Thesis Hatement - Illustration for Slate.com
Meet the experimental city of Masdar on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. It’s a walled city “of the future” experimenting with different technologies, designed to be green and fully sustainable blah blah, and the entire transportation system is a network of underground driverless electric pod cars.
It’s impressive as hell.
[Second image, the late politcal cartoonist, Rex Babin]
Misconception: Evolution and The Theory of Evolution are the same thing.
Though the two are related, in a way, they are not the same thing!
Biological evolution is a change in the genetic characteristics of a population over time. That this happens is a FACT. Biological evolution also refers to the common descent of living organisms from shared ancestors. The evidence for historical evolution — genetic, fossil, anatomical, etc. — is so overwhelming that it is also considered a fact. The theory of evolution describes the mechanisms that cause evolution.So evolution is both a fact and a theory.[source]
One of my personal favorite examples of recent evolution is a (practically textbook example) moth, illustrated above in both it’s lighter origin and darker, more common appearance.
A classic example of evolution which can be found in many textbooks. Originally, the vast majority of peppered moths (Biston betularia) had a light, mottled coloring which was a good camouflage against predators. Before the industrial revolution, a uniformly dark variant of the peppered moth made up 2% of the species. After the industrial revolution, 95% of peppered moths showed this dark coloration. The best explanation as to why this change in the species occurred is that the light moths lost their advantage of camouflage as light surfaces were darkened by pollution, and so light moths were eaten more frequently by birds.[source]
The second image depicts the ridiculous arguments against both evolution and the Theory of Evolution made by creationists and over religious fundies.
This is a very good post. I am an evolution enthusiast, but in my mind (before I read this post) the phenomenon of evolution and its mechanisms were the same thing. Now I know that they aren’t. Everyone needs to read this.
Can someone from the sciencey side of tumblr please explain this ?
This is called shape memory. It’s made from an alloy of titanium and nickel (I believe it’s called nitinol). It has the ability to “remember” the shape it’s taken.
When cold you can bend it whatever which way, but once you heat it (or in this case put it in what I presume is hot water) it will take the original shape.
WHAT!!?!?!?!?
Am I the only one laughing about science tumblr seeming like a bunch of wizards that you can call on whenever you need an explanation and we all appear out of thin air?
^^
My Juliette et Justine parasol arrived today! I was amazed at how quick the shipping was from Japan (and grateful I did not get dinged for custom fees!). It came very well-packed in a thin box with several layers of bubble wrap. The box was a bit dented but the parasol was safe inside.
The print is even more beautiful in person! I literally squealed out loud when I first opened it up. The inside is a little dull, because of the UV shield fabric, but the construction is very solid and overall I feel it was a great purchase for the price. It was 6,000 yen, a bit more pricey than most brand parasols, but the printing and design are both highly detailed, so I feel the extra cost is more than justified. They restocked last night but seem to have sold out already, unfortunately!
Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy, in case you hadn’t heard. How dare she remove those ticking time bombs from her chest, amiright? Like, hasn’t she learned by now that her body is public domain and we all get to vote on what she does with it? Sheesh, how selfish can ya get.
