A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has shown that an extra copy of a brain-development gene, which appeared in our ancestors’ genomes about 2.4 million years ago, allowed maturing neurons to migrate farther and develop more connections.
I’ve had librarians say to me, “People in my school don’t agree with homosexuality, so it’s difficult to have your book on the shelves.” Here’s the thing: Being gay is not an issue, it is an identity. It is not something that you can agree or disagree with. It is a fact, and must be defended and represented as a fact.
To use another part of my identity as an example: if someone said to me, “I’m sorry, but we can’t carry that book because it’s so Jewish and some people in my school don’t agree with Jewish culture,” I would protest until I reached my last gasp. Prohibiting gay books is just as abhorrent…
Discrimination is not a legitimate point of view. Silencing books silences the readers who need them most. And silencing these readers can have dire, tragic consequences. Never forget who these readers are. They are just as curious and anxious about life as any other teenager.
Extinctions are natural in a species lifetime however what is concerning about the current extinctions is the rate of which it’s happening.The big deal is that if species are lost they are lost forever, meaning that we lose all of what we could have learned. Species can teach us alot from design of new materials, understanding behavioural patterns and they are generally pretty. On top of which because every life form is linked the loss of one species usually leads to the loss of another. Further life is what makes Earth interesting and everyone should take some part in conserving species and there are some organisations that do. WWF.RSPB. Nature Conservancy.
Image via: NY times
The Bright Side of Death
Contemplating death doesn’t necessarily lead to morose despondency, fear, aggression or other negative behaviors, as previous research has suggested. Following a review of dozens of studies, University of Missouri researchers found that thoughts of mortality can lead to decreased militaristic attitudes, better health decisions, increased altruism and helpfulness, and reduced divorce rates.
More Here > http://machineslikeus.com/news/bright-side-death
Scientists have discovered a way to regenerate muscle tissue after a heart attack
Heart attacks are really bad news for a lot of reasons, one of which is that even in a smaller, non-fatal heart attack, you can come away with a good deal of damage to the heart muscles, increasing your chance of future heart attacks. But now, scientists have discovered how to regenerate healthy muscle tissue after a heart attack, reducing the chances for a second.
Mary Jamis, a lesbian woman, was ARRESTED yesterday after she and her partner sought a marriage license in North Carolina.
Share this if you think it’s outrageous.
I think the amendment is ridiculous and backward. But she was arrested because she refused to leave the office until they issued a marriage license. Not for seeking a license in the first place. It’s an important distinction.
That’s true. But it’s absolutely outrageous someone can be arrested for demanding the right to marry the person she loves.
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
If a report of mugging was treated like a report of rape.
Word indeed.
SARAH, READ THIS, THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!
(via illseeyouwhenwerebothnotsobased)
The more I study genetics, the more I’m convinced I shouldn’t have kids
(Source: torrie77)
This is not a puff of smoke inside a room. It’s a real cloud, just like the ones in the sky, made of microscopic water droplets, but trapped in a closed building. Unlike naturally generated clouds, this one is completely artificial.
Historically, and even today, prostitution isn’t about sexual insatiability. Prostitution for women is about economics. Women don’t turn to prostitution because they can’t get enough sex. Women turn to prostitution, when they aren’t forced into it, because they need to eat and pay the bills.
Men, by contrast, do pursue prostitutes for pleasure. That is, whoring is being driven by an insatiable sexual appetite—but it’s the appetite of of males, not females.
Generally speaking, women aren’t very promiscuous. Males, by contrast, are extraordinarily slutty. And if that’s the case, then why are women rather than men called sluts?
A psychological study in this regard. A group of researchers had attractive assistants approach men and women of the opposite sex on a college campus. After a few minutes of chit chat the assistant would sexually proposition the student. The question was, what percent of women would agree to have sex with an attractive man after a few minutes of conversation? And what percent of men would agree to have sex with an attractive woman after a few minutes of conversation?
Seventy-five percent of the males agreed to have sex. The women?
Zero percent.
Generally speaking, women are choosy and discriminating when it comes to sex. Men not so much.
In short, from an empirical standpoint men are the whores.
And if that’s the case, why are women always cast as whores, even in the bible, as the sexually insatiable ones?
There are so many truthbombs in the above text, the ground is still shaking from the impact.
(Source: azspot, via sarahlee310)
Saw this posted on another tumblr. No idea where it’s from originally. Really pretty.
