In species that can "sing" (repeat back sounds they hear and create new ones vocally), there tend to be direct connections between the muscle-controlling parts of the brain and the voice box muscles. This includes humans, songbirds, zebras, and finches. In contrast, species like chimpanzees and chickens do not have these direct connections, which seems to prevent them from learning and producing new vocalizations. While most animals can create their innate vocalizations (eg. the squawking of seagulls, the crying of a human baby), animals like humans and songbirds can learn different sounds and reproduce them (in some capacity). Incidentally, these connections between the brain and vocal muscles are strengthened through practice, so the notion of only being able to sing if you're born a "natural singer" is totally false 😉 Source: "How Music Can Make You Better", Indre Viskontas #songbird #human #songbirds #humans #zebra #zebras #finch #finches #singing #sing #practice #practiceiseverything #neuroscience #neuroscientist #indreviskontas #musicality #musician #direct #brain #muscles #vocalcords #control #voicebox #chimpanzee #chimpanzees #chicken #chickens #indirect #seagull #funfact https://www.instagram.com/p/COMz11uhXQm/?igshid=qoqvbeyg4yct
Thinking of getting a digital keyboard once I'm back at graduate school to go into lab! I need a MIDI keyboard anyways, and with COVID I imagine getting into the music practice rooms will be impossible. Plus, now that I'll be (almost) done with classes, I'll have more time to practice so that I can stop importing MIDI from sheet music 😅
The Yamaha P-45 looks decent and nicely priced compared to similar keyboards. Any thoughts, folks?
The swell + key change heighten the emotion + made me tear up! 🎵 @cinematic_pop is amazing! Hope to orchestrate pop songs in a similar style.
Going through and meticulously editing each piece of each background vocal that I recorded for my upcoming cover.
The voice is an incredibly dynamic instrument, so the quiet parts, especially for lower notes (in my vocal range), are much quieter, so they need to be boosted in volume. I've chopped up my vocal and used a meter to bring up the quieter parts to a minimum level so that the whole part sounds more audible and doesn't get buried. I end up boosting some parts as much as 12 dB (over 3x louder)
High-School Astrophysics Competition
Hey astronomy-loving students, parents, and teachers! I am a co-founder and a volunteer with the USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, an organization that administers a competition for high-school students interested in astronomy to select US students (or US citizens / permanent residents attending high school abroad) to represent their country at the International Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics. You can learn more about us and the competition at usaaao.org. We are trying to increase publicity and outreach to reach a wider range of students, so I'm trying to reach teachers and students now so they can be ready and aware in time for next year's competition. You and / or your students can sign up for updates about future exams here. Looking forward to seeing your students competing next year!
Here's a virtual volunteer opportunity to help increase the reach of astronomy and astrophysics to a wider audience of high-school students, especially underresourced and / or underrepresented students!
If you're currently a US high-school student (or a US citizen / permanent resident completing high school abroad), consider participating in the competition next year!
The USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad is an organization that administers a competition to US high-school students, as well as US citizens and permanent residents abroad, to choose students to represent the US at the International Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
We are currently looking for volunteers to be publicity officers. Because of our small volunteer group (unlike the AAPT-run Physics Olympiad or the ACS-run Chemistry Olympiad), and the niche nature of astrophysics, we have had to prioritize reaching out to high schools from which we would expect a high response rate. Often, this tends to be the few high schools who offer astronomy classes or expensive astronomy programs.
Especially with recent events and reflection after #shutdownSTEM, we recognize the need to reach beyond a limited sphere and move towards fulfilling our vision of using this competition to encourage students to learn about, be exposed to, and explore astronomy and astrophysics more. However, to accomplish this we need more people to help us out.
You would help aggregate contact information for high schools across the nation, and, if interested, help manage the social media platforms of the organization, as well as other strategies you are welcome to propose. The expected time commitment is 3-5 hrs / week. If you can follow directions, meet deadlines, and are 13+ years old, you can volunteer!
And if you have any questions, please email info@usaaao.org!
Tl;dr: Please nominate a high school physics or math teacher to receive this relief grant!
To help high school physics and math teachers in the US, Physics Unlimited is providing at least four grants of at least $200 directly to teachers to help those who have been adversely affected in any way by the events of the past few months. The deadline is June 20th.
Because they have received few nominations, they are encouraging people to nominate as many high school physics + math teachers as possible, and you can nominate yourself if you're a teacher! The need can be of anyone they personally know (students, colleagues, friends), not just themselves — they'll be the ones receiving the mini-grants, which they could use for any purpose.
Please, please consider nominating your high school physics + math teachers if they were good teachers, even if they weren't necessarily "life-changing" or even if you don't think they might have been "adversely impacted". Teachers in general are quite hardworking and underappreciated as is, even pre-COVID, and with the recent crises.... And please share this so that we can nominate as many people as possible!
I am using this period of social distancing to start a YouTube channel with string covers that I make in GarageBand as well as (hopefully!) vocal + instrumental covers of songs. Please check it out, subscribe, and reblog this post if you want to see more and support me in my endeavor!
A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don’t require land or fresh water—resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed. It is biodegradable, produces zero toxic waste and recycles into organic waste.
The invention was the fruit of a multidisciplinary collaboration between Dr. Alexander Golberg of TAU’s Porter School of Environmental and Earth Sciences and Prof. Michael Gozin of TAU’s School of Chemistry. Their research was recently published in the journal Bioresource Technology.
According to the United Nations, plastic accounts for up to 90 percent of all the pollutants in our oceans, yet there are few comparable, environmentally friendly alternatives to the material.
“Plastics take hundreds of years to decay. So bottles, packaging and bags create plastic 'continents’ in the oceans, endanger animals and pollute the environment,” says Dr. Golberg. “Plastic is also produced from petroleum products, which has an industrial process that releases chemical contaminants as a byproduct.
“this doesn’t concern you Robert please close the door”
Dads be like. I have trauma. I will never talk about or acknowledge this. One day u will come across a picture of my childhood and realize that I have a entire flesh and blood brother still alive who I have never mentioned or acknowledged. Anyway why dont you tell me anything about ur fucking life.
I feel like a wine mom sharing Facebook posts but this is too good to not share
That cat looks so surprised at being nuzzled! <3
i present the formula for creating excellent/strange insults:
- no one asked for your opinion, you abominable shit goblin
- i fail to understand how you’ve become such a reprehensible fuck waffle
- get out of my way, you sorry excuse for an intolerable ass pastry
- i cannot believe that such an illiterate twat truck could ever be remotely polite
- maybe if you weren’t such a troublesome goddamn elbow, we could get some things done around here
i see no one has reblogged my post. is it because you undeserving fuck llamas are afraid of the truth
This can be a tough pill to swallow because love is such a powerful thing. But you deserve someone who treats you right.
