the power of science

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

ununnilium:

Person A: I love science!

Person B: *hands them a peer-reviewed journal*

Person A: It takes a lot of time and energy to develop literacy in those. People’s enjoyment of the things science can do for them shouldn’t be dismissed or shamed because of their lack of education, or their appreciation of the “shiny” parts of science. Those parts are important, both for bringing the benefits of science to more people, and simply for bringing more beauty to life. But you knew that, didn’t you… BARON VON DESTRUCTOID!

Person B (actually Baron von Destructoid): CURSES! My attempt to stifle youth appreciation of science – foiled again! Get him, my Destructrons!

Person A (actually Captain Science): Ha ha! *wzap* *kbam* *pow*

And once again the day is saved, by Science!, and by Not Being Judgmental About Other People’s Engagement With the World!

Tags:

#the power of science

Happy Smallpox Eradication Day

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

ilzolende:

rageofthedogstar:

Today’s a good day for sharing one of my favorite essays:

It was in Ancient Egypt, where it attacked slave and pharaoh alike. In Rome, it effortlessly decimated armies. It killed in Syria. It killed in Moscow. In India, five million dead. It killed a thousand Europeans every day in the 18th century. It killed more than fifty million Native Americans. From the Peloponnesian War to the Civil War, it slew more soldiers and civilians than any weapon, any soldier, any army (Not that this stopped the most foolish and empty souls from attempting to harness the demon as a weapon against their enemies).

Cultures grew and faltered, and it remained. Empires rose and fell, and it thrived. Ideologies waxed and waned, but it did not care. Kill. Maim. Spread. An ancient, mad god, hidden from view, that could not be fought, could not be confronted, could not even be comprehended.

…

35 years ago, on December 9th, 1979, humanity declared victory.

This one evil, the horror from beyond memory, the monster that took 500 million people from this world – was destroyed.

You are a member of the species that did that. Never forget what we are capable of, when we band together and declare battle on what is broken in the world.

December 9th was when it was first declared eradicated by a group of scientists. Their conclusion was endorsed by the WHO on May 8th, 35 years ago today.

Happy Smallpox Eradication Day, everyone! [stims excitedly]

Tags:

#smallpox #history #the power of science #proud citizen of The Future

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

justice-turtle:

study-blr:

angrybabysitter:

terezi-pie-rope:

carlboygenius:

10 Tyson Tweets

the fucking last one

the alphabet one is awesome

THESE ARE BRILLIANT.
(Can someone explain the alphabet one to me? My sleep deprived brain cannot comprehend.)

I presume the names of the alphabet letters are being spelled out phonetically and then alphabetized — “ay, aitch, arr, bee” and so on. Of course the exact order depends on how one phonetically transcribes the letter names; I would’ve started with “eh, bee, see” not “ay, bee, see”, but then vowels are tricky and most of what gives us varying accents. ^_^

Tags:

#the more you know #anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #death tw

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

its-a-conspiracy-man:

Psychology: Why do people do the thing?

Sociology: How do people who do the thing interact with other people who do the thing?

Anthropology: Who else has done/is doing the thing and where are they?

Philosophy: What is the meaning of the thing? Where did the thing come from?

Geology: Is the thing a rock?

Tags:

#anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

jtotheizzoe:

skunkbear:

Last year, people came up with some pretty great #ScienceValentines – let’s keep that rolling! How would you express your love for that special scientist in your life? Tweet @nprscience or message me, and I’ll collect the best ones.

(Bonus points if you can somehow incorporate landing on a comet)

Our bond is so strong, it don’t need oxytocin.
We’re woven together like a corpus callosum.
The love we impart, though it’s felt in our heart,
Is more of a limbic-type notion.

Tags:

#valentines #anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #illness tw #death tw #puns #this is an interesting collection of tags #oh also #the power of science