[materialsscienceandengineering]

Mussels are inspiring new technology that could help purify water and clean up oil spills

Mussels are notorious maritime stowaways known for damaging the hulls of boats, but these same adhesive properties have widespread engineering applications, scientists in China and the United states write in review published July 10 in the journal Matter. They suggest that the chemistry of mussel threads is inspiring engineering innovations that address a wide range of problems, from cleaning up oil spills to treating contaminated water.

Mussels withstand powerful currents and forceful waves by attaching themselves to rocks using clusters of thin, surprisingly hardy byssus threads. These threads owe their adhesive power to an amino acid group called dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), which clings to the surface by performing a series of molecular gymnastics, including hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.

Scientists have found that DOPA can adhere to all sorts of solid substrates through these interactions—and so can dopamine, a molecule with a similar structure to DOPA. Research suggesting that dopamine can form a universal coating on a wide range of substrates spurred the growth of mussel-inspired chemistry as a powerful new tool for material surface engineering and environmental science.

Read more.

[altered-statuses]

靈的故鄉 : 真我的去向 (The Spirit’s Home: Towards the Actual Self)  / 丹波哲郎原著  Tetsurō Tamba; 陳子西譯 (trans. Chen Zixi), 臺北市 : 千華, 民79 (1990)

[earthstory]

moonmountainmanVerified

This place blew me away. Up to this point on our trip down the river in MX, the water was shallow and clear but when we reach this waterfall everything changed. The blue water that was cascading down the falls was stunning. We swam in the pools and danced in the falls. Then I took out the drone and saw the river above and my jaw dropped.

[thorffour-deactivated20190920]

[link]

[zashto]

Queen of Swords

[locallovewitch-deactivated20201]

hey so uhhh here’s an important update on what’s apparently happening at the border, especially with the use of the old japanese internment camps

all i can say is i’m sickened by this mess, by the atrocities committed against innocent people. and now there will be no surveillance. no one will be able to see what happens to these people. the UN, the media, and any other human rights organizations cannot get into these facilities, either, in order to stop what’s happening. by the way, coast guard members were apparently aiding in this process as well. so now it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a military movement.

no one gets in. no one gets out.

so when are we going to call this what it is? it’s fascism. it’s genocide. and if we don’t stop it now, it’s going to be disastrous.

contact your senators, your representatives, anyone that’s in office that can get off their lazy ass and do something.

[locallovewitch-deactivated20201]

can y’all please reblog this i’m begging

[adrianjune]

https://time.com/5605120/trump-migrant-children-fort-sill/

Trump Administration to Hold Migrant Children at Base That Served as WWII Japanese Internment Camp

HHS said Fort Sill will be used “as a temporary emergency influx shelter”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-conditions-idUSKBN1K82X1

Migrants in U.S. custody describe life in 'ice boxes' and 'dog pounds'

During their detention last month in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facili...

[quiet-curiosity]

This makes me want to vomit, this is so horrible. 

Here are some donation links.  RAICES : raicestexas.org

ACLU : aclu.org

[thecolorblockcurator]

Not art related but incredibly important

I read, this Sunday June 30. ICE Raids were going start in 10 major cities including Chicago, LA, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, and other cities. However, they have been postponed for two weeks from now. Honestly I don’t believe it.

There is a very long, very terrifying article on the Washington post if you want to read it. Basically, ICE has been prepping and gearing up for this mass raid and it sounds terrifying. Just google mass ice raids Sunday and you’ll find it (I’m on my phone so I can’t link it up)

To all of you:

Please stay safe. If your on a visa for school or work or whatever have your papers with you. ICE has been know in the past to just take people and sort it out later while you’re in custody, probably in horrible conditions. They supposedly postponed the raid but I dont know, it seems like a cover to me, it just sounds suspicious. So please stay safe. Go to ACLU and read your rights.

It’s hard to know what to do to make and impact in this horrible situation. But getting the word out is key. Physically going out and protesting is also important. You can donate to the foundations I’ve listed above in my previous reblog (nikkilanecreates). I also urge you to go to VolunteerMatch and find something local that you can do to help out families, kids, and communities who are rightfully scared given the state of everything.

