So Happy To Finally Share This Shot With You: A Conjunction Of The ISS And The Moon. This Shot Required

non-basic study tips ive derived myself as a stem major lol

going from easiest to hardest to implement

i have very big trouble with focusing and interest so a lot of this will relate to attention retention

- look up the problems on your past tests. chances are your lecturer is consistently pulling them from 1-3 sources (true for most intro classes)

-practice with a timer since day 0 of learning about a new topic. this will prevent you from short circuiting on the exam and forgetting all about the topic you've studied for hours

-as you are going through a problem, mumble your thought process as if you are ochem tutor 2.0

- if you are multilingual, try taking lecture notes in a language other than the one they are provided in - this will force you to think critically about the material you are writing down

-leave. work. at the work table. dont think about assignments when you are spending time with friends or family.

-in general, the intensity of my background noise is inversely proportional to my stimulation levels usually i try to go ambient noise -> lofi/instrumentals -> study vlogs -> music with lyrics however, if you can take a break instead of listening to music that will make you more restless, it is better to do that

-usually, the boredom from practicing something boring does not feel as bad as realizing you have understudied that topic. persevere. you can do it!

self-flagellation and self-bullying are all bad motivators for change BTW. it can be hard to escape from a spiral but genuinely u have to be nice to urself or nothing will change

Nikola Tesla, painted by Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy.

i hate this fucking "i'm just a girl" brand of feminism bc it is so easy for young women in their 20s who are afraid of big changes and personal growth to revert to depending on their gender and the associated fragility of it so that they can make it through life when really they're just trapping themselves in a position where they cannot and will not grow out of that fear.

northern lights photographed from space

Today’s Exhibit of the Day? It’s one of the largest amethyst geodes in the world! At about 13 ft (4 m) tall and 9,000 lbs (4,082 kg), this giant weighs about as much as three compact cars. It was born when molten magma poured from the Earth’s crust some 135 million years ago. While its dazzling purple crystals might catch your eye, this geode would have originally been composed of colorless quartz—its distinctive amethyst color deriving from millenia of natural radiation, heat, and trace contaminants. 

You can spot this geode, and other sparkly specimens, in the Museum’s Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. We're open daily from 10 am-5:30 pm! Plan your visit.

Photo: D. Finnin/ © AMNH

Right to Repair Therapy

For me, right to to repair isn't just about ewaste, and preventing corporate gouging.

It's about mental health. Being able to fix your gadgets is therapeutic. Empowering. Good for the soul.

Today I fixed my expensive bluetooth earbuds. Their batteries couldn't hold a charge for a full hour. (Turns out this was due to a botched firmware update and totally Sony's fault!)

This is the guide I used:

iFixit

Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Earbuds battery replacement

This repair guide will show you how to replace ...

We tried a course of new firmware but the patients continued to deteriorate (as the specialist predicted.) Surgical intervention was unavoidable. The patients are currently convalescing in the charging dock. The procedure was smooth and they will only have minor scars, but a full recovery cannot be guaranteed until they reach full power and take one last course of software updates.

Surgery was successful. The seams won’t be the same ever. But it’s only noticeable if I look for it.

In a world full of complex technology it's easy to feel small and helpless. And maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but I think that if everyone could experience the joy of fixing or modifying a gadget now and then we'd all be a little more open minded, a little more daring. A little harder to push around.