Wanderings

miscellaneous stuff I feel like having here.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Helicoprion: What if, like, teeth,

Mesosaurus: Yeah?

Helicoprion: but WHEEL

Mesosaurus: No don’t -

Helicoprion:

(Image by ДиБгд)

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Drepanosaurus: What if, like, tail, 

Rutiodon: Yeah? 

Drepanosaurus: But CLAW 

Rutiodon: How would you - 

Drepanosaurus: 

(by @drawingwithdinosaurs​) 

[aegis-destiny]

Igunaodon: What if, like, thumb,

Hypselospinus: Yeah?

Igunaodon: But like spike

Hypselospinus: But why would you ne-

Igunaodon:

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Stegosaurus: What if, like, tail

Camptosaurus: Yeah?

Stegosaurus: But SHARP

Camptosaurus: But what would y-

Stegosaurus:

[ridiculouslyphotogenicsinosauru]

Pelagornis: what if, like, beak

Paramobula: I’m listening

Pelagornis: but TEETH

Paramobula: what possible reason would you have t-

Pelagornis:

(Image by Peter Trusler)

[shadows-and-science-gone-mad]

Cotylorhynchus: What if, like, head

Moschops: Okay?

Cotylorhynchus: But SMALL

Moschops: What? No, why the he-

Cotylorhynchus:

[lady-laufey]

Erythrosuchus: Okay but what if, head

Cotylorhynchus: I’m listening…

Erythrosuchus: But HUGE

Cotylorhynchus: What no pump the breaks there why-

Erythrosuchus:

[rave-lord-nito]

Sharovipteryx: Okay, but what if like, wings

Kyrgyzsaurus: Okay?

Sharovipteryx: on my BACK LEGS

Kyrgyzsaurus: Wait hold on now, why would you put them-

Sharovpiteryx:

[lady-laufey]

Deinocheirus: Okay, but what if…

Barsboldia: What if what?

Deinocheirus: : )

Barsboldia: What are you doing, what is this, wh-

Deinocheirus:

[bats-at-the-disco-deactivated20]

Therizinosaurus: Ok what if claw…

Deinocheirus: Alright go on….

Therizinosaurus: But l o n g

Deinocheirus: You eat planet for heavens sake why in the world would yo—

Therizinosaurus: SUCK IT IM WOLVERINE

[wandering-shepard]

Azhdarchidae: What if, like, fly?

Pterosauria: Okay… what about it?

Azhdarchidae: But HE A D

Pterosauria: What does that even-

Azhdarchidae:

[plasticozoic]

Thylacoleonidae: ok, what if vegetarian teeth Diprotodontia: sure Thylacoleonidae: but for MEATING

Diprodontia: how are you even going to do this

Thylacoleonidae: you are like baby, watch THIS - 

[sepialunaris]

Brachytracholepan: What if neck

Tehuelchesaurus: yep thats basically our identity

Brachytrachelopan: but chonk

Tehuelchesaurus: WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

Brachytrachelopan: Chungus time

[mrvokiman]

Ichthyovenator: What if, like, sail

Spinosaurus: Yes?

Ichthyovenator: but HOLE

Spinosaurus: Why would you-

Ichthyovenator:

[darth-felis-deactivated20200625]

Parasaurolophus: What if, you know, crest

Gryposaurus: Cool, go on

Parasaurolophus: but more

Gryposaurus: …okay?

Parasaurolophus: and trumpet

Gryposaurus: For wha-

Parasaurolophus: BIIIIIIIIIIGGGG HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNK

[mantis-cat]

Yi Qi: What if, um, Wing

Anchiornis: Yes, yes go on,

Yi Qi: but, more skin

Anchiornis: But we are all doing this feth…….

Yi Qi: FLAP FLAP

[fabfuta1234]

Eoabelisaurus: What if, like, hand.

Asfaltovenator: Yeah?

Eoabelisaurus: But like, nub?

Asfaltovenator: But wouldn’t that–

90 MILLION YEARS OF EVOLUTION LATER

“…damnit!”

[warriormoustache]

Kaprosuchus: Okay so.. teeth, yeah?

Crocodyliformes: Mmhmm?

Kaprosuchus: But they’re tusks

Crocodyliformes: Oh God..

Kaprosuchus: And I’m twenty feet long

Crocodyliformes: Don’t do it..