And finally if you support these attacks that this horrible presidential administration been promoting please leave this blog. You’re not welcome here.

[blackqueerblog]

[maptitude1]

Our solar system, including over 18,000 asteroids

[buried-l0cket]

im gonna need youtube to stop recommending me videos of mbb its too depressing 

[buried-l0cket]

Bc Hollywood is a never ending cycle of female child stars being encouraged to dress and act mature incredibly young to appeal to grown men, preyed upon and groomed by grown men in Hollywood, being in relationships with these men twice their age the second they turn 18, then Hollywood turning on them as adults for relying on sex appeal and ruining their careers, and here we are in 2019 where all the female child stars from the 90s are at that final stage and opening up about how gross their treatment as children was and we’re all like “yeah put an end to this!! #metoo!!!” And then Millie Bobby brown, a 15 year old, is dressed like this by her stylists for every public appearance and is being persued by grown men and everyone’s just like “aw it’s cute! Let her dress how she wants!” And it’s just never gonna get better or end we’re gonna treat girls like this forever. :)

[whimsyprinx]

it’s really disgusting and just gross that it’s so normalized and that no one bats an eye it seems

[silentlycrazy]

God I didnt even recognize her…

[thedarkestlovee]

Thought that was a grown ass woman…

[autumntides]

Not that this is appropriate to anything, but people who heard about where concentration camps were, and forcibly decommissioned their guards, and bust people out, and sneaked in resources, and destroyed their gates, and collected weapons to raid and dismantle them in Germany, in France, in Poland, and et cetera are what are generally regarded as heroes. They did something direct, they did something morally obligated, they did something just, they did something. They did something, when so many were afraid to do anything. When so many were approving. When it was legal that those torture pits, heavy with death, haunted even now by the suffering, echoing the dehumanization, that those blighted places were being run by so-called legitimate authority.

I keep thinking about that. Not that it’s relevant to anything.

[closet-keys]

I’m seeing a lot of tags on the posts talking about the concentration camps asking what to do. I think now is one of those times when it’s really important to “think global; act local.” 

You might not be able to have material impact on any of the children at a specific facility if you’re across the country or states away. But you can have an impact on people being detained in your own county. 

Freedom for Immigrants has a map of all the detention centers in the country. Look up those closest to you. 

You can use this website to look up the number of people detained (and the name of the detention center) nearest you. 

For example, say I live in Suffolk County, MA. 

I can find that the latest numbers retrieved in Dec 2018 there were 17 people held at the Suffolk County House of Corrections.

Once you know the location, you can look up that detention center and “ICE” to get news articles about protests from inside or outside the facility. Look for the organizations involved, and reach out to them. I guarantee they have lots of work that needs to be done and will be grateful for your help. 

[babybear]

PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS:

there are several posts going around about how to best help if you witness an ICE raid/arrest as a (white) citizen. many of them are filled with extremely bad, LARP-y advice such as screaming at agents and getting physically close to them. in most cases, this is just going to make things worse for everyone at risk (including yourself). you need to stay calm, and avoid getting someone accused of resisting arrest.

to be clear: most of these fascists dont care about the law. “illegal” is not a magic word you can say to make them stop. and, being a white citizen is not an impenetrable shield. you can still be arrested, so be prepared for that. you are, however, less likely to be arrested, and MUCH less likely to be killed or held extralegally.

here is what you should actually do to help:

record, and make sure your phone auto-backups to a cloud. streaming can be problematic because its best to have lawyers look over the footage first. be aware they might also grab your phone, even without a warrant. if they’re grabbing it out of your hands, try to lock it. make sure you have a pin lock, not pattern or fingerprint. here’s some other ways to protect your phone from cops.

if you are able to film, and have determined it won’t escalate the situation, make it obvious you are doing so, because secretly recording is illegal in several states. narrate any violation of rights you see. here is a Q&A about filming ICE.

stay several feet back from agents, because they can claim you’re impeding them. if you’re recording and they claim this, take several steps back, and announce it as you’re doing so, if you’re filming.

ask if they are free to go, if someone is being approached. if ICE insists on the person asking for themself, and they speak spanish*, tell them “por favor repita: ‘am i free to go?’” (this just means “please repeat”) if the agent says yes, tell them “usted puede dejar”. if not..

