The Semicolon @moosebagel - Tumblr Blog

Me in history class: Wow, humanity has been through some fascinating times! I wonder if I’ll ever live through major historical events!

Me now: NO NO NO NO NO I WANT TO GET OFF THIS RIDE

merricatte

Our entire generation: WE WANTED FUCKING SPACE TRAVEL WHA T T H E FUUCKS

#this #so much this

tvgif

tastefullyoffensive

Tag yourself, I’m Timmy. (via localhotdad)

#lol wut

nonehonorwithleftnip

Publix has no chill.

moosebagel

#irma #floridalife

#hurricane irma #irma #floridalife

puppiestotherescue

moosebagel

Do not mention this to anyone

adventurelandia

“Mr. Beaker, set ego to ‘Bruised’“.

George Takei and Bob Keeshan on Muppets Tonight (1996)

omfg

Lol

scottish-orca

Adult whale Lulu was one of UK’s last resident pod and had never produced a calf, signalling pollutants in her blubber cause infertility

One of the highest concentrations of toxic pollutants ever recorded in a marine mammal has been revealed in a Scottish killer whale that died in 2016.

The adult whale, known as Lulu, was a member of the UK’s last resident pod and a postmortem also showed she had never produced a calf. The pollutants, called PCBs, are known to cause infertility and these latest findings add to strong evidence that the pod is doomed to extinction.

The level of PCBs found in Lulu’s blubber were extreme at 950mg/kg, more than 100 times the 9mg/kg limit above which damage to the health of marine mammals is known to occur. A 2016 analysis showed the average concentration for killer whales in the north-east Atlantic was about 150mg/kg.

Lulu died after becoming tangled in ropes used to haul up creels, the netted cages used to catch lobsters and crabs. But Andrew Brownlow, head of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, said: “Given what is known about the toxic effects of PCBs, we have to consider that such a high-pollutant burden could have been affecting her health and reproductive fitness.”

Brownlow, also a veterinary pathologist at Scotland’s Rural College, said: “Lulu’s apparent infertility is an ominous finding – with no new animals being born, it is now looking increasingly likely that this small group will eventually go extinct. One of the factors in this groups apparent failure to reproduce could be their high burden of organic pollutants.”

The examination of Lulu found she was at least 20 years old, well above the age of sexual maturity, which ranges from six to 10 years old. However, analysis of the ovaries shows she never bore a calf. The entire pod may have been left barren, as no calf has ever been seen in the 23 years the group have been monitored.

PCBs were used for decades in electrical equipment but finally banned in the 1980s after the full toxic impacts on people and wildlife were revealed. PCBs, which cause cancers and suppress the immune system, are especially harmful to top predators because they accumulate in fat up the food chain. Killer whales can live for many decades, meaning they can end up with very high levels of PCBs.

PCBs are extremely tough chemicals and do not break down in the environment. The decline in PCB levels in marine wildlife seen after the 1980s ban has now levelled off in some places, indicating that the toxic chemicals are still leaking into the oceans from inadequate waste storage sites.

“Once PCBs get into the marine environment, they are difficult if not impossible to remove,” said Brownlow. “There are still many PCB stockpiles in Europe, and it is absolutely essential that these toxic reserves do not reach the marine environment.”

Bottlenose dolphins in the north-east Atlantic have also shown both high PCB levels and low reproductive rates. Other PCBs hotspots around the world include the entire Mediterranean and the Black Sea, while specific populations suffering from PCB poisoning include belugas in Canada and polar bears across the Arctic.

In February, scientists discovered “extraordinary” amounts of PCBs had even reached the most remote and inaccessible place on the planet – the 10km deep Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean.

peterwknox

This is a comic about the backfire effect.

Read it.

wilwheaton

Read it twice.

the-cetacean

SeaWorld has welcomed the newest member of the SeaWorld family of killer whales. Takara, the 25-year-old matriarch of the SeaWorld San Antonio orca pod, gave birth to the calf at 2:33 p.m. central time, April 19, 2017. SeaWorld committed to stop breeding killer whales in March 2016. The calf was conceived naturally (likely with Kyuquot, but Tuar could also be a possibility) prior to SeaWorld’s decision to stop breeding.

Killer whales are born after a 17 month long gestation. At birth they weigh around 300lbs and are around 6 feet long.

There is no confirmation on the sex of the calf yet.

girlwithalessonplan

If it’s going to really, really help a kid with ADD or some other LD-related diagnosis, then it needs to be discussed with the IEP team and put into the IEP so that everyone knows how to effectively use the tool for accommodation purposes.

Look, I taught speech for 9 years straight. I saw a lot of anxious teens in my room. So I bought tangle toys for kids to use. You know what happened to them? They got DESTROYED. Kids who didn’t need them were taking them and dismantling them, throwing pieces, losing them, and I had to take them away from kids more than once.

“UGH BUT I NEED IT,” they cried.

“You’re making a big enough scene over a toy in front of the class, so I think you’re good to give a speech,” I responded.

So I resorted to hiding the tangle toys and stress balls, and only brought them out when I saw the TRULY nervous. The real wigglers. I’d quietly slip the item to the kid, get a grateful glance, and it would be back on my desk at the end of the hour.

The spinners are turning into toys. They’re not being used for their intended purpose by the vast majority of students I’ve seen use them. And I’ve already seen how someone’s spinner has actually destroyed someone else’s concentration. Student A stares into space, spinspinspinspin, while Student B scowls trying to work on a paper and says, “I’m going to rip that off your hand.”

moosebagel

God, these things have been a plague! They definitely need to be banned and allowed only with an IEP.

#teaching