ashpags on tumblr

My little fangirl corner on the internet. Panfandom, mostly 1D/Radio1 (and adjacents) as of late, but also Marvel/The Avengers, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Science/Space, Makeup, Fashion, and Broadway. Pretty things & people. Side dishes of science/astronomy and feminism/social justice. This blog is pretty quiet lately but I lurk my dash occasionally. Proud member of #teamtoooldforthis. (she/her)

[mckitterick]

The Stunning Astronomical Beadwork of Native Artist Margaret Nazon

Margaret Nazon has spent the past decade building intricate beadwork depictions of outer space. The colorful artworks balance representational and stylized aesthetics set on black fabric backgrounds to depict galaxies, planets, nebulae, and other astronomical phenomena.

Initially inspired by Hubble space telescope images, Nazon’s celestial renderings are part of a lifelong interest in beading. In an interview with Glenbow, the artist shared that she began beading at age 10, but found the density of traditional beadwork to be tedious.

The abstract nature of celestial images allows Nazon to be more interpretive and incorporate different materials like caribou bones and willow seeds that have location-specific or cultural significance. Nazon is Tsiigehtchic, part of the Gwich’in community in what is now the Northwest Territories of Canada. The artist explained that because she is retired, she is able to dedicate significant time to beading, and often rises at 4:30am to begin working. Nazon plans to continue experimenting, including merging her abstract beadwork with her seamstress skills to create artfully embellished apparel.

Nazon’s artwork was most recently exhibited at Glenbow in a group show, Cosmos, and A Beaded Universe at Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. You can read more about her in the Glenbow interview, and explore Nazon’s portfolio on her website.

source article: X

[ashpags]

These are gorgeous!

[hockeylvr42]

Out of all the cool stuff that mythbusters ever shot on high speed camera, shooting a soccer ball at 60mph out of a truck traveling 60mph is one of my favorites

Just look at it. It is the most perfect visual representation of Newton’s 2nd law of physics I’ve ever seen. The ball, which was shot out of a CANNON, drops straight down. Two equal and opposite velocities completely canceling each other out, leaving the soccer ball to drop to the earth with a net velocity of 0. Sir issac newton would be proud to tears of this gif.

And yet this “myth” is nothing more than basic physics at work. A 10 year old with an interest in science could have told us this is possible. 60mph in one direction minus 60mph the exact opposite direction is 0. Basic.

But what makes this so frieken cool is the fact that they went through all the trouble to actually demonstrate the invisible laws that govern the way our universe works. To get this shot both the soccer ball and the truck had to be moving at the exact same speed. Real world variables make that extremely difficult to pull off. It took them hundreds of attempts to get it right. They went through all that trouble to “prove” something we have known as fact for hundreds of years. And we get this amazing gif to watch as a result.

Mythbusters is incredible. Science is incredible. And the fact that this experiment in physics can be used in science classes for years and years to come to help children learn about physics is incredible.

[ashpags]

I'm totally going to use this in class. Need to figure out what episode it's from so I can snag the original video!

[science]

[ashpags]

Possibly the most important fact in all of Planetary Science.

[swanjolras-blog-archive-deactiv]

gosh but like we spent hundreds of years looking up at the stars and wondering “is there anybody out there” and hoping and guessing and imagining

because we as a species were so lonely and we wanted friends so bad, we wanted to meet other species and we wanted to talk to them and we wanted to learn from them and to stop being the only people in the universe

and we started realizing that things were maybe not going so good for us– we got scared that we were going to blow each other up, we got scared that we were going to break our planet permanently, we got scared that in a hundred years we were all going to be dead and gone and even if there were other people out there, we’d never get to meet them

and then

we built robots?

and we gave them names and we gave them brains made out of silicon and we pretended they were people and we told them hey you wanna go exploring, and of course they did, because we had made them in our own image

and maybe in a hundred years we won’t be around any more, maybe yeah the planet will be a mess and we’ll all be dead, and if other people come from the stars we won’t be around to meet them and say hi! how are you! we’re people, too! you’re not alone any more!, maybe we’ll be gone

but we built robots, who have beat-up hulls and metal brains, and who have names; and if the other people come and say, who were these people? what were they like?

the robots can say, when they made us, they called us discovery; they called us curiosity; they called us explorer; they called us spirit. they must have thought that was important.

and they told us to tell you hello.

[startorialist]

We haven’t had a “Women Crushing-it Wednesday” in a while, so here are a bunch of women astronomers who have made amazing contributions to the field, including one current one - friend of the blog, Dr. Ashley Pagnotta (@ashpags). 

This needlepoint was made by @mamaliza (aka Sarah Walker) as a present for Ashley and highlights some important women in the history of astronomy, some of whom we’ve featured here on the blog before in various forms:

Henrietta Levitt and Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin are both on our fave Star Women tee by Pauline Acalin.

Those two, plus Williamina Fleming and Antonia Maury were featured at a special Astronomy on Tap event that we all wore our Star Women tees for and where Ashley herself presented!

Auberg Designs has a Hypatia cameo necklace as part of their women in science series.

Follow @ashpags here on tumblr to learn more about these and other amazing women in astronomy and science!

FYI, today is also Cecelia Payne-Caposchkin’s 217th birthday, so give some love and support to a women in science you know today in the hopes that we’ll be here celebrating her and her science too for the next 217 years. 

