the environmental impact of hamburgers. I was dubious of this video at first, until they got to statistics about how everyone in the US eats way more burgers than I do, and I’m actually fine with my burger consumption. And then I was dubious again when they blamed China for global warming at the end.

The Math Behind Sandcastles

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:53:08 -0400

The Math Behind Sandcastles:

This is some no-shit serious math right here! I understood none of it!

Qualitatively, the liquid leads to the formation of capillary bridges between the sand grains, and the curvature of the liquid interface leads to a capillary pressure causing a force of attraction between the grains. This then creates a network of grains connected by pendular bridges, and allows, for example, creating complex structures such as sandcastles. Not many quantitative studies on the mechanical properties of wet sand exist, in spite of the fact that the handling and flow of granular materials is responsible for roughly 10% of the world energy consumption.

It’s a salamander! It’s really a...

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:14:00 -0400

It’s a salamander! It’s really a salamander!

Researchers have called the eyeless creature, known formally as Atretochoana eiselti, a “floppy snake,” but it is not a reptile. Rather, it is an amphibian more closely related to salamanders and frogs.

Heh, floppy snake.

How Your Brain Hears a Voice in a Loud Room

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:14:00 -0400

How Your Brain Hears a Voice in a Loud Room

New Prize for Theoretical Physics is Seriously Ballin'

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:59:56 -0400

New Prize for Theoretical Physics is Seriously Ballin':

Internet billionaire Yuri Milner has started a 27 million dollar prize for theoretical physics. He pretty much just called up 9 physicists and said “Hey, I’m giving you 3 million for being smart.” Of course non-winners are complaining because they are babies, but it’s his money and he can do what he wants. So stuff it, “Peter Woit, a mathematician at Columbia University in New York.”

“The intention was to say that science is as important as shares trading on Wall Street,” Milner toldNature. The money comes with no strings attached, but he hopes that the prize will raise public recognition of theoretical physics and that the award recipients will deliver public lectures that will become as popular as Richard Feynman’s famous lectures on physics.

If someone who got rich from social media wants hard science to become more popular, can we please just support him?

sciencejokes: http://sciencejokes.tumblr.com

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:14:20 -0400

sciencejokes:

http://sciencejokes.tumblr.com

Get the Clubs Ready! Bird Flu Spreads to Baby Seals!

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:06:11 -0400

Get the Clubs Ready! Bird Flu Spreads to Baby Seals! :

Watch out for that seal-lover Morrissey, too. He’s probably got H3N8 - the new iteration - all over his clothes. God, look at these little murderers.

Dinosaurs Were Not As Big As We Thought

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:16:00 -0400

Dinosaurs Were Not As Big As We Thought:

Total bummer. They apparently only weighed about half as much as we thought, which conjures for me images of tying a brachiosaurus to a string and flying it like a kite. But that’s not true either, so what’s the point of dinosaurs any more?