Fuck the free world

17butterbeers: untitled by Laura Manfre on Flickr.

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:01:14 -0400

untitled by Laura Manfre on Flickr.

Star systems great and small Upper image: Comparison of blue...

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:01:33 -0400

Star systems great and small

Upper image: Comparison of blue hypergiant R66 with its disk of dusty material, and our Solar system.

Lower image: The sun-like star 55 Cancri A and 4 members of its planetary system, compared with the brown dwarf Cha 110913-773444 with a hypothetical planetary system (this brown dwarf is known to have a protoplanetary disk).

Quentin Tarantino + Trunk Shots

Sat, 18 May 2013 06:00:45 -0400

Quentin Tarantino + Trunk Shots

rpgmaker: thatbatterisaspy: hairandbeardkommando: punk’s...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:01:01 -0400

rpgmaker:

thatbatterisaspy:

hairandbeardkommando:

punk’s not dead

Heosemys spinosa is an endangered species.

punk’s almost dead

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:01:19 -0400

fuckyeahdinoart: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:00:58 -0400

fuckyeahdinoart:

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens

Put all your bad omens aside— This is what it really means when...

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:01:17 -0400

Put all your bad omens aside
— This is what it really means when a planet is in retrograde

You usually hear about a planet being “in retrograde” from astrologers, which might give you the impression that the term is mystical jargon. In fact, it does have an astronomical meaning. That meaning just happens to come from a rather outdated concept, when the Earth was still the center of the solar system. Today, it explains why planets seem to go backwards in the sky.

A long time ago, some astronomer looked at the sky, noticed that one of these moving stars had started moving backwards, and thought, “This can’t be good.” That set the precedent for the astrological concept of retrograde astronomical motion as an omen of bad times for people on Earth.

When people finally understood that Earth and the traveling stars were actually all planets moving around a central sun, things became a bit more clear. The reason they change direction is because our orbits are different. In the case with Earth and Mars, Mars has a longer orbit and so when we overtake the planet we view it on the starry background as if it is moving backwards.

Retrograde Mars (APOD)

Via io9

erikjohnsonillustrator: “The Ride” by Rodolphe Guenoden

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:01:36 -0400

erikjohnsonillustrator:

“The Ride” by Rodolphe Guenoden

animated-disney-gifs:

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:00:47 -0400

animated-disney-gifs:

Audio

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:01:08 -0400

we-are-star-stuff: Why do we have eyebrows? Eyebrows are a...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:01:18 -0400

we-are-star-stuff:

Why do we have eyebrows?

Eyebrows are a very significant aspect of our appearance. They are one of the most distinctive features that make up our faces, and we pay a lot of attention to them. We think of some types of eyebrows as attractive and some as unattractive, and many people spend as much time preening their eyebrows as they do applying makeup to their eyelashes or lips. Eyebrows are also one of our most expressive facial features. One of the clearest ways to tell somebody what you’re thinking is to simply move your eyebrows up or down - we all know what different eyebrow positions mean.

So, eyebrows obviously serve a lot of functions in our culture today - beauty, nonverbal communication, distinctive appearance. But why are they there in the first place? As we evolved and lost most of the thick hair on our bodies, why did we keep that little bit over the eyes?

Scientists aren’t entirely sure why we kept this hair, but they have a pretty good guess. We know that eyebrows help keep moisture out of our eyes when we sweat or walk around in the rain. The arch shape diverts the rain or sweat around to the sides of our face, keeping our eyes relatively dry. The most obvious advantage of this is that it lets us see clearly when we’re sweating a lot or out in the rain. Without eyebrows, getting around in these conditions is a little more difficult. The shape of your brow itself diverts a certain amount of moisture, but eyebrows make a significant difference in your ability to see. Diverting the sweat away is also good because the salt in sweat irritates the eyes, making them sting a little.

What could replace eyebrows?

There are a number of ways eyebrows might have helped early man survive. Being able to see more clearly in the rain could certainly help you find shelter, and there are several circumstances when keeping the sweat out of your eyes could save your life. If you were trying to outrun a predator, for example, it’s a good bet there would be a lot sweat running down your face. If all that sweat flowed right down into your eyes, you wouldn’t be able to see that well, and your eyes would be irritated, which would certainly impair your ability to escape. Because of this slight survival advantage, nature would most likely select for humans with eyebrows over humans without eyebrows.

Most scientists are inclined to believe that if we didn’t have eyebrows, something else would have evolved to help the situation. For example, humans could have developed incredibly thick eyelashes to shield out excess sweat or rain. Or, our skulls could have continued to protrude so that they formed a ledge above our eyes - rain or sweat would then drop from that ledge straight away from our faces, without going in our eyes.

serendipitousramblings: This makes me inexplicably happy.

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:01:11 -0400

serendipitousramblings:

This makes me inexplicably happy.

mevsthesea: gifcraft: Source: Aging Face Transformation I...

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:01:02 -0400

mevsthesea:

gifcraft:

Source: Aging Face Transformation

I can’t stop looking at this

Photo

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:01:31 -0400

nikhampshire: xofcommander: Star Wars: Actors Unmasked May The...

Tue, 14 May 2013 06:00:50 -0400

nikhampshire:

xofcommander:

Star Wars: Actors Unmasked

May The Fourth Be With You

i was about to be mad about no love for james earl jones, but in the grander scheme, david prowse got pretty fucked so i’ll give him this one.

restlesslochness: I may or may not have drawn a series of Edgar...

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:01:28 -0400

restlesslochness:

I may or may not have drawn a series of Edgar Allan Poe cartoon portraits and put it on my english teachers office door….

Lenticular clouds over Mount Fuji, Japan. These are stationary...

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:01:36 -0400

Lenticular clouds over Mount Fuji, Japan. These are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, usually perpendicular to the direction of the wind.

colchrishadfield: Lake Balaton, Hungary. A lovely vacation...

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:01:02 -0400

colchrishadfield:

Lake Balaton, Hungary. A lovely vacation destination on the water with spring’s new growth visible all around.

piavalesca: lower antelope canyon.put it into perspective.

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:03:23 -0400

piavalesca:

lower antelope canyon.
put it into perspective.

princess-bubblescum: thegoddamazon: dragonsplash: blaze-ferrar...

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:01:09 -0400

princess-bubblescum:

thegoddamazon:

dragonsplash:

blaze-ferrari:

Evolution Simplified

This photoset should be required reading for every citizen.

FINALLY

I had to explain this in philosophy yesterday. to fellow adults.