Latest Posts by sanyairana - Page 9
this girl at my school wrote an article and i think you should read it
Semi-synthetic organism: Scientists create first living organism that transmits added letters in DNA ‘alphabet’
Scientists have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA “letters,” or bases, not found in nature; the bacterium’s cells can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA “letters,” or bases, not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied.
"Life on Earth in all its diversity is encoded by only two pairs of DNA bases, A-T and C-G, and what we’ve made is an organism that stably contains those two plus a third, unnatural pair of bases," said TSRI Associate Professor Floyd E. Romesberg, who led the research team. "This shows that other solutions to storing information are possible and, of course, takes us closer to an expanded-DNA biology that will have many exciting applications — from new medicines to new kinds of nanotechnology."
The report on the achievement appears May 7, 2014, in an advance online publication of the journal Nature.
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Scientists at MIT have developed a new simulation that traces 13 billion years of cosmic evolution. They start the simulation shortly after the big bang with a region of space much smaller than the universe (a mere 350 million light years across). Still, it’s big enough to follow the forces that helped create the galaxies we see today, and correctly predict the gas and metal content of those galaxies.
At first, we see dark matter clustering due to the force of gravity (first two GIFs). Then we see visible matter — blue for cool clouds of gas where galaxies form, red for more violent explosive galaxies (second two GIFs).
Super massive blackholes form, superheating the material around them, causing bright white explosions that enrich the space between galaxies with warm but sparse gas (fifth GIF).
Different elements (represented by different colors in the sixth GIF) are spread through the universe.
We arrive at a distribution of dark matter that looks similar to the one we see in our universe today (seventh GIF).
The simulation is so complex it would take two thousand years to render on a single desktop. And it’s kinda beautiful.
Image Credit: MIT and Nature Video
People being angry about ~dem gays~ on Target’s Facebook.
wanna know what’s funny about transgender jokes? Chicks with dicks, dudes with boobs? No. That’s not the funny part. The funniest part is The fact we get up in the morning and get too scared to look in the mirror in case we get overwhelmed with dysphoria, OBSESSED with looking like the gender we are inside but irritated because we feel like we can’t, to the point where we hide from our own reflection. The fact that we barely want to leave our house sometimes because we don’t want to answer the daily pestering questions. “Are you a boy or a girl?” The fact that needing to use to the bathroom in a public place is like waking a sleeping dog. The fact that we have to be ashamed of our own natural bodies and wonder why a God would ever do this to us. The fact that your options are: coming out and swearing that you were born with the same sex as your gender, or locking it away and not telling a soul. The fact that we have to hide from the world, one way or another, because people aren’t ready for the “diversity” we bring. The fact that my friend thought ‘transgender’ meant I was born with no genitals. The fact that I am notorious in my town, and I can’t walk out the door without being asked why I want to be a boy if I’m really a girl? Why I don’t just identify as lesbian and move on. The fact that shower time equals to “put a towel over the mirror just so you don’t have to look at yourself” time. The fact that sometimes, I feel okay. Sometimes I accept that my body is my body. That I was born like this. Sometimes I can respect myself, because I know that one day, I’ll become who I need to be. There’ll be no more questions. No more insults. No more misunderstanding. No more mis-pronoun-ing. No more suicidal thoughts. No more self loathing. No more of people looking at me like I’m some sort of freak. No more complicated relationships with people who can’t help putting someone’s body before their everything else. No more cutting. No more worries. But as the day progresses, I remember that people already do look at me differently. I remember that, if I ever fall in love, I’ll have to find someone who doesn’t care that I don’t have the “parts” to be a man- someone who can understand that I AM TWICE THE MAN as the guy who just told me that I’ll never be one, so why don’t I just give up? I remember that I’ll never have kids of my own. I remember that having a sexual relationship will be near impossible for years to come. I remember that I’m too weak and feminine to fight. I remember that I am still my birth-name to every register I’m in. I remember that I look twelve years old and I will still look twelve years old when I am 19. I remember that I am PATHETIC without my masculinity. I remember that people will never understand how worthless I feel- how much i’d rather be anyone else. wanna know what’s funny about transgender jokes? Nothing.
"Trans Jokes"- Cody Woods (via immakinggingerbreadcookies)
mark, my words. *mark brings me my dictionary* thank you mark
Trying to remember an answer when taking a test
Remembering the answer after you’ve turned the test in
Seriously I know that boobs are beautiful and sexy and everything, but really, it’s just some organic jiggling baby feeders. No need to hide them or be ashamed or over-sexualize them.
