Gaussian Mixture

A mix of reblogs, music, and photo uploads since November 2009.

[teded]

12 Amazing Facts About Elephants

In honor of World Elephant Day, we present you with 12 little known facts about one of our favorite creatures…in GIFs, of course.

1. Elephants know every member of their herd and are able to recognize up to 30 companions by sight or smell. 

2. They can remember and distinguish particular cues that signal danger and can recall locations long after their last visit.

3. An elephant’s memory is not limited to its herd, nor is it limited to its species. In one instance, two circus elephants that performed together rejoiced when crossing paths 23 years later. Elephants have also recognized humans that they once bonded with after decades apart. 4. 

4. The elephant boasts the largest brain of any land mammal as well as an impressive encephalization quotient (the size of the animal’s brain relative to its body size). The elephant’s EQ is nearly as high as a chimpanzee’s.

5. The elephant brain is remarkably similar to the human brain, with as many neurons and synapses, as well as a highly developed hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

6. Elephants are one of the few non-human animals to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

7. Elephants are creative problem solvers. 

8. Don’t try to outsmart an elephant! They have an understanding of basic arithmetic and can even keep track of relative quantities.

9. Elephants communicate using everything from body signals to infrared rumbles that can be heard from kilometers away. Their understanding of syntax suggests that they have their own language and grammar. 

10. Elephants can recognize 12 distinct tones of music and recreate melodies.

11. Elephants are the only non-human animals to mourn their dead, performing burial rituals and returning to visit graves. 

12. Elephants are one of the few species who can recognize themselves in the mirror.

Given what we now know about elephants, and what they continue to teach us about animal intelligence, it is more important than ever to make sure that these magnificent creatures do not vanish.

Check out some more fun elephant facts here and be sure to watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why elephants never forget - Alex Gendler

Animation by the ever-talented Avi Ofer

[teded]

It’s Elephant Appreciation Day! We are FULL of reasons to appreciate these majestic creatures - here are 12 of those reasons.

Check out some more fun elephant facts here and be sure to watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why elephants never forget - Alex Gendler

Animation by the ever-talented Avi Ofer

[senfonikankara]

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Mozart | 10. Piyano Sonatı, Allegro moderato

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NATSUKI TAMURA & SATOKO FUJII - Muku

Alb. “Muku” (2012)

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[bainer]

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Tom Jobim & Elis Regina - Fotografia (1974)

Happy Friday y'all.

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Here’s your Friday electric piano infusion. Thank me later.

[masmaulan]

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A Case of You - Herbie Hancock, from the album “River: The Joni Letters” (2007)

[dailyclassicalmusic]

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Composer: Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837)

Work: Andante con moto from Piano Concerto Nr. 4 in E Major “Les Adieux” (1814)

Performer: Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players; condcuted by Howard Shelley

As requested by you-had-me-at-f-minor

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weekend nesting with some blue bottle columbian single origin.

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[cornelluniversity]

Twenty-five images go on display in Cornell’s Malott Hall Sept. 12 in the exhibition, “SymmetryScapes: An Exhibition of Mathematical Art.” Artist Frank Farris created the display’s aluminum prints, purchased by Cornell’s math department to celebrate the beauty and diversity of symmetry.

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[offscreenmag]

In German, the word for passion is Leidenschaft, which literally means the ability to endure adversity. It is a much less rosy word, not the graduation bromide its English counterpart has become. If you’re passionate about something in Germanic cultures, you don’t necessarily enjoy it. Leidenschaft is about knowing the pursuit will be unpleasant but tolerating it because the outcome is worth the cost. Critically, Germans can be passionate about an activity without feeling the need to pursue it as a profession or worry about higher ideals. From this view, work is a means to an end, enabling the pursuit of passion during non-work time.

Another great piece on the ’The problem with following your passion’. (via offscreenmag)

[teded]

Scientific Theory vs. Law

Chat with a friend about an established scientific theory, and she might reply, “Well, that’s just a theory.” But a conversation about an established scientific law rarely ends with “Well, that’s just a law.” Why is that? What is the difference between a theory and a law… and is one “better”? 

Scientific laws and theories have different jobs to do. A scientific law predicts the results of certain initial conditions. It might predict your unborn child’s possible hair colors, or how far a baseball travels when launched at a certain angle.

In contrast, a theory tries to provide the most logical explanation about why things happen as they do. A theory might invoke dominant and recessive genes to explain how brown-haired parents ended up with a red-headed child, or use gravity to shed light on the parabolic trajectory of a baseball.

In simplest terms, a law predicts what happens while a theory proposes why. A theory will never grow up into a law, though the development of one often triggers progress on the other. 

We weren’t handed a universal instruction manual. Instead, we continually propose, challenge, revise, or even replace our scientific ideas as a work in progress. Laws usually resist change since they wouldn’t have been adopted if they didn’t fit the data, though we occasionally revise laws in the face of new unexpected information. A theory’s acceptance, however, is often gladiatorial. Multiple theories may compete to supply the best explanation of a new scientific discovery. Upon further research, scientists tend to favor the theory that can explain most of the data, though there may still be gaps in our understanding. 

Even incorrect theories have their value. Discredited alchemy was the birthplace of modern chemistry, and medicine made great strides long before we understood the roles of bacteria and viruses. That said, better theories often lead to exciting new discoveries that were unimaginable under the old way of thinking. Nor should we assume all of our current scientific theories will stand the test of time. A single unexpected result is enough to challenge the status quo. However, vulnerability to some potentially better explanation doesn’t weaken a current scientific theory. Instead, it shields science from becoming unchallenged dogma. 

A good scientific law is a finely-tuned machine, accomplishing its task brilliantly but ignorant of why it works as well as it does. A good scientific theory is a bruised, but unbowed, fighter who risks defeat if unable to overpower or adapt to the next challenger. Though different, science needs both laws and theories to understand the whole picture. So next time someone comments that it’s just a theory, challenge them to go nine rounds with the champ and see if they can do any better.

From the TED-Ed Lesson What’s the difference between a scientific law and theory? - Matt Anticole

Animation by Zedem Media

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[theparisreview]

The world doesn’t owe me a living, so I may as well waste my life as I choose.

William T. Vollmann, The Art of Fiction No. 163 (via theparisreview)

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Eleanor Roosevelt on the power of personal conviction and our individual responsibility in social change – spectacular read from half a century ago, even timelier today, amid a particularly strange election year.