Kaprosuchus: And upright.

Crocodyliformes: Please sto-

Kaprosuchus:

[morgan-the-lonely-brick]

Stethacanthus: okay, what if fin…

Cretoxyrhina: Yeah, what about it?

Stethacanthus: But anvil

Cretoxyrhina: What

Stethacanthus: with teeth

Cretoxyrhina: Nonononodon’t-

Stethacanthus: and teeth on forehead

Cretoxyrhina: STOP

Stethacanthus:

[cassie-heartgal]

Opabinia: Hey, so–

Anomalocaris: oh God what now??

Opabinia: what if… Eye

Anomalocaris: no, stop

Opabinia: but FIVE

Anomalocaris: I SAID STOP

Opabinia: NOSE CLAW

Anomalocaris: YOU WHA–

Opabinia:

[etchif]

Tully Monster: greetings~

Every living creature, like, ever: Oh Jesus Christ what do you want

Tully Monster: :)

Every living creature ever: what

Tully Monster: :)))

Every living creature ever: I’m literally begging you to stop

Tully Monster: :)))))))))))))

[cjcroen1393]

Nyctosaurus: What if, like, head…

Pteranodon: Yeah?

Nyctosaurus: But FORK

Pteranodon: Nyctosaurus you are trying my patience…

(art by Julio Lacerda)

[inahiddenplace]

I love kids they’re all like.. “when i grow up i’m gonna be an astronaut and a chef and a doctor and an olympic swimmer” like that self confidence! That drive! That optimism! Where does it go

[alexundefined]

It gets destroyed by adults not believing in you and telling you to pick a realistic career. And by society creating all these obstacles to the point that you’re too tired to try.

[thechargrey]

But they’re not really unrealistic, SOMEBODY is going to be an olympic swimmer and it might as well be you.

[thechargrey]

Actually I want to talk about this a little more than I did, because olympic swimming is incredible and works perfectly to talk about attaining goals.

I used to be a varsity swimmer, and I was damn good, but I was forced into it by my parents and completely lost my love for it and therein my drive. But in high school I was swimming against such talented swimmers like Olympic Swimmer Missy Franklin. I’ve met her, and the main difference between her and me was that I was strong but had no passion, but she was strong BECAUSE she had passion. 

And I could have been good, really good, maybe even Olympic good. I even have the predisposition for it, been swimming since I was 2 years old, have a mom who was almost an olympic swimmer. Missy didn’t have either of those things, she just wanted it, loved it, had been doing it for a long time, and decided she was going to kick ass at it.

Right, that’s great and all, but I completely missed my opportunity to be an olympic swimmer, yeah? and can never achieve those dreams I had as a kid? No, not even though. There was this whole thought that female athletes peak when they’re 17 years old and lose their skills quickly after that, and male athletes peak around 19. But then Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres shows up. She was an olympic swimmer when she was 17, 21 and 25. Pretty normal age for retirement. She had a few kids. She kicked butt at being a mom. 

And then at 33 years old she decides she’s bored or something gets back in shape and kicks so much ass at the trials that she lands herself on the Olympic Team ONCE AGAIN. And then 8 years later, she decides, heck I’m 41 now, no one has ever made the olympic swim team as old as I am, I want to get in shape yet again and teach these children how sports work.

And she still has the record for oldest US Olympic Swimmer, not even any men have beat out that record.

So basically what I’m saying is you could be an olympic swimmer, you really could be. And there are obviously a lot of things stopping you and trying to get in your way: your brain, society, too much chocolate cake for example. But if you really dedicate yourself to it and love it with all of your heart you could, you really could.

And lets say olympic swimming isn’t your jam? That’s cool too. There isn’t a single skill in this world that you can’t learn if you absolutely love it and want to. Any skill you want is going to take time. There are countless famous people who started learning a skill after 20, 30, 40, or even 50. Not a single person has even been president under age 35 (most likely because you’re not allowed to be, but there’s a reason for that). Whatever you want to do you’re probably going to be bad at first, and I’m talking really shitty.

Van Gogh got started in his 20′s and was thought to have no artistic talent at first and was forced to sit in the back of classrooms where the worst artists in the class sat. So yeah you’ll probably be bad, like really bad and everyone including you will think you’re bad. If you stick with it though, if you’re willing to work for years and years, if you keep loving it after all the pain it’s given you, 

then you might just paint Starry Night.

