Undecided Title -_-

I never figured out what title to use lol. Regardless. 33 m. Mainly, I follow and re-blog astrophotography and astronomy. I will post some random stuff that I like here and there as well. Enjoy! SC: rick_sp07

[blueflamelotus]

[manilaswivel]

We need everyone's help right now to protect the rainforest and Indigenous People

The Amazon Rainforest is under a massive threat. I know you've heard this a million times, but this is different. There is a piece of legislation that will decimate the rights of Indigenous people of Brazil, who have been protecting the rainforest. It's unfathomably bad. It has majority support. And they're voting tomorrow. As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

The thing you can do—and I know this sounds overly simple—is sign this petition—and tell your friends to do the same: SIGN HERE.

As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

Again, this bill has majority support. You may be wondering, why will a petition signed by people who don't live in Brazil make any difference? Because it will give those opposing it political air cover. It will show the world is with them.

But we need a LOT of signatures.

Please do this simple act and spread the word.

[coolnasapics]

Southern Sky at 38,000 Feet via NASA https://ift.tt/36m6ceI

[excorpiano]

[neurosciencestuff]

Chimpanzees help trace the evolution of human speech back to ancient ancestors

One of the most promising theories for the evolution of human speech has finally received support from chimpanzee communication, in a study conducted by a group of researchers led by the University of Warwick.

The evolution of speech is one of the longest-standing puzzles of evolution. However, inklings of a possible solution started emerging some years ago when monkey signals involving a quick succession of mouth open-close cycles were shown to exhibit the same pace of human spoken language.

In the paper ‘Chimpanzee lip-smacks confirm primate continuity for speech-rhythm evolution’, published in the journal Biology Letters, a consortium of researchers, including St Andrews University and the University of York, led by the University of Warwick, have found that the rhythm of chimpanzee lip-smacks also exhibit a speech-like signature – a critical step towards a possible solution to the puzzle of speech evolution.

Just like each and every language in the world, monkey lip-smacks have previously shown a rhythm of about 5 cycles/second (i.e. 5Hz). This exact rhythm had been identified in other primate species, including gibbon song and orangutan consonant-like and vowel-like calls. However there was no evidence from African apes, such as gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees - who are closer related to humans, meaning the plausibility of this theory remained on hold.

Now, the team of researchers using data from 4 chimpanzee populations have confirmed that they too produce mouth signals at a speech-like rhythm. The findings show there has been most likely a continuous path in the evolution of primate mouth signals with a 5Hz rhythm. Proving that evolution recycled primate mouth signals into the vocal system that one day was to become speech.

African great apes, the closest species to humans, had never been studied for the rhythm of their communication signals. Researchers investigated the rhythm of chimpanzee lip-smacks, produce by individuals while they groom another and found that chimpanzees produce lip-smacks at an average speech-like rhythm of 4.15 Hz.

Researchers used data across two captive and two wild populations, using video recordings collected at Edinburgh Zoo and Leipzig Zoo, and recordings of wild communities including the Kanyawara and the Waibira community, both in Uganda.

Dr Adriano Lameira, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick comments:

“Our results prove that spoken language was pulled together within our ancestral lineage using “ingredients” that were already available and in use by other primates and hominids. This dispels much of the scientific enigma that language evolution has represented so far. We can also be reassured that our ignorance has been partly a consequence of our huge underestimation of the vocal and cognitive capacities of our great ape cousins.

“We found pronounced differences in rhythm between chimpanzee populations, suggesting that these are not the automatic and stereotypical signals so often attributed to our ape cousins. Instead, just like in humans, we should start seriously considering that individual differences, social conventions and environmental factors may play a role in how chimpanzees engage “in conversation” with one another.

“If we continue searching, new clues will certainly unveil themselves. Now it’s a matter of mastering the political and societal power to preserve these precious populations in the wild and continue enabling scientists to look further.”

[adelicateculturecell]

“Spirochetes, for example, cause Lyme disease and syphilis. But to do that, they have to get through blood and other fluids, which they do in this erratic, corkscrew motion. The bacteria is generating thrust with flagella (though it’s important to not that bacterial flagella are a completely distinct thing from the eukaryotic flagella we mentioned earlier). And spirochetes use their flagella in a way that’s weird even for bacteria. They keep their flagella inside them, sandwiched between their membranes. And as the flagella rotate internally, they drive the entire spirochete to rotate and move. This mechanism doesn’t just move the spirochete, it also helps them dig deeper into the dense bits inside us that are more difficult for other bacteria to penetrate.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Water Is Thicker When You’re Smaller

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

[zespaceblog]

Stephan’s Quintet

300 million light years away in the constellation of Pegasus, the first compact group of galaxies ever discovered lies.

4 of the 5 galaxies in the Quintet show signs of merger or interaction, and the two closest merging galaxies NGC 7318A & B show one of the most violent mergers in the sky.

Above and below (in green colour) is a massive shockwave, lighting up the hydrogen gas and heating it up.

As with most galaxy mergers, a massive amount of star formation is occurring in the dust lanes, shown as pink blobs.

Viewed from a different angle and in X-Ray and visible light, the merging galaxies make for a smirking smile.

[mindblowingscience]

GM aims to stop selling gasoline cars by 2035

GM also said it plans to become carbon neutral by 2040.

General Motors said on Thursday it was setting a goal to sell all its new cars, SUVS and light pickup trucks with zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a dramatic shift by the largest U.S. automaker away from gasoline and diesel engines.

