#scientish

[melchinafan]

Okay so I initially found this youtube channel via the end of this post, which shared this short video about a cute bee, and I have been having an absolutely DELIGHTFUL time watching through all the everything.

Chitin came up in one of the long videos as being not only what makes up bug and crab exoskeletons, but also FUNGI, and this short video brought up that it's ALSO the serrated bits on cephalopod suckers. So I am having a blast thinking about the incidental overlap in various forms the Filth has taken. It wouldn't actually BE chitin, because it's a supernatural substance, but. How cool that there's a real-world link between stuff like the draug and fungal Filth!

(Oh and also there was a long video about the design for the cordyceps in the Last of Us show, which involved identifying what various elements of different zombie designs were, and how much it did or didn't make sense. And how some of the mushrooms look like barnacles, another delightful draug parallel! And details about how cordyceps actually works! It makes me want to go look at the conglomerated fungal Filth critters again, see if I can recognize more minute details about their design now that I have learned some stuff...OH MAN THIS KINDA VALIDATES THE DRAUG AND FUNGAL FILTH PODS LOOKING THE SAME! I mean yes it's all Filth and fabricated so parallels are permitted but JUSTIFICATION VIA CHITIN)

[statetimes1]

Scientists find potential new HIV therapy

Scientists find potential new HIV therapy

New York: Scientists have discovered a way to block replication of the most common form of HIV at a key moment when the infection is just starting to develop.

Transmitted through bodily fluids, the HIV-1 virus infects and destroys key immune cells, known as CD4 T cells, that would ordinarily mount a defense against the virus and initiate the antiviral activity of other immune cells.

Scientists…

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[words-with-books]

I was tagged by the wonderful blog-of-the-weeping-angels so yeah go follow!!!

RULES: Rule 1: Always post the rules Rule 2: Answer the questions the person who tagged you asked, and write 11 new ones Rule 3: Tag 11 people and link them to the post Rule 4: Actually tell them you tagged them 11 questions.

1. What do you think makes the perfect relationship? 

That's ah that's a very hard question. I think being honest and respect makes the perfect relationship. Just being there for that other person, and always have their back. 

2. Would you rather be hated or forgotten?

Hated.

3. What’s the biggest turnoff in a man/woman?

Biggest turnoff? Well, personally my biggest turnoff in a guy is when they are rude and cocky. Same for girls. In general, a big turnoff for me in people is when they are  just unpleasant to be around. Aka, if they're jerks, I tend to not like them. 

4. What would you do if you knew no one would judge you? (Only 1 thing)

I would go to the US and try to start a career as an actress OR I would be more social

5. What is something you can’t help but spend money on?

BOOOKSSSS

6. NOTP (No-TP)?

*whispers* Hermione/Draco 

7. What Superpower do you want to have?

The power to be able to control elements. OhmygOSH, that'd be so cool.

8.  Favourite Song at the moment?

That's Alright by Laura Mvula

9. Celebrity you dislike the most?

Robin Thicke and Justin Bieber

10. Last film you watched at the movies?

Hrmm.. I think it was Frozen??

11. Weapon of choice?

Bow and Arrow :3

My Questions: 

What's your favorite type of weather?

When you feel sad, what do you do to cheer yourself up?

Say one thing you like and dislike about tumblr.

Red or Blue?

What do you look for in a guy/girl?

If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?

Do you like someone right now?

Name three places you'd like to visit in the future.

Do you have any tumblr friends?

OTP?

What's your favorite thing about yourself?

[randomskeptic-blog]

More than 20 percent of atheist scientists are spiritual

20% still isnt a majority though - just saying that - before anyone starts to attack me with " SEE!! even scientists are spiritual!"

More than 20 percent of atheist scientists are spiritual, according to new research from Rice University. Though the general public marries spirituality and religion, the study found that spirituality is a separate idea – one that more closely aligns with scientific discovery – for "spiritual atheist" scientists.

The research will be published in the June issue of Sociology of Religion.

Through in-depth interviews with 275 natural and social scientists at elite universities, the Rice researchers found that 72 of the scientists said they have a spirituality that is consistent with science, although they are not formally religious.

"Our results show that scientists hold religion and spirituality as being qualitatively different kinds of constructs," said Elaine Howard Ecklund, assistant professor of sociology at Rice and lead author of the study. "These spiritual atheist scientists are seeking a core sense of truth through spirituality -- one that is generated by and consistent with the work they do as scientists."

For example, these scientists see both science and spirituality as "meaning-making without faith" and as an individual quest for meaning that can never be final. According to the research, they find spirituality congruent with science and separate from religion, because of that quest; where spirituality is open to a scientific journey, religion requires buying into an absolute "absence of empirical evidence."

"There's spirituality among even the most secular scientists," Ecklund said. "Spirituality pervades both the religious and atheist thought. It's not an either/or. This challenges the idea that scientists, and other groups we typically deem as secular, are devoid of those big 'Why am I here?' questions. They too have these basic human questions and a desire to find meaning."

Ecklund co-authored the study with Elizabeth Long, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Rice. In their analysis of the 275 interviews, they discovered that the terms scientists most used to describe religion included "organized, communal, unified and collective." The set of terms used to describe spirituality include "individual, personal and personally constructed." All of the respondents who used collective or individual terms attributed the collective terms to religion and the individual terms to spirituality.

"While the data indicate that spirituality is mainly an individual pursuit for academic scientists, it is not individualistic in the classic sense of making them more focused on themselves," said Ecklund, director of the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice. "In their sense of things, being spiritual motivates them to provide help for others, and it redirects the ways in which they think about and do their work as scientists."

Ecklund and Long noted that the spiritual scientists saw boundaries between themselves and their nonspiritual colleagues because their spirituality facilitated engagement with the world around them. Such engagement, according to the spiritual scientists, generated a different approach to research and teaching: While nonspiritual colleagues might focus on their own research at the expense of student interaction, spiritual scientists' sense of spiritualty provides nonnegotiable reasons for making sure that they help struggling students succeed.

Provided by Rice University (news : web)