[ooksaidthelibrarian]

#looks like there’s still time for me to learn how to draw … YES. As someone who started drawing at 35 and who always was like: ‘eh, I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life, but I would love to be able to’ this is near and dear to my heart. If you want to draw, start drawing. Keep drawing. Be shit at drawing at first. Keep it up, doodle things on scraps but also draw stuff you don’t think you can draw. Challenge yourself, you will be surprised what you can do. It will be frustrating at times, but it will also be awesome. It is SO much a matter of practice and dedication, not talent.

[arialerendeair]

This applies for writing, too.  

Don’t ever think for a second that it doesn’t!  Want to start writing?  Then write!  You will get better the more you write, the more often, and you will improve, all of the time, as long as you dedicate yourself.  

[lauraannegilman]

The worst lie we tell ourselves is “it’s too late.”

[boodlesandtonicplz-deactivated2]

[met-egyptian-art]

Jug and Lid with the Head of an Ox, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Egyptian Art

Rogers Fund, 1922 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Limestone, paint

[met-egyptian-art]

Inlay for Nilotic scene, fish, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Egyptian Art

Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Glass

[foodffs]

[foodffs]

How to Make Allergy-Friendly Sprinkles The Easy Way

Follow for recipes

Get your FoodFfs stuff here

[essentialwandering]

!!! I've always wanted to make my own sprinkles for some reason and this looks easy af

[mooniicorn]

“If autism isn’t caused by environmental factors and is natural why didn’t we ever see it in the past?”

We did, except it wasn’t called autism it was called “Little Jonathan is a r*tarded halfwit who bangs his head on things and can’t speak so we’re taking him into the middle of the cold dark forest and leaving him there to die.”

[iamthethunder]

Or “little Jonathan doesn’t talk but does a good job herding the sheep, contributes to the community in his own way, and is, all around, a decent guy.” That happened a lot, too, especially before the 19th century.

[rosslynpaladin]

Or, backing up FURTHER

and lots of people think this very likely,

“Oh little Sionnat has obviously been taken by the fairies and they’ve left us a Changeling Child who knows too much, and asks strange questions, and uses words she shouldn’t know, and watches everything with her big dark eyes, clearly a Fairy Child and not a Human Like Us.”

The Myth of the Changeling child, a human baby apparently replaced at a young age by a toddler who “suddenly” acts “strange and fey” is an almost textbook depiction of autistic children.

To this day, “autism warrior mommies” talk about autism “stealing” their “sweet normal child” and have this idea of “getting their real baby back” which (in the face of modern science)  indicates how the human psyche actually does deal with finding out their kid acts unlike what they expected.

Given this evidence, and how common we now know autism actually is, the Changeling myth is almost definitely the result of people’s confusion at the development of autistic children.

[vicecommanderhijikata]

Weirdly enough, that legend is now comforting to me.

[neddythestylish]

I think it’s worth noting that many like me, who are diagnosed with ASD now, would probably have been seen as just a bit odd in centuries past. I’m only a little bit autistic; I can pass for neurotypical for short periods if I work really hard at it. I have a lack of talent in social situations, and I’m prone to sensory overload or you might notice me stimming.

But here’s the thing: life is louder, brighter and more intense and confusing than it has ever been. I live on the edge of London and I rarely go into the centre of town because it’s too overwhelming. If I went back in time and lived on a farm somewhere, would anyone even notice there was anything odd about me? No police sirens, no crowded streets that go on for miles and miles, no flickery electric lights. Working on a farm has a clear routine. I’d be a badass at spinning cloth or churning butter because I find endless repetition soothing rather than boring.

I’m not trying to romanticise the past because I know it was hard, dirty work with a constant risk of premature death. I don’t actually want to be a 16th century farmer! What I’m saying is that disability exists in the context of the environment. Our environment isn’t making people autistic in the sense of some chemical causing brain damage. But we have created a modern environment which is hostile to autistic people in many ways, which effectively makes us more disabled. When you make people more disabled, you start to see more people struggling, failing at school because they’re overwhelmed, freaking out at the sound of electric hand dryers and so on. And suddenly it looks like there’s millions more autistic people than existed before.

[grace-and-ace]

“…disability exists in the context of the environment.”

[coldalbion]

Reblog for disability commentary.

[oockitty]

That last paragraph is absolutely important.

