Birds on the Brain

historiai: L’empereur Héraclius soumettant le roi sassanide...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:02:51 -0400

L’empereur Héraclius soumettant le roi sassanide Khosro II, plaque provenant d’une croix. Émail champlevé sur cuivre doré, 1160-1170, vallée de la Meuse - The emperor Heraclius submitting Sassanid king Khosrow II, plate from a cross. Champlevé enamel on copper gilt, 1160-1170, Meuse valley

owlghosts: Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth - Blue...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:18:29 -0400

owlghosts:

Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth - Blue Marble 2012 (by NASA Goddard Photo and Video)

inlandwest: Church Rock outside of Kayenta, Arizona

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:33:38 -0400

inlandwest:

Church Rock outside of Kayenta, Arizona

wanderthewood: Poppy field, Ravenna, Italy by gzammarchi

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:26 -0400

wanderthewood:

Poppy field, Ravenna, Italy by gzammarchi

kayla0art: a least weasel is the least amount of weasel you can...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:05:01 -0400

kayla0art:

a least weasel is the least amount of weasel you can possibly have while still having a weasel

Periodical Cicadas mating on Flickr.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:39:04 -0400

Periodical Cicadas mating on Flickr.

American White Pelicans in California

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:20:09 -0400

American White Pelicans in California

mothsaregreat: Muslin Moth (Barry’s) by Barry & Carole...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:36:07 -0400

mothsaregreat:

Muslin Moth (Barry’s) by Barry & Carole Bowden on Flickr.

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians poured into the streets...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:02:03 -0400

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 25 cities across the country Monday, blanketing the streets of major cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and climbing to the roof of the Brazilian National Congress in Brasilia, the nation’s capital. The protests, sparked last week by a smaller demonstration against fare hikes on public buses, are taking place around the Confederations Cup, the soccer tournament that began Saturday as a tune-up for Brazil’s 2014 hosting of the World Cup.

The World Cup has become a symbol of corruption and overspending in the country. Brazil, originally slated to spend less than $1 billion in private funding on soccer stadiums, has already spent more than $3 billion, most of which has come from public funds. Meanwhile, schools and hospitals are overcrowded, understaffed, and underfunded, infrastructure is crumbling, and income inequality is rising as Brazil’s minimum wage remains low. The money spent on the World Cup, the protesters say, would be better spent on efforts to help ordinary Brazilians.

Though there were small pockets of violence during demonstrations in some cities, the vast majority of the protests remained peaceful, according to local news reports. Here are pictures from Monday’s protests.

travelingcolors: Land’s End, Cornwall | England (by Stephen...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:51:35 -0400

travelingcolors:

Land’s End, Cornwall | England (by Stephen Emerson)

Molten Gold by christilou1 on Flickr.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:07:01 -0400

Molten Gold by christilou1 on Flickr.

thirteenny: ajb86: Sometimes it’s ok when the train stops...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:22:33 -0400

thirteenny:

ajb86:

Sometimes it’s ok when the train stops running & I have to walk to work… #flatiron #nyc (at Flatiron Building)

Who could complain with that view!

good: ParkScore: The Top 10 City Park Systems in the...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:38:15 -0400

good:

ParkScore: The Top 10 City Park Systems in the U.S.
- Adele Peters wrote in Environment, Nature and Cities

Parks change us: people who live near parks are not just more likely to exercise and meet their neighbors, but also less stressed, anxious, or depressed; kids with ADD do better on tests after spending time in parks; and being in nature can even make us more creative. Parks can also reduce crime, and they help fight climate change. Most of this research is fairly new, so it’s not that surprising that cities haven’t always valued parks and open space, and in the United States, there’s a huge variation in how public park systems are designed in different cities, and how they’re supported.

Continue reading on good.is

pbsthisdayinhistory: June 18, 1983: Sally Ride Becomes First...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:18:37 -0400

pbsthisdayinhistory:

June 18, 1983: Sally Ride Becomes First American Woman in Space

On this day in 1983, at the age of 32, astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Her voyage came 20 years after Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. After the voyage, Sally Ride received many honors for her contributions to the field of science and space exploration.

In May 2012, Sally Ride became the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

On July 23, 2012, Sally Ride died at the age of 61 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Visit PBS NewsHour to learn more about Sally Ride.

Photo: Courtesy of NASA

whataboutthemenses: projectunbreakable: I’m so excited to...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:53:48 -0400

whataboutthemenses:

projectunbreakable:

I’m so excited to (finally!) be able to say that I am featured in Glamour magazine’s July 2013 issue. It is such an honor to be featured alongside six brave activists and four incredible Project Unbreakable participants. (I’m the third photo in the second row!) Pick up a copy of the magazine today. :)

Grace

wow that’s really amazing

tangledwing: Oh Mother, where art thou? Mass strandings of...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:09:19 -0400

tangledwing:

Oh Mother, where art thou? Mass strandings of pilot whales

Biologists since Aristotle have puzzled over the reasons for mass strandings of whales and dolphins, in which large groups of up to several hundred individuals drive themselves up onto a beach. To date, efforts to understand mass strandings have largely focused on the role of presumably causal environmental factors, such as climatic events, bathymetric features or geomagnetic topography.

More at the link. Though I will give a spoiler, they may be on to something, but have not solved the mystery.

boobsbirdsbotany: somethinginparticular: World Leaders Take...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:45:29 -0400

boobsbirdsbotany:

somethinginparticular:

World Leaders Take Most Menacing G8 Photo Ever

(Daily Intelligencer)

Angela crashed this funeral

discoverynews: Ugly Animals That Need Saving Too The recently...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:44:54 -0400

discoverynews:

Ugly Animals That Need Saving Too

The recently formed Ugly Animal Preservation Society (UAPS) is, according to its president Simon Watt, “dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children. The panda gets too much attention.” Watt, who is also an evolutionary biologist, and his team definitely did not showcase cute and furry pandas at recent UAPS events held at the Edinburgh Science Fest and Bristol’s Big Green Week. Media attention instead was paid to animals such as the appropriately named blobfish.

They’re so ugly, they’re cute. Save ‘em! (My favorite is the naked mole rat — looks like this specimen had a particularly rough night out)

kunstwissenschaftlerin: Above: a medieval manuscript mended...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:24:55 -0400

kunstwissenschaftlerin:

Above: a medieval manuscript mended with embroidery. Photos via the Uppsala University Library. Here is some information about the manuscript from their page:

The pages of the book are made of parchment and they show typical damage in the form of holes and tears that happened while the parchment was being made. Some time after the book was copied, the holes and tears have been mended artistically with silk of various colours, mainly in blanket stitch as used in embroidery.

The old mending is in good shape except for those parts which were sewn with black silk. The thread is so fragile that it disintegrates on touch.

Read more here.

fat-birds: Feathers with attitude (247-366) by nikkorglass on...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:40:17 -0400

fat-birds:

Feathers with attitude (247-366) by nikkorglass on Flickr.