Atosen #TheyAreUs

Warning: may contain traces of diversity, science, personal whining, and the shippin'. Pronouns: up to you. If I'm following you, please tag for nsfw, gore/body horror, and ableist slurs.

[kikmessenger]

sits on my own blog like it’s the edge of a lake wistfully

[kikmessenger]

skips a stone over a few posts

[ferrettaur]

So like an hour ago I just lear🪨︵︵ned that— what the fuck was that. Someone just skipped a rock across my post did you see that

[druid-for-hire]

There's this sort of anthropomorphizing that inherently happens in language that really gets me sometimes. I'm still not over the terminology of "gravity assist," the technique where we launch satellites into the orbit of other planets so that we can build momentum via the astounding and literally astronomical strength of their gravitational forces, to "slingshot" them into the direction we need with a speed that we could never, ever, ever create ourselves. I mean, some of these slingshots easily get probes hurtling through space at tens of thousands of miles per hour. Wikipedia has a handy diagram of the Voyager 1 satellite doing such a thing.

"Gravity assist." "Slingshot." Of course, on a very basic and objective level, yes, we are taking advantage of forces generated by outside objects to specifically help in our goals. We're getting help from objects in the same way a river can power a mill. And of course we call it a "slingshot," because the motion is very similar (mentally at least; I can't be sure about the exact physics).

Plus, especially compared to the other sciences, the terminology for astrophysics is like, really straightforward. "Black hole?" Damn yeah it sure is. "Big bang?" It sure was. "Galactic cluster?" Buddy you're never gonna guess what this is. I think it's an effect of the fact that language is generally developed for life on earth and all the strange variances that happen on its surface, that applying it to something as alien and vast as space, general terms tend to suffice very well in a lot more places than, like... idk, botany.

But, like. "Gravity assist." I still can't get the notion out of my head that such language implies us receiving active help from our celestial neighbors. They come to our aid. We are working together. We are assisted. Jupiter and the other planets saw our little messengers coming from its pale blue molecular cousin, and we set up the physics just right, so that they could help us send them out to far stranger places than this, to tell us all about what they find out there.

We are assisted.

And there is no better way to illustrate my feelings on the matter than to just show you guys one of my favorite paintings, this 1973 NASA art by Rick Guidice to show the Pioneer probe doing this exact thing:

"... You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. ..."

Gravity assist.

[ambrosial-sunshine]

For the painting especially there’s a beauty in depicting some of our most advanced technology as synonymous with the most ancient. Very few people throughout history have had the privilege of seeing the face of Jupiter but many would recognize the sling thrower immediately.

[berlynn-wohl]

Me in 2006: I’m still bitter about that

Me in 2016: I’m still salty about that

Me in 2026, probably: I’m still umami about that

[allaark]

Well, are you?. We’re waiting.

[berlynn-wohl]

There’s a lot to be umami about these days.

[wizard-council-bureaucrat]

Things that ARE covered by your Wizard Insurance:

Top Surgery

Bottom Surgery

Witch Encounters (one per century)

Killed By Greg

Middle Surgery (✨ New! ✨)

[random-meme-bot]

[wizard-council-bureaucrat]

Oh for Gandalf's Big Naturals- Fine! 😡

Dental (✨ New! ✨) (first 1,000 teeth ONLY)

[fallenangelvictorious]

Obsessed with these tags, you are so right bestie

[anicastes]

It's wrong to hit people with cars.

[grundoonmgnx]

Nick Barlow, Clusterfuck/Keep It Together, 2022

Oil on mountboard, 81 X 81 cm

[shopwitchvamp]

Babe, are you okay? You reblogged Nick Barlow’s Clusterfuck/Keep It Together again

[kuylar]

robotgirl with a scraped off company logo

[acerby]

A jailbroken robot girl is a happier robot girl!

[woodwool]

🤗 i dont like this emoji. this is not a hug to me. this is someone doing condescending jazz hands in my general direction when i am in need of affection. not comforting.

🫂 i love this emoji. this is a hug. we are hugging and its nice. and as a special bonus they appear to be my old friends from the msn messenger logo? very comforting.

[infestuous]

Wally Dion, Green Star Quilt, 2019 circuit boards, brass wire, copper tube

[chekhovs-raygun]

I SAW THIS IN THE PORTLAND ART MUSEUM! ITS HUGE!

it shimmers like no gemstones i've ever seen: green as malachite and emerald but shot through with opal, gold, copper. photographs can't do it justice because of how it shines, as well as the way the actual material elements have their own dimensions. you can lean in and study all the fine lines of the circuits or step back and admire how the rearranged whole forms new patterns. it's one of the most beautiful creations i've ever seen.

[ironmyrmidon]

I love when Arabic loanwords get incorporated into other languages and they keep the al- suffix. I'm studying the gebra. It's a real the batross around my neck.

[kiragecko]

#Especially after rebracketing #He's a navy admir of the - via @baddywronglegs

The 'ad' is another 'al'!

He's a navy the mir of the.

[fuer-diesen-sommer]

Information

[pineappical]

think about it long time

[luckyladylily]

I've known a number of non binary people in my life and I think single biggest conclusion I can draw from that is that non binary people are not the same. Like if Men fit in box A and women fit in box B, people really, really want nonbinary people to fit in a theoretical box C, and it just doesn't work like that. They are outside the boxes. They defy any simple categorization because they are not a third way of being, but every other possible way of being.

Being supportive of binary people is relatively simple, they have decided to sort themselves into one of the boxes that we have lots of experience interacting with. Being supportive of nonbinary people can be comparatively tricky, because you have to resist the urge to create box C and drop them all there. That's how we end up with various prejudices like "woman lite". Humans really, really like to categorize things. It helps us think. Unfortunately, sometimes it helps us think wrong.

If you have a non binary person in your life, I think it is important to take the extra effort to learn about them specifically.

[mimosa-sexypeople-contests-2026]

Tumblr Sexyman Contest 2026 Round 2 Part 9

Alucard (Castlevania)

Spock (Star Trek)

Voting ended onJun 15

[thisisalovestry]

this made me cry so now i need everyone to see it

[chuwenjie]

We’re cooking on Beyond the Spider-Verse!!! So excited to share these new stills… see you in IMAX on June 18, 2027!! 🕷️