- Summer

[ashpags]

I still have this needlepoint (cross-stitch? I’m sorry I am ignorant and don’t know the difference!) from @mamaliza on my desk and it inspires me every day. <3

[buzzfeed]

23 Black Female Scientists Who Changed The Damn World

Okay so prior to Alice, people had known for hundreds of years that a potential treatment to leprosy existed in the form of something called Chaulmoogra oil. It was too thick to effectively circulate through the body, but Alice Ball, science prodigy and chemist extraordinaire, was the one who FINALLY figured how to turn it into a working treatment. It’s thanks to her that a leprosy crisis was avoided in the early 1900s. Bless you, Alice.

Stay with me for a second because this is actual rocket science. Centaur is a second-stage rocket launcher: the workhorse of the rocket world used to propel countless probes and satellites into space. It’s been invaluable to NASA since its creation, first allowing the U.S. to catch up to the Soviet Union during the space race, and eventually propelling spacecrafts to land on the moon and fly by other planets in the solar system.

So yes: Annie Easley helped DO that. She also contributed energy research to power plants and electronic batteries, which enabled the creation of hybrid vehicles. Go ahead and thank Annie for those, too.

Prior to Jeanne, the impact of discrimination and its accompanying stress factors were rarely explored or acknowledged in relationship to health. She also researched the impact of racism on childhood development and ways to approach therapy that addressed the needs of people of color. And Jeanne broke a ton of ground for black psychologists through her roles in academia and her publications.

Jewel researched ways to alter cell growth AND experimented with growing human tumor tissue outside of the human body to use for cancer treatment tests (instead of testing on living people). As if that wasn’t enough, she also helped to form the National Science Foundation’s Committee on Women and Minorities in Science.

The chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission monitors the byproduct of nuclear reactors, so it’s a pretty big deal. Shirley also served on a bunch of advisory boards for international security and energy, AND she was the first black woman to get a Ph.D from MIT.

See the full list:

23 Black Female Scientists Who Changed The Damn World

[graysea]

The Solar System!

bonus Pluto!

[selfloveandsuch-blog]

THIS IS THE PUREST THING EVER

[kissmebluesexyvioletsme]

Uranus rotation has me laughing for like 2 mins now…

[ashpags]

Cutest solar system ever! 

[truths-ofbeing-anintrovert]

i want it

[ashpags]

YES PLEASE.

[nevaehtyler]

This is why representation matters

[ashpags]

These are GORGEOUS. You can go heart the original post on Twitter here.

[gracekelli-archive]

What is a legacy?

[anti-capitalistlesbianwitch]

Wow.

[nubbsgalore]

Happy #ObamaDay

(photos by pete souza, official white house photographer)

[nubbsgalore]

thank you.

[ashpags]

I’m just really going to miss them a lot.

[pezzabam]

Over It. 

[ashpags]

Same, Jade. Same.

[r-oving]

[ashpags]

The Little Mix ladies are SO GREAT. I really love how much they love and support each other, and refuse to apologize for it.

[ashpags]

thebootydiaries:

one guacamole is equal to 6.0221415×10²³ guacas

[kidmanproject]

[ashpags]

soggybottomed:

Yay this is the gif set I’ve been waiting for! :P 

Favourite bit of the series. 

In a series (season) full of great moments, this might be my favorite of all of them.

[greatpower-nofuture]

A-Force #10

Kelly Thompson (w)

Paulo Siqueira (a)

|Cover by Stephanie Hans|

[scifigrl47]

Wow, is this a cover of six women, all in bathing suits that are CHARACTER APPROPRIATE, that the characters might ACTUALLY HAVE CHOSEN and SUIT THEIR PERSONALITIES, all posing together, and they aren’t sexualized?

IT’S A MIRACLE!

God, I love everything about A-Force.

[ashpags]

I think A-Force is my current favorite comic at the moment. It’s just so good and the characters are awesome ladies who I love and then there’s Singularity who is THE BEST. Also, I want Captain Marvel’s suit from this cover!

[helcinda]

Level Up Fandom: One Direction Song: Vienna Teng - Level Up (lyrics) Download: MediaFire HD (68 MB) or SD (33 MB) Disclaimer: All media contained is property of respective copyright holders. Notes: 2015 was a hell of a year.

One Direction could have so easily phoned it in last year. Knowing they were going into a break, and dealing with Zayn’s departure, no one would have blamed them for ramping down a little. But they, of course, did the exact opposite. They finished a year-long world tour, under unusual and difficult circumstances, with boundless amounts of energy and grace. They gave their all, and then some. I am forever grateful for and astonished by this very special group of young men.

Last year, my vid beta dream team came together online. I got to meet them a few months later, and, as a result, this vid was nurtured to life in far different circumstances. It was conceptualized on couches, helped along by a second set of hands collecting sources, and, in a few cases, beta’d in person. For those reasons alone, this one is far, far more personal to me. Once again, and in some ways even more so than the last time, words cannot encompass what ashpags and oliviacirce have done for this vid. They constantly push me to be better, to not settle for something that’s just good enough.  Thank you so, so much.

Finally, a massive, massive thank you to the fandom in general. Your videos are what made this possible.

Also at AO3.

[ashpags]

If you’ve ever had any feelings about One Direction, you should probably go watch this video. Hannah did an incredible job showing how the boys definitely leveled up in the post-Zayn era. A+ 10/10 would recommend!