The Shirk Report – Volume 303 Feb 6, 2015 Welcome to the Shirk Report where you will find 25 funny images, 10 interesting articles and 5 entertaining videos from the last 7 days of sifting. Most images found on Reddit; articles from Twitter, RSS and email; videos come from everywhere. Any suggestions? Send a note to submit@twistedsifter.com – FRIDAY! – Why We Remember So Many Things Wrong – 57 Things You Can Do to Be a Better Cook Right Now – The Techies Who Are Hacking Education by Homeschooling Their Kids – How to Find the Best Deals on Flights – Rick Rubin Adds Annotations to Songs He Was Involved With – Sea Slug has Taken Genes from the Algae it Eats, Allowing it to Photosynthesize Like a Plant, Study Reports – Scientists Invent A New Steel As Strong As Titanium – Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science? Thx for sharing Mr.
Earth has entered sixth mass extinction, warn scientists “Species are disappearing up to about 100 times faster than the normal rate between mass extinctions, known as the background rate. “Our calculations very likely underestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. There are examples of species all over the world that are essentially the walking dead.” Humans were responsible for wiping out the dodo Using fossil records and extinction counts from a range of sources, the researchers calculated the normal ‘background rate’ of extinctions and compared it with a conservative estimate of current extinctions. Natural population changes in the wild usually lead to two species of mammals dying out every 10,000 years. And humans have been responsible for animal decline going much further back. It is likely that early humans were also responsible for wiping out the huge megafauna which used to live in Australia including a huge giant wombat a marsupial lion and a flesh-eating kangaroo. A giant wombat which used to live in Australia South China tiger
Sanctuary of Ruin: Touring Western Australia's Piano Graveyard, by Jason Cotter : Articles : Terrain.org by Jason Cotter Legend has it that when an elephant becomes aware its own death is imminent, it leaves the herd and travels alone to a final resting place known by instinct, an arched cathedral of bleached bones and ivory known as the elephant graveyard. Here all past elephants have converged, creating a reverent repository of sorts. The graveyard is thought apocryphal but some facets of the myth ring true: elephants do venerate the bones of their dead, especially the ivory, carrying the tusks about or gently rolling them back and forth beneath their sensitive feet. The myth conjures a mysterious place, heavy with memory and metaphor, where one might ruminate on lost things, the majesty of life, and the inevitability of ruin. As I slow for a discreet turnoff just short of York at the fringe of Western Australia’s wheat belt 80 kilometers east of Perth, I might have similar notions in mind if it weren’t for my anticipation. Then a piano. Perhaps a few find what they are looking for.
20 Amazing Letters Worth Reading Since 2009, Shaun Usher has curated the incredible blog, Letters of Note; a collection of fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and memos throughout history. Usher has carefully catalogued nearly 1000 letters and going through the archive is a recurring ritual for the Sifter. Last year, 125 of the most entertaining, inspiring and unusual letters from the blog were printed in a spectacular 352-page hardcover book published by Chronicle. Below you will find 20 notable letters from the extensive archives. 1. In 2006 Ms. Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Kurt Vonnegut’s awesome signature 2. Back in the 1980s, photographer and Calvin and Hobbes fan Todd Church wrote a letter to Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson who wrote back this amazing letter with helpful tips and advice about comic strip cartooning. Dear Todd, Thank you for your letter. 3. Dear friend, Friends have been urging me to write to you for the sake of humanity. 4. 5. Dear Sir: I like words. 6. 7. 8. 10. 11.
The 100 Most Amazing Photographs Ever Taken Without Using Photoshop As we know, nature and humankind are both great artists, and when they join forces, amazing masterpieces can be produced. We’ve seen how clever artists utilise image altering technology such as Photoshop to ‘improve’ a captured image, but like most things there is no substitute for the real thing. As such, we’ve collected the 100 most amazing photographs which combine the efforts of mother nature and photographic artists who have captured magic moments showing the wondrous diversity of modern life and the natural world. Our extensive research makes us fairly certain that all 100 images are ‘photoshop-free’, but we’re sure someone will tell us if we’re incorrect! This is what happens if you throw hot water into the air in Antarctica imgur A galactic tennis ball © Abhijeet Kumar Modern dykes, windmills and highways in the Netherlands imgur A temple covered in ash from the Ontake volcanic eruption, Japan media.jrn Two worlds divided, New York, USA imgur The Supermoon in a radio telescope imgur ytimg
Here Are 45 Rare Photos From The Past You've Never Seen Before. #7 Is Horrifying! Just think of all of the amazing things you have been a witness to throughout history. Now, think of all of the things other people you know have seen. It's a lot of ground to cover, when it comes to memories. These historic photo opportunities happened in the blink of an eye, but someone was lucky enough to capture it on film. 1.) The Egg, a Magnificent Short Film- by Andy Weir Thank you Anitta! What is this life all about? Why are we here and what is our soul’s purpose? Check out the original: The Egg By: Andy Weir You were on your way home when you died. And that’s when you met me. You looked at me with fascination. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Neither,” I said. I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. “Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. “Oh,” you said, a little let down. “You mean mankind? “I’m every human being who ever lived?” “Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. “Whoa,” you said, incredulous. Thank you for Sharing Andy Weir’s work. What do you think about life and our soul’s Journey? With all my love, Kirsten Team Spirit
Earth - Weird and wonderful photo quiz It's the BBC Earth weird and wonderful photo quiz. This is your chance to prove to yourself and others what you know about life on this planet. Guess what weird and wonderful things are in these 15 photos below. Make a note of how many you get right, and share your score with us on BBC Earth on Facebook and Twitter, using #EarthQuiz. Answers are below the images. No early peeking! We don't expect you get the exact species, but be honest with yourself about whether you were close. This is a spider beetle, an insect named after its resemblance to the spiders. A close-up portrait image of a Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus), a sea bird living on Lake Kerkini in Greece. You may put this in your tea or cereal. An insect, known as a treehopper (Heteronotus maculatus) on a leaf, photographed in South America. The abstract image was taken by satellite - and shows a conical pit on the side of Pavonis Mons, a giant shield volcano on Mars. Look closely and it's a fish.
