08 fevereiro 2015

Carina Nebula Dust Pillar



This cosmic pillar of gas and dust is nearly two light-years wide. The structure lies within one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions, the Carina Nebula, shining in southern skies at a distance of about 7,500 light-years. The pillar's convoluted outlines are shaped by the winds and radiation of Carina's young, hot, massive stars. But the interior of the cosmic pillar itself is home to stars in the process of formation. In fact, a penetrating infrared view shows the pillar is dominated by two, narrow, energetic jets blasting outward from a still hidden infant star. The above featured visible light image was made in 2009 using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3.



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I’m going to bed for the night! In the morning, I promise, I will finish answering all the...

I’m going to bed for the night! In the morning, I promise, I will finish answering all the asks from today.


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In your opinion, who is the better general and politician: Alexander or Genghis Khan?

Genghis’ empire survived him.


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Do you have advice for researching in archives?

Beyond that it will take you a lot of time, don’t manhandle the books and always be nice to the staff? Not really.


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Hi, wow, I am so impressed how you know so many historical stuff. Did you study history? I study it, too, since this semester but I really don't know things and university doesn't really teach things in a higher context, so I only know some point of history, like one event for example, and don't know how and with what it is connected which is very sad.

I’ve taken a few courses. As I said, mostly doing it for the love of the thing.


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Don't forget the Smallpox. The Smallpox definitely helped the colonists in their genocide. Something like a suspected 95% kill rate in the New World...

as well as all the other communicable diseases, like measles, and mumps, and scarlet fever which killed Europeans as well as Native Americans


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As a proud Dutchie I'd like to add that the 'Low Lands' rejected Spanish reign in the 'Acte van Verlatinghe', and demanded autonomy even before the American Revolution. The US Constitution is partially based on that same Acte if I'm not mistaken. The 80 year war with Spain raged on for some time, and Napoleon joined the party a while later, so unfortunately it wasn't the birth of a independant, fully democratic republic. Nonetheless I think it was a significant influence for the US and France :)

Perhaps! I have never read anything about the Low Lands inspiring American patriots before or during their rebellion, but it was a known current event at the time so they were probably aware of it.


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Why, would you say, the battle of Salamis (480 BC) was significant?

Besides sounding like a delicious snack? It disheartened Xerxes enough to leave Greece and return to Persia, putting a less-competent general in charge of the conquest of Greece. He failed, Greece city-states remained independent and started fighting among themselves instead, and the western world as we know it today evolved from there.


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What do you say to the argument that the American Revolution was a question of economics, the expansion into Ohio, possibility of inflation caused by taxes, and debt, rather than it being about principal and ideology?

Its probably right. And the economic fear for the future was important — if the British Parliament could impose any tax it wants, at any time, as it asserted that it could after the Stamp Tax, the Americans were afraid for the economic freedom (and ability to nix new taxes at their town council or state legislature). The principle of the thing mattered, sure. Without an ideology to back up their reasoning, no foreign state would support the revolution. Without ideology, the revolutionaries would have had a much harder time recruiting. But the main driver was definitely the fact that long-term it was in the colonists’ interests to be in charge of their own taxes.


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How did you get to know all those things about history? Are you a history sutudent? Teacher? Just someone really interested in history?

Just an enthusiastic amateur!


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Ceaser, Pompei, Crassus - Choose which one you fuck, marry, kill.

Can I not marry any of them? Kill, kill, and maybe fuck Caesar. He did get around, maybe he’d know what he’s doing? But probably kill. They are all pretty old, and got a bit rotund.


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What's your favorite figure from the Crusades? Personally I love the story of Godfrey of Bouillon.

Saladin!


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Do you think the U.S.A. is an actual nation-state, or is it too young, culturally heterogenous, and localized to qualify?

So I think nation-states are difficult to quantify, but as someone who got a decent grade on AP Human Geography, I will endeavor to answer.


Nation-states must have two parts. First, a “nation” or unified group made up of people who consider themselves bound together and share common aspirations and worldview. Second, a “state” or political entity with definitive borders and sovreignty within them. Now, the USA is definitely a state. But is its population sufficiently homogeneous to be a nation? I would say no. A shared commitment to democracy and peace is insufficient. Take the example of Belgium, a state that contains two nations. Both nation is committed to democracy, but not necessarily together.


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Just a note: hyphens or dashes don't work on tumblr tags.

Really? That’s weird. They look fine. Anyone else having this problem?


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Source for more facts follow NowYouKno





Source for more facts follow NowYouKno


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today is great, thanks!!! do you think american military you describe is close to what brought about the collapse of soviet union?