[hazeldomain]

“How come nobody ever heard of ‘dyslexia’ until widespread literacy became a thing?”

[starlightandtears]

Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.

[vodcar]

Flossie Wong-Staal - Wikipedia

Flossie Wong-Staal - Wikipedia

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flossie_Wong-Staal

[met-armsarmor]

Pair of Sword-Grip Ornaments (Menuki), Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arms and Armor

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1938 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Gold

[merriweatherpostpavilion]

received this incomprehensible email from my ornithology professor

[fgrobichiko]

the fucking eagles got him

[mockwa]

Some countries have trained builders in the informal sector in safe building techniques.

[riallasheng]

Took me a bit but I was able to find their youtube channel! ^^

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vasuRFx3t3NTISG6iwUeA

They REALLY like making pools of one kind or another, it’s fun to see.  Plus they have a few tree houses they’ve made and the like

[nyabbycat]

oh my god

[systlin]

SUBSCRIBED

[nowscience-blog]

Crab walks around with Jellyfish on its back to protect it from predators

These #jellyfish Cassiopea (upside-down jellyfish) partake in a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic dinoflagellates and therefore, must lay upside-down in areas with sufficient light penetration to fuel their energy source. Where found, there may be numerous individuals with varying shades of white, blue, green and brown.

Sometimes this jellyfish is picked up by the #crab Dorippe frascone and carried on its back. The crab uses the jellyfish to defend itself against possible predators.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Okay but whats great is that the common name for this species of crab is “urchin crab” or “carrier crab.” Normally, this species picks up urchins with long, hollow spines and carries them around as protection (the urchins benefit because they get taken to new feeding grounds). 

(Photo Credit: Sylke Rohrlach)

I’ve found a couple sources that say carrier crabs also carry jellyfish around, but some that say there’s actually a distinct but morphologically similar crab that specializes in carrying jellyfish. 

[aromaseraphy-lavender]

Reblog if you believe phone call anxiety is real and it isn’t childish bad behavior.

Trying to prove a point to this job helper.

[xubbs]

Phone calls can be harder on your anxiety bc you cant pick up on the other persons behavioral cues as you talk with them

[d3viantvanguard]

^^^^

After 10+ years of psychotherapy, almost all of my social anxiety triggers are now at a manageable level—even academic public speaking, which was my #1 worst trigger for most of my life—except for my phone anxiety. It’s literally the one and only thing I’ve never been able to significantly improve.

I have to talk the whole conversation through with my friends beforehand.

I have to get explicit confirmation from my friends that “yes, you really need to ring that person right now”.

I have to write scripts.

I have to take anti-anxiety meds, or get drunk.

I only ever ring someone as the very last resort, when all other methods are unavailable.

I hyperventilate and cry afterwards.

I’m also a 28-year-old scientist with three degrees and a teaching position. I’m normally a logical (albeit emotional) person. But anxiety is not logical.

Anxiety is due to inability to correctly perceive threats—more specifically, due to both increased expectation and increased frequency of false recognition of threats in response to neutral stimuli (this is called “pessimistic bias”). Social anxiety simply means that this inability to correctly perceive threats is specific to social interactions, rather than generalised to all aspects of life. (For example, a resting facial expression or lack of verbal acknowledgement is more likely to be perceived as anger, disgust or rejection by a socially anxious person than a neurotypical person. But a socially anxious person is not particularly more likely to worry throughout the day that they’ve left their stove on.)

Therefore, socially anxious people learn to cope with this bias by becoming hypervigilant to social cues such as posture, hand gestures, nodding, eye contact, eyebrow position, mouth tightness, tone of voice, talking speed etc., and then using all the available information to attempt to be logical and “talk down the anxiety”. We also learn to be high self-monitors, which means that we closely observe our audience and constantly (subconsciously) monitor their responses in order to ensure that they accept us and deem us “appropriate”.

But non-verbal social cues aren’t available during phone calls!

There isn’t any body language to read, or eyes to look into. You can’t monitor your audience for approval. They don’t follow the script you prepared. All you have is their voice, which is usually masked (everyone seems to have a “phone voice”, “customer service voice” or “professional voice”) and distorted by the phone and is therefore useless. All of a sudden you’re back to relying on a single neutral stimulus, and the pessimistic bias kicks in, and you start to panic because you’re not getting constant feedback.

