Consider that you can see less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum and hear less than 1% of the acoustic spectrum. As you read this, you are traveling at 220 km/sec across the galaxy. 90% of the cells in your body carry their own microbial DNA and are not “you.” The atoms in your body are 99.9999999999999999% empty space and none of them are the ones you were born with, but they all originated in the belly of a star. Human beings have 46 chromosomes, 2 less than the common potato.

The existence of the rainbow depends on the conical photoreceptors in your eyes; to animals without cones, the rainbow does not exist. So you don’t just look at a rainbow, you create it. This is pretty amazing, especially considering that all the beautiful colors you see represent less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum.

NASA Lunar Science Institute, We Originated in the Belly of a Star (2012)

(Source: thinksquad)

thedailywhat:

App of the Day: Figure 1, A Photo Sharing App for Medical Professionals

Movable Science has launched Figure 1, a crowdscourced image library for healthcare professionals. Users can upload photos of medical conditions, x-rays and surgical procedures to help the community gain a greater understanding of how diseases manifest in actual patients. The photos are also shared with patients’ privacy in mind. Faces are automatically identified to be blurred out and additional editing tools are available to safeguard privacy. The app is available for free in iTunes with an Android version on the way.

the-science-llama:

Auroras over North America as Seen from Space

Overnight on October 4-5, 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the Sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. Three days later, the storm from the Sun stirred up the magnetic field around Earth and produced gorgeous displays of northern lights. NASA satellites track such storms from their origin to their crossing of interplanetary space to their arrival in the atmosphere of Earth.

knowledgethroughscience:

The entire surface of planet Mercury has been mapped.
Source & credit.

the-science-llama:

The Root Cause of Diabetes Has Been Identified

A quote from the article

Fiorina and his team studied hundreds of pathways in animals with diabetes. They eventually isolated one, known as ATP/P2X7R, which triggers the T-cell attacks on the pancreas, rendering it unable to produce insulin.

“By identifying the ATP/P2X7R pathway as the early mechanism in the body that fires up an alloimmune response, we found the root cause of diabetes,” says Fiorina. “With the cause identified, we can now focus on treatment options. Everything from drug therapies to transplants that require less immunosuppression is being explored.”

shannahmcgill:

ladytabularasa:

dramaddict:

one guacamole is equal to 6.0221415×10²³ guacas

SO DONE WITH THIS WEBSITE

I only make my guacamole out of the freshest Avogadros.

(Source: beesmygod)

10 Case Reports of Cotard’s Syndrome.

fuckyeahmedicalstuff:

The Cotard delusion, Cotard’s syndrome, or Walking Corpse Syndrome is a rare mental disorder in which people hold a delusional belief that they are dead (either figuratively or literally), do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs. In rare instances, it can include delusions of immortality.

The syndrome is named after Jules Cotard (1840–1889), a French neurologist who first described the condition, which he called le délire de négation (“negation delirium”), in a lecture in Paris in 1880.^[3]^[4] He described the syndrome as having degrees of severity that range from mild to severe. Despair and self-loathing characterize a mild state. Severe state is characterized by intense delusions and chronic depression.

In one of his lectures, Cotard described a patient with the pseudonym of Mademoiselle X, who denied the existence of several parts of her body and her need to eat. Later she believed she was eternally damned and could no longer die a natural death. She later died of starvation.

Cotard’s syndrome has been found to have three distinct stages. In the first stage, Germination, patients exhibit psychotic depression and hypochondriacal symptoms. The second stage, Blooming, is characterized by the full blown development of the syndrome and the delusions of negation. The third stage, Chronic, is characterized by severe delusions and chronic depression.

People with the Cotard Delusion often become withdrawn from others and they tend to neglect their own hygiene and well-being. The delusion makes it impossible for patients to make sense of reality, which results in an extremely distorted view of the world. This delusion is often found in psychotic patients suffering from schizophrenia. While Cotard’s Syndrome doesn’t necessitate hallucinations, the strong delusions are comparable to those found in schizophrenic patients.

we-are-star-stuff:

Russians Recover Fresh Flowing Mammoth Blood

About 15,000 years ago, an old female wooly mammoth plunged through the ice as she was being chased by predators. Her remains have now been uncovered by scientists working in Siberia. And remarkably, as they were digging it out, blood began to stream out - wich is weird given that it was 10° below freezing.

It’s not known if the blood or tissue samples contain living cells required for cloning. And even if such cells are recovered, the DNA repair would require a very complex process that could take years. A report is expected later this July.

The beautifully preserved specimen was discovered partially embedded in a chunk of ice at an excavation on the Lyakhovsky Island, the southernmost group of the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic seas of northeastern Russia.

The mammoth’s lower portions, including the stomach, were locked in the ice for the past 10,000 to 15,000 years. Its lower jaw and tongue were also recovered; the trunk was found separately from the carcass. The upper torso and two legs were preserved in soil and show signs of being gnawed upon by both prehistoric and modern predators.

Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum of Mammoths of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at the North Eastern Federal University, is calling it “the best preserved mammoth in the history of paleontology.”

During the excavation, and as the researchers were chipping away at the ice, they noticed splotches of dark blood in the ice cavities below the mammoth’s belly. When they broke through with a poll pick, blood started to flow out.

“It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties,” noted Grigoriev. Mammoth blood, it would appear, contains a kind of anti-freeze. This is consistent with work done by Canadian geneticists who in 2010 showed that mammoth hemoglobin releases its oxygen much more readily at cold temperatures than that of modern elephants.

In addition to the blood, the paleontologists also recovered well-preserved muscle tissue. The scientists say it has a natural red color of fresh meat. The blood is currently undergoing a bacteriological analysis, and the results are expected soon.

Based on the preliminary evidence, the scientists say the female wooly mammoth was anywhere from 50 to 60 years old and weighed about three tons. They theorize that she was trying to escape from predators when she fell through the ice, or that she got bogged down in a swamp.

kateoplis:

jtotheizzoe:

The radar is malfunctioning. Repeat, the radar is malfunctioning.

Stop. Don’t reblog that helical solar system on the Tumblr Radar or if you find it on a friend’s blog. Don’t like it. Don’t put it on Twitter or tell your friends on Facebook. Don’t go on and on about how you never knew that the solar system traveled this way through space. Don’t make sounds with your mouth like an explosion and say “Mind Blown!” because you never considered that the planets are rotating as they fly through space like a vortex. How did no one ever notice this revolutionary theory before?!?

Because it’s B.S., that’s why. I eviscerated the science (along with Phil Plait) back in March, when it made the rounds the first time. It’s a nifty animation, but it’s just not at all realistic.

As of now it has 130K+ notes on Tumblr, which makes Carl Sagan’s stardust cry. Chances are we can’t get everyone to delete it, but maybe we can spread the word that it isn’t true? And maybe we can at least get it off the radar? Truth soldiers of science, roll out!

Using your imagination to imagine new possibilities is a cornerstone of scientific discovery, but using fancy graphics to fool people into believing bad science is just mean. Here’s why the helical model of the solar system is a toilet-like vortex of bad science.

Well, I certainly don’t want to be part of the herd that makes “Carl Sagan’s stardust cry”; do you?

spaceplasma:

Dirty thunderstorms

A dirty thunderstorm (also, Volcanic lightning) is a weather phenomenon that occurs when lightning is produced in a volcanic plume. A study in the journal Science indicated that electrical charges are generated when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in a volcanic plume collide and produce static charges, just as ice particles collide in regular thunderstorms.