Nope. Not at all. The US has a stronger economy than the USSR did at its collapse. Let me put it this way: when the USSR collapsed, it had a smaller economy than Denmark. One UN program estimated that the Soviet economy was 36% of that in the United States in 1990. And of course, the US economy has grown since 1990. Now, the US system might collapse for other reasons. But I doubt it will be military spending that finishes it off.


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who is your favorite woman from history? why was she so important?

For myself, the most important person would have to be my mom. Without her, I would not exist, or be the person I am today. Any virtues I possess are thanks to her influence.


For history, I would argue either Anne Boleyn or Mulan. Anne Boleyn, by convincing Henry VIII to create the Church of England, gave Protestantism legitimacy. It also created the modern UK, and the eventual British Empire. It did have a widespread and lasting impact on the world, but I will not comment further than that. She caused a great impact on world history, and that’s why she’s important. Plus she is an interesting woman to study. Mulan, well, do I realy need to explain?


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What do you know about the House of Wisdom?

It existed in Baghdad under the Abbasids, and was a center of learning and a gathering place for books. It was destroyed by Hulegu and the Monglian army during the sacking of Baghdad …And that’s all I know.


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Who is your favorite political leader?

ehhhhhh….difficult questions! I would have to say Hatshepsut or Catherine the Great. Ruling a kingdom when it was a boys-only club? Pretty cool stuff. Modern political leaders I’m not going to touch!


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okay, all my old answers have been tagged. If you don’t want to see me answering questions on...

okay, all my old answers have been tagged. If you don’t want to see me answering questions on your dash, then just block “all-day free-for-all” using tumblr savior or something similar.


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hey there i was wondering if youd be so kind as to tag the asks you answer. it clutters up the dashboard and if you tagged it, other ppl could blacklist it if they have tumblr savior. not meaning to be rude or anything just kindly asking. thanks!

good point! I will now tag them with “all-day free-for-all”


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Are there any time periods or events you think people consistently misunderstand or mispurpose?

As an American, and a history buff, it bothers me that our founding fathers are dragged into arguments they wouldn’t understand, and given a position they wouldn’t take.


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If for some reason you could only ever dress in pre-20th-century clothing as your daily attire, what era would be your chosen clothing style?

Nothing with corsets and hoop skirts! Covering my hair is annoying so I would prefer not to do that. I’m between two options. A light chiton from ancient Greece — comfortable, easy to move in, can be made casual or fancy. Since the Romans copied the Greeks, at least in fashion, I think I can include the Roman stola and palla (shawl) in that outfit. Or I would choose to wear simply loose-fitting trousers and an overshirt, the popular salwar kameez, because it would be very comfortable!


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giraffepoliceforce:vnicent:otteroftheworld:My parents live in...





giraffepoliceforce:



vnicent:



otteroftheworld:



My parents live in this town and the city legally can’t tear the tree down to build or anything because the tree has its own legal rights and they can’t do anything about it.



how does. how does this happen. how DID this happen



I love this story because this guy in the early 1800’s had so many great childhood memories of this tree and wanted to make sure it was protected no matter what. So he deeded the ownership of the tree to itself and everyone just went with it.


Then in 1942 this intense windstorm came and knocked the tree over. And people were bummed. But someone had saved an acorn from the original tree, so they planted that and now Son of the Tree That Owns Itself is over 50 feet tall.


And since this new tree is technically the offspring of the original tree it’s considered to have legally inherited the plot of land it’s inhabiting.


Two generations of trees owning land is amazing and if you don’t think this is the coolest thing get right out of my face.



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What do you know about the Thracians, Dacians, and Illyrians?

All were fighting for their survival against Roman incursions. Dacians lived west of the Black Sea and were related to or a subgroup of the Thracians. Our sources are Romans, who were not trying preserve details about such “barbarians.” Illyrians were in the western parts of the Balkans (roughly the former Yugoslavia and parts Albania) some of southeast Italy. They were described in an ancient Greek source in the 400s BCE. It seems unlikely they were a unified group with a unified language, but rather described people who inhabited that general region. To a Greek or Roman, an “Illyrian” was someone who lived in that area, not necessarily someone of a specific tribe or language.


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People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn is the single best modern history book I've read. Check it if you've not!

It is a useful introduction to the idea that the textbooks you’ve read in school are biased and not necessarily telling the whole truth or even the telling the truth at all. That said, you have to keep going. Zinn is good for getting started, but there are many more comprehensive, intensive, and frankly balanced histories out there, about every issue you can think of. Zinn’s history is deliberately one-sided.


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Any historical fiction or non fiction books you may suggest?

Uh….lots?


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Hi. I saw your post about the person asking for job advice. The job market for archivists is incredibly competitive and some positions are grant-based / not permanent. Also, many librarians are struggling to find jobs. Just FYI.

