chaosophia218:

Theories about the Origins of Space and Time.

1. Gravity as Thermodynamics
Entropic gravity is a theory in modern physics that describes gravity as an entropic force – not a fundamental interaction mediated by a quantum field theory and a gauge particle, but a consequence of physical systems’ tendency to increase their entropy.

2. Loop Quantum Gravity
According to Einstein, gravity is not a force – it is a property of space-time itself. Loop quantum gravity is an attempt to develop a quantum theory of gravity based directly on Einstein’s geometrical formulation. The main output of the theory is a physical picture of space where space is granular. More precisely, space can be viewed as an extremely fine fabric or network “woven” of finite loops. These networks of loops are called spin networks. The evolution of a spin network over time is called a spin foam. The predicted size of this structure is the Planck length, which is approximately 10−35 meters. According to the theory, there is no meaning to distance at scales smaller than the Planck scale. Therefore, LQG predicts that not just matter, but space itself, has an atomic structure.

3. Causal Sets
Its founding principles are that spacetime is fundamentally discrete and that spacetime events are related by a partial order. The theory postulates that the building blocks of space-time are simple mathematical points that are connected by links, with each link pointing from past to future. Such a link is a bare-bones representation of causality, meaning that an earlier point can affect a later one, but not vice versa. The resulting network is like a growing tree that gradually builds up into space-time.

4. Causal Dynamical Triangulations
The idea is to approximate the unknown fundamental constituents with tiny chunks of ordinary space-time caught up in a roiling sea of quantum fluctuations, and to follow how these chunks spontaneously glue themselves together into larger structures. The space-time building blocks were simple hyper-pyramids (four-dimensional counterparts to three-dimensional tetrahedrons) and the simulation’s gluing rules allowed them to combine freely. The result was a series of bizarre ‘universes’ that had far too many dimensions (or too few), and that folded back on themselves or broke into pieces.

5. Holography
In this model, the three-dimensional interior of the universe contains strings and black holes governed only by gravity, whereas its two-dimensional boundary contains elementary particles and fields that obey ordinary quantum laws without gravity. Hypothetical residents of the three-dimensional space would never see this boundary, because it would be infinitely far away. But that does not affect the mathematics: anything happening in the three-dimensional universe can be described equally well by equations in the two-dimensional boundary, and vice versa.

just fyi the source is nature.com so it’s very reliable and scientifically accurate; nature is one of the most widely published scientific journals.

nerdisma:

If you could film with any previous character.

ali-vega:

fujiwaranomokou:

quadradaz:

h0odrich:

scientificphilosopher:

This Lovecraftian monstrosity may look like an amalgam of dying octopuses, but it’s actually a single creature called a Basket Star, a type of deep sea brittle star. They can reach up to 11 pounds in weight and 70 cm in length!

on today’s episode of hell the fuck no

“And here we see one of the deep old ones visiting the surface.”

put that back into the fucking ocean

PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CANE FROM OR SO HELP ME-

You can’t tell me Diego Luna isn’t the name of a superhero in civilian guise.

“By day, he’s Diego Luna, ADORED ACTOR! By night he fights the forces evil as the MASKED CRUSADER FOR JUSTICE! He is… LUNAR GLOW.”

It all fits.

eteru:

all she need is her tail

shaddy24:

Of note for everyone: the LA Times has gone full collaborator. They’re printing letters that defend the Japanese internment camps, saying that the discussion of them has been too “one sided.” Actual quote from the letter:
“
Virtually everyone in the U.S. was assigned jobs to help the war effort. The Japanese were assigned the job of staying out of the way and not causing complications.”

They then try to say that having your homes, businesses and personal belongings taken away from you and being forced to live in a camp is better than many of the jobs people were assigned.

They’ve tried to go back on this and now have a note saying that these letters didn’t meet editorial standard, but that’s just bullshit backstepping. They’re trying to gauge how far they can go without getting called out. Next test will be a little smaller.

“What can I do to help Syria?”

aishawarma:

aishawarma:

aishawarma:

aishawarma:

Well, after educating yourself and advocating for the rights of the Syrian people in their fight for freedom against a brutal dictatorship as well as naming and holding accountable those who aid the Assad regime such as Iran, Hezbollah and Russia among others, *breathes*, you can help by donating to any of the organisations/groups listed below.

These groups mainly help on the ground in Syria providing aid; be it medical or psychological as well as food and clothes to those in need.

