then let me understand you @everyonephobia

i can’t do this anymore

why not just talk to me? i'm not as irrational as you would think.

why’d you always want away from me if you were gonna make it so hard for me to let it be

:c

Ted Michael, Crash Test Love

(via wordsnquotes)

I’m really alarmed by the misinformation I see on social media right now, so here is a little simplified guide to WTF is going on.

(Edited to work better for tumblr, I originally just made screenshots for Twitter)

What is a NAZI?

Nazi is an abbreviation for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus) an ideology associated primarily with the 20th-century German Nazi Party (especially while it was being led by Adolt Hitler). The idea that National Socialism lived and died primarily through Hitler is actually a myth propagated by post-war propaganda and Hollywood. America destroyed those Nazis!! YAY!! – Wrong, They still exist. Although not under that name. Any far-right groups is basically a “Nazi” party (many even used the term “National Socialism” until a re-branding in the 80’s.

The German political scientist Klaus von Beyme describes three historical phases in the development of far-right parties in Western Europe after World War II.

From 1945 to the mid-1950s, far-right parties were marginalized, and their ideologies were discredited due to the recent existence and defeat of Nazism – because people were murdered. In droves. Like millions of people. Death camps are REAL. 11 million people died, including 1.1 million children. Thus in the years immediately following World War II, the main objective of far-right parties was survival; achieving any political impact at all, was largely not expected.

From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the so-called “populist protest phase” emerged with sporadic electoral success. During this period, far-right parties drew to them charismatic leaders whose profound mistrust of the political establishment led to an “us-versus-them” mind set: “us” being the nation’s citizenry, “them” being the politicians and bureaucrats who were then in office; beginning in the 1980s, the electoral successes of far-right political candidates made it possible for far-right political parties to revitalize anti-immigration as a mainstream issue.

What does anybody in the far right REALLY support?

How politics work is that there is two sides. The right and the left. In the middle, Liberalism and democracy.

The far-right isn’t about the “working man” at all. That’s what the LEFT is about. The Left is ALL about the public being in control. There is currently no major leftist parties in power in America (Democrats are closer to the middle - center-right, actually. They just get called the left party because nobody is).

What the right really advocates is private economic ownership (aka the rich getting’ richer), racial hierarchy (whites better than everyone else) and Social Darwinism (which is the idea that “weak” humans, aka the old, the sick, etc, deserve to be removed. That means gradually killed. Don’t get attached to your grandma). Extreme right-wing politicians are usually extreme nationalists (“bringing back JOBS to AMERICANS” = eventually they will exploit you as workers void of rights), and are opposed to immigration. They are also profoundly chauvinistic (that means women are seen as inferior).

Is Trump a representative of the extreme right?

Most definitely, since he supports all that was listed above. Loudly, too.

So, Trump isn’t going to really help the so-called American Working Man?

Who even is that? Everybody American works, no matter who they are. But if you mean that you’re a white middle class American, then you’ll get candy for a year and then be abused just like the rest of us. You’re already losing your rights to free information and healthcare. So, you might as well join the fight with us.

Who is Richard B. Spencer?

Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 11, 1978) is an American white nationalist, known for promoting white supremacist views. He is president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank, and Washington Summit Publishers, an independent publishing firm. Spencer has stated that he rejects the description of white supremacist, and describes himself as an identitarian. He advocates for a white homeland for a “dispossessed white race” and calls for “peaceful ethnic cleansing” to halt the “deconstruction” of European culture.

The Identitarian movement is a European political movement that started in France in 2002 and is basically all about destroying anybody who is a shade darker then milk. The Identitarian movement has a close linkage to members of the German New Right, aka Neo-Nazis.

So this guy is definitely a “Nazi”.

Was it ok to punch him?

It’s never ok to punch someone who has not provoked you. HOWEVER, what Spencer is doing is saying: I want to hurt people. I want to hurt people a lot. Not today. But, tomorrow, maybe. His very existence and allegiance is a constant menace. Picture it this way, if you met a guy in the park and he said hi, I don’t have a gun today, but I might tomorrow, and I might come back to shoot people, would you just ignore him? No. So in conclusion, march peacefully, but do punch Nazis. 