GM, which also said it plans to become carbon neutral by 2040, made the dramatic announcement just over a week after U.S. President Joe Biden took office pledging to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and dramatically boost sales of electric vehicles.

GM sold 2.55 million vehicles in the United States last year, but only about 20,000 were EVs – Chevy Bolt hatchbacks. It said in November it was investing $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years, up from $20 billion planned before the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue Reading.

[zespaceblog]

NGC 7027 Jewel bug nebula (Gummy Bear Nebula)

600 years ago, a star around 3-4 times the mass of our Sun ran out of helium to fuse in the core sufficiently such that gravity won out against the thermal pressure generated by fusion and began to crush down on the remnants of the star’s core. The star wasn’t large enough in mass to completely collapse, instead, it gets as far as crushing carbon, oxygen (mostly) into a planet sized ball, but with the gravity of almost that of our Sun (up to 1.4 times our sun for the largest). 

As this occurs, the temperatures in the white dwarf grow to 20 times that of it’s original surface temperature, igniting some gas, ionizing others and creating unique structures and colours in the now expanding planetary nebula.

The white dwarf remains at the centre, it has billions of years now to slowly cool, but the nebula moving away at 11mps will quickly disperse, leaving only the white dwarf.

[rainie-is-seasonchange]

Aurora borealis over Fort Nelson.

British Columbia, Canada.

[salvadoranrick]

Gorgeous view. Watching the northern lights in person is one of my life goals. 😍💙

[nature-travel-photography]

Waimea Canyon, aka “the Grand Canyon of Hawai'i”, Kauai HI [OC] [2400x1600] - Author: cosmosch on reddit

[funkyfrogoftheday]

today’s funky frog of the day is: glyphoglossus molossus! commonly known as the blunt-headed burrowing frog or balloon frog, they are found in cambodia, laos, myanmar, thailand, and vietnam. their natural habits include dry forests, lowland forests, moist savanna, freshwater marshes, rural gardens, and temporary ponds. they spend most of their time burrowing underground and only emerge in the rainy season or for breeding. females lay 200 to 300 eggs at a time in short-lived water sources such as ponds and ditches. unfortunately, they are threatened by both habitat loss and collection for food. diet and lifespan are unknown.

[nature-travel-photography]

Secret Cove, Copper Coast, Ireland [OC] 1666x2500 - Author: GaryCPhoto on reddit

[nasa]

One Hot Year after Another

Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s.

Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane. 

Heat and the energy it carries are what drive our planet: winds, weather, droughts, floods, and more are expressions of heat. The right amount of heat is even one of the things that makes life on Earth possible. But too much heat is changing the way our planet’s systems act.

My World’s on Fire

Higher temperatures drive longer, more intense fire seasons. As rain and snowfall patterns change, some regions are getting drier and more vulnerable to damage, setting the stage for more fires.

2020 saw several record-breaking fires, both in Australia in the beginning of the year, and in the western U.S. through northern summer and fall. Smoke from fires in both regions reached so high into the atmosphere that it formed clouds and continues to travel around the globe today.

In the Siberian Arctic, unusually high temperatures helped drive at least 19 fires in the region. More than half of them were burning peat soil – decomposed organic materials – that stores a lot of carbon. Peat fires release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, potentially leading to even more warming.

The Water’s Getting Warm

It wasn’t just fire seasons setting records. 2020 had more named tropical storms in the Atlantic and more storms making landfall in the U.S. than any hurricane season on record.

Hurricanes rely on warm ocean water as fuel, and this year, the Atlantic provided. 30 named storms weren’t the only things that made this year’s hurricane season notable.

Storms like Eta, Delta, and Iota quickly changed from smaller, weaker tropical storms into more destructive hurricanes. This rapid intensification is complicated, but it’s likely that warmer, more humid weather – a result of climate change – helps drive it.

The Ice Is Getting Thin

Add enough heat, and even the biggest chunk of ice will melt. That’s true whether we’re talking about the ice cubes in your glass or the vast sheets of ice at our planet’s poles. Right now, the Arctic region is warming about three times faster than the rest of our planet, which has some major effects both locally and globally.

This year, Arctic sea ice hit a near-record low. Sea ice is actually made of frozen ocean water, and it grows and thaws with the seasons, typically reaching an annual minimum extent in September.

Warmer ocean water led to more ice melting this year, and 2020’s annual minimum extent continued a long trend of shrinking Arctic sea ice extent.

A Long Trend

We study Earth and how it’s changing from the ground, the sky, and space. Using data from sensors all around the planet, we calculate the global average temperature, working with our partners at NOAA.

Many other organizations also track global temperature using their own instruments and methods, and they all match remarkably well. The last seven years were the hottest seven years on record. Earth is getting warmer.

We also study the effects of increasing temperatures, like the melting sea ice and longer fire seasons mentioned above. Additionally, we can study the cause of climate change from space, with a bird’s eye view of increasing carbon in the atmosphere.

The planet is changing because of human activities. We’re working together with other agencies to monitor changes and understand what this means for people in the future.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

[scidotnews]

Super-Puff Exoplanet WASP-107b is Even Stranger than Thought

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/super-puff-exoplanet-wasp-107b-09262.html

[zeromeaum]

[bushpoppy]

This is what NBC Hannibal is about

[salvadoranrick]

The seduction of human consumption lol