A future gazing out

fer1972: Salto de Fe by Omar Ortiz

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:40:30 -0400

fer1972:

Salto de Fe by Omar Ortiz

seafarers: Morning in Prague by Markus Grunau

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:32:35 -0400

seafarers:

Morning in Prague by Markus Grunau

mucholderthen: Canine Evolutionary Tree | Credit:...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:04:59 -0400

mucholderthen:

Canine Evolutionary Tree | Credit: Laurie O’Keefe
Science Photo Library (via X)

THE WOLVES WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD
The dog, Canis familiaris, is a direct descendant of the gray wolf, Canis lupus. In other words, dogs as we know them are domesticated wolves.

Or: humans as we know them are domesticated hominids. Wolves seem to have taken the initiative, leading to today’s dogs and their humans.

Darwin was wrong about dogs. He thought their remarkable diversity must reflect interbreeding with several types of wild dogs. But the DNA findings say differently. All modern dogs are descendants of wolves, though this domestication may have happened twice, producing groups of dogs descended from two unique common ancestors.

How and when this domestication happened has been a matter of speculation. It was thought until the end of the 20th century that dogs were wild until about 12,000 years ago. But DNA analysis suggests a possible date of about 100,000 years ago for the transformation of wolves to dogs. This means that wolves began to adapt to human society long before humans settled down and began practicing agriculture.

This casts doubt on the long-held belief that humans domesticated dogs to serve as guards or companions. Rather, say some experts, dogs [i.e., wolves] may have exploited a niche they discovered in early human society and got humans to take them in out of the cold.

Evolution Library

Photo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:03:08 -0400

kenobi-wan-obi: Perihelion and Aphelion The closest point to...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:37:29 -0400

kenobi-wan-obi:

Perihelion and Aphelion

The closest point to the Sun in a planet’s orbit is called Perihelion. The furthest point is called Aphelion. The planet moves fastest at perihelion and slowest at aphelion.

GIFs extracted from Year On Earth

Planets in our Solar System orbit the Sun. The orbits of some planets are almost perfect circles, but others are not. Some orbits are shaped more like ovals, or “stretched out” circles.

Scientists call these oval shapes “ellipses”. If a planet’s orbit is a circle, the Sun is at the center of that circle. If, instead, the orbit is an ellipse, the Sun is at a point called the “focus” of the ellipse, which is not quite the same as the center.

Since the Sun is not at the center of an elliptical orbit, the planet moves closer towards and further away from the Sun as it orbits. The place where the planet is closest to the Sun is called perihelion.

When the planet is furthest away from the Sun, it is at aphelion. The words “aphelion” and “perihelion” come from the Greek language. In Greek, “helios” mean Sun, “peri” means near, and “apo” means away from.

sagansense: Our World in Space | Robert McCall

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:31:46 -0400

sagansense:

Our World in Space | Robert McCall

ART HISTORY MEME [1/8] artists: Frida Kahlo de...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:30:42 -0400

_{ART HISTORY MEME [1/8] artists: Frida Kahlo de Rivera (1907-1954)}

_{Born in Mexico in 1907, Kahlo is most renowned for her self-portraits and the way they encapsulate pain and passion through intense, vibrant colours. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.}

whendogmetdolphin: From Wired: AUSTIN, Texas — Each year,...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:20:36 -0400

whendogmetdolphin:

From Wired:

AUSTIN, Texas — Each year, movie nerds flock to the South by Southwest Film Festival for the chance to see scads of movies at the cinephile-friendly, beer-serving Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s Ritz Theater. This year, however, Alamo Drafthouse is offering something for TV fantasy nerds too — a gallery show of original Game of Thrones art.

That’s right. The brains behind Mondo – the Alamo collectible-art division responsible for all of those rad movie posters – have asked a talented crew of artists to make original pieces based on the HBO show. The result is a series of eight screen prints and nearly 30 pieces of original art – the latter of which, along with two of the screen prints, will be on display at a Mondo gallery event beginning Friday and running through March 14.

More photos over at Wired.

[via Fuck Yeah Game of Thrones Art]

Photo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:13:55 -0400

thequeerbler: Hello friends! We are opening submissions for the...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:09:53 -0400

thequeerbler:

Hello friends! We are opening submissions for the FIRST EVER volume of The Queerbler, a Harry Potter fanzine for Queer Stuff, which will be available as an ACTUAL HARD COPY PRINTED ZINE for purchase (but not profit!) on July 31st, 2013.

Right now we need submissions! We are looking for anything and everything made by queer fans about Harry Potter stuff. If you consider yourself queer, this means you! We are absolutely not going to split hairs about your identity.

Direct any submissions or questions you may have to thequeerbler@gmail.com! (And follow this tumblr for updates.)

SIGNAL BOOST!!!! I know some of my followers are really talented!

jtotheizzoe: fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Underwater explosions are,...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:09:29 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Underwater explosions are, in general, much more dangerous than those in air. This video shows an underwater blast at 30,000 fps. During the initial blast, a hot sphere of gas expands outward in a shock wave. In air, some of the energy of this pressure wave would be dissipated by compressing the air. Since water is incompressible, however, the blast instead moves water aside as the bubble expands. Eventually, the bubble expands to the point where its pressure is less than that of the water around it, which causes the bubble to collapse. But the collapse increases the gas pressure once more, kicking off a series of expansions and collapses. Each bubble contains less energy than the previous, thanks to the loss of pushing the water aside. (Video credit: K. Kitagawa)

If you needed something to make a science GIF out of this weekend, here’s a good subject.

Whoa.

I am reblogging because is it me or do these two look VERY...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:42:00 -0400

I am reblogging because is it me or do these two look VERY similar? Their noses, smiles, and chins are almost exactly alike. Now I’m a bit weirded out.