This is the American scale.

I really want to point this out because it’s a legitimate thing that Trump is far more extreme right than you may think. It also explains why this is a thing that happened. See, compared to many other countries in the world, my own included, the American political spectrum is offset to the right.

So what OP said about there not being an extreme left is absolutely true, there’s barely a left to begin with.

Sourcity-Sourcey-Source

I’d like to point out that this is a recorded phenomenon in political science and not my own biased interpretation of your politics. Noam Chomsky—cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist among other things (this guy pops up in my university classes from time to time; the dude’s part of the curriculum whether that says anything to you or not)—has been pretty outspoken about this.

“… so what [Republicans have] done is mobilized sectors of the population that have always been there but have never really been politically mobilized, like Evangelical Christians, the nativists who are afraid that ‘they’ are taking our country away from us, white racists, … gun-people who are so terrified that they have to carry their guns into church because maybe somebody’ll come after them. 

You know, these sectors of the population are there, and that’s now the base of the Republican party.”

So, this election night was a shocking, absolutely horrifying blow to my American friends. Even my friends here in Canada couldn’t come to terms with it. I saw panic attacks, fears about even visiting American relatives in the States again, and even a depressive loss of faith in humanity. How could this be where the world is today?

Because, it’s this gradual shift to the right that’s so insidious, that happened for a variety of complex reasons, I’m sure, that can to some make it seem like the current Republican party is a reasonable center-right party, when in actuality they are legitimately far right. And as such, able to take advantage of these small groups on the outside that have desperately wanted a podium for a long time.

So, no, you’re not imagining it, America. This isn’t normal. Punch some Nazis, if that’s what it takes.

side note: This is what we call the Overton Window and that is a really good visual of it.

It’s also important to point out that this isn’t just the United States and it never really was. Even now, because of Brexit and Trump’s election, the radical nationalist/fascist/racist/sexist/whatever end of the political spectrum is now being galvanized globally with the success and encouragement of this and aided by political echo-chambers in media, the internet, and small communities.

Nationalist movements are picking up again in France and Germany and even Canada now has at least three people running for the Conservative Party leadership on a Trump-like storm.

@thepowerwithin (via thepowerwithin)

F.F. // Thoughts after you left #4 (via myunpredictableuniverse) @everyonephobia

baby, i love you. i love you. you broke my chest. but i love you.

if you loved me you wouldnt treat me like this.

you’re better than that

@everyonephobia this goes out to you right now.

2016: This Year at NASA!

As 2016 comes to a close and prospects of the new year loom before us, we take a moment to look back at what we’ve accomplished and how it will set us ahead in the year to come.

2016 marked record-breaking progress in our exploration activities. We advanced the capabilities needed to travel farther into the solar system while increasing observations of our home and the universe, learning more about how to continuously live and work in space and, or course, inspiring the next generation of leaders to take up our journey to Mars and make their own discoveries.

Here are a few of the top NASA stories of 2016…

International Space Station

One Year Mission…completed!

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth after spending a year in space. Testing the limits of human research, findings from their One Year Mission will help send humans farther into space than ever before.

Commercial Resupply

Commercial partners Orbital ATK and SpaceX delivered tons (yes literally tons) of cargo to the International Space Station. This cargo supported hundreds of science experiments and technology demonstrations crucial to our journey to Mars.

Mars

Expandable Habitats

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was one of the technology demonstrations delivered to the space station in April. Expandable habitats greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions.

Booster Test Firing

In June, a booster for our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket successfully fired up. It will be used on the first un-crewed test flight of SLS with the Orion spacecraft in 2018. Eventually, this rocket and capsule will carry humans into deep space and one day…Mars!

InSight

This year we updated the milestones for our InSight mission with a new target launch window beginning in May 2018. This mission will place a fixed science outpost on Mars to study its deep interior. Findings and research from this project will address one of the most fundamental questions we have about the planetary and solar system science…how in the world did these rocky planets form?