They further added: “Also, while somewhat computer-related, an MLS isn’t going to get you a job in the tech sector, only in a library or university. It’s a pretty specialized degree. If you get your MLS, you’ll probably only be working as a librarian in your future.”


Hope this helps the original asker!


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Source for more facts follow NowYouKno





Source for more facts follow NowYouKno


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I got a question for you. I'm 18 years old and I want to go into a profession that is history related everyone keeps telling me to do something math or science related but I hate math and science and I love history. so I was wondering if you had any ideas for me what jobs are out there for history nerds?

Well, first of all, “math or science related” is not easy, and not a guaranteed job. Especially in academia. They are vicious. Now, for history people: teaching, writing, reading. So you could teach history, write history books/historical novels/etc., or you could be a publisher and reviewer. Those are kind of my standard responses.


If you like physical stuff librarians, archivists, and curators get to play around with books and old artifacts. A bit more science-related (or computer-related for librarians). Still history, though.


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solar corona, photographed by stereo b, 2nd february 2014.33...









solar corona, photographed by stereo b, 2nd february 2014.


33 frames over 8 hours, photographed simultaneously with the cor1 (left) and cor2 (right) instruments.


image credit: nasa/stereo. animation: ageofdestruction.


age
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As an (historical) archaeologist I sort of feel the need to apologize for your other anon (unless it was some kind of strange joke on their part? i can't even tell). Some people really need to stop identifying so hard with their chosen field of study, I mean jeez...

Thanks. I try not to take it to heart. Most people would have problems with their given profession being put down.


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How can you say your favorite time period is the early 1700s to 1820s and not include the French Revolution in your list of why! I know there was some back-and-forth with the American and French Revolutions, with Thomas Jefferson being in Paris for parts of it and Thomas Paine being an influence on some of the philosophes over there, but I don't know to what extent. How big of an influence was American Revolutionary thought on French Revolutionary thought?

Huge. Let’s put it this way: no one thought it could be done. Revolution for democracy was literally inconceivable — no one thought about it. Revolutions to replace the king, sure, but to put the people on top? Inconceivable. Until the Americans did it. Their successful example was more powerful than any rhetoric or philosophy.


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What revolution do you find the most interesting to study? (French, American, etc.)

Probably American, because its such a unique revolution. The revolution was stopped by its leaders. They decided they were done, the fighting was over, that was it. And it worked. Somehow they managed to create a stable political system that has endured, despite deep faults, for two centuries. No other revolution has managed the same success.


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Photo




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The Invasion of America - a visual of the seized, conquered, and...





The Invasion of America - a visual of the seized, conquered, and stolen land the United States took from Native Americans. I learned this in school, but somehow this still shocked me.


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Isn't it a bit pointless applying moral judgements to Assyrian empire. Its of its time, a world where empires did attempt to conquer land and spread the population around to control it as did the romans famously.

good point!


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What are your thoughts on ancient civilizations pre-12,000 BCE?

I think I covered it when I said I’m not a fan. Most of the archaeology is speculative. Certain facts are obtainable: roughly how many people lived here, what kind of food they usually ate, et cetera. But what makes history interesting to me is the stories, the texture of the lives they lived.


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Source for more facts follow NowYouKno





Source for more facts follow NowYouKno


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salon:Why aren’t we angrier? Climate change is a more abstract...









salon:



Why aren’t we angrier? Climate change is a more abstract issue, to be sure, as well as one that lacks a clear villain — it’s easier to castigate a small group of people for threatening the larger public than to acknowledge the culpability we all share in climate change, not to mention the sacrifices we’ll all have to make to address it head-on. The anti-vaxxer community may be an intractable force, but they’ve got nothing compared to the money and power wielded by special interests insisting that climate change is a giant hoax — and who, in so doing, lead others to believe that the science isn’t nearly as settled as it in fact is.

We need to be furious about climate change…but we’re not.



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Wow, I got my first anon hate. Didn’t know archaeologists had such strong defenders.

Wow, I got my first anon hate. Didn’t know archaeologists had such strong defenders.


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Source for more facts follow NowYouKno





Source for more facts follow NowYouKno


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Add nature, art and religion to life’s best...





Add nature, art and religion to life’s best anti-inflammatories


Taking in such spine-tingling wonders as the Grand Canyon, Sistine Chapel ceiling or Schubert’s “Ave Maria” may give a boost to the body’s defense system, according to new research from UC Berkeley.


Researchers have linked positive emotions - especially the awe we feel when touched by the beauty of nature, art and spirituality - with lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are proteins that signal the immune system to work harder.


"Our findings demonstrate that positive emotions are associated with the markers of good health," said Jennifer Stellar, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study, which she conducted while at UC Berkeley.