FREE TITIES.
Do You Love Someone With Depression?
If you have a partner or are close to someone who struggles with depression, you may not always know how to show them you love them. One day they may seem fine, and the next they are sad, distant and may push you away. It is important that you know that as a person who is close to them and trusted by them, you can help your friend or partner have shorter, less severe bouts of depression. Mental illness is as real as physical illness (it is physical actually, read more about that here) and your partner needs you as much as they would need to be cared for if they had the flu.
Your relationship may seem one-sided during these times, but by helping your partner through a very difficult and painful affliction, you are strengthening your relationship and their mental health in the long term.
1. Help them keep clutter at bay.
When a person begins spiraling into depression, they may feel like they are slowing down while the world around them speeds up. The mail may end up in stacks, dishes can pile up in the sink, laundry may go undone as the depressed person begins to feel more and more overwhelmed by their daily routine and unable to keep up. By giving your partner some extra help sorting mail, washing dishes or using paper plates and keeping chaos in check in general, you’ll be giving them (and yourself) the gift of a calm environment. (I’m a fan of the minimalist movement because of this, you can read more about that here.)
2. Fix them a healthy meal.
Your partner may do one of two things when they are in a depressed state. They may eat very little, or they may overeat. In either case, they may find that driving through a fast food restaurant or ordering a pizza online is just easier than fixing a meal. Eating like this, or neglecting to eat will only degrade your partner’s health, causing them to go deeper into their depression. Help your loved one keep their body healthy, and their mind will follow. This is a great article that talks about the “Brain Diet” which can help the symptoms of depression, and this article talks about how our modern diet could contribute to the recent rise in depression. Here is a recipe for a trail mix that is quick to make and has mood-boosting properties.
3.Get them outside.
The benefits of getting outside for a depressed person are huge. And it is possibly the last thing on earth your partner will want to do. Take them to be somewhere in nature. Pack a picnic and lie in the sun, take a leisurely hike or plant a garden. Being barefoot in the dirt, or “earthing” helps ground the body and reverse the effects of living in a world of emf’s, and digging in soil can actually act as an antidepressant, as a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of seratonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. Sunshine increases Vitamin D production which can help alleviate depression. My friend Elizabeth wrote an excellent post about Vitamin D and its link to depression here. For more information about other sources of Vitamin D, this is a great post as well as this.
4. Ask them to help you understand what they’re feeling.
If your partner is able to articulate what they are going through, it will help them and you better understand what you are dealing with, and may give insight into a plan of action for helping your partner. Also, feeling alone is common for a depressed person and anything that combats that feeling will help alleviate the severity and length of the depression.
5. Encourage them to focus on self-care.
Depressed people often stop taking care of themselves. Showering, getting haircuts, going to the doctor or dentist, it’s all just too hard, and they don’t deserve to be well taken care of anyway in their minds. This can snowball quickly into greater feelings of worthlessness since “Now I’m such a mess, no one could ever love me”. Help your loved one by being proactive. Tell them “I’m going to do the dishes, why don’t you go enjoy a bubble bath?” can give them the permission they won’t give themselves to do something normal, healthy and self-loving.
6. Hug them.
Studies show that a sincere hug that lasts longer than 20 seconds can release feel-good chemicals in the brain and elevate the mood of the giver and receiver. Depressed people often don’t want to be touched, but a sincere hug with no expectation of anything further can give your partner a lift.
7. Laugh with them.
Telling a silly joke, watching a comedy or seeing a stand up comedian will encourage your partner to laugh in spite of themselves. Laughing releases endorphins and studies show can actually counteract symptoms of depression and anxiety.
8. Reassure them that you can handle their feelings.
Your partner may be feeling worthless, angry and even guilty while they are depressed. They may be afraid that they will end up alone because no one will put up with their episodes forever. Reassure them that you are in the relationship for the long haul and they won’t scare you away because they have an illness.
9. Challenge their destructive thoughts.
A depressed person’s mind can be a never-ending loop of painful, destructive thoughts. “I’m unlovable, I’m a failure, I’m ugly, I’m stupid”. Challenge these untruths with the truth. “You’re not unlovable, I love you. You aren’t a failure, here are all the things you’ve accomplished.”
10.Remind them why you love them.
Look at pictures of happy times you’ve had together. Tell them your favorite things about them. Reminisce about your relationship and all the positive things that have happened, and remind your partner that you love them and they will get through this.
(via The Darling Bakers)