SAMS Foundation: the foundation works with Syrian American health care professionals and operates 106 medical facilities throughout Syria

Doctors Without Borders (also known as MSF): the organisation provides front-line medical treatment as well as providing drugs, medical supplies and equipment

Questscope: the organisation’s work is mostly centered on providing immediate trauma support and psychosocial counseling

Save the Children: the organisation is on the ground in Syria and in refugee communities providing children and their families with warm clothes, shelters, clean water and emergency care

Syrian Civil Defense (also known as The White Helmets): they are about 3,000 neutral, impartial and humanitarian Syrian volunteers who operate as first responders in rebel-held areas across the country. They were recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Karam Foundation: the organisations is focused on educational opportunities for Syrian children, currently raising funds to rebuild schools in Syria.

NuDay Syria: the organisation’s mission focuses on bringing housing and food to displaced families with single mothers or wounded family members. They are especially concerned with the lack of safe shelter and living for single mothers with daughters.

Hand in Hand for Syria: the organisation provides aid including food, clothing, water, sanitation and crucial medical assistance

According to the United Nations, there are almost 14 million Syrian refugees around the world (so far) in need of humanitarian aid. The groups below are mainly focused on helping Syrian refugees:

Migrant Offshore Aid Station: this charity exists to save children like Alan Kurdi, with a fleet of rescue boats patrolling the Mediterranean to save migrants lost at sea.

Refugees Welcome: dubbed as a kind of “Airbnb for refugees” this German nonprofit matches people with spare rooms with refugees in need of housing. If you don’t have a spare bed in Germany.

The Worldwide Tribe in Calais: a group of social activists documenting stories in the Calais migrant camp, they also raise relief funds.

Small Projects Istanbul: the initiative provides classes and cultural enrichment and scholarships to Syrian children in Turkey.

International Medical Corps: they run a service center for Syrian refugees that provides medical care, classes and job training.

Medical Teams International: the organisation focuses on health and dental care for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Mercy Corps: the group provides direct aid to Syrian refugees in the form of food and supplies, and by increasing access to clean water and sanitation, shelters, and safe spaces and activities for children

Shelterbox: the group has been providing emergency shelter and supplies to families affected by the Syrian crisis in Iraq Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, including clothing, stoves and, water filters.

UNICEF: the UN agency focuses on assisting Syrian children by providing healthcare, nutrition, immunization, water and sanitation, and classes.

Oxfam: the nonprofit provides aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan such as clean water, sanitation services, and hygiene education to help ward of cholera and other intestinal diseases.

Yes, donating won’t stop barrel bombs from falling on besieged civilian areas (that comes by being vocal about Assad’s crimes) but it can definitely help create a start.

Speaking of educating yourselves, an initiative called Syria Social Campaign would send you one or two articles concerning Syria each week! You only have to submit your email address.

I have also found a more detailed list of things you can do to help aside from donations made by Syrian Solidarity Committee. I highly recommend going through it as it has many excellent recommendations.

Here’s the Syria Solidarity Calendar for those who would like to take part in solidarity events around the world

for those who asked

donating is great, but at this bleak and uncertain point, what matters the most is to be knowledgable and outspoken to defend the free people of syria and be their voice that’s been long silenced and ignored. and remember, neutrality only helps the oppressor.

ineffectualdemon:

jinlinli:

chauvinistsushi:

erykahbaddont:

asiaraymonet:

Surya Bonaly, world renowned French skater whose trademark move is her backflip, where she only lands on one blade in order to keep the move legal. She’s amazing!

Yoooooo

it always amuses me when I remember the ice skating community banned this phenomanal move because a black person literally had raised the bar and white people were too bitter to do better so they banned a move that would add progress to the sport.

and then she raised the bar again

someone make this into a movie. fuck it, i’ll do it

ok ok so every time this post shows up on my dash, i get a little miffed because it presents this narrative that isn’t consistent with reality. it misrepresents surya’s career. first, there seems to be this implication that the isu banned the backflip because surya was the first skater to perform the backflip, and they didn’t like that because she’s black.

i mean, surya did not pioneer the backflip. she herself stated that her coach suggested that she start doing backflips on ice because of a skater named norbert schramm who was performing them in europe at the time. scott cramer pulled off 10,032 backflips over the course of his career, and he retired seven years before surya even began competing. surya is THE FIRST AND ONLY skater in history to perform a backflip and land on one skate in competition, but the most important part of it wasn’t the feat itself but WHY SHE DID IT.

and ok, the first person to successfully do a backflip on ice was skippy baxter in an ice show in the 1940s. there has only been one legal backflip performed in actual competition by terry kubicka in 1976. immediately after he pulled it off, the isu banned the move from competitions. please note that yes, terry kubicka was a white male figure skater. and for context, surya was born in 1973. i sincerely doubt that the isu was banning the backflip because of a THREE-YEAR-OLD.

the isu had very good non-racism related reasons for banning the backflip because well, figure skating is fucking hard. i think we frequently underestimate just how difficult it is because of how easy they make it look. i mean top figure skaters are still working on consistently landing quad jumps in competition. it’s so easy to flub a jump and get injured, and it’s super common for skaters to spend huge chunks of the off season not training because they’ve injured themselves.