10 Fascinating Recently Discovered Photographs History Photo lists are my favorite to read and write about, so I’m always trying to think of new subject matter for a photo list that would complement the others on the site. Recently my brother discovered some old pictures of our grandfather. We never knew they existed, and it gave me the idea for this list. This list looks at some rare and hopefully interesting photographs that were uncovered in recent years along with descriptions of the photos and how they were discovered. Taken: 1925Discovered: 2005 In 2005 the Smithsonian Institution announced that it had some never-before published pictures of the Scopes Monkey Trial which was dubbed “The Trial of the Century,” The negatives were discovered after looking through archival material donated to the Smithsonian back in 1971. Interesting Fact: One explanation of why this picture was never published at the time is that the trial ended the next day, and Scopes was found guilty. Taken: 1858Discovered: 2006 Taken around: 1900Discovered: 2008
A Stay-At-Home Mom Was Asked Her Occupation. This Is Her Brilliant Response February 1, 2015 A woman named Emily, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office, was asked by a recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. Image credit: Getty Images "What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job, or are you just a ...?" "Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "We don't list 'mother' as an occupation... I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. "What is your occupation?" What made me say it, I do not know. The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. "Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?" Without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply. Motherhood. Share1.1K Tweet3 Trending Today
The Problem: The Ocean Cleanup, developing technologies to extract, prevent a... The plastic pollution problem Millions of tons of plastic have entered the oceans (UNEP 2005)Plastic concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres (Maximenko et al., 2012)In these gyres there is on average 6x more plastic than zooplankton by dry weight (Moore et al., 2001) Ecological effects At least one million seabirds, and one-hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution (Laist, 1997)Lantern fish in the North Pacific Gyre eat up to 24,000 tons plastics per year (Davidson & Asch, 2011)The survival of many species, including the Hawaiian Monk Seal and Loggerhead Turtle, could be jeopardized by plastic debris (Derraik, 2002)Plastic pollution is a carrier of invasive species, threatening native ecosystems (Barnes, 2005) Economic effects Health effects
He Was a 98-Year-Old Veteran. A Picture Taken of Him Just One Day Before Death Has Moved America. Americans nationwide reacted to a now-viral photo of a 98-year-old veteran who, too ill to attend the annual Veterans Day celebrations last week, asked that he be dressed in his uniform. Justus Belfield was too weak to leave his bed, but The Daily Gazette of Schenectady reported that he has worn his uniform every Veterans Day since he and his wife moved to a nursing home in upstate New York several years ago. It was the last time Belfield, who passed away early Wednesday morning, ever wore his uniform. “I could see him breathing, and I leaned down and I looked at him and I said, ‘Happy Veterans Day. Thank you for your service,’” Christine Camp, who works at the home, recalled. Belfield’s response, pictured below, will never be forgotten: This Nov. 11, 2014 photo provided courtesy of Nancy McKiernan of Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Glenville, N.Y., shows 98-year-old World War II veteran Justus Belfield saluting on Veterans Day.
Autistic Boy With Higher IQ Than Einstein Discovers His Gift After Removal From State-Run Therapy By Carolanne Wright Contributing Writer for Wake Up World In yet another example of how an out-of-control Goliath state system can cause more harm than good, a teenage boy who was diagnosed with autism at a young age has risen to stellar heights after quitting the special ed system with the help of his concerned mother. State therapy specialists claimed Jacob Barnett would never tie his shoes, read or function normally in society. But the boy’s mother realized when Jacob was not in therapy, he was doing “spectacular things” completely on his own. She decided to trust her instinct and disregard the advice of the professionals. Don’t fix what’s not broken Following a diagnosis of autism at age two, Jacob was subjected to a cookie cutter special education system that focused on correcting what he couldn’t do compared to normal children. When exposed to the state system of educational therapy, Kristine noticed Jacob would withdraw deeply and refuse to speak with anyone. Article Sources :