It’s a Recognised Psychological Thing™.

Phone anxiety (actually, phone phobia) is one of the most common, most recognised and most treated phobias in the world. Social anxiety—of which phone phobia is an extremely prevalent trigger—is one of the most common, most recognised and most treated anxiety disorders in the world.

It’s most definitely real, most definitely not “childish”, and you’re not alone.

[artistmeli]

I have this, it is definitely real.

[i-hate-chick-fil-a]

Wholesome compares to cops killing innocent people in America.

[binturita]

Splatoon cops

[awed-frog]

Oh and also -

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Since we spend so much of our lives around transparent fluids like air and water, we often miss seeing some of their coolest-looking flows. Here, we see a layer of water only 3 centimeters deep but a full meter wide. It’s seeded with tiny crystals that reflect light depending on their orientation, which allows us to see the flow. Initially, the tank is spun up, then left stationary for 2 hours while evaporation cools the water. 

Normally, the resulting flow would be too slow to notice, but that’s where the magic of timelapse comes in. With it, we can see the wriggling dark lines marking areas where cool, dense water sinks and brighter regions where warm fluid rises. What begins as an array of polygonal convection cells quickly merges into a couple of large, rounded cells. Check out the full video below, where you can see the streaming patterns far better than in animation. (Image and video credit: UCLA Spinlab)

[littlepinkbeast]

you know how most of the things humans use as spices are poisonous or repellent to most other mammals? and you know how anything vaguely d&d inspired has dwarves being way more poison resistant than even humans?

dwarf cuisine shouldn’t be bland, it should be unimaginably spicy and potentially harmful or fatal to humans. like green potato and rhubarb leaf salad with a festive garnish of yew berries and deadly nightshade berries, that kind of thing.

[the-rear-admiral-reborn]

Concept: humans think it’s bland cuz rather than memorizing what kills humans it’s safer to just pass on the spices.

[hellorivolta-blog]

Captain America knows what’s good.

[thehobbitranger]

STAY WOKE

[bottle-of-bucky]

This is the Captain America we need in 2017.

[gehayi]

Let’s hear Cap’s entire speech:

“Listen to me– all of you out there! You were told by this man– your hero– that America is the greatest country in the world! He told you that Americans were the greatest people– that America could be refined like silver, could have the impurities hammered out of it, and shine more brightly! He went on about how precious America was – how you needed to make sure it remained great! And he told you anything was justified to preserve that great treasure, that pearl of great price that is America!

“Well, I say America is nothing! Without its ideals– its commitment to the freedom of all men, America is a piece of trash! A nation is nothing! A flag is a piece of cloth! I fought Adolf Hitler not because America was great, but because it was fragile! I knew that liberty could be snuffed out here as in Nazi Germany! As a people, we were no different than them! When I returned, I saw that you nearly did turn American into nothing! And the only reason you’re not less then nothing– is that it’s still possible for you to bring freedom back to America!”

–Captain America, “What If (Captain America Were Not Revived Until Today)?” Volume 1 #44 (Peter Gillis, writer), April 1984 

[jayleeg]

Always reblog.

[hjartasalt]

I would like to personally apologize to every teacher whose projects I overthought as a kid to the point that I could barely do them

[hjartasalt]

5th grade teacher: alright class! This week we’re going to be doing something a little different! I want you all to focus on helping others, then you should write down every good deed you’ve done in your notebooks!

10 year old me, absolutely overthinking the shit out of this: but it feels wrong to do good deeds only to gain something in return, isn’t it inherently bad if my reason for helping isn’t just to help but so I can boast about it in a notebook?

Teacher: just… Just do the project please

[lmpressionismus]

8th grade teacher: alright class, please write a letter from the view of a person experiencing this historical event

14 year old me, staring at my paper: how am i supposed to do that when we only summed up what happened? what are the details someone experiencing this would focus on? what were the opinions of people about that? what words that are long since out of fashion would I use? what was the culture like back then and what references would someone make? If I don’t do it it sounds unrealistic and fake can we please do more research first

8th grade teacher: …just do the exercise please

[randaness]

[hjartasalt]

Actually you know what? Stop calling me out like this, I still overthink the shit out of everything I ever do

[fuckyeahwomenprotesting]

This isn’t over thinking though this is wanting to be truthful in a creative way. You should all be very proud of yourselves! And your teacher should have encouraged you!