Solar System and Beyond

Juno

On July 4, our Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter. This mission is working to improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.

OSIRIS-REx

In September, we launched our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft…which is America’s first-ever asteroid sample return mission. This spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu, where it will collect a sample to bring back to Earth for study.

James Webb Space Telescope

In February, the final primary mirror segment of our James Webb Space Telescope was installed. This will be the world’s most powerful space telescope ever, and is scheduled to launch in 2018. Webb will look back in time, studying the very first galaxies ever formed.

Kepler

In May, our Kepler mission verified the discovery of 1,284 new planets. Kepler is the first NASA mission to find potentially habitably Earth-sized planets.

Earth Right Now

Earth Expeditions

Our efforts to improve life on Earth included an announcement in March of a collection of Earth Science field campaigns to study how our planet is changing. These Earth Expeditions sent scientists to places like the edge of the Greenland ice sheet to the coral reefs of the South Pacific to delve into challenging questions about how our planet is changing…and what impacts humans are having on it.

Small Satellites

In November, we announced plans to launch six next-generation Earth-observing small satellite missions. One uses GPS signals to measure wind in hurricanes and tropical systems in greater detail than ever before.

Aeronautics Research

Our efforts in 2016 to make air travel cleaner, safer and quieter included new technology to improve safety and efficiency of aircraft arrivals, departures and service operations.

X-Plane

In June, we highlighted our first designation of an experimental airplane, or X-plane, in a decade. It will test new electric propulsion technology.

Drone Technolgy

In October, we evaluated a system being developed for the Federal Aviation Administration to safely manage drone air traffic.

Technology

Electric Propulsion

We selected Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop and advanced electric propulsion system to enable deep space travel to an asteroid and Mars.

Spinoffs

Our technology transfer program continued to share the agency’s technology with industry, academia and other government agencies at an unprecedented rate.

Centennial Challenges

Our Centennial Challenges program conducted four competition events in 2016 to spark innovation and enable solutions in important technology focus areas.

Watch the full video recap of ‘This Year @NASA’ here:

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

Max Planck (via ufosandextradimensions)

So excited to share this mind-bending new work with all of you! #davidblaine #beyondmagic #spectacleofthereal

Matthew P. A. Fisher

Abstract

The possibility that quantum processing with nuclear spins might be operative in the brain is explored. Phosphorus is identified as the unique biological element with a nuclear spin that can serve as a qubit for such putative quantum processing - a neural qubit - while the phosphate ion is the only possible qubit-transporter. We identify the “Posner molecule”, Ca9(PO4)6, as the unique molecule that can protect the neural qubits on very long times and thereby serve as a (working) quantum-memory. A central requirement for quantum-processing is quantum entanglement. It is argued that the enzyme catalyzed chemical reaction which breaks a pyrophosphate ion into two phosphate ions can quantum entangle pairs of qubits. Posner molecules, formed by binding such phosphate pairs with extracellular calcium ions, will inherit the nuclear spin entanglement. A mechanism for transporting Posner molecules into presynaptic neurons during vesicle endocytosis is proposed. Quantum measurements can occur when a pair of Posner molecules chemically bind and subsequently melt, releasing a shower of intra-cellular calcium ions that can trigger further neurotransmitter release and enhance the probability of post-synaptic neuron firing. Multiple entangled Posner molecules, triggering non-local quantum correlations of neuron firing rates, would provide the key mechanism for neural quantum processing. Implications, both in vitro and in vivo, are briefly mentioned.

