elle oh elle
My name is Elle, I'm nineteen years old, and I prefer to use female pronouns.
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"A system that values obedience over curiosity isn’t education and it definitely isn’t science."
Florida Teen Tried With Felony For Trying Science
A beautiful rant about misguided public science education and how the fear of punishment kills curiosity, especially for minorities because they tend to receive harsher punishments, and for the poor because punishments end up being harsher on them when something like bail ends up putting their families even farther in debt.
(via kindofamenace)
(via gentlemanofthefuture)
Bilateral gynandromorphism: a really fancy way of saying “half male, half female”.This genetic anomaly is usually restricted to arthropods, but has been known to express itself in birds, as well. More interesting reading here.
(Source: , via feels-like-fire)
Japan’s Robot Suit Gets Global Safety Certificate
A robot suit that can help the elderly or disabled get around was given its global safety certificate in Japan on Wednesday, paving the way for its worldwide rollout.
The Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs developed by Japanese robot maker Cyberdyne, which has also developed similar robot arms.
A quality assurance body issued the certificate based on a draft version of an international safety standard for personal robots that is expected to be approved later this year, the ministry for the economy, trade and industry said.
The metal-and-plastic exoskeleton has become the first nursing-care robot certified under the draft standard, a ministry official said.
Battery-powered HAL, which detects muscle impulses to anticipate and support the user’s body movements, is designed to help the elderly with mobility or help hospital or nursing carers to lift patients.
Cyberdyne, based in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, has so far leased some 330 suits to 150 hospitals, welfare and other facilities in Japan since 2010, at 178,000 yen ($1,950) per suit per year.
“It is very significant that Japan has obtained this certification before others in the world,” said Yoshiyuki Sankai, the head of Cyberdyne.
The company is unrelated to the firm of the same name responsible for the cyborg assassin played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film “The Terminator”.
“This is a first step forward for Japan, the great robot nation, to send our message to the world about robots of the future,” said Sankai, who is also a professor at Tsukuba University.
A different version of HAL — coincidentally the name of the evil supercomputer in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” — has been developed for workers who need to wear heavy radiation protection as part of the clean-up at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Industrial robots have long been used in Japan, and robo-suits are gradually making inroads into hospitals and retirement homes.
But critics say the government has been slow in creating a safety framework for such robots in a country whose rapidly-ageing population is expected to enjoy ever longer lives.
(via mad-man-with-a-scarf)
A tip from your favorite nurse
(that’d be me)
Always have eggs in your fridge
You just never know when someone will split their head open
Or cut their finger while cooking
And so on
See that membrane there?
While the blood is gushing - hold pressure and crack open an egg
Peel that there membrane off and put it on the wound (continue holding pressure)
The membrane will harden and keep the wound closed until you can get to the ER for stitches
If you even need them that is
Nature: 1, Band aids: 0
You’re welcome.
I did some research on this (because I do that now, fucking science get out) and it seems that this was done in the early 1900s somewhat frequently. It was used as a way to treat just about any kind of skin wound, from burn to cut to in at least one case an ulcer. It actually helps the wound heal not by preventing blood loss but by replacing part of the skin tissue and helping it grow.
It also helps in healing scars and reducing their visibility.
Whoah science.
Neato.
Supercool.
(via vsquaredk)
Overly Honest Methods: Uncovering the hilarious truth behind how science actually gets done
Earlier this week, in a fit of comedic inspiration, a postdoc named Leigh tweeted a funny lab confession and included the hashtag #overlyhonestmethods. By the end of the day, dozens of scientists had joined in, and the result is nothing short of hilarious.Science is an incredibly painstaking and difficult process, and in addition to being quite funny, these tweets pull back the curtain on just how human a process research really is. Some of them had me raising my eyebrows right after I finished giggling, because please tell me you didn’t actually do that. Others had me nodding sagely in agreement, because sometimes you drop a tube or run out of a chemical and the world has to keep on turning, man.
Check out this collection of 75 of the best, and Robert Gonzalez has picked quite a few gems at io9. What are your favorites? Got any confessions?
(via scienceing)
Infographic by Mezzmer
(Source: the-science-llama, via endquestionmark)
Bridging the Zap
When very high voltages are applied to water in two adjacent beakers, they spontaneously form a “water bridge”. It’s a phenomena that, despite being known for more than 100 years, is not completely understood to this day. It is thought that the extreme voltages, in the thousands of volts, are able to pull the positive and negative charges of the water apart in a way that the thread can overcome gravity.
From this video. Read more here.
(via Science-Based Life)
"
Many adults are put off when youngsters pose scientific questions. Children ask why the sun is yellow, or what a dream is, or how deep you can dig a hole, or when is the world’s birthday, or why we have toes. Too many teachers and parents answer with irritation or ridicule, or quickly move on to something else. Why adults should pretend to omniscience before a five-year-old, I can’t for the life of me understand. What’s wrong with admitting that you don’t know? Children soon recognize that somehow this kind of question annoys many adults. A few more experiences like this, and another child has been lost to science.
There are many better responses. If we have an idea of the answer, we could try to explain. If we don’t, we could go to the encyclopedia or the library. Or we might say to the child: “I don’t know the answer. Maybe no one knows. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll be the first to find out.”
"Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as the Candle in The Dark
Not being afraid of not knowing is the first step on the road to true discovery.
(via skaterboytae)
(via jtotheizzoe)
Korean designers Je Sung Park and Woo Jung Kwon have developed an invisible umbrella that will keep you dry by repelling rain. Consisting of a simple plastic stick that creates an artificial wind at the top, the ‘umbrella’ deflects raindrops before they hit you by sucking in air at the bottom. The intensity of this wind-shield can be varied depending on weather condition and number of people sharing the device—the length of the stick is also adjustable.
MY DREAM FOR USING THE ELEMENTS MORE EFFICIENTLY IS COMING TRUE.
My god
Whoaaaa
(via endquestionmark)
Slippery Dick (Halichoeres bivittatus)
The slippery dick is a species of ocean dwelling fish belonging to the wrasse family. There is a wide colour variation within the species, with colours ranging from purple to green.
Kevin Bryant on Flickr
(via endquestionmark)
The Floral X-rays of Brendan Fitzpatrick are just breathtaking. Check out more at the link.
Nature is full of numerical and geometric patterns, some we can see from the outside and some require that we take on a new perspective (just look at how those rose petals are stacked!!). Some of those patterns are probably coincidental, but some of them are likely a result of nature’s inner workings.
Want to explore more? Take a ride with Vi Hart through the mathematical patterns of pinecones, pineapples and flowers. And then discover the multitudes of mathematical patterns in nature with Cristóbal Vila’s amazing video Nature by Numbers.
What do you think? Are these patterns coincidental or are they proof of some inherent design rules in biology and nature?
“The problem is that date rape drugs are odorless, colorless, and tasteless once they’re in your drink. We all know not to leave our drinks unattended, but the reality is it’s impossible to keep an eye on your drink all night. So what’s the solution? With the help of Dr. John MacDonald, a professor of chemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and with the help of Contract Researching Organizations, DrinkSavvy is developing material that will immediately change color to warn you if a drug is slipped into your drink.”
There’s more information at the startup’s Indiegogo site. An NECN interview sheds a little extra light on the subject, and WPI has recognized the project’s potential with a prestigious award.
So Tumblr. You’re notorious for attacking rape culture; just think how much this could do to fix that problem. At time of posting DrinkSavvy is at $2,500 of its $50,000 goal. Let’s signal boost it.
(via bladeddarkness)
