Corvus corax principalis - Northern Raven (Common Raven)
Ravens are incredibly smart. Young ravens are actually playful, much like mammalian youth are - this builds up their brains and coordination that they use so much as an adult. Even the adults play around sometimes, taunting wolves and dogs, playing catch-me-if-you-can. It’s very rare that a canine can catch a raven when the bird initiates a game; they don’t have any element of surprise, nor are they adept at catching flighted animals to begin with.
Juvenile ravens have been observed multiple times sliding down snowbanks like fox pups or bear cubs, and ravens of all ages break off twigs and sticks and play social games with them. It’s fascinating to watch, especially if you have a full “conspiracy" or “unkindness" [archaic collective nouns, now known as a simple flock] living nearby.
Portraits and Habits of our Birds: National Association of Audubon Societies. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 1921.
(via biomedicalephemera)
Earlier in June, Mr. Putin signed yet another antigay bill, classifying “homosexual propaganda” as pornography. The law is broad and vague, so that any teacher who tells students that homosexuality is not evil, any parents who tell their child that homosexuality is normal, or anyone who makes pro-gay statements deemed accessible to someone underage is now subject to arrest and fines. Even a judge, lawyer or lawmaker cannot publicly argue for tolerance without the threat of punishment.
Finally, it is rumored that Mr. Putin is about to sign an edict that would remove children from their own families if the parents are either gay or lesbian or suspected of being gay or lesbian. The police would have the authority to remove children from adoptive homes as well as from their own biological parents.
I wish people talked about this more. We talk a lot about anti-gay bigotry in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries, where it undoubtedly does exist, but I wonder how much of the focus on that is driven by the fact that we Other the people living there. Russia is much “closer to home" in many ways, and yet this is rarely talked about.The author of this piece was on the Last Word talking about it in a bit more detail last night. In addition to the immediate dangers and systemic government oppression faced by LGBTQ people in Russia, he mentions the arrest of four Dutch tourists/filmmakers under these laws as well as the danger they additionally pose to anyone traveling to the country for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Because of the culture of the Olympics there’s a tendency and a temptation to gloss over human rights abuses in the host country because of how much of a “downer" it is in light of the glittering majesty of “sport", but the looming closeness of the Olympics also has the potential (through increased media and public attention and boycotts by individual athletes, visiting nations, and tourists) to be used as a tool to pressure Putin and his government towards repealing these laws.
(via slipstreamborne)
“Tavis Smiley Disarms Bill O’Reilly With Suggestion To Arm Every Black Person”
i hate O’Reilly so, so much and it is so hilarious to see him horrified when his own logic is turned against him
(via fishy-lin)
via fuckyeahcells:
Happy Birthday, Rosalind Franklin.
“You look at science (or at least talk of it) as some sort of demoralising invention of man, something apart from real life, and which must be cautiously guarded and kept separate from everyday existence. But science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated. Science, for me, gives a partial explanation of life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience and experiment… In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success in our aims (the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future) is worth attaining.”
-R.F. (a letter addressed to her religious father)Tell ‘em, Roz.
(via itsokaytobesmart)
reminder that this is the actual greatest youtube video of all time
the preview image is the girls about to kiss and it doesn’t display the title until you click play so i really didn’t know what to expect
no. watch it. this is the best.
I think this is the greatest thing I have seen in quite some time
i think this is my new favorite video
(via agentnorfdakoda)
One might, upon listening to Blurred Lines be forgiven for believing that Robin Thicke has the emotional range of a 13-year-old boy. However, I am of the opinion that thought does a disservice to horny 13-year-olds everywhere. Its thematic content runs from the frank and slightly bemusing “Give it 2 U", in which the 36-year-old Thicke sings about wanting to have sex with you, to the somewhat disturbing title track, in which Thicke sings about wanting to have sex with you.
That’s not to say the album is worthless - several tracks are catchy and I found myself boogying along to much of the album, especially those tracks which draw influence from disco i.e. “Ain’t No Hat 4 That". However, none of the tracks really felt inspired, indeed, most felt like dull genre pieces to fill gaps between the mega-selling singles - these are songs we’ve heard a hundred times before from a hundred different voices.
Take, for example, “The Good Life", which essentially closes the album. Here, Thicke and his producers take a bumbling piano riff and combine it with some of the most mundane lyrics my ears have ever had the misfortune to be insulted by: “Life takes you up and down/Life spins you all around.” Thanks for that one Robin. Bob Dylan’s kicking himself for not coming up with that.
Given this lack of innovation in the music, the other issues surrounding Thicke’s album, his sixth, are all the more prominent. The endless lusting couplets on wanting to have sex with you, the jarring need to “convince” someone to even come over, when Thicke wants to be with that person for the rest of their life…
And then there is that very famous, oft-parodied, much-debated video.
A video in which Thicke repeatedly murmurs, “I know you want it” into a silenced and naked woman’s ear. “Blurred Lines" denies women any agency- they are unable to say “No!” to Thicke, because, apparently, he knows that they, and indeed you, as the listener, want him. Even if they attempt to say so, they are silenced. Thicke then had the guts to claim in The Times that “It’s humorous! It’s a joke! It’s like telling a girl, ‘Hey I got a big ol’ dick.’”
I surely cannot be the only one left uncomfortable by this artist. True, a great deal of contemporary music is misogynistic, yet there is a particularly creepy version of that sexism present here in Thicke – or should I say #Thicke, as his inane attempt to connect with the kids suggests. I did enjoy parts of this album, but found aspects of it disturbing and most of it dull, not least the endless return to the same lusty, misogynistic thematic content.
★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(via hitsvilleuk)
My God. Patient Zero.
I never thought I would actually ever see this, but there it is wow
The Beginning
“I had been the author of unalterable evils; and I live in daily fear, lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness.“
Monstrosities of Evolution
These bizarre illustrations are from Ulisse Aldrovandi’s 1642 book, History of Monsters (Monstrorum Historia). Although the illustrations are extremely bizarre, they depict Aldrovandi’s vivid imagination and vast education in natural history, science and the diversity of life, including monsters.
Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) is considered the founder of modern Natural History. The Ulisse Aldrovandi Museum is housed in the Museo di Palazzo Poggi di Scienza e Arte and is located in his hometown of Bologna, Italy. His Storia Naturale, a 13 volume printed work, was conceived as the most complete description of the three kingdoms of nature - mineral, vegetable and animal - available at that time.
Aldrovandi was an extremely educated man. Born to a noble family, he obtained degrees in medicine and philosophy, with further interests in botany, zoology and geology. He became the first professor of natural sciences at the University of Bologna. Of the hundred of books and essays he wrote, only a handful were published during his lifetime.
Nearing the time of his death, he proudly stated that his home held a collection of 18,000 “different natural things,” and 7,000 dried plants displayed in fifteen volumes. The seventeen volumes with drawings of animals, plants, minerals and monstrosities are an integral part of the museum.
(via degenerate-perturbation)