calmly inform people of their rights if they are being arrested. they do not have to speak at all to agents, answer any questions without a lawyer, or sign anything. they do have to show their paperwork if they have it, but do NOT have to hand over the paperwork/passport, or consent to a search of themselves/belongings, without a judicial warrant (not administrative! here’s the difference). it is crucial that they give as little information as possible to ICE.

if you speak spanish, list their rights in spanish as well, and translate what the agents are saying. if not, keep the google translate app on your phone – it’s not perfect, but it’s quick/accessible and can download languages for offline use. you can also memorize this sentence: “no tiene que responder/dar su consentimiento” - “you dont have to respond/consent”

get their lawyer’s contact info, if they have one and are being taken away by ICE. many people carry a card with emergency contact info on it, including childcare info and loved ones, so you can offer to call those numbers for them.

call for legal help. do not call the ACLU or other big organizations for immediate help, call your local immigration help center (for New York State, contact IDP at 212-725-6422. for California, call the TRUST hotline at 844-878-7801). United We Dream is an immigrant-lead organization that provides aid nationwide, and can be reached at 844-363-1423. please save these numbers in your phone!

know the ICE rapid response network in your town, and keep their number on hand. if there isn’t one close to you, here’s how to make one.

finally, here are some useful toolkits:

comprehensive ICE response guide

know your rights posters for in-home raid readiness, community flyers, and informative videos

ACLU videos explaining what to do in various situations with ICE

*of course not every immigrant speaks spanish; people from south america are being targeted en masse right now, but may speak many indigenous languages as well as portuguese. so ask if you dont know what language someone speaks, and see if google translate can help.

[phereinnike]

Just wanted to point “usted puede dejar “ doesn’t mean anything. If you want to tell them they can leave say “usted puede irse” or ‘you’re free to go’ = “usted es libre de marcharse”. 

[science]

[poblacht-na-n-oibrithe]

Sudan: “Russia in 1917 must have felt like Khartoum 2019”

Commitee for a Workers' International, socialist organisation fighting against capitalism in over 40 countries worldwide

A Financial Times journalist observing these tumultuous events was moved to write: “One cannot know for sure what Russia felt like in 1917 as the tsar was being toppled, or France in 1871 in the heady, idealistic days of the short-lived Paris Commune. But it must have felt something like Khartoum in April 2019.”

[hogtown-salt]

Mohamed Abubakr :

“You probably didn’t hear about this in your local news, so allow me to tell you what happened today in my home country of #Sudan: Remember how young women and men forced dictator Al-Bashir out of his office nearly 2 months ago , with a massive sit-in? Well, the sit-in never actually ended. It has been going on for the past 52 days, and will continue until a complete transition to a civil transitional government is complete. Of course, the Army has been resisting this transition, as armies usually do, and been playing hardball with the negotiation team that represents the young protestors, and has been to trying its best to get them to settle for less than a civilian government , and playing all the dirty tricks in the playbook. Today, as reminder of who holds the legitimacy and people’ power, Sudanese people responded to a call for a 2 day general strike called for by the negotiators. And EVERYONE responded. Bankers, doctors, engineers, pilots, air field control technicians, government bureaucrats, grocery stores .. You name it! As result, the country has been grounded, literally. No flights, no work, no taxes collected, no nothing. This is happening in a country were unions have been dismantled decades ago, and lead by youth who never voted in their lives. Sudan may not be a democracy (yet) but democratic values and attitudes are very alive and well in there. They are ready for freedom . #مدنيااااو #تسقط_بس “

[glendathegoodone]

Yes!!!

[saaadgirl]

My blog is far from a political one but I read this today and as a proud Indigenous woman trying to get on a good path in life it’s shit like this, the countless numbers of murders/assaults/rapes /disappearances, and continued racism that’s making me more and more afraid to represent my culture even in this day and age. I’ve lost people close to me who couldn’t take it anymore and there’s simply not enough recognition out there for what continues to happen to my people years after my ancestors fought their own battles. Shouldn’t have to be afraid anymore and yet??

[what-horrors]

so fucked up

[what-horrors]

ATTENTION SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS

You should become government auditors so that you can target economic segregation in school systems.

[osanzo]