Introduction 

It has long been presumed that quantum mechanics cannot play an important (functional) role in the brain, since maintaining quantum coherence on macroscopic time scales (seconds, minutes, hours,…) is exceedingly unlikely in a wet environment1,2 (although see [3,4] and references therein). Small molecules, or even individual ions, while described in principle by quantum mechanics, rapidly entangle with the surrounding environment, which causes de-phasing of any putative quantum coherent phenomena. However, there is one exception: Nuclear spins are so weakly coupled to the environmental degrees of freedom that, under some circumstances, phase coherence times of five minutes or perhaps longer are possible.5,6 Putative quantum processing with nuclear spins in the wet environment of the brain - as proposed by Hu and Wu in Ref. [3] - would seemingly require fulfillment of many unrealizable conditions: for example, a common biological element with a long nuclear-spin coherence time to serve as a qubit, a mechanism for transporting this qubit throughout the brain and into neurons, a molecular scale quantum memory for storing the qubits, a mechanism for quantum entangling multiple qubits, a chemical reaction that induces quantum measurements on the qubits which dictates subsequent neuron firing rates, among others. Our strategy, guided by these requirements and detailed below, is one of “reverse engineering” - seeking to identify the bio-chemical “substrate” and mechanisms hosting such putative quantum processing. Remarkably, a specific neural qubit and a unique collection of ions, molecules, enzymes and neurotransmitters is identified, illuminating an apparently single path towards nuclear spin quantum processing in the brain…

The Universe is within all things. 

life 1.0

Researchers examine how Parkinson’s disease alters brain activity over time

Neuroscientists peered into the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease and two similar conditions to see how their neural responses changed over time. The study, funded by the NIH’s Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program and published in Neurology, may provide a new tool for testing experimental medications aimed at alleviating symptoms and slowing the rate at which the diseases damage the brain. 

(Image caption: Tracking brain changes in people with Parkinson’s. Courtesy of David Vaillancourt, Ph.D., University of Florida)

“If you know that in Parkinson’s disease the activity in a specific brain region is decreasing over the course of a year, it opens the door to evaluating a therapeutic to see if it can slow that reduction,” said senior author David Vaillancourt, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. “It provides a marker for evaluating how treatments alter the chronic changes in brain physiology caused by Parkinson’s.”

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that destroys neurons in the brain that are essential for controlling movement. While many medications exist that lessen the consequences of this neuronal loss, none can prevent the destruction of those cells. Clinical trials for Parkinson’s disease have long relied on observing whether a therapy improves patients’ symptoms, but such studies reveal little about how the treatment affects the underlying progressive neurodegeneration. As a result, while there are treatments that improve symptoms, they become less effective as the neurodegeneration advances. The new study could remedy this issue by providing researchers with measurable targets, called biomarkers, to assess whether a drug slows or even stops the progression of the disease in the brain..

“For decades, the field has been searching for an effective biomarker for Parkinson’s disease,” said Debra Babcock, M.D., Ph.D., program director at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). “This study is an example of how brain imaging biomarkers can be used to monitor the progression of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.”

“The Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program is an essential part of moving towards the development of treatments that impact the causes, and not just the symptoms, of Parkinson’s disease,” added NINDS program director Katrina Gwinn, M.D.

Dr. Vaillancourt’s team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure activity in a set of pre-determined brain areas in healthy controls, individuals with Parkinson’s disease, and patients with two forms of “atypical Parkinsonism” – multiple systems atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) – that have symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers selected the specific brain regions, which are critical for movement and balance, based on the findings of past studies in people with these three conditions. The participants each underwent two scans spaced a year apart, during which they completed a test that gauged their grip strength.

The healthy controls showed no changes in neural activity after a year, whereas the participants with Parkinson’s showed reductions in the response of two brain regions called the putamen and the primary motor cortex. Previous research had shown reduced activity in the primary motor cortex of Parkinson’s patients, but the new study is the first to suggest that this deficit worsens over time. Activity decreased in MSA patients in the primary motor cortex, the supplementary motor area, and the superior cerebellum, while the individuals with PSP showed a decline in the response of these three areas and the putamen.

Dr. Vaillancourt’s team now hopes to use its newly discovered biomarkers, in addition to one it had previously identified, to test whether an experimental medication known to improve Parkinson’s symptoms also slows the progression of those brain changes.

“These markers allow us to evaluate disease-modifying therapeutics because we know that the control group doesn’t change over a year but patient groups do,” Dr. Vaillancourt explained. “We can see whether a therapeutic prevents that change from occurring, and if it does, then that suggests it might have a disease-modifying effect.”