While cytokines are necessary for herding cells to the body’s battlegrounds to fight infection, disease and trauma, sustained high levels of cytokines are associated with poorer health and such disorders as type-2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and even Alzheimer’s disease and clinical depression.


It has long been established that a healthy diet and lots of sleep and exercise bolster the body’s defenses against physical and mental illnesses. But the Berkeley study, whose findings were just published in the journal Emotion, is one of the first to look at the role of positive emotions in that arsenal.


"That awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions - a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art - has a direct influence upon health and life expectancy," said UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, a co-author of the study.


In two separate experiments, more than 200 young adults reported on a given day the extent to which they had experienced such positive emotions as amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, joy, love and pride. Samples of gum and cheek tissue, known as oral mucosal transudate, taken that same day showed that those who experienced more of these positive emotions, especially awe, wonder and amazement, had the lowest levels of the cytokine, Interleukin 6, a marker of inflammation.


In addition to autoimmune diseases, elevated cytokines have been tied to depression. One recent study found that depressed patients had higher levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine known as TNF-alpha than their non-depressed counterparts. It is believed that by signaling the brain to produce inflammatory molecules, cytokines can block key hormones and neurotransmitters - such as serotonin and dopamine - that control moods, appetite, sleep and memory.


In answer to why awe would be a potent predictor of reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, this latest study posits that “awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, suggesting antithetical behavioral responses to those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others in their environment,” Stellar said.


As for which came first - the low cytokines or the positive feelings - Stellar said she can’t say for sure: “It is possible that having lower cytokines makes people feel more positive emotions, or that the relationship is bidirectional,” Stellar said.


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The Condition of the Working Class in England by Engel is a good one, and Wasserman's History of the United States deals a lot with populism and the fight against Big Business between the Civil War and First World War. Keep doing what you're doing!

Thanks!


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Here's one for you: there seems to be such a lack of labor history in our culture. The population does not seem to understand how working people's groups fought and sacrificed for many of our contemporary social arrangements. So, in short, which historical works do you prefer to highlight labor history in the US (and/or the West)? Could you share some with us? Thanks, and love the blog!

First, thanks for the compliment! Okay, so I have to admit I have not done much reading up on labor history. So I can mostly direct you to the classic The Jungle — the author, Upton Sinclair, went and lived in the Chicago Lithuanian district for two years, and everything he wrote about was entirely true. The conditions in the killing factories, the rampant exploitation of workers, the disgusting frauds that were sold as “food” like milk that killed children and meat that was rotting so they sold it to poorer neighborhoods. And what America cared about was that their cattle might have tuberculosis. In fact, Americans got so angry about this that the FDA was created because of this book.




There’s also a relevent thread in /r/askhistorians, on why labor unions are not very strong in the US today. The big answer is that businesses painted them as not in Americans’ interests, the government helped.


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What's your favorite time period?

Probably the early 1700s to 1820s. The Safavids, the Enlightenment and American revolutionary political thinkers, the Qing Dynasty, the Haitian Revolution, the American revolutions in South America. Plus India’s slow colonization was happening during this time, pieces taken by various European governments. Which means we have more written sources available about India during this time period, or more that survived anyways. Also, the writings of Jane Austen and James Madison? Awesome.


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No questions, just taking the opportunity to say I enjoy your Tumblr. Thanks for creating it. Linda

Thanks! I always love it when people tell me they appreciate the effort I put in.


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Wonderful quote by Edward Osborne Wilson, author of “On...





Wonderful quote by Edward Osborne Wilson, author of “On Human Nature,” a seminal text in the history of evolutionary psychology.



GO HERE —> http://ift.tt/1eWNk1f for free psychology information & resources.


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Revolutions, and Pirates, and Treasures (Oh My)

In 1820, Peru’s capital found itself on the brink of revolution. Chile had just been liberated from Spanish colonial rule, and its liberators were about to launch an attack on Peru. As a precautionary measure, the viceroy of the colony decided to move the capital’s treasures into Mexico for safekeeping. Precious stones, two life-size golden statues of the Virgin Mary, and many other priceless artifacts were loaded on eleven ships. The viceroy put Commander William Thompson in charge. This turned out to be a terrible choice. Thompson led the ships to the island of Cocos in the Indian Ocean, which is definitely not close to Mexico, and buried the treasure there. When finally captured by the Spanish, Thompson promised to dig up the treasure in exchange for his life. On the island he pretended to lead the way and managed to escape into the jungle. Since that day, over 300 expeditions tried to locate the Treasure of Lima, estimated at over $300 million in today’s money. All have failed.


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ON THIS DAY IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY (8th February 1927)Eric...





ON THIS DAY IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY (8th February 1927)


Eric Schopler was born.


GO HERE —> http://ift.tt/1eWNk1f For Free Psychology Information & Resources.


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