It’s Only Been 5 Months Guys

apply for jobs you’re not qualified for! audit upper-level classes! get drunk with your TAs! see that poster advertising that lecture series? go there take notes and ask questions! thank the presenter for talking about this topic you love! if the class is full before you register, email the professor and ask if they can squeeze you in! RAISE YOUR HAND! tell the disability accomodation office to do their goddamn job! ask for help! file complaints! go to class in your pajamas and destroy the reading! you got this! you KNOW you got this! be arrogant enough to learn EVERYTHING! take your meds! punch a velociraptor in the dick! fear is useless and temporary! glory is forever! shed your skin and erupt angel wings! help out! spread your sun!

i had a really good morning! you deserve a really good morning! kill anyone who says you don’t and build a throne from their bones!

Fusion to Air Special ‘The Naked Truth’ Report on Standing Rock Movement

Special Includes Interview with Actor and Activist Mark Ruffalo

‘The Naked Truth: Standing Rock’ Reported by FUSION’s Nelufar Hedayat Airs Tonight, December 22 @ 10PM

In a new special report ‘The Naked Truth: Standing Rock,’ FUSION takes an in-depth look at the Native American activists who have have been boldly standing up to a large energy company and the government to prevent the construction of an oil pipeline under the Missouri River. After months of protests, as the world watched, the self-described ‘water protectors’ accomplished a momentary victory when the Obama administration announced it will not allow the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to move forward. Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, one of the strongest supporters of the #NoDAPL movement, sits down with FUSION’s Nelufar Hedayat to discuss the challenge of transforming a momentary gain into a long-standing victory, considering the potential threats from the incoming Trump administration. “The Naked Truth: Standing Rock” will air Thursday, December 22 @ 10PM on FUSION (channel listings).  

“Corporate and state power has come so close together that people are at a moment where they don’t feel like their voices are being heard. And so the last thing that’s left for us is to assemble, is to gather together and to protest – or protect,” Ruffalo said to Hedayat.

“People think that Bismarck moved the pipeline because they wanted to protect the white people. In fact what I would tell you is that that’s bullshit,” the Mayor of Bismarck Mike Seminary told FUSION. “The city of Bismarck never was involved in the process… ever. We didn’t have a role in it.”

“It’s my home. It’s my water. My home is right there - my house on the hill. My son is buried there. My father is buried there. Who would put a pipeline next to your son’s grave?,” Ladonna Brave Bull Allard told FUSION.

The First Dinosaur Tail Found Preserved in Amber is Covered in Feathers

Genome pioneer John Sulston enters elite club - BBC News

Sir John Sulston is elevated to the Companion of Honour in the Queen’s birthday list.

http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/news-blogs/wendy-awarded-an-mbe

Science getting recognised, and I’m so happy. The second link is Wendy Sadler who is being awarded an MBE. She’s the founding director of science made simple, a Welsh program to help get kids involved and excited by science after they realised our education system tended to have the opposite effect. According to her colleagues, she’s not only an amazing scientist but incredibly dedicated to inspiring a new generation to follow their curiosities. 

Alzheimer's Disease linked to the metabolism of unsaturated fats

A new study published in PLOS Medicine’s Special Issue on Dementia has found that the metabolism of omega-3 and omega-6 unsaturated fatty acids in the brain are associated with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which causes impaired memory, executive function and language. It accounts for 60 - 80% of total dementia cases worldwide, with over 46 million people suffering from the disease worldwide. The number of patients is estimated to rise to 131.5 million by 2050.

Currently it is thought that the main reason for developing memory problems in dementia is the presence of two big molecules in the brain called tau and amyloid proteins. These proteins have been extensively studied and have been shown to start accumulating in the brain up to 20 years prior to the onset of the disease. However, there is limited information on how small molecule metabolism in the brain is associated with the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

In this study, researchers from King’s College London and the National Institute on Aging in the United States looked at brain tissue samples from 43 people ranging in age from 57 to 95 years old. They compared the differences in hundreds of small molecules in three groups: 14 people with healthy brains, 15 that had high levels of tau and amyloid but didn’t show memory problems and 14 clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s patients.

They also looked at three different areas in the brain, one that usually shows little tau and amyloid, one that shows more tau and another that shows more amyloid. The main molecules that were different were six small fats, including omegas, which changed in abundance in different regions of the brain.

They found that unsaturated fatty acids were significantly decreased in Alzheimer’s brains when compared to brains from healthy patients.

Co-lead author of the study, Dr Cristina Legido Quigley from King’s College London said: “While this was a small study, our results show a potentially crucial and unexpected role for fats in the onset of dementia. Most surprisingly we found that a supposedly beneficial omega3, DHA, actually increased with the progression of the disease.

“It is now important for us to build on and replicate these findings in a larger study and see whether it corroborates our initial findings.”

I struggle to understand why other white people refuse to realise they're racist. You can be at every rally, supporting every cause, it doesn't matter. We were raised to be inherently racist, and the sooner you face up to that the sooner you can actually work on solving the problems. Prejudice is automatic in most of our upbringings, and if you're living your life saying 'oh but I'm not racist', you're never actually gonna get rid of those prejudices.

trick-or-ween

blog / insta / shop

Anatomical Illustrations from Edo-Period, Japan.

Japan’s second human dissection, 1758 // First human female dissection, 1759

In 1758, a student of Tōyō Yamawaki’s named Kōan Kuriyama performed Japan’s second human dissection (see illustration on left). The following year, Kuriyama produced a written record of Japan’s first dissection of a human female (see illustration on right). In addition to providing Japan with its first real peek at the female anatomy, this dissection was the first in which the carving was performed by a doctor. In previous dissections, the cutting work was done by hired assistants due to taboos associated with handling human remains.

i got 99 problems and a pivot is two of them