SO DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST HOW FUCKING DANGEROUS IT WOULD BE IF BACKFLIPS WERE ALLOWED IN COMPETITIVE SKATING???? if you mess this move up, you’re not just going to break an ankle or fuck up your muscles, you’d break your neck on the ice. you could FUCKING DIE. and this is by no means the first or last move to get banned by the isu for being too dangerous. (the one that comes to mind is the head banger death spiral because seriously what a name).

the reason why this is just so upsetting to me is because i feel like you guys are really simplifying surya’s narrative. yes, surya was a FUCKING BADASS. LIKE HER FIRST SEASON IN SENIOR COMPETITIONS, SHE LANDED A BACKFLIP DURING PRACTICE RIGHT IN FRONT OF MIDORI ITO, THE FAVORITE FOR THE 1992 OLYMPICS. IN THE SAME COMPETITION, SHE BECAME THE ONLY WOMAN TO EVER ATTEMPT A QUAD TOE LOOP IN COMPETITION, and the first time anyone had even successfully pulled that off was a mere three years earlier.

and yes, surya had to deal with A LOT of racism. because of her skin color and her build and her athleticism and her style, she didn’t fit into the “ice princess”. they pegged her as a rebel, and they treated her as such. the judges were constantly nitpicking her skating style and criticizing her artistry because she wasn’t this light and graceful skater that they thought female figure skaters should be. (black ballerinas suffer from the same plight). she was constantly pushing the boundaries, but she consistently got lower scores than her white counterparts. and despite that, she was A THREE-TIME WORLD SILVER MEDALIST, A FIVE-TIME EUROPEAN CHAMPION, AND A NINE-TIME FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPION.

in the 1994 world championships, surya’s final score tied for first place with yuka sato’s. it came down to a tiebreaker vote, and the judges picked yuka because she fit in better with the ice princess image. surya knew why she the judges didnt pick her. during the awards ceremony, she refused to step onto the medals podium and took off the silver medal. she was crying, and the crowd was booing at her.

the 1998 olympics was going to be surya’s last hurrah. she knew that the 97-98 season would be her last. when the judges gave her a low score on her short program for surprise surprise racist reasons, she knew that there was no way that she could win.

so surya decided to make a point.

she hadn’t planned to do this from the start because she knew that the move was illegal and doing it could get her disqualified, but after seeing her short program score, surya basically on the spot decided to replace the triple in her free skate with the backflip landing on one skate. she hadn’t been training for this move specifically, she just pulled it off right then and there on the olympic stage. and while the backflip was banned for being too dangerous, another reason for it to be banned was because the skater would land on both skates, and jumps are always landed with one skate.

surya pulling off this banned move was basically her last FUCK YOU to the judges because they’d been screwing her over since the start of her career. she was challenging them by making a previously illegal move technically legal. the judges didn’t disqualify her, but they didn’t accept the move as legal either, and they deducted points from her score, so surya placed 10th overall. BUT THAT DIDNT MATTER. when surya finished her program, she turned her back on the judges (a huge no-no because it is highly disrespectful) because she didn’t care about their opinion at this point. SHE’D MADE HISTORY. their decision wouldn’t change that.

(surya performs the backflip at 3:28)

X X X X X X

THESE NEW DETAILS MADE IT BETTER

sweethoneysempai:

Guys, Direct Relief (directrelief.org) is one of the highest-rated charities with 99% of donated money going directly to their programs. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Aleppo is about to be completely destroyed. DO is assisting with the Syrian Refugee Crisis and can use all the help they can get. If you are in a position to donate, please do so.

Whether or not you can donate, please reblog.

onionjulius:

Y’all we need to call our representatives about this shit. Don’t let your fire fade away, activism can’t be a fad. Pick up that phone on Monday and let them know you are alarmed about a foreign power interfering with our elections and half of Congress not caring.

This stuff may happen all the time, but you just know that if this happened in favor of Clinton, the Republicans would be raising holy hell. So let’s raise our own holy hell.